So how goes the hockey team?

[SteelTown]

Either way it's looking better for Balsillie. The NHL had a weak case and couldn't convince the Judge that it owned the Coyotes whereas with Moyes's team they seem to have an easier ride with the Judge.

[SteelTown]

Looks like the Coyotes is going into auction. Which is good news for Balsillie, he's currently the highest bidder.

NHL, Moyes ordered to resolve Coyotes ownership
Who controls club not as vital as whether club can be moved: judge

May 19, 2009
Steve Milton
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/568457

PHOENIX - Judge Redfield Baum issued a partial order Tuesday in the Phoenix Coyotes Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.

The bankruptcy court judge ordered the National Hockey League and Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes to attempt to mediate the issue of who controls the team. Baum said he expects them to proceed as quickly as possible, ordering them to report back to court on May 27.

Baum indicated that the issue of who controls the club is not as important to creditors as whether or not the club can be relocated from Phoenix, as BlackBerry billionaire Jim Balsillie wants to do.

Balsillie offered to buy the Coyotes for $212.5 million US, conditional on the club being relocated to Hamilton.

The judge indicated that there would be a completely different set of potential purchasers for the club if it could be moved.

The judge made the decision on mediation because he sensed that the parties agree there should be an auction to sell the club, differing only on how soon that could take place. Balsillie would like it to happen now, while the league says it couldn’t be done before July.

The hearing is taking place in a massive courtroom filled with lawyers and media. Canadian media. Eleven Canadian news outlets are here but the only American media in attendance are the local Arizona Republic and the Associated Press.

Easels and whiteboards set up in the court hint at the arguments to come.

Neither Balsillie nor NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman are on hand for the pivotal court hearing.

Lawyers representing the two main parties -- the NHL and the Phoenix Coyotes/Jerry Moyes -- were in attendance as well as lawyers for Balsillie, the city of Glendale and various creditors.

There are so many lawyers,there was talk of moving the media to an observation room to make room for them all in the main courtroom.

What there aren’t a lot of are fans: Just three fans of the local hockey team are in court to see what happens to their team.

There is little evidence anywhere around town of awareness, interest or concern about the fate of the city’s hockey team. Many people spoken to didn’t even know there was a trial going on.

That is an indication of what the NHL is up against in trying to keep the team here as a viable franchise.

Moyes is arguing the NHL is doing nothing to help the creditors of his team while the NHL says it has the right to decide where teams are located and who owners get to be.

[Hammer Native]

I'm just going to go off on a different tangent on the subject for a moment.

I think regardless of the outcome of the court case I think Jim Balsillie, his backers and supporters and the community have still accomplished something here. And that is I think we made an impression, we've made an impact. Even in Gary Bettman's mind and the NHL, heck he even answered our Spectator publisher, that surprised me. Jim may have pissed people off in the organization but that is probably better than being ignored or given the brush-off. Kind of puts me in mind of the expression 'The Squeaky Wheel gets the Grease' . If not this time then hopefully we have people like him and backers and we continue to be 'Squeaky' and not give up. JB played by the rules before and it didn't work. Ron Joyce played nice in 1990 and it didn't work.

To put it in a nutshell, I just sense that we have received unprecedented attention this time as a viable market, (maybe even more so than we realize at this time, that remains to be seen.) and can't be so easily ignored.

Just my opinion anyway, what do others think?

[Gurnett71]

Originally Posted by Hammer Native

To put it in a nutshell, I just sense that we have received unprecedented attention this time as a viable market, (maybe even more so than we realize at this time, that remains to be seen.) and can't be so easily ignored.

Just my opinion anyway, what do others think?

I agree and from what I have read in some of the papers, the NHL does too as evidenced by the fact that Bettman indicated that Phoenix should return to Winnipeg, and Hamilton would be in the running for the next expansion (after a contraction?).

I would imagine that the costs of such an expansion team would run to something ridiculous like $400M including imdemnification fees to Toronto and Buffalo (http://slapshot.blogs.nytimes.com/20...-in-hamilton/).

