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Archive for the 'Nashville Predators' Category

Ask Bettman about his ‘Wild’ decisions…

Published by Puckhead 6 months, 1 week ago in Nashville Predators, Minnesota Wild, Bettman, xm radio and radio. 7 Comments

Update: You can listen to the NHL Hour from this past Thursday (01/17/08) by clicking here (MP3 file). The RSS feed for these podcasts is http://www.nhl.com/podcasts/nhl_hour.xml

Gary Bettman is really putting himself out there these days… his NHL Hour XM Radio show will be on again today (1/17/08) at 4p.m.. You can listen to the live stream at that time, or tune into XM Radio channel 204. Your questions and comments can be sent to NHLHOUR@NHL.com or called in at 1-877-645-6696. Willie O’Ree, the first black (African-Canadian) player in the NHL and current NHL Director of Youth Development, will be Bettman’s guest today.

Apparently, Bettman doesn’t feel like he’s heard enough criticism, or feels like he hasn’t addressed all of the criticism thoroughly… because he will also be taking your questions following the NHL’s YoungStars competitions on January 26th on the CBC’s ‘Hockey Night in Canada’. You will be able to send in your questions and comments via email to askgary@cbc.ca.

So start getting those questions and comments together and let the commish know that you are truly concerned about what he has done to our favorite sport and league, and that we think the NHL can do much better!.

You might want to ask Bettman about the purchase of the Minnesota Wild by former Nashville Predators owner Craig Leipold. As you may recall, it was just over a month ago that Mr. Leipold officially ended up taking about $40 million less for the Predators from a ‘local investment group’ (which includes outsider William “Boots” Del Biaggio who will most likely move the team to Kansas City), than what he could have gotten from Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie. It was rumored and highly speculated that Balsillie would have moved the team to Hamilton, ON. However, Gary Bettman had a very strong hand in keeping Balsillie out of the picture, and the Predators in Nashville, even though accomplished businessman and owner Leipold could have made off with over $40 million more if he had sold to Balsillie.

The fact that Leipold is now majority owner of one of the most successful teams in the NHL, less than a month later, makes this whole deal seem a bit fishy to us, and to others. Did Bettman promise Leipold the team of his choice or a successful NHL team if he agreed not to sell to Balsillie? It is reported that Leipold put up around $250 million for the Wild… so did the NHL somehow cover that extra $50 million or so for Leipold (after the $193 million he sold the Predators for)? Is this how the NHL revenue sharing system works? We’ll pat your back with everyone else’s money if you keep doing things the way we want you to? It seems like the first places to check would be on the NHL’s, Leipold’s and former Wild owner Bob Naegele’s bank account statements. You would think the commissioner of a professional sports league would be smarter than this… but remember, this is Gary Bettman we’re talking about. Sometimes power, money and ego can cloud one’s thought and rationale.

Tags: craig leipold, gary bettman, hockey, Jim Balsillie, minnesota wild, nashville predators, nhl, nhl hour, xm radio.

Every team will play Nashville next year…

Published by Puckhead 7 months, 3 weeks ago in Nashville Predators and Bettman. 20 Comments

The NHL’s Board of Governors have been meeting in the hockey mecca of Pebble Beach, CA this week. Yesterday, they approved the sale of the Nashville Predators from Craig Leipold to the Freeman investment group. This isn’t the last step in the process… the deal still needs to be approved by the Nashville Metro Sports Authority, and then by the City Council… but from what we’ve read, it sounds like they will both approve it.

The other big news to come out of the meetings is that the league will return to its old schedule format for the 2008-2009 season. The current eight games played versus each team in a division will be reduced to six, and every team in the league will play one another at least once. Under this schedule, each team will see the other on their home ice every two years, rather than the current schedule which brings the other team to home ice every three years. This means that fans of each team will be exposed to more players throughout the league and there will be more original rivalries back in place. It also means that teams in the Eastern Conference will have to travel west more, which should help equalize the impact of travel on both conferences.

According to Gary Bettman, “This was an attempt to be responsive to the fans.” Thanks for finally listening, Gary.
Now the owners need to make another attempt to be responsive to the fans and FIRE GARY BETTMAN!!!

