It’s been reported in LSB (by way of the National Post) that Canadian gazillionaire Jim Balsillie was (according to his people) approached by eight US-based NHL teams about a possible sale. The writer of the article, one Theresa Tedesco, made a point of mentioning that four of those teams were based in the southern US (and three of those markets–Carolina, Atlanta, and Tampa–happen to be in the SE Division), in conjunction with the words “weak hockey markets”.

Atlanta, eh. That town has ALWAYS been a slack sports town. Even when the Braves were the NL West/East/Whatever Champs for like 12839071298312476 seasons in a row, they never filled Fulton County Stadium (or its successor, Turner Field). Even when the Falcons were good (for all of like five minutes), the GeorgiaDome never got full. That said: Hockey has always been a draw in Atlanta–the Flames, had their original owner not been forced to sell them by the collapse of the real-estate market (and had the only buyer not been from Calgary), would likely still be in Atlanta and they would still be drawing modestly. That said, playing like ass does tend to keep fans away.

Tampa, though…Not really thrilled, here. Tampa’s had terrific attendance figures since the season they won the Cup, and they are a strong sports market and have been for years–hells, look at the Bucs. They were pathetic for years, and people still went to games. The market is not weak here, kids.

Which brings us to the Hurricanes. We’re not Detroit, but our economy here in the sports-crazy Triangle sucks ass and is preventing people like me from buying tickets too–of course, since we’re not Detroit we’re not allowed to use that excuse and we just have to take sidelong jabs from fans (and the occasional mediot) about us not being a hockey market. Even so, I don’t think that the Hurricanes present a very tempting target for Balsillie because really, they’re not struggling that much. The guy is going to want a team that’s seriously on the rocks because he feels that he can move it with impunity and little backlash.

Whatever happens, fans of whichever team this man latches his claws onto should prepare for that team’s imminent departure.

Hockey: It’s teh srs bzns.