Balsillie's Back

[JohnnyCanuck 0]

As long as Bettman is in charge and trying to justify his existence: When hell freezes over.

See this is the feeling I am getting too. I know the league is digging in its heels to a certain extent because of Balsillie's end run antics, but it seems like there was less resistance from the NHL when Winnipeg and Quebec relocated.

That said, maybe a Phoenix, Winnipeg/ Quebec comparision is an apples to oranges arguement.... I was fairly young when those teams moved and might be a little fuzzy on the details of the League's position at the time.

When Quebec and Winnipeg relocated they had old arenas and were told that they would not get help in building new ones. Those arenas would not allow them to compete financially and would have resulted in both franchises filing for bankruptcy within a few years had they not been sold and relocated. Funny that people complain about those two but never mention Hartford moving to Carolina. And it's not like Denver has been a bad market for hockey. At worst you have one out of three relocations that hasn't been a success, so far.

Correct, 100% agree with Chadd.

Quebec City and Winnipeg had neither the ownership or the municipal help to get buildings that would allow them to limp out the bad $.60 CDN Dollar at the time... In both cases re location was truly the only solution.

The funny thing with Hartford to Carolina was that the Carolina ownership and management group were always in the thick of it whining about player costs and the need for a cap, yet these were the donkeys that drove the prices up on players by doing things like offering an offer sheet to Sergei Federov to drive the cost of him up on the Wings...

I would never call Carolina a hockey town, yet I am amazed at how well they do there. There is a prime example of a good team putting a decent product on the ice in an area with NO pro sports save NASCAR, doing a good job supporting something other than College Basketball.

The only really bad relocation was Winnipeg to Phoenix, not bad in that Winnipeg should have been allowed to keep their team, because that is a falacy imho, but because of how the thing has gone in Phoenix by moving to the burbs and having a very bad bad lease agreement that is/was too protectionist for the City of Glendale. The Yotes need to sell out and really merchandise well to turn a profit, because they get no spinoff revenue from the building's parking, concessions etc... Now look at the deal the Panthers have...they get their building for a song, and as part of their lease they operate the building, and get to keep moneys generated by other events, concessions, parking etc. That is probably a chief reason the Panthers haven't been attempted to be moved/hi-jacked by Balsillie by now.

[kosydar 0]

There is a lot of good info on Balsillie's attempts, the Copps Coliseum, and how badly the Coyotes screwed up when they build the new arena in this weeks Sports Business Journal.

[JohnnyCanuck 0]

The Yotes didn't build the new building, the building was built with them and the NLL lacrosse team in mind as chief tenants.

[kosydar 0]

The city of Glendale built the arena, but they and the Coyotes signed a 30 year $180 million deal to pay off the building, plus an additional $40 million in cost overruns. For all intensive purposes the Coyotes built it and the city financed it.

[JohnnyCanuck 0]

yes, but the Yotes don't operate it, they receive no kickbacks from parking, concessions, extracurricular rentals etc...

In Tampa and for the Panthers they get those perks.

It's so bad I read the Yotes players and management actually have to pay to park at the building? I don't know if that is true or not, but wouldn't be surprised through how bad that lease really is.

It's as if they knew that the Yotes were going to struggle and made it as hard to walk away as possible.

[Ahriman 1]

Thank you!

My funniest experience was in Vegas at the hockey trade show...I walk into the Mission booth and I never paid for wi-fi for my laptop at the show, neither did any of the Mission employees. But they're sitting there with their computers on.

I asked them if they had a password, they didn't pay for it either. So, I calmly pull out my laptop, my USB sync cable, hook it up to my Treo, fire up my tethering software, and within 5 seconds on I'm on MSH. And the Mission guys stop playing games on their iPhones and look at me in amazement and say "HOW DID YOU DO THAT?"

It's called tethering. Tethering is perfectly possible with a jailbroken iPhone. It's AT&T who won't allow it. The iPhone is no less capable, but by AT&T's request it was crippled in that regard.

[Chadd 916]

Just about any modern cell phone is capable of tethering

[RecLeagueHero 0]

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=422803

[JohnnyCanuck 0]

It's an NHL penned article with quotes from an NHL XM Show on the NHL Website.

How could they get their facts wrong? ;)

Actually the facts aren't wrong, the context is.

[JR Boucicaut 3760]

Thank you!

My funniest experience was in Vegas at the hockey trade show...I walk into the Mission booth and I never paid for wi-fi for my laptop at the show, neither did any of the Mission employees. But they're sitting there with their computers on.

I asked them if they had a password, they didn't pay for it either. So, I calmly pull out my laptop, my USB sync cable, hook it up to my Treo, fire up my tethering software, and within 5 seconds on I'm on MSH. And the Mission guys stop playing games on their iPhones and look at me in amazement and say "HOW DID YOU DO THAT?"

