Tag Archive for 'jim-balsillie'

Phoenix (not) rising…

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!!


Related Posts:
·  Bettman gets desperate… again
·  The Great One and Notso
·  Acting locally, not thinking globally?
·  Hockey Hero?
·  NHL vs. Balsillie
·  Canada, eh?
·  Bettman’s NHL Strikes (out) Again!!
·  Make It Seven!!!

Hockey Hero?

Will Jim Balsillie become a hero of hockey and the savior of the NHL later today? Both Balsillie and the NHL await the decision of Judge Redfield T. Baum on Mr. Balsillie’s $212.5-million US bid to buy the Phoenix Coyotes and relocate the franchise to Hamilton… with the ruling expected to come later today.

The Judge heard from both sides earlier in the week. The major outcome of the proceedings was that the NHL could probably charge Balsillie a relocation fee to move the team from Phoenix to Hamilton. This fee could be at least $100 million, which would create an easy $300+ million price tag for the desert team.

If this is the case and it’s as simple as this (which we highly doubt)… we say WRITE THE CHECK BALSILLIE!!! Just get the deal done and move on!! If he wants this team and wants this for Canada enough, he can and will do it.

In other news… Balsillie and his MakeItSeven movement have chosen June 19th as Make It Seven Day in Canada!


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Make It Seven!!!

As many of you know, Jim Balsillie has a web site to promote his iniative to buy the Phoenix Coyotes and move them to Hamilton, Ontario… the site is http://www.makeitseven.ca. Jim and his team there send out email messages a few times a week, which we will start posting here on FB… because we support his mission! Here is the email sent out today by MakeItSeven:

To all our Make It Seven Supporters,

Tell it to the Judge!

We need everyone who supports an NHL franchise in Hamilton to let the Phoenix bankruptcy court Judge know. And it’s easy to do.

Tuesday June 9 is a critical court hearing to determine whether the Coyotes can be relocated when they’re sold out of bankruptcy.

We need some evidence for the Judge - evidence of bigger, stronger and deeper numbers of Hamilton backers.

We need you to use our “Tell a Friend” feature to get your neighbours, co-workers, family and friends to sign up to Makeitseven.ca.

Do it today. Do it now. We need to pull together. We need to tell it to the Judge.

Make It Seven.

In other very related news, a Toronto investment group - The Toronto Legacy Group - has put forth a proposal/bid for another NHL team in Toronto. The group says they already have around $900 million in financing available, and want to name the team the Toronto Legacy. We’re wondering if this is a joke…. but we guess if Los Angeles can “support” two teams, Toronto shouldn’t have a problem. However, we’d rather see the next team in Hamilton, or another city in Canada.


Related Posts:
·  About
·  There will be ice in Nashville…
·  Bettman says he’s not going away…
·  If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it
·  Time to send a message… No more hockey in the Desert!
·  We’re back!!!!!!
·  Bored of governors…
·  Hockey Hero?

Bettman’s NHL Strikes (out) Again!!

5/8/09 Update: The Phoenix Bankruptcy Court judge overseeing this case delayed it until May 15th… hoping that the NHL and Coyotes’ owner Jerry Moyes can figure out who owns and has control of the team. Buttman and the NHL will appear in court on the 15th to state their case, and Moyes will state his case on the 17th… with the decision to come on the 19th. You can read all about it here.

Where are all these rules and regulations about how a team is operated and sold that Bettman talks about?? Where are the rules about not letting a crook like Boots Del Biaggio invest in a team??? We think Bettman and his compadres don’t want Balsillie to have ownership of any of these teams, because Balsillie will not relocate the team to Kansas City or Las Vegas, where the little weasel hopes to put the next NHL team. You know… a place in the south where no one cares about or knows anything about hockey… instead of in Canada, where people live and breathe hockey. Makes sense, doesn’t it? hah. Mr. Bettman, wake up and get over yourself and how you are ruining the game… and do what’s best for the game, the NHL and its fans!!!

Yes, we’re still alive here at FireBettman.com … once again, sorry for our long absence.

The playoffs are finally here again (like us), and Bettman’s NHL is at its worst…

The Phoenix Coyotes have filed for bankruptcy… anyone with a brain (not Bettman) could have told you this one was coming. Since Bettman couldn’t see it coming, he and his NHL morons are challenging the bankruptcy filing in court this afternoon. Now why would they challenge this? Because the Canadian millionaire Jim Balsillie is once again interested in owning an NHL team, and has offered Phoenix majority owner Jerry Moyes $212.5 US million with the clause of moving the team to southern Ontario (ie, Hamilton).

