Back In The Game?

[rams80]

NHL owner gets more than eight years in prison So, what happens now? Is he still the owner? Does Balsillie use this to help him? Does he sell the team?

Did THN forget to mention he's a minority owner? Nothing happens to the team...well except for DelBaggio probably divesting himself of said minority interest.

Ice Edge no longer intends to bid for bankrupt Phoenix Coyotes

This doesn't surprise me at all. I never thought they had a hope from day 1.

Of course, they didn't have a snazzy marketing campaign.

[CC97]

If Balsillie somehow wins the bid and is allowed to own the team against the NHL's wishes, he's tossing around the idea of moving the Coyotes during the course of the season.

Of course, Bettman has stated that any relocation is subject to vote of approval by the owners, and I don't think a court can change the rules of a sports league.

Actually, the court might be able to do just that.

Basille's claim is that a relocation requires a simple majority vote of the other owners. The Maple Leafs claim that it takes a unanimous vote. Interesting - I wouldn't think they'd need concern themselves with such a distinction, given the reports of unanimous opposition to Basille's bid. Maybe the Leafs know something we don't?

In any case, it is not uncommon for courts to address just such a business dispute between partners.

While that may be true,i can imagine that although they may support Big Jim if he wins,that Ian Penny and the PA might have a small objection to uprooting a couple dozen of the membership and their families.I dunno just saying

The PA in the past has stated their desire for a team in Southern Ontario to increase league revenues, therefore increasing the salary cap.

[Gothamite]

Yeah, I'd tend to think that the PA might welcome an owner like Balsillie, who doesn't seem to mind his opening wide his wallet.

[josh_cat_eyes]

Balsille would likely want a team to play close to the cap, thus giving the players more money. The is only 56.8 million to go around per team, and not every teams owners can budget for that amount. If you add another owner who can budget to that amount, they I'd think the players would be all for it.

[Hathaway Browne]

Sorry if its already been discussed, but say Balsille does move the team, surely they will have to re-align the league?

[STL FANATIC]

Sorry if its already been discussed, but say Balsille does move the team, surely they will have to re-align the league?

You'd think so. And there's no obvious, problem-free solution to that.

That's not nearly the reason to stop Balsillie, but it'd be an unfortunate offshoot.

[Sodboy13]

Sorry if its already been discussed, but say Balsille does move the team, surely they will have to re-align the league?

You'd think so. And there's no obvious, problem-free solution to that.

That's not nearly the reason to stop Balsillie, but it'd be an unfortunate offshoot.

It would seem that putting a Western Conference team in Hamilton would lead to Toronto or Ottawa being bumped to the Western/Central, with a chain reaction of divisional tweaks to follow. Then again, they might just throw Atlanta to the Western Conference to keep from upsetting the Ontario triumvirate.

Now, if Hamilton gets a relocated franchise, and at the same time, another team packs up and heads to Kansas City, the whole thing sorts itself out a bit more easily.

[njmeadowlanders]

The PA in the past has stated their desire for a team in Southern Ontario to increase league revenues, therefore increasing the salary cap.

...but not a week before the season was slated to start...

[DarkJourney]

The league could go back to a 4 division alignment instead of 6.

16 teams in the east. 14 teams in the west.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Atlantic

Atlanta

Carolina

Florida

New Jersey

N.Y. Islanders

N.Y. Rangers

Philadelphia

Tampa Bay

Northeast

Boston

Buffalo

Hamilton

Montreal

Ottawa

Pittsburgh

Toronto

Washington

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Central

Chicago

Columbus

Dallas

Detroit

Minnesota

Nashville

St. Louis

Pacific

Anaheim

Calgary

Colorado

Edmonton

Los Angeles

San Jose

Vancouver

[SenatorJake]

You can't have 16 teams in the East and 14 in the West. It would be more difficult for Eastern teams to make the playoffs and would, therefore, be unfair.

Although, if you move Atlanta to that Central division you made, everything sorts itself out.

[Gothamite]

You can't have 16 teams in the East and 14 in the West. It would be more difficult for Eastern teams to make the playoffs and would, therefore, be unfair.

Doesn't seem to bother the NL Central.

[STL FANATIC]

You can't have 16 teams in the East and 14 in the West. It would be more difficult for Eastern teams to make the playoffs and would, therefore, be unfair.

Doesn't seem to bother the NL Central.

Wouldn't say it doesn't bother, I'd just say it's accepted at this point. But rather than be bothered about having one extra team to beat (and maybe I'll complain if any less than 4 teams in the Central didn't ever suck by the end of the year), I'd rather complain about how few teams the AL West Champ has to beat.

But again, it's accepted, and while you're point was on topic, I've begun to stray.

