Blues on the market

[WC Handy*]

Something kind of interesting... Bernie Miklasz of the St Louis Post Dispatch said on his message board that there is a local group that will make a bid that includes a current Blues player.

Pronger? MacInnis? Tkachuk? Weight?

Pronger being involved would certainly put a dent in the plans of Maple Leaf fans.

 

[WC Handy*]

wow, i'm shocked. i thought this new cba was what the owners were looking for. hard to figure this one out, perhaps the revenues that the blues will be forced to share are very significant. what a terrible time for an owner to sell his team.

the company with the arena naming rights also cancelled their sponsorship agreement ? weird developments.

what does this mean for hockey in st.louis.

is it possible that the blues could relocate ?

is this just the first in a long line of owners looking to dump their franchises ?

very interesting development.

st.louis is a great sports town so i have no doubt the team willfind an owner, but what does this development mean for the league as a whole ?

In all honestly, it says more about Bill Laurie than it does the NHL. Frachise values can only go up from here and he's plenty smart enough to know that, so he simply just wants out now.

 

[Hawker14]

after reading bernie's take on the situation, sounds like the blues are in alot worse shape than many thought.

12.6 cents of every ticket dollar goes straight to taxes. that's major, not to mention the team debt.

hopefully st.louis can get the situation with ownership/taxes staightened out. although i'm sure a new owner will leverage winnipeg/houston/kansas city etc. to get the best possible concessions from the gov't.

 

[WC Handy*]

after reading bernie's take on the situation, sounds like the blues are in alot worse shape than many thought.

12.6 cents of every ticket dollar goes straight to taxes. that's major, not to mention the team debt.

hopefully st.louis can get the situation with ownership/taxes staightened out. although i'm sure a new owner will leverage winnipeg/houston/kansas city etc. to get the best possible concessions from the gov't.

Bernie is a drama queen. I trust his sources when he says there is a local group going to put a bid, but no one really puts any stock into his takes on stuff like this. In this new NHL with revenue sharing being a key compenent, there's no way NHL owners are going to approve a move out of St Louis.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

i would love to have enough money to buy nhl team

 

[barnburner]

Unless they get relief from the ridiculous 12.6% tax structure on tickets, it's going to be difficult to find a responsible ownership for the Blues.
St. louis has given sweetheart deals to the Cardinals and the Rams, but to this point, absolutely refused to relieve the ridiculous tax burden on the Blues.
This not only hurts as far as Blues tickets, the same tax structure applies to all events held in the Savvis Centre, making it difficult to attract concerts, etc., leaving the building empty and adding to the financial burden of ownership.
Having been thru this before when we almost lost the Blues before, I'm just pretty much sick at my stomach. Having to live thru this cba insanity, and now this.

 

[Tekneek]

I wouldn't be critical of any owner trying to get out of this business. Nothing is guaranteed with the NHL, regardless of the CBA they come up with. This could be the best time to get out before franchise values bottom out over the next few years with greatly decreased revenues (compared to pre-lockout). In the long run franchise values may go higher than before, but there are no guarantees right now. If you aren't prepared to wait for a big upturn that may never come, now is the time to at least consider cashing out.

 

[arnie]

Citing heavy financial losses and concerns about the future, St. Louis Blues owners Bill and Nancy Laurie have decided to sell the National Hockey League team and its long-term lease on the Savvis Center. An official announcement will be made Friday morning.

Source: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...E9A1EB3B7A03C77C862570220077DFBA?OpenDocument

I find this ironic because the Blues are the biggest overspenders in the NHL. Other teams like NYR and Detroit might have bigger payrolls, but they can afford it. The Blues have overspent for years, despite their huge losses. This is the kind of thinking that is responsible for the current mess.

In fact, the Blues are the team that started the whole free agent mess years ago when they became the first team to try and steal big time free agents with big contracts, i .e., Shanahan and then Scott Stevens.

