So how goes the hockey team?

[Nutterbug]

Originally Posted by fastcarsfreedom

Atlanta is no surprise at all.

Atlanta Flames pt. II.

Do those nimrods ever learn from history?

[Berklon]

Originally Posted by Nutterbug

Atlanta Flames pt. II.

Do those nimrods ever learn from history?

Nope... and that is why they'll put a team in Kansas City again and in a couple years we'll call them the "Kansas City Scouts pt. II".

It's amazing that the state of Missouri will have the same number of hockey teams as Ontario (2) and will have one more than the province of Quebec. Ya know, because when everyone thinks of hockey you can't help think of Missouri.

[oldcoote]

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

I know...I can't believe that we might not hear that theme song again.

Just download it from iTunes.

[FairHamilton]

Originally Posted by oldcoote

Just download it from iTunes.

And you can listen to it all the time for only $0.99, not $500 per play

I once heard the Shuffle Demons play the song in concert, it was pretty amazing.

The Shuffle Demons, now I'm showing my age

[raisethehammer]

Originally Posted by Berklon

Nope... and that is why they'll put a team in Kansas City again and in a couple years we'll call them the "Kansas City Scouts pt. II".

It's amazing that the state of Missouri will have the same number of hockey teams as Ontario (2) and will have one more than the province of Quebec. Ya know, because when everyone thinks of hockey you can't help think of Missouri.

haha...it's funny and pathetic at the same time.

[Gurnett71]

Originally Posted by FairHamilton

The Shuffle Demons, now I'm showing my age

Spa, spa, spa, spadina bus!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZnLjRi_g9o

[SteelTown]

REPORT: DEL BIAGGIO TRIED TO SELL PREDS' STAKE TO BALSILLIE

Jim Balsillie appears to have been shut out once again in his attempt to buy his way into the National Hockey League.

According to a report in the Toronto Star, financier and Nashville Predators' minority owner Williams "Boots" Del Biaggio denied in his attempt to sell Balsillie his 27 per cent stake in the Predators in order to liquidate some of his assets. Del Biaggio has recently been accused of loan fraud and has filed for personal Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.

"(It's) another public relations campaign," Bill Daly, the NHL's deputy commissioner, told the Star via email.

"The league doesn't decide anything. The board of governors decides. I would imagine, however, that every potential seller must take into consideration the `approvability' of the potential buyer. Given the track record we have with this particular potential buyer, I'm not sure a healthy dose of skepticism on the `approvability' factor isn't warranted."

However, Richard Rodier, Balsillie's legal adviser, say the Research-in-Motion founder has the support of other NHL owners.

"I think clearly the commissioner's office is skeptical, more than skeptical," said Rodier. "As for individual owners .. we've had messages of support from a lot of individual owners."

Balsillie failed in an attempt last year to purchase the Predators and move them to Hamilton, Ontario.

[FairHamilton]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

REPORT: DEL BIAGGIO TRIED TO SELL PREDS' STAKE TO BALSILLIE

Jim Balsillie appears to have been shut out once again in his attempt to buy his way into the National Hockey League.

According to a report in the Toronto Star, financier and Nashville Predators' minority owner Williams "Boots" Del Biaggio denied in his attempt to sell Balsillie his 27 per cent stake in the Predators in order to liquidate some of his assets. Del Biaggio has recently been accused of loan fraud and has filed for personal Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.

"(It's) another public relations campaign," Bill Daly, the NHL's deputy commissioner, told the Star via email.

"The league doesn't decide anything. The board of governors decides. I would imagine, however, that every potential seller must take into consideration the `approvability' of the potential buyer. Given the track record we have with this particular potential buyer, I'm not sure a healthy dose of skepticism on the `approvability' factor isn't warranted."

However, Richard Rodier, Balsillie's legal adviser, say the Research-in-Motion founder has the support of other NHL owners.

"I think clearly the commissioner's office is skeptical, more than skeptical," said Rodier. "As for individual owners .. we've had messages of support from a lot of individual owners."

