I used to privately feel sympathy for his plight, but as I’ve watched his conduct with and towards the league and other owners, I clearly believe the sport of hockey is better off without him.

Exactly how I feel.

Posted by Garth on 08/21/09 at 08:00 AM ET

Sorry Garth, but it sounds more to me like Melnyk is just jealous that Balsillie has more money than him.

There’s no doubt that grown men on all sides of this issue are acting like children, from Little Gary, to Balsillie, to Daly, and on, I will admit that.

Posted by Nathan from Jonny Ericsson's ice cream truck on 08/21/09 at 08:27 AM ET

I clearly believe the sport of hockey is better off without him.

Gary?

Posted by Animal Drew from A Nightmare on Helm Street on 08/21/09 at 08:28 AM ET

My guess is Ulf Samuelsson. Or Derian Hatcher.

Posted by dave in Rocha on 08/21/09 at 08:39 AM ET

Sorry Garth, but it sounds more to me like Melnyk is just jealous that Balsillie has more money than him.

Really?  Because Melnyk’s the one who owns an NHL team.

And I didn’t say that I believe Melnyk means what he’s saying (I really don’t give a good god damn what Eugene Melnyk believes), I’m just saying I agree with the words he spoke.

I think there are people at fault on all sides, I’m just saying that there are 29 teams who have owners that went through the proper channels (as far as NHL rules go and, admittedly, as far as I know) to acquire their teams (Melnyk being one of them), and one guy who tried to do an end around because when he showed up in his suit made of money and told them he wanted a team, everyone didn’t simply genuflect and kiss the ring.

Posted by Garth on 08/21/09 at 08:49 AM ET

Melnyk is right. Balsillie is good at using the patriotism of Canadians to blindly follow him instead of looking at the facts. Balsillie lied to the NHL a number of times, saying he would keep the Preds in Nashville while the same day he started selling season tickets in Hamilton. He had a deal with Mario to buy the Pens and backed out at the last minute. His company was not allowed to bid on the Nortel auction because he wouldn’t follow the court mandated rules. Balsillie is a snake. He can’t be trusted.

Posted by Bo from FL. on 08/21/09 at 09:27 AM ET

Really, if Balsillie had bought the Predators, played nice for a season or two, then unveiled his plan to uproot them to Hamilton, they might be there by now.  Instead the guy intentionally and unnecessarily butted heads with everybody he could find and has so far damaged not one, but two fanbases by use of his tactics. 

A snake in the grass gets to eat more than a lion on a rampage; causes less damage too.

Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 08/21/09 at 09:33 AM ET

Really?  Because Melnyk’s the one who owns an NHL team.

Balsillie is worth 3-4 times as much as Melnyk. Methinks Melnyk’s sad he’s just in the millionaire’s club instead of the billionaire’s club. Nothing like the rich bickering with the richer.

Melnyk bought the Sens out of bankruptcy—fortunately for him, the team he wanted and bought was already in the country he wanted it in (and already in a viable hockey market). Wildly different situations.

I’m just saying that there are 29 teams who have owners that went through the proper channels (as far as NHL rules go and, admittedly, as far as I know) to acquire their teams (Melnyk being one of them), and one guy who tried to do an end around because when he showed up in his suit made of money and told them he wanted a team, everyone didn’t simply genuflect and kiss the ring.

What did Balsillie do that was outside “the proper channels” when he was so close to owning the Penguins he could taste Mario Lemieux’s jock sweat?

He did everything “right,” then Gary got a whiff that Balsillie didn’t intend on keeping them in Pittsburgh (because lest we forget our current Cup champions had no fan base and little corporate support not too long ago), he completely changed the stipulations and terms of the sale to make it impossible for Balsillie to buy.

From that point on, as far as I’m concerned, all of Balsillie’s actions have been fair play. Gary took the gloves off, and now Balsillie has done the same. The only thing Balsillie’s done that really really irks me is the fiasco when he was trying to buy the Preds and started selling tickets for a team in Hamilton behind the league’s back.

