NHL Anti-Thread: Bad Business Decision Aggregator

[pollux]

So, hey, did anybody happen to notice that the owner, general manager, and vice president of hockey operations for the Quebec Remparts decided to leave the team for another position today?

Wonder what would compel him to do that.

Wait, what? Did the owner just, like, post on Craigslist "Free hockey team to a good home. Must provide your own rink. Pick them up at the corner of 3rd and Wellington"? How does an owner just leave a team?

He'll still be part owner, just as he's been ever since he joined the Remparts.

[Brian in Boston]

Frankly, I don't believe that Patrick Roy's decision to become head coach and vice president of hockey operations for the Colorado Avalanche has anything whatsoever to do with the Phoenix Coyotes potentially dislodging the Quebec Remparts from the Quebec City market. Roy's decision is simply a case of making a move from overseeing the operations of a junior hockey team to calling the shots for a franchise in the world's top professional hockey league.

[The_Admiral]

So, hey, did anybody happen to notice that the owner, general manager, and vice president of hockey operations for the Quebec Remparts decided to leave the team for another position today?

Wonder what would compel him to do that.

Wait, what? Did the owner just, like, post on Craigslist "Free hockey team to a good home. Must provide your own rink. Pick them up at the corner of 3rd and Wellington"? How does an owner just leave a team?

Dale Hunter did the same thing with the London Knights last year when he went to coach the Caps. Just took a leave of absence from the day-to-day stuff while still owning the team. Of course, he came back home, truly the Cincinnatus of Ontario junior hockey.

[rvrdgsfn]

I'm sure this has absolutely nothing to do with the NHL possibly coming back to Quebec City.... None whatsoever... Just like the new arena.

http://www.marketwir...r.a-1794745.htm

Quebecor is pleased to announce the acquisition of Gestev, a dynamic sporting and cultural event management company that enjoys a high profile throughout the Québec City area. Patrice Drouin and Chantal Lachance, cofounders of Gestev, and their entire team will bring their expertise to Quebecor; they will support Quebecor's drive to maintain its status as Québec's entertainment leader and work with its partners to help make the new Québec City Amphitheater a hub of entertainment, sport and culture.

Edited May 25, 2013 by rvrdgsfn

[Sodboy13]

Craig Morgan of Fox Sports Arizona is reporting that George Gosbee's Renaissance Sports & Entertainment group and the NHL have agreed to terms on a sale. Bettman and Daly will meet with Glendale officials on Tuesday, the same day as a press conference to formally announce GM Don Maloney's contract extension.

[Gary]

Craig Morgan of Fox Sports Arizona is reporting that George Gosbee's Renaissance Sports & Entertainment group and the NHL have agreed to terms on a sale. Bettman and Daly will meet with Glendale officials on Tuesday, the same day as a press conference to formally announce GM Don Maloney's contract extension.

The link

http://www.foxsportsarizona.com/nhl/phoenix-coyotes/story/Sources-Coyotes-to-be-sold-to-GosbeeLeBl?blockID=905273#.UaAfiHvFx7A.twitter

[JayMac]

Craig Morgan of Fox Sports Arizona is reporting that George Gosbee's Renaissance Sports & Entertainment group and the NHL have agreed to terms on a sale. Bettman and Daly will meet with Glendale officials on Tuesday, the same day as a press conference to formally announce GM Don Maloney's contract extension.

*sigh* congratulations on keeping your team, Coyotes fans

[CubsFanBudMan]

I don't see how this is any more legit than the last 3 or 4 bids. "A few hurdles" in Coyote-speak might as well be Mount Everest. Doesn't mean this song and dance won't keep them there through this time next year, though. But asking $13-15M when $6M is budgeted seems like a deal breaker off the top. If I'm Glendale, I don't budge. And hire someone else to "manage" the arena.

Cue the Whitesnake...

[IceCap]

Yeah, they still need to hammer out a deal with Glendale, which is far from a sure thing given who's running the city now. On top of that Gosbee's deal had an out clause after five years right? So even if he does get the team we're only five years away from this starting up all over again. Even with this sale the Coyotes' future in Arizona would depend on the team suddenly turning a profit over the next five years. Forgive me if I'm not incredibly confident that will happen.

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

As much as I'd like the Yotes to stay in the desert, if they haven't turned things around by now (playoff runs the last few years, WCF last year), I don't think it will turn out.

[IceCap]

As much as I'd like the Yotes to stay in the desert,

Why?

if they haven't turned things around by now (playoff runs the last few years, WCF last year), I don't think it will turn out.

They consistently have terrible attendance and they've yet to turn a profit since moving there. Blame under-performing teams. Blame the drive time from downtown Phoenix to the rink. Blame a simple lack of interest. Blame the location as a mecca for snowbirds with already established loyalties. Whatever the case the market's shot.

