Time for Glendale taxpayers to cut bait on the Coyotes

Sure wish Ontario had something akin to the Goldwater Institute when they were building SkyDome.

And well, of course city politicians and business types are going to squawk when a body like Goldwater sticks its nose into a smelly public transaction like the continuing rape of taxpayers in Glendale, Ariz. over the future of the Phoenix Coyotes.

The politicos and developers always want to ram things through quickly without thorough examination, and will always scream interference when somebody asks too many questions.

Then there's the scare tactics. Unable to convince anyone of the merits of their dubious plan, Glendale politicians have now conjured up figures projecting $500 million or more that the city will lose if it doesn't go through with a sweetheart plan to issue bonds and give prospective Coyotes owner Matthew Hulsizer the proceeds.

Having cost their constituents hundreds of millions of dollars already, Glendale politicians now are trying to convince the public that only spending more will fix the situation.

No, getting out now while the getting is good will do that.

The time to cut bait is now.

Naturally, the Goldwater Institute, a group formed to protect taxpayers from exactly these kinds of deals, deals that are against Arizona law, is maintaining the right to sue over this absurd proposal.

Taxpayers should applaud, and wonder why the people they elect aren't the ones protecting their interests more vigorously.

The NHL is complicit in all of this, showing no shame for its role in this ongoing disaster in the desert, and making it seem as though it is somehow protecting Glendale by keeping the franchise in place.

This was and is a bad deal, and its never going to be anything but a bad deal. Glendale needs to run, not walk, from Hulsizer and the NHL. Taxpayers there should listen to the Goldwater Institute and not the politicians who want to steal more of their money to prop up pro hockey.

A Lousy End

Wayne Gretzky deserved to end his coaching tenure with the Phoenix Coyotes like every other man to assume the position behind an NHL bench.

You know, fired. Dismissed. Have the team claim it's going in a different direction, or say it wants somebody who can work with young players. Or old players. Or can make the team fitter. Or understands how to win in the playoffs. Or can be a communicator. Or will shut down the country club atmosphere.

Whatever. Gretzky deserved to go out on his shield. In sport, there is sometimes honour in getting the axe.

But that appears not to be the way in which its going to go down for The Great One in Phoenix, and if you take stock in online polling, the remaining hockey fans there don't mind. Asked by azcentral.com if they wanted to see Gretzky back as coach, 83 per cent responded, "No."

Ouch.

Gretzky hasn't been at the Coyotes camp for 10 days, although its unclear whether he's been told to stay away or is boycotting the proceedings for legal or personal reasons. A Coyotes spokesman did tell the Arizona Republic yesterday that Gretzky is receiving his coaching salary, but just isn't working.

Gotta get me one of them jobs.

Theoretically, he could still come back to his old job, and when it comes to the Coyotes and their disastrous bankruptcy situation, it's wise to never rule out any possibility. Punch Imlach twice handed the coaching reins over to King Clancy for health reasons and twice returned to run the Leafs, you may remember.

But it sure looks like the hockey team has moved on, with decisions being made that would normally involve the head coach. Dave King was brought in yesterday as an assistant to associate head coach Ulf Samuelsson, while Sean Burke replaced Grant Fuhr as goaltending coach. Kyle Turris, the third pick of the 2007 entry draft, was demoted to San Antonio, surely another warning to all teams about the dangers of rushing youngsters to the big leagues.

The Coyotes are on the road now after drawing an estimated 2,000 fans to their Sept. 15 home opener, and still no sign of either Gretzky or a resolution in the team's ownership spat, with an emergency meeting scheduled for today.

It's pretty clear the treatment of Gretzky throughout this ordeal has been dreadful, and to some degree, it's the NHL that has allowed it to happen. Nobody wants to honour the contract he signed in good faith, and now he's been left hanging while the haggling continues.

No, he's not the best coach in NHL history. But last winter, when the Yotes were fifth in the conference around the NHL all-star game, he sure looked like he was learning.