Balsillie failed in an attempt last year to purchase the Predators and move them to Hamilton, Ontario.

I really hope a NHL Team south of the border folds. Just closes down. Well, most like the league would take it over. That would seem to be the only way for them to get the message: There are cities out there that want, and will support a NHL Team.

Keeping teams in the US won't get the NHL that elusive U.S. TV contract, well at least it hasn't so far.

[FairHamilton]

Originally Posted by FairHamilton

Royalties are king!!!! I heard Mel Torme would get at cheque for $250,000 every July because that is when they paid the royalties on a song he co-wrote called, The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)............... And that is re-occuring revenue.

CBC will pick it up again. Just like the Ron Maclean contract negotiations, there will be a public outcry and they will cave and pay whatever it takes......... Anyways, that is my prediction.

I guess I got that one wrong: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/stor...g.html?ref=rss

Who saw that coming???? But it definitely makes sense that CBC wasn't interested in buying the song in perpetuity as they won't have HNIC in perpetuity. Looks to me like the agency that was negotiating on behalf of the composer was perhaps using the CBC as a level to get more $$$ out of CBC.

[DC83]

Gretzky on NHL expansion:
(from Sep 12 2008)

The part owner and coach of the Phoenix Coyotes says he isn't sure if the NHL will ever add another Canadian franchise but does think there would be a market for one in Southwestern Ontario.

"I don't think there's any question that Hamilton or Kitchener or that area, that region, could definitely support a National Hockey League team," said Gretzky. "It's one of those things where there's so much red tape ...

"Down the road, I can possibly see a team in Hamilton or Kitchener being part of the National Hockey League. ... These kind of things have a way of working themselves out."

full article:
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2008/...ilton_gretzky/

[NorthEndRules]

It's been a dissapointing 2 years. First with the Predators not coming up and the Connaught not moving forward. Maybe Gretzky can bring the Coyotes up to Hamilton. He's originally from Brantford isn't he. I would nominate him to deity status for sure.

[Berklon]

Talk is JB is closing in on a deal to purchase Boots Del Biaggio’s 20 per cent stake in the Predators.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2008/...lie_predators/

If true, this gives JB a much better chance of moving the team to Hamilton as he'll be working from the inside. The monster financial meltdown in the US increases his odds as well.

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by Berklon

Talk is JB is closing in on a deal to purchase Boots Del Biaggio’s 20 per cent stake in the Predators.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2008/...lie_predators/

If true, this gives JB a much better chance of moving the team to Hamilton as he'll be working from the inside. The monster financial meltdown in the US increases his odds as well.

The source of the rumour is Bob McCown of the Fan 590 and he claims that Balsillie is close to purchasing a majority of the team rather than just 20 percent of it. McCown claims that the sale is "virtually complete" and could be announced at any time. However, both Balsillie's camp and the Nashville ownership group are denying that they have had any contact at all.

I don't know that you can say that what is happening in the US helps Balsillie. He has lost over a billion dollars in paper net worth over the last couple of trading days and tightened credit markets would probably make it more difficult rather than easier for him to secure the financing necessary to purchase something as big as an NHL team.

Let's see what happens!

[Berklon]

Originally Posted by BCTed

I don't know that you can say that what is happening in the US helps Balsillie. He has lost over a billion dollars in paper net worth over the last couple of trading days and tightened credit markets would probably make it more difficult rather than easier for him to secure the financing necessary to purchase something as big as an NHL team.

Yeah, I was thinking about that. I guess it comes down to how the NHL will weather the storm compared to how JB will. They'll both get hit, but we don't yet know by how much.

In any case, I'd anxious to hear the developments in this (if revealed to be true). A team in Hamilton can go a long way in helping this city and in turn can really help the NHL.

[SteelTown]

Balsillie back in Predators picture
Twice-spurned NHL suitor has competition for 27-per-cent share of team up for grabs in bankruptcy court

DAVID SHOALTS AND SEAN GORDON
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

September 30, 2008 at 9:51 PM EDT

Jim Balsillie has competition for the minority share of the Nashville Predators once held by the disgraced William (Boots) Del Biaggio.

