NHL Rumours... The NHL is returning to Winnipeg

no no no no, it's a sure thing now, it's gunna happen this time. Honest. Just like all the other times, only for real this time!

How many more dolts with cash to burn do you think the NHL can find to try and make a go of this?

Enough already, sell the team to TNSE and lets get the show on the road.

Guys, really.. How many times do I have to tell you? There wont be any announcement until after the ticket sales have completed for the 2011 U17 hockey challenge and that is so far off there is no need to get excited.


WAIT THATS IN LESS THEN 6 MONTHS!!! START GETTING EXCITED!!!

AGEsAces wrote:

Who is ill-informed here?

All I've seen (recently) are quotes from newspapers who have (supposedly) done all the research.

My hopes for an NHL team are just that... hopes.

Not knowing who owns the Coyotes, and thinking you can just 'sell off players'? Sorry, that is uninformed. Not only is there a salary cap floor, there's no 'best players' on the Coyotes to sell!*

*This was a joke. I say this as someone who has followed the 'yotes for a few years now!

Winnipeg way ahead in NHL courtship; Quebec City missing the owner, the arena

By: Gary Lawless

Posted: 17/09/2010

Error To suggest Winnipeg and Quebec City are competing for an NHL franchise is both presumptuous and ridiculous.

First of all, in the words of commissioner Gary Bettman, the NHL views relocation as undesirable.

Secondly, should the league be forced to make such a move, Winnipeg is years ahead of Quebec City in the relocation queue.

Setting aside the fact Winnipeg has an NHL-ready building and Quebec City does not, the relationship between True North Sports and Entertainment and the NHL has been carefully cultivated and slowly matured. It's ready to bear fruit.

In dating terms, Winnipeg has asked for the league's hand in marriage and nicely been told to wait on the porch while dad mulls it over.

Quebec? They haven't even been on a date, let alone done some of the back-seat wrestling True North and the NHL have engaged in over the last couple of years.

No disrespect to Quebec City mayor Regis Labeaume, who we are sure is a fine gentleman, but to suggest his relationship is anywhere close to the one developed between the NHL and True North Partners Mark Chipman and David Thomson is, as we've already said, ridiculous.

Chipman and Thomson own an AHL franchise and are established as legitimate operators in the hockey world.

They've been on the block for a while and will remain for some time to come. Money is not an object where they are concerned and the NHL has shown they'd be happy to welcome them to the club.

A local politician? Any politician? Give me a break. Gary Bettman can't afford to tie his fortunes to someone who may or may not be around the next time a civic election is held.

But don't take our word for any of this. Mr. Bettman has already said as much.

This past spring he addressed the subject of relocation prior to the Stanley Cup final.

"You know our view on franchise relocation: We try to avoid it," Bettman said in Chicago. "And frankly, if we're going to move a franchise, there are a couple of places in Canada that I'd like to give my attention first, because when Winnipeg and Quebec lost their franchises -- remember, I always talk about three things for franchises: market, owner and building -- both of those teams were moved because two of the criteria went away. There was no building and there was no owner. Nobody wanted to own a team there anymore.

"To the extent that those markets are in a position to deal with those issues, I'd like to try and fix something that I wish might not have happened in the first place, not unlike what we did in Minnesota (the league replaced the departed North Stars with the Wild)."

Building and owner. Winnipeg has both. Quebec City? Nope on both accounts.

"Winnipeg, I believe, has an NHL building, and in Quebec they're talking about building one," said Bettman.

Where has the talk of an arena in Quebec City gone to this point? Nowhere.


Prime Minister Stephen Harper floated a trial balloon a week ago about helping to fund a new arena in Quebec and has been backpedalling like a defensive back ever since.

Bettman also went so far as to place his personal blessing on True North by telling the hockey world he'd been dancing in the dark with them for some time.

"There has been a lot of speculation about Winnipeg," Bettman said. "Winnipeg did make a bona fide offer (on the Phoenix Coyotes). We never concluded a deal. That offer was made by Mark Chipman and David Thomson as partners in True North and they're very comfortable with the process. They understood that the likelihood was that the team was going to be remaining in Phoenix. They wanted us to know of their interest and they have told us that they are prepared to be patient."

So there you have it. Sure, the NHL is happy to talk to the folks in Quebec City. But don't mistake polite hellos with the kind of heavy breathing that's gone on between Bettman's office and True North.

