Sodboy13

League incentives?

Sharks majority owner Hasso Plattner buys out shareholders Kevin Compton and Stratton Sclavos.

There's your Coyotes money. Greg Jamison's puttin' the band back together. You know, like that movie. Blues Brothers 2000.

Two things from today:

Mike Sunnucks is reporting that Jamison has scrounged up the money from somewhere, and will make the purchase just under the city's deadline.

Elliotte Friedman is reporting the league intends to expand to 32 teams, which would pretty much seal up all of the potential markets the Coyotes could relocate to.

None of this fixes the main problem with the Coyotes (no one wants to watch them play and they lose $25M+ a year), but it does throw quite a wrench into them going anywhere.

Then the league will just drag in Ice Edge again, or try to convince Glendale that Jerry Reinsdorf is really super-serious about wanting to buy the team, for reals, you guys.

I just don't see this ending Thursday. It's been too stupid for too long. We're fast approaching 15 years of "People not wanting to own the Phoenix Coyotes".

Thursday or bust for out free $300 million, says Glendale's mayor.

You can almost hear the money being flown in from league headquarters now.

Then again, the mayor hints he could be open to drafting a new deal instead, so this thing could drag on ad infinitum.

Don't think so. The new mayor told Jamison directly when they spoke the other day that they're not going to offer an extension. He either finishes it by 23:59:59 (MST) on Thursday... or it's over under these current terms. And the next ones, if there are any, won't be nearly as generous. Which will kill Jamison's bid since he can't even get this done with these ridiculously generous terms.

The rumor from a couple weeks back that the league will "loan" the money to Jamison to buy the team if he can't pull it together on his own keeps rolling around in my head, and I can't shake it.

Once we get confirmation that this stupid dumpster fire is over, drinks are on me.

Cheapskate.

Trying to decide which part of the latest update is funniest.

Here's some candidates:

Jamison said, “We’re aware of what we have to do to get this closed. We’re working very hard to get there. So far, the anticipation is that we will get there. That’s kind of where we’re at, at the moment, and I probably wouldn’t take it much further than that.”

"It's been 18 months and I still don't have the money. Another 72, 73 tops though, and I should be pretty much set."

Holdover Councilman Manny Martinez, who voted in favor of the current deal, said he would have to reconsider his support if Jamison blows the deadline and asks for an extension or a second deal.

“I would have to think about it, but probably yes, depending on what Mr. Jamison tells us at the time, depending on the circumstances,” he said.

Well, he told you nothing last time, so what would queer the deal for you? A nude reading of Mein Kampf performed on bath salts?

Even his patience has limits, though, Martinez said.

“At some time, we have to say, ‘Well, this is it,’” he said.

History suggests otherwise, good sir.

Cave Creek medical-records consultant and well-connected hockey fan Bea Wyatt...

Gosh, I wonder why she has no problem with Glendale giving away $300 million in taxpayer money it doesn't have?

...said she assumes the long negotiations simply are the result of the NHL’s due-diligence process.

"BAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!" --John Spano and Boots del Biaggio, from prison

“There is some concern among a lot of people. There’s some tweeting in the Twitterverse about people being concerned about the date,” said Wyatt

"I'm pretty well-connected. I'm aware of all the Tweetings. Sometimes I Pinterest them and make a Facebook post about them. You should like my page on Grindr."

“I feel confident that things will get done. I’m like 99.9 percent,” she said. “People do call me a Pollyanna.”

"Don't drag me into this, you loopy desert whore." --Pollyanna

Well, I think we can agree on a core argument, which is that putting the arena in Glendale was a Really Bad Idea.

Oh, you gotta love radio traffic, don't you. "Backed up for miles on the Kennedy," says the man in a windowless office in Cincinnati.

I'M RIGHT HERE DAMMIT (brb there's a crash on 35W)

18 miles from Downtown Phoenix to the Jobber.

