The cold shoulder

So now it’s official. The National Hockey League will expand once again to that hotbed of cold-weather sports: Las Vegas, Nev.

We know all the business reasons for the league to look south and west for its newest team. The weak loonie means that the eyepopping expansion fee of $500 million (U.S.) translates into more like $700 million of our money. Vegas has a spanking-new arena and it’s a pretty big place; with 2.2 million people it’s the largest American city without a major league sports franchise of any kind. There’s lots of corporate money, too.

All makes sense. Except that it doesn’t. In fact, for anyone who cares about hockey as the Canadian game, this stinks. Adding yet another American team to the league while leaving an eager suitor (Quebec City) cooling its heels in the waiting room is one more reason for Canadian fans to turn away.

Typically, it was left to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman to rub salt in the wound by explaining that expanding to Quebec City would have created a “geographical imbalance” in the league since there are already 16 teams in the Eastern Conference compared to 14 in the West (15 with the new Vegas franchise).

Well, how about this for a “geographical imbalance?” Once the Las Vegas Black Knights (or whatever they end up being called) start playing, there will be 24 teams operating south of the border and only seven located in Canada.

The balance keeps tipping away from the country that invented the game, and that will do nothing to revive flagging interest in the NHL across Canada. The signs are well-documented: TV ratings are down sharply, leading to this week’s ejection of George Stroumboulopoulos as host of Hockey Night in Canada and the reported return of comfy ol’ Ron MacLean. No Canadian teams made it into the playoffs this year, and even the hockey faithful have to confess that the game has become awfully boring.

One solution would be to inject some old-fashioned rivalry into the league — say, Montreal vs. Quebec City. Quebec lost its Nordiques in1995 and never got over it; the fan enthusiasm is there but not the money, which is what obviously counts for the NHL.

In a more perfect, non-NHL world there would be second teams in Toronto and Montreal, as well, creating crosstown competition and injecting real feeling into a game that has become far too corporate. A dream, we know, but sometimes you have to think big.

In the meantime, get set for showdowns between the likes of Anaheim and Nashville and the brand-new skaters from the Vegas strip. That’s the dispiriting reality for the NHL’s most faithful, but most abused, fans across Canada.

For anyone who cares about hockey as the Canadian game, Gary Bettman’s announcement stinks