Herb Fritch, a minority partner in the NHL team, plus two other sources told The Globe and Mail Tuesday the Predators ownership group headed by majority owner David Freeman has bid for Del Biaggio's 27-per-cent share of the team, which is under the control of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Francisco.

Del Biaggio was supposedly investigated and approved by the NHL as a prospective owner after the league rejected a bid for the team from Balsillie, the co-founder of Canadian-based Research In Motion Ltd.

Del Biaggio lost control of his share when he filed for bankruptcy last June. He has been accused of fraud by several lenders and is facing a multitude of lawsuits seeking upward of $170-million (all currency U.S.).

Balsillie's lawyer, Richard Rodier, declined to comment. A Predators spokesman said Freeman also has no comment.

Fritch, the chief executive officer of HealthSpring Inc., a health-care company based in Nashville, said purchasing Del Biaggio's share would increase the value of the franchise, which cost the partners $176-million when it was purchased from Craig Leipold last year.

Fritch also said, “There are some governance issues we could clarify easier.”

One source said the bid for the 27-per-cent stake is for $20-million. In Del Biaggio's bankruptcy filing, the share is said to be worth $23.5-million, and is his biggest single asset. Fritch declined to say how much the partners bid, but admitted it was at a discount to the stated value.

There is ample evidence, however, that Balsillie would not be afraid to make a much higher bid.

Before he was rejected as a potential owner by the NHL because he made no secret about his plans to move the Predators to Hamilton, Balsillie had agreed to pay Leipold $238-million for the team.

Fritch said the bankruptcy trustee may not be able to simply sell to the highest bidder. He said there are two complications: Balsillie's bid would have to be approved first by the rest of the Predators' owners, and then by the NHL's board of governors.

“I believe our group has to approve any sale of those shares, so we have some control over who gets them,” Fritch said, before adding he was not sure if that right would hold up in bankruptcy court.

“I don't care what the amount [of the bid] is, it's got to be approved by the powers that be,” he said. “I think the bankruptcy trustee has to take that into account.”

Del Biaggio once claimed his shares included the right to buy out the other partners if certain financial obligations were not met.

That is crucial to any potential bid by Balsillie, who would need full control to take advantage of clauses in the Predators' arena lease that allow the team to move by the end of the 2009-10 season if attendance targets are not met and the team loses a total of $20-million over three seasons.

While Freeman has said there is no such right, sources say it might have to be decided by the bankruptcy court.

Todd Neilson, the bankruptcy trustee, would not say who has filed a bid for the shares. When asked via e-mail if he was bound to accept the highest bid, Neilson did not respond.

If the partners succeed in buying the Del Biaggio shares, they will own 95.4 per cent of the team. The remainder is in the hands of Warren Woo, who bought 30 per cent of the franchise in partnership with Del Biaggio.

In any event, it looks like it will be a long time before the winning bid is announced. Del Biaggio's court problems are complicated and it looks like a long, bitter fight is ahead.

Del Biaggio's labyrinthine business dealings are detailed in the increasingly fractious and complicated bankruptcy proceeding that continues to grind on in a San Francisco court. (Del Biaggio is also the subject of a U.S. grand jury probe and a separate FBI criminal investigation.) There are more than three dozen creditors – including Washington Mutual, a savings and loan that went bust this week in what it being termed the largest bank collapse in U.S. history.

The various factions of creditors are squabbling with the bankruptcy trustee over whether they should have access to confidential filings and documents.

A lawyer for the trustee, John D. Fiero, said during a court proceeding in mid-August that they shouldn't because he is trying to protect “what the trustee is doing with regard to trying to tee up a sale of the hockey team.”

And the court-appointed trustee is even suing one of the creditors, a California-based family trust fund, alleging it is really a co-debtor of Del Biaggio's and should therefore return the portion he paid back of a $5-million loan.