1) That's hardly boofoo

2) Phoenix traffic doesn't suck as hard as people claim it does (I've reported it)

3) People drove farther in worse weather to a sketchier area to see the Bulls at the United Center during the entire Tim-Floydastrophe

4) If there are not enough people willing to drive 15-30 miles to see hockey on a weeknight to even half-fill your arena for your division-champion, conference-final-reaching team, your franchise is a lost damn cause

5) If "people won't come here on weeknights" is your built-in excuse, consider the ECHL instead.

Plenty of tickets under $10 on StubHub for Monday's tilt with Nashville, though. Should be another 4-digit evening.

Ollywood Ulk Ohgan?

Ha, I noticed that too. Time to pull a WCW and have everybody move to one side of the arena.

"Get me a crowd shot." "There's no crowd!"

I guess the question is whether his Gang of Seven will stick by Bettman after the way he guided them through the lockout (not particularly well). All he needs is the backing of those seven to continue on this fool's errand. Plus, if he couches it as "it's either Glendale or Québec City", he might get Geoff Molson on board.

Can the new council revoke the lease deal? Or must they honour the January 31st date set by those previously in office?

I'm not sure, but I THINK they have to honour the deadline. That being said they probably won't extend the deadline like the last council constantly did.

They could pull out but it might lead to a lengthy legal battle if they do. However if Jamison doesn't get his deal done in the next two weeks the new council is under no obligation to extend the deal and in fact were elected claiming they didn't want this deal and opposed it. So hopefully Jamison doesn't get this done by Jan 31.

If it gets all the way down to January 31st, and the new city council actually does tell him to put up or shut up, the league is going to "loan" him the money to buy the team. Continue the omnishambles!

Did somebody say "Coyotes KickStarter?"

Also, did somebody say "shameless self-promotion of my attempt at a hockey blog"?

THERE ARE NO PARKS IN WINNIPEG

The Arizona Coyotes: Because YOU THAT'S WHY

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2013/01/07/report-jamison-still-seeking-financing-to-purchase-coyotes/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Well, now that all of their financial problems have been solved, the league has told Greg Jamison "Hey, how about we just give you the money to buy the team from us?"

Here's my jersey review.

!

That seems very, very accurate, to the point where I wonder if Nike's getting ripped off in-house at one of their overseas factories. I know the Steelers' sleeve stripes used to be a sewn-in insert - anyone know if that's carried over to the Nike overhaul?

January 31st, and we don't.

Unless the new city council, which takes over mid-January after being elected on a "Jesus CHRIST, these effing people" platform, decides to come charging out of the gate and tells Greg and all his imaginary friends to go pound sand.

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2012/12/28/bid-fo-referendum-on-coyotes-lease-deal-comes-up-short/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Glendale residents couldn't get enough signatures to force a referendum on the lease deal. So the only thing holding back Greg Jamison from being able to buy the Coyotes is Greg Jamison being able to buy the Coyotes. 5 weeks allegedly left on the clock, Greg. Time to check if Qantas has any good deals on January fares.

Paul Allen wanted to buy the Coyotes in 2001 and move them to Portland, but the league thought they had things lined up to get an arena deal in Scottsdale. Whoopsies!

The NHL once welcomed the Yakuza into their ownership ranks. What's a middle eastern oil tycoon between friends, really?

Here come your Arizona Qatar Foundation Coyotes!

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2012/12/28/jamison-reportedly-traveled-to-middle-east-in-search-of-coyotes-investors/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Look on the bright side. Greg Jamison still has five other continents to try to find people who'd want to fund his purchase of the Coyotes.

I got The Instigator for Christmas, and tore through it in past two nights (thanks for the recommendation, Admiral). One of the interesting bits of Coyotes history I was previously unaware of was that Jerry Colangelo, the point man in bringing the Jets southward in 1996, wanted to be free and clear of the thing by 1998, and it was more or less in Gary's hands (either by his own choosing or not) to scrape together enough couch cushion change and various local investment to keep the 'Yotes afloat. Bettman's taken the lead on saving desert hockey with duct tape and Fix-a-Flat for nearly 15 years now, not just the 4 since Jerry Moyes went teats-up and tried to shuffle them off to Noted Enemy Jim Balsillie. They are, in so many ways, his team.