FanHouse Jerry Reinsdorf

Thursday is a big day for the National Hockey League. As its 30 teams prepare to open training camps, the league and commissioner Gary Bettman continue to fight for the right to handle the Phoenix Coyotes as they see fit.

The bankrupt franchise goes to auction Thursday, and a field of four bids appears to have been whittled down to just two. The league will be up against the original buyer, Canadian businessman Jim Balsillie. While the NHL insists that the franchise be allowed to stay in Phoenix, Balsillie's purchase is contingent on him moving it to Hamilton, Ont., and making it the seventh Canadian franchise in the league.

The drama continues.

Jerry Reinsdorf, the owner of the Chicago White Sox, has pulled out of the running to purchase the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes. Long thought to be the favorite to land the franchise, which has been in bankruptcy since the spring, Reinsdorf apparently had enough of former owner Jerry Moyes, as well as the so-far futile efforts to renegotiate the club's lease at Jobing.com Arena. In his place, the NHL has placed a bid. This leaves one to wonder how Coyotes fans feel about Gary Bettman taking over their team.

The temperature was over 90 degrees here on Long Island for the second day in a row. So, about two months late, summer has finally arrived in my neck of the woods. Glad to see that it could take the time to finally stop by. But along with the heat comes a weird time in the hockey news cycle. Basically, anything and everything is a story. Alright, so the Patrick Kane twenty-cent-cabbie-punch thing is a pretty big deal, even if he ends up getting acquitted. But other than that the hockey media -- myself included -- is really just grasping at straws to write about which reminds me, has training camp started yet?

Let's start with Theo Fleury. It's all well and good that the 41-year old with a long history of off-ice issues that derailed an otherwise successful career is trying to give it another go. You can't hate on a guy for giving it a shot. But let's realize the hurdles that Fleury left for himself to jump.

As we go under 60 days until the start of the 2009-2010 NHL regular season, the Phoenix Coyotes' situation still is unresolved. It appears we are about a month away from getting to that point.

With an auction set for Sept. 10 to finally solve this quandary, the bankruptcy court judge overseeing the franchise's case has ordered Canadian Jim Balsillie's bid to be accepted into auction. Judge Redfield Baum ruled that all bids -- both to keep the franchise in Phoenix and to relocate it -- are to be accepted in auction.

If there is a financial crisis going on in the world today, the NHL may still be oblivious to it. While teams have cut staff and offered huge deals to try and sell tickets the league isn't too worried when it comes to getting a return on franchises that are up for sale. Or maybe they just wanted to stick it to Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes for taking the team to bankruptcy court in May.

Either way, the NHL rejected Jim Balsillie's bid to buy the Phoenix Coyotes. Instead, they unanimously selected Jerry Reinsdorf's bid that was $64 million less than Basillie's. Somehow I don't think will sit well with Moyes. Nonetheless, the NHL does not have the final word as the bankruptcy court will make the final decision. The court had previously asked for the league's recommendation, prompting the vote of confidence in Reinsdorf.

The Phoenix Coyotes saga has gotten many headlines during this NHL offseason. For the league, it has the potential to be a serious black eye, as they have insisted they can make this work in Phoenix/Glendale.

Reports that the club lost $60 million in 2008-2009 would indicate this is an untenable situation, one that no ownership change is going to solve. The NHL thinks that the franchise still has a chance to succeed, and there are two groups who have shown their intent to take the NHL up on this challenge.

NEW YORK -- Friday is the court-ordered deadline to submit bids for the bankrupt Phoenix franchise, but only one term sheet had been officially submitted as of Thursday morning, from the group that includes Jerry Reinsdorf, owner of the White Sox and Bulls.

There is also interest from a second group, and, according to NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, there might be a third in the wings. In an interview with FanHouse in his Manhattan office Thursday, Daly said that he just got off the phone with a third party that "expressed interest."

It has become quite clear that the NHL intends to keep the struggling Phoenix Coyotes where they are. Unless the bankruptcy court decides in favor of a bid from Blackberry founder Jim Balsillie, there is little chance the franchise will relocate.

This sentiment was made even stronger Friday, when league deputy commissioner Bill Daly spoke to The Canadian Press.

The Phoenix Coyotes are in limbo. With a hearing Thursday in front of a bankruptcy court judge looming, the NHL appears dead-set against allowing the agreed-to sale of the team to Jim Balsillie stand.

Commissioner Gary Bettman was in Arizona Tuesday, and the league will represent the team at the Thursday hearing. Word now is that the league is working with Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf to put together a bid for the team.

The NHL hasn't had a franchise relocation since the Hartford Whalers became the Carolina Hurricanes in 1997. Longtime commissioner Gary Bettman appears determined to keep that record intact.

Upon news that the Phoenix Coyotes had filed for bankruptcy and that owner wannabe Jim Balsillie had made a bid for the franchise, Bettman and the league reacted quickly. Based on what has been said in the last 18 hours, you can bet they're going to do what they can to keep the Coyotes in Glendale.