Who is the most unlikeable owner?

[Inkling]

Melnyk would be more dislikable if he was just cheap when he didn't need to be, but there is a lot of talk that a lot of his wealth disappeared in his businesses and his divorce. He sold his horse racing interests when some people said that they were as important to him as his hockey team. Maybe he's in the situation by having bad judgement, but no one ever wants to lose a good chunk of your wealth.

There's no question that he loves the team and he saved them from being moved when he bought the team out of bankruptcy.

On the other hand, his strange pronouncements (CSI Matt Cooke, Karlsson Olympic comment), his Bill O'Reilly tweet, and possible meddling isn't going to win him any fans.

Unlike owners like Ballard and Wirtz Sr., he doesn't actively sabotage his team. He wants to win and even if they're misguided, he does stuff to help the team win within the budget that they have. If he's in a cash crunch then hopefully he will come to the realization before it does permanent damage - losing a generational player or permanently alienating a generation of fans - and can either sell or get a partner.

 

[BoltSTH]

I can't imagine anyone worse than the previous owners of the Bolts, Koules/Barrie who had to borrow $100m of the $195m purchace. Took a playoff caliber team to bankruptcy and near relocation in 2 years. Didn't think they needed a GM, gave Dan Boyle and big extension, then realized they could not afford it and threatened to send to the AHL if he didn't waive his NTC, traded Richards as could not afford it, hired buddy Melrose as coach then buddy who was assistant coach Rick Tocchet, signed buddies that invested in Bear Mountain .... As soon as the 'Saw' movie franchise ended and Bear Mountain collapsed , Koules and Barrie had no income to cover even salaries, never mind debt.
All hail the savior Vinik!

 

[YEM]

Comcast Spectacor - Wikipedia

 

[wandk128]

You can't not share what it was.

My brother and I got Bruins season tickets in 2006, as college kids. Attended 30+ games every year up until 2 seasons ago. He was diagnosed with cancer in late 2015. Our family was stretched pretty thin financially and as a result, we ended up only getting to 20 games that year and about 10 last season. We sold 1/2 to friends and the rest on NHL Ticketexchange.

March of this year we're told our account has been labeled a reseller account and our tickets go up 25, an increase of about $2400. I spent a few months trying to get someone from the organization to just hear me out, but was repeatedly told, "The crackdown came from the top. The decision has been made" so I never even got to explain my case.

My brother has been in remission since early this summer thankfully!

I've yet to decide what team I'm going to support going forward.

 

[WingsMJN2965]

If Melnyk died tomorrow I think Ottawa fans would take turns defecating on his grave... And justifiably so.

 

[Burke the Legend]

From a purely objective point of view I would define a bad owner as one who inserts himself into hockey ops and/or doesn't provide resources to win. The former means unqualified amateur decision making overruling that of longtime pros, the latter means the team is handicapped vs big spenders. Even if not spending is not totally fair in the context, like the club is just operating within its revenue situation, it would still make the owner a bad one since a truly "good" one would be some bigtime billionaire who has so much money that he will keep spending anyway and eat a loss in order to keep his team as competitive as possible.

So by these criteria, probably Melnyk is the only one who hits both points. There might be some other guys who can be scored by one or or the other, but not both like Melnyk clearly seems to be doing if reports are to be believed.

 

[McKappa]

James Dolan

Knicks owner James Dolan is playing a concert gig during the NBA Draft

Probably as pretentious as you can get

 

[jbobell98]

Eugene Melnyk. Guy was ready to allow Canadian players to go to the olympics but when asked if he'd let Karlsson go he said no

 

[Gnashville]

Leipold's an interesting one, Nashville fans hate him. Wild fans have zero problem with him.

He spends to the cap, stays out of Hockey Ops, and seems to only care about winning.

Leipold was as cheap as Melynk when he was here. He never attempted to connect with the city, blamed the fans for the team’s financial issues, threatened the fans, and sold to someone he knew was going to move the team. He had to save face by taking less money than he wanted because it became apparent what a slime bucket Balsille was.

He claimed he no longer wanted to be involved in hockey ownership as the reason he attempted to sell to Balsillie, but bought the Wild less than a year later.
Then he poached Lying Ryan $uter for a contract he would have never signed anyone to here.

 

[Mount Suribachi]

From a purely objective point of view I would define a bad owner as one who inserts himself into hockey ops and/or doesn't provide resources to win. The former means unqualified amateur decision making overruling that of longtime pros, the latter means the team is handicapped vs big spenders. Even if not spending is not totally fair in the context, like the club is just operating within its revenue situation, it would still make the owner a bad one since a truly "good" one would be some bigtime billionaire who has so much money that he will keep spending anyway and eat a loss in order to keep his team as competitive as possible.

So by these criteria, probably Melnyk is the only one who hits both points. There might be some other guys who can be scored by one or or the other, but not both like Melnyk clearly seems to be doing if reports are to be believed.

