Happy Tuesday!
This week on 15 Minutes of Fame we wrap up the Summer Olympics for another four years & discuss Usain Bolt’s track dominance, we delve into labor talks between the NHL and the NHLPA & the latest Phoenix Coyotes news and we look another solid night for the Edmonton Eskimos.
In the GABBYs: Usain Bolt, Manny Machado, Dwight Howard, Antonio Conte, Belgium & the NBC. The Punchline this week is Carolina Panthers defensive end Thomas Keiser!
When the NHL bought the Phoenix Coyotes back in the fall of 2009, who would have thought it would still own the team almost two years later?
Believe it or not, after two full seasons, the league does still own the team and it appears there is still no end in sight to the Coyotes ownership saga. The Phoenix Business Journal reported on Monday night that another potential owner has pulled out, making it three unsuccessful bids since the NHL took over.
Sources say Chicago’s Matthew Hulsizer is no longer interested in becoming the owner of the franchise, joining Ice Edge holdings and Jerry Reinsdorf in the category of groups that showed interest, but were never able to come to a lease agreement with the city of Glendale. (more…)
Is Jim Balsillie’s dream of owning an NHL team back on track?
With reports of several teams staring down mounting piles of debt and at least one troubled club already heading back to a hockey-mad Canadian market, you have to think his number will come up eventually. Well, a Forbes magazine blog is dropping some hints that make it sound like it may come sooner rather than later!
Sports Money’s Mike Ozanian reported this week that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has told the Research In Motion co-CEO that if he “behaves himself and doesn’t create any more spectacles or bad publicity for the league, he will eventually get a team.” The NHL has denied that such a conversation took place, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it didn’t happen, of course.
Balsillie has tried three times to become the owner of an NHL team, but on each occasion he did something to make the league brass angry. The most high profile of those “spectacles” saw Balsillie try to circumvent league rules and buy the Phoenix Coyotes through a bankruptcy court, which of course ended in the NHL buying the team themselves. It’s now almost two years later and they still haven’t managed to sell the Coyotes… (more…)
While the dust settles in Glendale, Arizona, the work is far from over for the National Hockey League ahead of the 2011-12 season.
A day after Glendale city council was able to “thrash” out a deal with the NHL to keep the Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena for at least another year, the league’s focus now shifts to the other side of the country and another situation where relocation could end up being the only answer.
Despite what has to be seen as an ‘encouraging’ on-ice product, the group that owns the Atlanta Thrashers remains desperate to sell the club, even if it means a change of scenery for Byfuglien and the boys. It’s been fairly quiet on this front in recent weeks, but with the Coyotes now staying put, it seems reasonable that we should be expecting some movement one way or another right away here.
Wondering how the Atlanta situation differs from the one in Glendale? (more…)
Just when you thought it might be time to bring out the U-Haul’s, the Phoenix Coyotes are staying in Glendale…at least for now.
Despite the fact that the team lost a reported $37-million this season and hundreds of millions of dollars overall since moving from Winnipeg to Arizona, the NHL is standing firm in its belief that the NHL-owned club has a future in the state, even if it means being owned by the NHL for another 10 years.
That’s right – after telling us a couple of months ago that “time is running out” on the potential sale of the Coyotes to a buyer who would keep the team in Glendale, the city and the NHL have agreed to extend the “deadline” for another full season. Just like in the last agreement, the city will put aside $25-million to cover the team’s losses in the event that they still can’t find an owner by this time next year.
I hope the NHL didn’t forget its yoga mat, because it’s bending over backwards for the city of Glendale when it should really be the other way around, shouldn’t it? (more…)
If the Phoenix Coyotes have, in fact, played their last game in Glendale, Wednesday night’s loss was a fitting finale to what has been a nasty, yet productive couple of years in the desert.
It all started with the team going bankrupt back in 2009 and ending up as property of the NHL after a long, drawn-out battle in the courts. As potential deal after potential deal fell through for one reason or another, talk of relocation heated up and the distractions grew large for the team. Despite that, the Phoenix Coyotes won 93 games over those past two seasons and, at times, looked like one of the better clubs in the league.
Wednesday night was a fitting end though… (more…)
For the first time in a long time, the Atlanta Thrashers are relevant in the big picture of the NHL, but what does it really mean?
Not much.
Despite being tied for fifth in the eastern conference and sitting five games over .500, the Thrashers are looking for new investors or a new owner as the team brass is left to wonder if hockey will ever ‘work’ in Atlanta.
In fifteen home games this season, the Thrashers are averaging 11,789 fans in a building that can potentially hold 18,750, putting them ahead of only the Islanders and the Coyotes in terms of butts in seats (or tickets sold and empty seats).
So, the obvious question is: When are they moving to Canada and will it be Winnipeg or Quebec City? (more…)
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