The Business of HockeyDiscuss the financial and business aspects of the NHL. Franchise sales, valuations, TV contracts, ratings, expansion, relocation, the CBA and work stoppage discussion goes here.
Ya, I seem to recall he was fairly accurate in predicting the Thrashers and earlier Coyotes developments... however, if he truly was an "insider", he'd have to report that to the Administration here at hfBoards and we, the Membership, would be made aware of it.
Well he did stop posting here, his last post was in June. Is this the NHL's official message board and reason for reporting needed?
Ya, I seem to recall he was fairly accurate in predicting the Thrashers and earlier Coyotes developments... however, if he truly was an "insider", he'd have to report that to the Administration here at hfBoards and we, the Membership, would be made aware of it.
I tend to chalk it up to educated guesses than genuine sources. He was often right on the basics, but would get the details wrong. But I also seem to recall (though I could be remembering it wrong) him predicting that Coyotes would be moving to Quebec this past off season...
Edit: Yep, checked out his posts, May 31st, completely whiffed on the prediction...
Last edited by Evil Doctor: 01-30-2013 at 01:02 AM.
... very possible, along with a request that some form of amortized Arena Management Fee be paid. Say, $7.25M based on a 120 day extension, 1/4 the amount of the usual $25M for the full year. If refused, the City painted as Killjoys, the NHL & Greg Jamison the aggrieved and wounded parties.
I think that's how it plays out if Jamison is short. It seems like Weiers might be the perfect "black hat" in this scenario. I can't see him getting all warm and fuzzy with someone like Bettman.
What's the point in that? CoG has its own access to the media, to tell it's own side, so all the NHL would accomplish is looking like ass holes.
"Everybody tried real hard, it just didn't work out" is a far better public face, IMO.
If Jamison can't close, and relocation is in the offing, I think this will get ugly. I don't see all the parties holding hands and singing "Kumbaya". It's unfortunate, but I think that sides would position themselves to point the finger at others. Certainly Weiers seems to be that sort of guy.
Personally, I hope that this does come to a successful conclusion. The loyal Coyotes fans deserve it, and the City of Glendale certainly deserve it given what they have sacrificed to keep the NHL there.
I tend to chalk it up to educated guesses than genuine sources. He was often right on the basics, but would get the details wrong. But I also seem to recall (though I could be remembering it wrong) him predicting that Coyotes would be moving to Quebec this past off season...
Edit: Yep, checked out his posts, May 31st, completely whiffed on the prediction...
It was a 50/50 call at the time. ASG didn't want Atlanta, and the Coyotes could move. He guessed right, and was deified for it.
Never thought about that. But now that you mention it, I bet this whole thing would have never come to this if they built the new arena in downtown Phoenix or maybe Scottsdale.
Exactly. I said that earlier in a long-winded post. Wherever you live, imagine putting a state-of-the-art arena on the western edge of town away from the core population center of your city. That's what the Coyotes did. In a non-traditional hockey market. In a city that has tons of freeways and takes forever to get from one side of town to the other.
They would have been better off staying in AWA a few more years and trying to find another site in Scottsdale.
Never thought about that. But now that you mention it, I bet this whole thing would have never come to this if they built the new arena in downtown Phoenix or maybe Scottsdale.
Well, it wasn't the Coyotes' decision to build the arena in Glendale, but it was their decision to relocate there. Glendale seemed to fall prey to irrational exhuberance and not realize their geography wasn't suitable for sports that play many games a week (i.e. anything but football). The arena predated the football stadium though. They wanted out of the Suns' arena lease and didn't really look where they were going. On the drive down there, they passed by Admiral Ackbar who was holding a sign saying "It's a trap!".
And Jetsfan88 was right back when the Thrashers were relocated. Everyone had their eyes on the Coyotes as the new Jets (hey, everything old is new again) but they signaled people to look to another team. They seemed to have inside info on the TNSE/Thrasher negotiations, which IIRC caught everyone by surprise except for I think 1 article somewhere that suggested Thrashers -> Jets as a possibility, an article people skoffed at because "surely the Coyotes will be the team relocated to Winnipeg". They seem to have been unusually silent on the Coyotes matter for quite some time.
Well since I'm up, and apparently Glendale is on Mountain Standard Time....
Now the question becomes, will Deadline day be a HF Party or an anti-climatic day...
Are we going to have an hourly countdown?
"Four o'clock and all is well"
"High noon. Showdown at the Westgate Arena"
"4:20. (Puff, puff, puff). Jamison must have more than enough money. (puff) He might even buy the Leafs. (puff, puff) He may even buy an entire Caribbean island! Whoa... my hand has soooo many fingers..."