Assuming his coaching days in Phoenix are over, however, right now its hard to imagine what his next step will be in the game he loves.

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.

Balsillie Keeps Pressure On

As George Costanza would say, they're taking it up a notch.

Jim Balsillie's bid to bring the Phoenix Coyotes to Hamilton, which is riding heavily on an Arizona bankruptcy judge's decision in 10 days, has pushed the envelope every step of the way. Often, that has angered NHL officials.

Well, Gary Bettman and Co. probably won't be thrilled this morning when the Balsillie group unveils its renovation plans for Copps Coliseum, an attempt to make the rink NHL ready.

Copps has hosted many major events, including the 1987 and 1991 Canada Cups, but requires upwards of $150 million in upgrades, including the addition of private suites.

Balsillie is expected to unveil the name of an architectural firm and show drawings of the planned renovations.

On a day when a news report suggested the Coyotes are likely to lose another $17 million in the coming weeks, it's another way for Balsilie to aggressively ramp up the pressure on the Bettman administration to stop funding the money-losing Phoenix franchise and let it move to Canada.

All Quiet Before the Legal Storm

PHOENIX--Waiting for this town to get all worked up about the potential loss of the Coyotes is a waste of time. It's just not going to happen.

That's not an insult or criticism, just a fact. This is a city where about 7,000 households on average watch Phoenix games on TV, an indication there just hasn't been the kind of grassroots growth in support of this NHL franchise that was once imagined.

Could there ever be? Depends on who you talk to. Today, in another steamer expected to see the thermometer jump over 40C, there's more local interest in tonight's American Idol finale than there is in the bankruptcy proceedings set to begin in a few hours downtown.

It's kind of like one of those old westerns with the false front buildings. There's a hockey team here, but is there anything real behind it? Who knows.

From a news point of view, the biggest worry is that nothing will be decided today, that Judge Redfield T. Baum will listen and then require time to make an intelligent decision. That said, bankruptcy proceedings tend to move quickly because people are looking for their money, and both sides in the Coyotes dispute are looking to expedite matters.

The primary issue today is who controls the Coyotes. If it's the NHL, well, it's probably bye-bye Jim Basillie, at least until the next NHL team gets in trouble. The hockey club may, however, stay in bankruptcy, with the league using that process to cut the best possible deal for new owners trying to make a go of it in Phoenix.

If it's Jerry Moyes - good news for Balsillie - then you almost certainly will see an NHL appeal, and the entire business will get dragged off to another court.

Unfortunately, this may all get stickier at a time when the NHL's unfortunate post-season schedule may be about to dissolve all the positive momentum generated by the terrific second round of the playoffs.

It'll be 10 days from now until the Hurricanes and Penguins get to Game 5, if the series gets that far. It'll be 11 days before the Hawks and Wings get to Game 6, if necessary. The Pittsburgh-Carolina series has a pair of two-day breaks in the middle of that competition, while Detroit and Chicago have three sets of two off-days during that series.

This approach is deadly to the rabid hockey fan who has spent the last month watching at least one game every night. Now, it becomes more of a guessing game as to when the games will be played at a time of year when outdoor options become increasingly attractive even to the worst couch potato.

As well, with fewer games, there's more room for non-playoff stories to become prominent. If this bankruptcy process drags out and gets nastier, there's going to be an awful lot of bad ink out there for the NHL.

Those of us looking for compromise, something that would give Balsillie a chance to make a go of it in Hamilton while offering a good faith opportunity for some business group to make hockey work in Phoenix, appear likely to be disappointed.

But we'll know more in a few hours.

A National Insult? Hardly

Great to see the country's "national newspaper" has taken on the task of being the propaganda arm for Jim Balsillie. Normally businessmen of that stature have to pay for such services.

