NHL bid open to Coyotes' relocation

"By acquiring the team at this time, the NHL will be able to salvage the team’s 2009-10 season and can establish a more constructive timetable in which to solicit acceptable offers from qualified parties, including, if a potential buyer wishing to keep the team in Glendale cannot be found, conducting an organized process to relocate the franchise in another territory,"

After months of saying that they want to keep the team in Phoenix, and are dedicated to doing so, the NHL's bid to own the team allows for it to be moved.
Sorry, Coyotes fans.

over 2 years ago Karina 38 comments 0 recs |

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seriously, I have never felt more sorry for Odin than I do right now.
It looks like he’ll probably lose his team in the next couple of years. That sucks.

"Life is just a place where we spend time between games. Hockey is where we live, where we can best meet and overcome pain and wrong and death." - Fred Shero

by Karina on Aug 26, 2009 9:05 PM EDT reply actions

Condolences

to Odin

but to be perfectly honest, I don’t think this comes as a surprise whatsoever

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by Winkle on Aug 26, 2009 9:09 PM EDT reply actions

What to do?

Do you assume it’s inevitable and give up on the team? Or do you work as hard as you can to save the team?

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on Aug 26, 2009 9:10 PM EDT reply actions

from what perspective?

as a fan? Man, I’d be working my ass off to keep my team in my city.

"Life is just a place where we spend time between games. Hockey is where we live, where we can best meet and overcome pain and wrong and death." - Fred Shero

by Karina on Aug 26, 2009 9:12 PM EDT up reply actions

I’ll never discourage fans from fighting the good fight, but like the ’Peg City fans know, fan support is not the problem with this NHL bid.

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by bkblades on Aug 26, 2009 9:37 PM EDT up reply actions

exactly

but they are getting royally screwed over.
At least with Winnipeg and Quebec, the NHL basically gave up on keeping the teams in those cities right away.
It sucks way more to have all these promises that your team will stay, only to find out they were hollow.

"Life is just a place where we spend time between games. Hockey is where we live, where we can best meet and overcome pain and wrong and death." - Fred Shero

by Karina on Aug 26, 2009 9:45 PM EDT up reply actions

Gary Bettman makes a hollow promise? SHOCK!!!

BE CLEVER OR I SEVER!

by Clawson on Aug 26, 2009 9:49 PM EDT up reply actions

With, of course, the almost certain knowledge that the desires of a fan base are about the very, very last thing in a GM/Owner’s mind. That is to say, unless the fans have some massive boatload of money they’re willing to give, there’s very little you can do. Plus, Bettman.

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by kidkawartha on Aug 27, 2009 10:02 AM EDT up reply actions

It depends on how the new “owner” runs the team. In the Grizzlies last season in Vancouver it was tough to decide what to do. On one hand the owner had blatantly lied about wanting to move the team so it sucked to think that any money spent on the team would end up in his pocket.
On the other fans still wanted to see NBA games while they could.

by yrmom on Aug 27, 2009 1:09 AM EDT up reply actions

this doesnt surprise me at all, the NHL probably will move the team to Vegas just to stick it to Balsille

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by JaredFromLondon on Aug 26, 2009 9:14 PM EDT reply actions

or Kansas or imagine, Oklahoma

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by blindfolded tank driver on Aug 26, 2009 9:17 PM EDT up reply actions

I only feel bad for the fans, like Odin. Raw deal for each of them.

Brain: The irony of it all, Pinky. Years of trying to take over the world, and all I had to do was say "truculence".
Follow me I'm Boring!

by blindfolded tank driver on Aug 26, 2009 9:18 PM EDT reply actions

I too feel bad for Odin. I don’t see a real way the Coyotes will stay in Arizona now.

On the other hand if Balsille wins and gets a team in Hamilton that opens up job opportunities for me… so I give a selfish “woohoo!” here too.

