Published by Puckhead 11 months, 4 weeks ago
in Phoenix Coyotes.
We haven’t had a lot of time over the past few weeks to keep you all up to date. But here’s a quick summary of the latest happenings in the Phoenix Coyotes debacle…
The NHL Board of Governors rejected Jim Balsillie’s bid to purchase the Coyotes (suprise! hah), and gave positive responses to bids put forth by Ice Edge Holdings (a group of U.S. and Canadian investors) and Jerry Reinsdorf. Both bids were to purchase the team and keep them in Phoenix, with the Ice Edge Holdings groups also proposing that the team would play five game in Canada… in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan or Halifax, and Nova Scotia. Ice Edge is offering $150 million and Reinsdorf bid is for $148 million, both much less than Balsillie’s $212 million offer.
However, the most recent news is very good…Judge Baum has decided to let any and all interested parties be involved in the open auction for the team on September 10th, which means that Balsillie will be allowed to take part! The Judge said specifically that the offer from Balsillie would be considered. Balsille also got a little help yesterday… the largest creditor of the Coyotes (which is owned by Michael Dell of Dell Computer) said that they wanted to be paid in full and in cash, and that only Balsillie’s bid would fulfill their request. The Globe and Mail has a great article on all of the latest. Check it out.
Yes, there is still hope for Canada!!
Tags: canada, coyotes, hockey, ice edge holdings, Jim Balsillie, national hockey league, nhl, phoenix.
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Published by Puckhead 3 years, 3 months ago
in Bettman, TV and Playoffs.
The 2007 NHL Playoffs Conference Quarterfinal schedule has been released, along with the television coverage schedule of the games.
And once again, Gary Bettman and the NHL are screwing over Canada. As William Houston of the Globe and Mail reported today, the league (Bettman) has scheduled all but one of the Canadian playoff games for the afternoon, which is not a prime time slot for CBC television coverage. The reason for this? Bettman wants to have the Pittsburgh/Ottawa game (or Sidney Crosby) shown on NBC TV in America, in an effort to target and increase the American audience. Hello?!!! We have already commented on how terrible NBC’s coverage is (see “NBC Hullcrap”), and according to Houston, NBC’s regular season viewer numbers were down this year. And Mr. Bettman, please get over the idea that one player - Sidney Crosby - is going to sell the game for you and turn all kinds of Americans into hockey fans. The NHL is not the NBA, and Sidney Crosby is no Michael Jordan.
You may be thinking, “oh, big deal… Canadians will still get their hockey, and CBC will be okay.” Well, to top this all off, CBC and the NHL just recently signed a new contract that has CBC paying the NHL $100 million per year over the next six years… 600 million dollars!!! You would think that Gary Bettman and the NHL would be very grateful for this, and have the decency to give CBC some preference and say in the scheduling. But no, just the opposite happened… the head of CBC sports, Scott Moore, had to call Bettman to voice his opinion about how the Penguins/Senators game should be in the prime time slot on CBC… a request that fell on deaf ears.
Sing with me now… “go on take the money and run… go on take the money and run…”…
I think it’s time Canadians start protesting. Write letters to the NHL and Gary Bettman telling them how mad you are about how they have abandoned and mistreated the CBC, Canada and Canadian hockey fans. Maybe we should spread the word in America for people *not* to watch the Pittsburgh/Ottawa game on NBC Saturday. Then wait for the look on Gary Bettman’s face when he sees the TV ratings, and wonders what went wrong.
Tags: bettman, canada, CBC, hockey, nhl, NHL Playoffs, playoffs.
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According to Michael Farber over at SI.com, the dealing of Ryan Smyth from Edmonton to the New York Islanders is just more proof that Gary Bettman’s salary cap and whole lockout ordeal hasn’t helped the league, and is failing.
And it’s just more evidence that Bettman is on a mission to completely Americanize the NHL and hockey, and to push Canada out of the picture. The only two good pick-ups for Canadian teams at the trade deadline were Yanic Perreault by Toronto, and Oleg Saprykin for Ottawa. All of the big name changes were on the American teams.
Columnist Steve Simmons also brings up some good points about how the trade deadline is negatively affecting the league, and how the deals are being based solely on money, and aren’t permanent. He also points out the fact that fans of the teams who are losing their star players at the trade deadlines are being ripped off. They’re paying the same price for tickets, for a team that isn’t as strong as it was, and has no hope for the rest of the season. I would think that attendance for those teams will plummet after the trade deadline, and this will end up hurting those teams even more.
However, it seems to me that if Ryan Smyth really wanted to stay in Edmonton, he could have. I don’t know the details of the contract negotiations that he was trying to work out with the Oilers, but it seems like he was being greedy too. I think both sides are to blame in this case… the new NHL and Smyth. But, I also can’t blame a veteran like Smyth for changing teams, for the chance of winning a Stanley Cup with another team (the Islanders).
I can only hope that the Canadian teams can somehow regain some ground over the off-season and pick up some of the big name players, and help Canada dominate the league more next year… but based on the way things are shaping up due to the new financial system of the NHL, I’m not too hopeful 
Tags: bettman, canada, hockey, islanders, nhl, oilers, oleg saprykin, ryan smyth, yanic perreault.
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Published by Puckhead 3 years, 5 months ago
in Bettman and Blog Entries.
A couple links to great articles over at the Globe and Mail were sent to us by one of our readers.
Stephen Brunt makes some good points here…
What is obvious are more vast stretches of empty seats than ever before, most dramatically in what were once very good hockey towns: St. Louis, Chicago and Boston. The Blues, for a game against the Blackhawks this season, opened the doors and watched as only 5,400 fans (announced) walked through the turnstiles.
Tickets might be sold, but people aren’t at the games. This might make money for teams now, but isn’t good for the future of the game IMHO. Companies are buying seasons tickets, and no one is using them… this has negative effects on businesses that surround the hockey arenas, and also hurts the spirit of the fans. It makes me mad when I see empty seats at “sold out” games… I’m sure there are thousands of young kids and other people who are more into hockey, that would rather be in those seats than some corporate folks who really don’t know a thing about hockey… and just use it as entertainment for their business clients. I think this method of selling (and wasting) tickets is turning possible fans off from the game, and making people lose their interest in the NHL. It has pushed some ticket prices through the roof, out of the reach of your every day fan.
This article takes a look at the financial side of the NHL in Canada. For hockey’s sake, let’s hope the American dollar stays weak 
Being that Gary Bettman is/was a businessman, I have a feeling he knew what he was doing… and this was part of his plot to Americanize hockey and take the NHL out of Canada, and have Americans profit from it as much as possible.
I think each team should start brewing and selling their own beer… that may solve their financial problems
Tags: articles, bettman, bush, canada, economics, globe and mail, hockey, nhl.
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