Wayne Gretzky behind the bench (the ultimate hockey publicity stunt) didn't help. A legitimate playoff contender on the ice didn't help (either back in the mid 90s or now). A run to the WCF didn't help. Dirty cheap tickets didn't help. $10 Snuggie, hot dog, and beer night didn't help. So sure, let Gosbee buy the team (if he can even get a deal with the city). He'll just learn what every Coyotes owner before him (save the NHL itself) has learnt. That the market is a financial black hole. Five years from now he'll want out and we'll be right back to where we started.

[Gothamite]

There have been buyers before.

Let's see if he can work out a deal with the new people in charge if the city. Until then, this is just another of Bettman's farcical charades.

[IceCap]

The thing that makes this one different is that the guy who's looking buy actually has money this time. Which makes me wonder why he even wants to buy the team considering that the last guy who actually had money and expressed interest in buying the team (Jerry Reinsdorf) drove away in his limo laughing hysterically when he finally got a look at the organization's books.

The only thing that makes sense is that Gosbee wants to own an NHL team, not necessarily one in Phoenix. Which could help explain his interest in a five year clause. Move them if he can't make them work in Glendale after half a decade (what's one more at this point?).

[Coast2CoastAM2006]

The thing that makes this one different is that the guy who's looking buy actually has money this time. Which makes me wonder why he even wants to buy the team considering that the last guy who actually had money and expressed interest in buying the team (Jerry Reinsdorf) drove away in his limo laughing hysterically when he finally got a look at the organization's books.

The only thing that makes sense is that Gosbee wants to own an NHL team, not necessarily one in Phoenix. Which could help explain his interest in a five year clause. Move them if he can't make them work in Glendale after half a decade (what's one more at this point?).

There is no way the city of Glendale could let this go on for another 5 years. I also fail to see this guy Gosbee losing money the next 5 years unless his plan is to relocate them. Otherwise it's here we go again in 5 years, which again I fail to see the CoG allowing. or am I missing something here?

[IceCap]

Bettman's lured suckers into footing the bill to keep the Coyotes alive before. Wouldn't surprise me if this was just that. Some guy with money wants into the NHL and Bettman uses them as a stooge to prop up his failed experiment for a few years until he wises up and wants out.

Ultimately Phoenix only gets to keep their team if they show up to support them and help the team turn a profit. It's been the better part of two decades now and that's yet to happen once (save for the season where no hockey was played). Unless something drastic changes under Gosbee's leadership I just see this as more of the same.

[DaRadniz29]

While I cant pretend to fully under this circus, I'm curious if it wouldn't be more beneficial for the city of Glendale to eat whatever remaining costs there are of the lease, kick the team to the curb and tell Bettman to work out his own problems. However I would suspect that he's got some kind of powerful jedi-type mind tricks going on. (aka some clause that prevents that from happeneing).

[The_Admiral]

Contractually, the Coyotes don't have a lease for 2013-2014. It's up to Glendale to renew it and they haven't yet. They could kick the Coyotes out right now and the NHL wouldn't be able to do anything about it. However, there are still aldermen who are tripping over themselves to give the taxpayers' money to billionaires (two of the same ones from last time, and this Gary Sherwood fellow who seems to be one of them judging by George Fallar's love for him). The NHL is circumventing open meetings laws by meeting with the council three members at a time so as to avoid a quorum, so I have to fear that they know what they're getting if we know it's gone this far.

[Evil Doctor]

Craig Morgan of Fox Sports Arizona is reporting that George Gosbee's Renaissance Sports & Entertainment group and the NHL have agreed to terms on a sale. Bettman and Daly will meet with Glendale officials on Tuesday, the same day as a press conference to formally announce GM Don Maloney's contract extension.

*sigh* congratulations on keeping your team, Coyotes fans

Oh, don't fret, this will crater like all the other times...

[Sodboy13]

It probably won't matter if the team actually gets an owner or not. Ren Lavoie of RDS reports that the league has decided if the Coyotes can't stay in Glendae, they're going to Seattle, and nowhere else. This, of course, presents just a few wee problems, in that Seattle doesn't have a hockey arena that seats over 11,000 (very poorly), any plans for a new arena got scuttled when the NBA decided to keep the Kings in Sacramento, and the NBA isn't going to expand until 2016-17 at the earliest. So apparently, resolution of the Coyotes problem is entirely dependent on another sports league deciding they'd like to return to a market five years down the road or so. This also gives credence to the theory of "we have to give an American market an established franchise that can hit the ground running, but we can give the Canadian markets any old expansion slag heap and charge them double for the privilege, because hockey."

Screw it. Move the Coyotes to Seattle anyway, have them play an all-outdoor schedule at CenturyLink Field, rename them "Seattle Sounders HC", give everyone a free scarf, and draw 40,000 a night.

[CubsFanBudMan]

Well, I guess we shouldn't be surprised that after trying to force the Coyotes in Glendale so long that they'd move on to forcing Seattle.

Same thing as always, but isn't Seattle saturated once basketball returns? And you have to believe it will...

Is there any demand for hockey in Seattle outside of the NHL's? I mean, the demand for the Sonics is obvious, but the passion for hockey seems to be, "bring back the Sonics and hey... we get hockey, too?"

Seahawks, Mariners, Sounders, Sonics, Coyotes...