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Wed Jun 04, 2008 10:57 am EDT

Controversial Canadian billionaire in discussions with several NHL teams

By Greg Wyshynski

Can't Gary Bettman just have one good week? Ratings are strong, the hockey is great. But now he's hit with the news that "Boots" Del Biaggio may have committed a $10 million loan fraud to raise money to co-own (and thus save from relocation) the Nashville Predators, along with the reemergence of billionaire Jim Balsillie and his CrackBerry money.

Theresa Tedesco of The National Post breaks the story that Balsillie has been in discussions or has received overtures from no less than eight NHL teams about buying their franchises or coming on as a part-owner. The Post names the Atlanta Thrashers, Carolina Hurricanes (beat writer Luke DeCock believes Balsillie reached out to the Canes), Tampa Bay Lightning, Dallas Stars and the Edmonton Oilers, although Balsillie has no interest in owning a Canadian team. No, he's still all about swiping a struggling U.S. team and shipping it up to Hamilton, Ont. -- which was his plan during failed attempts to own the Pittsburgh Penguins, Nashville Predators and Buffalo Sabres.

Twin headaches here for Bettman and the NHL. First, it's obvious that for all the happy sunshine blown up the backsides of fans about the current state of the League, most of the Southeast Division is looking to tap Balsillie's piggy bank, fully knowing his intentions to move teams. Of course, there's no way Bettman would have known the U.S. dollar would be in the toilet back when he stole a season from hockey fans in order to sure-up these struggling franchises. (Now can we have out season back, Gary?)

The other headache: Jim Balsillie. It's fairly obvious that this guy is going to own an NHL team at some point, and that he will attempt to move said team to Hamilton or Kitchener or somewhere in that neck of the woods. The question is whether the NHL and his ownership peers will let him, because he's not exactly a beloved figure. We're talking about a guy who started selling season tickets for a team that he didn't own, in a city that it didn't play in.

Hmmmm .... Nashville co-owner Del Biaggio is facing federal charges and lawsuits ... Balsillie and his CrackBerry money are still trying to buy into the NHL ... uh-oh, better fire up the petitions again.

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44 Comments

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  1. The Presence
    1. Posted by The Presence Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:55 pm EDT

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    YES! get the predators out of nashville. give hockey to a city that wants it like hamilton. they sold twice as many season tickets at the prospect of having a team than nashville did all of last year. canada needs more teams and they are going to get them!
  2. JohnB
    2. Posted by JohnB Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:06 pm EDT

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    What's the difference where these teams are at? As long as the games are on versus nobody will see them anyway...
  3. Boris
    3. Posted by Boris Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:24 pm EDT

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    I can see the other teams in the list, but the Stars and Oilers? Neither of these teams seem to fit in this list, since he doesn't want to buy a Canadian team and I don't see that the Stars are particularly hurting in Dallas like the other teams named are.
  4. Stars TSC 59
    4. Posted by Stars TSC 59 Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:07 pm EDT

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    Bettman is the biggest babboon this side of bin laden. He should go back to the nba
  5. Stars TSC 59
    5. Posted by Stars TSC 59 Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:07 pm EDT

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    preds are staying #3, stop crying bout your crack being all smoked up
  6. jaggdesigns
    6. Posted by jaggdesigns Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:27 pm EDT

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    Hands off of the Stars.
  7. Kim B
    7. Posted by Kim B Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:52 pm EDT

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    I agree, keep you scummy hands off of the Stars. It is the only NHL team we have here in Texas and we intend to keep them here.
  8. FrigginA
    8. Posted by FrigginA Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:04 pm EDT

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    Ratings are strong alright! In the NHL's smallest markets!
    1. Pittsburgh, 35.4/52
    2. Detroit, 29.6/46
    3. Buffalo, 10.2/17
    4. Denver, 7.2/12
    5. Minneapolis, 7.1/13
    Where's NYC? Where's Boston? Where's Los Angeles????? So much for that big market more money BS!
  9. Brent
    9. Posted by Brent Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:03 pm EDT

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    1) the owners like bettman because revenure is up
    2) 6 candian teams make more money than all the US teams
    3) nhl needs to add more candian teams to keep the money growth positive.
    4) toronto will try to block a move to Hamilton
  10. shadfax
    10. Posted by shadfax Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:15 pm EDT

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    Hamilton can not support a team. Can people not get that through their thick skulls. Neither can winnipeg....when i was there they were losing 10-15 million a year at a 30 mill payroll. I don't know if people are stupid or what???? Southern ontario might be able to support a team if you build a hell of a arena there. The nhl is better off putting another team in toronto...and then doing a "bills" move and play 10-15 home games around ontario. How long will a billionaire accept losing 10 million a year until he gives up and bails. If he does buy a team and moves it to ham. then the nhl should make him put up a 200 mill bond so he stays put for 20 years. the south has hockey support except the panthers as well...if they could get decent tv coverage it would help.
  11. oilersfan2002ca
    11. Posted by oilersfan2002ca Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:44 pm EDT

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    Toronto will block move to Hamilton because, If Hamilton gets an NHL team,, Toronto will want one too.
  12. ricky W
    12. Posted by ricky W Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:07 pm EDT

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    shadfax---Im so sick of people referring to winnipeg... when we lost that team our dollar was worth 65 cents american, obviously they are going to have a money problem. I live like an hour from hamilton and although toronto will block that move they could definetly support a team...you cant compare us getting a team now to losing a team 13 years ago considering the dollar is almost doubled... so the question is how dumb are you??? Until we get rid of bettman and we get at least 2 more nhl teams in canada the NHL will continue to struggle... also i agree with the dallas comment they are a solid team i dont think you have anything to worry about other then giving madano the c back hahah.... get rid of a flordia team theres no reason why they should have two teams when you cant even keep the ice frozen in playoff time!!!!
  13. A Yahoo! User
    13. Posted by A Yahoo! User Wed Jun 04, 2008 4:05 pm EDT