 

[RangerBoy]

The Blues have always had ownership issues.The team almost moved to Saskatoon in 1983 before Harry Ornest keep the team in St.Louis.Then Shanahan and Jack Quinn preceded to tamper with Scott Stevens and got caught.Pissed off the NHL office with the offer sheets to Stevens in 1990 and 1994,Brendan Shanahan in 1991 and Petr Nedved in 1994.Mike Keenan in 1994

 

[Hasbro]

The Blues have always had ownership issues.The team almost moved to Saskatoon in 1983 before Harry Ornest keep the team in St.Louis.Then Shanahan and Jack Quinn preceded to tamper with Scott Stevens and got caught.Pissed off the NHL office with the offer sheets to Stevens in 1990 and 1994,Brendan Shanahan in 1991 and Petr Nedved in 1994.Mike Keenan in 1994

You can add the whole Keenan era to that.

 

[GKJ]

Citing heavy financial losses and concerns about the future, St. Louis Blues owners Bill and Nancy Laurie have decided to sell the National Hockey League team and its long-term lease on the Savvis Center. An official announcement will be made Friday morning.

Source: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...E9A1EB3B7A03C77C862570220077DFBA?OpenDocument

before the lockout (maybe during I forget now), the Blues were one of the 6 teams who were cited as losing more money than the other 24 teams combined (if anyone remembers).



They claimed they were fine and knew what they were doing. I guess they don't like what kind of deal they're going to get, and/or lost even more money in the lockout.

 

[GKJ]

hopefully st.louis can get the situation with ownership/taxes staightened out. although i'm sure a new owner will leverage winnipeg/houston/kansas city etc. to get the best possible concessions from the gov't.

Not if the lease on the arena doesn't run out for another 39 years....Do you know how much that's going to cost to get out of? Plus Savvis center is only (ONLY) like 14 years old...

 

[Mr Sakich]

I am enjoying this. The blues are one of the biggest problems with the NHL and have a large hand in this current mess. As an Oiler fan, I was extremely displeased to see them sign weight for 9 mill and then complain about losing 20 mill a year. This whole mess looks good on that org right now.

I have no issue with other big market teams who have a big payroll but still operate with a profit. They are living within thier means.

 

[GKJ]

I am enjoying this. The blues are one of the biggest problems with the NHL and have a large hand in this current mess. As an Oiler fan, I was extremely displeased to see them sign weight for 9 mill and then complain about losing 20 mill a year. This whole mess looks good on that org right now.

I have no issue with other big market teams who have a big payroll but still operate with a profit. They are living within thier means.

I agree a lot. The Blues were one of the teams that were one of the problems. High payrolls in recent years, and always have good but not good enough teams. In 2000 they had their best year ever and got roughed up and bounced in round 1

 

[BLONG7]

I am enjoying this. The blues are one of the biggest problems with the NHL and have a large hand in this current mess. As an Oiler fan, I was extremely displeased to see them sign weight for 9 mill and then complain about losing 20 mill a year. This whole mess looks good on that org right now.

I have no issue with other big market teams who have a big payroll but still operate with a profit. They are living within thier means.

The Blues were definitely one of a few franchises that started the salary escalation beyond belief. I always wondered how they were doing this...with smoke and mirrors apparently, small market teams will not feel for these guys at all. Hopefully they will get a new owner and keep them right there in St. Louis...

 

[Checker*]

I agree a lot. The Blues were one of the teams that were one of the problems. High payrolls in recent years, and always have good but not good enough teams. In 2000 they had their best year ever and got roughed up and bounced in round 1

Way to classlessly kick a team when they're down.

Sure the Blues financial management has been pretty much a joke, but the fan support for the Blues despite not winning the Cup or even getting all that close lately has always been there. As one of those Blues fans I'm scared of losing the team I've rooted for my whole life right now because of outrageous taxes and overzealous owners. I'd appreciate it if people around here for once got off their know-it-all high-horses.

 

[GKJ]

Way to classlessly kick a team when they're down.

Sure the Blues financial management has been pretty much a joke, but the fan support for the Blues despite not winning the Cup or even getting all that close lately has always been there. As one of those Blues fans I'm scared of losing the team I've rooted for my whole life right now because of outrageous taxes and overzealous owners. I'd appreciate it if people around here for once got off their know-it-all high-horses.

