NHL Anti-Thread: Bad Business Decision Aggregator

[GeorgesL]

No worries about the Blues being the sacrifice, sale was complete as of today.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=395468

The NHL board of governors has approved the sale of the St. Louis Blues to a group headed by St. Louis beer distributor Tom Stillman, the league announced Wednesday.

The sale price was not disclosed, but is believed to be about US$130 million.

I was never worried about the Blues. They were probably going to be sold to a local owner anyway. That's a good thing. The Blues, even though they had little success in the post-season in many years, have always been a part of St. Louis.

[Gothamite]

And yet they've reportedly been in financial trouble, which doesn't speak well for the strength of the league.

[ninersdd]

In late February, who had the Coyotes chances of staying stronger then the Sacramento Kings' chances?

[Gothamite]

Everybody who knows the size of Gary Bettman's ego.

At this point. I'd say the Dodgers are more likely to move than the Coyotes. So long as Glendale is willing to keep writing checks, he'll fight tooth and nail to keep them in town. He'll drag out any number of fictitious "owners" so long as the rubes eat it up.

[Kevin W.]

There's no doubt that this is an ego trip by Bettman. He's already got egg on his face from the Thrashers moving, so he'll do anything he can to keep that illegitimate franchise down south so he doesn't get hit again.

What a joke.

[CubsFanBudMan]

And aren't the Kings' chances of staying 100 percent currently? For next year anyway. When it comes to the Coyotes, everything has been on a year-by-year basis. We might be doing this all over again in 365.

[GeorgesL]

The Dodgers were already bought by Magic Johnson and co. They were probably be staying put regardless, however there was some talk about not only moving the team, but disbanding it, because of the previous owner's legal issues that was holding up MLB. To me that is laughable, since I've hated the Dodgers for over 30 years.

The Kings, however, yeah they will stay. The Maloofs wanted a new arena built in Sacramento, but they feel the mayor was being a dick to them, and they wanted to go elsewhere, unless they worked with somebody else. But it looks like they're past that. I for one hope they stay, but if they don't, there are 2 or 3 good markets that are available, and one of them isn't Anaheim.

If I were to put those three teams in a specific order, the top team being the most likely to move, it would be Coyotes, Kings and Dodgers.

[Gothamite]

The Dodgers were already bought by Magic Johnson and co. They were probably be staying put regardless, however there was some talk about not only moving the team, but disbanding it, because of the previous owner's legal issues that was holding up MLB.

No, there wasn't.

I was kidding about the Dodgers. That was the joke. I should have said the Yankees, who seem as likely to move as the Coyotes, since Bettman's willing to spend his owners' money indefinitely rather than admit a mistake.

[GeorgesL]

And yet they've reportedly been in financial trouble, which doesn't speak well for the strength of the league.

It's funny that I remember when I was in grade school, they were talking about the Blues moving to Saskatoon. That was back in the early 80's. For a team that's been a mainstay in the league since the expansion era, given their track record in the playoffs, I can see how they could fall on hard times for that long.

The Dodgers were already bought by Magic Johnson and co. They were probably be staying put regardless, however there was some talk about not only moving the team, but disbanding it, because of the previous owner's legal issues that was holding up MLB.

No, there wasn't. Not outside fanwank message boards.

I was kidding about the Dodgers. That was the joke. I should have said the Yankees, who seem as likely to move as the Coyotes, since Bettman's willing to spend his owners' money indefinitely rather than admit a mistake.

My bad.

[DaytonBlue]

And yet they've reportedly been in financial trouble, which doesn't speak well for the strength of the league.

Agreed. If the business model requires most teams to make the playoffs or even go to the 2nd round to be profitable, that's not good.

[DarkJourney]

And yet they've reportedly been in financial trouble, which doesn't speak well for the strength of the league.

Agreed. If the business model requires most teams to make the playoffs or even go to the 2nd round to be profitable, that's not good.

Dolling out 9 expansion teams in a 9 year period doesn't help either. 30 NHL teams is frickin' ridiculous.

[The_Admiral]

That's how teams had to make money then. Keep inventing new teams to buy into the club and distribute the found money accordingly.

The idea that Phoenix has to be saved now so that Quebec City (and with it, I dunno, Seattle or Markham, they say) can be saved for expansion is ridiculous. Put this corporate socialism fire out and go back when the smoke clears, if you really have to be there. Which you kinda don't.

[ElwoodCuse]

There's no doubt that this is an ego trip by Bettman. He's already got egg on his face from the Thrashers moving, so he'll do anything he can to keep that illegitimate franchise down south so he doesn't get hit again.