In the Name of the Holy Truculence

by steve_w on Aug 26, 2009 10:22 PM EDT reply actions

Well… if that ain’t a kick in the ass to Odin and the Coyote fans. Bettman and the NHL have effectively killed all the hopes of Coyote fans by basically admitting there is a significant chance the team will move out of Phoenix in the very near future.

And the NHL’s bid is only $140M US? Really?? How is the judge going to accept that bid instead of Balsillie’s if his primary concern is satisfying the creditors? Unless he ends up basically telling Jerry Moyes to stuff it…

Being a Leaf fan here requires one to be sufficiently lubricated... and truculent!

by stucky on Aug 26, 2009 10:26 PM EDT reply actions

In what way did the league think $140M was going to convince the judge if their bid includes relocation? Are they pretty much signing off on the damages they would have to pay the city when they left? How is the Board of Governors seeing this as a good move by the league?

In the Name of the Holy Truculence

by steve_w on Aug 26, 2009 10:30 PM EDT up reply actions

The same way that he would have let the Reinsdorf one through at marginally more. Simply because the dollar amount is higher does not make Balsillies’ offer worth any more. Since a good chunk of money goes to Moyes who, quite frankly shouldn’t get a damn dime. The other offers leave him out of any calculations. THe other big thing is as soon as you try moving the team, the City of Glendale is going to claim MASSIVE damages for lost lease and tax revenues. It opens a whole new can of worms for the Judge to figure out.

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by Travis Hair on Aug 27, 2009 2:16 AM EDT up reply actions

As a person who has had my favourite team taken away before I feel bad for the die hard Yotes fans like Odin. That said I don’t see how it can be disputed that the league would be better off with a team in Hamilton then a team in Phoenix.

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by Brad Ackerson on Aug 26, 2009 11:37 PM EDT reply actions

well

there’s a higher population and more untapped corporate support in Phoenix than Hamilton.
A Hamilton franchise may not effect MLSE but it’s unknown what effect there could be on Buffalo.

The potential is there in Phoenix, but has the team been marketed well enough? Is there a grass roots hockey movement that could see an increase of fans? Could responsible ownership make it work? Nashville looked like they were done when Leopold had them for sale, but they turned it around in just one season – who says the same thing couldn’t be done in Phoenix?

"Life is just a place where we spend time between games. Hockey is where we live, where we can best meet and overcome pain and wrong and death." - Fred Shero

by Karina on Aug 27, 2009 1:14 AM EDT up reply actions

I think we can confidently say

There is no corporate support based in Hamilton that is supporting a team in Buffalo. The optics would be too weird.

All we’re talking about when it comes to the impact on Buffalo is dollars from ticket sales. People will still go to Buffalo to watch games, because guess what… they’ll still be cheaper than games in Hamilton.

There’s NO way that Ballsillie doesn’t charge top dollar for games at Copps Colliseum. He’s not in it out of the goodness of his heart, despite what he keeps telling people. If he was, he wouldn’t care where the team played. The idea that he’s moving it to Hamilton is purely because it’s one of the most profitable locales where the team can play. He wants to make more money doing something he loves. Ballsillie is a billionaire for a reason, and it isn’t magnanimity. If people think Ballsillie is virtuous in all of this they’re delusional. The guy is just out for what he wants, and he’d keep do more of the same in Southern Ontario.

The fact that the market could bear two teams that charge ticket prices like the Leafs do hasn’t escaped Ballsillie’s notice… believe me. If people think this is going to be NHL hockey at AHL prices, they need a wake up call.

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm."

- Sir Winston Churchill

I'm pretty sure he's talking about the Leafs.

by Steve Burtch on Aug 27, 2009 1:38 AM EDT up reply actions

If people think this is going to be NHL hockey at AHL prices, they need a wake up call.

And that’s basically what a big chunk of people think that they will be getting.

