So, Balsillie's Not Persona Non Grata...???

((HT: TSN/Forbes.com))

Just when you thought he may not get another sniff of anything hockey ever again, word comes out that Research In Motion owner Jim Balsillie could get his hands on an NHL franchise if he stays clean of any more shenanigans...

Mike Ozanian's must-follow work leads us to yet another nugget of information tied to Gary Bettman's off-ice nemesis and on-ice bid-ness partner...

Turns out that Bettman, according to my source, has told Balsillie that if he behaves himself and doesn’t create any more spectacles or bad publicity for the league, he will eventually get a team.

Here's a discussion involving irony the HQ has included on purpose...
"The Agenda With Steve Paikin" talks about Phoenix, Balsillie, and Ontario...
((HT: TVO/AgendaStevePaikin))


But we all kinda knew that with the RIM logo on every segment like this one, that Bettman didn't think Balsillie's money was all bad...

Did he...???

Is Balsillie's Play A "Game of Chicken?"

((HT: Globesports/Gordon and Shoalts))

Sean Gordon and David Shoalts of the Globe and mail caught up with Research in Motion/Blackberry founder Jim Balsillie Tuesday night.

He's excited about his bid to buy the Phoenix Coyotes.
The NHL...? Not so much...

According to a source close to the deal, Balsillie ((pictured with Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk, thanks Mike Cassese/Reuters)) plans to lean on his sterling business reputation and play the public opinion card strongly; the first burblings of the strategy showed up in the form of a new website in support of a seventh Canadian NHL team.

At the same time, the source indicated there was no prior agreement or consultation between Balsillie and league commissioner Gary Bettman — who was said to be incensed at news of the proposed deal — although there are suggestions other owners and the players' union could support moving the team. And Balsillie is reportedly determined not to play by Bettman's rules, so just to be on the safe side, he has also pulled what appear to be some canny legal manoeuvres.

According to court documents and statements issued by the Coyotes and Balsillie's Delaware-based holding company, the co-founder of Research In Motion has posted $17-million (all figures U.S.) in debtor-in-possession financing to keep the team afloat during bankruptcy proceedings.

That puts Balsillie at the head of the line when it comes to creditors, ahead of the NHL — which has been bankrolling the cash-hemorrhaging team for months — and the team's bankers.

Balsillie addressed a hastily assembled news conference Tuesday night at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre — confused staff complained no one had booked the room where he was scheduled to speak after a black-tie dinner marking his induction into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame.

"A condition of the offer is that we get permission to move the team to the unserved market of Southern Ontario," said a tuxedo-clad and clearly enthused Balsillie. "I just got told we've been overwhelmingly flooded with thousands and thousands of people registering in the last hour [on the website].

"I'm clearly just a passionate hockey fan. I don't have to tell anyone here it's the greatest game in the whole wide world."

Balsillie wouldn't comment on the NHL's response, insisting it was a matter for the courts, and when asked if the league's position amounted to a declaration of war, Balsillie thanked everyone and left the room.

A former NHL owner was more forthcoming, calling it "a game of chicken" whose winner will be chosen by an Arizona bankruptcy judge.

Sources say Balsillie quietly contacted municipal officials in Hamilton, Ontario, about 10 days ago to sound them out over whether they would be interested in reviving a 2004 deal for lease rights to the Copps Coliseum and Hamilton Place.

City officials indicated they would leap at the chance, the source added.

News of the bankruptcy and the shock offer to buy the team stunned several owners —"Holy shit!" was the response offered by two of those contacted by The Globe — including one of the teams that could oppose a relocation to the Hamilton region.

"This is a complete surprise, you still need league approval for all this stuff, so I don't know what to say," said Buffalo Sabres minority owner Larry Quinn.

Though it's hoped Balsillie's offer, worth $212.5-million and conditional on moving the team, will be accepted by June 30 — much depends on whether a U.S. bankruptcy court approves the arrangement — it's not clear the team will take the ice in Ontario any time soon.

Beyond the immediate hurdles that the NHL is vowing to throw in front of the bid, there will likely be court fights to follow on the Coyotes' arena lease, whether the team can be moved, and on compensation owed to regional competitors such as the Toronto Maple Leafs — who have long argued they hold exclusive rights on the market —and the Sabres.

Either way, Bettman's sway over the owners, many of whom have been quietly courted by Balsillie, will be tested in what is shaping up to be a contest of wills.

An NHL governor who spoke on condition of anonymity revealed some of the animus some owners feel toward Balsillie, whose ham-fisted attempts to move the Penguins and the Predators to the Toronto region earned him no friends among Bettman and his coterie of allies.

