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NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

Re: NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

MountieBoyOz said:
Hmm... so those complete boobs get teams, but Baisillie doesn't?

Let stupidity reign.
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These complete boobs at least played by the rules. Balsille basically said, "hey, NHL, you guys are a bunch of idiots and I'm going to show you how wrong you are in the most public way possible - by announcing that I'm trying to buy the (Preds, Pens, 'Yotes) and starting a ticket drive since I'm gonna move 'em to Hamilton where they'll finally make money." In other words, he was basically us (internet folks that know the truth about the absurdity of the situation), but with the money to back it up. Had he kept quiet (like True North has - note that you haven't heard ONE SINGLE THING attributable to them in either the 'Yotes or Thrashers deals), he might be ahead of Winnipeg in landing the Thrashers.
 
Re: NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

moose97 said:
These complete boobs at least played by the rules. Balsille basically said, "hey, NHL, you guys are a bunch of idiots and I'm going to show you how wrong you are in the most public way possible - by announcing that I'm trying to buy the (Preds, Pens, 'Yotes) and starting a ticket drive since I'm gonna move 'em to Hamilton where they'll finally make money." In other words, he was basically us (internet folks that know the truth about the absurdity of the situation), but with the money to back it up. Had he kept quiet (like True North has - note that you haven't heard ONE SINGLE THING attributable to them in either the 'Yotes or Thrashers deals), he might be ahead of Winnipeg in landing the Thrashers.
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He has passion and is getting shut out Cuban style by the league. Frankly, I want some more owners to give a crap. Some people want it for a writeoff (like some idiot owner of a football team in Western New York).
 
Re: NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

moose97 said:
These complete boobs at least played by the rules.
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Define "the rules"... from what I've been able to tell the rules are generally "play nice with Gary and the rest of the current owners". Generally the NHL has only wanted people they wanted in areas that they want... you have to play ball with them in whatever way they want to you to go about it. Basillie was never going to get what he wanted from the NHL... they were never going to let him have a team in Southern Ontario even if the money and the agreement were there.

edit: I would say that Basillie was looking for an unnatural out... that whole Phoenix situation however was just pure poison.
 
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Re: NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

bronconick said:
The problem repeatedly has been a failure of the NHL BoG to properly investigate their prospective owners, except apparently for Jim Baisillie. Every other case they basically take the cash and ignore how it got there.

Dallas' owner: Hicks is an obvious failure, though he did have a baseball team too, so Selig didn't do his diligence either.
Phoenix: Lack thereof, and a bad arena choice
Tampa Bay's owners after Davidson sold: real estate speculators. You can guess what happened to them.
Atlanta: Some of the worst owners in history, tied up in court for years.
Nashville: Leipold and his group were dumbasses, and now they're turning gold into lead in Minnesota, of all places for hockey. New owners have gotten corporations to buy in and they added over 1,000 to their paid attendance this year.

By comparison:

Los Angeles, Anaheim, San Jose, Carolina: Sometimes lose money on their books, but you don't hear about it too much. Owners are making a solid effort locally to grow their fanbases.
Florida: losing money, but the owners seem to be fine with it.
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I'm sure we could go at this for hours... I forget what he did illegal but I recall favored future Kansas City owner del Baggio got approved to have a share of some team (nashville?) and was later found to basically be a fraud.
 
Re: NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

I wouldn't go that far, Patman.

Balsille was trying to take deposits on season tickets before he even had an agreement in place. That's pretty ballsy and not at all in the spirit of letting it play out first.
 
Re: NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

jmh said:
I hate to go against the crowd here, but I can't agree with this. Hockey is an awesome sport, and I think it's selfish of those of us who live in the North to say that we're the only ones who should get to have local NHL teams (and, for that matter, excludes some teams that aren't particularly "Southern"; even the Avs just barely make the cut). Some teams below that line (Blues, Sharks, Caps) draw well, and some teams above it (Islanders, Blue Jackets, this year even the Avs) draw poorly. If a Southern city has a solid fan base and supports their team well, why shouldn't they be able to do so? Southerners are people too.

Bettman's folly wasn't in the mere idea of putting teams in the south, it was that he chose his cities poorly. There was never any need for two teams in Florida or two teams in Southern California, for example.
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IMO... I've always thought the sport needed to grow more... but do so in markets where you can succeed... it seemed to me the whole southern strategy was based upon an assumption that if you built it then fanbase would come. I'd rather have the NHL strengthen the brand by success in more prone markets... Canada, Northern US, Southern US. I'm not so much against the southern states but rather against an assumption it must work because it must work. If you have full houses everywhere and a positive population then you're building up that positivity in general and building up that brand image. That's what's missing to me... they thought they could just turn a market on... I've always felt that the NHL doesn't have any sense for an organic quality that the NFL has had a pulse on for the last couple of decades.

