Rumor: Ovechkin not to play in Washington?

[The Slap Shop]

Here is the Kings Owner. One of them

80 Philip Anschutz 64 5.2 United States United States , CO , Denver

 

[triggrman]

Predators owner Craig's wife's dad is on there does that count? She's Helen Johnson-Leipold, her dad is Samuel Johnson (S.C. Johnson & Son) he's worth about 7.4 and he's 75 years old.

 

[Jacob]

Until I see a source, it sounds like BS.

The only rumor I've heard is that Ovechkin is signed for another year with Dynamo and has said that he will play in Russia one more year, but that could just be a bargaining ploy.

 

[db23]

The logical thing from Ovechkin's point of view would be to sign a 2 year deal with the RSL. That way he would avoid all uncertainty over the CBA and still be able to come to the NHL at the age of 20 or 21. Either way he isn't going to be hurting for cash. A dollar in Russia probably buys the equivalent of $100 in the U.S.

 

[MagnusJondus]

Ovechkin will play in the NHL ASAP.

Read how strange and sometimes life-threatening staying in Russia can be:

http://www.russianhockey.net/deaths3.htm

There is a reason beyond money that there is an exodus of Russian hockey players. Huge mob influence. For a young player (see Svitov, Zherdev, Chistov) leaving Russia and getting into the NHL is always a top priority .

 

[Hockeycrazed07]

i'm guessing that part of the reason big millionaires got that rich in the first place, is because they know how and where to spend there money - that is, not in an NHL franchise that would most likely be running in the red.............. hence, i can understand why there aren't many billionaire NHL franchise owners.

NHL owners in the US get a tax break for every dollar lost in a business venture, so an ownership group like the one that owns the Sharks and the Tank (along with a number of other hockey-related entities) can claim the Sharks as a loss, financially, but still make money hand over fist on everything else. The Shark Tank is claimed in the Sharks' losses, and so they gain in the loans that SJ gave to the owners to build the Tank, via tax break, and they don't have to pay any of it back when, for example, Britney Spears comes to town. It's a win-win situation for the owners here in SJ. I'm not sure if it's like this in other cities, but I can't imagine they're that different...at least in the US, where tax laws favor businesses.

~Crazed.

 

[stardog]

i'm guessing that part of the reason big millionaires got that rich in the first place, is because they know how and where to spend there money - that is, not in an NHL franchise that would most likely be running in the red.............. hence, i can understand why there aren't many billionaire NHL franchise owners.

it's kinda like the guy who makes $120,000 a year and blows $70,000 on a new porsche. it looks good on ya, is totally fun, but kinda contradicts good sense. (and most of the time, it's for show - ie. to pick up girls!)

I for one would definatley buy an NHL franchise and spend it if I were on the list. What you say is true however, as most of these guys probably aren't fans of the game.
I think a guy like Mark Cuban is willing to lose money because he loves sports where as most of the guys on this list probably do not fall into that category.

As for the Porsche analogy, it is kind of flawed in that he isnt paying for it all at once, but over a 3-5 year period which makes it much more affordable at that salary. I make roughly around that salary and am a single guy, so I am looking at a few cars in said price range, though I will probably chicken out and get a Nissan X terra or something so I can save my money to buy that elusive NHL franchise someday!

 

[xerburt]

NHL owners in the US get a tax break for every dollar lost in a business venture, so an ownership group like the one that owns the Sharks and the Tank (along with a number of other hockey-related entities) can claim the Sharks as a loss, financially, but still make money hand over fist on everything else. The Shark Tank is claimed in the Sharks' losses, and so they gain in the loans that SJ gave to the owners to build the Tank, via tax break, and they don't have to pay any of it back when, for example, Britney Spears comes to town. It's a win-win situation for the owners here in SJ. I'm not sure if it's like this in other cities, but I can't imagine they're that different...at least in the US, where tax laws favor businesses.

~Crazed.

i can see where you're coming from from that angle. i suppose it's a package deal, in that sense, in that you kinda count on your losses in the hockey business to be less than the other business deals involved. i don't think, however, that all NHL franchise owners also own the arena in which they play - most perhaps, but i know some lease from the existing building owners, and are simply "tenants". i imagine this would be a case where both a basketball and hockey franchise play out of the same building. (does ted leonsis own both the caps and the wizards, as well as the arena they play out of?)

and stardog, yeah, that was a bad analogy on my part. made sense at the time, though! i guess in the end, when you have that much money, toys are toys! if only i could say the same.........

ps. my dad has an xterra - there's less room inside than you would think from looking in from the outside. nice ride!

 

[Hockey Moose]

80 Philip Anschutz 64 5.2 United States United States , CO , Denver

our team still sucks!

 

[Lord]

Just read on a russian source (gazeta.ru) that Ovechkin might have singed a very lucrative contract with Avandgard Omsk. A contract, Washington can't afford to challange. Though, Dynamo Moscow denied the rumor sayinf that Ovechkin wasn't to sale.