Bettman says he doesn’t believe Balsillie would be a good owner, rather than admitting that he does not want a successful team in Canada! He thinks giving Phoenix another chance and trying to *make* them succeed in Phoenix will work out in the long run. Our guess is that Bettman is convincing another one of his crooked buddies (remember Boots Del Biaggio and the Predators??) to be an idiot and offer more money than Balsillie to keep the team in Phoenix. Didn’t he learn from the first time? Oh yeah, we forgot… he ain’t that smart and cares more about his ego than about NHL quality and success.

Apparently, Phoenix fans are smarter than Bettman… the main fan site has already been put up for sale. We recommend not buying it. Furthermore, Balsillie has gotten support from around 100,000 NHL fans (and we suspect there are more of you on this site), and from Prime Minister Stephen Harper! Yeah Canada!

In other NHL news… did you see the disallowed goal in the Detroit vs. Anaheim game on Tuesday night? If not, here is some of the worst officiating you will ever see from Bettman’s boys:

Simply ridiculous and inexcusable. We’re not saying Detroit should have won… but this is a great example of how terrible the officiating has gotten in the NHL due to rule changes, terrible new officials, and the ambiguity of what constitutes a penalty in the “New NHL”. This play should be reviewable!! Especially since it could have made a difference in the outcome of the game.

It’s good to be back and updating you on the latest news in the NHL and the terrible path that our mental midget commish continues to lead the league down… so stay tuned and keep checking back!


Related Posts:
·  12 signs Bettman’s job may be in jeopardy
·  Gary Bettman’s email address
·  Simple Simon Strikes Again
·  Bettmans controls what you read on the Internet…
·  NHL Hour with Gary Bettman - 03/13/08 @ 4pm EDT

Ask Bettman about his ‘Wild’ decisions…

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.


Related Posts:
·  Gary’s Almost-Stars Game
·  Tracking the NHL…
·  About
·  NHL vs. Balsillie
·  Human life or more hockey?
·  Bettman and NHL counterfile against and threaten the Rangers… plus other Bettman news
·  Quality, Not Quantity

Hey Hey Hamilton!

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!


Related Posts:
·  Make It Seven!!!
·  Canada, eh?
·  Music to Hamilton’s Ears!
·  Hockey Hero?
·  Kansas City, here I come…
·  NHL vs. Balsillie
·  Say eh to Nashville…
·  So easy even a caveman can hear it!

Music to Hamilton’s Ears!

Billionaire Canadian businessman Jim Balsillie today formally applied to move the Nashville Predators. Concurrently, his approval of purchase is pending with the league. Many have speculated that Balsillie’s objective is to move the team to Hamilton, Ontario. However, it is becoming more apparent that Hamilton is the final destination of the Predators. In the meantime, NHL loyals await a greater variety for Hockey Night in Canada! Gary Bettman has consistently maintained that the Predators will stay in Nashville. Given the state of NHL hockey today, does Bettman have the clout to stand a chance of keeping hockey in the Music City?


Related Posts:
·  Bettman bettin’ Nashville! (but what’s Jim thinkin’?)
·  So easy even a caveman can hear it!
·  8 More Reasons for Losing Bettman
·  Bettman screws Canada… again!!!

Bettman bettin’ Nashville! (but what’s Jim thinkin’?)

NHL commish Bettman has stated that the proposed sale of the Nashville Predators to Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie will not result in the team leaving the country music capital. Yet…Bettman goes further to state “What’s clear to me from meeting with Mr. Balsillie is he’s passionate about the game, he’d like to own a franchise and certainly has the resources to do it. Beyond that, there have been no promises, there have been no predictions.” Hmmm…no promises? or predictions? More Bettman double-speak. Balsillie will only have to avoid a lease agreement with the city in order to take the team where ever he wishes. There is certainly a lot of legal wrangling that will occur but count on Bettman to blow that. The city has the opportunity to make up the seat deficit since the Preds couldn’t reach the 14,000 plateau written in the lease. If the arena lease is not in effect when Balsillie signs the NHL’ consent agreement for team purchase, then Balsillie can say good bye to the southern country music enclave and take the team to… Where in North America could they land? I’m sure Gary could help the team find another loser-for-hockey city. That’s one thing he can do right.


Related Posts:
·  Nashville keeps its team?
·  Say eh to Nashville…
·  There will be ice in Nashville…
·  Hey Hey Hamilton!
·  Nashville next to move?
·  Gary does Nashville
·  Music to Hamilton’s Ears!
·  Every team will play Nashville next year…


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