"Seven o'clock. It's prime time. Where's Jamison?"
"One minute to midnight on the doomsday clock"
"Midnight? The clock says 6:00AM and the radio is playing: "so put your little hand in mine...". Oh no! Here we go again!"
"4:20. (Puff, puff, puff). Jamison must have more than enough money. (puff) He might even buy the Leafs. (puff, puff) He may even buy an entire Caribbean island! Whoa... my hand has soooo many fingers..."
"Seven o'clock. It's prime time. Where's Jamison?"
"One minute to midnight on the doomsday clock"
"Midnight? The clock says 6:00AM and the radio is playing: "so put your little hand in mine...". Oh no! Here we go again!"
True... and honestly I can't think of a single journalist that sounded like they knew what they were talking about. There was Lisa Halverstadt who was incredibly knowledgeable on the subject but she would never do anything beyond reporting facts... which was probably a wise decision given the situation. We'll all know in 2 days... or 2 weeks... or 2 years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by halligan10
I wonder if she is still following this story behind the walls
She moved on to a new job in San Diego. May still keep her connections with her former colleagues at the AZ Republic, but she doesn't comment on the Coyotes or Glendale anymore.
Exactly. I said that earlier in a long-winded post. Wherever you live, imagine putting a state-of-the-art arena on the western edge of town away from the core population center of your city. That's what the Coyotes did. In a non-traditional hockey market. In a city that has tons of freeways and takes forever to get from one side of town to the other.
They would have been better off staying in AWA a few more years and trying to find another site in Scottsdale.
They would have left town....
Ellman bought the Coyotes for the express purpose of building his dream condo/entertainment/shopping complex using the hockey team as a loss-leader anchor. He wasn't about to sit at AWA and dump money into the team (and Colangelo's pocket) and wait around a few more years with no exterior returns. He would have dumped the team instead.
And with all due respect.... (and not really interested in dragging out the location dead horse yet again....) Phoenix Metro does not revolve around Scottsdale, Phoenix and Mesa. In 2001 it was projected that roughly 2.5 million people would be moving into the West Valley by 2020. Buckeye, which is the farthest west, would have a population nearing 600,000 by 2025. Glendale would have been sitting in the middle of it all.
I wonder if the mayor shows up at the presser? It would be pretty funny to watch him put on the happy face when Jamieson announces he is following through with the lease then sticks his hand out.
I wonder if the mayor shows up at the presser? It would be pretty funny to watch him put on the happy face when Jamieson announces he is following through with the lease then sticks his hand out.
And says... "sucker"
Actually Jamison buying the team, just starts a different countdown clock.... The CoG Going Bankrupt countdown clock.
Personally, I hope that this does come to a successful conclusion. The loyal Coyotes fans deserve it, and the City of Glendale certainly deserve it given what they have sacrificed to keep the NHL there.
I can understand that second part. Yes, the CoG has done all kinds of crazy things to keep the team there, and it would be unfortunate (for them) if their efforts were in vain, but I can't agree with your first statement.
What have the fans done to 'deserve' anything? Look, I realize dumping on other fanbases isn't cool here, and that's not what I'm trying to do right now, but I don't get what they've done to deserve a team. They certainly haven't showed up to games or spent a lot of money on the team. They haven't done any large public shows of support. They really haven't done anything. So why are they deserving?
I am well aware that a relocation would suck for the few fans who do put in the effort, but I really don't think the fans, in general, have made enough of an impact throughout this process to make anyone have a lot of sympathy for them.
It is actually TWO days left. All day today and all day tomorrow......
Grrrr....doesn't anybody pay attention to these things....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Evil Doctor
There are two ways you can look at it. 1) I'm counting down the days, not including the hours, (thus Thursday is 0 days left) or 2) I'm counting the days to Deadline Day. Take your pick...
(And yes, when I started this thing at ten days I had already worked out the math...so )
I believe Killion mentioned this awhile back (not sure if he was the first one) but standard NHL policy when purchasing a team is that said owner is required to have 50% over and above the purchase price to cover team operations. If my math is correct then GJ would need 250M to buy this team. 170M purchase price + 80M to fund team operations. Not sure if this "policy" is iron-clad and set in stone or if there is wiggle room on the 50% in the kitty to fund operations. These numbers could all be moot if the purchase is significantly lower than what we've been led to believe.
Will be very interesting to see how the new mayor handles the possible request for an extension with GJ & GB staring him down.
Will the lease get honored more than one second past the deadline??? Time will tell.
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