51 replies to this topic

[DevilMinder]

Do the players get a cut of the expansion fees? I can't recall

[Triumph]

Do the players get a cut of the expansion fees? I can't recall

No. But if the NHL expands to big markets, the players will see an increase in the salary cap.

[DH26]

If the Coyotes relocate, I think it will be to Seattle. The expansion teams, with higher price tags, will be reserved for Toronto and Quebec.

Key Arena's apparently only ready for 10-11K seats for hockey so they might wait on that so Quebec seems to be the only one w/ an arena assuming the Colisee is good enough

Seattle Not ready for relocation

[thefiestygoat]

Warning: Bumping this thread to post my own speculation because I'm bored.

 

Right now things appear fairly quiet out of Glendale and QC. Bill Daly (NHL deputy comish) denied Quebecor Inc. has begun negotiations for the Coyotes. This came after well connected journalist and employee of Quebecor, Réjean Tremblay, told a local sports radio station this news. Quebecor has also denied the report here and offered no comment here. As we all remember the NHL kept the Thrashers/Jets news quiet for as long as possible and the Winnipeg ownership group kept quiet for years leading up to it, despite talks with the NHL. I suspect that is what is going on right now. A look back at the Thrashers/Jets saga:

 

May  16 - Atlanta Journal-Constitution report talks for a sale to True North Sports and Entertainment underway.
May 19 - Globe and Mail report deal finalized to relocate.
May 31 - TNSE and NHL announce deal.

 

The newspaper reports came out during the Conference Finals and the deal was announced before the start of the SCF. The playoffs are running behind that schedule this year because of the late start with the lockout so we should be on the cusp of this period if relocation to QC was to happen.

 

I'm kind of rambling but here are the similarities I see going on between the Thrashers/Jets and Coyotes/QC situations:

1) Both sides are denying and/or no commenting on it.

2) A star journalist with ties to the relocating ownership group are leaking news. (Stephen Brunt reported the Jets deal for the Globe and Mail - owned by David Thomson of True North Sports....Réjean Tremblay reporting negotations underway and he is an employee of Quebecor Inc. who are trying to buy the Coyotes).

3) The time frame of when news started to come out and the deal was negotiated and signed was in mid-May to late-May in 2011, during the Conference Finals. We're about to get to that point in about a week and with the late start, a similar time frame would be late-May to early-June - just as long as it won't interfere with the late starting SCF.

 

I could be looking into all of this way too much and maybe the NHL will hold onto the team for another year. I wouldn't be shocked either way. Right now the NHL rejected Darin Pastor's bid for Phoenix Coyotes, Greg Jamison is appearantly trying to jump back into the mix but seems like a longshot, and the only other local group out there is led by George Gosbee and Anthony LeBlanc but I'm not sure how serious of players they are - they will have a ton of work to do with a relucatant City of Glendale mayor/council. Seems like a great oppurtunity for the NHL to rid itself of a headache and bring in some $$$ into the league between relocation fees and revenue by QC.

[Colin226]

Can't see it before next season since they went through the trouble of realigning the league and this would nix that.. I'm not even sure how they would do another realignment without moving someone from the eastern time zone to the western conference

[thefiestygoat]

Can't see it before next season since they went through the trouble of realigning the league and this would nix that.. I'm not even sure how they would do another realignment without moving someone from the eastern time zone to the western conference

I wouldn't be surprised if the league had a contingency plan for realignment and scheduling. The NHL did include both Winnipeg and Atlanta in their schedule drafts back in May 2011. If I had to give my gut feeling I'd say it's 55/45 the team ends up in QC.  Bettman seems hellbent on keeping a team in Glendale for some reason but at some point somethings gotta give.

[MadDog2020]

Can't see it before next season since they went through the trouble of realigning the league and this would nix that.. I'm not even sure how they would do another realignment without moving someone from the eastern time zone to the western conference
I wouldn't be surprised if the league had a contingency plan for realignment and scheduling. The NHL did include both Winnipeg and Atlanta in their schedule drafts back in May 2011. If I had to give my gut feeling I'd say it's 55/45 the team ends up in QC. Bettman seems hellbent on keeping a team in Glendale for some reason but at some point somethings gotta give.

The reason Bettman and the NHL want the team to stay in Glendale is because they don't want a relatively brand new building to be empty. It sets kind of a dangerous precedent for the league to have that kind of a situation, which is why Bettman has bent over backwards to find a local buyer/buyers to keep the team in Arizona. I would imagine if the franchise moves to QC, that maybe they would move Colorado to the Pacific to take the place of the Coyotes, but I have no idea what you do on the East side, seeing as how QC would slot into the Northeast Division with the Northeastern US teams and eastern Canadian teams (along with the Florida teams). They'd have to do some re-shuffling.