The way that media outlet talks it is as though southern Ontario hockey fans are some great oppressed people straining under the rule of the tyrant Bettman, with the liberator Balsillie prepared to set them free. Guess the NHL commissioner's trips to Calgary and Edmonton in recent months to push for new arenas to support NHL teams in those cities was also about somehow denying Canadians their national birthright.

And here I was just thinking it was about the business of hockey.

Here's what's interesting. If Jim Balsillie had followed through on his original plans to buy the Nashville Predators back in 2007, right now he could be preparing to go to the NHL board of governors next month and make his case for relocating the team to Hamilton.

He could have spent the last two years building alliances with different NHL owners and gaining their trust. He could have been carefully courting the support of key league administrators and generally making himself known in the NHL community as something other than an unpredictable maverick.

Assuming the Preds had still not been able to flourish in Tennessee after two seasons under Balsillie's ownership, his fellow governors would have had to listen to his plea to move the team.

Theoretically, the Preds could have been in Hamilton by next fall. Of course, that would mean that all those people (15,000?) who put down season ticket deposits of $500 to $1,000 two years ago would be getting calls now to come up with the rest of the $8,000-$10,000 for a pair of tickets to see the Hamilton Predators.

Betcha a lot of people in this current economy would be thrilled to get that call, huh?

But Balsillie didn't have the patience for simply buying a team, getting into the club and then biding his time. He wants a team in Hamilton now, and on his terms. So to bankruptcy court in Phoenix today we go.

A couple of other points before we move on to today's mail bag.

-- Isn't it funny how those westerners who sarcastically ridicule Toronto as the "Centre of the Universe" are suddenly so impressed with us that they proclaim the GTA to be the logical place to place a second NHL club?

-- Got one comment saying Phoenix is a lousy hockey market because it has no history in the game. Fact is, the Phoenix Roadrunners of the WHL were the first pro sports team to ever plant roots in Arizona back in 1967.

-- The players union backs the relocation of Phoenix, but also wants the NHL to get off NBC and get back on ESPN. Well, where do you think ESPN would prefer a team? Phoenix or Hamilton?

-- Sorry, but 73,000 email communiques for Balsillie's website don't impress me. American Idol got 60 million votes for its competition on Tuesday. Now that impresses me.

Some questions for today:

Q: Hi Damien,
Quick turn from the NHL Playoffs to the AHL Playoffs for a moment. Do you find it odd that even under a new administration, the Toronto Marlies STILL played their backup over Pogge during the playoffs? (Game#6)

Jim G., St. Catharines

A: Odd? Not really, not this time. Last year it was about not giving Pogge a shot. This spring, well, Pogge got his shot in the NHL and was found wanting. I'd imagine there's a pretty good chance he won't be re-signed at all this summer. Maybe Adam Munro becomes the goalie of the future.

Q: Hey Damien,
Any news regarding the 'Monster' from Sweden? From what I've read he's been merely ok. Do you know if Burke still has interest or has things cooled off?
Thanks Damien,

Tom Bajusz, San Antonio, TX

A: They're still interested. But it sounds like Jonas (The Monster) Gustavsson is going to shop his services around. In Toronto he'd get a shot at being No. 1. Not sure which other NHL club can offer him that opportunity next fall.

Q: Hi Damien,
In one of you recent blogs you wrote about the in-game entertainment packages in the Verizon Centre, the Wachovia Centre and Madison Square Garden which put MLSE to shame.  Can you please provide more detail as to what these buildings are doing for their ticket paying public?

J. M., Toronto

A: Well, you have to go and decide for yourself if you find it appealing. It's just a livelier, more current show all around, less about performing skits designed to insult the other team and more about using music, video and atmosphere to create an environment in which customers feel inclined to participate, and not just when there's a simulated pair of clapping hands on the large screen. 

During the playoffs, Damien Cox is answering your questions on a regular basis. Click here to submit a question.
**Note: please follow the link above to send a question to Damien. Questions posted in the comments section may not make it to the mailbag. Thanks.**