NHL Hockey thread

[Valmy]

Thank God its over.

Finally we can all focus on the NBA...oh wait.

[fhdz]

Thank God its over.

Not to mention with the correct result!

[crazy canuck]

Thank God its over.

Not to mention with the correct result!

That I will agree with.

[Barrister]

Well now we have an almost insane amount of off-season activity packed into about 7 days.  Draft is coming up on Sunday, with free agency coming on (July 2nd)?  Curious to see if the Jets make any moves...

[viper37]

Curious to see if the Jets make any moves...

The only move I'm interested in is the one in Glendale

[crazy canuck]

Well now we have an almost insane amount of off-season activity packed into about 7 days.  Draft is coming up on Sunday, with free agency coming on (July 2nd)?  Curious to see if the Jets make any moves...

Crap

[Barrister]

Curious to see if the Jets make any moves...

The only move I'm interested in is the one in Glendale

Just when you thought the deal couldn't get any worse for Glendale, it does...

City Hall, escrow account come into play in Coyotes saga
CRAIG MORGAN  |
  Published: Tuesday, June 25, 2013, 10:20am

Tippett's importance to Coyotes can't be overstated Tippett's coaching skills, style have worked wonders for Coyotes. GLENDALE, Ariz. – They're playing politics in Glendale. Get ready for a wild, week-long ride of expertly timed leaks of information in attempt to influence public opinion -- both by groups supporting and those attempting to scuttle a deal keeping the Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena.

On Monday, multiple reports surfaced that Glendale might use City Hall as collateral to borrow $30 million to help pay off two $25 million commitments the city made to the National Hockey League for arena management fees. The fees were made in exchange for the league operating Jobing.com Arena in fiscal years 2011 and 2012.

If the council approves the plan, city officials would seek a one-time, up-front payment of $30 million from outside investors, and lease back the City Hall complex for a 20-year period.

The information clearly casts a dark cloud over the city's past dealings with the team, and a dark cloud over the current negotiations on a Jobing.com Arena lease with Renaissance Sports and Entertainment, the prospective ownership group headed by George Gosbee and Anthony LeBlanc. 

Here's the flip side: One of those $25 million payments (from 2012) has not been collected by the league yet. There is $20 million sitting in an escrow account and $5 million which the city hasn't yet paid (the city didn't pay the NHL anything during the 2013 lockout-shortened season).

In the latest concession to the city, the NHL has agreed to allow repayment of that money over a five-year period, allowing Glendale to use the money in the meantime and possibly earn interest, multiple sources have confirmed to FOX Sports Arizona.

Council member Gary Sherwood had previously wondered if the NHL were leaving the money in escrow for such a purpose, to help ease any financial burden on the city, and that has now been confirmed.

However, if the RSE deal fails and the Coyotes relocate, the NHL would require Glendale to repay the entire $25 million immediately.

The council will further discuss the RSE deal Tuesday during an executive session and is expected to vote on leveraging city hall during its regular Tuesday session. Two city sources said Glendale is expected to make public details of the proposed RSE deal early Wednesday.

http://www.foxsportsarizona.com/nhl/phoenix-coyotes/story/City-Hall-escrow-account-come-into-play-?blockID=914979&feedID=3702

[Grey Fox]

Well now we have an almost insane amount of off-season activity packed into about 7 days.  Draft is coming up on Sunday, with free agency coming on (July 2nd)?  Curious to see if the Jets make any moves...

5th. Buyouts starts 48h after the end of the final altho I'm unsure when the timer actually started.

[Barrister]

Well now we have an almost insane amount of off-season activity packed into about 7 days.  Draft is coming up on Sunday, with free agency coming on (July 2nd)?  Curious to see if the Jets make any moves...

5th. Buyouts starts 48h after the end of the final altho I'm unsure when the timer actually started.

Apparently plenty of players have already been told they're being bought out.

[viper37]

Well now we have an almost insane amount of off-season activity packed into about 7 days.  Draft is coming up on Sunday, with free agency coming on (July 2nd)?  Curious to see if the Jets make any moves...

5th. Buyouts starts 48h after the end of the final altho I'm unsure when the timer actually started.

Apparently plenty of players have already been told they're being bought out.

Bryzgalov, Brière, and Lecavalier, I think, among others.

Of course, according to Montreal media, they're all heading there.  I suppose one will tell us some player already ordered gloves or something...

[viper37]

Blackhawks look ahead

good analysis of where Fahdiz's team is headed (hint: not into oblivion ).

[viper37]

Nothing new on the Glendale front

Glendale has pushed back vote on NHL payments of the arena management fees wich was supposed to be held yesterday night.  they still don't know if they will meet the NHL July 2nd deadline.

