Problem is that one person not on board is NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, who has taken Balsillie to court to block his efforts (again). And here a little back-story is required. Hockey has always trailed in the US in popularity to pro baseball, basketball and football - when Bettman took over as NHL commish, the league (in America) was largely based in the Northeast and Upper Midwest. Bettman wanted the NHL to join the ranks of the NBA, NFL and MLB as an elite pro sports league; one way to do that was with a major television deal. But for that, the league needed more of a national presence, so Bettman pushed for teams to be located in the American South and Southwest, to broaden the NHL’s base.
Most recently though Bettman balked at a TV deal with ESPN and opted to give the NHL's television contract to the Outdoor Life Network (now rebranded "Versus"), a channel usually only included on super-premium cable packages. The result is that the NHL's national presence has evaporated, while the league is stuck with financially-shaky teams - like Phoenix - playing in markets across the South in front of half-full arenas.
Worse, from the Canadian point-of-view at least, is that some of these teams were plucked from hockey-crazed Canadian cities like Winnipeg and Quebec City and dumped in the American South. Balsillie is looking to change that, but the NHL is now trying to block him for a third time (he also previously tried to buy the Pittsburgh and Nashville teams).
Meanwhile, the folks in Hamilton so wanted an NHL team, they went and built an arena on the hope that they would one day get one. That was 25 years ago. I'd say it's long overdue for the folks in Hamilton to see a return on their investment.
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