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on Aug 27, 2009 9:59 AM EDT up reply actions

Thank you

for injecting some rational thought into the delusioned who think that hockey in Hamilton will be “affordable”

A Nation of Masochists I can't believe "Stay Truculent!!!1" replaced goodbye.

by furcifer on Aug 27, 2009 10:02 AM EDT up reply actions

question

how much were the seasons tickets he was pre-selling when he thought he’d be able to buy the Preds and move them to Hamilton?
I thought they were significantly cheaper than Leafs season tickets.
It won’t be AHL prices, but there will be more readily available than for the Leafs, and with the new passport restrictions for crossing the border, how many fans are going to want to stop before they get to Buffalo?
It’s hard to say what the effect will be on Buffalo, but it’s quite possible it could be a negative effect. Don’t over look that.

"Life is just a place where we spend time between games. Hockey is where we live, where we can best meet and overcome pain and wrong and death." - Fred Shero

by Karina on Aug 27, 2009 11:32 AM EDT up reply actions

well yes, thats season tickets, but regular tickets would probably at least be Canadian average price (which the leafs are pretty close to)
and the cheap season tickets were pretty much just a ploy to throw public support behind his bid

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by JaredFromLondon on Aug 27, 2009 12:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Which he’d have been contractually bound to honour….

Leaf, the universe and everything.

by 1967ers on Aug 27, 2009 1:44 PM EDT up reply actions

of course, for one season, as far as i was lead to understand the tickets were just for their inaugural season. Who is to say he doesnt jack up the price next year?

Refusing To Bow To Your Standards Since 2006

by JaredFromLondon on Aug 27, 2009 1:48 PM EDT up reply actions

After reading the NHL offer. WHich I have a copy of, it’s essentially an escape hatch in case the league isn’t able to sell the team by the end of the season. With the league in charge there’s no reason they couldn’t be dealt at a cheaper price to keep them in the market if that’s what the NHL wants. What happens is that The league will basically lease the team back from Moyes and if no sale can be completed then it basically goes back to BK court to be sold all over again.

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by Travis Hair on Aug 27, 2009 2:12 AM EDT reply actions

Which is still not a good thing.

This keeps slipping farther and farther from a good ending.

In the Name of the Holy Truculence

by steve_w on Aug 27, 2009 8:07 AM EDT up reply actions

Snow Job

Bettman and the current owners would rather lose millions of dollars than accept that their southern States strategy stopped working when Gretzky moved to the Rangers. They should accept that a hockey team will likely won’t succeed in a city that gets no snow or that has to close its schools with 1/4 inch of snowfall.
Their current tactic of bidding for the Coyotes shows that they will go to any lengths to backstop that failed strategy.
Sad story… stupid actors.

by leosc on Aug 27, 2009 9:41 AM EDT reply actions

They should accept that a hockey team will likely won’t succeed in a city that gets no snow or that has to close its schools with 1/4 inch of snowfall.

Guess that means they should move/fold the Vancouver Canucks as well

A Nation of Masochists I can't believe "Stay Truculent!!!1" replaced goodbye.

by furcifer on Aug 27, 2009 10:05 AM EDT up reply actions

well they should do that, but for other reasons

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by JaredFromLondon on Aug 27, 2009 10:09 AM EDT up reply actions

#4

most profitable franchise in the NHL, dude.

"Life is just a place where we spend time between games. Hockey is where we live, where we can best meet and overcome pain and wrong and death." - Fred Shero

by Karina on Aug 27, 2009 11:33 AM EDT up reply actions

yeah, but its the canucks

Refusing To Bow To Your Standards Since 2006

by JaredFromLondon on Aug 27, 2009 12:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Vancouver gets snow.

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on Aug 27, 2009 12:18 PM EDT up reply actions

but

our schools do close for 1/4" of it

"Life is just a place where we spend time between games. Hockey is where we live, where we can best meet and overcome pain and wrong and death." - Fred Shero

by Karina on Aug 27, 2009 12:25 PM EDT up reply actions