Tags: bettman, nashville, nhl, predators, schedule.

Nashville keeps its team?

Published by Puckhead 8 months, 1 week ago in Nashville Predators. 5 Comments

It looks like the Predators will probably be staying in Nashville. Metro Nashville and the group of investors looking to purchase the team, announced today that they have come to a lease agreement for the Predators’ Sommet Center.

This doesn’t mean that the deal is done. Next, the Metro Sports Authority needs to approve the $193 million deal, and then the City Council must approve it.

This comes as terrible news to those of us who were looking forward to some great hockey blues songs coming out of Nashville.

Tags: hockey, lease, nashville, nhl, predators, tennessee.

You pay for what you don’t get…

Published by Puckhead 8 months, 2 weeks ago in Detroit Red Wings, Nashville Predators, Bettman, Versus and TV. 16 Comments

The Detroit Red Wings played the Nashville Predators at 7:30 EST tonight (11/7/07).
Anyone and everyone who has paid the $100+ for the NHL Center Ice package (which is supposed to broadcast every NHL regular season game) planned on watching the game.
Well, surprise surprise… the game was not listed on the Center Ice channel line-up (8 channels in all), and was never shown on Center Ice, even though many of the designated NHLCI channels had no games showing tonight due to the light schedule.

Come to find out, the Wings/Predators game was only being showed on the new, Gary Bettman wet dream NHL Network channel, which hardly anyone gets through their cable or satellite provider. Some dish subscribers have commented that they do receive the channel, but the majority of hockey fans do not. And if you do want the new NHL Network on a lot of cable systems, you have to pay even more as part of a sports package to be able to view it. To top it off, there were a lot of reports that the game wasn’t even being shown on the NHL Network due to “technical difficulties”.

Talk about screwing over and turning off your fans. Gary Bettman, what the heck is going on here? You make your fans pay for a service that guarantees them the ability to watch every regular season game, and then you create a new NHL Network which is another pay channel, and broadcast games on it, leaving fans on your original subscriber network in the dark.

How the hell are we supposed to watch hockey? Currently you have a two-night-per-week contract with Vs. (the network that no one gets or has heard of, but still requires a cable/satellite subscription if they want to see any games at all), NHL Center Ice (which costs at least $140), NHL Center Ice Online (which costs $169), NHL Network (which has a varied rate, and many people can’t even pay to get at this point), and then a pathetic contract with NBC (which shows one game a week during church hours only late in the season, and they don’t the NHL anything)…
and FANS STILL CAN’T WATCH A GAME that they’ve paid to see???!!! How is this helping hockey? Where is the logic? My only logic is that the NHL is hurting for money so bad that they have to try to use everyone third-world TV outlet possible to bring in revenue, because the league can’t be marketed to big name networks like ABC, ESPN, FOX, or any network that any hockey fan gets… because the NHL is in such rough shape due to Gary Bettman’s terrible (mis)management of the league. How do you expect to maintain and grow a fan base when you deny a hockey fan the ability to watch a game, even after they have paid hundreds of dollars to view the sport that they love??!

Who knows, maybe Gary Bettman is trying to let Nashville fade slowly from the public eye, before they are relocated to a place where there are hockey fans who will notice the game isn’t being shown on TV. Next time he should do it when the Predators are playing a team such as Phoenix, because this dim-witted move has Red Wings fans up in arms.

Tags: center ice, gary bettman, hockey, nhl, nhl network, Red Wings, ripoff, television, TV.

Hey Hey Hamilton!

Published by Puckhead 9 months, 2 weeks ago in Nashville Predators and Bettman. 6 Comments

Wake up, wake up!! Your city might still have a chance of getting an NHL team. It looks like Jim Balsillie is still pursuing a purchase of the Nashville Predators, since negotiations between the local investment group there and the city of Nashville aren’t going so well, and the chance of a deal is not looking very hopeful.

We know Gary Bettman will do all that he can to keep Balsillie from purchasing the Predators and moving the team to Canada… this could get very interesting. We’ll be keeping our eyes on the situation and will keep you up-to-date!

