So how goes the hockey team? - Page 58

markbarbera · #**1141** Posted **Sep 17, 2009, 11:39 AM**

Last night Phoenix Coyotes played their preseason home opener to a crowd of, er, 1000.

What is Glendale council thinking? Their team is going, one way or another. The only thing unresolved is where.

highwater · #**1142** Posted **Sep 17, 2009, 3:01 PM**

They're turning their noses up at Balsillie's $50 million, but my bet is they'll have to settle for alot less in the end.

matt602 · #**1143** Posted **Sep 17, 2009, 11:53 PM**

Wow... regular season Bulldogs games pull in more attendance than that.

emge · #**1144** Posted **Sep 18, 2009, 1:58 PM**

Moyes asks judge for mediation with NHL

Coyotes owner making a last-ditch attempt to negotiate settlement over future of NHL club
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/moyes-asks-judge-for-mediation-with-nhl/article1292143/

Phoenix Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes is making a last-ditch attempt to negotiate a settlement with the NHL over the future of the club.

Lawyers for Moyes asked the NHL this week to agree to mediation to resolve the ownership of the club. The league turned down the request on Wednesday and Moyes has now asked Arizona bankruptcy court judge Redfield T. Baum to order mediation.

“Considering the amount of fees associated with continued disputes in this court regarding the sale process and what could be a protracted appellate process … [Moyes] believes that a good-faith effort to arrive at a mediated resolution of the key sale issues would be in all parties’ interests,” Moyes’s lawyers said in a court filing yesterday.

The legal move comes less than a week after Moyes lashed out at the NHL, telling reporters he felt “betrayed” by the league.

“I just don’t think I’ve been treated right,” he said. “We spent two years trying to sell this team, trying to make it work in [the Phoenix suburb of] Glendale and it just will not work in Glendale.”

The request for mediation also comes as the NHL appears to be gaining the upper hand in the sweepstakes to buy the club.

The league has offered roughly $140-million (all currency U.S.) to buy the Coyotes and it has the support of the Glendale city council and several other Coyotes’ creditors. The NHL has indicated that it hopes to resell the club to a local buyer.
Moyes, who says he has sunk more than $100-million into the club, backs a rival $242.5-million bid from Canadian Jim Balsillie.

That offer would pay Moyes far more than the NHL’s bid. But Balsillie’s offer is contingent on moving the club to Hamilton, something the NHL has vowed to fight in court. The threat of litigation if Balsillie wins has led many creditors to back the NHL because they believe the league’s offer has a better chance of closing.

Baum still has to rule on which bid to approve. He could reject both and put the Coyotes into liquidation or, more likely, hand the club over to the NHL to continue to run.

In the court filing, Moyes acknowledged that he and the NHL “continue to disagree on certain issues central to the proposed sale” but he argued both sides should work with a mediator to find a solution.

emge · #**1145** Posted **Sep 21, 2009, 1:16 AM**

Empty seats not enough to attract Glendale to Balsillie

City rebuffs PSE offer of $25m, win or lose, for support

Last Updated: Saturday, September 19, 2009 | 5:22 PM ET

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/20...rss&loomia_si=t0:a16:g25:r1:c0:b27791582

Jim Balsillie sweetened the pot again, but the City of Glendale still isn't biting.

Even faced with a mostly empty arena.

Balsillie, the co-CEO of Research In Motion Ltd., reportedly attempted to entice the municipal council to back his bid for the Phoenix Coyotes in federal bankruptcy court by offering the city $25 million US, whether he wins or loses the case, but was turned down, according to the Arizona Republic.

If he wins the court case and is awarded the franchise, the offer would've been upped to $50 million.

"The city continues to support the NHL bid and reaffirms its efforts to work within the court process to find a resolution that keeps the team playing in Glendale," the City of Glendale said in a statement Friday.
Balsillie spokesman Bill Walker confirmed the modified offer to the Republic on Friday afternoon.

"We remain open to having a discussion with them about how we might reach an agreement that addresses their concern," Walker told the paper.

Glendale lawyers have argued in court that the city could lose up to $500 million US if the Coyotes vacate Jobing.com arena.

