Raising Arizona?

I find it interesting that there is possibly another group that is interested in the Phoenix Coyotes. Toronto Argonauts’ co-owner’s Howard Sokolowski and David Cynamon plan to meet with Glendale city officials next week with an eye toward putting a bid together for the financially-troubled NHL franchise. These two guys were part of the Ice Edge Holdings that was involved in the bankruptcy hearing with the NHL and the Jim Balsillie bids. It looks like they have as many as 12 other investors lined up looking into acquiring the team. With that said, just remember Tampa Bay. They only have 2 partners and they couldn't agree on much especially on the players on the roster, 12 could prove to be cumbersome unless they are just money men.

Ice Edge Holdings were looking at playing 5 home games in Saskatoon and possibly 5 in Winnipeg while keeping the team based in Phoenix. They also seemed to be the only group that was either interested or willing to have Wayne Gretzky involved at any level. There have been questions on if they have the money and/or where they are getting this money but they have made it appear that they want to make it work in Phoenix. That may be a bit of ostrich thinking and burying their head in that plentiful Arizona sand. In an attendance driven league it may just have too many obstacles to overcome. Filling a building in the desert is not an easy thing to begin with and even if you fill the arena the people in there need to actually pay to get in for that to mean anything. Papered attendance and free ticket giveaways may indeed make it look pretty but smoke an mirrors only work for so long.

Having the two Argonauts dipping their toes into this desert mirage certainly leads one to believe that they may like to bring it closer to the team they presently own in Toronto. Sure that would make 2 teams in Toronto and we know what the lay of the land is there with everyone having an opinion - from the Prime Minister to the NHL - from MLSE and the Buffalo Sabers. The difference is they may be more liked by the board and the league. If the league ends up owning the team then they are in the position to call the shots and maybe something could happen. Sure it may be all very pre-mature at this point but it is an interesting development.

Maybe they will Make It 7 at some point - be it in Winnipeg, Quebec City or Southern Ontario.

Quick Hits

Word out of Cleveland is that the hapless Browns are currently shopping young QB Brady Quinn. The question is...is there a market for him? Quinn has just put his home up for sale. Foreshadowing? What is funny about the situation is it appears that coach Eric Mangini doesn’t think that he can be a starting QB in the NFL. My question is who has made the decision that Mangini can either a) coach or b) evaluate talent. I have not seen any supporting evidence.

From the files of "I could have seen that coming". Vancouver Canucks D-man Sami Salo is out 4-6 weeks with a sprained MCL. This is a guy that has a load of talent and a shot that would break the glass but has just about the worst possible luck when it comes to injuries. You may not know when or where but sooner or later Salo will do something to take him out of the lineup. His luck is so bad that he would be the guy that would go Titanic and run into a iceberg in Phoenix and dislocate his shoulder.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are currently 0-5-1 and their "top" 2 goaltenders, Jonas Gustavsson and Vesa Toskala are hurt. Joey MacDonald is next in line. Maybe they gave up on Justin Pogge too soon. Word is Allen Bester and Peter Ing are both hanging out near their phones awaiting a call.

Junior Seau is doing his best impression of a boxer or pro wrestler. Seau has decided to yet again unretire and re- join the New England Patriots. The 40-year-old, 12-time Pro Bow linebacker has signed on and will likely be in uniform soon. As much as I find it funny that he keeps coming back it is much easier to tolerate then the way Brett Favre did his dealings. This was quiet and just happened, now big press conferences or public suggestions that he may want to return for 3 months. He wanted to play they needed him and it happened, no big production nothing. Not even a Sears commercial.

Who is the more alienating potential owner in pro sports? Jim Balsillie in the NHL or Rush Limbaugh in the NFL. Right now I am thinking it is a 1a 1b thing. The is no love for Balsillie by Gary Bettman or the Board of Governors and the likelihood of getting a team is not great at present. Limbaugh has been linked to a possible bid by Dave Checketts to buy the St Louis Rams. The Colts owner Jim Irsay vowed to vote against him and commissioner Roger Goodell said the conservative commentator’s "divisive" comments would not be tolerated from any NFL insider. It is nice to see that even the mighty NHL machine can have ownership controversy too.