The governor pointed out that franchises are granted by the league, which could just as easily revoke them — although that would surely form the basis of a nasty and lengthy lawsuit.

"Balsillie tends to do things like this. The game last night [on Monday between the Penguins and Washington Capitals] was amazing, it's too bad this has to follow on the heels of that," the governor said.

Then there's a statement issued Tuesday night quoting Moyes: "The procedure is in place for other parties to offer more, particularly if the City of Glendale provides financial incentives to keep the team in Glendale."
Those incentives, say hockey sources, would likely have to amount to $20-million per year to make the team viable.

More evocative, then, is a subsequent passage of the release: "overbids must exceed the PSE proposal by $5-million and must be fully funded at closing without a financing contingency."
Given the league has had no success flogging the team to a succession of local and out-of-state suitors — who could have picked up the team for nothing as long as they were prepared to assume $180-million in liabilities — a last-minute bid from a white knight seems unlikely.

As Moyes put it, "I have a duty to seek a transaction that will return the most in sale proceeds to the secured and unsecured creditors. No other proposal to acquire the team provided nearly as much payment to the creditors as that offered by [Balsillie]."
The proposed deal announced yesterday would pay out roughly $80-million to SOF Investments L.P. — a private equity fund with links to computer magnate Michael Dell — and $35-million to the NHL. Another $97.5-million would be distributed among unsecured creditors.

And there are many.

According to a court filing, Moyes is the largest unsecured creditor, having put $103,867,531 into the team (he will forfeit the claim if the deal goes through). The Coyotes owe tens of millions more to charter jet companies, insurers, team broadcasters, and the Glendale, Arizona, water authority, among others.

Stephen Brunt offers up a dead-on column for the Globe and Mail:

"...So here we are … with an owner who has no other options, in a league fighting multiple fires, with a process that is now in the hands of the courts. A more-than-fair offer is on the table, one that will help prop up franchise values, will solve a huge problem, will save millions in bailout money and will instantly transform a have-not franchise into a have.

Think maybe Jim Balsillie has talked to some of those other owners over the past few months? Think maybe they've come to understand he's not the bogeyman, that he might be the best and only alternative right now?

And when the commissioner calls them to the barricades for what would be a protracted, expensive legal battle to keep Balsillie out of the league and to keep him from moving the club (he certainly meets all of the criteria they've laid out in their bylaws), think they're ready to follow him blindly into battle one more time?

He won the lockout — and look at what that fine, fail-safe labour agreement delivered. He beat back Balsillie twice, and how did that fix anything? He said not so long ago that Phoenix would be just fine. How did that work out?

By all accounts, the commissioner was apoplectic last night. It seems he may have good reason.

In chess, it's called being put in "check."

Bettman has already proved himself a grandmaster of the game. But even the best of them eventually meet their match..."

Those of us here at OSG HQ agree with Brunt and can't wait for the next gambit by either side of the table.

Update: Balsillie and the Coyotes

((HT: Globe and Mail))
"Extensive efforts have been undertaken to sell the team, or attract additional investors, who would keep the team in Glendale," Jerry Moyes told the Arizona Republic.

"We have just become aware of today's bankruptcy court filing purportedly made on behalf of the Phoenix Coyotes," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement.

"We are investigating the circumstances surrounding the petition, including the propriety of its filing.

"We have removed Jerry Moyes from all positions of authority to act for or on behalf of the club. The league will appear and proceed before the bankruptcy court in the best interests of all of the club's constituencies, including its fans in Arizona and the league's 29 other member clubs."

Moyes said that the City of Glendale, where the team's arena is located, is willing to "offer incentives to keep the team as a tenant in the Jobing.com arena, the lease for which is subject to rejection in bankruptcy."


Moyes also said the court process will assure that the new owner and team's location will be known by June 30, though it was unclear if the NHL would still need to approve new ownership or relocation after that date.

At the request of the Coyotes owner, Balsillie ((pictured, thanks Globesports.com)) said he has also agreed to provide $17-million in bridge financing to allow the franchise to keep going in advance of the sale.

The NHL did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Balsillie move.

Balsillie is looking for help in his bid to establish a seventh Canadian NHL team. He's asking fans who want to see a seventh NHL franchise in Canada to make their voices heard. He's asking fans to log on to www.makeitseven.ca to add their voices to his bid.
"It's an exciting time for professional hockey in Southern Ontario and it has nothing to do with the playoffs," the website says.
Should the Coyotes end up in Canada, it will be a homecoming of sorts. The franchise was the Winnipeg Jets from 1979 to 1996.

