Thursday, August 6, 2009

Balsillie's Back in the Game, Bitches!

That's right NHL board of governors, Balsillie is back in the auction for the Phoenix Coyotes. The article states that rival bidder Jerry Reinsdorf is getting sick of the hassle of trying to buy the Coyotes and made noises about dropping out. Reinsdorf's bid is contingent on some sort of weird area around the stadium having an additional sales tax or something to support the team. Doesn't seem like something the voters would like. If Reinsdorf drops out between now and the September 10th auction date, the NHL will be in a tricky situation. Sure they just rejected Balsillie as an owner, however in a bankruptcy proceeding how much weight will be given to the NHL's wishes over that of creditors is not certain.

On the Balsilliemeter for a team coming to Hamilton, I currently rate it at 27%, much higher than before Judge Redfield Baum's latest ruling. Maybe higher than it deserves to be, but the lack of competing offers besides Reinsdorf's (and I don't really count the one where Phoenix would play a few games in Saskatoon, which frankly is only one step up from the joke the Toronto Legacy was/is) is the justification.

No comments: