A second suitor has stepped up to bring an NHL team -- this time the Atlanta Thrashers -- to Hamilton, reports say.
According to the Hamilton Spectator, city mayor Fred Eisenberger city will meet with a group of Vancouver investors Monday about the lease of the city's Copps Coliseum.
''By next Tuesday we will have a clearer picture of where we are,'' Eisenberger told The Spectator. ''We're in the middle of discussions with Mr. Balsillie and his group and I will be meeting with the second group. We need to understand their intentions. It's fair to say I will be talking to that second group."
The Globe and Mail reports that the group of Vancouver investors -- believed to include developer Tom Gaglardi and former NHL owner Nelson Skalbania -- wants to move the Thrashers to Hamilton for the 2010-2011 season.
The city is already in negotiations over the lease with Blackberry billionaire Jim Balsillie, who is trying to bring the Phoenix Coyotes.
Speaking with Â鶹´«Ã½net Saturday, Eisenberger said he was cautiously optimistic about Balsillie's chances, but admitted the Research in Motion co-CEO is facing an uphill battle with the NHL.
He said the city has a rink that is already NHL ready and said there's a "pent up demand for hockey in the greater Toronto, Hamilton, Waterloo, Niagara area that can't get access to the Toronto Maple Leaf games."
"We got about nine million living in this market area, so there's no doubt this population can support another franchise," he said.
He added that he thought the economic dynamics of the NHL has changed and that the league's Board of Governors would be willing to give Hamilton a team.
However, the mayor said he doesn't think NHL commissioner Gary Bettman feels the same way, and will be a "challenge."
