A Second NHL Team for Toronto?

Over at the Globe and Mail, David Shoalts is reporting that there's talk among the NHL Board of Governors that it might be time to move a second NHL team to Toronto:

"Why shouldn't we put another team in the best and biggest market in the world?" one of several NHL governors who spoke with The Globe anonymously said of the Greater Toronto Area.

According to this governor, one idea floated is for prospective owner Jim Balsillie to be rewarded with an expansion team in Toronto after helping to restore financial ballast to the Nashville Predators.

"I've heard this exact scenario," a second governor said.

Calgary Flames co-owner Harley Hotchkiss, a former chairman of the NHL board of governors, is also aware of the Balsillie movement.

"I've heard bits and pieces of this scenario, although not in that kind of detail," he said. "Our priority is to have the existing franchises solid."

"[It is] an interesting scenario," Mr. Hotchkiss added, " but I can only speak generally."

The story goes on to quote Richard Peddie, the President of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, as saying that the team wouldn't "automatically" reject a second team in Canada's largest city. The fact is, the move makes sense on a whole boatload of levels. If New York can support three teams and Southern California can support two, why can't the largest city in the most hockey mad nation on earth support a second team?

Moving the Predators, or any of the league's other financially troubled franchises would help solve one of the league's continuing financial headaches. Better yet, with the Predators in the Western Conference and the Leafs in the East, Toronto would become the only city in the NHL guaranteed to host every team in the league every season. As the article goes on to point out, there are a number of potential benefits for the Maple Leafs, not the least being that any new franchise would have to pay rent in order to play at Air Canada Centre, the only logical venue for an additional team.

Then again, perhaps the potential fans for a second team in Toronto should be careful what they wish for. Sports franchises are granted as regional monopolies, and getting a team to give one up can come at a dear price.

Just ask the New York Nets, who had to pay a massive indemnity to the New York Knicks when the Nets were admitted to the NBA. In order to survive financially, the Nets had to sell Julius Erving to the Philadelphia 76ers and then pull up stakes and move to New Jersey in order to get a new arena. And don't forget how Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos held the move of the Montreal Expos hostage for so long that he eventually forced Major League Baseball to grant him the televison rights to the Washington Nationals -- a move that allowed him to start his own regional cable sports network.

Don't doubt for a second that the owners of the Maple Leafs will use every ounce of leverage they have over the league before finally agreeing to a deal. Don't forget, it isn't personal, it's just business.