Make it Seven - Page 3

stemmer stemmer:

But it's not Bettman's decision. It's the Board of Governors... AND if they disapprove of Bettman's actions he will be fired.... It's their money (NHL owner's) that is at risk not Bettman's...

True, but he carries a lot of influence.

The issue isn't operating costs and on-the-books accounting losses. What matters is franchise value. The owners in these shit markets can't allow their investments to disapear because they do many things for them: 1. Asset value allows them to secure credit against the business; 2. Paper losses are tax deductible; 3. Sell-out value means capital gains; 4. Sports franchises employ enough people to qualify for all sorts of labour-sponsored "free" money.

If Balsillie is offering $212M for a franchise that's likely not worth $100M in Phoenix, this ought to be intriguing for other owners with struggling franchises. I can't see why the other owners would object to a transaction that effectively sets the market value of your assets at twice what you know they're worth. I don't get it.

I can see the owners wanting to preserve the Ontario market for expansion franchising, but I don't get why they would object to a $200+M sale.

http://thespec.com/article/565594

A "non-relocation covenant" in an arena lease deal with the Coyotes requires all home games to be played at the Jobing.com Arena for at least 30 seasons, the city says.

There's also the legal matter of the NHL or Coyotes signing a guaranteed lease with the city of Glendale guaranteeing they will keep an hockey team in Glendale. Apparently if the team is pulled the fine maybe more then what Baslillie is paying for the franchise..

Why can't the league expand in Canada.

We could easily support 5 more NHL teams.

-Southwest Ontario (probably Hamilton as it has a metro population of 700,000 not to mention proximity to Oakville and Missisauga)
-Winnipeg (metro area of 700,000)
-Saskatoon (metro area of 240,000, plus many small cities within driving distance)
-Halifax (metro area of 400,000)
-Quebec City (metro area of 715,000 people)

I think all of those markets could easily sustain NHL teams. Why is this commissioner so hell bent on screwing over Canada?

Every team in Canada right now represents a city with a metro population of over a million.
Quebec City and Winnipeg couldn't hold on to their teams, and Edmonton seems to have the small but ever-present threat of losing the Oilers.
It would also seem that every US team represents a local population base in excess of one million.
The GTA might be able to support a second team, but I don't see who else realistically could.

stemmer stemmer:

There's also the legal matter of the NHL or Coyotes signing a guaranteed lease with the city of Glendale guaranteeing they will keep an hockey team in Glendale. Apparently if the team is pulled the fine maybe more then what Baslillie is paying for the franchise..

That's interesting as well. If there's a Chapter 11 ruling, then this could be re-negotiated just like any other obligation. If there's a Chapter 7 ruling, then the franchise ceases to exist and the lease disappears. I don't see there being much chance that the lease will be honoured. Bankruptcy protection offers several ways out of it.

if Judge Baum rules in favour of Coyotes owner, Jerry Moye's intent to sell to Balsillie on the condition the team is allowed to move to Hamilton, an auction will commence soon after.

And this is where it could get very interesting.

If necessary, the National Hockey League could consider making a rival offer, above the $212.5 million purchase offer made by Balsillie.

hurley_108 hurley_108:

Every team in Canada right now represents a city with a metro population of over a million.
Quebec City and Winnipeg couldn't hold on to their teams, and Edmonton seems to have the small but ever-present threat of losing the Oilers.
It would also seem that every US team represents a local population base in excess of one million.
The GTA might be able to support a second team, but I don't see who else realistically could.

There are so many factors. If we have an on-par dollar, there shouldn't be any problem supporting more teams in Canada. When the exchange rate starts dipping below $0.85US, then it gets difficult. Also, if NAFTA rules regarding subsidization were enforced on US teams, the playing field would be greatly levelled.

I think Ontario could support 2 more teams. One more in Toronto and one in K-W or Hamilton. Toronto could EASILY support another team. A team in K-W could draw from Kitchener, Waterloo, Guelph, Hamilton, Brampton and London, plus all of rural western Ontario. That's well over 1M people. Quebec, Winnipeg and Edmonton DID support their teams until American subsidization (thanks a lot, St. Louis) and a weak dollar squeezed them out. Get rid of the franchises in unviable, subsidized locales and that would take the inflationary pressure off potential Canadian locations, where fans ACTUALLY want to go watch hockey.

The players are the single largest asset to the Phoenix Coyotes and every player has concerns about their future and the future of the franchise.

And the National Hockey League Players' Association is on the outside looking in at the moment but they do have a legal team at least monitoring what's going on with the bankruptcy case in Phoenix.

If the court rules in favour of relocation on June 22, you may see the players and the NHLPA take a more active role.

For example, captain Shane Doan has a no-movement clause. So does that literally mean he's not going to move? Does that mean a breach of contract? Doan negotiated that deal because he and his family want to stay in Phoenix. They built a house there, they raise horses there and they're a significant part of that community. And he has three years remaining on his contract at $4.55 million per season.

The question hasn't been asked yet but if you get to June 22 and the bankruptcy court rules in favour of relocation, regardless of what the NHL does, the NHLPA will start asking those questions.

Yeah but there is the implication the NHL guaranteed a team would remain in Glendale not the Coyotes franchise....

Too bad Jim....

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=281971

Maybe next time stop being a bully and use honey and not bullets...