Edited by MadDog2020, Yesterday, 03:28 PM.

[thefiestygoat]

A couple of new developments...

 

- Quebecor has acquired Gestev, a "dynamic sporting and cultural event management company." Essentially to to manage the logistics of the old and new arena on a day to day basis.

 

- As expected, the Colisee will be ready to host NHL hockey if need be by next fall.

 

- Don Maloney signs a long term extension as Coyotes GM. While at first that may appear pro Phoenix news, keep in mind that GM Rick Dudley had signed a 4 year extension with the Thrashers about 3 months prior to the relocation to Winnipeg.

 

Big meeting and press conference on Tuesday?...

AZ Central

Two weeks ago, Weiers told Bettman not to ask for a meeting until the ownership picture was set.

“If he’s doing what I asked him to do, which is to not bring us anything unless he had it 100 percent ready to go, if he thinks they’re ready to go, we’ll see what they’ve got to propose,” Weiers told The Arizona Republic.
----
Sherwood said he believes any potential owners will want to be paid substantially more than $6 million a year, which is the figure that’s been earmarked in numerous proposed city budgets for the arena management fee.

Similarly, in February, just after the last proposed purchase agreement for the Coyotes fell apart, LeBlanc told the Republic that his interest in acquiring the team was contingent upon an arena management deal that was similar to the $15 million-a-year offer the council approved last year.

The $15-million-a-year offer expired when former San Jose Sharks CEO Greg Jamison missed a city-imposed deadline to purchase the Coyotes from the NHL by Jan. 31.

Since then, four of seven members of the Glendale council have been replaced and the new line-up has struggled to balance the city’s budget. Glendale has implemented cutbacks in municipal services, pay freezes and staff reductions in virtually every department to help balance the books.

For now, Glendale finance officials are comfortable with the $6 million-a-year figure, said interim City Manager Dick Bowers.
 

2 things to consider:
1. If the owner wants $13M-$15M to manage the arena and the city can only give $6M, that is a pretty large $7M-$8M gap for a city in financial trouble.

2. Have to imagine if they do somehow find a way to go above $6M, then the Goldwater Institute would fight the deal again.

 

A week old but relevant info...

Fox Sports Arizona
- NHL wants the sale of the team financed in a 3-5 year window. That is why Pastor's offer was rejected because he wanted 15 years to finance it.

- The only serious local group is Renaissance Sports and Entertainment led by George Gosbee and Anthony LeBlanc. Their lawyers have been meeting with the NHL for some time now.

Edited by thefiestygoat, Today, 01:14 AM.

[Triumph]

The scuttlebutt among Phoenix papers is that Renaissance Sports and Entertainment will be presented as the buyer on Tuesday.

[Triumph]

If it wasn't a Quebec-based source who is reporting that some Quebecois might buy the team, I would think the stories about Quebec are NHL plants to scare up more money from Glendale.  I think this is the last chance for any buyer to keep the team local, because the NHL owners can't like losing money on this team year after year.  Dreger is reporting that Renaissance are the buyers but there's lots of hurdles, so it's the old story again - unless Glendale bankrupts itself to keep the team in town, they'll leave.

[MadDog2020]

If it wasn't a Quebec-based source who is reporting that some Quebecois might buy the team, I would think the stories about Quebec are NHL plants to scare up more money from Glendale. I think this is the last chance for any buyer to keep the team local, because the NHL owners can't like losing money on this team year after year. Dreger is reporting that Renaissance are the buyers but there's lots of hurdles, so it's the old story again - unless Glendale bankrupts itself to keep the team in town, they'll leave.

Basically, it sounds like it will come down to this: on Tuesday, the new owners will ask for around $15 mil to operate the arena. Glendale will offer 6. At that point, the hockey ops staff and the players should start brushing up on their French.

Edited by MadDog2020, Today, 10:07 AM.

[thefiestygoat]

I agree that this is most likely the end of the road in this saga one way or the other. The way I see this playing out is the RSE announcement to buy the team on Tuesday to make the NHL look like the good guys who once again are stepping up to keep the team there. Then the ball will be in the City of Glendale's hands who will only offer to pay an AMF of $6M/yr. Then RSE demands the rumored $13-15M/yr which the city won't be able to meet. The NHL will then sell to Quebecor and make it look like Glendale was the bad guys in all of this. It's a nice clean break for the league.