NHL Hockey thread

[Barrister]

And all this BS because MLSE are being a bunch of babies.

Meh - the Thrashers still need to go somewhere...

[Barrister]

From a fluff piece on "getting to know the Coyotes" published yesterday, here's oddball Paul Bisonnette:

Over here sits Paul Bissonnette, the social-network specialist and one of the team's more-compelling figures. It's a shame his on-ice efforts don't match his online production.

"I'd be upset to leave here, but I wouldn't be too upset either way," Bissonnette said.

Suddenly, teammates in the vicinity begin eavesdropping.

"It would be exciting to be the team that went back to Canada," he said. "C'mon, we'd be treated like gods. I mean, the big difference is the weather. The weather is awful, but you know that, and it's like everything would be opposite in Canada. The fans would be the opposite. The media would be different. There's no pressure from the media here, and it only comes from inside the room."

Is this guy serious? Teammate Kyle Turris can't believe his ears.

"But what about the girls?" he said.

"The girls are undercover hot in Canada," Bissonnette said. "Besides, we'd be the only game in town. I'm sure we'd have first dibs."

Now you know why he has 55,000 followers on Twitter, and why Maloney told him to tone down his act or he was a goner.

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/coyotes/articles/2011/03/07/20110307phoenix-coyotes-worth-getting-know.html

[Grey Fox]

BizNasty is Twittergod.

[viper37]

Numbers at the gate aren't that important anyway.

TV Deals! TV Deals! That's Bettman's #1.

Given that ESPN is the major TV deal he's after, he has more luck with a team in Pheonix or Atlanta than Winnipeg or Quebec.

[Barrister]

I feel so dirty, but too much Return Of The Jets (ROTJ) news breaks on Twitter.

TSN's Darren Dreger does say Bettman will talk with media before tonight's game in Phoenix.

http://twitter.com/DarrenDreger

[viper37]

From a fluff piece on "getting to know the Coyotes" published yesterday, here's oddball Paul Bisonnette:

Over here sits Paul Bissonnette, the social-network specialist and one of the team's more-compelling figures. It's a shame his on-ice efforts don't match his online production.

"I'd be upset to leave here, but I wouldn't be too upset either way," Bissonnette said.

Suddenly, teammates in the vicinity begin eavesdropping.

"It would be exciting to be the team that went back to Canada," he said. "C'mon, we'd be treated like gods. I mean, the big difference is the weather. The weather is awful, but you know that, and it's like everything would be opposite in Canada. The fans would be the opposite. The media would be different. There's no pressure from the media here, and it only comes from inside the room."

Is this guy serious? Teammate Kyle Turris can't believe his ears.

"But what about the girls?" he said.

"The girls are undercover hot in Canada," Bissonnette said. "Besides, we'd be the only game in town. I'm sure we'd have first dibs."

Now you know why he has 55,000 followers on Twitter, and why Maloney told him to tone down his act or he was a goner.

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/coyotes/articles/2011/03/07/20110307phoenix-coyotes-worth-getting-know.html

Éric Bélanger was saying just this morning that nobody wants to move to Winnipeg, mainly because of the climate.

[viper37]

I feel so dirty, but too much Return Of The Jets (ROTJ) news breaks on Twitter.

TSN's Darren Dreger does say Bettman will talk with media before tonight's game in Phoenix.

http://twitter.com/DarrenDreger

Gary Bettman to the media:
"Gentleman, we have no plans for now to move any team, anywhere.  I know there have been rumours in the past few days leading some of you to think we were having difficulties with the property transfer of the Coyotes, but nothing could be further from the truth.  We have had minor disagreements and unexpected dealy, such as happens in any business deal of this magnitude, but these problems are about to be solved in the next few weeks, as I have been assured from the city of Glendale.  If, in the future, there is opportunity for an expansion or a relocation, and I stress 'if' because we have no plans for this at the moment, we certainly would like to revisit places we were in the past, but where things did not turn out as expected and we were forced, sadly, to relocate these teams to US cities."

[Barrister]

I feel so dirty, but too much Return Of The Jets (ROTJ) news breaks on Twitter.

TSN's Darren Dreger does say Bettman will talk with media before tonight's game in Phoenix.

http://twitter.com/DarrenDreger

Gary Bettman to the media:
"Gentleman, we have no plans for now to move any team, anywhere.  I know there have been rumours in the past few days leading some of you to think we were having difficulties with the property transfer of the Coyotes, but nothing could be further from the truth.  We have had minor disagreements and unexpected dealy, such as happens in any business deal of this magnitude, but these problems are about to be solved in the next few weeks, as I have been assured from the city of Glendale.  If, in the future, there is opportunity for an expansion or a relocation, and I stress 'if' because we have no plans for this at the moment, we certainly would like to revisit places we were in the past, but where things did not turn out as expected and we were forced, sadly, to relocate these teams to US cities."

HIs last public statements (from last Thursday) were still guarded, but much more negative.  Something about they were concerned, no deadline but things had to happen soon, would consider relocation...

I'll see what I can find.

GB may not announce anything, but he won't be as rosey as you think.

[Barrister]

GB last Thursday:

"Absolutely if they can close the deal. (Goldwater) has put a cloud over the bonds which is making it difficult to sell them. If it looks like the bonds can't sell because the clouds can't move, we're going to have to start exploring our other options. But if in fact because of the position that (GWI) are taking, after everything we've been through, we're going to have to look at other options. I'm hoping we can get this resolved. I'm not looking forward to the alternative solution if we have to go that route but we will if it comes to that."