According to court documents filed on Aug. 15, the fund, known as the Brandenburg Revocable Trust, lent the money to Del Biaggio on July 18, 2007, “so I [Del Biaggio] can make an offer to acquire the assets of the Predators.”

The loan was to expire 18 months later, at which point the fund could ask for money, or convert the loan into a 7.5-per-cent interest in the hockey team.

In a breezy letter to confirm the deal, Del Biaggio added a sweetener: If the trust converted the loan into equity, they would get an additional 10-per-cent cut on profits and bonuses.

But three weeks later, on Aug. 6, 2007, the Brandenburg trust suddenly called the loan, and received $4-million in November.

The catch? The trustee alleges Del Biaggio was already insolvent by then, and that he made the payments “for the benefit of Lee H. Brandenburg” – a trust administrator who referred to Del Biaggio as “dear Boots” and “a great partner and a great friend” in a letter calling the loan.

He also alluded to the Predators purchase as “a terrific deal.”

Brandenburg denied the allegations in a counter-claim filed last week, and continues to be listed as a creditor in the court file.

Another of Del Biaggio's creditors is a group of companies in which he once held major financial stakes – in a quirk of U.S. law, they are also listed as debtors, given his stocks.

And in a hearing before Northern California District Bankruptcy Court Judge Thomas E. Carlson, the lawyer for the group likened Del Biaggio's methods to “a Ponzi scheme” and speculated the flamboyant former venture capitalist could well confess to his misdeeds rather than drag out a criminal prosecution.

[SteelTown]

Bad news for U.S. economy good news for Hamilton?

STEPHEN BRUNT
[email protected]
October 1, 2008

And now, a little something to perhaps brighten your day in the face of all of those scary headlines: Could it be that an unexpected, happy consequence of the economic meltdown in the United States will be a second NHL franchise in Southern Ontario?

Hear this one out. It is clear now that, despite taking a severe haircut of his own over the past week (more than a half-billion dollars on his Research In Motion shares alone), Jim Balsillie is still fighting the good fight, and still determined to make NHL commissioner Gary Bettman's life miserable.

Stonewalled in previous attempts to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators, Balsillie remains steadfast in his pursuit of an NHL franchise, perhaps now through the bankruptcy courts, where the 27-per-cent interest in the Preds formerly held by alleged flim-flam man William (Boots) Del Biaggio is in play.

Getting from there to the opening faceoff at Hamilton's Copps Coliseum will be a tricky, complicated business.

But understand the reason Del Biaggio - who is now in bankruptcy protection, facing fraud lawsuits from several lenders and under investigation by the FBI - bought the stake (allegedly with other people's money) in the first place was his belief he could gain control of the team when it inevitably failed in Nashville and move it to Kansas City.

He went so far as to solicit investors based on that premise.

If Balsillie is indeed interested, he must have similar views - minus the Kansas City part - and he understands that by working through the bankruptcy courts he can't be derailed by NHL politics or the legal butt-covering that prompted Bettman to twice make sure a sale to Balsillie was never consummated.

But even if it doesn't work, even if Balsillie is stymied once again, it isn't the end of the quest. And the continuing U.S. economic crisis, though it may well shave down his personal fortune, is playing right into his hands.

Life is going to get tougher for all kinds of businesses, including those at the bottom end of the professional sports food chain. Franchises with cash-flow problems, franchises carrying significant debt, franchises in sports that don't provide television-money lifelines are going to struggle to survive.

Everyone understands there were at least four NHL teams that fit that description even before the stock markets imploded: the Florida Panthers, Atlanta Thrashers, Phoenix Coyotes and Nashville.

You can bet there are a few more now, absolutely thrilled to be hitched to a collective agreement that forces them to spend at least $41-million on player salaries this season.

To keep Balsillie out of Nashville, Bettman performed the finest sleight-of-hand manoeuvre in his term as commissioner: first persuading then-Predators owner Craig Leipold to forgo a once-in-a-lifetime chance to cash out, then finding Leipold a nice soft, profitable place to land with the Minnesota Wild, then bringing Del Biaggio into the mix after some apparently slapdash due diligence.

