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Entries with the tag: Craig+Leipold

All Craig Leipold

by Paul on 09/11/09 at 03:07 PM ET
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Let’s Play Hockey does a Q & A with Minnesota Wild Owner Craig Leipold…

LPH: There have been media reports of a possible lockout/strike when the current CBA expires which stems from the unrest within the NHLPA ranks, what are your thoughts?

CL: We have a great relationship with their union. There may be some unrest within the NHLPA. The NHLPA cannot do anything for two years when the existing CBA expires. The current issues with the Players Association have nothing to do with the current CBA or ownership.

LPH: The Phoenix Coyotes’ situation seems to be ever changing, do you believe they will play in Glendale, AZ all season?

CL: Yes. I believe they will be playing NHL hockey in Glendale, Arizona, this year.

LPH:  Any news on the National TV front?

CL: The NHL and VERSUS made a commitment to each other. The NHL likes VERSUS. Other opportunities may come up in the future and we will take a look at those broadcast opportunities at that time.

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Filed in: NHL Teams, Minnesota Wild, NHL Talk | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: Craig+Leipold,

Bad Move By Leipold

by Paul on 04/16/09 at 10:24 PM ET
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from Sid Hartman of the Star-Tribune,

It’s hard to understand how Craig Leipold sang the praises of Doug Risebrough when Leipold bought the Wild, only to fire Risebrough, one of the best hockey executives in the game, as team president and general manager a year later....

The johnny-come-lately owner of the Wild must not be informed of all the great things that Risebrough did, taking over an expansion club and making it pretty competitive from the start....

To top it off, Leipold didn’t have the courage to face the media and call a news conference to announce his decision to fire one of the most popular sports executives in my long media career, instead staging a conference call to let the media learn what I consider to be sad news.

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added 10:59pm, via Darren Dreger of TSN,

The Minnesota Wild are building a list of candidates to replace fired general manager Doug Risebrough.

Sources tell TSN the Wild have contacted the Toronto Maple Leafs seeking permission to speak with Dave Nonis, the Leafs senior vice president of hockey operations.

Toronto has flatly declined.

Filed in: NHL Teams, Minnesota Wild | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: Craig+Leipold,

Wild Owner Feels Gaborik Will Be Part Of Their Playoff Run

by Paul on 02/26/09 at 09:40 AM ET
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Craig Custance of Sporting News Today recently conducted an interview with Wild owner Craig Leipold.

Leipold says Gaborik is making great strides with his rehab and is confident Marian will be part of the playoff run for the Wild.

Read the interview here which include numerous hockey topics…

Filed in: NHL Teams, Minnesota Wild | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: Craig+Leipold, Marian+Gaborik,

Wild Owner Talks Backstrom & Gaborik

by Paul on 02/07/09 at 10:10 PM ET
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from Michael Russo of the Star Tribune,

Off the ice, the Wild’s top priority is working on a contract extension for Backstrom, 30, an All-Star goalie who can become a free agent this summer.

“Negotiations are going on,” Leipold said. “We like Nick Backstrom. He’s a great goalie in this league. We want to have him here. He wants to be here. Hopefully we’re going to work it out. That’s really all I know. I would hope that we could get Backstrom signed, and I’d be surprised if we didn’t.”

Backstrom said Friday, “Nothing’s going on. Time will tell."…

And yes, Leipold still maintains he has high hopes that the Wild can re-sign Gaborik rather than trading him by the March 4 deadline.

“Our only intention was re-signing Gaborik. It is still our only intention,” Leipold said. “Unfortunately the injury caused everything to shut down. It’s our hope that we’ll still re-sign him. I think he’d like to play here. We’re not done yet.”

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Filed in: NHL Teams, Minnesota Wild | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: Craig+Leipold, Marian+Gaborik, Niklas+Backstrom,

All Craig Leipold

by Paul on 10/05/08 at 06:48 AM ET
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from Brian Murphy of the Pioneer Press,

Why was there such tepid interest in Nashville?