Tags: gary bettman, hamilton, hockey, Jim Balsillie, nashville predators, nhl, ontario.

A Bittersweet Beginning…

Published by Puckhead 9 months, 3 weeks ago in New York Rangers, Nashville Predators, Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings and Bettman. 16 Comments

Today is the (two games in London, England don’t count) start of the 2007-2008 NHL season. And surprise, surprise, it will not begin without any kind of controversy surrounding the league and our favorite commissioner Gary Bettman.

First off, the NHL decided to start off this season with two games between Anaheim and Los Angeles in the hockey capital of the world… yep, you guessed it… London, England. If you do not get Versus or NHL Center Ice (which we have previously documented that MANY do not), or were not part of the 17,500 crowd at the O2 Arena (owned by Philip Anschutz, owner of the Kings), then I’m sure you missed it. But don’t worry, it wasn’t a huge success and you weren’t the only one who had no idea it was happening. No need to fear though, the NHL and Mr. Bettman may continue to push the NHL overseas. Never mind that the NHL is failing in many markets in the United States, and that the league could not start the season in a city (Toronto, Montreal, Detroit, Ottawa, Calgary, Chicago, New York, etc) that would fully appreciate and engulf itself in a season opening game. The NHL just might abandon all NHL fans of the past, present, and future, and create for itself new and few “summer teeth” (some are here, some are there) fans! wooooohooooooooo!

And to continue with the great success of Gary Bettman’s quest…
we have been keeping you up to date on the sale of the Nashville Predators to a local investment group, and it looks like there has been a turn for the worse for the banjo pluckin’, bar frequentin’, and ice cravin’ fans in Tennessee. Apparently, it looks like the investors who were looking to buy the team are not very hopeful that the deal will go through. The city has rejected the requests that the investors made in order to keep the team in Nashville. Remember, Gary Bettman was the one with the strong hand in trying to keep the Predators in Nashville with the help of his friend William “Boots” Del Biaggio, and out of Hamilton, ON and the hands of would-be-successful owner Jim Balsillie, who had offered current owner Craig Leipold $50 million more for the team than the Nashville investment group.

What a wonderful way to start off a new NHL season, eh? Well, it doesn’t stop there…

Madison Square Garden, which is the company that owns the New York Rangers, has sued the NHL, saying that the league has violated anti-trust regulations, and is monopolizing teams’ promotions. If you haven’t noticed, all of the NHL team Web sites have a very similar look as of this year… that is because the NHL has tried to take over operations of each team’s Web site and promotional activities, and the Rangers and MSG weren’t having any of it. Based on our coverage of the NHL’s marketing and the way their promotions and operations have carried themselves in the recent past, why in the heck would you allow them to take control of your (privately owned) team’s Web site and promotions? It seems to us here at FB that each team knows their market a TON better than Gary Bettman and his other power hungry pricks at NHL corporate, and deserve the right to control their promotional media.

We have had official NHL Web masters email us after fans of ours have posted messages on their public forums about FireBettman. They have explained to us that they had to take the posts down because they would be fined by the league if they were to leave them up. This monopolizing of Web sites and promotions is just another step in the wrong direction of censorship and complete mismanagement by Gary Bettman and the lunies that surround him.

We really can’t believe that the NHL is starting off such an exciting season on so many bad notes… but really, we aren’t surprised… what we’ve reported could have only made us all see what was coming. Let’s just hope that all of this ends up in letting us see that bright light at the end of the tunnel… the firing of Gary Bettman!

Tags: 2007, 2008, beginning, Englang, gary bettman, hockey, lawsuit, London, MSG, nashville, nhl, predators, Rangers, season.

