So how goes the hockey team?

[Blurr]

^

I agree, Balsillie who be a great owner to have in this city.

[Brenden]

What would you think if you found out that one of the 5 groups was MLSE trying to bring another team into Ontario?

[MistyMountainHop]

Originally Posted by flar

Kansas City has the arena. I don't think it has the fans, but try telling that to Bettman.


photo by KCgridlock
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=139304

This photo is a very accurate representation of the crowd you'd see at a Kansas City NHL game.

[SteelTown]

Premier McGuinty supports additional NHL team for Southern Ontario

http://www.premier.gov.on.ca/journal/index.php?Lang=EN

[Berklon]

Originally Posted by Brenden

What would you think if you found out that one of the 5 groups was MLSE trying to bring another team into Ontario?

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think a person or organization can own more than one team in the NHL (other leagues as well I'm assuming). That would be a conflict of interest, wouldn't it?

[Berklon]

Originally Posted by marmorek

This photo is a very accurate representation of the crowd you'd see at a Kansas City NHL game.

Oooohhhhh... that's KC. I thought that was in Phoenix... or Florida... or Atlanta... or...

[Actonite]

Originally Posted by Berklon

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think a person or organization can own more than one team in the NHL (other leagues as well I'm assuming). That would be a conflict of interest, wouldn't it?

You're right. The crook in Nashville(DelBiagio) was part owner of the Sharks. He had to sell his percentage of the Sharks off in order to get into Nashville.
The whole thing was a cooked deal by Bettman to get a team into KC where Boots DelBiagio had a stake in the arena.
The same bunch of criminals was involved when Balsillie tried to by the Pens.
DelBiagio was brought in by Bettman then as well as an other potential buyer.
His plan was to relocate to KC which Bettman and Mario Lemuixe supported and used as a pawn to get an arena built in Pittsburgh.

[Distill3d]

Originally Posted by RAFS

Balsillie has a few bucks, obviously. So what if he did something crazy like up the offer closer to $300mil. Ya it's nuts, but so is $213. So what if he did? Or, at what price do you think the NHL would just say "fine, take them"?

Just curious.

I think Balsillie could hand over RIM to Gary Bettman hand his cronies and that wouldn't guarantee him an NHL franchise...

[Gurnett71]

So, first the Coyotes, now potentially the Thrashers and perhaps in the not too distant future the Dallas Stars!!!
http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/article/631906

How many fires can Bettman put out at once?? Too funny. Bettman, your sun belt experiment is being vapourized as we speak!!! Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

[Actonite]

Originally Posted by DHLawrence

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the owners of the successful teams required to use their profits to prop up the losers? That should be incentive enough to allow Balsillie to put the Coyotes wherever he wants.

In some cases such as Toronto and Buffalo it makes more sense to spend a few million propping up the Coyotes of the league than it does to have a team in Hamilton.
Buffalo could become a have not team again with a team in Hamilton and the Leafs fear that the amount of revenue that a Hamilton team could skim from MLSE profits far out strips the amount they pay into revenue sharing.
Other owners would rather wait until the league and economy are healthier and expand to Southern Ontario so they can't get a piece of the expansion pie.
If Balsillie buys a team and move them to Hamilton other greedy owners don't have as much to gain as they would if they were to expand into Southern Ontario.

[Berklon]

Originally Posted by Distill3d

I think Balsillie could hand over RIM to Gary Bettman hand his cronies and that wouldn't guarantee him an NHL franchise...

No, but it would gurantee RIM being bankrupt the following year.

[Actonite]

Originally Posted by Gurnett71

So, first the Coyotes, now potentially the Thrashers and perhaps in the not too distant future the Dallas Stars!!!
http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/article/631906

How many fires can Bettman put out at once?? Too funny. Bettman, your sun belt experiment is being vapourized as we speak!!! Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

This looks good on the owners that support the goof too. Keep paying to support Nashville, Atlanta, Florida, and Phoenix while the truth about how bad the NHL is as a business is exposed to the world.

[FairHamilton]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

Let them both have a contract with Copps and whoever gets a permanent NHL team to Hamilton first will get the exclusive contract.

Heck. let's just put 2 teams in Hamilton . In all seriousness, it's nice to be courted by many, and we as Hamiltonians should build (and learn) from that fact.

