Faceoff Factor

The 12 Hates of Christmas: Day 3

Mike Wilson | National Hockey League

Dec 15, 12:48 PM | Hype this story!

On the third day of Christmas, Bettman doesn’t want the Preds to go…to Hamilton, Ontario.

The tenth biggest hate of 2008: Bettman block’s (or simply quiets) yet another Balsillie purchase.

Gary Bettman and Jim Balsillie hate each other

We all know the story of Jim Balsillie by now. He’s a wealthy Canadian businessman who as an affinity for hockey and would love to bring an NHL team to his hometown of Hamilton, ON. Bettman pulled his plug whenever he hinted he would move the Penguins there and did the same when he wanted to buy the Nashville Predators.

All was going well until William “Boots” Del Biaggio III, who was supposed to buy the Predators got into a little trouble with the law. It wasn’t long before people began whispering Balsillie’s name once again.

Bettman moved quickly and offered any support he could to Craig Leipold and the Predators front office…and in his own little way was saying something like “we’ll do anything we can…just don’t sell it to Balsillie.” Currently, the team is owned by Predators Holdings LLC, which consists of eight Nashville businessmen/women.

Now we can all agree that Jim Balsillie has a great love for hockey and would be a great owner, but where most didn’t agree when his name came up over “Boots gate” this summer is whether or not the NHL needs a team in Hamilton, Ontario.

Since I’m just mentioning it on the 12 hates of Christmas, I’m not going to include the opinions in this section. That way we can all keep in the Christmas cheer and not get into heated debates. Either way, Bettman and Balsillie don’t like each other and we continued to see that throughout 2008 and I’m sure we’ll see it for years to come.

Tomorrow, the fourth day of Christmas, two general managers get at each other’s throats…again.