i wonder if we'll ever see the contents of "the NHL Consent Agreement" ?
this is a juicy soap opera !!!
this is a juicy soap opera !!!
Seth Lake
Registered User
Wow, that is a great letter. Sounds clearly like Balsillie remains very interested in purchasing the franchise, but has a problem with the NHL's conditions on the sale and that he hopes they can be worked out.
Obviously I don't believe everything I hear or see, but...this seems to be a commitment from Balsillie to work with the Penguins and the City of Pittsburgh to get a new arena built despite the stupidity that was the slots decision.
Will definitely be interested to watch where this goes from here.
Firefighter Havok
Registered User
I'm sorry but I don't believe a word in this letter, and I don't believe a word that this man says. He dumped out the first time, I don't think he deserves a second chance. This letter was slickly worded like a politician's speech. Sorry, not buying it...
Jaded-Fan
Registered User
Seconded. Sounds like he wants to get Mario on board to pressure Bettman into the sale w/o conditions, and then will declare the offer 'inadequate' at first opportunity, even if it was a free arena which the City is virtually offering now, and then move the team. Isn't this the same guy who stole the idea his whole company was based on, and use the legal process to wait out the actual inventors of the Blackberry and steal their idea from them for peanuts 'settlement' dollars? Yeah, he is as trustworthy as they come.
why don't you trust politicians ? have you ever held public office. ran for office ?
have you ever offered $ 175 million for something before ?
perhaps you shouldn't judge until this plays out.
he's an accountant. lazardis is the technological brains behind rim and balsillie is the finance. under your theory it would be lazardis who is the thief.
your argument is poppycock. you surmise a false premise to charactize him a liar.
it is you who should look in the mirror.
here's some advice. close your eyes and don't think about it for the next three months. i've been through this as a fan. luckily pittsburgh has owners willing to put up their own money, and the arena will be built. 99% of everything you read in the next while will be BS, so don't even worry about it. it's all about business, and the interested parties are just maximizing their returns, at the expense of the fans' emotions. the team isn't moving.
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SomeDude
Registered User
I found this hilarious to ask a Pens fan.See this whole arena debacle then tell us why we don't trust politicians.
As for JB, I still don't trust him any further then I could throw him. Mario seemed pretty peeved during his press conference and I'd be shocked if he'd be willing to sell to him now.
Classy move by Jim.....Ive gained some respect for him, and i understand why he would withdraw his offer..... bettman took advantage of the situation and got caught with his hand in the cookie jar....
I was hoping you would agree to go arm and arm with me to the Commissioner and make one last effort to get our deal done.
Sounds very Wizard-of-Ozish.
Sounds very Wizard-of-Ozish.
PACaptain
Registered User
Sounds like he is still angling in. This whole situation is surreal from a Pens fan perspective. The local and state governments have failed Mario many times in the last seven years. Balsillie is playing on that to acquire the team and I'm nearly certain he would move them.
Northern Dancer
The future ain't what it used to be.
I don't think that's how it went down at all. I mean, not whatsoever.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTP,_Inc.
BlueAndWhite
Registered User
You might want to read up on the case between NTP and Blackberry before you go making such outlandish statements. You come across as nothing more than a bitter Penguins fan.
-He pulls out after NHL doesn't want him to move the team for a long time. Deal is dead.
-Penguins miss out on slot licenses and have to look elsewhere. Balsillie is silent.
-Mario comes out and says they may have relocate the team. Balsillie writes a letter to get back in.
I think his intentions are pretty clear.
-Penguins miss out on slot licenses and have to look elsewhere. Balsillie is silent.
-Mario comes out and says they may have relocate the team. Balsillie writes a letter to get back in.
I think his intentions are pretty clear.
BlueAndWhite
Registered User
But even before the IoC lost the bid, it has been mentioned several times that Balsillie was still interested in the team. Or was that just baseless speculation ?
Funny how some label JB as a bad man .Atleast he makes it clear he wants to try to work under pan B .
id be MUCH more afraid of MARIO'S FRIEND and biz partner
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/16293680.htm
"It's exciting news that Mario made that statement," said Del Biaggio, a San Jose-based businessman and limited partner in the NHL's San Jose Sharks. "It means the Kansas City market and other markets are now an option, where before they weren't.
Del Biaggio said he has been in touch with Paul McGannon, president of NHL21 -- the grass-roots organization dedicated to brining the NHL to Kansas City_concerning a ticket drive.
McGannon said the mechanisms for taking season-ticket deposits will be announced in January. All 72 suites in the Sprint Center, which will seat 17,297 for hockey, have been sold, and a plan to begin marketing the 1,766 club seats is scheduled to launch in January.
"Things are going to move quickly," McGannon said. "(Lemieux) has a business to run, and like any other business owner, he's looking for a land of opportunity. We're the land of opportunity."
id be MUCH more afraid of MARIO'S FRIEND and biz partner
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/16293680.htm
"It's exciting news that Mario made that statement," said Del Biaggio, a San Jose-based businessman and limited partner in the NHL's San Jose Sharks. "It means the Kansas City market and other markets are now an option, where before they weren't.
Del Biaggio said he has been in touch with Paul McGannon, president of NHL21 -- the grass-roots organization dedicated to brining the NHL to Kansas City_concerning a ticket drive.
McGannon said the mechanisms for taking season-ticket deposits will be announced in January. All 72 suites in the Sprint Center, which will seat 17,297 for hockey, have been sold, and a plan to begin marketing the 1,766 club seats is scheduled to launch in January.
"Things are going to move quickly," McGannon said. "(Lemieux) has a business to run, and like any other business owner, he's looking for a land of opportunity. We're the land of opportunity."
cc
Registered User
- Feb 28, 2002
- 9,618
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how many buyers would have been interested in this team with as many restrictions placed on JB? Teams have relocated under Bettman's regime with nary a peep from him including Winnipeg, who's fans loved their team. I don't blame JB for originally pulling out of the deal at all. JB is acting no different than any other buyer so it doen't make any sense to villify him at all.
This may be true. At the same time, if Jim Balsillie's latest offer is significantly higher than market value (or offers by other potential bidders), his position on that queue may be bumped up a few places.
guinness
Not Ingrid for now
Jaded-Fan
Registered User
Nor is it an entirely empty threat, because four franchises have shifted on Bettman's watch, all in a mid-1990s cluster -- Minnesota to Dallas in '93, Quebec City to Colorado in '95, Winnipeg to Phoenix in '96, and Hartford to Carolina in '97 -- though the latter three were all cleanups of World Hockey Association cities the NHL never wanted in the first place.
But franchises don't move without a lot of heartache and bad press, and the NHL in the U.S. isn't exactly a juggernaut at the moment. With all the mileage the Pens and the league have got out of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, do they really need to take a chance on leaping into the great unknown of what might be yet another marginal hockey market?
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/sports/story.html?id=9bf4e517-cf40-4664-82c5-78764ca33fba
Hunter Gathers
The Crown
I find it absolutely comical that Pens fans can somehow make JB out to be the bad guy after the 11th hour conditions imposed on him.