[SteelTown]

Mayor expects arena deal this week

May 10, 2009
By Nicole MacIntyre
THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR
http://www.thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/563579

The mayor expects Hamilton to lock up an arena deal with Jim Balsillie this week, saying the Blackberry billionaire is the only one with a concrete proposal before the city.

Fred Eisenberger said he is communicating with an anonymous second suitor, but he doesn’t expect those talks will deter the city from reaching an agreement with Balsillie.

“Our main focus is and continues to be Mr. Balsillie. We intend to follow through and create an agreement with him that services his interest and the city of Hamilton. Any other discussions are, at this point, content,” said Eisenberger.

“As far as I’m concerned there is nothing as real as Mr. Balsillie's proposal and that’s the basis we’re moving forward on.”

The Spectator reported on Saturday that a Vancouver-based hockey group is also interested in relocating the financially strapped Atlanta Thrashers to Hamilton. An inside hockey source stated the group is lead by Vancouver developer Tom Gaglardi.

Trashers’ general manager Don Waddell denied the NHL franchise is moving in an interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution this weekend.

“There is no truth to it,” he said. “We are not a movable franchise. I have talked to our owners and no one has had contact with any group.”

Waddell said there are too many obstacles to move the team, including an ongoing lawsuit over its ownership and commitments to the city’s arena and the NHL.

Gaglardi has not commented publically since his name was raised in media reports last week. He has not returned calls for comment.

Eisenberger refused to identify the second suitor, saying only that he has talked with another interested party. He added no meeting is planned this week.

“I will be communicating with them” he said, adding he couldn’t say when.

Eisenberger described the talks as “information gathering” and stated he didn’t expect the dialogue would change the city’s plan to sign a deal with Balsillie.

“He is the only bona fide proposal that’s on the table right now and that’s the one we’re going to work with and put to bed by the middle of the week.”

Balsillie hopes to buy and relocate the Phoenix Coyotes to Hamilton for the 2009 season. He is battling the NHL in court to control the bankrupt franchise.

[Distill3d]

If I were in Gaglardi's shoes I would be ensuring I had an arena deal in Winnipeg at this point.

[Fierce]

Originally Posted by Distill3d

If I were in Gaglardi's shoes I would be ensuring I had an arena deal in Winnipeg at this point.

Agreed

[Distill3d]

I mean, I think its time we as Canadian's got greedy and decided that its Time for 9...return the NHL to Hamilton, Quebec City, and Winnipeg

[holymoly]

Would the Bulldogs still use Copps as their base if Hamilton got an NHL team, or would they have to move?

[DHLawrence]

Their boss doesn't seem to think so:

Are the Bulldogs' days numbered?
Owner feels snubbed by City
May 11, 2009
Garry McKay

The Hamilton Bulldogs are making plans to play at Copps Coliseum this coming season.

Michael Andlauer, the owner of the American Hockey League club, says he doesn't think there's any chance, logistically, that the Phoenix Coyotes or any other NHL club can move into that building in that short a period of time.

Long term, however, is another matter and Andlauer is drawing up a contingency plan to leave.

The Bulldogs have been HECFI's major tenant at Copps Coliseum for 13 seasons. They're about to enter the final year of a five-year lease.

That lease, however, gives HECFI the right to turf them out if an NHL team moves permanently to Hamilton.

Andlauer says his list of possible places to relocate includes St. John's, Newfoundland and an unnamed city in Florida. The Burlington resident says he really doesn't want to own the team anywhere else, however.

Andlauer, who has some interest himself in owning an NHL team at some point, is a big supporter of the NHL coming to Hamilton, saying it will do wonders for the downtown.

He's very disappointed, however, that he hasn't received so much as a courtesy call from Mayor Fred Eisenberger or any official from the City of Hamilton.

He says that shows great disrespect for everything the Bulldogs have done for the community.

[realcity]

someone explain what exactly Copps needs. I hear new seat coverings, a new scoreboard and corporate suites added (which were roughed in anyway). What is the $150 million for renovations needed for? All I hear is it's outdated with no facts to say exactly what is outdated. It was built to NHL specs 19 years ago. Which is newer then the Saddle Dome.