So how goes the hockey team?

[realcity]

Originally Posted by flar

^^Nice designs.

The way the NHL is these days the team would probably be called the Hamilton Destruction or the Ontario Velociraptors or some other stupid thing.

haha so true

If we got a team, the NHL would have a fight from the locals to NOT change to original design. I love the old H and tiger face.

[Distill3d]

Originally Posted by Berklon

Nice.

However, if Hamilton were to get an NHL team (I can't believe it's 2009 and we're still waiting for a team) I'd love for them to stick with the yellow and black colours (ala. the old Tigers uniforms and the Ti-cats).

i'd love to see that too, but i think that Pittsburgh and Boston have that market cornered.

[Berklon]

Originally Posted by Distill3d

i'd love to see that too, but i think that Pittsburgh and Boston have that market cornered.

Actually Pittsburgh no longer uses the regular gold or bright yellow colour for their uniforms. They use "Vegas Gold" which almost looks like bronze - so I think Boston would be the only similarity.

[SteelTown]

Gillett ponders sale of share in Liverpool FC

Reuters
By David Ljunggren
http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2009/03/23/sports/OUKSP-UK-GILLETT-LIVERPOOL-CANADIENS.php

U.S. businessman George Gillett is considering the sale of his sporting assets including Premier League club Liverpool and the Montreal Canadiens, a senior executive at the NHL team said on Monday.

"The Gillett family has retained the services of financial advisors in order to assess various strategic alternatives to optimize the value of its corporate assets," communications vice-president Donald Beauchamp told Reuters.

He confirmed a story in the French-language daily La Presse which said Gillett had hired a total of four financial firms in Europe, the United States and Canada to look at all Gillett's properties, including Liverpool.

In Canada, financial company BMO Capital Markets will examine the future of the Canadiens, the Montreal Bell Centre where the team plays and the Gillett Entertainment Group.

Canadiens president Pierre Boivin told the newspaper that the decision was linked to the economic crisis and what he said was the unwillingness of banks to finance even very good projects.

"We're talking about a very large range of firms and assets which are good companies. There is Liverpool, NASCAR, the Canadiens and the Bell Centre," Boivin said. Beauchamp confirmed that the quotes were accurate.

POSSIBLE OUTCOMES

Boivin told La Presse there was a range of possible outcomes for Gillett's holdings.

"This could involve refinancing, this could involve the arrival of new investors or -- purely and simply -- the sale of certain assets," he said, stressing that the process of studying what could be done had only just started.

There has been speculation for months that Gillett was looking to sell the Canadiens. He denied that this was the case in December.

Gillett owns 80.1 percent of the Canadiens and 50 percent of five-times European champions Liverpool.

Gillett and co-owner Tom Hicks have endured a stormy relationship since taking control of Liverpool for 218.9 million pounds in February 2007.

Neither man wants to sell his stake to the other. Last year Gillett said he was prepared to sell his holding to Dubai International Capital but a proposed deal fell through.

A spokeswoman for BMO Capital Markets confirmed the firm had been retained by Gillett but gave no further details. Both she and Beauchamp said they did not know which European and U.S. firms were also acting for the businessman.

The Canadiens are one of Canada's best-known and successful hockey teams and are celebrating their 100th anniversary this year.

Any move to sell the team and base it somewhere else would undoubtedly trigger huge protests from the Canadiens' passionate fans.

One potential bidder could be Jim Balsillie, the billionaire founder of high-tech firm Research in Motion. Last year he failed in a bid to buy the struggling Nashville Predators and move them to Hamilton in southern Ontario.

[SteelTown]

Another NHL team for Toronto?
Hamilton not part of this equation

April 23, 2009
The Canadian Press
http://www.thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/553422

TORONTO — The Globe and Mail says a senior National Hockey League official met with a group of business people who want to bring a second team to the Toronto area.

The Globe quotes sources as saying the unidentified group met for 2 1/2 hours with NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly in downtown Toronto last week.

