But firstly, the Chicago Blackhawks has signed the Stanley Cup jinx Marian Hossa. Fans of the Windy City will be hoping the man can break the jinx this coming season and help bring the cup home to Chicago next year. Hossa was playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 07/08 season and took part in the Stanley Cup final against Detroit Redwings. The Penguins went down in six matches, after which Hossa packed his bags and went to Detroit to have a chance of winning the cup. Jump ahead to this spring and Hossa was once again in the Stanley Cup Final, now with his Detroit against his old club Pittsburgh. This time round it was Pittsburgh's turn to win the cup, leaving Marian Hossa on the losing side once again. It was brave of Chicago to take on this Jonah; will they help him break the jinx?
The NHL has not only been concentrating on the Stanley Cup Final and the Entry Draft these past weeks. There's been a lot going on behind the scenes, not least the possible move of Phoenix to Canada! That is the Phoenix Coyotes to Ontario. The franchise was earlier located in Canada as was known as the Winnipeg Jets, an NHL club rich in tradition. The franchise was moved to Phoenix in 1996 and changed its name to the Phoenix Coyotes. The new franchise's financial problems culminated during the season to match their lack of success on the ice and owner Jerry Moyes filed for bankruptcy in early May this year and planned to sell the franchise to Blackberry owner and Canadian Jim Balsillie. The idea was to move the Wayne Gretzky trained club to southern Ontario. Straight after the bankruptcy filing, the NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly stated the NHL was to remove Jerry Moyes from "all positions of authority" in the club. They were going to fight bankruptcy and make sure the franchise remained in Phoenix for the sake of the fans and the other NHL clubs. The last I heard, a judge had set August 5 as a deadline for the sale of the club to a local buyer in order to keep the franchise in Phoenix but gave a September backup date for a sale and relocation to Hamilton, Ontario. There will probably be a lot of issues left to settle between now and the new season.
All the best.
