[NYCdog]

Well, in Hicks defense...........YES there is actaully a line of defense for this guy.........

It is understandable why he lets players leave over money, specifically pertaining to the Stars. In the Stars case, the NHL might not exsist after this season. With the CBA contract about to expire and players taking a har line stance, this is the absolute worst time to have a strike, which will probably happen. Especially, when you consider the fact that league-wide attendance and TV ratings are at an all time low for the sport and big market teams like the LA Kings (whom are trying to hide there books) are in the red and on the verge of bankruptcy. With combined lossess totaling $273 million dollars, a strike would kill about half the franchises in this league, and leave the few survivors on life-support.

So in Hicks defense...........why would you throw your financial support behind this financially doomed league?

To me sadly (a lifelong NY Ranger fan), the league is done for and will have its tombstone etched in September. Rumor has it up here though that if the NHL collapses as expected, the AHL will probably become the new major league hockey market and its small market clubs would be moved to larger cities to form the old NHL clubs ie........Rochester moving to NYC to become the new Rangers or remain the Americans, Grand Rapids to Detroit to become the new Red Wings etc..........Expansion Franchises could be another option to get other big markets in the fold.

The only teams in the present day AHL that would stay in its present location would be Chicago, Toronto, Philadelphia, and Houston.

So if your in luck, if Hicks or any other Dallas investor decides to reinvest into professional hockey again after the NHL dies, maybe Dallas could be the future home to the Rampage (formely of San Antonio).