FOR SOME NHL TEAMS IT IS TIME TO GO

In a recent issue of Forbes Magazine, writer Tom Van Riper lists the Top 10 Sports Franchises Most Likely To Move. I can't help but think he is way off base in putting some of these teams on the list. For one, I don't think the people of Buffalo will allow their beloved Bills to call any other city home. I also don't think the San Francisco 49'ers will go anywhere either, not with the history that they have. The Raiders are the Bay Area franchise most likely to go, if one of them is to pack up.

Three NHL teams do crack the list, and here is where I do agree with Van Riper. The Phoenix Coyotes, Nashville Predators, and New York Islanders are all listed, and I think at least one of them will pack up soon enough. The Coyotes, who moved to the southwest from Winnipeg in 1996, have struggled to draw fans and win games, despite having Wayne Gretzky, the greatest hockey player of all time, as it's coach. It is a team with no rich tradition, and no true fan base, in need of a fresh start.

The Nashville Predators have been a joke since they were added as an expansion team in 1998. The franchise is valued at $143 million, dead last in the NHL. In the past three years, they have drawn an average of under 15,000 fans per game, and are in the nation's 39th largest market. The Preds have no reason to stay in Tennessee. In it's 10 years in the league, Nashville has made the playoffs a respectable four times, but have never really come close to winning a series. Putting this team in a better market will only help the sport.

And finally, we come to the New York Islanders, the only really big market team on this list. The problem is the Isles share a market with the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils, two far more popular teams than them. They play in an outdated arena-the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum opened in 1972- and won't be getting a new rink any time soon. The franchise's value has dropped from 12th in the NHL three years ago ($160 million) to 25th this season ($149 million). Despite playing in the league's largest market, the Islanders rank dead last in per-game attendance in 2008. A move would benefit them just as much as anyone else.

But where would these teams go you ask? There is only one logical answer: Canada. Canada is the true home of hockey, and its a disgrace that the NHL only has six teams north of the border. There is absolutely no reason why cities in the southern United States, where hockey doesn't mean a thing, have teams but places like Winnipeg, Hamilton, and Quebec do not. The people there would watch and even go to the games (unbelievable!), yet the NHL continually ignores them because there are fewer people that live there than a big American city with no roots to the game. The NHL truly is the laughing stock of professional sports in the United States. The only way it will be able to turn its fortunes around is a move back into the great white north.