Winnipeg may never get another NHL franchise, but as of today and the foreseeable future, this city is first in any lineups for such movement.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca


http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion....-103119779.html

Game on: Winnipeg vs. Quebec

How two spurned cities stack up in race to woo NHL back
It's shaping up to be the biggest-ever hockey battle between Winnipeg and Quebec City -- which will be the first to see the return of the NHL?

It has long been assumed by hockey watchers in the Manitoba capital that Winnipeg was at the top of the list to receive a relocated franchise. After all, the 15,003-seat MTS Centre is just six years old, has been deemed suitable by NHL brass for the world's biggest hockey league and a potential ownership group is already in place.



If you are scoring the matchup, Winnipeg has two crucial elements in its favour -- it has the blessing of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, and the backing of the richest man in Canada, David Thomson.

Quebec City, meanwhile, which lost les Nordiques to Denver in 1995, a year before the Jets took flight for Phoenix, does not have a new building. But it has grandiose plans to build a new $400-million arena -- complete with some degree of federal funding. Everything else, including a potential owner and the holding of serious discussions with the NHL, appears to be a couple of years behind the Winnipeg effort.

Bettman told a news conference earlier this week the NHL would be happy to return to Quebec City, just as he has said it would like to come back to Winnipeg on earlier occasions.

"I've followed very closely the articles, I've seen the cartoons and, as we've said, if the right circumstances presented themselves, we would like to find a way to go back to Quebec City," Bettman said.

"The issue obviously is the need for a new arena, because in the absence of a new arena it is not possible for us to go back. How a new arena gets built, who pays for it, is not something we're getting involved in."

Federal Tories had been openly musing about contributing up to $180 million for this facility, going so far as to have some of its MPs don Nordiques jerseys at a press conference. While the talk had others across the country crying foul, there is already evidence that it's paying dividends for Prime Minister Stephen Harper in La Belle Province.

An EKOS poll released Thursday shows support for the governing Tories in Quebec has risen to 21.1 per cent for the week ended Sept. 14, up from 15.8 per cent just one week earlier.

What all this means is anybody's guess. Franchises, after all, haven't always been awarded to the most deserving cities. Hello, Tampa, Phoenix and Nashville.

So, let's get ready to rumble.


http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakin....-103127579.html

The numbers reported in the Free Press all favour Quebec City by such a wide margin, I don't know why any one would think Wpg has a chance?

rosencrentz wrote:The numbers reported in the Free Press all favour Quebec City by such a wide margin, I don't know why any one would think Wpg has a chance?

i hereby copywrite my hockey team name.
riel red
manitoba riel red
winnipeg riel red
manitooland riel red
poohtown riel red
and all capitalized and other variations.
and i presume grumpy's legal team will back me up.
.
.
the riel red and the israeli blue bombers ..
we got a dynasty.

Wanna see something truly pathetic?

Free lower bowl tickets:

http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/1E00451817579F2F?did=paper&CFC=CAMEFROM_COYOTES_1ST500

Password: glendale

fricking pathetic. This team is as good as in Winnipeg for the fall of 2011.

Quebec City hockey fans did not put up much of a fuss when it appeared they were losing their beloved Nordiques. I wonder if they'll show any more passion this time around.

It could be argued that any contribution from a political party is a violation of the act.

Giving the candidate the list of Nippers is a 'gift in kind' I believe and as such, is a violation.

...just kibitzin...

When was the last time you saw Jets fans in these numbers?

Huh?

Jets fans don't need to rally. We have everything in place for the new team. Quebec city residents are rallying for a new arena.

Also, where were all those people when their team left? They didn't rally when the team left like Winnipegers did, with thousands at Portage and Main and little kids emptying there piggy banks in hopes of saving the team.


Thankfully not everyone in Winnipeg is such a pessimist and our new team is just around the corner!

For some reason, I have seen more people wearing Jets jackets, jerseys, etc this past weekend than every before. Is this a deliberate effort, or are folks just de-cluttering?

I've always been amazed by the proliferation of Jets gear. Not just in Winnipeg either. It seems someone is wearing a Jets sweater at many NHL games in all arenas.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that Jets gear outsells some current NHL teams. Not sure if that is true or not though.

Good news for hockey fans in Winnipeg.