What builds the impression of success... what makes you attractive? Full buildings, rabid fans, exciting atmosphere. Its not mandated, its grown.
 
Re: NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

ExileOnDaytonStreet said:
I wouldn't go that far, Patman.

Balsille was trying to take deposits on season tickets before he even had an agreement in place. That's pretty ballsy and not at all in the spirit of letting it play out first.
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(I know I'm posting a lot)

I think Basillie was trying to force the NHL's hand... in doing so he probably entrenched them into a harder position. I think Basillie figured that if he showed how much money and success they would have the NHL would follow... ballsy... absolutely. Smart... well, it didn't work, I guess not.

Phoenix has serious systemic issues.... IMO, I think with Moyes they were delaying the inevitable... sure Basillie probably thought he had an out... but otherwise the NHL was probably going to let Moyes/Phoenix get bled dry.

To be honest, I don't see why things have to be "played out"... to be fair to a city and give them a chance? Maybe, but when does that chance arrive? How much more loss has to be taken? How much does it cost Basillie to play the game with the NHL? It ends up being more about owner culture and politics than it is about success and potential success. I find it absurd that one has to feed the egos of 29 owners more than providing a successful product that adds to the brand. How much are the franchise values diminished because of these attitudes?
 
Re: NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

MountieBoyOz said:
He has passion and is getting shut out Cuban style by the league. Frankly, I want some more owners to give a crap. Some people want it for a writeoff (like some idiot owner of a football team in Western New York).
Click to expand...

I'm all for passion. HOWEVER, lets hypothetically say that I just won the Nigerian lottery to the tune of $1 billion and decided I was going to try to buy the Thrashers and relocate them to Bemidji - multi-million $$$ losses be ****ed. To further my cause, I decided that, rather than contact ASE or the NHL, I would hold a press conference at Bemidji's City Hall and announce that people could show up at the Sanford Center box office tomorrow to place their deposits for season tickets. How serious do you think I'd be taken?

Now, what if the first part is true (Hey hon, we just won the lotto!), but instead of holding a presser, I called ASE or the NHL and told them I was willing to work the system to get the Thrashers moved. Which scenario has a better chance of working? Both may end up with me being disappointed, but only one gets me blackballed from ever trying to buy an NHL team ever again...
 
Re: NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

Biddco said:
What you cannot be a fan if you're under ten?
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Of course not - I became a Leafs fan around 6 or 7 (back when they won Stanley Cups). I would understand a boy from a hockey market keeping an interest in hockey, but it seems the odds aren't great that a kid from the South would remain a hockey fan despite a 19 year absence of hockey from Atlanta.
 
Re: NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

SteveP said:
Of course not - I became a Leafs fan around 6 or 7 (back when they won Stanley Cups). I would understand a boy from a hockey market keeping an interest in hockey, but it seems the odds aren't great that a kid from the South would remain a hockey fan despite a 19 year absence of hockey from Atlanta.
Click to expand...

To be fair, there's been about a 10 year absence of hockey in Toronto. :p
 
Re: NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

This is not going to end well, is it?

ETA: oops, that was supposed to go in the regular NHL playoff thread.
 
Re: NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

I can picture the BoG meeting going like this.

Bettman: And how does Atlanta's owner vote?

Lil Jon: WHAT?

Bettman: How does Atlanta's owner vote?

Lil Jon: WHAT?

Bettman: How do you vote?

Lil Jon: WHAT?

Bettman: (annoyed) Do you approve of this rule change?

Lil Jon: YEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!
 
Re: NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

MountieBoyOz said:
I can picture the BoG meeting going like this.

Bettman: And how does Atlanta's owner vote?

Lil Jon: WHAT?

Bettman: How does Atlanta's owner vote?

Lil Jon: WHAT?

Bettman: How do you vote?

Lil Jon: WHAT?

Bettman: (annoyed) Do you approve of this rule change?

Lil Jon: YEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!
Click to expand...

This has been a moment in the life of Li'l John.
 
Re: NHL hockey returns to the 'Peg! Maybe?

ExileOnDaytonStreet said:
This has been a moment in the life of Li'l John.
Click to expand...

lil_jon_yeah11-268x300.jpg
 
SteveP said:
Of course not - I became a Leafs fan around 6 or 7 (back when they won Stanley Cups). I would understand a boy from a hockey market keeping an interest in hockey, but it seems the odds aren't great that a kid from the South would remain a hockey fan despite a 19 year absence of hockey from Atlanta.
Click to expand...
It was a 12 year gap between pro hockey. NOT 19.
 
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