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    Sounds like a bunch of gamesmanship to me. The Stars and Oilers are both profitable franchises... and Tom Hicks is an astute businessman. I find it hard to believe he would partner with a guy like Balsillie.
  14. james f
    14. Posted by james f Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:51 pm EDT

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    I'd like to see Detroit win but Pittsburgh has the broadcast media, the League, and the refs pulling for them. The announcers feel they must say the names of 3 players on Pittsburgh, Crosby, Malkin, and Fleury at least 20 times during the course of a game to feel satisfied. The refs will only call a penalty against Pittsburgh tonight if its obvious to everyone. The league wants to promote Crosby until the start of next season and they need the Pens to win to do it. Detroit will deserve the Cup if they win tonight.
  15. ricky W
    15. Posted by ricky W Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:07 pm EDT

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    I cant believe you just compared the tiger cats to an nhl team???? wow how dumb are you.. im canadian and even i dont care about the cfl... i never said put another team in winnipeg.. but definetley another team in ontario... things about us canadians is it dont matter how much money we got we find money to go to hockey games cuz we love thee game that much and theres no way that a team in hamilton would do any worse then it already it in a place like nashville.... tigercats... what a joke.. not to mention they are the worse team in an 8 team league of course no boday goes to watch them!!!
  16. Miceli
    16. Posted by Miceli Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:36 pm EDT

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    Maybe Balsillie should tap into the Russian Super League and move a team from there to Hamilton. That was a joke before some moron takes it seriously. But I'm really tired of this guy. Tired enough of him to risk an expansion team on him. I'm an American and I agree, if you want to fix hockey's finacial problems you need more teams in Canada. The fan base there is strong enough that the NHL could probably split the conferences 24 and 24 someday with the Canadian Conference against the American Conference. How sweeet would that be actually?
  17. Miceli
    17. Posted by Miceli Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:36 pm EDT

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    If there were 48 teams... like I said, someday.
  18. cataphractspirit
    18. Posted by cataphractspirit Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:19 pm EDT

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    Post 13, that was priceless
  19. Dutch
    19. Posted by Dutch Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:07 pm EDT

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    Post 10. Thanks for that info. One reason it's harder to get on the list for bigger cities is more TVs, so even if a good number of people are watching, the percentage won't be that hot. Interesting to see that the list includes the two Finalists running away with it, and 3 solid franchises supporting as well. I live in the LA area and ask the question Do we need TWO teams in LA? NO! I'd love to see the Ducks fly off, but given the Kings management, it'd more likely be them. I could picture them fulfilling Mr. Bet-Man's dream of a team in Vegas, they could keep their name as the Kings and change the design to a frickin' Playing card! The League needs to cut a couple of teams (2-4) and/or move them to cities that will support them, yeah Canada. It's embarrassing the lack of support that some of the Southern teams have received (no offense to you die-hards out there) it feeds the belief that "no one cares" when a team like the Thrashers is a punch-line in the Atlanta sporting community. Can Nashville support a team? Doesn't seem like it. Give up the dreams of Empire Mr. Bet-Man, put teams in communities that will actively support them. There's a salary cap in place, a lot of these Canadian cities CAN and WOULD support an NHL team.
  20. None N
    20. Posted by None N Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:38 pm EDT

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    Why not Just have 2 teams in Toronto? Use the ACC similar to how the Staples Center is used for the Clippers, Lakers and Kings. It would make so much sense, its not like Toronto cant support another team, it will save tax payers from renovating/ making an arena and MLSE will be happy as they will gain even more income from the ACC. Why not have Rogers own the team, make it even more interesting. Beleive me Toronto will support another team and the Leafs, it will happen
  21. MJ touched hearts and kiddies private parts
    21. Posted by MJ touched hearts and kiddies private parts Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:52 pm EDT

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    At a time where everyone except for Gary Bettman realises that the NHL must reduce, and/or relocate teams, and absolutely no one aside from Jim Balsillie has any interest in putting their money into the NHL, Bettman continues to try and play hardball. In Balsillie we have a hockey man who unlike most of the current owners, actually loves the game, and has the game, and the fans interests at heart, and Bettman is making him jump through hoops. In two years time, Bettman will be kissing Balsillie's butt, and throwing franchises in his direction.
  22. JZ
    22. Posted by JZ Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:32 pm EDT

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    I think he should just stay away from Nashvilles team. Nashville is doing just fine in TN. Once they get rid of the siv Mason in goal they will be right there next year...just you wait.
  23. cataphractspirit
    23. Posted by cataphractspirit Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:19 pm EDT

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    It might be worth throwing a weak team his way just to get him to pipe down. And that salary cap that's supposed to allow smaller teams to compete is going higher yet again [up from 50.3 to 54 million]. How many more raises? Eventually it'll be like old times if this keeps up.
  24. Prometheus
    24. Posted by Prometheus Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:26 pm EDT

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    hey trevv71 - i wouldn't put anything past hicks - he's a gutless pig...
  25. garpinator
    25. Posted by garpinator Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:06 pm EDT

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    Number 25. Nashville is doning just fine??? The team is, in spite of last year's fire sale, but your arena is consistently half empty! Copps Coliseum would be full! And not full of people dressed up as empty seats like in most sunbelt cities.

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