Some experts believe Jim Balsillie's bid to buy the Phoenix Coyotes and move them to southern Ontario has put a light on the hockey market in the area. (Dave Chidley/Canadian Press)

Given all the roadblocks, Jim Balsillie might not be able to pull off the back-door play past the NHL and move the Phoenix Coyotes to southern Ontario.

His efforts, however, might be enough to get a team in the region eventually.

Some experts think that Balsillie's actions have put a spotlight on the southern Ontario hockey market like never before, and it could end up bringing a team to the area sooner rather than later — whether it's run by the BlackBerry maker or not.

"I think there is and has been for some time a lot of interest, for probably a large number of moneyed people, [in] having [another] National Hockey League franchise in southern Ontario," said Gordon Kirke, one of Canada's leading sports lawyers.

"I think what Mr. Balsillie's actions have done is to stir up people who have that interest, and they're saying, 'Well if Mr. Balsillie's in the mix, we want to be in the mix too. We want to be considered if there's going to be a new franchise in and about Toronto.'"

Balsillie has offered to buy the Coyotes out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy for $212.5 million US on the condition that he can move the team to southern Ontario — specifically, Hamilton.

Other possible bidders

The NHL is currently challenging the proposed sale in an Arizona bankruptcy court. The league claims that Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes gave up the right to sell the club by signing a proxy last November.

The league also claims it controls any potential relocation through its constitution and the needed approval of its board of governors.

Since Balsillie, the billionaire co-CEO of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, announced his intentions for the Coyotes, several different groups have come out of the woodwork to test the waters on a possible bid to found a new team in southern Ontario.

Rumours swirled around a Vancouver group that was interested in moving the Atlanta Thrashers to Hamilton. And there is also an interested group led by former NHL player and referee Kevin Maguire, who talked to the league about a possible franchise for the Vaughn area in northern Toronto recently.

Now there's another Toronto group that's surfaced, and it also wants to put a franchise somewhere in the city. The group says it has $1 billion in funding from private backers.

With several other groups rumoured to be interested in moving or locating another NHL team in the area, it's clear Balsillie has opened the up the floodgates with his offer on the Phoenix franchise.

"When you have somebody making a case for relocation, they're going to look at this market. And they're going to do a bunch of work on [ticket sales, sponsorship, arena cost, etc.]," said Maury Brown, a sports business analyst who is the founder and president of the Business of Sports Network in Portland.

'This is very good for the league'

"That's a huge thing. That gives another owner an idea of how much money they need to spend," he said. "So this is very good for the league. They get somebody doing the legwork for them, basically saying 'Look, the market's viable.'"

But unless Moyes wins the court case and Balsillie is able to move the Coyotes north right away, some people believe hockey fans likely won't see another franchise in southern Ontario for a few years yet, either through expansion or relocation.

"Does [the Coyotes case] speed up the process? Perhaps," said Kirke. "But I suspect that the National Hockey League is only going to do it when it feels the time is right.

"It may not be now, or they would've been doing it [already]."

With these other potential bids in play, it could mean that Balsillie might not be the one in control if another team manages to find its way to the Golden Horseshoe or its surrounding area.

"I think the problem is [the NHL] doesn't like this 'bull in a china shop' attitude going on," said Brown, who added that he thinks Balsillie won't get another shot at a team if the judge in the Coyotes court case rules against him.

"He's basically leading the league around by its nose right now," he said.

On the other hand, you could also argue that the NHL isn't interested in another southern Ontario team at all, considering how hard the league has fought to keep Balsillie — who's on his third try at purchasing a franchise —out of the owner's box.

Interest in the U.S.

"I think the NHL's interest is south of the border," said Richard McLaren, a sports and bankruptcy law professor at the University of Western Ontario. "More for their strategy of trying to get better U.S. exposure, so they have a better shot at a national TV deal.

"For investors, their interest would lie in the 'States because they can get a good portion of the infrastructure built with public money, which they can't do in Canada."

When it's all said and done, the key in this whole thing might come down to a matter of timing. As a few NHL teams continue to struggle in paying their bills, these potentially big-money offers become increasingly attractive.

"The thing about it is, if it's not the Coyotes, then it's the Islanders," said Brown. "And if it's not the Islanders, then it's the Predators."

Thanks to Balsillie, everybody knows where these teams would be welcomed with open arms.

"I think that Hamilton has to be sitting at the top of the [relocation] list now," Brown said. "I don't see why not."