News 12 in Phoenix gives you a completely false lead-in, but Brahm Resnik tries to clean up the mess...

Coyotes File Chapter 11: Balsillie Puts in Bid

((HT: Arizona Republic/Craig Harris))

The Phoenix Coyotes ((pictured, thanks Arizona Republic file)) have filed for Chapter 11 reorganization to implement a court-approved sale of the team under the federal bankruptcy code, the team announced Tuesday.

The filing included a proposed sale of the franchise to PSE Sports & Entertainment, LP, a Delaware limited partnership ("PSE"), which would move the franchise to southern Ontario, Canada.

"Extensive efforts have been undertaken to sell the team, or attract additional investors, who would keep the team in Glendale," said Coyotes' Chief Executive Officer and Managing Member Jerry Moyes.

Creating a process under the supervision of a judge assures that anyone wishing to purchase the team will have the opportunity to bid, Moyes added.

"Likewise, the City of Glendale, which has been very cooperative with efforts to keep the team in Glendale, will be able to provide potential buyers assurances of the City's willingness to offer incentives to keep the team as a tenant in the Jobing.com arena, the lease for which is subject to rejection in bankruptcy," Moyes said. "The process assures that the identities of the new owner and the team's location will be known by June 30, 2009, thus enabling the NHL to include the team in its 2009-10 schedule."

Jim Balsillie has put in an offer on the Phoenix Coyotes.

According to a media release, the Blackberry billionaire's offer of $212.5 million (US) for the team is conditional on the franchise relocating to Southern Ontario.

"The current team ownership asked that I table an offer to purchase the Coyotes and significant discussions resulted in an offer that is in the best interests of the franchise, the NHL, and the great hockey fans of Canada and Southern Ontario," Balsillie said in the release.

"I am excited to move closer to bringing an NHL franchise to what I believe is one of the best un-served hockey markets in the world, Southern Ontario. A market with devoted hockey fans, a rich hockey history, a growing and diversified economy and a population of more than 7 million people," he said.

The release also says, Balsillie agreed to post debtor-in-possession financing of $17 million (US) at the request of the Coyotes franchise. The money will keep the franchise going before the sale is completed.

Those of us at OSG HQ think this is one of those "about-damn-time" moves for the NHL. Balsillie has long proven himself to be a man who knows good business. Let's just hope this is the first move of many to cities that can respect the NHL product for what it is.

Are you listening Atlanta...?

Tuesday PM UPDATE:
Harris adds in a later version of the article:

"At the end of the day, you have a team that was not making money. It has not made money since it has been here, and he (Moyes) received an offer," said Thomas Salerno, the bankruptcy attorney for the Coyotes. "We feel it (offer) maximizes the value of the team for the assets and in such a way that sets up a process where other people can bid."

PSE's price of $212.5 million provides funds to pay secured creditors in full. Approximately $80 million would go to SOF Investments LP and $35 million to the NHL, which had loaned the team money earlier this year.

That would leave $97.5 million to unsecured creditors. Coyotes owners would receive nothing for their equity investment, including $206.5 million in preferred and common equity that will not be recovered by Moyes under the current offer.

Moyes said, "Creating a process under the supervision of a judge assures that anyone wishing to purchase the team will have the opportunity to bid."

The National Hockey League, meanwhile, said it has removed Moyes as the team owner.

"We have just become aware of today's bankruptcy court filing purportedly made on behalf of the Phoenix Coyotes. We are investigating the circumstances surrounding the petition, including the propriety of its filing,” the league said in a statement Tuesday night.

“We have removed Jerry Moyes from all positions of authority to act for or on behalf of the club. The league will appear and proceed before the bankruptcy court in the best interests of all of the club's constituencies, including its fans in Arizona and the league's 29 other member clubs.”

Golisano To Sell The Sabres...?

Tom Golisano bought the Buffalo Sabres from bankruptcy in 2003. There are talks, initiated by an article by Jim Kelley in his Western New York Hockey Magazine, that the Sabres are up for sale.

Larry Quinn, Sabres Managing Partner, quickly fired off an e-mailed response to anyone willing to listen, click "open," and read along.

"We are not in negotiations to sell the team and as we have stated in the past, we will never entertain discussions to move the team out of Buffalo."

Kelley's article ((and partner column on sportsnet.ca)) also maintains that there have been talks with Research in Motion founder Jim Balsillie. Hasn't everyone talked with him...? Also mentioned is the thought that, if the Sabres are sold and/or moved that part of their schedule would be played at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario.

