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Globe: Second NHL Team for Toronto?

When the NHL is charging 100M$ to accept relocation it means 2 things.

1-They hope Balsillie refuses to pay and drop it.

2-They get a 100M richer and dont loose their faces.

In either case, the NHL knows that without a solution from both sides, the judges would rule against the NHL.
 
One step closer to bringing the Coyotes to Hamilton': Balsillie
Canadian billionaire rallies supporters

Wednesday, June 10, 2009 | 12:21 PM ET
CBC Sports
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2009/06/10/sp-balsille-makeitseven.html

Jim Balsillie is optimistic that he's moving closer to bringing the Phoenix Coyotes to Hamilton.

In an email to his supporters, the Canadian billionaire says Tuesday's court proceedings that made mention of a relocation fee to move the bankrupt NHL club to Canada represented a positive step.

The relocation issue came up during a more than seven-hour bankruptcy court hearing attended by lawyers for the NHL, Coyotes and Balsillie to discuss the fate of the team and its possible relocation.

Judge Redfield T. Baum is it's expected to make a ruling later this week.

"However it works out, the issue of a relocation fee, while a new development, does move us one step closer to bringing the Coyotes to Hamilton," Balsillie wrote.

The co-CEO of Blackberry-maker Research in Motion Ltd., Balsillie agreed to pay $212.5 million US to buy the Coyotes from owner Jerry Moyes on the condition he move the team to Hamilton.

Susan Freeman, a lawyer for Balsillie, said Tuesday the $100-million relocation fee the NHL had previously requested is unreasonable. Balsillie's representative, Richard Rodier, later indicated the contract gives Balsillie the right to walk away if any transfer fee is involved.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly wouldn't speculate on the amount of the transfer fee.

On Wednesday, Balsillie told his more than 155,000 supporters — who have registered for updates through his website makeitseven.ca in a bid to add a seventh NHL team to Canada — that he's still moving toward that goal.

"We're looking forward to instructions from Judge Baum, but you should know as a makeitseven.ca supporter that I am committed to continuing and winning this fight to bring a seventh NHL team to Canada," he wrote.

Balsillie has chosen June 19 as "Make it Seven Day in Canada."

The Make it Seven movement has attracted the support of corporate partners Labatt, Home Hardware, Prime Restaurants, DeWalt Tools and FirstOntario Credit Union.
 
Balsillie will get his team eventaully. He is one of the wealthiest and most progressive men in the world, and certainly the wealthiest who has a passion for canadian hockey. Afterall- there would be no NHL without cananda and it venerable institutions. There 'will' be another team in Southern Ontario to be sure.
 
Hamiltonians rally for NHL franchise next Friday
June 19 rally at Jackson Square

By Kevin Werner/News staff
News
Jun 11, 2009
http://www.ancasternews.com/news/article/178115

Hamilton politicians want the city to be the centre of the hockey universe June 19.

Councillors are encouraging residents to “flood†the city’s downtown area in a rally to bring NHL hockey to Hamilton at Jackson Square starting at noon.

“We want to set a high water mark,†said Ward 8 (west Mountain) councillor Terry Whitehead. “Hamilton is where everybody will be looking at.â€

The rally will be part of Research In Motion co-CEO Jim Balsillie’s call for Canadians across the country to hold Make It Seven hockey rallies on June 19. In a statement through the www.makeitseven.ca website, Mr. Balsillie said Canadians should show their support for a seventh NHL team in the country.

“It is at a very interesting junction,†said Coun. Whitehead. “There is a pent-up crisis developing in the community. We want to take all this emotion and show our support.â€

He said the noon to 1:30 p.m. rally on Friday is an appropriate time because it allows children from schools to get involved, and it catches business people on their lunch breaks and encourages them to join in.

“We have a built-in crowd,†said Coun. Whitehead.