[saskganesh]

apparently, not a single hockey player in the annals of recorded history has ever wanted to move to Winnipeg.

[katmai]

apparently, not a single hockey player in the annals of recorded history has ever wanted to move to Winnipeg.

Just look at Beeb he hightailed out of there asap

[Grey Fox]

apparently, not a single hockey player in the annals of recorded history has ever wanted to move to Winnipeg.

Who cares what millionaires think. They can leave via free agency whenever they want.

[viper37]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=357146

The commissioner said that he believes that the Goldwater Institute, an independent government watchdog, has "chilled the marketplace" when it comes to the plan to sell bonds at a higher interest rate to raise the funds to pay Hulsizer as part of the deal.

[...]

There were reports earlier Tuesday that the NHL was discussing lowering the sale price to keep the team in Arizona, or that the City of Glendale would lower the amount it was hoping to raise with the municipal bonds that it's been having trouble getting to sale. NHL sources say that those reports are not accurate.

The Goldwater Institute released a statement on Tuesday afternoon.

"Many members of the media have asked if we have met or plan to meet with Commissioner Bettman or any representatives from the NHL today. We have not met with anyone from the NHL, Glendale, or Matthew Hulsizer this week. Yesterday morning, we extended an invitation to Mayor Elaine Scruggs, Commissioner Bettman, and Mr. Hulsizer to gather for a meeting that would be open to journalists to ensure transparency for the public. To-date, only Mr. Hulsizer has indicated an interest in meeting.

[Barrister]

Well I have to admit I was hoping for, well perhaps not The Announcement, at least An Announcement.  Instead we got more of the same.

But here's an amusing article:

Bettman has no Plan B for Phoenix
STEPHEN BRUNT
Globe and Mail Update
Published Tuesday, Mar. 08, 2011 9:56PM EST
Last updated Tuesday, Mar. 08, 2011 9:57PM EST
32 comments
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Hard to imagine that was really worth the airfare from New York to Phoenix.

Last night, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, accompanied by his right-hand man, Bill Daly, completed what must have been a long and tiring day, addressing the press at the Jobing.com Arena in advance of the Phoenix Coyotes game against the Vancouver Canucks.

It is a safe bet that far more people were hanging on his words in Winnipeg – where they watched via a live Internet feed, at least until it crashed – than in the Valley of the Sun, where the Coyotes' death throes have caught the imagination only of the team's modest number of hardcore supporters, and of those who make a fetish of monitoring government waste.

The latter group, under the banner of the Goldwater Institute, received virtually all of the commissioner's attention Tuesday.

In effect, he called them out. He said it was all their fault that the City of Glendale's $116-million (U.S.) municipal bond issue, designed to underwrite the purchase of the Coyotes by Matthew Hulsizer, has so far been a miserable failure.

He implied in veiled fashion that the Institute's motives might be less than pure. He came close to suggesting a conspiracy. He asked that it step away and stop messing around forthwith – and if it didn't, well then the gloves will really come off, but only after the Coyotes are long gone.

For a group of ideologues and zealots, heretofore obscure to even many Arizonans, what a day, what a glorious day.

A commissioner comes almost the entire way across the country to single them out, to declare war, even as they are standing on what they firmly believe is a point of principle and a point of law.

And at the same time, that commissioner acknowledges there is nothing he can do to thaw the bond market, that there is no plan B, no alternate strategy. If Goldwater Institute simply holds its ground and stays the course – maybe for days, maybe for weeks, at most for a couple of months – it can kill the deal without even filing a lawsuit, because soon enough either Hulsizer (who certainly seemed to be losing his nerve Tuesday) or the NHL, or both, is going to have to fish or cut bait.

Now what would possibly compel the GWI to do otherwise – given it refused even to meet with Bettman, unless he agreed to a session open to the press and public? (... And wouldn't that be something.)

A sudden loss of nerve? If it backed down now in the face of Glendale's threatened lawsuit, the group might as well turn out the lights and turn Senator Barry's picture to the wall.

A sudden change of heart? Did we mention that these are ideologues?

It would seem they have not much to lose here and plenty to gain in terms of their self-styled mission as the righteous enemies of big government.

Bettman looked weak Tuesday. He looked like someone who was playing his last card, trying to save face, trying to set up a future speech in which he can claim he did everything he could to keep the Coyotes right where they were.

But it isn't public relations that ought to be his concern right now. The NHL's loyal fans won't suffer any angst if the Coyotes do indeed move back to Manitoba. A significant portion – surely a majority, given how the game's popularity is strongest in traditional markets – would see it as the righting of a historical wrong.

The folks Bettman will have sway with his great powers of persuasion are his employers, the owners. He needs to come up with a story to explain how, following the Coyotes bankruptcy, the Jim Balsillie incursion, the season of league ownership, the accumulation of losses, and the revelation of Hulsizer as saviour thanks to that remarkably generous offer from Glendale, the whole thing could hit the rocks because a small band of true believers sent out a few letters and press releases, filed some access to information requests, wouldn't promise not to sue, and refused to be bullied off their position.

It still looks like Winnipeg's gain in the end, even if the governors will return there with gritted teeth.

But the whole thing, the whole process ... it just doesn't seem very big league, does it?

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/stephen-brunt/bettman-has-no-plan-b-for-phoenix/article1934580/

[Zoupa]

Anyone seen the hit by Chara on Pacioretty?

Thoughts?