Waaaaaait a minute.  It looks like Shoalts is saying Bettman hasn’t been entirely forthright regarding the state of something in the NHL.

No.
Way.

Posted by HockeyinHD on 02/05/09 at 10:47 PM ET

You know, I’m sure a certain Canadian smartphone entrepreneur would be willing to take the team off of Moyes’ hands.

Posted by PRC. on 02/05/09 at 11:21 PM ET

Wouldn’t there be some kind of conflict of interest if a person (Reinsdorf) who has 50% ownership of one NHL arena became the majority owner of another NHL team?

Posted by Kevin on 02/05/09 at 11:26 PM ET

@ Kevin

Probably not.  Where there’s money, there’s a way.

Phil Anschutz - AEG - owns the LA Kings and the Staples Center.  AEG also happens to run Jobing.com Arena - where the Coyotes play (technically the city still owns it, but it’s considered an “AEG Facility"). 

AEG are the ones who also want teams in Vegas and Kansas City (the latter of which already has an AEG building - the Sprint Center - ready and waiting for an occupant).

Posted by PRC. on 02/05/09 at 11:37 PM ET

Kevin -

I don’t think there are any formal NHL rules regarding overlapping ownership and potential conflict of interest.  It’s probably something they could make up on the fly if it suited their purposes at the moment.

(Doesn’t the owner of the Bruins also own the Sabres’ arena?  Or at least have some interest in it?)

In contrast I believe the NFL does have quite specific rules - in fact, an owner of a sports franchise in a city that has a football team is not permitted to own an NFL team at all, even in another city.  I recall that was mentioned at one point when beleagured (sp) Detroit Lions fans were wondering if Mike Illitch would ever purchase the team, and it was said that according to NFL rules he would have to sell both the Detroit Tigers and the Red Wings to own any NFL team, in Detroit or elsewhere.  (If that is incorrect, I’m sure someone will jump on it.)

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 02/05/09 at 11:54 PM ET

The problem lies in where the team is located.  I’m sure if the team could be moved to a city of the new owner’s choice, selling the team would not be a problem, regardless of the amount of money the team owes.  Right now, the team is just a sinking ship waiting for bankruptcy.  They can’t even give the team away.  My guess is, once the team reaches below required attendence, the team will move and have some value once again.  It will be sold after declaring bankruptcy and move elsewhere.  Otherwise, I have no idea why the owner or the NHL would continue to contribute revenue sharing to a lost cause.  I doubt they can even meet the required revenue sharing numbers.  They are giving away packages that include all you can eat hotdogs, corndogs, etc for like 100 bucks which also include 4 admissions.  Thats right! 25 bucks for all you can eat and a hockey game!  While at the same time, I can’t even buy a single hockey ticket for 100 bucks in Vancouver, yet at the same time i pay 9 bucks for a watered down, small beer that I can finish in 1-3 gulps, and I am not chuggin this shit down either.  During the playoffs there were these 2 small azn guys approx 20-23 years old who made a pyramid out of the plastic cups from them, im talkin like 20-30 cups and they looked completely sober.  By the way, phoenxi also offers 2 beers more for 10 bucks if you want.  What im gettin at is, phoenix is a lost cause and untill they can figure out away to break their lease with the city, they will continue to lose millions of dollars a year.  Say thanks to Bettman.

Posted by Luongo-is-my-hero on 02/06/09 at 07:26 AM ET