A bankruptcy court is determining whether Mr. Balsillie can relocate the Phoenix Coyotes to Hamilton over the objections of the NHL, and the city of Glendale.

Businessman Chris Ecklund, who has been beating the drum for an NHL franchise for Hamilton through his own website, said Hamiltonians need to party “like its 1972 all over again.

“We need to recreate that feeling,†he said.

Mr. Ecklund is referring to the 1972 hockey summit showdown between Team Canada and the former Soviet Union, when Paul Henderson scored the winning goal to give the Canadians a series victory, and seemingly all Canadians were glued to their television sets or radios listening to the sports drama.

“I want to flood the downtown with people,†he said.

Hamilton mountain resident Michelle Febers, through her Facebook page, has also been involved in organizing a rally to show support for an NHL team in Hamilton.

Not only did councillors this week proclaim Make It Seven Day, which Hamilton councils do not approve because of the political repercussions, they also agreed to establish a $20,000 contingency fund to cover any costs associated with the rally.

Hamiltonians travelling to the rally will ride for free on the HSR from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The city’s HSR will absorb the cost of the transit rides.

People are also encouraged to drop off a donation to the food banks when attending the rally.

“The food banks’ shelves are getting real low now,â said Flamborough councillor Robert Pasuta.
 
TOareaFan said:
But they all started as local clubs and grew, with the game itself, into a professional/business venture. They did not pay a multi-million dollar (pound) fee (called a franchise fee) to join a league. Both sports systems have validity but you/we can't just pick and choose the best of each and say that's the way it should be.

If I pay, say, $100 million to join a league.....I have a right to operate in that league (not some lower league because I had a run of bad luck/management/players) and if I paid that money to operate in a certain market, I have a reasonable (possibly contractual/legal) right to expect limited/no competition to my operating in that market.

Man United never paid a fee to join the EPL (or the English First Division as it was at the time) nor did they pay any fee to any body for the franchise rights to operate in Manchester.....so they have no expectation of being guaranteed EPL status nor do they have any right to expect the operation of Manchester City to be curtailed (as much as they may like it to be so ;) )
Click to expand...
The Leafs and Canadiens started as local clubs that grew too. They're not that much younger than Man U or Arsenal, and they didn't pay $100 million in expansion fees. So if that's the criteria for territorial protection, they don't qualify.

One more reason I like the European system is because cities don't just get awarded top tier teams - they have to earn them.. If the Hamilton Bulldogs or Toronto Marlies had any hope of being promoted to the NHL, they'd have huge followings. No $100 million expansion fee necessary. Our system just seems so top-down and inflexible.

I realize that we can't just pick and choose certian things from other countries, I just think it's a shame that pro sports evolved the way they did in North America.
 
MisterF said:
The Leafs and Canadiens started as local clubs that grew too. They're not that much younger than Man U or Arsenal, and they didn't pay $100 million in expansion fees. So if that's the criteria for territorial protection, they don't qualify.

One more reason I like the European system is because cities don't just get awarded top tier teams - they have to earn them.. If the Hamilton Bulldogs or Toronto Marlies had any hope of being promoted to the NHL, they'd have huge followings. No $100 million expansion fee necessary. Our system just seems so top-down and inflexible.

I realize that we can't just pick and choose certian things from other countries, I just think it's a shame that pro sports evolved the way they did in North America.
Click to expand...

That *is* too bad. I wonder what it will take to shake the Leafs out of their complacency. Threat of relegation would be a nice sword to dangle over their heads. At least LOOK like you're trying for crying out loud.

(woo PENS!)
 
That *is* too bad. I wonder what it will take to shake the Leafs out of their complacency. Threat of relegation would be a nice sword to dangle over their heads. At least LOOK like you're trying for crying out loud.
Click to expand...

I'd do anything to trade-in MLSE for Mark Cuban. Give us an owner that at least has some passion for the game. Ted Rogers obviously cared a lot about the Blue Jays and even though they never won under him they are a drastically better ball club than before, he even spent a lot of money upgrading the dome that probably has had zero impact on attendance. MLSE would never do that.

