NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman may want to brush up on a little league history before he decides to do another radio interview. (CP Images)
This isn't about a so-called hockey border war. Never has been.
Contrary to my U.S. colleague Paul Kukla calling out some unnamed Canadian writers last week for their perceived anti-American bias when it comes to the NHL, it has never been about the Us vs. Them mentality.
Something the Canadian Government calls the Competition Bureau has declared that the NHL policies are not anti-competitive in response to media reports that, in layman's terms, the league may have placed Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie over a barrel when he attempted to buy and move the Nashville Predators into Southern Ontario.
Not only am I surprised the government even gives a damn, but some lucky stiffs actually get paid to sit on that committee. Cushy gig if you can get it, huh?
Hey, let me know when the Where The Hell Does My Tax Money Go committee is formed. I've got a few questions for them.
OK, so this competition committee may have concluded that the NHL hasn't given Canada the shaft in recent years. I, and a lot of others, am telling you they have.
Kukla makes the assertion that there are writers who suggest "the only place hockey should be played is Canada", which, of course, is nonsense.
There are millions of hockey fans in the U.S., and there have been for generations, long before the days of the Original Six. No one is questioning the loyalty or knowledge of the U.S. fan, particularly those in numerous hockey-mad cities south of the 49th.
But in business, you find locations that will be good for your bottom line. You won't open a parka store in Arizona, because it isn't smart business.
So why shut out Canada, where hockey is a way of life and is not the second, third or fourth-most popular sport in town, at best?
Whether he was over-zealous or not, Balsillie, young, rich and determined, would have made for a new face in the stuffy old boys' club, which is precisely why he was not accepted into the clique.
They didn't want anyone to rock their boat.
No matter how you look at it, Canada hasn't had a sniff of a team since Quebec and Winnipeg made the move south. So, yes, they have got the shaft.
And I sure don't need a committee to tell me otherwise.