Desert Dogs: The Straw On NHL Governors' BackHow many NHL teams are looking to be sold?How many NHL teams are looking to move? Or both?The public would be Offside to think that Phoenix is the only bird up for sale.The NHL works hard so that the public only knows part of what is actually going on at any time. Yes Phoenix is for sale via bankruptcy. But out of the blue the Florida Panthers, its' adjacent properties and rink were sold and there wasn't a hint of it before it happened. There were rumblings that Lightning owner Davidson wanted to unload the team. So that sale was more public. The Nashville situation was public and the public watched (much like Phoenix) every move in the bidders positioning themselves for it. Yet we knew nothing about the Wild getting sold before it came down. Naegle said that he might consider selling in the next few years, but nothing was concrete and no media thought it was worth running with than one day's news. Edmonton was public only because Cal Nichols and Katz's entourage made it so. And of course, we know now that Balsillie spilled the beans about the sale of the Habs long before it would have been public info.So as you can see only about half of the time does the public know which teams are for sale and who is actually chasing the purchase. The rest of the time we find out when the sale announcement is made.So my hunch, which recent NHL history shows to be true, is that there are teams for sale at any given time. However, when you consider the financial state of certain teams, there is no question the owner would sell it in a heartbeat if similar dollars were offered to them.The real question is how many teams are for sale and would be "portable". . . more »