Nonsense in Arizona

To me, the NHL’s position on the Phoenix Coyotes has never been as preposterous as some would believe.

It wants a team in that large U.S. market, or more specifically, believes that a successful, efficiently run club would do just fine and be of benefit to the league.

You and I and the NHLPA may not agree, but it’s not a preposterous position.

That said, the latest NHL maneuver, to buy the Coyotes itself, try to sell them to a third party or relocate the team for (hopefully) a profit is such an extreme manipulation of the process that it exposes the NHL to the three most damaging charges its harshest critics would hurl in its direction, such as:

1. The NHL is willing to do anything to stop Phoenix moving to Canada, but wasn’t willing to do the same thing when Winnipeg and Quebec City were pulling up stakes and heading south.

Why didn’t the Bettman administration buy the Jets or the Nordiques to make sure they wouldn’t move? Why was the league less worried about decreasing the number of Canadian teams to six from eight than it is about maintaining a position in a large market that appears to have a limited appetite for the sport?

“The fact is, the biggest litmus test ultimately was nobody wanted to own a team there. And when the marketplace decides that it doesn’t want to own a team there, it has no future,” said Bettman back in ’96 when the Jets were leaving Manitoba.

To those who would accuse Bettman of being anti-Canadian, this is useful stuff.

2. It makes the league appear to be carrying water for the Maple Leafs, acting as the burly security guard blocking the door at a swanky club so the Leafs can dine on sushi inside without having to deal with the riff-raff.

It’s like 1991 all over again, with Hamilton suspiciously rejected while smoke-and-mirror expansion bids from Ottawa and Tampa Bay were accepted. Hamilton at least had an arena, and its interesting now that one of the reasons the NHL is carting out to explain the difference between the Phoenix situation and that of Quebec City and Winnipeg is that there’s a state-of-the-art arena in the desert built largely at taxpayers expense and the league has a responsibility to that. Well, so did Hamilton.

Then and now, it appears, at least, that the NHL will do anything – anything – to protect the Leafs’ turf.

3. The sense that this is an ABB (Anybody But Balsillie) exercise grows. Its sort of like when Ken Dryden went out to search for a new GM for the Leafs and discovered himself. The NHL, faced with a situation in which Balsillie might be the only bid, suddenly believes it should own the team itself.

Imagine the potential conflicts if the league is successful and operates the team for the 2009-2010 season. Say Shane Doan decides to club Mike Modano, and after a hearing the league rules that Doan shouldn’t be suspended. Or imagine a disputed Coyotes goal late in a game that is reviewed back in Toronto and is ruled legal and decides the match. Or lets say the Coyotes are suddenly able to swing a lopsided trade with the Minnesota Wild, owned by Bettman loyalist Craig Leipold.

All these legal and financial gymnastics just to keep Balsillie out. Just more ammunition for Bettman’s critics.

Comments

[Russell]

Now that the NHL has basically admitted that the team should be moved, Balsille should drop his condition on relocating immediately and just get the team. Then when he goes to court to move the team to Hamilton next year, Gary Bettman can be his star witness as to how the team can't survive in the desert.

[Steve V]

Damien

Doesn't the NHL's latest moves completely validate what Balsille has been saying all along? The NHL has admitted that hockey in Phoenix might not be feasible.

[Niall King]

Price of a Gondola suite for a single Leafs game: $13 421
Price to move the Winnepeg Jets to Glendale: $65,000,000
Price to move the Quebec Nordiques to Colorodo: $75,000,000

Blocking the growth of hockey in Canada, and financing it with the money of Canadian fans who are already being screwed by revenue sharing agreements, and caps that ensure that every US city that doesn't care about hockey will win a cup before the Leafs do,... PRICELESS.

[Ryan]

Damien, why can't we boycott the NHL until they get rid of Bettman. I think if enough Canadian's boycott they would have to get rid of him.
I don't even think I want to watch any game (except the leafs) because I hate Bettman so much.
HE HAS TO GO!!!

[jerry]

The NHL owning a hockey team makes about as much sense as the United States Government owning Car Companies and Financial Institutions. It's the age of socialized hockey teams under the reign of Gary Obama.

[Jamie Johns]

This might be the first half-decent article you've ever written. Well done!

[Matt B]

I don't think I've ever read a comments section so positive towards Damien!

You have nailed the most important points. It is unfathomable what the NHL is doing to manipulate the process. Even if you don't like JB's tactics, the NHL's actions are great ammo for the JB's assertion that the NHL should be taken to court for anti-trust violations. Even my first-year university law class understands this, but I suspect Bettman et al feel they can operate outside the marketplace even when they use it as a crutch.

[Edward Palys]

This should not surprise anybody. Professional sport is all about money and the NHL will do anything, stupid or otherwise, to protect its turf. Rather than allowing private investors to improve the selling of the game, Bettman and his cronies protect what they believe they have in their gold mines. We'll se many more moves and losses, including expansions with more dilution of the game. It's already becoming more showmanship than sport.

[kushiro]

I find it interesting that one commenter feels that his negative comments are "opinions", while everyone else's are "whining".

No one is looking very good in this soap opera, though I'd give the nod for worst behaviour to Bettman, who is going down as one of the most unconvincing liars in history.

[Dave Mathews]

Thank You Damien, very well put! What about this scenario: The NHL wins this round and owns the Coyotes for the 2009-2010 season. Spring 2010 rolls around and they have not been able to close a deal and still own them. Balsillie puts down an offer for around $212 million (US) for either Tampa Bay, Florida or Atlanta. It's the same deal, buy the team and move it right away to Hamilton. Is the NHL going to buy them too?!?!?! How many floundering teams is the NHL going to end up with? Doubt the owners of the profitable NHL teams will keep quiet for much longer then.