Where did I say anything about the fans? I stated why they were a problem. Sorry, but if a team spends almost $40M on 4 players, that's poor management. Whose idea was it to give Keith Tkachuk $11M and Doug Weight $9M? Because of that they had to let Pavol Demetra walk as a unqualified RFA and he was better than both of them and came at a much more reasonable price.

 

[Checker*]

. Sorry, but if a team spends almost $40M on 4 players, that's poor management.

Yeah...it was a dick move on Pleau's part.

Because of that they had to let Pavol Demetra walk as a unqualified RFA and he was better than both of them and came at a much more reasonable price.

I'd still rather have Weight and Tkachuk over Demitra, but I agree letting him walk was idiotic and just another incidence in a disturbing pattern of the Blues letting big players walk away for nothing because they are too content with simply making the playoffs every year.

All I'm saying is that I agree the Blues spent money poorly but after getting the news which could move the Blues for StL. today after gearing up for hockey's return
it's irritating to see people celebrating the potential collapse of hockey in a good market.

 

[X8oD]

The Blues were 1 player away in 2000

a goaltender

They then decided to trade all of thier dept for high priced "Star" players and refuse to address thier 1 need

goaltending.

They promptly became nothing more than a stepping stone to the red wings in the playoffs. Their GM and Ownership people(s) decided to play real life fantasy hockey, and corner the market on over priced star players.

Being a wings fan who watched thier fans flood various message boards thru the years every time they met up, i find this funny as hell. That market can EASILY support a profitable hockey team.

 

[GKJ]

it's irritating to see people celebrating the potential collapse of hockey in a good market.

I'm not celebrating anything. Get some better owners in there, some better managment. St. Louis Blues fans deserve to have a long run of success more than probably any other fan base in hockey.





X8oD...that is noted, but that team was still good enough to get into the conference finals, as demonstrated in 2001 with the same goaltender.

 

[GKJ]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=128173&hubName=nhl

Savvis also is getting out of the naming rights.

 

[barnburner]

Where did I say anything about the fans? I stated why they were a problem. Sorry, but if a team spends almost $40M on 4 players, that's poor management. Whose idea was it to give Keith Tkachuk $11M and Doug Weight $9M? Because of that they had to let Pavol Demetra walk as a unqualified RFA and he was better than both of them and came at a much more reasonable price.

The Blues made some serious mistakes. Pleau had the franchise on a "build from within" plan, when the ownership decided they wanted to go for it "now" and pressured Pleau to change tactics - thus the Tkachuck/Weight contracts, the serious attempts to sign Blake, Hasek, and others. Then when success didnt come quickly enough to satisfy the Lauries - they panicked and closed the wallet to Pleau. End result - we had a team built partly on one plan, and partly on another, with each plan never being allowed to grow and prove itself. The bad part is that this switch in tactics by ownership left an incomplete book on Pleau. Is he capable of building a Cup winner, or just a sound, middle level GM? Unfortunately, we never had a chance to find out. At the time the Lauries purchased the Blues and their building - there were some that said he was just using the Blues and their building as a way to get an NBA franchise. In hindsight - it appears they were correct.

Oh - Demitra is an extremely talented player and really fun to watch in the regular season. Unfortunately, when the hitting starts - he becomes pretty much a spectator, treats the scoring zone like a minefield, preferring to stay on the perimeter, and gets rid of the puck like it's a hot potato.

 

[Dave is a killer]

and with the first pick in the 2006 draft the Winnepeg Blues select Phil Kessel

 

[heygarebear]

and with the first pick in the 2006 draft the Winnepeg Blues select Phil Kessel

that is not funny Althought I wouldn't mind having the St. Louis Blues draft Phil Kessel

 

[Sp5618]

What I don't like about this is the fact that during all these discussions about who is in trouble, who needs help to survive, who should be sold &/or moved, the subject has been the Carolinas, Panthers, Pens, etc.

Never have we considered that a contender and "established" team would be in this boat.

I'm a Wings fan, but I find it disturbing for the NHL overall that the owner of the Blues would want to sell NOW. It is the worst time, IMO, to sell...and what does it say about the Blues' ownership's confidence in Bettman, the league and the new CBA?