Gretzky gets the shaft from NHL and Balsillie

Wayne Gretzky must feel like he is back in the World Hockey Association.
About 30 years ago, when the WHA was on its last legs before he became the key to a merger with the National Hockey League, he used to wonder whether he would get paid. Today, he is again wondering.
The NHL, wannabe owner of the terminally-ill Phoenix Coyotes franchise, has confirmed that it will not honour Gretzky's $8 million coaching and personal services contract.
"But we are going to do everything we can to make sure Wayne Gretzky gets paid," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Toronto Star.
The how and the who will have to come later.
Never mind that Gretzky propped up the money-bleeding Coyotes for many years with his presence alone. Simply put, the Coyotes would be in much rougher shape financially if Gretzky had not lent his name to the re-located Winnipeg Jets franchise now destined for destruction in the desert.
Save the legal arguments about whether Gretzky is entitled to the money. Ditto the rants that he already has enough cash.
He signed a contract in good faith, and he has fulfilled his duties. More than adequately? Maybe not, as some of the hockey decisions go with the Coyotes. But definitely when it comes to serving as an ambassador for the NHL in the southwestern U.S.
For details, see numerous California-raised prospects, including Jon Blum, who helped the Vancouver Giants win a Memorial Cup, and Kyle Bigos, who scored the winning goal for the Vernon Vipers in the 2009 RBC Cup final against the Humboldt Broncos. Gretzky's trade from Edmonton to the Los Angeles Kings in the late 1980s, around the time Blum et al were entering the world, fostered a minor-hockey movement that is now paying big dividends.
If not for Gretzky, there would not be three NHL teams, all relatively strong financially, in California. Nor would there have been any incentive for placing a club in Phoenix, which also had an ill-fated WHA franchise.
Meanwhile, Jim Balsillie has decided to give Gretzky the shaft, too. The Research in Motion co-founder, who wants to buy the Coyotes out of bankruptcy and move them to Hamilton, is also refusing to honour Gretzky's contract. Even though Gretzky said Balsillie, persona non grata in the NHL owners' private box, would be good for the league, and the NHL's all-time scoring leader is a good fit for a potential Hamilton franchise based near his Brampton, Ont., hometown.
However, Balsillie is not as culpable as the NHL, because he was out of the loop while Gretzky was enhancing expansion opportunities for commissioner Gary Bettman and his buddies over the past two decades.
As Daly suggests, the NHL will probably find a way to pay Gretzky. (Bet on an endorsement contract or marketing deal of some kind.)
But he still deserved much better treatment after he gave the NHL much more than $8 million worth of goodwill, while having little or no say in Phoenix ownership's terrible financial moves.
It's just too bad that Kyle Turris, entering his second NHL season, is not quite up to Sidney Crosby's level. Mario Lemieux had planned to sell his ownership stake in the Pittsburgh Penguins but instead, wisely, hung on after the Pens, through random draft-lottery luck, were able to pick Crosby first overall.
Had Turris developed a bit more quickly, Gretzky probably could have found new financing for the Coyotes. Even with the lousy lease deal at Jobing.com Arena.
Turris may eventually become a superstar, but not in Phoenix. If he does, he can thank Gretzky for his mentorship.
Unfortunately, NHL brass said thanks for nothing after all that Gretzky has done for the league since his move from the WHA.