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League Integrity Not An Issue
by Paul on 07/18/08 at 06:51 PM ET
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from Scott Burnside of ESPN,
The unwritten rule of the NHL ownership club is no secrets, or, at least, no secrets from the big guy. When Tom Hicks (Dallas) and George Gillette (Montreal) decided to go in on a little soccer team called Liverpool, they weren’t bound by the rules to tell Bettman, but they did regardless because it was the right thing to do.
ESPN.com has learned, that is all going to change come fall, when owners will be instructed by the NHL to reveal their financial relationships with other owners. It probably should have been done before and the errors in judgment from AEG and Leipold in the Del Biaggio mess revealed that flaw in a way that embarrasses themselves as much as the NHL.
Had Leipold or AEG bothered to tell Bettman what they were doing, one has to believe the deal would have been put on hold regardless of how badly Bettman and the rest wanted the sale done. The integrity of the league and Bettman’s leadership demands it, and given his handling of the Samueli matter, we are prepared to accept that.
Filed in: NHL Talk, NHL Business of Hockey | KK Hockey | Permalink
Comments
While some are congratulating the NHL on their actions regarding this issue, the fact that nothing was done during the first 15 years of Bettman’s tenure in office doesn’t sit well.
During Bettman’s term and likely Zeigler before him, numerous questionable issues have arisen and nothing has been done to alleviate any of those situations.
Why praise someone who takes decades to act??
Posted by Ted from Innisfil, Ontario on 07/19/08 at 07:48 AM ET
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Bravo. About time. Not that this will keep the undesirable owners away, but at least the rules are as they should be, and clear.
Maybe it would be a good idea if the league wasn’t eager to keep franchises and their owners crushed under their thumb, so much so that a man who appears to be only as rich as 7 or barely 8 figures (when it takes well into 9 to buy a team) and can’t buy the team without behind-closed-door loans is the preferred choice. Yes, Balsillie would love to buy out some new Hamilton arena for all RIM employees, myself admittedly one of them, but hockey is his passion. Do you think you will find Del Biaggio in a beer league, grinding it out in the corners? Because that’s where you will find Jim, the man who helped bring you the BlackBerry. Heck, with his 9 or 10 figure fortune, he would probably be willing to buy and help out two or three struggling NHL franchises, so long as he could take the weakest one after a couple years and move it closer to his home.
Posted by SENShobo from Waterloo, ON on 07/18/08 at 07:36 PM ET