more Penguins

more thoughts: with Blackberry/Research In Motion CEO Jim Balsillie pulling out of the Penguins sale this week due to some late-game stipulations by the NHL, a number of questions are still on the table:

1) the obvious: what was the tipping point in the deal? was it, as is strongly rumoured, that the NHL put into place a virtual ban on moving the franchise under nearly any circumstances, even if a new arena is not built in Pittsburgh? or something else?

2) i'm admittedly iconoclastic and suspicious by nature, but i have to think that the signs are pretty obvious where this is heading: Balsillie had stated a desire to keep the Penguins in Pittsburgh as a first choice. For what it is worth, I believed him. However, due to various political issues a new arena is hardly likely and Balsillie's nationality and geographic location (Waterloo, Ontario - about an hour west of Toronto) made it seem likely that if the Pens were to move, Southern Ontario - or possibly elsewhere in Canada - would be the likely destination.

Which is exactly what Gary Bettman does not want.