However, the way he went about attempting to buy and relocate the Predators paints a clear picture of how this man operates
Oh, no question about it. As big of a supporter as I am in wanting to see a team land in Hamilton Im equally willing to stand up for markets like Nashville & Phoenix. As this threads about Balsillie, we really cant have an honest discussion about the guy without holding Richard Rodier to account. After the Pittsburgh debacle, the guy went rogue on Nashville, and unless the NHL hadnt intervened, Leipold wouldve likely accommodated the relocation. That he was "sat down" and promised Minnesota in order to comply says much.
The Phoenix gambit was flawed from the start. Torching an already fragile market while embarrassing the league?. Cutesy' statements about the "front door is closed to us so were simply trying to go through the backdoor" and "the most underserved market in North America" didnt cut it for me. Whats crazy is beyond Rodiers' schemes is they did have a decent business plan & reportedly were even willing to turn over arena management to MLSE along with paying some reasonable indemnification fee's to both Toronto & Buffalo. But thats not really the point. Fundamental trusts had been breached.
Way back when in 1917, when it was then called the NHA, the member teams actually formed the NHL itself in order to extricate itself from then rogue owner Eddie Livingston of the Toronto St.Pats, stripping him of the franchise, booting him out of the newly formed National Hockey League. You just cant have owners busting their way around the china shop. Livingston spent the next 20yrs of his life in a futile attempt at suing the NHL. Maybe someone told Jim Balsillie the story, and also mentioned that were often known for the company we keep, and that it might be best to cut Rodier loose if he ever hoped to gain entry.