But the city could lose even more than that if early attendance figures are a sign of things to come.

According to the Phoenix Business Journal, the Coyotes faced Los Angeles in front of about 2,000 fans in their first home exhibition game on Tuesday.

In the second, against Anaheim on Friday, attendance "improved" to around 3,500, according to arena personnel and fans at the game.

Announced attendance for both games was 4,643 and 6,169, respectively.

The NHL also wants no part of the mediated settlement that Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes has asked the court to consider forcing on the league.

Earlier in the week, Moyes's lawyers requested that the court force the parties to the mediation table, but the NHL filed documents rejecting that idea on Friday. The league has rejected mediation throughout the five-month saga involving the club.

c@taract_soulj@h · #**1146** Posted **Sep 21, 2009, 7:02 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by emge

Empty seats not enough to attract Glendale to Balsillie

City rebuffs PSE offer of $25m, win or lose, for support

Last Updated: Saturday, September 19, 2009 | 5:22 PM ET

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/20...rss&loomia_si=t0:a16:g25:r1:c0:b27791582

Jim Balsillie sweetened the pot again, but the City of Glendale still isn't biting.

Even faced with a mostly empty arena.

Balsillie, the co-CEO of Research In Motion Ltd., reportedly attempted to entice the municipal council to back his bid for the Phoenix Coyotes in federal bankruptcy court by offering the city $25 million US, whether he wins or loses the case, but was turned down, according to the Arizona Republic.

If he wins the court case and is awarded the franchise, the offer would've been upped to $50 million.

"The city continues to support the NHL bid and reaffirms its efforts to work within the court process to find a resolution that keeps the team playing in Glendale," the City of Glendale said in a statement Friday.
Balsillie spokesman Bill Walker confirmed the modified offer to the Republic on Friday afternoon.

"We remain open to having a discussion with them about how we might reach an agreement that addresses their concern," Walker told the paper.

Glendale lawyers have argued in court that the city could lose up to $500 million US if the Coyotes vacate Jobing.com arena.

But the city could lose even more than that if early attendance figures are a sign of things to come.

According to the Phoenix Business Journal, the Coyotes faced Los Angeles in front of about 2,000 fans in their first home exhibition game on Tuesday.

In the second, against Anaheim on Friday, attendance "improved" to around 3,500, according to arena personnel and fans at the game.

Announced attendance for both games was 4,643 and 6,169, respectively.

The NHL also wants no part of the mediated settlement that Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes has asked the court to consider forcing on the league.

Earlier in the week, Moyes's lawyers requested that the court force the parties to the mediation table, but the NHL filed documents rejecting that idea on Friday. The league has rejected mediation throughout the five-month saga involving the club.

It's like trying to force feed an anorexic...nothings gonna work without a cure

Actonite · #**1147** Posted **Sep 21, 2009, 9:08 PM**

Balsillie's group has filed some more information with the court today regarding the so called veto that the Leafs or any other NHL team has.
Eugene Melnyk was on the fan 590 on Friday. Melnyk is a member of the NHL BoG and he stated live on air that if a team were to move into Ottawa's territory he believes the Senators like any other team in the league indeed have the right to veto the move under the NHL constitution.
This point of course has been rejected by the NHL for a while but now with a member of the NHL's BoG saying his team and any team does hold a veto this certainly opens up the door for an anti trust case against the league.

LikeHamilton · #**1148** Posted **Sep 21, 2009, 9:13 PM**

Emergency Coyotes bankruptcy hearing Wednesday
TheSpec.com

PHOENIX — The judge overseeing the Phoenix Coyotes bankruptcy case has called an emergency hearing for Wednesday.

The hearing will give NHL lawyers an opportunity to present arguments against Jerry Moyes’ request that the league be forced to mediate “key sale issues.”

The hearing in Redfield T. Baum’s Phoenix courtroom is expected to last no more than 30 minutes.

Moyes proposed mediation in court filings last week after the NHL rejected a request by one of Moyes’ lawyers.

Baum presided over an auction for the team on Sept. 11 and has left everyone waiting for a decision ever since.