Matthew Hulsizer’s bid to buy the Phoenix Coyotes from the NHL has stalled because the Chicago businessman wants a big discount on the $165-million (all currency U.S.) the league wants for the team, two sources say. This, the sources add, is despite the fact Hulsizer, 40, has an agreement in principle with the city of Glendale, Ariz., on a multiyear arena lease that could pay him $100-million toward the Coyotes’ annual losses through parking charges, taxes and property levies from a community-facilities district created around Jobing.com arena.

Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs and city council have until Dec. 31 to find a buyer willing to keep the team in Glendale. If they fail, the NHL, which bought the Coyotes for $140-million in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court auction in October of 2009, can sell the team to someone who wants to move it. Scruggs and other Glendale politicians have said that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has an offer in hand from True North Sports and Entertainment Ltd., in Winnipeg for at least $165-million.

A third source, an NHL governor, said Hulsizer was told at least a month ago that Bettman will never agree to sell the franchise for less than what the entire Coyotes’ debacle has cost the league. The NHL could have as much as $175-million invested now, since it covered the Coyotes’ losses through this summer. Glendale agreed to cover up to $25-million of this season’s losses beginning Sept. 1 in order to keep the NHL from selling the team sooner than the end of the year.

The NHL governor said many of his peers are not keen on seeing the Coyotes return to Winnipeg, which they left in 1996. But if the alternative is that each team owner has to write a big cheque to cover the NHL’s losses on the Coyotes, “we will go to Winnipeg,” the governor said.

Glendale recently trumpeted the fact Hulsizer deposited $25-million in an escrow account to show he was serious about buying the Coyotes. But an NHL source said the funds came from an investment bank that plans to help Hulsizer raise enough money to buy the team.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly did not respond to a request for comment Thursday. Glendale spokeswoman Julie Frisoni said city officials will not comment on “any ongoing negotiations.” Hulsizer has not made any public comments since his interest in buying the Coyotes became known.

As the clock ticks down on the Coyotes, city officials are feeling the pressure to find a solution. When it comes to the Coyotes, Scruggs told the Arizona Republic newspaper, “Don’t ask me what Plan B is. … We don’t have a Plan B.”

According to a story in the Republic, the city owes $500-million on sports facilities it built to attract professional teams to Glendale, including a $180-million investment in Jobing.com Arena. That is a staggering sum for a city of 250,000 people. Thanks to the recession, entertainment and retail developments that were supposed to spring up to provide the revenue to pay the debt have either failed to materialize or are bringing in a fraction of the projected income.

Sources say the tentative lease deal with Hulsizer (the plan was to finalize the details as he negotiated the sale of the Coyotes with the NHL) was similar to the one Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf made with Glendale before he decided not to proceed. That deal called for bonds and other revenue to come from the community-facilities district around the arena.

Those proceeds were to be used to create an “operating loss reserve account” that would collect $25-million a year with a cap of $100-million and seven years. Parking charges at the arena would also go into the operating-loss account.

However, the Reinsdorf deal said after the fifth year of the agreement, if the operating-loss account does not have enough money to pay for the Coyotes’ losses, Glendale is on the hook. The city would have to make up the shortfall itself or allow Reinsdorf to sell the team to someone who could move it.

Given that the entire sports district around Jobing.com Arena raised just $13-million in sales tax in 2009, it does not seem likely a “community-facilities district” would produce enough revenue to cover the city’s obligations to the Coyotes’ owner.


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/david-shoalts/latest-bid-to-buy-coyotes-stalls/article1757924/

So is the story that Phoenix doesn't want the Jets to leave?

Odd this article just came out saying the opposite.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=337403

Sources say that Chicago based businessman Matthew Hulsizer, the NHL, and the city of Glendale have conceptually agreed to a deal that would see Hulsizer become the new owner of the Phoenix Coyotes.

However, by no means is this a "done deal."

There is no written agreement in place, so there remains the possibility that this sale could turn sour once again.

If negotiations continue to progress, the best case scenario would see a deal close by the end of November.

have to believe TSN then, cause their story was released 1 hour later

EdWin wrote: Glendale agreed to cover up to $25-million of this season’s losses beginning Sept. 1 in order to keep the NHL from selling the team sooner than the end of the year.

Ouch, imagine if Winnipeg was in that situation and we would have to chose between much needed road repairs and the hockey team. No thanks to that.

We were in that situation once.