(That Leipold in turn loaned Del Biaggio money to buy his stake - money Leipold quite likely won't ever see again - makes the delicious circle complete.)

But just try doing that again. Soon enough, a beleaguered team owner unwilling to continue believing that prosperity is just around the corner is going to take Balsillie's cold hard cash and take his leave from professional hockey.

Could the league governors still reject Balsillie as an owner?

Well they could try, but presuming he meets their own rather loose standards (remember, the NHL leads all professional sports in the number of owners that have left in handcuffs), they would do so at the risk of legal action.

If Balsillie got his team, could they try to block him from moving it?

Well, again, they could try, but if he met the criteria for relocation laid out in the NHL constitution (the reason Balsillie began selling season-ticket futures in Hamilton when it looked like he'd landed the Preds), they'd be similarly inviting a trip to the courts. And the NHL has in the past done everything possible to prevent its territorial-rights provision from being put to a legal test.

So if Balsillie buys the Predators or another club, it's a reasonable bet it would eventually wind up where he wants it.

It's a reasonable bet, also, that in perilous, uncertain economic times, the house of cards that is NHL overexpansion is going to start shaking.

Bad news for somebody, somewhere. But for others, perhaps, an opportunity.

[matt602]

Good article that was.

[fastcarsfreedom]

No question the economic "tangle" in the U.S. is going to hurt the weaker NHL franchises--tickets are a lot more 'discretionary' in Atlanta, Nashville, Miami, etc -- than they are elsewhere in the league.

[SteelTown]

Balsillie unlikely to pursue Preds as 'minority owner': lawyer

October 02, 2008
Toronto Star
TORONTO

Media reports that Canadian businessman Jim Balsillie, who has long sought an National Hockey League franchise for southern Ontario, is again attempting to buy all or part of the Nashville Predators appear to be premature.

Reports surfaced that Balsillie, the co-founder of Waterloo-based Research In Motion Ltd., was close to either purchasing the Preds outright or making a bid for the 27-per-cent share of the team which is in the hands of a bankruptcy court. That share was held by William (Boots) Del Baggio, who filed for bankruptcy early this year, and is listed in court documents as being worth about $25-million US.

But sources yesterday indicated that linking Balsillie's name to the Preds in any ownership capacity at this time is misleading. One source said that to even suggest Balsillie is "kicking the tires" on potential financial involvement with the Nashville franchise is overstating the reality of the situation.

If such a move is being made, it's being done without the involvement of anyone at this end.

Hamilton Councillor Terry Whitehead, who has been front and centre in previous attempts, says he's heard absolutely nothing from Balsillie or his people.

As for the folks running Copps Coliseum, out of which any team would presumably play at least in the short term, it's the same story.

"We've had absolutely no contact," says HECFI CEO Duncan Gillespie.

This may or may not be significant, as during Balsillie's courtship of the Pittsburgh Penguins, a deal was in place that would've given him exclusive use of Copps. That deal expired and has never been renewed. However, it's clear from past hopes, that the decks would be cleared with little difficulty if the opportunity to bring a team to town materialized.

Richard Rodier, Balsillie's lawyer, said his camp expects that whoever purchases the outstanding 27 per cent of the Preds wouldn't have much control over the future of the franchise.

It would seem unlikely that Balsillie, given his desire to bring another NHL team to Canada, would pursue minority ownership in a club he could not ultimately control.

[SteelTown]

NHL may not avoid Balsillie much longer

October 04, 2008
Steve milton
The Hamilton Spectator

This entire, gooey, Nashville Predators mess is rooted in two places.

The first is the NHL's 20-year-old indiscriminate love affair with the sunshine belt, and the second is the league head office's almost-pathological disdain for a Hamilton franchise.

They combined to keep the Preds in Nashville and out of Jim Balsillie's hands, when neither makes sense.

And now, in an economic climate where they make even less sense, the NHL has to be very nervous that its inner workings could be aired in the public forum of a California bankruptcy court beginning Monday.