[njmeadowlanders]

You can't have 16 teams in the East and 14 in the West. It would be more difficult for Eastern teams to make the playoffs and would, therefore, be unfair.

Doesn't seem to bother the NL Central.

Wouldn't say it doesn't bother, I'd just say it's accepted at this point. But rather than be bothered about having one extra team to beat (and maybe I'll complain if any less than 4 teams in the Central didn't ever suck by the end of the year), I'd rather complain about how few teams the NL West Champ has to beat.

But again, it's accepted, and while you're point was on topic, I've begun to stray.

You meant AL West.

[BrySmalls]

Sorry if its already been discussed, but say Balsille does move the team, surely they will have to re-align the league?

You'd think so. And there's no obvious, problem-free solution to that.

That's not nearly the reason to stop Balsillie, but it'd be an unfortunate offshoot.

It would seem that putting a Western Conference team in Hamilton would lead to Toronto or Ottawa being bumped to the Western/Central, with a chain reaction of divisional tweaks to follow. Then again, they might just throw Atlanta to the Western Conference to keep from upsetting the Ontario triumvirate.

Now, if Hamilton gets a relocated franchise, and at the same time, another team packs up and heads to Kansas City, the whole thing sorts itself out a bit more easily.

We can only hope that the Isles pack up and move to Kansas City.

[Sport]

You can't have 16 teams in the East and 14 in the West. It would be more difficult for Eastern teams to make the playoffs and would, therefore, be unfair.

Doesn't seem to bother the NL Central.

Wouldn't say it doesn't bother, I'd just say it's accepted at this point. But rather than be bothered about having one extra team to beat (and maybe I'll complain if any less than 4 teams in the Central didn't ever suck by the end of the year), I'd rather complain about how few teams the NL West Champ has to beat.

But again, it's accepted, and while you're point was on topic, I've begun to stray.

I hate the way the NL central has 6 teams. Granted the Pirates and Reds as of late have made it a 4 team division, but it's still ridiculous that a team in that division has 5 teams to compete with while a team in the AL West only has 3. I wish the AL would just add two more teams, but that's for another topic.

[RyanMcD29]

You can't have 16 teams in the East and 14 in the West. It would be more difficult for Eastern teams to make the playoffs and would, therefore, be unfair.

Doesn't seem to bother the NL Central.

Well comparing the MLB format to the NFL/NHL/NBA is apples to oranges because of the lack of interleague play whereas the other 3 you don't need to have every team facing someone in their conference outside a few specified weeks. I know this doesn't sound too right but I think you guys can catch my drift.

[Gothamite]

Oh, I get your point. Such a situation wouldn't be ideal.

I'd tend to agree. Sooner or later, the NHL would have to address the uneven league setup. But for a season or five, I don't think it alone is sufficient reason to oppose Basillie's plans.

[SenatorJake]

You can't have 16 teams in the East and 14 in the West. It would be more difficult for Eastern teams to make the playoffs and would, therefore, be unfair.

Doesn't seem to bother the NL Central.

That's great for the NL Central. Mind you, Bud Selig is a moron.

Now in regards to the NHL, moving Atlanta would be a really easy way to fix this uneven divisional alignment. I don't see why we would hold on to these uneven conferences with such a simple solution being readily available.

Atlanta is the fursthest out west of all the eastern teams. When a new western team comes along, the Thrashers could be moved back to the East if that's what they want.

[CC97]

The PA in the past has stated their desire for a team in Southern Ontario to increase league revenues, therefore increasing the salary cap.

...but not a week before the season was slated to start...

You really think that would be enough of a reason for the PA to turn down an increased cap and an owner who likes to spend?

Players get traded all the time, the union isn't going to be up in arms because 23 players all get "traded" from Arizona to Ontario in September.

[zer0dotcom]

Sorry if its already been discussed, but say Balsille does move the team, surely they will have to re-align the league?

You'd think so. And there's no obvious, problem-free solution to that.

That's not nearly the reason to stop Balsillie, but it'd be an unfortunate offshoot.

It would seem that putting a Western Conference team in Hamilton would lead to Toronto or Ottawa being bumped to the Western/Central, with a chain reaction of divisional tweaks to follow. Then again, they might just throw Atlanta to the Western Conference to keep from upsetting the Ontario triumvirate.

Hamilton is the western most team of the 'Ontario three.' Why would Toronto move when another Eastern team is further west?

I would leave Hamilton in the West, and open up matches against rarely seems Western conference teams. Southern Ontario has little exposure to teams in the South West (anymore, the Leafs were a Western Conference team way back)

One way for a Hamilton team to draw would to be feature match-ups that the Leafs don't, and draw out the fans of those teams living in Southern Ontario. Imagine the people who could come up from Detroit for a Hamilton/Detroit rivalry.