There are mixed feelings among Canadians concerning billionaire businessman Jim Balsillie's bid to purchase the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes and move them to southern Ontario.

A new poll suggests almost 67 per cent of Canadians believe the country could support a seventh NHL team, but most doubt Balsillie's attempt to set up shop in Ontario would succeed.

Nationally, 63 per cent of respondents to the Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey said another NHL team could thrive in Canada, while 19 per cent disagreed.

The confidence was widespread — 77 per cent of respondents in Alberta, 73 per cent in British Columbia and 66 per cent in Ontario thought Canadians could support another NHL franchise.

But most respondents also said the BlackBerry wizard's attempt to buy the bankrupt Coyotes won't fly.

Overall, 41 per cent said it was unlikely Balsillie's bid, now before a U.S. court, would succeed, while one in three (34 per cent) said it was likely Balsillie would be successful.

The survey of just over 1,000 Canadians was conducted May 7-10 and has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Optimism for Balsillie's bid was highest in Ontario, with 40 per cent of respondents saying they believed the entrepreneur would win.

Nationally, almost half of respondents (47 per cent) said they believed NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has no interest in bringing another NHL team to Southern Ontario, or anywhere else in Canada.

After Balsillie's bid became public, he started a website in support of the idea called www.makeitseven.ca that attracted more than 25,000 supporters overnight.