Back In The Game?

[BBTV]

I would just like to take this time to reiterate my earlier statement that Jim Balsille is exactly what the NHL needs. If it takes relocating a team to get him on board, then so be it.

Actually, Mark Cuban is exactly what the NHL needs, but that's a different debate.

[Gothamite]

I would just like to take this time to reiterate my earlier statement that Jim Balsille is exactly what the NHL needs. If it takes relocating a team to get him on board, then so be it.

Actually, Mark Cuban is exactly what the NHL needs, but that's a different debate.

I couldn't agree more. One, or the other, or both. But this league needs somebody who can stand up to the men who are running it into the ground.

[STL FANATIC]

Hmm. Despite the success or lack there of of some organizations, numbers have been going up for the league higher and higher every year since the lock-out.

Hardly "running the league into the ground".

The league may not be making the progress they eye making, but it's laughable when people suggest they're actually destroying it.

[The_Admiral]

No skepticism about the composition of the NHL Crappy Club For Jerks is unwarranted when they welcome more criminals than a work-release program. Get on your Boots!

[Gothamite]

Hmm. Despite the success or lack there of of some organizations, numbers have been going up for the league higher and higher every year since the lock-out.

Hardly "running the league into the ground".

The league may not be making the progress they eye making, but it's laughable when people suggest they're actually destroying it.

Yes, attendance for some teams is up. And ratings are up so far this season, but that's hardly surprising, since they were flat-out terrible last year - 25% better than awful is still bad.

And any league with this many floundering franchises is in deep, trouble. I don't just mean bad on the ice, but in hard financial straits. Doesn't bode well.

[ElwoodCuse]

yep the NHL is going out of business in a couple years all because mean old Gary Bettman put teams in the South and wouldn't let Jim Balsillie do whatever he wanted

[The_Admiral]

that's exactly what everyone said

[IceCap]

yep the NHL is going out of business in a couple years all because mean old Gary Bettman put teams in the South and wouldn't let Jim Balsillie do whatever he wanted

When you have multiple franchises facing financial peril, most teams are lucky to get anything more then a passing mention in their local newspapers, and the league is a running joke among American sports commentators, you have problems. Is it ALL Gary Bettman's fault? No, but as the man in charge he needs to take responsibility for all the things that have gone wrong under his watch and make an honest effort to change things for the better. If that means kissing ESPN's ass to get games back on that network, he needs to do it.

Again, how do you keep missing this? He told the world only a few months ago, before this Coyotes story even broke, that every franchise was financially stable.

And can we give the "Canadians hate southern hockey LOL" bit a rest? Most of the "sunbelt" fans I've seen on here are much more anti-traditional markets then the northerners are anti-southern markets. Also, in regards to the Phoenix Coyotes, while I would personally prefer to see them in Hamilton, I see Hamilton as one of two viable options. I'm just as willing to see them move to Kansas City if it means getting them out of that death trap of a market in Arizona.

Finally, Jim Balsillie. I swear you guys hate him more then we hate Bettman. The man has money. He's financially stable. He has a passion for the sport. Compared to those qualifies the excuse "he doesn't play by the rules" the NHL owners and Commissioner are giving comes off as downright childish.

EDIT- Balsillie's also the man who offered to pay $200+ million for a money hemorrhaging NHL team in what has been described as the worst economic recession since 1929. Which makes the "he doesn't play by the rules" excuse even lamer.

[-kj]

Most of the "sunbelt" fans I've seen on here are much more anti-traditional markets then the northerners are anti-southern markets.

Really? There are lots of people seriously clamoring for moving all the Canadian teams to Texas?

[BBTV]

Most of the "sunbelt" fans I've seen on here are much more anti-traditional markets then the northerners are anti-southern markets.

Really? There are lots of people seriously clamoring for moving all the Canadian teams to Texas?

I too would disagree with that statement.

I do think that the average "sunbelt" fan probably feels that the average "traditional" fan is anti sunbelt, therefore they have a distain for the "traditional" markets since they're populated by "traditional" fans. I think it might be that they're anti anti-sunbelt, not anti-traditional market. It just manifests itself that way.

[IceCap]

Most of the "sunbelt" fans I've seen on here are much more anti-traditional markets then the northerners are anti-southern markets.

Really? There are lots of people seriously clamoring for moving all the Canadian teams to Texas?

I too would disagree with that statement.

I do think that the average "sunbelt" fan probably feels that the average "traditional" fan is anti sunbelt, therefore they have a distain for the "traditional" markets since they're populated by "traditional" fans. I think it might be that they're anti anti-sunbelt, not anti-traditional market. It just manifests itself that way.

This is closer to what I was trying to get across then what I actually said.

As for BBTV's conclusion, I don't mind it when people get defencive of their teams and markets. I do, however, find it pretty funny when the sunbelt fans feel an attack on the Phoenix Coyotes is an attack on every sunbelt team.

I want the Coyotes to move not because they're a sunbelt team, but because their current market is a deathtrap. That and, as BBTV and Goth have commented on, I think Jim Balsillie will be good for the NHL.

[STL FANATIC]

I'll probably get some flack for this. It's admittedly not undergone much thought, but what the hell...

Ya know how sometimes really bad teams still don't give really great prospects all the playing time in the world because they want him to be an even better player in the future by earning things instead of handing everything over?

Well sure Jim Balsillie has quite a bit of things that would make him valuable to the NHL. But right now he's also a threat undermine some of the ways (even the good ones) in which the league operates. Why let him into the league now, via terribly insubordinate behavior, when you can wait a while, teach him to play by the rules, and possibly get even more of his money?