When the ownership group left holding the bag in the wake of Boots Del Biaggio's bankruptcy decided to join the list of lawsuits against him this week, it opened the door for many questions that the NHL might not be allowed to avoid. Such as, how was Del Biaggio directed to the local group who wanted to prevent the team moving? And by whom? And why?

And with L.A. Kings owner Phil Anschutz's company loaning $7 million to Del Biaggio, and outgoing Preds owner Craig Leopold loaning him another $10 million, how were the transactions not mentioned during the due diligence process? Surely the 11th-hour need for money, surpassing half the value of the investment, pointed to at the very least a lack of the deep pockets the NHL says it always seeks.

And if Anschutz and Leopold did pass that information along to the league, who did what with it? And what does that mean, in a legal situation involving fraud allegations?

Some marketing and legal people are surprised the Nashville ownership group, in default of a $40-million loan, is suing Del Biaggio for damages up to $100 million. While it might be the group's only chance to get at Del Biaggio's limited resources, it suggests a quickly sinking ship. Investors and sponsors always backpedal from instability, and nothing reeks of "temporary" like the Predators in Nashville.

Ownership says the franchise is not in dire straits, but we all learned long ago not to put any stock in anything anyone in the Predators-NHL loop says.

Remember, Del Biaggio denied to The Spectator speculation in this newspaper that he was overpaying for his shares so he could move the team to a rink in Kansas City managed by Anschutz's company. Then it turns out that he really did plan to move the team somewhere if he got full control.

Remember also, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was defiantly adamant that Del Biaggio's legal problems had no impact on the franchise. Four months later, the ownership's lawsuit interpreted "no impact" as a potential $100-million impact.

Meanwhile Balsillie, who retains his commitment to being a majority NHL owner, has been laying low. Richard Rodier, Balsillie's lawyer and spokesman, made all the salient points during Balsillie's original bid to buy the Preds 17 months ago.

Rodier denies that Balsillie has re-offered to buy the Predators outright.

"There's not a scintilla of truth to that," he reiterated yesterday.

But sources have also said that at least one other NHL owner has contacted Balsillie in recent weeks about purchasing his team, and there has been rumoured interest from a couple of other franchises as well. There is also an unnamed bidder for the $40 million debt the ownership group has with an American institutional lender, but it's not known if Balsillie is that potential purchaser.

Rodier isn't commenting on any of those issues, but it's clear that the anti-Balsillie sentiment isn't as widespread among league governors as was painted a year ago.

It's entirely likely Balsillie and Rodier have also spent some time getting to know a few owners, trying to reverse the demonization of Balsillie that emitted from head office during the aborted Pittsburgh and Nashville purchases.

The NHL will continue to frame its actions around the Predators as a well-intentioned rescue process, as it did successfully in Ottawa, Buffalo and Edmonton, but not in Quebec City and Winnipeg.

But, from the few peeks we've had behind the curtain, the motivation here doesn't appear to be quite that pure.

Much of the Nashville morass was predicted in general terms more than a year ago by certain cynical observers, including The Spec. The consortium of Del Biaggio and the local citizens group paid about $40 million less than Balsillie had agreed to pay, but still forked over significantly more than the franchise's true value.

The whole thing didn't pass the smell test. What remains to be determined is how much fire was behind the wisp of smoke. It may never be determined, but protracted legal battles are likely to bring to light things that would have remained forever in the dark.

Although Del Biaggio contacted him in June about buying out his shares, Balsillie has kept his distance, at least publicly, and hasn't thrown any gas on the fire. That's in his best interests, because if there was anything untowards in the Preds' purchase, the current partners will try to ferret it out. Balsillie doesn't have to and he may well end up as the soft landing place for the Preds - or another struggling franchise.

And there must be a number of NHL owners who are wondering why they were convinced to stand so firmly in Balsillie's path during his initial purchase bid.

How a guy who has the money and really loves the game was rejected from the lodge, while a schmoozer sailed through the front door, is just one of a number of uncomfortable questions the NHL faces the next few months.