02:32 AM ET  09.17 | Inquiring minds want to know - why did the NHL owners vote 26 - 0 to keep Jim Balsillie out of the ownership ranks? Balsillie was accepted a few years ago when he was trying to buy the Penguins. What has changed? The only thing that I can come up with is that Gary Bettmann has pictures of the owners in compromising positons. Why else would they vote against a move to hockey mad Southern Ontario? The NHL has instituted revenue sharing. If a team makes money, everybody wins. If a team loses money like Phoenix (to the tune of $34 million a year) the rest of the owners ante up. The other thing I don't understand is why the owners would support the NHL buying the Coyotes. If the shoe were on the other foot, and they were in the place of Moyes, wouldn't they want recoup their losses? Why are they supporting Bettman in a low ball bid that would see neither Moyes or Gretzky be paid any of the money they are owed by the team? How would Richard Peddie of the Toronto Maple Leafs feel if his ownership consortium was owed tens of millions of dollars? You can bet your ass that the pressure would be on Bettman to get the highest bid possible. Now, I can understand why you cannot move a franchise without the permission of the league. It would like buying a Macdonald's and telling the head office you are moving across town. But surely even Bettman can see hockey in the desert is dead. Last night 2,000 people showed up for a preseason game with the LA Kings. More people will line up to see the new Twilight movie. You know who I really feel sorry for? The players. They have been forgotten in this debacle. While Bettman and Balsillie are bickering, the players are wondering what to tell their kids. Will they be able to finish school with their friends? Should the players put their houses up for sale in one of the driest real estate markets in the U.S.? Bettman and Balsillie - each of you grow a pair, act like gentlemen, sit down and work out a reasonable transfer fee to move the Desert Dogs to Hamilton. It is going to happen, it is only a matter of time. End the misery.