It's called tethering. Tethering is perfectly possible with a jailbroken iPhone. It's AT&T who won't allow it. The iPhone is no less capable, but by AT&T's request it was crippled in that regard.

I know what it is, I even used the word "tethering" in my post.

And I am well-aware of what a jailbroken iPhone can do. And I know why it has to be done for you to tether. And it violates Apple's warranty (although a full restore before you get the phone serviced will get around that.)

Too many hoops. But if you feel like you have to justify your purchase to me, there's truly no need. I'm quite content without that phone.

[furlanitalia 1]

In an ironic twist of fate, my iphone broke last night and I am forced to use a co workers old blackberry. This sucks.

[Ahriman 1]

Thank you!

My funniest experience was in Vegas at the hockey trade show...I walk into the Mission booth and I never paid for wi-fi for my laptop at the show, neither did any of the Mission employees. But they're sitting there with their computers on.

I asked them if they had a password, they didn't pay for it either. So, I calmly pull out my laptop, my USB sync cable, hook it up to my Treo, fire up my tethering software, and within 5 seconds on I'm on MSH. And the Mission guys stop playing games on their iPhones and look at me in amazement and say "HOW DID YOU DO THAT?"

It's called tethering. Tethering is perfectly possible with a jailbroken iPhone. It's AT&T who won't allow it. The iPhone is no less capable, but by AT&T's request it was crippled in that regard.

I know what it is, I even used the word "tethering" in my post.

And I am well-aware of what a jailbroken iPhone can do. And I know why it has to be done for you to tether. And it violates Apple's warranty (although a full restore before you get the phone serviced will get around that.)

Too many hoops. But if you feel like you have to justify your purchase to me, there's truly no need. I'm quite content without that phone.

You mistake my point for "defending" my purchase, which by the way, I did not say I used an iPhone on AT&T's network so I have no need to defend. I was pointing out that that I disagree with your characterization of an iPhone as a toy and pointed out that it is no less capable of the same feature set of a blackberry or other more "business" model phone. It just also happens to run Galaga.

[JR Boucicaut 3760]

Point taken, but I'll just say this...

Copy and paste.

:)

[Ahriman 1]

Point taken, but I'll just say this...

Copy and paste.

:)

OS update coming. :P

[Larry54 243]

The plot thickens!

DOCUMENTS SHOW BETTMAN WOULD FAVOUR WINNIPEG OVER HAMILTON

[chippa13 1844]

Much ado about nothing in this Winnipeg over Hamilton thing.

[Neal 41]

Much ado about nothing in this Winnipeg over Hamilton thing.

I very much agree. 2 of 3 things are going to have to happen before Winnipeg has an NHL team again.

1 - the salary cap drops $10M and the growth rate is locked to no more than 2-3% for the next 10 years

2 - a team becomes available below $150M

3 - oil is discovered under the old Jets arena.

[bdj 0]

As somebody who truely wants a team back in Winnipeg, It`s never going to happen.

[JJ Thompson94 0]

I don't know if someone mentioned this but... What are the chances the Yotes just fold up. What would it take for the NHL to just lose a team. (personally, I think that would be the best thing).

Also, If they do move to Hamilton, what is the NHL going to do with the balance of the conferences? Would they just move the western most located eastern conference team to the western conference.

[s Greens 0]

i wouldnt say it will never happen, but its a long ways away. There are people in Winnipeg with enough money to buy an NHL franchise, much like Balsillie is doing (not close to his money, but a few who could realistically put down that capital), but i think the financial turn around right now just seems too risky, especially with market uncertainty. (That being said, Winnipeg is probably one of the most financially stable cities in North America at the moment). I can dare to dream. GO JETS GO

[chippa13 1844]

The players' union will never allow the jobs to be lost.

[JGraz15 53]

i wouldnt say it will never happen, but its a long ways away. There are people in Winnipeg with enough money to buy an NHL franchise, much like Balsillie is doing (not close to his money, but a few who could realistically put down that capital), but i think the financial turn around right now just seems too risky, especially with market uncertainty. (That being said, Winnipeg is probably one of the most financially stable cities in North America at the moment). I can dare to dream. GO JETS GO

It's not worth debating really, Winnipeg cannot support an NHL team. They lack enough backing from local sponsors as well as enough people willing to dish out NHL ticket priced tickets over an 41 game home schedule.

[Chadd 916]

The players' union will never allow the jobs to be lost.

Who is going to fund the team over the next 12-18 months while this drags through the courts?

[chippa13 1844]

Players union lockout contingency pool?

[Chadd 916]

Roenick was on NHL live today and had some interesting comments about the situation. He said that as long as they are in the arena an hour or more away from most of the fan base, they will have problems in Phoenix. It's just too difficult for a lot of the fans to actually get to the games. Since contracts can be broken or renegotiated in a bankruptcy, maybe the team is better off back at the old barn than at the arena in Glendale.