The headline says it all...
Deputy NHL commissioner Bill Daly said in a news release that the league took the action “to maximize the likelihood that the club ultimately will be sold to an acceptable purchaser who is committed to operating the franchise in Glendale.”
The news release did not say how much the league was offering to buy the team, which is scheduled to be sold at auction on Sept. 10.
Daly said that if the bid is successful, the league intends to sell the team to a third party outside of the bankruptcy process.
"The bankruptcy petition and subsequent events have been incredibly damaging to the club's business," Daly said, "and the sooner the club can be extricated from the bankruptcy process, the sooner club personnel can begin to restore the team's vitality and local fan base."
Carrie Watters at the Arizona Republic adds that Jerry Reinsdorf ((pictured, thanks Jonathan Daniel/Getty)) has pulled his bid after an agreement could not be reached with the City of Glendale over the lease at Jobing.com arena.
Reinsdorf, who was considered one of the best hopes of keeping the team in the Valley, said in a released statement that his group could not finalize a new lease deal with Glendale, which owns Jobing.com Arena.
Reinsdorf's group placed the blame largely on Jerry Moyes, the team's majority owner, who was characterized as an “unwilling seller.”
The statement said, “We have faced an organized publicity effort designed to provide negative and misleading information.”
David Naylor of the Globe and Mail reminds us of the following:
The NHL’s bid for the Coyotes has undermined its claim in a sworn affidavit in June that there were several potential buyers willing to operate the Coyotes in Phoenix. Among those cited were Toronto Argonauts co-owners Howard Sokolowski and David Cynamon, from whom no bid has surfaced.
Balsillie’s team was caught off guard by the turn of events but remains focused on its end goal.
“This obviously comes as a surprise but we look forward with interest to seeing what the NHL’s bid is,” Balsillie spokesperson Bill Walker said. “What we’ve said since Day 1 when we launched our bid is all we ask for is the opportunity to get into an auction where all the bids can come forward on a level playing field and may the best bid win.”
Quoting Ol' JR...
Business is about to pick up...
Those of us at OSG HQ think this is nothing short of bid-blocking...
We had a stronger term in mind that has to do with male chickens but we left it out.
Don't think for a second that the NHL isn't positioning itself to hand the Coyotes over to Reinsdorf ((or a Reinsdorf-backed puppet)) if the Bankruptcy Court awards the franchise to the league.
Our contenders within the smoke screen are the following:
SOF Investments- Remember, Michael Dell recently endorsed Reinsdorf's bid for the Coyotes after holding out for the most money in the bankruptcy process early on.
John Kaites- Reinsdorf's minority partner
IFG- A company owned by Jerry Reinsdorf's son, Michael.
Beacon Sports Capital Management- Beacon was hired by Glendale city manager Ed Beasley to give a report on the Coyotes finances after former chairman Jeff Shumway said the team was in trouble. Beacon has a history of doing "business with Michael Reinsdorf."
These players were highlighted in an OSG Sports piece referencing a Sarah Fenske investigation in the Phoenix New Times newspaper in early August of 2009.
Moyes questioned Reinsdorf about collusion then.
We, probably, already have it now in the bidding process... and we haven't even made it out of bankruptcy proceedings...
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