But for christ’s sake, the NHL set the precedent of turning this into a dirty fight with what they did to Balsilie at the 11:59:59 mark of the Pens deal. Oh, and nevermind that despite Balsillie’s idiocy selling tickets for a team he didn’t have yet, the league went ahead and sold the Preds to the seediest of the seediest.

As strong as that organization is in the front office, scouting, player development, and coaching areas, had they been shipped to Hamilton and had Balsillie’s resources at their disposal, they could very well be an instant Cup contender, instead of a team living by the skin of its teeth, wasting away some great hockey talent because they can’t afford to be competitive, even in Gary’s magical cap land that was supposed to solve everything!

I know this is heresy, and I even feel bad saying it as a Wings fan, but the combination of David Poile and Barry Trotz would likely be the best GM/coach combination in the game if the two had a market or ownership group with the financial clout to compete with Detroit, New York, Philly, Toronto, and Montreal. Just seems like such a waste. No organization in all of sports, in my opinion, has gotten more out of less, than the Predators. Amazing draft record, great coaching, and shrewd, affordable free agent signings.

Posted by Nathan from Jonny Ericsson's ice cream truck on 08/21/09 at 09:39 AM ET

He had a deal with Mario to buy the Pens and backed out at the last minute.

The deal with the Pens was modified by Gary and is henchmen at the 11th hour, because they decided they didn’t want to sell them to an owner that would move the team. The agreement was changed to the point that Balsillie had almost no choice but to back out. He played fair, the NHL fisted him hard, and ever since he’s played with the gloves off.

Maybe the NHL will have a little more dignity and foresight next time, considering even if Balsillie doesn’t get the Coyotes, he’ll still have dragged the league through the mud and made them look pretty goddamned incompetent.

Posted by Nathan from Jonny Ericsson's ice cream truck on 08/21/09 at 09:42 AM ET

I don’t get the people who bag on Balsillie for ‘not following the rules’.

So, just because he wants to own an NHL team and move them to Hamilton he should go hat in hand to Gary Bettman and wait who knows how many years in a dead market before being allowed to do so… if he ever even would be (which is highly doubtful)?

That’s a moderately non-sensical position.

In 2006 with the Pens and then later with the Preds he followed all the league rules, and both times (once after being approved as an owner) had the deal changed by a league office which absolutely did not want to move a team from the US to a Canadian city, Hamilton or otherwise.

So, faced with that he should… what?  Just go ‘oh well, I guess it wasn’t meant to be’ and give up on ever owning an NHL franchise?  Wait however long for Gary Bettman to retire to try again?

Please, people.  That’s not how life is for successful business types.  They set a goal, and then they go after it until they either succeed immediately or they succeed later.  ‘Give up’ and ‘Oh well’ aren’t in the vocabulary.

Posted by HockeyinHD on 08/21/09 at 10:27 AM ET

I’m going to come out and say the obvious thing.  Moving a team from Pittsburgh to Hamilton would have been a terribly stupid idea.  The greater Pittsburgh area has about 2.5 million people.  Hamilton less than 700,000.  I know Hamiltonians are naturally more hockey-crazy than people from Pittsburgh, but don’t forget that horrible management practices led to the demise of the pre-sale Penguins.  Now that they’re owned and run competently, being in Pittsburgh is what’s best for them and the whole league.  You don’t move a team out of a strong market into a strong market squeezed tightly between two teams.  You can get away with moving a weaker market team there (like the Predators or Coyotes), but not the team from Pittsburgh. 

I’d say the sheer stupidity of Balsillie’s idea to take Pittsburgh’s team away partially alleviates the 11th hour deal-changing that the league did (although not completey, the way the league dealt with that whole situation and the following Predators situation was horrible). 

In 2006 with the Pens and then later with the Preds he followed all the league rules,

He did NOT follow all the league rules with the Predators sale.  He sold season tickets in Hamilton for the Predators before he was sold the team.  He tampered with the market.