He’s deciding between Jim Balsillie’s bid of $242.5 million US or the NHL’s offer of $140 million — although the judge has raised the possibility that neither side might get the team.

Blurr · #**1149** Posted **Sep 21, 2009, 9:53 PM**

If Hamilton doesn't get the team what about taking leaf jerseys and memorabilia and doing something publicly humiliating to them?

I think we need a grassroots movement like the molson boycott in the WHL days.... it worked then...

SteelTown · #**1150** Posted **Sep 21, 2009, 10:08 PM**

Balsillie: Melnyk interview backs veto argument

September 21, 2009
Ken Peters
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/638956

It just might be Jim Balsillie’s final salvo in his bid to secure the Phoenix Coyotes.

And it comes from an unlikely ally.

Balsillie’s legal crew submitted to an Arizona bankruptcy court today a recent radio interview of Ottawa Senators’ owner Eugene Melnyk which gives credence to the notion that the Toronto Maple Leafs have a veto over any Hamilton franchise.

Melnyk told a Toronto radio station Thursday that he believes every NHL team has the unilateral right under the NHL Constitution to block any team relocating into its territory. He suggests Ottawa has such a veto.

“I believe we do. Yes, we have territorial rights. Yes, absolutely,” Melnyk said.

Melnyk confirmed the Leafs have a territorial veto to block a team from relocating into its area.

“Mississauga, St. Mike’s Mississauga Majors, wouldn’t it be great me bringing the Ottawa Senators playing there for an exhibition match? I can’t do that. You can’t do it.”

The Ottawa owner’s comments bolster the Balsillie view that the league opposition to his bid to bring a team to Hamilton is connected to the Leaf veto. Balsillie needs to convince the Arizona bankruptcy court that the league's refusal to consider his relocation application “were not in good faith.”

The NHL has argued that no NHL club has a veto and that it rejects Balsillie because he lacks the necessary character and integrity to join the league.

What effect the Melnyk interview has is unclear. Judge Redfield T. Baum has said court won’t accept comments attributed to people in articles or over the Internet.

Baum is expected to deliver a written decision this week to determine the fate of the bankrupt Coyotes. Baum has to determine whether to award the club to Balsillie, who hopes to relocate it to Hamilton, or to the NHL which hopes to find new buyers in Phoenix.

Melnyk has been publicly critical in the past of Balsillie’s bid to join the league and told the Toronto station he would have given the prospective Hamilton owner better advice.

“I would have given him, you know, a ton of advice on how to do it properly and one of them is not taking a bulldozer and going through the door,” he said.

Melnyk suggests that the league’s problem with Balsillie stems from where he wants to move the franchise, not his lack of character or integrity.

“If somebody came and said, you know, Winnipeg, I’d love to buy a franchise and start a team up in Winnipeg, you know what, they would listen, they would say OK, well, what are we going to do about the stadium, it’s only 15,000 seats, can you expand it, can you do this. You work the problem that you may have and you have to have the financial wherewithal,” the Ottawa owner suggested.

Also today, Baum called an emergency hearing for Wednesday. The 30-minute hearing will give NHL lawyers an opportunity to present arguments against Jerry Moyes’ request that the league be forced to mediate “key sale issues.”

Moyes proposed mediation in court filings last week.

DHLawrence · #**1151** Posted **Sep 21, 2009, 11:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blurr

If Hamilton doesn't get the team what about taking leaf jerseys and memorabilia and doing something publicly humiliating to them?

I think we need a grassroots movement like the molson boycott in the WHL days.... it worked then...

It's a nice idea, but if people started boycotting Canadian NHL teams, Buttman would probably just shift them all south of the border.

Berklon · #**1152** Posted **Sep 21, 2009, 11:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DHLawrence

It's a nice idea, but if people started boycotting Canadian NHL teams, Buttman would probably just shift them all south of the border.

Actually, if that were to happen (boycotting Canadian teams) the NHL would lose a significant percentage of income. In any case, I don't see Canadians doing much for boycotting... we're not rebellious enough to stick it to anyone. We usually just bend over and take it in the — and say "thank you" when it's over.

