Hockey is Canada’s Game! Regardless of your viewpoint on that statement, Canada is the reigning gold medalist from last year’s Olympics. There is not much that can be debated there. Canada has some of the strongest hockey markets in the NHL, including the Montreal Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks, Toronto Maple Leafs (I put them here because of fan support, not because of the actual quality of team (sorry Toronto Fans)), and also the Calgary Flames. 
I can personally say that I am a die-hard Canucks fan, and will always be a Canucks fan, regardless of where I eventually end of living. And as an NHL fan in general, it is very easy to see that parts of the league are struggling, and luckily for us, there is a solution that can and should be implemented.
One NHL blogger, Eklund, sometimes has quite interested articles, and today he decided to talk about the possibility of bringing more teams to Canada. Unfortunately, one of the worst markets in the NHL, Phoenix, is about to be sold and will remain in Phoenix, even though they lost millions of dollars last year. However, Eklund states that he was told by a source that: “I can almost guarantee you the NHL will be back in Winnipeg and Quebec within 3-5 years.” 
That is pretty good news for Canadian Hockey fans in general as well as the fans in those respective cities. Personally, I really do not think the NHL can go wrong with going back to either, if not both, Winnipeg and Quebec. Both cities already have NHL history, have loyal fans that would instantly start buying tickets, and have the markets to support NHL teams. Places like Phoenix, Florida, Atlanta, and even Dallas (unfortunately one of the largest falls from grace in terms of revenue and fan support) are having extremely difficult times filling the seats in their arenas.
Another positive in my opinion is that, supposedly Eklund gets a “sense the bad blood has faded between the NHL and Balsillie” which could be great for the NHL. I realize there was a lot more said than actually published, but it is ridiculuos that the NHL does not want an owner like Balsillie. The owner of RIM, Balsillie is a true hockey fan, and would be an amazing owner in my opinion. Granted, he isnt your stereotypical high paid exec only in it for the money, and the NHL may have a problem with that, but they cannot deny that he has a great amount of passion for the game.
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