They also met with Paul Kelly, the executive director of the NHL Players’ Association. Both declined to comment.

The paper says the group proposes to build an arena in Vaughan, on land north of Pearson International Airport that’s owned by businessman Victor De Zen.

One source said the group’s market research showed a second team would not significantly impact the revenues of either the Toronto Maple Leafs or the Buffalo Sabres, provided that it is located in the northern part of the Metro Toronto area.

Recent attempts by Research in Motion co-CEO Jim Balsillie to move a franchise to Hamilton have been rebuffed by the NHL. Rumours persist that he wants to bring one of several troubled teams to southern Ontario, but the hockey establishment has lined up against him.

That does not appear to be the case with the group looking at a north-Toronto team.

The owner of the Maple Leafs, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, has said it would not consider allowing another team into its territory without concrete data to demonstrate the Leafs position in the marketplace would not be compromised.

There has been much speculation that the Phoenix Coyotes are ripe for a move. The franchise is tied to an arena lease in Glendale, Ariz., until 2033, but the team lost an estimated US $35-million this year.

The NHL stepped in to keep the team afloat this season, and there is speculation the league may attempt to negotiate a deal to break the Glendale lease, in order to sell the club to a new owner.

[matt602]

Well guys, looks like the mighty urban influence of Vaughan has ousted Hamilton. Let us all behold our new leader. Canada's rising star, here!

[flar]

Just sickening

[oldcoote]

Vaughan?

The Vaughan Bass Pro Shops!

[realcity]

this is F***d. north Toronto sprawlville is okay for another team but not one in the center of the Golden Horseshoe.

[Berklon]

They're saying the meeting was a standard "let's hear them out" sorta thing. They do this for all types of proposals, and apparently they're no closer to a 2nd team in Toronto.

If Toronto were to get a 2nd team, I'm pretty sure that would severly decrease any chance of Hamilton getting a team. I'm seriously getting sick of all the BS in trying to get a team - it feels like we're closer than ever (with so many markets in the US failing), yet it doesn't feel like it's ever going to happen.

[matt602]

I don't recall Balsillie or Hamilton getting a "let's hear them out" meeting.

[SteelTown]

Balsillie have met and phoned with both Bill Daly and Bettman, especially during the Hamilton Predators time. It's no secret Paul Kelly would like a team in Hamilton with Balsillie as owner. Hell even Whitehead has talked to Bettman in the past.

[SteelTown]

NHL team for Vaughan?
Hamilton councillor decries rationale of Sabres market

April 24, 2009
John Kernaghan
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/Sports/article/553952

Don't write off Hamilton as a National Hockey League destination so quickly, a city councillor said yesterday.

A proposal for a team located north of Toronto that could sideline Hamilton's hopes wouldn't have a them-and-us rivalry, says city councillor Terry Whitehead.

"Vaughan is on the outskirts of Toronto, we'd be a distinct rival," Whitehead said.

He was responding to a published report claiming the NHL apparently doesn't want Hamilton in future plans due to the damage a franchise here could do to the Buffalo Sabres.

"The Department of Homeland Security is a bigger problem for the Sabres than a team in Hamilton," Whitehead suggested.

He noted border delays for Canadian fans trying to get to Sabre games was a major problem.

Given that, he noted a team in Vaughan could also pull fans away from the Sabres.

Meantime, the NHL confirmed meetings with a group of unnamed businessmen seeking a team for Vaughan.

But a league statement said "there is no consideration of bringing a second franchise to Toronto."

It added expansion is not on the horizon and there is "no desire to relocate any of our existing franchises."

Whitehead, who has been in touch with the camp of businessman Jim Balsillie in the past, said the fact NHL deputy commission Bill Daly met with interested parties suggests the NHL is at least considering southern Ontario.

He said he has not been in contact with Balsillie's people recently but assumes the Research in Motion magnate is keeping a low profile after a bold attempt two years ago to bring the Nashville Predators to Hamilton.

