Broke Yotes!!

[tyler289]

Quote: Originally Posted by Money99

Man, this is going to get very ugly. I just hope it's cleared up by the end of June so we can get on with the draft and the league.

Yea really. The NHL wants to avoid looking like it failed in expansion, but moving the Coyotes to a hockey city would be good for the league...hopefully this gets taken care of soon. The last thing we need is a distraction like this during the SCF.

[mercalnd]

Quote: Originally Posted by tyler289

Yea really. The NHL wants to avoid looking like it failed in expansion, but moving the Coyotes to a hockey city would be good for the league...hopefully this gets taken care of soon. The last thing we need is a distraction like this during the SCF.

Phoenix is not an expansion franchise. They were the Winnipeg Jets before moving to Phoenix.

[Donovan]

Quote: Originally Posted by SPTO

Apparently Bill Daily said after the proceeding today that Moyes signed an agreement that made it clear that he was putting the keys on the table and can not file bankruptcy. This was said to have been done last December. Moyes of course denies it. Crazy stuff.

That is very crazy. It makes me think Moyes is the lying party, considering he is looking for the best offer, the most money and the best sale, which he got going this route. But it would be shocking if the NHL were proven to be fudging the truth a bit with that statement, because if thats their defence that the bankruptcy couldn't go through because they were in charge they'd need a lot of proof of that. Its suspicious that the news of the league controlling the Coyotes came out only a week ago, and that they further removed Moyes from the helm after the Balsillie offer. Makes you think NHL control of the team doesn't go back as far as November of last year, I think we'd have heard news of that from one source or another.

If I were another owner I'd be angry to see the league bullying another owner while he tries to find a good way to sell his team, they basically stripped him of any control of his own asset.

[Money99]

Quote: Originally Posted by Donovan

That is very crazy. It makes me think Moyes is the lying party, considering he is looking for the best offer, the most money and the best sale, which he got going this route. But it would be shocking if the NHL were proven to be fudging the truth a bit with that statement, because if thats their defence that the bankruptcy couldn't go through because they were in charge they'd need a lot of proof of that. Its suspicious that the news of the league controlling the Coyotes came out only a week ago, and that they further removed Moyes from the helm after the Balsillie offer. Makes you think NHL control of the team doesn't go back as far as November of last year, I think we'd have heard news of that from one source or another. If I were another owner I'd be angry to see the league bullying another owner while he tries to find a good way to sell his team, they basically stripped him of any control of his own asset.

That's exactly what I was thinking.

I also find it funny that the NHL claims they've been running things since November. I distinctly recall Bettman saying that Phoenix was fine and the league was only helping them find an owner.
This is a lie that Bettman can't avoid anymore. How is anyone supposed to believe anything that comes out of his mouth anymore? That's why I think Bettman is so ticked. He knows he has no credibility any more when speaking about the state of the league.

[buzzguy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Matteh

I dont really care if the franchise stays in Phoenix(for the diehard hockey fans that are there I hope they stay because I know how I would feel if this was happening in Tampa), but I just hope it's not Ballsille getting the team. He just seems like a shady character in his attempts to buy teams. I understand the notion to put another team in Canada, but he should be working with the NHL instead of trying to work around them. I think that might be why there's such backlash against him. It's disappointing to see what's happened to Phoenix. That fanbase was great in the late 90's with the whiteouts for playoff games. It was awesome to see. Seems like once the recognizeable guys like Tkachuk, Roenick, and Khabibulin left it went downhill there.

Man, the whiteouts started in Winnipeg, where the team was originally moved from. Now Phoenix is having even worse problems then the team had while it was here in Manitoba. And I don't recall the NHL getting their panties in a knot when that team was going to be moved.
This whole situation with the Yotes, and the call to "keep them in Glendale" is making my stomach turn. We had more of an emotional attachment to the team than the fans in Phoenix EVER WILL!
Poetic justice, maybe?