It’s a cultural thing.

Is that anything you didn’t know going in or were you too optimistic?

Both. Nashville is a market where people who were raised in Nashville go to college in Nashville, they go back to work in Nashville. It was a little harder to break into that culture, and I should have known that. The fans in Nashville are great. They’re rabid. They’re vocal. They’re passionate. There just aren’t enough of them.

Do you consider your investment there a failure or a learning experience?

I don’t consider it a failure. I look at it as I was the caretaker there the first 10 years and I’ve now passed it off to some local guys, and hopefully they can take it to a level I wasn’t able to take it to. If the team ends up cratering and moves out, then I would say I was not successful.

more from Leipold, mostly on the team he currently owns, the Minnesota Wild…

Filed in: NHL Teams, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: Craig+Leipold,

All About Craig Leipold

by Paul on 08/11/08 at 09:29 PM ET
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from Michael Russo of the Star Tribune,

… And if you ever run into the man with a hockey mullet and infectious laugh, he’s as approachable as a miniature bichon.

“This is a big business guy who runs in big political circles, but he walks with kings with the touch of a common man,” said close friend Joe Sweeney, an investment banker who used to be marketing agent for Brett Favre, LeRoy Butler, Barry Alvarez and Robin Yount, among others. “Craig is as down to earth as anybody I’ve ever met.

“The greatest thing I can say about Craig Leipold is he’s got 100 best friends. He’s so busy. He’s got five kids, a wonderful, successful wife, tons of business ventures, yet he’s there for so many people, a hundred people call Craig Leipold their best friend.”

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Filed in: NHL Teams, Minnesota Wild | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: Craig+Leipold,

Leipold Wanted Out Of Nashville

by Paul on 07/31/08 at 08:46 AM ET
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from Brad Schrade of the Tennessean,

A copy of the confidential Aug. 31, 2007, purchase agreement between Leipold and head of the local majority ownership group, David Freeman, obtained by The Tennessean, shows exactly what Leipold had to do. The document was so confidential that Metro’s attorney, Larry Thrailkill, who negotiated the city’s lease changes with the new owners, never saw it.

The document shows how far Leipold may have had to go to get out of town. It suggests that the deal to sell the team could have fallen apart if Leipold failed to keep $30 million of his own money in the team for one year or failed to find an outside investor to put the money up. If those conditions weren’t met, Freeman and his group could have gotten their $10 million deposit back, according to the document.

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Filed in: NHL Teams, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: Craig+Leipold,

Praise For Wild Owner

by Paul on 04/12/08 at 09:50 PM ET
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from Sid Hartman of the Star-Tribune,

Here last week to announce the eight-year concessionaire contract with the Twins, (Jeremy) Jacobs sang the praises of new Wild owner Craig Leipold and talked about how happy he was to have Leipold back in the NHL after Leipold sold the Nashville Predators last year. The sale of the team from Bob Naegele to Leipold was completed Thursday.

“I am on a number of committees with Craig, and you won’t find a more dedicated owner than him,” Jacobs said.

Commissioner Gary Bettman, here for the Wild-Avalanche playoff game Friday, echoed Jacobs’ words.

“I think Craig Leipold is the right owner for this franchise. Bob Naegele and his partners couldn’t be handing this franchise to better owners than Craig Leipold and Phil Falcone,” Bettman said. “Craig is passionate about the game, he’s a terrific owner. He’s great when it comes to league issues, and he is absolutely committed to this franchise.”

read on

Filed in: NHL Teams, Minnesota Wild | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: Craig+Leipold,

A Party Atmosphere

by Paul on 01/12/08 at 06:52 AM ET
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from Michael Russo of the StarTribune,

“I can’t sit in the stands,” Leipold said. “I can’t because I’m a pathetic fan. There is a standard as an owner that I should be abiding by that I have a hard time doing. I’m not mad at our players or coaches. I just get mad at the other team, I get mad at the referees. So I sit up in my suite because I’ve got to have space because I am going all over the place.