Which is why Mike Ilitch was such a great owner. He provided the team with all the $$$ it needed to be successful. He supported the coaches and the management and the players, he gave help and support when needed (like pulling strings to get players kids into the best schools). He demanded excellence, and put winning over making a profit.

And then he stepped back and let them get on with it.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Katz is a bad owner from a hockey perspective since he keeps his friends around (Lowe MacT) but he does give the GM the money to be a cap team if he chooses to, and the players generally seem to like him...plus he stays out of the limelight

the Aquillini's in Vancouver aren't great either since they have the same problem Katz has...keeping friends around (Linden)

Murray Edwards in Calgary looks awful with the arena situation in Calgary...made even worse since he doesn't even live in the country, but he allows the team to spend to the cap

but Melnyk takes the cake...cheap, out spoken and too opinionated on things...I not sure how much the players like him (Karlsson, Turris made some vague remarks about him)

 

[tarheelhockey]

Karmanos isn't as hateable as some of these guys, but at the same time he's very hard to like.

 

[Armourboy]

Leipold was as cheap as Melynk when he was here. He never attempted to connect with the city, blamed the fans for the team’s financial issues, threatened the fans, and sold to someone he knew was going to move the team. He had to save face by taking less money than he wanted because it became apparent what a slime bucket Balsille was.

He claimed he no longer wanted to be involved in hockey ownership as the reason he attempted to sell to Balsillie, but bought the Wild less than a year later.
Then he poached Lying Ryan $uter for a contract he would have never signed anyone to here.

Pretty much covers it. I don't know too many people in Nashville that don't want him hung from the rafters in Bridgestone. His handling of the team severely hampered the franchise even after he left, and in a round about way you could argue is what forced us to accept the crappy Weber contract.

 

[MinimaMoralia]

I actually met Katz once. Still leaves a foul taste in my memory.
I appreciate what he's done for Edmonton, but he's the epitome of a douchebag.

 

[viper0220]

I actually met Katz once. Still leaves a foul taste in my memory.
I appreciate what he's done for Edmonton, but he's the epitome of a *****ebag.

What happened?

 

[MikeK]

The idiots in Vancouver

 

[blood gin]

Supposedly Satan is so fed up with Bill Wirtz that he's actually forcing him to rise from the grave and reanimate. He may yet reclaim his throne

 

[Chief Nine]

My brother and I got Bruins season tickets in 2006, as college kids. Attended 30+ games every year up until 2 seasons ago. He was diagnosed with cancer in late 2015. Our family was stretched pretty thin financially and as a result, we ended up only getting to 20 games that year and about 10 last season. We sold 1/2 to friends and the rest on NHL Ticketexchange.

March of this year we're told our account has been labeled a reseller account and our tickets go up 25, an increase of about $2400. I spent a few months trying to get someone from the organization to just hear me out, but was repeatedly told, "The crackdown came from the top. The decision has been made" so I never even got to explain my case.

My brother has been in remission since early this summer thankfully!

I've yet to decide what team I'm going to support going forward.

Glad to hear that your bother is doing better, hopefully he'll be cancer free! I can't say I blame you since you never even got the chance to speak with anyone in authority about this. I'm sure you exhausted all avenues, but I'm curious to see how far you got past the lower rungs. Did they let you speak with anyone other than the account "executives"?

 

[wandk128]

My account rep, my 5th different one in 7 years, claims that he spoke with his supervisor and there was nothing they could do. All my calls and emails to anyone higher up went unanswered.

I really appreciate the well wishes!

 

[Goalie guy]

The Pizza kids are up there in my book, They took every thing Mr I had done and flushed it! They only care about money.

 

[Syckle78]

The Pizza kids are up there in my book, They took every thing Mr I had done and flushed it! They only care about money.

It's too soon to make a call on them. It doesn't look good based on early results,though.

 

[Baxterman]

Katz seems like the biggest d-bag by far.

Melnyk with his whining and forensic investigation seems like an idiot as well.

 

[Baxterman]

Murray Edwards is probably a pretty popular choice with the arena situation in Calgary.

Edwards (and all the Flames owners) are great.

They are in the right in the arena situation. Not a chance he is one of the worst owners.

 

[harrisb]

I actually posted similar comments on the sens board today...

What owner trades draft picks for cash? Purposely takes on bad front loaded contracts once the pay is lower than the cap? Never buys out players that are underperforming? Trades youth for age so they don’t have to pay them (zibanejad)

I present to you Eugene Melnyk for discussion, not sure another owner has had this impact on their team. I can ignore the media crap but the stuff above is just killing the sens

 

[Bobby Orrtuzzo]

Although my anger is mainly due to how he **** on St. Louis while moving the Rams, I can whole heartedly say I hate Stan Kroenke with every fiber in me.