However, the NHL obviously feels that someone would be able to put up this kind of capital for a team in the Hammer and still be able to make a return over time. The NHL is just bitter at Balsillie because he is trying to purchase a team for a mere $212M, when they know that such a team in Hamilton is worth vastly more and they are trying to extract that value in expansion fees so that the owners can share in the windfall, while shutting out the NHLPA on such fees per the CBA (although the players would benefit over time with the increased revenues that would be generated by a Hamilton franchise over Phoenix and the like).

[ryan_mcgreal]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

Gary Bettman letter to Hamilton fresh out of the fax machine..... (pdf file)

tl;dr summary: Nothing personal, Hamilton.

I thought it was funny that Bettman's list of struggling franchises the NHL helped to keep going in situ doesn't include the, er, Winnipeg Jets.

[SteelTown]

So when should we invite him over? May 30th? During the rally at Copps? Bettman did say "I look forward to my next visit to your city".

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

So when should we invite him over? May 30th? During the rally at Copps? Bettman did say "I look forward to my next visit to your city".

How well-publicized is this rally? I hope that it gathers enough steam to fill the place --- hopefully it does not end up being something embarrassing.

[SteelTown]

There suppose to be a Spec article on this rally tomorrow.

[SteelTown]

Balsillie 'moving forward' in bid for Coyotes

Updated Tue. May. 19 2009 10:41 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...hub=TopStories

Jim Balsillie said late Tuesday he's not giving up on his bid to bring the Phoenix Coyotes to Canada, after a U.S. bankruptcy judge ordered the NHL and the team's majority owner into mediation.

"I am moving forward," Balsillie said in a statement. "I have tabled a comprehensive and attractive offer. I will also be filing formal applications to the NHL both for transfer of ownership and for relocation to Southern Ontario to my chosen Hamilton Copps Coliseum venue."

Judge Redfield Baum has asked the NHL and Coyotes majority owner Jerry Moyes to resolve issues over who controls the team, and he wants a report on the outcome by May 27.

Baum also said he wants a hearing on June 22 to decide whether the team can be relocated. If not, Balsillie will lose his chance to move the Coyotes to Hamilton.

"I appreciate the court's careful consideration of the facts at hand and I respect Judge Baum's decision to recommend mediation for the Coyotes and NHL on the issue of current ownership," said Balsillie. "I also respect his decision to hold a June 22 hearing on the relocation issue."

Balsillie's lawyer, Richard Rodier, was also confident as he spoke to reporters outside the Phoenix, Ariz., courthouse.

"We have the rules covered," he said. "We have the criteria covered in spades. How the NHL deals with that, and how the court deals with that -- well, we have the utmost respect for the process and the courts in the state of Arizona."

The key issue in the dispute is whether Moyes had the authority to file for bankruptcy and negotiate the team's sale, or if the NHL had control of the Coyotes.

On May 5, Moyes announced he had put the team into Chapter 11 protection. That same day, Balsillie, Co-CEO of Research In Motion, made a $212.5-million offer to purchase the team but only if he could relocate it to Southern Ontario.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman alleges in court filings that he had control of the team -- not Moyes -- and any talks of selling or moving the franchise should have been directed to him.

Bettman alleges that on Nov. 14, 2008, he "assumed control of all interests and rights" of the Coyotes, but "made the management decision to delegate certain responsibilities relating to the continued operations of the Club to Moyes" and other team officers and staff.

Trevor Whiffen, a sports and entertainment lawyer, said that normally, control of a business resides with the owner. But in this case, the NHL is asserting that Moyes delegated that responsibility by signing two proxies last November giving the NHL the authority to run the team and the arena.

In return, Moyes received millions in funding from the NHL on a line of credit.

"Does that proxy go so far as to prevent Jerry Moyes from filing bankruptcy? I would have thought, without seeing the document, that he would have reserved that right," Whiffen said.

He said he thinks the court will allow Moyes to file for bankruptcy.

If that happens, the court's mandate at that point is to sell the assets for the highest amount of money to make sure that the creditors of the team are all looked after.

