Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke Wants Manitoba Studied (courtesy: TSN)

So Brian Burke was on local radio sports show, Hustler & Lawless, on Saturday. Needless to say, the return of the NHL to Manitoba was one topic bound to ignite whenever an interviewer from Manitoba reaches an NHL official.

While I would have jumped for joy if the most important hockey person from the NHL’s most influencial team would have said point blank that he supports the NHL in Winnipeg, we have to be realistic. However, at the same time those “Return to Winnipeg” supporters are Offside if they think Mr. Burke wasn’t supportive of Manitoba’s re-entry.

By not getting those ringing endorsements at every turn, it does not mean that bringing NHL hockey back to Winnipeg is like playing from behind, late in the third. It simply means that there are some legitimate questions facing our city as well as other competiting cities while at the same time even more questions are being raised about some cities already hosting NHL teams.

Brian Burke says Mark Chipman "is a dear friend of mine." Once again, this points to the fact that Mark Chipman’s personal and business contacts are as wide as they are deep as they are quiet.

Brian’s comments to Hustler & Lawless weren’t negative but they were generically positive. This interview immediately recalled the All Star game interview between the CBC’s Ron MacLean and Commissioner Bettman, where Bettman made generic yet positive comments about Winnipeg: "I haven't studied it, but I wouldn't rule it out.”

Now it seems Burke is calling for those same studies, which Gary Bettman referred to in 2004, to be done. Burke said that assuming that the next CBA has revenue sharing, which it does at present so he sees no reason why it wouldn't in the future, that "I would be very reluctant to say that Winnipeg can't support a team". He goes on to say "Let's do enough research so we can find out."

Now why would Burke go to this length and on the record if he didn't support Winnipeg in the first place? He could have easily thrown the question back to Gary Bettman, calling it a matter for the league to discuss, not the Toronto Maple Leafs. Clearly, he supports Winnipeg in the same general way Bettman referred to Manitoba back in 2004, which caused much fanfare in the local media and community hockey rinks alike. Now that so many NHL officials over that time have publically supported Winnipeg, this probably isn’t even newsworthy even locally. And that says volumes about how far this has moved in 5 years.

But why study the local market, if it wasn't at least close in Burke’s mind to being a future successful NHL host?

And why bother studying the corporate support, if there is no NHL ownership group capable of buying and running a team?

And really why go to the trouble of studying the local ability to pay NHL prices for tickets, if there is no reasonable chance of expansion nor relocation?

And why make an effort, if the salary cap is too high or the Canada dollar is too low or the MTS Centre is too small?

If any of these were to concern Brian Burke he had ample opportunity to throw out a negative comment. And since he has had the unique experience of running NHL teams in both the US and Canada for years, he would have better knowledge than almost anyone if any of these issues were big enough to be non-starters, negating any reason to study Winnipeg and Manitoba any further.

Then Brian Burke offered up a curious comment which seems it might dismiss the notion that the NHL won’t be expanding or relocating teams in the near future.

He offered some unsolicited advice or understanding as to how the NHL will review things in the future. Burke says "I think support of the Moose is important. If, down the road, Winnipeg is going to have any kind of a shot, I think Winnipeg being able to point to rabid support of the Manitoba Moose will be a telling factor when people will consider the viability of the market."

Manitobans should cherish this bit of news as our AHL attendance has the team consistently ranked one of the highest. As well, it consistently is higher than most AHL teams that already have NHL teams. On the flip side, it may also reveal what the NHL may already conclude about cities that do not have any professional hockey teams yet claim to be able to support the NHL. Talk about a leap of faith during a recession no less.

So while there were plenty of chances to dump a bucket of cold water on all of this, Burke did not. In fact, he wants to see it studied. While he can’t say much more with respect to NHL gag orders, he is pushing for a league-approved review.

And as the NHL forces its’ followers to read between the lines whenever the topic of league finances is mentioned, I can’t help but return to the old adage: where there's smoke there's fire.

It might be much ado about nothing, but I’m clearing off credit card debt just to be sure!

If you have a different point of view about this blog, feel free to come out swinging at the Manitoba Mythbuster Forum. http://manitobamythbusters.com/forum

Chris
Chair, Manitoba Mythbusters
www.ManitobaMythbusters.com
~ The Reality May Excite You! ~