Land of the Leaf

Here we go again, the Cold War is back on as Jim Balsillie submitted an offer to buy the Phoenix Coyotes with a condition allowing him to relocate the franchise to Ontario.  There’s no way in hell that Gary Bettman wants to pull the plug in sunny Phoenix for the frozen highways of Southern Ontario.  He won’t even pull the plug in Nashville, and don’t forget that Kansas City is prepared to house a team right now.

Ian White left the World Hockey Championship yesterday.  That’s the closest thing to Maple Leaf news I’ve got.

It looks like Roberto Alomar is off the hook with that wacky AIDS lawsuit.  Never mind that his ex-girlfriend Ilya Dall doesn’t even have AIDS, or that she’s just bat-shit crazy.  I’m still puzzled by her description of Alomar’s symptoms:

“Purple skin, too sick and weak to walk … foaming at the mouth, couldn’t swallow, and a spinal tap proved (Alomar) was indeed suffering with full-blown AIDS.”

Alomar’s current girlfriend seems like a much kinder girl:

(hat tip to Mopupduty)

The Toronto Argos have brought back a familiar face to serve as the team’s new president.  Bob Nicholson was president of the club from 1994-1999, and he’ll reprise for the upcoming season. When in doubt, just bring back the old boss.

Pierre McGuire is among the front runners for the vacant general manager position with the Minnesota Wild.  McGuire’s first moves if he is to get the job:  sign some monsters and bring Robert Petrovicky back to the NHL.