NEW OWNERSHIP MEANS PREDATORS MIGRATING NORTH?: SIGNAL TO NOISE reports the recent sale of the Nashville NHL franchise might lead to the Predators moving up north:

The team was purchased by Jim Balsillie, who made billions selling Blackberrys (the device, not the fruit). He tried to buy the Penguins recently, but the Canadian Cash Machine gave up, reportedly due to the league’s insistence that the team stay in Pittsburgh.

The Predators will remain in the Volunteer State for now, but there is an out. If average attendance at the Sommet Center dips below 14,000 for the season, the team can exercise an exit clause. But does the new guy have the Balsillies to take the team out of Tennessee?

(China’s been rumored to want a hockey team, too.)
There is precedence for this sort of thing, as the Calgary Flames were originally in Atlanta before skipping off to Alberta. And the St. Louis Blues were mighty close to being shipped to Saskatoon.

This isn’t the first case of NHL Southern Discomfort. THE ONION riffed on the apathy when the Carolina Hurricanes won it all last year. And just as funny, but actually true, was the story of a man tearing off Canes jerseys from statues because they were a “distraction”.

So, don’t be surprised in the next few years if you see the Winnipeg Predators facing the Halifax Thrashers. Of course, since it’ll be on TV via Versus, you won’t *actually* see it.