Balsillie, Hamilton cut NHL deal

The
Canadian Press

Hamilton
is moving a step closer to getting
an NHL team.

Canadian
billionaire Jim Balsillie and the city are close to announcing a deal that
would make

Hamilton
the only destination if Balsillie buys and then moves the Nashville Predators,
the Globe and Mail reported Wednesday.

Jim
Balsillie is trying to buy the Predators for $220 million US.

(Carolyn Kaster/Canadian Press)

A source
familiar with the negotiations said

Hamilton
city council hopes to announce the deal after meeting Wednesday.

Last
month, Balsillie signed a letter of intent to buy the cash-strapped Predators
for $220 million US.

Balsillie,
co-chief executive officer of BlackBerry manufacturer Research in Motion in

Waterloo, Ont., is
scheduled to meet the NHL’s board of governors later this month to get approval
for the deal.

The new
agreement would take the Kitchener-Waterloo region out of the running.

It had
been speculated that Balsillie wanted to move the Predators to the location of
his company’s headquarters.