In the wake of the rising Canadian dollar many American NHL franchises have been feeling the pinch. After the past 30 years many American franchises have become accustomed to their Canadian brethren swimming with lead water wings, weighed down by a currency that at one point reached a low of $.62 when compared the the US dollar. A Canadian team hasn’t won the Stanley Cup since 1993, in part because of the disparity in the dollar values.

“How do they expect us to compete against these Canadian teams? I guess it’s kinda lucky we have a salary cap now, or else we might be in big trouble.” said Lou Lamoriello, General Manager of the New Jersey Devils. Since the Canadian teams collect gate receipts in Canadian funds, they are definitely benefiting from this upturn since they pay their players in US dollars. If the Canadian dollar keeps trending upward it will definitely go a long way towards many people’s dream of having some of Canada’s wayward franchises return back to their native land. “If we keep losing ground to the Canadian dollar, I would definitely think about moving the team.” said Peter Karmanos, owner of the Carolina Hurricanes. “I already moved this team once, why wouldn’t I move to greener pastures in Winnipeg or Flin Flon if it made financial sense?”

“I’ve always been focused on growing the league in the US, but if we can make more money in Canada then it only makes sense to move that direction.” said Commissioned Gary Bettman, who has long been opposed to any moves back to Canada. “Unless local government can come up with something in the way of a subsidy for our small market US teams it may be inevitable that they will look to Canada. Moncton is the new Las Vegas when it comes to relocation options.”

“We’ve enjoyed this competitive advantage over the Canadian clubs for years, and ideally we’d like this gravy train to continue. If we could get say, a 40% subsidy on the US dollar from local and state government it would help restore the competitive balance that the league has had for years.” said Red Wings GM Ken Holland. “It only seems fair, just to maintain the status quo that everyone has become accustomed to.”