Whitehead believes Balsillie is quietly working on alliances within the NHL as he plots his next attempt to win a franchise.

Businessman Ron Foxcroft, an acquaintance of Balsillie, believes the BlackBerry billionaire still burns to be an NHL owner and not the absentee kind while he runs his business in Waterloo.

Moreover, the long-time Hamilton sports figure believes ongoing economic conditions will begin to put pressure on NHL franchises in the southern United States to relocate to solid hockey markets.

Hamilton's advantage would be a ready-made arena in Copps Coliseum, which Balsillie has vowed to upgrade to NHL standards, Foxcroft noted.

The numbers cited for the Vaughan proposal add up to close to $800 million, almost half of that in a new arena complex, a difficult project to finance in tough economic times.

[BCTed]

This Vaughan thing is a complete non-story (at least for now). It is not big news that the league has agreed to meet with a group of people about a proposal or a potential proposal. It's not as if an expansion team for Vaughan has just been granted.

And Jim Balsillie has had plenty of "hear them out" type of meetings.

[BrianE]

Could this be a group of land speculators trying to hype up the value of their property?

"Sure $3 Million per acre is expensive... but didya hear? They're going to build a stadium on this land. I heard it in the Globe and Mail."

[Berklon]

Union, league — heads over relocation

http://sports.theglobeandmail.com/servle.../?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20090427.wsptnhlpa27

[matt602]

I'm still freaking furious about this Vaughan —. Words cannot describe.

[Berklon]

Originally Posted by matt602

I'm still freaking furious about this Vaughan —. Words cannot describe.

I really have a hard time believing that MLSE would allow another team (and more importantly) resulting in another arena in Toronto. The franchise won't do much in cutting into Leafs hockey profits, but a new arena will definitely cut into the ACC's share of events. The odds are very low the same event will play two different arenas in the same city. It'll usually be one or the other.

Hamilton currently takes very few events (if any) away from the ACC. If a new arena in Hamilton draws more events, it still doesn't exclude those same events taking place in Toronto as well.

Sharing the ACC is out of the question, as the ACC can't host 41+ more hockey games. I have to believe a new arena is a real threat to MLSE and it may actually work in Hamilton's favor since if MLSE has to cave in - they'll choose Hamilton.

Of course this is my theory and MLSE can try to screw everyone over by giving nothing to noone.

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by matt602

I'm still freaking furious about this Vaughan —. Words cannot describe.

There is nothing of substance to the story. It's not as if Vaughan has been granted an expansion team.

[markk]

NHL in control of Coyotes: report
CBC Sports

The NHL has taken control of the financially troubled Phoenix Coyotes, according to a report Wednesday on the Arizona Republic's website.

Ed Beasley, the city manager in Glendale, Ariz., told the Republic that the league actually took over the Coyotes in February, when it lent the team money to keep it in business.

The Coyotes have had trouble paying their bills recently — including rent, parking fees and security costs owed to Glendale in connection with the use of Jobing.com Arena.

"The NHL is in charge of the team right now," Beasley told the newspaper. "We have assurances from the NHL the money will be paid .… We are sitting down with the NHL and working confidentially with them, and the city expects to be paid in full."

While the NHL has lent money to several teams in the past, assuming control of a team is a move rarely seen in professional sports.

Canadians may remember the Montreal Expos being taken over by Major League Baseball earlier this decade.

As part of the loan agreement with the Coyotes, the NHL had the right to take over the franchise if the loan was not paid.

"We have been told from the NHL that they are responsible for the team," Beasley said.

It's not clear exactly what role the NHL is playing in the operation of the Coyotes. The status of majority owner Jerry Moyes is also unknown.

Moyes bought the Coyotes in 2001, five years after the team — then known as the Winnipeg Jets — moved from Winnipeg. He has been looking for new investors amid reports that the team is losing upwards of $20 million US a year.

Cue Jim Balsillie