Jim Balsillie is not Marc Cuban. Jim Balsillie has Cuban potential, but Cuban plays by the rules, Balsillie, to this point, does not.

[BigMac12]

So, people really want Basille, even though he's trying to thrawt NHL rules? Money take precident to rules?

[The_Admiral]

Well sure Jim Balsillie has quite a bit of things that would make him valuable to the NHL. But right now he's also a threat undermine some of the ways (even the good ones) in which the league operates. Why let him into the league now, via terribly insubordinate behavior, when you can wait a while, teach him to play by the rules, and possibly get even more of his money?

Not unreasonable at all. It was never that they didn't want his dirty money, because it's not, and the league has no qualms about taking money from crooks like Boots and Samueli anyway. They want him to give them lots of money and not be a thorn in their side. Totally plausible that they're trying to "domesticate" him, so to speak.

[BigMac12]

Well sure Jim Balsillie has quite a bit of things that would make him valuable to the NHL. But right now he's also a threat undermine some of the ways (even the good ones) in which the league operates. Why let him into the league now, via terribly insubordinate behavior, when you can wait a while, teach him to play by the rules, and possibly get even more of his money?

Not unreasonable at all. It was never that they didn't want his dirty money, because it's not, and the league has no qualms about taking money from crooks like Boots and Samueli. They want him to give them lots of money and not be a thorn in their side. Totally plausible that they're trying to "domesticate" him, so to speak.

But what if Basille gets in and totally disregards the NHL bylaws?

[CC97]

Well sure Jim Balsillie has quite a bit of things that would make him valuable to the NHL. But right now he's also a threat undermine some of the ways (even the good ones) in which the league operates. Why let him into the league now, via terribly insubordinate behavior, when you can wait a while, teach him to play by the rules, and possibly get even more of his money?

Not unreasonable at all. It was never that they didn't want his dirty money, because it's not, and the league has no qualms about taking money from crooks like Boots and Samueli. They want him to give them lots of money and not be a thorn in their side. Totally plausible that they're trying to "domesticate" him, so to speak.

But what if Basille gets in and totally disregards the NHL bylaws?

The league takes the franchise away from him, I would imagine... I'm sure there's some rule about getting banished as an owner. In 1917 they just started a new league when they didn't want to play with one guy - and that's how the NHL was born.

[The_Admiral]

Haha. The NHL was the original No Homers Club.

But what if Basille gets in and totally disregards the NHL bylaws?

By doing what? Man, all the guy wants to do is work closer to home. It's not like he has plans to abolish goaltending or something. That was Gary Bettman.

[IceCap]

So, people really want Basille, even though he's trying to thrawt NHL rules? Money take precident to rules?

To repeat what (the pro-NHL/anti-Balsillie) Brian in Boston said earlier in this thread, pro sports is a business, not a charity. I would think that, in the case of Hamilton and the Coyotes, Basillie's $200+ million bid and plans to relocate the team to a hockey hotbead is the better business decision then turning down said bid and keeping the team in a market where they draw what would be considered a good crowd for a junior hockey game.

Well sure Jim Balsillie has quite a bit of things that would make him valuable to the NHL. But right now he's also a threat undermine some of the ways (even the good ones) in which the league operates. Why let him into the league now, via terribly insubordinate behavior, when you can wait a while, teach him to play by the rules, and possibly get even more of his money?

I'll echo admiral. This isn't an unreasonable position at all. I think the one sticking point is Hamilton. If Bettman, the BoGs, and owners let him have a team in Hamilton, either by expansion or relocation, then Balsillie will, more then likely, be willing to get in line. It could also work the other way. If Balsillie proves to the NHL hierarchy that he can and will play by the rules then they will be more likely to grant him a team in Hamilton.

That being said, even if Balsillie does do what he has to do to get back into the good graces of the NHL I wouldn't want him to NOT be the Mark Cuban type that the NHL desperately needs.

[HedleyLamarr]

I'll echo admiral. This isn't an unreasonable position at all. I think the one sticking point is Hamilton. If Bettman, the BoGs, and owners let him have a team in Hamilton, either by expansion or relocation, then Balsillie will, more then likely, be willing to get in line. It could also work the other way. If Balsillie proves to the NHL hierarchy that he can and will play by the rules then they will be more likely to grant him a team in Hamilton.

That being said, even if Balsillie does do what he has to do to get back into the good graces of the NHL I wouldn't want him to NOT be the Mark Cuban type that the NHL desperately needs.

I doubt the sticking point is Hamilton....the sticking point is that Balsillie's actions by selling season-tickets while not owning a team (not to mention intruding on two teams' territories) ticked off the NHL owners, as well as Bettman. Think about the 180-degree turn Balsillie would need to make....of the 29 owners (Phoenix was withheld, I believe) that were involved in that vote-of-approval for Balsillie earlier this year, zero voted for him, and 26 voted against him. These are pretty damning numbers. Balsillie is 0-26-3 with the NHL owners right now. They're pretty much telling him that despite all the money and love of hockey he has, they want no part of him. I highly doubt that half of these owners are suddenly going to change their minds in the next few years.

Unless I'm missing something, here's what Mark Cuban has done in his time as the Mavericks owner:

1. Spent more money on his team's roster.

2. Endlessly complain about the officials and the Commissioner's disciplinary actions.

3. Insulted Dairy Queen employees.

What can Balsillie possibly do to bring this fresh air to the NHL that so many people believe that the league needs? A lot of folks say that the NHL needs their version of Cuban....what can Balsillie do that no one else can?

[The_Admiral]

Balsillie is 0-26-3 with the NHL owners right now.

At least he picked up the overtime nays.