Mr RIM seems like exactly the type of owner the Leafs would need and he'll hopefully be a terrific owner for Hamilton for decades to come. Sports teams should not be owned or run by committees.
 
I agree about the Leafs, but I'm cautiously optimistic about their future under Brian Burke. He seems committed to building a contender.
 
MisterF said:
The Leafs and Canadiens started as local clubs that grew too. They're not that much younger than Man U or Arsenal, and they didn't pay $100 million in expansion fees. So if that's the criteria for territorial protection, they don't qualify.
Click to expand...

That is, perhaps, true of the original 6 but the other 24 teams in the league all had to buy their way into the NHL with a variety of fees being paid but all were "huge" for the times that they were paid....for that reason (and others such as the travel distances, etc) the notion of promotion/relegation in north american sports is a non-starter and really not worth discussing.



MisterF said:
I realize that we can't just pick and choose certian things from other countries, I just think it's a shame that pro sports evolved the way they did in North America.
Click to expand...

Ah but it did.....bet Newcastle United supporters are wishing that their sports had evolved that way now!!!

To be honest, with the way the money is being spent in the top flight teams in European soccer now....I don't think it is too far off that there is a breakaway Euro league with 20 or so teams (cutting national associations and UEFA out) and no relegation/promotion.
 
wonderboy416 said:
I'd do anything to trade-in MLSE for Mark Cuban. Give us an owner that at least has some passion for the game. Ted Rogers obviously cared a lot about the Blue Jays and even though they never won under him they are a drastically better ball club than before, he even spent a lot of money upgrading the dome that probably has had zero impact on attendance. MLSE would never do that.
Click to expand...


So you think that spending equates to passion? There are few organisations that have spent more on their hockey team over the years than MLSE....in the pre-cap era they were one of the biggest spenders annually (right there with the Rangers) and one of the problems that they have had since the cap came in is that they have had too many players who were earning big dollars and not letting them spend/recuit further depth/quality......so how much more could they spend?

As for they would never spend on the facility? What do you think they are doing right now? Between the new scoreboard and the new atrium, entrance/exits to York and Union station they are spending, literally, 10s of millions of dollars improving a 10 year old facility.....what is your definition of "never".



wonderboy416 said:
Mr RIM seems like exactly the type of owner the Leafs would need and he'll hopefully be a terrific owner for Hamilton for decades to come. Sports teams should not be owned or run by committees
Click to expand...

Yes, is the exact opposite of MLSE....instead of building his own arena entirely with his own cash and then upgrading it 10 years later with, again, his own cash....he dangles a team in front of Hamilton and says "only if you spend $120 million of your money on your arena".

mmmm precisely not the kind of owner I want....Hamilton can have him!!!!
 
TOareaFan, ok so you have some good points... but you sound like another hopeless Leaf supporter.

I'm only 28, but I'm quite certain at this rate I'll never see a Leafs Stanley Cup in my lifetime. There are 42 year olds now who are still waiting. I'd be willing to bet the farm that Hamilton gets one far before Toronto, and they don't even have a franchise yet!
 
wonderboy416 said:
TOareaFan, ok so you have some good points... but you sound like another hopeless Leaf supporter.

I'm only 28, but I'm quite certain at this rate I'll never see a Leafs Stanley Cup in my lifetime. There are 42 year olds now who are still waiting. I'd be willing to bet the farm that Hamilton gets one far before Toronto, and they don't even have a franchise yet!
Click to expand...

That may be true and you will never here me say that the team has made good choices about players.....but I take great exception to the very commonly held misconception that they cheap out and don't spend the $$$$$.....it simply is not true and cannot be shown to be true. The Leafs spend...perhaps not wisely, but they do spend!

Hopeless....no, that is all Leaf fans have is hope.
 
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