Although Balsillie's bid would cover the debts, Whiffen said he still has hurdles to clear.

"He will have to get the approval of 23 of the 30 owners in the National Hockey League," Whiffen said. "Then he has to get permission to move that team to Ontario... he has to get a vote of 16 of the 30 votes."

[SteelTown]

Jim Balsillie will be on CHML at 11:35am, like in ten minutes.

[SteelTown]

Sounds like makeitseven.ca will join the May 30th rally. Jim Balsillie "stay tuned!" he said. It almost sounds as if he has a step by step long term plan.

Also he said he'll submit his NHL application either this morning or by the end of today.

[emge]

Balsillie hails his day in court
Plans to file relocation request today
May 20, 2009
Meredith MacLeod


Jim Balsillie says his day in court yesterday couldn’t have gone any better in his bid to bring NHL hockey to Hamilton.

“Yesterday was an outstanding day,” Balsillie told a local radio station. “A very short time ago what was considered impossible is now on the verge of happening.”

He said the ruling by an Arizona bankruptcy court judge that he will hear arguments about whether the Phoenix Coyotes can be legally relocated and the bidding process for an auction sale of the team is the best outcome he could have hoped to see.

“This is exactly what we wanted. This is exactly what we asked for,” Balsillie told CHML’s Bill Kelly.

“The judge will open the auction and decide on location. I don’t know how it could have been better.”

That could open the door to a move as Balsillie’s $212.5-million US bid is conditional on being allowed to relocate to Copps Coliseum.

He said his lawyers will file an application today to relocate the team to Hamilton.

“We want to follow the rules. All we’ve asked for is that they be applied in an open and transparent way.

“Our bid will be weighed on its merits and nothing else.”

Balsillie repeatedly thanked “hockey nation” and those who have joined his website.

He said there will soon be a “call to action” for specific help from fans as the process unfolds.

What’s next?

“Stay tuned,” Balsillie said. “There’s more to do. It’s all very positive. There’s more to do but people are doing amazing.”

With files from Scott Radley

[SteelTown]

Tune in to Prime Time Sports on the Fan 590 at 6 pm to hear Jim Balsillie.

[SteelTown]

http://www.fan590.com/media.jsp?cont...20_180939_8176
Jim Balsillie with Bob McCown & Bruce Arthur

CHCH News also had an interview with Jim Balsillie this evening.

[FairHamilton]

Is anyone in on getting a small group (4 or 5 max) to buy Season Tickets?

I don't think I could make a full season of games, and don't want the hassle of having to sell games I can't make, but would like the luxury of having Season Tickets with a small group.

After all people who bought Season Tickets for the Leafs when MLG opened in the 30's. "Will" them to their children......

[markbarbera]

I am hoping Balsillie gives right of first refusal to those of us who put deposits on season tickets back in 2007.

What do you think - will the new team be called the Hamilton Storm?

[matt602]

I'm really hoping for a revival of the Hamilton Tigers, myself. This is Tigertown after all.

[calvinkool]

This is all very exciting, but at this point I would not hold your breath. With these supposed territorial issues the judge will never allow a relocation.

[bigguy1231]

Originally Posted by calvinkool

This is all very exciting, but at this point I would not hold your breath. With these supposed territorial issues the judge will never allow a relocation.

Bankruptcy judges have wide ranging authority to do whatever is in the best interests of the creditors. As for the territorial issues and how they may be applied with regard to pro sports franchises, that is for other courts to decide. Anti trust laws and anti competition legislation will determine whether or not a team can move into another teams territory. Most leagues have avoided heading to court on the issue knowing they will probably lose. They may not want to chance setting a precident.

[drpgq]

What I wonder now, isn't the value of the team next year in Phoenix totally destroyed if it eventually ends up they have to stay for whatever reason? It has already been reported that season ticket sales have dwindled down to nothing and I would have to guess any sponsors will have better places to put their money for next season. With the $40 million salary floor, plus all the other guaranteed costs for running a team, the loss they are looking at next year could be truly colossal.