FanHouse Jim Balsillie

The National Hockey League has plenty of irreverent, delusional, confrontational owners, often found on the edge of scandal. Some of them even end up not going to jail.

Don't you think it's time Jim Balsillie got his shot?

Balsillie is a 48-year Canadian businessman with a dream of bringing an NHL franchise to Hamilton, Ontario. Actually, calling it a dream three years and three teams into his pursuit seems trivial. Balsillie is on a mission.

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.

On Wednesday, the presiding judge in the bankruptcy case of the Phoenix Coyotes stated that all bids would be reviewed for the auction that is set to take place on Sept. 10. That ruling allows Gary Bettman's mortal enemy ... err ... I mean, Jim Balsillie a shot at owning the team.

Despite a unanimous, dark, backroom vote of no confidence in Balsillie by the league last week and numerous statements against his potential ownership, the NHL is fighting a battle that it cannot control the outcome of. No matter how they want to spin it, the league is fighting an uphill battle against the billionaire and the court whose service is to the team's creditors and not the NHL.

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."

The old saying "third time's the charm" doesn't appear to apply to Jim Balsillie.

The very rich Canadian gentleman has seen yet another attempt to buy an NHL team for his friends in Hamilton go up in smoke. Monday, a bankruptcy court judge in Phoenix rejected Balsillie's bid for the Coyotes, clearing the way for the franchise to stay in Phoenix. The Coyotes join the Penguins and Predators as teams Balsillie has unsuccessfully tried to buy and move to Hamilton, Ont.

While the National Hockey League continues to fight for what they feel is right for the Phoenix Coyotes, it appears they have some friends in high places.

Commissioner Gary Bettman isn't going into this fight alone. Filings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court Monday included statements from the National Football League, National Basketball Association, and Major League Baseball.