Balsillie Sets Drop Dead Date

((HT: TSN))

Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie ((pictured, thanks CP/Dave Chidley)) has submitted an amended proposed agreement to buy the bankrupt Phoenix Coyotes for US$212.5 million and immediately move them to Hamilton, with or without the NHL's consent.

The document filed Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court says Balsillie can walk away from the deal if the contentious issues in the complex case have not been resolved in his favour by Sept. 14. That's four days after the scheduled auction of the team and one day before the Coyotes are to play their first pre-season game.

The persistent co-CEO of Research In Motion, the company that makes the BlackBerry, wants Judge Redfield T. Baum to rule his bid valid even though the NHL board of governors voted 26-0 against his application to become the team's owner.

The NHL says it is impossible to move the team for the coming season.

Balsillie's proposed purchase agreement requires either NHL approval of the sale or a court order superseding the owners' rejection of him. It also requires the league to come up with a relocation fee. If the NHL doesn't, Balsillie says the court should determine a "reasonable and appropriate" figure.

The league says relocation is moot because Balsillie has been rejected as an owner.

A Sept. 2 hearing is scheduled to, among other things, hear arguments on the validity of Balsillie's bid.

Balsillie's proposed agreement would allow him to withdraw if the sale has "been stayed or postponed or prohibited in effect in whole or part by any court or governmental body."

Those of us at OSG HQ have long contended that Balsillie should be an NHL owner.
He brings two things the league, currently, does not have- personality and money...
Actually, four things- add a pulse and a love for the sport...

The scorched earth policy he has employed seems to just alienate himself from the power base that he himself needs to court for acceptance into their boy's club...

We're not ones to think Balsillie was rejected as an owner- short of the collective tongue-lashing he got in Chicago a few weeks ago. He was accepted as a Penguins suitor, but then backed out when the NHL changed the agreement he was signing.

He was a Predators suitor until he opened his mouth and superimposed a "Hamilton" over where the word Nashville normally sits. He's been a Coyotes suitor the whole time, has been more than happy to put the best bid on the table, and has gotten himself in trouble with his mouth.

This seems to be the final nose-thumbing at the other owners in the league- give it to me by this date or else...

We're really thinking it's an "else..." and that's a shame...