Competition to the Toronto Maple Leafs?

Could there be another NHL team coming to Southern Ontario?

Jim Balsillie, CEO of Research in Motion (maker of Black Berry), sure hopes so.  Balsillie has made his third attempt to get an NHL team into Southern Ontario.

In the past he had made offers to both the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Nashville Predators, but both were rejected.  Now Basillie has made the “third time is a charm” $212.5 million US offer to the Phoenix Coyotes with the condition that the now bankrupt Coyotes move to Southern Ontario (Hamilton or Kitchner-Waterloo).

According to the CBC, “Moyes, [former owner of the Phoneix Coyotes], told the newspaper that the court process will attach a new owner and location to the Coyotes by June 30, but the sale of the franchise will still need league approval.”

Balsillie has made an excellent offer, but it all lands on Gary Bettman, NHL commissoner, to decide what will happen with the Coyotes.  Bettman is somewhat notorious for wanting to further develop the NHL in the U.S. and not Canada so it should be interesting to see what happens.

To support Belsillie’s attempt to bring a seventh NHL team to Canada, check out his website makeitseven.ca.