Golisano picked up the team for US$20-million and US$92-million in assumed debt. The National Hockey League is worried that the proposed sale price could be less than the US$206-million that the Tampa Bay Lightning went for last year. The concept, even in the current economy, that a team could sell for less than that particular benchmark gives the league office a case of the "willies" - the value of the loonie be damned at this time.

OSG sources close to the situation have confirmed that Golisano has had discussions with parties about the future of the franchise in Western New York. Another option for the Sabres could, once again, be Anschutz Entertainment Group. AEG was part and parcel to the possible move of the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Sprint Center in Kansas City.

AEG was more than happy to give free rent and a management stake in the corporation to the Mario Lemieux/Sam Fingold group. But the city of Pittsburgh ponied up in time to keep the franchise in Pennsylvania. The same idea for another franchise to relocate to Sprint Center has yet to be explored.

The arena still has yet to find a primary tenant.

WIVB's Alysha Palumbo caught up with Kelley...
((HT:WIVB-TV))

Room For Another In The Horseshoe...?

Well, duh...

Globesports and TSN in Canada are bringing out the idea that some National Hockey League governors have informally ((emphasize the word- informally)) floated the thought of a second franchise in the Greater Toronto Area ((pictured, thanks NHL Images/Getty Images)).

Would the area support another franchise...?

Mental Note: What has Jim Balsillie been doing trying to bring a group to Hamilton and renovate the Copps Coliseum...?

Hello...???

Anyway... David Shoalts of the Globe and Mail brought up the idea after talking to some governors who suggest that one scenario is to give Balsillie an expansion franchise in the GTA after restoring financial stability to the Nashville Predators...

((Ed. note- Isn't that what got the Preds into this mess with Craig Leipold, AEG, and the Los Angeles Kings...? Just axin'))

From Shoalts... ahem... quote...

"Calgary Flames co-owner Harley Hotchkiss, a former chairman of the NHL board of governors, is also aware of the Balsillie movement.

“I've heard bits and pieces of this scenario, although not in that kind of detail,” he said. “Our priority is to have the existing franchises solid.”

“[It is] an interesting scenario,” Mr. Hotchkiss added, “ but I can only speak generally.”

Richard Peddie, president of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, said the organization would not automatically reject the idea of a second team in Toronto.

“When and if the league brings expansion to the table, we'll listen and decide what is best [for hockey],” he said."

One governor told Shoalts that Balsillie would never get a team into Hamilton because "it's a minor-league town." There is also the thought that a team in Hamilton would put up a road block for anyone in the Golden Horsehoe ((the area from 12:00 to 6:00 hugging the western edge of Lake Ontario)) that, previously, would go catch a Buffalo Sabres game.

"We do not want to kill the Sabres,” the governor said. “But if there was a second team in Toronto, that would not hurt Buffalo.”

But another interviewee by Shoalts thought that asking Balsillie for a massive expansion fee would placate the Sabres financially...

Stephen Brunt likes the idea, but only if it's through relocation...

TSN's coverage is in black...

TSN's Dave Hodge waxes on the thought in black...

Predators Default on US$40-Million Loan

The Globe and Mail duo of Gordon and Shoalts are at it again...

Word comes from the ownership group themselves that they have defaulted on a US$40-million loan. They are the first ones, however, to put the blame on "Boots" Del Biaggio ((pictured)) and his "imaginative" ((shall we say)) economics.

The group had filed a US$100-million petition for damages with the Bankruptcy Court handling the Del Biaggio proceedings in San Francisco earlier in the week. Court documents, according to the Globe and Mail article, also claim that an unnamed individual/source/group is bidding for the US$40-million debt owed CIT Group, Incorporated.

No one knows if that is Balsillie as well...

The group also claims they had to come up with the balance of the moneys Del Biaggio would have contributed on their own to satisfy the pricetage for the franchise... which puts them in deeper financial doo-doo...

From the article... ahem... quote...

"People familiar with the Nashville ownership situation suggested the lease-guarantee payment has particular importance because the team would face a penalty of up to US$50-million if the Predators were to default."

Gordon and Shoalts reached minority Predators owner Herb Fritch and he told them in no uncertain terms that:

A) The news had made more Toronto papers than Nashville papers,
B) He didn't think the franchise was in bad shape,
C) "It will pass."

To that, the stock responses in the hockey community are the following...

"Well, duh..."
"Are we looking at the same balance sheets, sir...?"
"No, it won't."

Stephen Brunt has another column on the subject in black...