“I can’t sit down in the chairs. There are too many people out there, and I’m going to hurt somebody.”

Leipold said that after games he loves going down to the locker room, shaking hands with the players and pow-wowing with the coaches.

“They can be screaming at players and I’m just in the corner drinking a beer,” Leipold said. “I’m not going to react to it. I never have. I’ve never called a coach or GM up and said, ‘You need to do this.’ I’m a fan, but I know my boundaries.”

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added 7:03am, from Stephen Brunt of the Globe and Mail,

Now, after fruitlessly trying to sell the game to people who don’t want it, Leipold takes control of a contending team in one of those rare American locales where hockey has deep cultural roots. He might even make an operating profit.

Happy, happy, happy.

And it smells to high heaven.

It is impossible to have followed the travails of Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie, as he attempted first to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins and then the Predators in the hopes of moving a franchise to Southern Ontario, and not to connect the dots to what happened this week.

read on

Filed in: NHL Teams, Minnesota Wild | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: Craig+Leipold,

Wild Fans Deserve Better

by Paul on 01/11/08 at 01:49 PM ET
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from Al Strachan at Fox Sports,

As it happens, Minnesota can make a fairly respectable claim to being the state of hockey, even though there would be some dispute from Michigan and Massachusetts.

Still, there’s no disputing that Minnesota is definitely a hockey hotbed and that people in that area are passionate fans.

But they lost their original NHL team when Norm Green found a way to make a mess of that great market.

They got Bob Naegele, who talked a good game but never got around to backing up his words with on-ice achievements.

And now they’ve got Craig Leipold.

They deserve better.

read on

Filed in: NHL Teams, Minnesota Wild | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: Craig+Leipold,

Predators Deal Approved

by Alanah McGinley on 11/29/07 at 09:46 PM ET
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From TSN,

The National Hockey League’s Board of Governors have approved the sale of the Nashville Predators to a local group headed by David Freeman.

The Freeman group is expected to close on the sale within the next few days.

The group came together to make an offer to owner Craig Leipold after he originally announced a deal to sell his team in May to Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie for $220 million. Balsillie’s deal fell through in June when he started taking season-ticket deposits in Hamilton.

Marketing plan by the new ownership group noted earlier today on KK.

Filed in: NHL Teams, Nashville Predators, NHL Talk, NHL Business of Hockey | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: craig+leipold, david+freeman, nashville+predators, nhl+franchise,

Leipold Extends Deadline

by Paul on 10/31/07 at 06:30 PM ET
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from the Tennessean,

Nashville Predators owner Craig Leipold has extended today’s deadline for a sale of the hockey team.

A mostly-local investors group had been trying to close the deal by today. Leipold met with Mayor Karl Dean today and later announced he would extend the deadline.

“Based on the progress being made, I am convinced all parties will benefit from extra time to complete this transaction so we will extend the purchase agreement,” Leipold said in a statement, “with a goal of completing the sale as soon as possible.”

continued

Filed in: NHL Teams, Nashville Predators | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: craig+leipold, nashville+predators,

Making Money in Nashville

by Alanah McGinley on 10/21/07 at 04:14 AM ET
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From Sheila Wissner at The Tennessean,

While Nashville officials and the would-be owners of the Nashville Predators struggle to reach new terms for an arena lease, one man stands to walk away from it all with more than $30 million.

Team owner Craig Leipold, who says he’s unloading the hockey team because it’s a money-loser, would gain a windfall of more than three times his initial investment, according to an analysis by The Tennessean. That’s even after covering $70 million in operating losses Leipold has claimed.

continued...

*Very good overview of the ownership structure and financial origins of the team.

Filed in: NHL Teams, Nashville Predators, NHL Talk, NHL Business of Hockey | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: craig+leipold, nashville+predators,