[Barrister]

Yet more news from Glendale:

Glendale city council to force July 2 vote on Coyotes' future
CRAIG MORGAN  |
  Published: Wednesday, June 26, 2013, 9:54am

Some time during the Glendale City Council's executive session Tuesday afternoon, the coalition of council members in favor of a Jobing.com Arena lease deal with Renaissance Sports and Entertainment (RSE) fell apart.

They lost faith in all of the information they'd been comfortable with — swayed by a communications blitz of repackaged concerns spearheaded by Mayor Jerry Weiers.

There was no way the council could produce deal points for a one-week public vetting prior to a July 2 vote on the future of the Phoenix Coyotes because there was no deal. The deal was dead.

Meanwhile, just out of a series of meetings with the NHL in New York, one of RSE's principals, Anthony LeBlanc, was celebrating his 43rd birthday when he got the news. Feeling betrayed and utterly spent after a lengthy effort to buy the Phoenix Coyotes, LeBlanc instructed his attorneys to pull his arena-lease bid off the table.

With Renaissance out of the picture, less than two days before the NHL Board of Governors was due to meet, the fate of the Phoenix Coyotes was sealed. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was told it was time for Plan B — whatever that might be.

Then the Coyotes ownership saga did what it always does: It veered in another direction.

Somehow, in the last hours of Tuesday and the wee hours of Wednesday morning, everything changed. The deal gained new life, its supporters decided to give it one more go and Wednesday morning the deal points were being prepared for release to the public.

Sources told FOX Sports Arizona on Wednesday that council member Gary Sherwood and Vice Mayor Yvonne Knaack will force a vote on the deal on July 2, a tactic that is well within their rights. Four yes votes are required for passage in what is believed to a make-or-break vote for the team's future in Glendale.

The release of the deal points and contract also comes just ahead of a deadline the NHL had set for the release of such information: At the end of the business day, Wednesday — in anticipation of Thursday's Board of Governors meeting.

Where do we go from here? Given the rampant and rapid twists and turns this story has taken over the past four years, no one can say. Opponents of this deal still want more guarantees on revenue that RSE will not give, reasoning that both sides should assume some risk in a business deal, and that Glendale bears some burden because it chose to build the arena.

This much, however, can be safely predicted: There will be more behind-the-scenes shenanigans, more political plays, more alliances being leveraged.

Behind the scenes, other ownership groups may continue their quest through local lobbyists or local attorneys.

Some of the questions surround John Kaites, a longtime chum of Weiers with deep business ties to the city who visits City Hall frequently and has long been pursuing the purchase of this team. What are his ties to one of the two arena-management bids that are up for consideration if the Coyotes leave, and what will he and his elected buddy do if this deal appears to have traction?

Will Matthew Hulsizer's representatives offer more infusions of equity into RSE's deal out of the goodness of their hearts, as multiple sources say they have proposed? Or will they finally realize everyone knows there are very real strings attached — in the form of a prominent role in the hockey operations department that might end GM Don Maloney's relationship with the team?

Maybe public opinion will hold some sway. Maybe another well-timed release of a red herring will alter the climate once again, as some believe Tuesday's idea of leveraging City Hall did to the uninitiated in this saga. Maybe the mayor has another power play up his sleeve.

But the deal points are expected to be on the table later Wednesday for everyone to see, so there can at least be some clarity.

If the city decides to go ahead with this deal, the votes will tell who shares the credit or blame for whatever the Coyotes do in Glendale from here on out.

And if the deal fails, it should be abundantly clear now that Weiers is the responsible party.

If the city comes out the other end of the Coyotes deal in fine shape, Weiers should get the credit and congratulations for his foresight.

But if Westgate falters, businesses close, Jobing.com Arena fails to secure enough events in a highly competitive market, city revenue falls and the picture turns as bleak as some have suggested it will, that, too, will be on Weiers.

http://www.foxsportsarizona.com/nhl/phoenix-coyotes/story/Glendale-city-council-to-force-July-2-vo?blockID=915399&feedID=3545

So July 2 is The Date.

[fhdz]

Blackhawks look ahead

good analysis of where Fahdiz's team is headed (hint: not into oblivion ).

It's a young team, and very talented at that. Crawford's going to continue to improve in goal, too.

[Barrister]

Here's the executive summary of the proposed arena deal, now being published by the COG:

http://www.glendaleaz.com/documents/CityofGlendaleArenaManagementAgreementUpdate062713.pdf

Points out that COG assumes all the risk, while the proposed owners still have an out clause after 5 years...