Friday, June 29, 2007

 

Predators to KC: The Fix Is In?

by Jes

Some very interesting gossip has come out of this whole Leopold/Balsillie/Del Biaggio love triangle to purchase and move the Nashville Predators.

1. We all thought Balsillie had it in the bag with a huge offer.
2. Leopold says 'Hold on!', and claims he just wants a deal 'finalized'
3. Now, we've got all sorts of stuff coming out about the NHL fixing the whole thing so that KC would get a name, no matter what would happen.

From the National Post (Required reading):
The National Hockey League was prepared to deliver a team to William (Boots) Del Biaggio and Kansas City's Sprint Center as part of a plan to keep the Penguins in Pittsburgh, sources told the National Post yesterday.

Del Biaggio, now the frontrunner to purchase and relocate the Nashville Predators, and Tim Leiweke, president of Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), the company that operates the Sprint Center, aggressively pursued the Penguins late last year, offering the team a rent-free lease in the new arena.

But sources said the league, which didn't want to lose a value market in Pittsburgh, asked the Kansas City investors to back off their chase of the Penguins while indicating to the group it would be next in line for an NHL franchise.

It is believed the commissioner and Leiweke, who was in England yesterday, had an informal arrangement that would have delivered the Predators to Del Biaggio and Kansas City had Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie not stepped in with a richer offer and plans to move the team to Hamilton. Del Biaggio has an agreement with AEG to own and operate an NHL team in the Sprint Center.

Hmmmm?!?!?!

As speculated yesterday, the NHL was willing to make up the monetary difference in the offers to ensure the team didn't get sold to Balsillie.

I bet that Leopold was visited by some men in dark suits. Why would he suddenly give up on a huge offer he was so willing to accept?

Certainly not out of concern for the Predators fans...because he knows the team is gonna move eventually.

This is certainly very interesting stuff, and perhaps a look at just how nasty the NHL operates to get what it wants.

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Comments:
Wow.. Bob McKenzie is psychic. :)

http://www.tsn.ca/tsn_talent/columnists/bob_mckenzie/
 
Jes:
I don't like this one bit; while Nashville wasn't much of a "growth market", I see even less of one in KC...

I would still rather see a team in the Pacific NW (but the Seattle arena situation is pretty bad), or better yet, Milwaukee (you think they wouldn't support hockey?), but this is a new arena grab.

If only the 'Ville could be put in a division with Atlanta and Carolina for a year...
 
Seattle youth hockey is among the most corrupt in America. Read here before considering a relo to Seattle if your kids are in youth hockey. They train in a grocery store with rats the size of cats! SKAHA currently under investigation by USA Hockey!!

http://skahatruth.blogspot.com/
 
Seattle Sno-King Hockey:


http://skahatruth.blogspot.com/

Read this before considering a job relo to Seattle. I am a Canadian that moved to Seattle two years ago. At the recommendation of my AAA Bantam coach, I joined SKAHA. Currently under investigation by USA Hockey, SKAHA is one of the most corrupt organizations in America. They also train in a grocery store with rats….truly a miserable experience that I want anyone to think about before moving to Seattle. Beautiful city, yes, but worst hockey imaginable!!

Spread the word so other Canadians can avoid a miserable experience in Seattle!!

West Coast Hockey/Kent Valley are building a program and getting the corruption out of Seattle. The coaches' name is Mike Anderson, he is Canadian and knows hockey. They now have a home base to train in Kent, WA just out of Seattle.
http://www.westcoasthockey.org/about_us.htm
 
Seattle Hockey/SKAHA is discussed on skahatruth.blogspot.com very funny site! hilarious
 
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