SteelTown · #**1153** Posted **Sep 22, 2009, 1:51 AM**

Like the spec couldn't find a better picture of Balsillie? haha

http://www.thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/638956

Berklon · #**1154** Posted **Sep 22, 2009, 2:10 AM**

Jobing.com arena in the exhibition opener last week:

• Video Link

SteelTown · #**1155** Posted **Sep 22, 2009, 2:21 AM**

That is just super sad to see. Yet Glendale thinks they'll still get what $500 million with a team staying there? To get that figure you would need to sell out every game for the next 20 or so games.

Jamaican-Phoenix · #**1156** Posted **Sep 22, 2009, 2:31 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Berklon

Jobing.com arena in the exhibition opener last week:

That is beyond depressing.....

SteelTown · #**1157** Posted **Sep 22, 2009, 11:04 AM**

Judge may order Coyotes mediation
NHL, Balsillie summoned for Wednesday meeting

September 22, 2009
Kevin McGran
http://www.thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/639381

With the fate of the Phoenix Coyotes still up in the air, the judge overseeing the bankruptcy sale has called all sides back to the table for an emergency hearing tomorrow.

Judge Redfield T. Baum, who has been unwilling to issue rulings, has set aside 30 minutes to hear arguments over whether he should send lawyers for billionaire Jim Balsillie and the NHL to San Francisco for a mediation session in what could be a last-ditch effort to work out the differences among the two sides.

The NHL has argued such mediation would be futile and add needless costs.

Albeit minor, the hearing is a victory of sorts for the emboldened Balsillie camp, which yesterday tried to open up another legal challenge by bringing what it terms "new evidence" to the judge.

It involves a radio interview last week involving Senators owner Eugene Melnyk, which Balsillie's lawyers prove the NHL "continues to adhere to the territorial and veto rights that the NHL has, in these proceedings, denied exist."

Melnyk was on The FAN 590 last week when he told the listening audience that he could prevent a team from moving into Gatineau, Que., which is the Senators territory, and that he couldn't simply have the Senators play an exhibition game in Mississauga without first negotiating it with the Maple Leafs.

"His remarks confirm that the real reason for the rejection of Mr. Balsillie's ownership application is this veto and the NHL's animus towards bankruptcy proceedings, rather than any alleged `character' issues," lawyers for Balsillie argue in their brief.

The judge has repeatedly told lawyers on all sides that he does not consider interviews with newspaper, TV, radio or websites to be evidence, a thread that NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly picked up on in an email to the Star.

"His answers to questions on a radio program are hardly probative of what the league's rules actually are, and how the league will interpret and enforce them," said Daly.

PSE argues that Melnyk's comments ought to be considered because he is a member of the board of governors who is contradicting what the NHL testified to in court, namely that the territorial veto is an anachronism of the league's constitution.

The NHL says for a team to move, it must be approved by at least half of the members of the board.

Blurr · #**1158** Posted **Sep 22, 2009, 12:47 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DHLawrence

It's a nice idea, but if people started boycotting Canadian NHL teams, Buttman would probably just shift them all south of the border.

I was thinking of just the leafs. Everyone knows at least 5 people who hate them, it would be a message that would resonate with people across Hamilton, the GTA and the country.

I don't think it is good enough to just sit back and cheer on Jim.

Remember when people against fur coats would spray paint any coats they saw in public? how about that with leaf jerseys? It worked with fur coats...

There has to be a movement of dissatisfaction somewhere. If comments from the coyotes news articles are any indication, the sentiment is there.

NHL history shows that you can't get much by waiting and hoping.

highwater · #**1159** Posted **Sep 22, 2009, 3:38 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteelTown

Like the spec couldn't find a better picture of Balsillie? haha[/url]

I dunno. I thought it made him look virile. Man of Action and whatnot. More than just a suit.

SteelTown · #**1160** Posted **Sep 22, 2009, 5:29 PM**

I'm kinda optimistic a deal will be reached with Balsillie and the NHL. I think the Judge will force mediation. Indication shows that Balsillie is willing to negotiate. Though the NHL seems to throw every roadblock against Balsillie.

But I think once mediation is forced the NHL will work with Balsillie.