Gary does Nashville

Published by jb 11 months ago in Nashville Predators and Blog Entries. 8 Comments

After chasing away a Canadian buyer, our Napoleonic Commish courted a local group of “investors” to purchase the Preds. Well, now it seems as though this group of local-yokels is not as well-heeled as first thought. Quotes from the group, and I’m paraphrasing here, include “we’ve made our fortunes and don’t seek to profit from this team.” The Tennessean is reporting that the group is asking the city to fork over $3 mil for past losses and to guarantee that 14,000 seats will have butts in them every season to keep the team in Nashville. (Balsillie must have been asking for mo’ money and a 14,005 seat guarantee; yeah, right.) The city didn’t seem to be willing to make up the seat deficit for the previous owner when it was 14,000 and Leipold didn’t ask for mo’ money to cover any of the $70 mil he lost on the team, so what up here? My issue: If you got so much dang dough that you don’t want to profit on a gazillion dollar investment, then why the hell are you asking for back pay from the taxpayer? Not just back pay but also a guarantee of future pay! Uh, let’s do the differential calculus here. Past owner: lost $70 mil and couldn’t attain avg. 14,000 attendance. New owners: get $50 mil discount on sales price from Commish Butthead, get $3 mil advance from City, get guarantee of 14,000 filled seats. Yep, Gary just done did Nashville.

Tags: bad investment, gary bettman, hockey, leipold, nashville, nhl, predators.

There will be ice in Nashville…

Published by Puckhead 11 months, 3 weeks ago in Nashville Predators and Bettman. 42 Comments

Update @ 5:00 pm ET: The Nashville Predators have signed a letter of intent to sell the team to the local group of investors mentioned below, for $193 million. The surprising news here is that William “Boots” Del Biaggio III (who is not from the Nashville area) is part of this group of investors. If the team does not make money in the next couple of years, it is very possible that they could be relocated to another city… most likely Kansas City, since that is where “Boots” wanted to move them when he previously offered $190 million for the team.

It looks like the Nashville Predators will continue their existence in Nashville. The group of investors interested in purchasing the team has signed a letter of intent to purchase the team from owner Craig Leiopold, who has lost $70 million owning the team over the past 10 years. If everything goes as planned, the deal will be done and the new owners will take hold of the team before this year’s NHL season.

Congratulations once again to Predators fans on keeping a failing team in your city, and to Gary Bettman for missing out on a potential goldmine in Hamilton, ON, where they don’t have to spend millions to make artificial ice for a hockey team to play on.

Tags: gary bettman, hamilton, hockey, nashville predators, nhl.

There is a man behind the curtain…

Published by Puckhead 1 year ago in Nashville Predators and Bettman. 18 Comments

In his article on ESPN.com today, Scott Burnside has confirmed our belief all along… that Gary Bettman was behind getting Nashville Predators owner Craig Leipold to break off negotiations in the sale of the team to Canadian businessman Jim Balsillie.

Balsillie’s legal adviser Richard Rodier has made statements confirming this, and ESPN has also obtained emails between Leipold and Rodier, which contain discussions about Bettman’s involvement.

It appears as though Bettman has been and acted alone in this movement to keep a new team out of Canada, in following his vision of making the NHL exclusively a USA league. The only other name we’ve seen discussed in this matter is the Toronto Maple Leafs, because of a fear that a Hamilton team would steal their fan base. However, we have not seen any official comments released from the Maple Leafs on this issue.

Burnside brings up a great point how Bettman may have overstepped his bounds and made himself highly unpopular among the board of governors, and throughout the league… duh!! What is it going to take for them all to realize how bad Bettman is for the NHL? Hopefully not much more… it looks like we might find out in September, after the next board of governors meeting. Fire Bettman!!!!!

Tags: balsillie, gary bettman, hockey, leipold, nashville, nhl, predators.

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Say eh to Nashville…

Published by Puckhead 1 year ago in Nashville Predators. 12 Comments

It looks like the Nashville Predators might just stay in Nashville, and will not head to Kansas City or Hamilton, ON. Daniel Tolensky from HockeyBuzz.com reports that Predators owner Craig Leopold is meeting with our favorite person Gary Bettman, and the Nashville group that may be purchasing the team today.
Congratulations to Predators fans on keeping a failing team in your city, and to Gary Bettman on another boneheaded move that will continue to prevent the NHL and hockey from reaching its popularity potential.

Tags: bettman, hamilton, hockey, kansas city, nashville, nhl, predators.

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