Hockey Starts Here

So tonight is the night when it all gets started. The NHL will drop the puck with 4 games on the schedule, (Washington at Boston 7:00 PM, Montreal at Toronto 7:00 PM, San Jose at Colorado 10:00 PM , Vancouver at Calgary 10pm), and it is about time. After a very long off season, especially in Ottawa without making the playoffs some real games on the ice will be a welcome change. A very difficult off season brought on by the Dany Heatley saga, the turmoil within the ranks of the NHLPA and worst of all the situation in Phoenix a real distraction of actual games will be welcome.

After yesterdays court decision to deny both bids by Jim Balsillie and the NHL to own the club it looks like, at least for the time being that the NHL will operate the club and help look for a "suitable owner" and figure out a plan to get out of the quagmire that is the Coyotes. It appears that Mr. Balsillie has decided not to appeal and is resigned to the fact that he will not be able to get control of this team. Will he try another team and go about it in a more up front way... probably at some point, but at least for now it should be over. With some of that mess gone maybe the NHL can keep the dealings on the team out of the media for a while and we can only hope that the next major public announcement on this matter is they have a new owner ready to step in and take control.

A good line up of games to get things started will be very welcomed. It should be interesting to see 2 original 6 teams and rivals go head to head, both with vastly different teams with that of what they ended with last year. New Looks and new attitudes will be on both benches tonight and should be interesting. Along with that the Sharks will be in action after an interesting and eventful off season. They too have had a lot of turnover, not only in player personnel but also in leadership. Heatley is in, Christian Ehrhoff Milan Michalek and Jonathan Cheechoo are out. Patrick Marlow had the "C" taken from him and that was given to Rob Blake and an "A" was given to Dan Boyle and back to Joe Thornton.. That will surely also be an experiment worth watching throughout the season.

Tomorrow there will be 2 mid-day games from overseas involving the Blues, Wings, Blackawks and Panthers in the NHL’s attempts to grow the game and the NHL brand in Europe. This will be a good chance to see what the Blues look like with back to back games. They are still in the running for my affection and are just jostling for the position of 1A and 1B with themselves and the LA Kings (I figured that if I am this torn between them, perhaps it isn’t fair to just cast one of them away... sometimes it is good to play the field a little). I am sure to have something more to say on that front soon enough.

Time To Lace Them Up And Hit The Ice

Thankfully the rookies are on the ice and the real camps will start up on the weekends for most of the other NHL teams in the league. I think everyone can agree that it was a long off season for not only the Ottawa Senators and their fans but fans of hockey in general. Around the league there has been a lot off off ice issues that have done nothing but make the league look bad, alienate fans and annoy just about anyone with any sort of vested interest in the NHL and professional hockey.

Locally, the Senators ended strong but still had a very disappointing season, making for an even longer off season. Of course there is little doubt where most of the interest lies, that of course is what is going to happen with Dany Heatley. Is he staying, is he going, where does he want to go, where will he not, why does he want to leave, how is this going to affect roster moves by the team? All valid questions and deserving of answers even if none seem close to being answered. The only people that are benefitting are the rumor bloggers that throw out names and "time lines" in hopes that maybe they can will something to happen or to merely keep coming back and getting plenty of hits to see what and if there was any developments....Is it going to happen to day? Nothing happening ...they can’t have him back, and so on and so forth. Ahhhhh Ahhhh Ahhhhh this is an ordeal!

Next there is the situation involving the Phoenix Coyotes. Who is going to own the team? Where are they going to play? Can the NHL get the team and if so how long will they stay in Phoenix? Will Jim Balsillie get the team? Can he move it? If so, for how much? If he get the team will the leagues board allow him to join the league? Can you own a team but not be allowed into the league? Painful questions every one of them. Yes looking at this list the are a lot of questions and there is a noticeable omission right here and that is ANY ANSWERS. I don’t think anyone at least on the fan side of things care. It is too bad because for the first time in maybe ever the team is starting to make progress on the ice and has the potential to be good on the ice...where that ice is may be interesting and who is signing the pay checks is any ones guess.