What a joke.

yes league decisions are subject to the whims and ego of Gary Bettman and not the best interests of the team owners who want to make as much money as possible

"no doubt" hahahaha you idiots won't be happy until every Canadian city with more than 30,000 people has an NHL team

[Kevin W.]

There's no doubt that this is an ego trip by Bettman. He's already got egg on his face from the Thrashers moving, so he'll do anything he can to keep that illegitimate franchise down south so he doesn't get hit again.

What a joke.

yes league decisions are subject to the whims and ego of Gary Bettman and not the best interests of the team owners who want to make as much money as possible

"no doubt" hahahaha you idiots won't be happy until every Canadian city with more than 30,000 people has an NHL team

Excuse me? I'm an American. Do you not notice the avatar and signature indicating that I'm a Blackhawks fan? I don't want every single team to move north of the border. That's just ridiculous. What I want is for the Coyotes to be moved to a place where they will be successful and will actually have real fans who will show up to their arena for most of the season, not just the playoffs when the team makes a rare playoff run. If that means moving them to Quebec City and making them the Nordiques part deux, then so be it. If it means moving them to Seattle, so be it.

This playoff run isn't going to change a long trend of the Coyotes never turning a profit in their entire existence. Phoenix is not a hockey town. The longer the Coyotes stay in Phoenix, the longer the league has to help pay to keep them afloat and the longer the city of Glendale has to pay exorbitant amounts of money to keep them afloat. I don't live in Glendale. That doesn't personally affect me. However, when a city continues to pay that much money to keep a failing sports team going at the expense of things the city actually needs, like vital services, I have a problem with that. I also have a problem with my team continuing to pay for a team that should not exist anymore because it is a miserable failure.

So no, I don't want to give every city with 30,000 or more people in Canada a hockey team. I just want this farce of an organization to cease to exist and be reborn in a place where it will stop being a drain on the rest of the league and on the city where it plays. Is that too much to ask?

[IceCap]

Oh yay ElwoodCuse is here to white knight for Gary Bettman and set up strawmen to knock down again.

Since you're so "in the know" Elwood you likely know how profitable the Jets were in Winnipeg, ie how much of a financial success the move from Atlanta was.

So tell me. How is keeping the Coyotes in Glendale in the interest of the league's owners when it comes to making money when the success of Winnipeg could easily be replicated in Quebec City?

[BigBubba]

There's no doubt that this is an ego trip by Bettman. He's already got egg on his face from the Thrashers moving, so he'll do anything he can to keep that illegitimate franchise down south so he doesn't get hit again.

What a joke.

yes league decisions are subject to the whims and ego of Gary Bettman and not the best interests of the team owners who want to make as much money as possible

"no doubt" hahahaha you idiots won't be happy until every Canadian city with more than 30,000 people has an NHL team

OMMF. Not this again.

First of all, CRichardson is American, which completely throws your argument away. Second of all, I have never met one of those "all Canadian cities deserve a team", let alone one on this board. No one thinks Saskatoon deserves a team. No one thinks Fredrickson deserves a team. No one thinks Moosejaw deserves a team. That notion was only created by people like you. The only thing I - and people like me - want is for the Coyotes to move to Québec, and perhaps another Ontario team down the road. That's it. Eight, maybe nine Canadian teams. That's all. I'd actually rather see Seattle get a team over Toronto/Markham. Anyway, point is nobody wants 30 Canadian NHL teams. Not 25 either. Not 20. Not even 10. If I had a penny for every time Ice Cap went through this, I'd be filthy rich.

Oh, look. Ice Cap just went through this with you. How did I know?

Edited May 13, 2012 by BigBubba

[The_Admiral]

Yeah, I don't think anyone really wanted anything more than the eight teams that were in the league before (except for maybe the Hamilton Is A World Unto Itself lunatic fringe). I'm fine with eight, nine if Halifax explodes in a good way but the likelihood of that is infinitesimal at best. The whole "you people want every team in Canada" strawman is dumb. I don't think anyone sensible is even arguing for Saskatoon, let alone Yellowknife, so put it away already.

It is refreshing that the Leafs fans here are on board with a Quebec City team. Elsewhere on the internet, there seem to be Leafs fans who get upset over any Canadian team other than Montreal being in the NHL. Maybe it's because they still think the Edmonton Oilers are horning in on their turf. More likely, having to attend sporting events with teams from Ottawa and Winnipeg peskily reminds Leafs fans that Toronto is still in Canada.

[zpqmaowl]

Go bye-bye already, dammit.

[Gothamite]

Go bye-bye already, dammit.

Right. Because allowing the team to move would be so much more embarrassing...

[GO2HELL]

Go bye-bye already, dammit.

And to think, people here in Vancouver were paying upwards of $1000 each for a seat in the WCF and SCF.