Just because the Atlanta Thrashers relocated to Winnipeg this summer, it doesn’t mean there is franchise stability in the NHL.

Two teams — the Phoenix Coyotes and New York Islanders — face tumultuous times, with questions surrounding whether they’ll remain in their current locations.

And further muddying the picture is just where the teams think they might move to.

Winnipeg had a willing buyer and an available arena. Quebec would love to have a team, and media giant Quebecor would love to own it, but the city doesn’t have an arena, although it does have plans for one. Kansas City has a rink, but no willing owner. Ditto Seattle and Houston.

The matter is most pressing for the Islanders, whose lease at the nearly 40-year-old Nassau Coliseum is up in 2015. Owner Charles Wang hopes an Aug. 1 local referendum will approve a $400 million bond issue to pay for a new Nassau Coliseum and ballpark.

Wang, who says he has lost $250 million on the Islanders since he took over the team, has long touted the project as an attempt to keep the team in Long Island by making it profitable. This is the closest he’s gotten to approval after years of infighting among local Republicans and Democrats.

In an interview with Newsday, Wang said that without a new arena, the team “certainly cannot stay” after its lease with the county expires in 2015.

Wang garnered the support of county officials and labour unions that say it will generate revenue, increase employment and provide a core development.

“It’s so important to do this for Long Island,” Wang told Newsday. “It won’t solve all our problems, but without it the future is bleak.”

The $400 million bond issue would finance a new arena and minor-league ballpark and would be repaid over 30 years with interest, with Wang also paying rent to the county. The lease would call for the Islanders to stay for 30 years.

The Islanders are long past their glory days of Mike Bossy and Brian Trottier, and attendance reflects that. The team was last in home attendance at 11,059. But with young stars such as John Tavares and Michael Grabner, the team appears to be on the rise.

Wang has said a new arena for his team is “Plan A” — and there is no Plan B.

Glendale, home of the Coyotes, is also a locale without a Plan B.

In May, city council agreed to pay $25 million to the NHL to keep the team in Glendale another season. Would-be owner Matthew Hulsizer walked away in frustration last month.

There always seem to be “unnamed” persons interested in buying the perennial money-losing team; the latest best hope is that Jerry Reinsdorf is interested again. It was Reinsdorf — owner of the Chicago White Sox and Bulls — who had expressed an interest in keeping the team in Glendale while it was in bankruptcy.

But a deal is critical for Glendale, says the Arizona Republic. The city borrowed $180 million to build the Coyotes’ arena and makes debt payments of about $8 million to $10 million a year, and is counting on team fees and sales-tax dollars from fans who shop and dine near the rink on event nights to help cover the annual bill.

If Glendale council has a Plan B, it’s not saying what it is.

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“The city’s focus has been, and continues to be, keeping the Coyotes in Glendale for the long term,” city spokeswoman Jennifer Stein told the Republic. “This continues to be one of the top priorities for the city.”

Glendale officials have said if the Coyotes leave, the city could lose more than $500 million in sales-tax revenues and others fees.

But if the Coyotes or Islanders had to move, where would they go? If the Isles have until 2015 in Long Island, that might give officials in Quebec enough time to build a new Colisee.

In the U.S., however, the economic downturn means fewer are willing to take a risk on NHL teams in non-traditional markets. Seattle popped up as a possibility, but lacks an owner and there are questions about its rink. Houston is an intriguing possibility, but so far no would-be owner has stepped forward.

Kansas City has long been touted as deserving a second chance at the NHL after opening up its $276 million Sprint Centre, but again, no would-be owner has come forward.

“You have to have some kind of local buyer,” former NHL star Luc Robitaille, now president of business operations for the Los Angeles Kings, told the Kansas City Star. “I don’t know to what level were the talks in Kansas City, but there were some rumblings from time to time. What happened with Winnipeg is they had this buyer who was willing to do whatever it took for that.”

The operator of the Sprint Centre is Anschutz Entertainment Group, which owns the L.A. Kings. NHL bylaws prevent one owner from owning two teams. Tim Leiweke, president of AEG, is a member of the NHL executive committee, which oversees team relocations.

But as things stand, Kansas City’s Sprint Centre may be better off without either an NHL or NBA team as an anchor tenant.

Kansas City mayor Sly James told the Kansas City Star that if a mediocre basketball or hockey team became an anchor tenant there, the city would suffer.

“The trade-off is that teams won’t come to an arena and pay millions,” James said. “They want a sweetheart deal on their lease and locked-up dates.”

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