Then there is the ownership problems in Tampa where Len Barrie and Oren Koules can’t seem to get along and It looks like the NHL has stepped in to try to get one to buy the other one out. Infighting and a lack of direction was a big issue, hopefully Brian Lawton can keep the train rails.
Speaking of ownership, William (Boots) Del Biaggio III , former owner of the Nashville Predators, was sentenced to more than eight years in prison for bilking investors and banks...that is some good due diligence by the NHL, yet Jim Balsillie is bad....whatever.

What we need now is a distraction, and that distraction is players on the ice, competing for jobs, preparing for the season, and even for a lucky few looking to start hot and work their way onto their respective countries Olympic and World Junior rosters.

Quick Hits

The Capitals and the Penguins have to play back to back nights in 2 different cities due to a scheduling conflict in Pittsburgh. “Pop singer” Yanni was scheduled in Pittsburgh Tuesday night forcing the quick turn around Friday and Saturday. I thought that the league had rules about booking events in NHL cities during the playoffs just for this reason. Guess not. Yanni didn't express apologies or regrets. He did comment and use his experience "as a former national champion swimmer" for native country Greece.In a statement put out by the musical he stated "I empathize with the athletes competing in the NHL playoffs and understand the pressures under which they perform." If you can’t trust the word of a champion swimmer who can you trust. Maybe if it was Michael Phelps and not Yanni it may have been ok...Shop American.

Canada is going to face Russia for the gold medal at the World Hockey Championships Sunday at 2pm.This is just another chapter in the most storied rivalries in hockey. It may not have the same meaning as it did back in the day during the cold war era but both teams possess a lot of skill and even if there isn’t the true hate there was in the past (as most of these players play with one another) the history and pride in country is still there for both sides.
Kobe Bryant has lead his team to a 2-1 series lead versus the Houston Rockets. In the much publicised match up between Kobe and Ron Artest, Bryant seems to have the advantage and Artest is beginning to get frustrated and discipline is starting to become a factor. If the Rockets want to have a chance Ron-Ron is going to have to start playing with his head or the Black Mamba I speak of Kobe....not Uma Thurman from Kill Bill) is just going inject the venom and finish off the Rockets.

Quote of the Week: "He makes his own decisions and he's making a decision that this is the way he wants to get into the National Hockey League. We don't usually like to pick fights, but we end them." NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly on the proposal from Jim Balsillie of the Pheonix Coyotes.

The Kitchener Coyotes??

Undeserved market... this is what you are going to hear from Jim Balsillie now and into the future. The future that I speak of involves the Phoenix Coyotes and the news that they have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday. We all knew for some time that things were bad in the desert but I don’t think many knew that it was just this bad.

The RIM (Research in Motion) CEO made his intentions known in a media release on Tuesday stating that a $212.5 million (US) offer was on the table to purchase the team. One of the condition was that the team would relocate to an unspecified region in Southern Ontario.

I am all for this move. Take a team from a struggling US market and place them back in Canada in, as we we have heard before, an undeserved market. If it is true that there were talks about a possible second team in Toronto then a team in Southern Ontario isn’t far fetched. Only question is, just because it may be a viable and a good market and the NHLPA would probably be in favor of it, will Gary Bettman want to allow Jim Balsillie into the league. It almost seems that there is a personal vendetta from Bettman and it may be getting in the way of business.

The NHL and the Board of Governors will have some things to say about this for sure and this is sure to be an interesting story not only on sports talk shows but also for the court reporters. Even if Balsillie gets the team, which is not a sure thing, be assured that the NHL is going to throw up some bumps saying that any team movement needs league approval and no doubt use the NHL shield as a battery ram to flex it’s muscle. The potential for a lengthy battle is very probable. This will be very interesting to follow and see what direction this takes. I will be sure to keep an eye on this going forward.

I have also yet to announce the selection of a new favorite team from the west...I had it down to the Blues and the Kings...does a team in the Golden Horseshoe make a re-emergence on the list? Stay tuned.