New Owner of the Wild

[Dobber]

Here we go fellas – the old boys club at work again. Here is the reason why Craig Leipold decided to turn down Jim Balsillie and take an offer for $30 million less. He was promised the Minnesota Wild.
The NHL can dress this one up as ‘coincidence’, but if you believe that one then I have an open spot in my fantasy league for you.
So there it is Hamilton – this is why you don’t have a team. Well, that and the fact that Balsillie started selling tickets before the team was sold! But that faux pas aside, the deal fell through because the old boys club didn’t want to piss off MLSE. And that’s what this really boils down to. The most powerful entity in the NHL is the MLSE and if they don’t want a team in Hamilton, then there won’t be a team in Hamilton. With Buffalo ownership in their corner as well, it makes it impossible for a team to move anywhere near the GTA.
B)

[ultrawhiteness]

makes me want to cry in frustration

[joos]

Wow, I know hate the leafs and MLSE even more!!!! I didn\'t even know that was possible.

Enough has been said about the leafs and their pathetic organization. They are hopeless now and have no future, all they have is the past. To be honest, I just want the leafs to do worse and worse and worse until they literally hit rock bottom. Nothing else would bring me such joy.

[bwhee]

Clearly changes need to be made in the NHL front office. Corruption seems to be the rule, and it\'s not doing the game any favors.

As a Wild fan and season ticket holder, I\'m hesitant to welcome this change. Certainly things can be done to make the Wild more competitive, and I\'m not entirely convinced that the new ownership will improve that aspect of the franchise. Thoughts, anyone?

[WhatThePuck?]

One word - SHADY.

I was just about to post the same thing Dobber.

This is another kick in the balls to Canadian sports fans. Shades of the Montreal Expos & Jeffrey Loria selling the Expos to MLB so they can move them to Washington then Loria buying the Florida Marlins.

I\'ve got a funny feeling that the sale of the Wild to Leipold will pass through the the NHL with flying colours. I wonder if the purchase price of the Wild would be a coincidental $193 million (the same as the sale price of the Predators). He flipped a good franchise with poor attendance for a good franchise with great attendance. It boggles my mind that a guy sells his business (Nashville Predators) because he says he lost $70 million & before he can cry poor he has bought into similiar business (Minnesota Wild). If a guy sells his business because he loses money then why is he buying in again?

I\'m not sure that is the kind of owner a sports fan wants. \"What, my team is not drawing well - SELL, SELL, SELL. Find another franchise to take over.\" Fair weather owners that jump ship do not instill confidence in fans.

I wonder if Leipold is still going to buy Predators\' season tickets because he loves the team just like he promised.

[Capn Jimmy]

It is unbelievable that this can happen. I guess I shouldn\'t be shocked though.
I just can\'t understand why Bettman and friends are so desparate to sell this game to America (and my apologies to any American hockey fans, I know you are out there and we appreciate you). Hockey in North America is clearly a Canadian game. It kills me that the NHL won\'t come to this conclusion and move a few teams up here. I know the US has more money, and if the game would catch on there it would mean more money for the league, but hey, we\'ve tried. I wish the owners (and players) could accept a healthy league based more heavily in Canada.
I understand this won\'t happen, but a guy can dream.

[bwhee]

You can\'t blame a weak Canadian dollar anymore, that\'s for damn sure... :blink:

[lyonshark]

It all comes down to one word \"collusion\".....Isn\'t that illegal?

[goose191919]

i was going to say, isnt the looney worth more than the american dollar now anyways? id like to see more teams up in canada. nashville for sure, they dont deserve a team.

[ultrawhiteness]

hey, it sucks for any city to lose its team, and there are actually fans in nashville for whom that would be a bitter, bitter blow. and to be fair, bettman did supposedly do his best to keep the flames and oilers in alberta (or is this just another piece of revisionist history... the victorious write the books, right?).

can Canada support AT LEAST one more team? hell ya. hamilton would have been a great place for the nhl. i have trouble seeing how it would significantly dent MLSE\'s bottom line as well... its not like there aren\'t a million people who would be lining up for any vacated seats at ... well wherever they play (ACC? Rogers Center? im stumped)

anyway, shady shady deal here, but i\'ll be truly, righteously angry when they pass up hamilton in the next round of expansion for hockey hotbeds like houston.

[Nuckfan]

Dobber perhaps you could help with this one.

My buddies and I were talking about this sale today, I saw an interview on a sportsnet show (The fan?) it\'s a radio show based in Toronto(?) and is shown on tv as well. Anywho they had Eric Lindros on the phone and at one point asked if he thought the players (NHLPA) should/could/would ever be consulted if there ever was expansion or relocation of a team, for their input, with the NHL and the NHLPA now in a \"partnership\".

The question we had was, what if the NHLPA actually bought a franchise, much like the Ontario Teachers Pension fund bought the Leafs (MLSE), is it possible? Could you imagine what effect it would have on the partnership between the NHLPA and the NHL? Interesting no??

[ultrawhiteness]

surely conflict of interest there?

[WhatThePuck?]

Finally, it seems that the MSM has taken notice of how shady this sale is. Strachan has written about it but seeing as you shouldn\'t bite the hand that feeds you he has pulled punches & sugar coated it for generally consumption

http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/story/7662468

[Dobber]

Nuckfan wrote:

Dobber perhaps you could help with this one.

My buddies and I were talking about this sale today, I saw an interview on a sportsnet show (The fan?) it\'s a radio show based in Toronto(?) and is shown on tv as well. Anywho they had Eric Lindros on the phone and at one point asked if he thought the players (NHLPA) should/could/would ever be consulted if there ever was expansion or relocation of a team, for their input, with the NHL and the NHLPA now in a \"partnership\".

The question we had was, what if the NHLPA actually bought a franchise, much like the Ontario Teachers Pension fund bought the Leafs (MLSE), is it possible? Could you imagine what effect it would have on the partnership between the NHLPA and the NHL? Interesting no??

No way that happens - I don\'t know if it\'s a formal rule, but Bettman can veto - he has that power.

WTP - great link, thanks a lot for that.

B)