[Perceptor]

Quote: Originally Posted by buzzguy

Man, the whiteouts started in Winnipeg, where the team was originally moved from. Now Phoenix is having even worse problems then the team had while it was here in Manitoba. And I don't recall the NHL getting their panties in a knot when that team was going to be moved. This whole situation with the Yotes, and the call to "keep them in Glendale" is making my stomach turn. We had more of an emotional attachment to the team than the fans in Phoenix EVER WILL! Poetic justice, maybe?

I completely agree. People may say Ballisilie's a slimeball, but Bettman is no better. He just doesn't want to admit that he screwed up because Phoenix hasn't done as well as he had hoped

[mgoblue]

Quote: Originally Posted by Perceptor

I completely agree. People may say Ballisilie's a slimeball, but Bettman is no better. He just doesn't want to admit that he screwed up because Phoenix hasn't done as well as he had hoped

The team should probably move from Phoenix, but I hope Balsillie doesn't get the team...He is a slimeball who apparently doesn't give a crap about the actual NHL itself, trying to put the spotlight on him rather than the awesome NHL playoffs going on. He obviously won't go about getting a franchise the right way, there's just way too much going on here that's shady. It's like when the Sonics moved from Seattle, just shady and wrong the way he's going about things.

[Vince]

Quote: Originally Posted by buzzguy

Man, the whiteouts started in Winnipeg, where the team was originally moved from. Now Phoenix is having even worse problems then the team had while it was here in Manitoba. And I don't recall the NHL getting their panties in a knot when that team was going to be moved. This whole situation with the Yotes, and the call to "keep them in Glendale" is making my stomach turn. We had more of an emotional attachment to the team than the fans in Phoenix EVER WILL! Poetic justice, maybe?

Yeah Winnipeg started it, but Phx continued it very well..I still remember that series back in 99 or was it 2000, when the Blues took the Yotes to 7 games and Turgeon scored the overtime winner....Great series.

[RealmK]

Quote: Originally Posted by Money99

That's exactly what I was thinking. I also find it funny that the NHL claims they've been running things since November. I distinctly recall Bettman saying that Phoenix was fine and the league was only helping them find an owner. This is a lie that Bettman can't avoid anymore. How is anyone supposed to believe anything that comes out of his mouth anymore? That's why I think Bettman is so ticked. He knows he has no credibility any more when speaking about the state of the league.

Personally I never thought Bettman had much credibility to begin with and has pretty much just bumbled along the whole time. From TV contracts (Vs? really? f'in Vs?) and now this horrible situation with Phoenix, just furthers along that thought in my mind.

[Money99]

Quote: Originally Posted by RealmK

Personally I never thought Bettman had much credibility to begin with and has pretty much just bumbled along the whole time. From TV contracts (Vs? really? f'in Vs?) and now this horrible situation with Phoenix, just furthers along that thought in my mind.

Speaking of TV Contracts. Doesn't anyone else see the irony in the fact that the owners of the other 29 teams have had to give back over 50% of their TV cut to keep Phoenix afloat? Because weren't non-traditional market teams like Phoenix supposed to broaden their national viewership and eventually secure them a lucrative TV deal? It's the sole reason why Bettman refuses to let that team leave Arizona.

Regarding Ballsillie, maybe it's because I'm a Canadian, but I don't see him as a slimeball. Yes, I think he could be going about this in a different way but I actually think he's acting more like a kid that needs to have the toy he's always dreamed about.

And I think he's well aware that he blackballed himself out of the NHL after doing what he did in Nashville so he's desperate and trying to force himself into the league - come hell or high water.

One BOG who spoke on anonymity said after the Nashville fiasco that Ballsillie would have to throw himself on a sword in front of the BOG's in order to make amends. So essentially, he would have to buy a struggling club and put up with the losses for several years before getting the okay to move. I don't think Ballsillie has the patience or tolerance for that.

I wish he had gone about this differently. He should have bought Nashville and let it be for a season or two before pleading with the BOG's to let him move it.

Instead, he's just bullying himself into the fray. And I don't think a lot of these rich tycoons and their old-boy's club mentality like it one bit.