[Ryan]

Damien... Hats off to you.
By far one of your best. Thanks for leaving the Dark Side of the NHL-Henchmen and supporters.
If the NHL wins the Coyotes, there is going to be a lot of bad things that will follow. And thanks for not siding with Bob McKenzie and Bill Waters who say the NHL is doing the right thing. Those two men probably get paid by MLSE to support the ABB campaign.

[Robert]

Somehow I knew good ol' Cox would use this platform to attack the Leafs. Good show, Damien.

[Abraggs]

I don't normally share the same opinion as you Damian, but you are bloody spot on with this one!

[JS Ritchie]

Good summary Damien. But is it really the case that the NHL is doing the Leafs' dirty work, or are they just eyeing a much bigger prize: the potential revenue from an expansion fee if they drop a brand new team in the Toronto market? The NHL stands to make an absolute fortune when this happens. The appetite for hockey in the GTA/Golden Horseshoe is insatiable, and another team would not hurt the Leafs.

[david david]

how about the Canadian Professional Hockey League. Enough of this American Hockey League stuff!!

[Marky61]

Gary Bettman is Darth Vader himself. Yes, he is absolutely anti-Canadian. The hockey audience in the U.S. is eroding and it's time to end the Bettman dynasty. Why are the owners enamoured with this dictator? And why do I care what Americans think of Winnipeg and Quebec City? They don't have a clue where these places are anyway. All the rinks look the same on TV - especially when they're full of fans. If the Hamilton bid fails (due to Leafs interference) then rightfully return the Coyotes to Winnipeg, Jim.

[NLF]

Balsillie has won. For him to drop a couple of million or two or three in what he has to have known was a longshot at best is chump change for a man of his wealth. He would also know that a bankruptcy proceeding could potentially void all the contracts and that the NHL as a creditor, party to a franchise contract would be in a position of some control. So I suspect that the objective was to buy a team out of bankruptcy or not. If not, then make the NHL look foolish, like liars, undermine GB's postion with respect to other struggling owners...Tampa, NJ for example. By throwing the Phoenix ownership under the bus so to speak, GB's credibilty with other owners in a similar position is toast. Showing them up in multiple instances of truth strechting, to be polite, has made GB look foolish, petty and incompetant. So for a fraction of a percent of one's net worth, Balsillie has publicly humiliated GB, made him look like a man of questionable character, undermined him with his Board and generally embarassed him in public....sounds like a win to me, even if he doesn't get the team.

[Bob]

What I'm wondering is the following:

- how can the NHL convincingly argue that the league's disapproval of Balsillie as an owner is a factor the judge should consider, when he had previously been approved and the rejection happened after the bankruptcy process started?

- what happened to the other potential bidders the league cited that supposedly coalesced into the Reinsdorf camp?

- what is the point of the NHL bidding $140 million, when Ice Edge Holdings is bidding $150 million and is not demanding the right to move the franchise after a year? Won't the judge be likely to favour Ice Edge over the league's bid?

- why doesn't Balsillie reinstate his earlier offer to keep the team in Phoenix for one year before moving it to Hamilton? Then he and the NHL would be on an equal timeline regarding moving the team, increasing the likelihood of Balsillie's higher bid being chosen by the judge.

[Hoss SAM]

NHL is 3rd rate league. They are in decline and will soon disappear. They have the GM complex.

[Dave Monk]

I couldn't agree more Damien.

The NHL position on Balsillie's bid is absurd and indefensible. There is no other conclusion to be drawn.

Should the league's power in the selection of owners and cities be absolute while being unanswerable and unaccountable? Well I'm sure the league's answer would be Yes, and the fans would say No. That's really the crux of the matter. Do the fans have any say at all? I don't see the old boys network that is the league thinking they should change. And perhaps the only thing which would get them to change would be public humiliation writ large or competition. With absolute certainty if the league continues in the direction it is going both of these things will happen.

The truth is hockey is a grassroots sport. It grew because of fans and culture. Both of these things are not the same as they were 60 years ago. The culture is a shadow of itself and the fans reflect the generic nature of the sports market. It's soulless. At some point a small effort somewhere, probably in the GTA, will happen towards creating an alternate league that brings back that original spirit of the game. It'll be a tipping point. And when that happens the NHL as we know it will change or die. What won't change is the legacy that Bettman is leaving as one of the most hated men in Canada.

[Paul]

Business is Business.

[Ron]

I think the NHL should move the team to Canada. Another Canadian team would bring some additional vitality it will not find South of the border. Which is more important, the money or the sport? There are markets in the US that would generate revenue, but it would be a deal with the devil. Just the opinion of a hockey loving US citizen.

[billsully21]

I find it difficult to get excited about a league that would rather have a money losing team in the US than a money making team in Canada. That pretty well explains what the money grubber Leafs think as well.

[JE]

Not sure why the NHL thinks the judge will pick them as the winning bidder.

The judge would sure look stupid if the NHL turned around and flipped it to JB for $210M+, forked over $160M to the creditors and kept the extra $50M for themselves.

JB could be every owner's best buddy for their share of $50M [and leafs/sabres get their relocation fee on top].

[d]

Ummm...I have lived in Hamilton and it is much larger than some NHL cities, like Raleigh, and it was bigger than Hartford, where I used to get free tickets to games with a coffe purchase at Dunkin Donuts when I lived there too. Hamilton can support a team, but will they get it?