Ice Edge Holdings Wants 7th Canadian Team
Matt Bodenschatz | National Hockey League
Jul 27, 10:46 AM | Hype this story!
Another Group Wants Team In Canada
For years, noted businessman Jim Balsillie has worked diligently to move one of the existing NHL franchises to Canada, and more specifically Hamilton, Ontario.
First, he started with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He then shifted focus to the Nashville Predators. And now the focus is on the Phoenix Coyotes.
But his Make It Seven campaign – which is backed by significant money power – has been shunned by the NHL, leaving Balsillie on the outside looking in for the third time.
That, however, does not mean a seventh Canadian team is out of the question.
According to Paul Waldie of the Globe and Mail, a new group of potential buyers has emerged with intentions of purchasing the Coyotes and keeping them in Phoenix, while playing five games in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan or Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The group, known as Ice Edge Holdings, plans to bid $150 million, an amount significantly less than Balsillie’s $212.5 million bid that was rejected by an Arizona judge in June.
“Canada is obviously a tremendous hockey market, yet there are currently 6,000 kilometres of Canadian soil that have no exposure to the NHL in their home market,” said Daryl Jones, an Ice Edge partner, according to the Globe and Mail. “Our plan from the outset was to work with a Canadian city that doesn’t have NHL territorial rights issues, and also one that wouldn’t be considered a threat to the fans in Phoenix.”
Any bid to move the team, either partially or entirely, would have to be approved by the NHL’s board of governor’s.
The NHL will hold an auction August 5 for all bidders looking to keep the team in Phoenix. If the bids are too low, as determined by the court, a subsequent auction will be held August 10 for bidders interested in relocating the team.
To date, Jerry Reinsdorf, owner of the Chicago Bulls and White Sox, has placed the only bid. He is willing to pay $148 million to keep the team in Phoenix, but only if a new arena lease is negotiated and other stipulations are met.
Meanwhile, Balsillie’s camp remains confident its bid is the best, stating through spokesman Bill Walker that the offer “is not just miles but time zones ahead” of other competing bids and “offers the best outcome for the franchise.”
Comments
SprJudd
Jul 27, 03:25 PM
Can somebody please explain to me rationally why Gary Bettman would not want Jim Balsillie as an NHL owner? The man is financially stable (and presumably wouldn’t have to produce $10M to prove he can finance his team), isn’t being investigated for fraud (unlike 5-6 owners), and is passionate about the game. Not only that, but he’s willing to overpay to get a team – any team – to move to Canada. Why are the other owners not calling for the head of Gary Bettman over this? I would think the other NHL owners would rather have stability instead of having to dish out their own money to keep other rosters afloat.
Jon
Jul 27, 03:50 PM
I too am confused as to why they continually shut out JB. Maybe there’s parts of the story I’m missing here. But the way I see it… part of the salary cap is tied to team revenue… teams losing money affects the salary cap. Phoenix is losing a ton of money. So why not move them to a market that would accept them. League revenue then goes up, salary caps don’t fall as much, etc. You have your occasional Coyotes fan saying they have highly dedicated fans… but where are they? Obviously not at the games. I think Bettman just needs to admit that most of his Southern expansion is failing. He’s an awful businessman in my opinion.
And as much as Gretzky was a legend on the ice… he is awful behind the bench. I’m not sure that team can win with him as a coach.
Tim in Maine
Jul 27, 03:51 PM
@SPRJUDD, I think Baldsille has been hampered and potentially permanently blacklisted because he flaunted & attempoted to circumvent the NHL rules and guidelines. Moving a team to that market would be infringing on 2 other current and established NHL franchises. I am not surprised the current owners support Bettman, and would think that the need for staying within certain norms of the owners would be just as important as being financially stable.
True, I along with most on this site feel a deeper loathing for Baldsille due to his attempted move of our beloved Penguins, so take all this with a grain of salt.
Honestly, I think he has gone about his efforts in completely the wrong ways. If he would have started out going by the NHL guidelines to 1st gain approval for relocating a franchise, he may have had better luck and not ticked off the man (Bettman) and group (NHL Board of Gov’s) that he needed on his side. Instead, he seems to feel having a PR battle is the way to go…I think Bettman and the owners feel a need to make an example of him, and he appears to be quite willing to abide.
Who knows if a team will move to Hamilton? A significant portion of any endeavor will be huge compensatory packages for both BUF & TOR. There are likely enough fans there to go around, but TOR & BUF will certainly be hurt by another team…especially BUF.
Dabich
Jul 27, 04:24 PM
Isn’t there someplace other than Hamilton to locate a team to in Canada? Sheesh, if I were a Toronto or Buffalo fan, I’d be hunting for Balsillie’s head!
bag o' pucks
Jul 27, 05:07 PM
At first blush, I like the idea of Saskatoon. There’s no market in Central Canada and hasn’t been since, well, the Jets folded. I have little information about the viability of Sask, however, and I’m just commenting on personal opinion. At least Sask would require only minor realignment (within the Western Conference only), unlike Hamilton or Halifax.