Here, in Russia, gazeta.ru is considered widely as very unreliable source of information.

 

[NYR469]

Until I see a source, it sounds like BS.

The only rumor I've heard is that Ovechkin is signed for another year with Dynamo and has said that he will play in Russia one more year, but that could just be a bargaining ploy.

could be a bargaining ploy, or it could simply be a case of ovechkin realizing that there is a good chance that the nhl will be locked out and during that lockout several nhlers plan to go play in russia...so it would only make sense for him to stay in russia during that lockout

 

[GKJ]

Roman Abramovich has 10.6 billions ..

and he's only 37 years old

 

[Safir*]

Well, if that rumor is true, than the Pens may be even happier to pick 2nd and not 1st overall.

 

[Hitman*]

Isn't Bill Kroenke a billionaire too? I know his wife is also an heir to the Wal-Mart fortune.

 

[kingsfan]

80 Philip Anschutz 64 5.2 United States United States , CO , Denver

our team still sucks!

Like people have said before in this thread, these guys (and ladies )do not get this rich spending money foolishly. It's not like the Kings had to struggle by with a payroll like Nashville or Minnesota. LA was given plenty of cash to spend on salaries. And, while injuries certainly played a huge role, the Kings still failed to make the playoffs in two straight years. I wouldn't be spending any more money then Anschutz is, until I seen a return on my investment in the form of playoff games. When a number of teams that spent less then you make the playoffs, especially teams within in your own conference, it is an understandable conclusion. You can argue the injury problem all you want, but what most billionaires look at is the bottom line. And the fact is that the bottom line in LA should be better considering the payroll at the teams disposal.

 

[Darz]

As far as billionaire owners and so forth, remember alot of teams are owned by corporations and/or groups of owners.

The Rags are owned by Paramount which I'm sure has a few dollars, ditto Anahiem and Disney. The teachers union has a stake in the Leafs, and Molson still owns a chunk of the Habs, and so on.

Also on the topic of a billionaire russian owner throwing wads of money at Ovechkin. Most billionaire's didn't become billionaires by throwing huge amounts of money at a single player to play in a second tier league. This kind of stuff is left to the Bruce McNall's of the world.

 

[Foppa_Rules]

Ovechkin would never sign with another Russian team other than Dynamo Moscow. He has said that several times. He's a Dynamo fanatic--basketball, soccer, hockey, ect. I highly doubt he signed with Avangard.

 

[Slick Nick]

Here, in Russia, gazeta.ru is considered widely as very unreliable source of information.

I said Rumor in the title, I didn't believe it was true when I read it. I,Ve just posted that so people know about it..

 

[in the hall]

Washington's Leonis comes to mind, hell I thought that his first name was 'Billionaire' and middle name was 'Owner' as they almost always preface his name with those two words, though his AOL stock dropping may have effected that status.

AOL is not even worth over a billion.

 

[MrMackey]

Billionaire Owners (2003)

Ottawa: Eugene Melnyk - $1.4B
Buffalo: Tom Golisano - $1.2B
Tampa Bay: William Davidson - $1.8B
Nashville: Craig Leipold - $7B
St. Louis: Bill Laurie - ~ $2.6B
Vancouver: John McCaw, Jr. - $1.1B
Los Angeles: Philip Anschutz - $5B
Colorado: Stanley Kroenke - $1.4B
NYR: Chuck Dolan - $1.4B
** Atlanta: Ted Turner (largest shareholder with 15%) - $2.3B

Total without Turner = $22.9B
Total with Turner = $25.2

http://ordinaryleastsquare.typepad.com/dubi/2004/01/old_boss_new_bo.html

 

[Jaded-Fan]

AOL is not even worth over a billion.

Yup, I knew that Leonis took a hit, just did not know how hard of a hit . . .

 

[Jacob]

Ovechkin would never sign with another Russian team other than Dynamo Moscow. He has said that several times. He's a Dynamo fanatic--basketball, soccer, hockey, ect. I highly doubt he signed with Avangard.

He'll go where the money is.

 

[tom_servo]

He'll go where the money is.

Right.

Rocket Ismail!

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Actually I do not see this being a problem in the end . . . There are far more second line players than AO's or Malkin's, and the money from this contract and future ones will be much greater if paid in many smaller packages, ie, getting 10 or 12 players a year coming over and drafted will mean more than a 10 million payday for AO that is not going to happen. In the end the structure may be similar to the last one maybe with a small jiggering of it for AO, but not anything close to a 10 million dollar one.

 

[Foppa_Rules]

He'll go where the money is.

Nope, I've heard him talk about this. He's a complete Dynamo fanatic. He even said, "I have firmly decided that I will play will Dynamo for the rest of my life (outside the NHL)". He's always cheered for Dynamo in every sport since he was a kid. There's no way he's signing with another Russian team. No way. It'll never happen unless Dynamo turns into some kind of sick organization and he has to leave.