Bettman responsible for Coyotes' mess

A friend of mine is a Coyotes season-ticket holder.

He’s put up with the losing and the bad trades and the bad coaching over the years because he thinks hockey is the greatest sport to see live. He has a seat behind one of the goals, and he constantly raves about the action and atmosphere.

But my friend isn’t renewing his season ticket this year. He’s sick of the Coyotes’ ownership saga, so much so that he wouldn’t be incredibly upset if the team left town.

I can’t say I blame him.

Judge OKs bidders who want to move Coyotes

This has become a disaster of Titanic proportions. The Coyotes still don’t know who their owner will be, and they may not have an answer by the Oct. 3 start of the regular season. They don’t have a TV contract. Their season-ticket base is dwindling, and sponsors are scurrying away like cockroaches when the light comes on.

With all due respect to the Los Angeles Clippers, the Coyotes are the most screwed-up organization in professional sports.

There’s plenty of blame to go around. But one man is primarily responsible, and it’s not Jerry Moyes and Jim Balsillie or Ed Beasley and Jerry Reinsdorf. No, this was orchestrated and then exacerbated by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.

Bettman made two monumental mistakes:

First, he thought hockey would thrive in Sun Belt markets and that the NHL would become the second most popular sport in the United States.

Had Bettman not been so consumed with carving out his legacy, he would have realized that the NHL never will get a foothold throughout the U.S. because it’s largely a geographical sport and it doesn’t show well on TV.

But then Bettman made matters worse. Balsillie was willing to pay an exorbitant sum ($212 million) for the debt-ridden franchise and move it to Hamilton, Ont., where its value would have immediately doubled.

Instead of getting on his knees and thanking God that someone was willing to purchase the Coyotes, however, Bettman let his personal animosity with Balsillie cloud his business judgment. He put the league’s well-being second to his ego.

Now look what he’s left with.

Reinsdorf is threatening to pull his offer because details of the proposal were leaked by the Moyes camp. But even if he remains a bidder, what kind of deal is he offering? No cash up front, creation of a special tax district that would generate $23 million a year and if the team is still losing money after five years – which it will be – the city of Glendale will have to pay him $15 million annually or allow the team to be sold and relocated.

That’s not a legitimate offer. It’s extortion.

Then there’s Ice Edge Holdings LLC, which wants to play five regular-season games and at least one home playoff game in Saskatoon while the ownership group professes its love for Glendale.

Oh, and Ice Edge also wants to give Wayne Gretzky an even greater role in the organization. Because he’s, you know, been so successful as the coach.

Balsillie has his warts, too, by the way. He tried to circumvent league policy by going behind-the-scenes to work out an agreement with Moyes. He’s been too brash and too outspoken for his own good.

But is his bid the best resolution for the league, if not the Valley? Without a doubt. And yet Bettman and the NHL continue to fight him at every turn.

What will Bettman do if the Sept. 10 auction date comes, and Reinsdorf has pulled his offer and Ice Edge Holdings hasn’t followed through on his proposal? Is the NHL really willing to take a $30 million hit to run the Coyotes this season, even as Balsillie has his checkbook out?

Bettman keeps insisting this will all work out, and the Coyotes will be stronger than ever.

Given his track record, how can you believe him?

More importantly, how can you believe in him?