SprJudd
Jul 27, 05:40 PM
@Tim – Your point is valid, but I don’t understand why the NHL and Gary Bettman don’t just tell Jim Balsillie if he wants a team, he can have it, but if he wants to move it, he can only go to a certain few locations. For instance, tell him if he wants to move a team, he can move it to Hartford or Winnipeg or Quebec City or something. By including Winnipeg and Quebec as locations in Canada, he may bite and everyone wins. If he doesn’t, then let somebody else buy these failed franchises. Yes, one could easily point out that Winnipeg, Quebec, and Hartford had teams move away – but all markets (especially Winnipeg) had strong fan bases and, if I remember correctly, lost their teams over arena disputes (something Pittsburgh fans can be especially sensitive about).
Pens1967
Jul 27, 06:40 PM
The Toronto and Buffalo markets are why Balsillie hasn’t won over the other NHL owners to move a team to Hamilton.
I agree that if the potential relocation was limited to western conference areas in Canada that don’t over lap current western conference teams’ markets, the NHL would be fine with Balsillie’s persistent bids.
bag o' pucks
Jul 27, 09:38 PM
I’m carrying over this conversation from another thread.
Matt is probably correct in that realignment is not the first item of consideration for the league. It is mine, however. Depending on the location of the team, Pittsburgh could be a candidate for movement to another division.
Pittsburgh is closer to Columbus than it is to any of it’s divisional rivals. Hell, it’s closer to Detroit than it is to Philadelphia. If Phoenix were allowed to move to Hamilton or Halifax, that puts them in the Northeast. Perhaps that bumps Boston to the Atlantic, Pittsburgh is the obvious choice to move out of the Atlantic, and it’s not inconceivable that the Pens could end up in the Central Division with Detroit, Chicago, Columbus, etc. Who knows what the NHL would come up with?
I would be opposed to any scenario which removes the Pens from the Atlantic. The Yotes have to get out of Phoenix, that’s a given. I’m sticking with Saskatoon as a lovely choice. Stay in the West and don’t mess with the East.
Malk
Jul 27, 11:00 PM
It would be a huge mistake to move thw Pens out of the Atlantic. If that scenario ever came to play the NHL should move Atlanta.
Tim in Maine
Jul 27, 11:31 PM
Agreed, if it is a western city, then I feel that removes the overlapping market contention.
Then, it is just down to Ballsille and whether he has burnt the bridges he needs to cross by trying to acquire and in an increasingly brash manner, move now 3 teams.
My guess is he has ticked off Bettman sufficiently and enough of the owners were perturbed enough that it would take him getting several prominent owners on board in an effort to overcome the damage he has already inflicted.
I’ve talked with a few buddies from Toronto who would be in favor of Balsillie getting a team and moving them to Hamilton (hey Derrick & Craigy!) I’ve told them that it almost seems like he is more interested in being hugely popular in Canada than he is in actually owning a team in Canada. If the latter was really his only goal, he would have learned from Pittsburgh and Nashville and come to the NHL with his hat in his hand and done everything they wanted in order to get the yotes to Hamilton.
Maybe he is a narcissist. Maybe he has realized renovating Copps Coliseum and paying the compensation to TOR & BUF would bleed him of too much and he just now wants to look like a good guy. Maybe he is just ticked because he never played competitively and this is his way of getting some love from Canadians. Who knows?
I just know that given his tactics of trying to enter an exclusive club, I’d be surprised if that club ever saw him fit to enter.
George
Jul 29, 04:46 PM
Tim in Maine, are you for real.
The Toronto Maple Leafs(MLSE) do not want a team in Hamilton, nor Toronto.
“Come to the NHL with Hat in Hand”. He did before Pittsburgh. Bettman saw $$$$, but when Hamilton is mentioned in any conversation, it is go away, we have something else on the menu(if you want KC, take it).
The good Canadian act was not his priority. It is getting a team. But without the patriotic Canadian play, the horse would never have gotten out of the barn.
As for expensive compensation to Toronto and Buffalo, I don’t have an hour to go into all details and how MLSE conducts business and why overpaying is not a problem with him but more so paying stupid money is a problem. Look at what the Canadiens sold for. That includes an Arena and an Entertainment Co. Gillette had.
$550M. The mighty Canadiens and they have the province of Quebec as a Monopoly and Ottawa a couple of hours away which cannot harm them. Now you think he should pay $550 in total for Hamilton and end up without an arena(still paying rent) and still have to compete with MLSE.
There are many more factors but as I said, getting into detail here would take forever.
You and everyone else should get their heads out of the sand. Leafs do not want competition. They have a Licence to print money under the present circumstances.
Dave M
Jul 30, 03:13 PM
If the fine city of Hamilton got a team I might actually feel a little bad for Buffalo. Not so for Toronto.
PS – Ottawa is less than a 2 hour drive from Montreal.
MIKE
Aug 26, 01:26 PM
Toronto has the highest & worst ticket value in sports, but tickets are hard to get. Buffalo has great fans, great coach and system ie the Twins of baseball, but is always limited to their spending. PHX has all major sports (LA does not). If you relocate to a candian city then tv-fan revenues-team conference-travel conditions must be studied. it must go west or east nothing in the middle. toronto fans should want hamilton as an option it would force better seat value and force the leafs to put a product on the ice, look what happend to the blackhawks the last 2 yrs.
but buffalo fans would not want the team due to being pressured more. the east has there match ups, the west needs to start, add another team in western canada
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