Is Nothing Sacred? - Canadian hockey teams may move to US

There is a giant sucking sound of jobs moving south within North America, but it isn't NAFTA, it's the NHL jumping from Canada to the United States

IMAGINE THAT THERE WAS NO NHL team in Calgary, but there was one in Houston.

Imagine an empty Corel Centre, with the Senators in Kansas City instead.

Or no Edmonton Oilers, but a team called the Portland Oregonians. Or no more Vancouver Canucks, but instead the San Diego Americans. And, Mo, Dieu! No Montreal Canadiens, who are in New Orleans--well, at least they speak a form of French there.

When you stop laughing, consider that the very existence of every Canada-based NHL team except the Toronto Maple Leafs is in danger. And while it is unimaginable that the league would allow its most Storied franchise to leave La Belle Province, financially it is not such a long shot.

The Canadiens have been for sale for much of the new millennium, hardly a great way for hockey's greatest dynasty to start out the 2000s. Their home, the Molson Centre, not only carries none of the charm or intimidation of The Forum, but it also has sapped the team's; pocketbook.

Unlike in the States, where a bidding war would ensue if the New York Yankees or Dallas Cowboys went on the market--hey, Daniel Snyder paid 8800 million for the Washington Redskins, whose history and importance on the national sporting scene is impressive, but hardly up there with the Canadiens' legacy in Canada--few potential buyers; came to the Molson Centre with Zambonis full of cash.

For the 1999-2000 season, the Canadiens reported a financial loss from rising player salaries, a lack of playoff revenue, the weak Canadian dollar and high municipal taxes on the Molson Centre.

While an early condition of any sale was that the team stay put what happens if there are no purchasers willing to honor such a commitment? What happens if the Molson Brewery decides it's had enough red ink pour out of its spigots and opts to take the best deal out there, with no attachments?

Sound absurd? Not in a sport in which Wayne Gretzky can play for four different teams.

"It became very clear that, given the current economic condition in the NHL, it is almost impossible to be a sole owner and deliver a winning team," said Daniel O'Neill, Molson's new president upon announcing the intention of selling Les Habitants.

Adds Serge Savard, former Habs general manager and star: "Nobody could have predicted this five years ago that all professional teams in Canada would lose money."

Well, not all. The Leafs are quite solvent in their new arena and their association with the National Basketball Association's Raptors. But the others are in trouble. Big trouble.

When the Canadian government, amid widespread national protest, rescinded its pledge to bail out the struggling franchises, the potential for as massive alteration of hockey's landscape hit hard. The Senators, Flames, Oilers, and Canucks have held on in the face of diminishing returns, but how long can they continue to do so?

The Quebec Nordiques became a casualty in 1995, moving to Denver--and winning the Stanley Cup the next year. As the Colorado Avalanche, the former Nordiques have one of the game's most star-studded lineups and are a perennial power.

Could the Nordiques have afforded to sign Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg to such lucrative deals? Or trade for Patrick Roy or Raymond Bourque?

Of course not. Except for the Leafs, none of the Canadian teams could do so.

Following the Nordiques out of Canada were the Winnipeg Jets, who landed in the Valley of the Sun. But they play in a fan-unfriendly arena in Phoenix and their sale to a group that includes Wayne Gretzky seemingly has taken forever. At least somewhere down the line, the Coyotes will have their own state-of-the-art home.

Could the Jets have carried a pay-roll loaded with the deals a Keith Tkachuk or Jeremy Roenick command?

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and league owners recognize the importance of a strong Canadian presence. The NHL's Canadian assistance program was extended in December 1999 for five years in anticipation of a Canadian government bailout worth about $20 million annually.

Remember, however, that these franchises are privately owned, and the public sector has no business rescuing them. If Canada's government could have raised the funds without using taxpayers' dollars, fine. But that wasn't part of the plan that would have provided up to about $2 million annually to each team--contingent on city and provincial governments also giving money.

So Canada pulled the plug, and the NHL altered its assistance program to a year-to-year plan.

Canada's Industry Minister, John Manley, says government assistance won't be broached in the near future, either. "I'm not too happy to see it fall apart," Manley says. "If it leads to the demise of NHL teams in Canada, that will be a very sad development."

"What we have lost is truly not insignificant," says Ken Dryden, president of the Maple Leafs and one of hockeys best spokesmen. "It could have far-reaching effects for every Canadian."