I’m not saying he should just “give up” on his dream of owning a franchise and simultaneously sticking it to the league (let’s face it, about half his desire at this point is probably stemming from that motivation).  I’m saying that the guy could have bought the Predators and waited a relatively short time for the inevitability that was his opportunity to move them.  Yes, the league could still have blocked him from doing so if he were an owner, but then he would have started this fire from the inside, which is a much more advantageous position for a “shrewd” businessman like himself.

Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 08/21/09 at 11:02 AM ET

Melnyk’s trying to use Balsillie’s own tactic against him:

I do these things to give back to my country and to really deserving men, women and children in Canada.

Posted by Lindas1st from New England on 08/21/09 at 12:28 PM ET

Balsillie is fulll of crap. He does use Canadian patriotism to woo the crowd.  I think one of the reasons why the NHL doesn’t want to approve his bid to move thecoyotes to Hamilton is because the amount of money they could make from a TOTAL NEW EXPANSION in Hamilton would be worth a LOT MORE to them.  Think about it, they would pay royalties to the Mapleleafs at least 100 million, and the team would probably cost another 200 million on its own.  Fact of the matter is, 220 million is not even close to what they could make with an expansion in a lucrative market such as Hamilton.

Posted by Luongo-is-my-hero on 08/21/09 at 08:52 PM ET

I’m going to come out and say the obvious thing.  Moving a team from Pittsburgh to Hamilton would have been a terribly stupid idea.  The greater Pittsburgh area has about 2.5 million people.  Hamilton less than 700,000.  I know Hamiltonians are naturally more hockey-crazy than people from Pittsburgh, but don’t forget that horrible management practices led to the demise of the pre-sale Penguins.  Now that they’re owned and run competently, being in Pittsburgh is what’s best for them and the whole league.  You don’t move a team out of a strong market into a strong market squeezed tightly between two teams.

The problem with your argument is that it requires you to presume the NHL functions in a vaccum.

Sure, if the only thing we are talking about is an NHL team I could buy the argument that going from a larger area to a smaller area wil present some hurdles.  The problem is, we’re not just talking about an NHL team.  It’s not like the Pittsburgh Penguins are the only outlet for major sports revenue in Pittsburgh.  They are also competing against the Steelers, the Pirates (to a lesser degree ), the major college sports in the area, etc.

So, we’re not just talking about 2.5 mil vs. 700k.  We’re talking about the portion of that 2.5 mil’s sports budget the NHL can fight for vs 700k.  Obviously, that’s a whole different ballgame… even setting aside the basic and obvious seperation between domestic US fan interest in hockey with Canadian interest in hockey.

Calgary’s metro area is barely a million, as is Edmonton and Ottawa’s.  I don’t think you would make the case that those NHL teams would be better supported in Portland (2.2 mil) or CIncinnatti (2.1 mil) or Sacramento (2.0 mil) who all have very nearly twice the metro regions, would you?

Unless you would, I think we can put the ‘market size’ argument fairly soundly to bed now.

I’m saying that the guy could have bought the Predators and waited a relatively short time for the inevitability that was his opportunity to move them.

And he could have moved them.  To Kansas City, or maybe Las Vegas.  The problem again, J.J., is that in order for your counsel to make any sense given Balsillie’s stated golas you are forced to presume that at some point Bettman was ever going to allow a team to move from a large US media market to a much smaller non-US media market.

I’ve never seen anything at any point in any conversation Bettman’s ever had which even remotely suggests the barest hint of that was ever the case.

I think one of the reasons why the NHL doesn’t want to approve his bid to move thecoyotes to Hamilton is because the amount of money they could make from a TOTAL NEW EXPANSION in Hamilton would be worth a LOT MORE to them

To make a note of fact, Balsillie’s offer does not include a relocation fee, something that he has stated he was willing to negotiate with the NHL but that the NHL has tried to avoid, because they most likely don’t even want to give the thought of moving the Coyotes the least bit of momentum.  So, in actuality Balsillie’s final purchase and relocation price for the Coyotes may well exceed 300-400 million, depending on, obviously, a number of other things happening first.

Posted by HockeyinHD on 08/22/09 at 05:54 AM ET