Nashville City Attorney Not Surprised By Balsillie Interest

Brad Schrade of the Tennessean caught up with Metro Attorney Larry Thrailkill and asked him about Jim Balsillie's ((pictured, thanks globeandmail.com)) current re-interest in the Nashville Predators franchise with William "Boots" Del Biaggio's 27-percent stake held up in Bankruptcy Court.

Thrailkill maintains that if any owner, regardless of who ends up with the winning bid, assumed the Del Biaggio shares he or she would have no impact on the city of Nashville's guidelines for keeping the Preds at their downtown arena home.

The Preds still have a lease with Metro ((that what they call themselves in a collective-governmental sense)) that is for two more seasons. The lease can only be re-examined if the team doesn't average 14,000 per game in attendance and loses US$20-million.

Thrailkill also recalls an attempt by the ownership group over the summer to restructure the deal-in-place for an adjustment in veto power over possible future owners. He doesn't recall if the measure was approved, but you'll recall yesterday's words from local ownership head David Freeman that alluded to an "approval process" for anyone that would assume those duties.

"As I have said for months, if the trustee accepts our bid, we will write him a check. If the trustee wishes to accept the bid of another, we anticipate he will adhere to the terms of our governing legal documents and seek our approval. If such a request for approval is made, we will consider the request at the appropriate time."

Last time we checked, a bankruptcy court just cares about recouping losses toward the eradication of a debt, not where the money comes from under any circumstance...

That's just us...

Your Daily Jim Balsillie Update

According to an article from the Globe and Mail's David Shoalts and Sean Gordon, wanna-be National Hockey League/Nashville Predators ((pictured, thanks thetennessean.com)) -minority/majority owner Jim Balsillie has some competition for the 27-percent stake of the franchise currently up for bankruptcy bidding from the portfolio of William "Boots" Del Biaggio...

The rest of the current ownership group...

Minority owner Herb Fritch and two other sources told Shoalts and Gordon that the group headed by David Freeman has put in a number of their own to the bankruptcy court in San Francisco.

The article goes on to say that the 27-percent stake is valued at US$20-million, but the courts view it to be slightly higher in their own assessment. Fritch admitted that the ownership group's bid was at an undervalued rate to the assessed value.

Don't be surprised, though, if Balsillie bid over either value since he was willing to part with almost US$240-million to pick up the Preds in the first place. The current ownership consortium ((that's a fancy name for "group")) ended up grabbing the team from ex-owner Craig Leipold for US$176-million.

But another rub in all of this is the approval of the new owner by both the rest of the group and the National Hockey League when the bankruptcy court decides on a final winner in the case.

Ahem... quote... from the article...

"I believe our group has to approve any sale of those shares, so we have some control over who gets them... I don't care what the amount [of the bid] is, it's got to be approved by the powers that be," Fritch said. "I think the bankruptcy trustee has to take that into account."

Stephen Brunt follows up the work from these two with a column of his own... feeling that the current US economic downturn may lead to Balsillie's riding a white horse and bringing a second NHL team to southern Ontario province after all...

Strangely enough... the local paper in Nashville hasn't touched this yet...
As of the time of the story developing, anyway...
When we know more... you'll know more...

UPDATE: Sources tell Sportsnet's HockeyCentral that the Predators, on the whole, are not for sale and that Balsillie's interest is dependent on the 27-percent Del Biaggio portion of the ownership stake. Apparently, even with the Del Biaggio percentage being less than a majority, the National Hockey League Board of Governors would still have to approve the transfer.

Here We Go Again...? Balsillie To Buy Preds... Maybe...

On "Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown" Monday afternoon, McCown had his normal roundtable discussions with David Shoalts and Stephen Brunt- or just "Brunt" as McCown calls him on the air. The program is heard throughout Canada on the Fan Radio Networks and is simulcast on Rogers Sportsnet.

A good reason for a Slingbox for a friend north of the border...

McCown had it through his sources that Research in Motion co-founder/Blackberry God Jim Balsillie ((pictured, thanks Getty Images)) was about to buy the NHL's Nashville Predators- again.

The segment can be found in black...

Balsillie's lawyer, Richard Rodier, flatly denied any talk of the sort to Rogers Sportsnet's HockeyCentral program later in the day.

"There is not a scintilla of truth in this report," Rodier told HockeyCentral. "This fell out of the sky."

Reports vary as to the amount of interest Balsillie has in the Preds. It could be the 20-percent stake that William "Boots" Del Biaggio has as part of his holdings that are awaiting bankruptcy divisions, or the whole thing- which would, again, renew the interest of an entire province in the idea of hockey expansion.

Which is where is really needs to be...
You'll know more as we know more...