[VioletlightHeron]

From my standpoint, Grimes, it seems implied from the article that the idea of a second Toronto team is being considered as a means for MLSE to make more money for itself. MLSE, from my perspective, has deliberately run the sports side of the Leafs shoddily and has treated its fan base like an ATM machine. By having a second team in the downtown Toronto area that has very poor prospects for having its own arena, it would put a very onerous financial burden on whomever (presumably Balsillie) relocated the Preds because Bettman could either overinflate the price for the Preds the league is willing to accept or impose an outrageous expansion franchise fee on a new GTA team. Bettman, in my opinion, should be forced to accept the inevitable relocation of the Preds or Phoenix to a stronger fan base in Hamilton or Winnipeg and give up his ridiculous notion that NHL teams are viable in the southern/southwestern US.

[grimes]

As someone who has suffered through an entire lifetime of mediocrity from the Leafs, I hate MLSE as much as the next guy. I don't think the idea of a 2nd team in Toronto is to give more money to MLSE; rather that's a necessary evil to get them on board. According to the NHL's constitution teams have terroritial monolopies within a certain distance from their areans (50 miles I think, though I can't recall for sure). Hamilton unfortunately falls within both Toronto and Buffalo's territory. So unless Balsillie is prepared to challenge the rules in court, he'd have to get both Buffalo and Toronto's owners to agree to his moving a team to Hamilton. If he picks Toronto on the other hand, he has only MLSE to appease. He would have some leverage here because MLSE certainly wouldn't want him building another arena in town - then they'd also have competiton for all the big name concerts etc. So he'd probably be able to work out a reasonable rent situation. MLSE gets a few bucks for rent, Balsillie gets his team in Canada, everybody is happy.

As for Bettman, he ultimately has no say in how much Balsillie pays for a team; that's just between the current owners and Balsillie. He was able to keep Balsillie out the first time by convincing Craig Leipold to take a $40 million haircut, and he rewarded him for that by setting him up in Minnesota. In the long run though, as the economy takes its toll on some of the fasle hockey markets in the south, Balsillie's money will become too good for an owner (whether Nashville, Phoenix, Atlanta, etc.) to pass up, and Bettman's hat will eventually run out of rabbits to stop it.

[VioletlightHeron]

I don't know how Balsillie would go about challenging the NHL's territorial rule (A US judge would probably throw it out on anti-trust grounds in a heartbeat) and I think any owner would have a hard time getting a team to Hamilton, I still feel that dealing with MLSE alone would be the worst option. The scenario I see is this: Balsillie (or whomever) gets a team and gets an agreement with MLSE for renting out the ACC for games. I'd bet since MLSE owns the ACC, they would take a significant chunk of the new team's concession and ticket revenue as part of the rental agreement. MLSE would essentially get a third or more of the new team's revenue without having to pay out payroll expenses and the like. Plus I think it would be very hard for a new owner to get a new arena built in Toronto because of the strong financial pull of the Ontario Teacher's Pension Plan. I'm more inclined to think the Preds, the Coyotes or Columbus would be better off in Winnipeg or Quebec. I'd love to see a new team in the Hamilton area, but the odds are against it. With regards to Bettman, doesn't he or the NHL board of governors have to approve any sale? I get the feeling that Bettman hates Balsillie so much that he'll do whatever he can to prevent him from owning a team.

[grimes]

I'm sure Balsillie wouldn't sign any deal with MLSE that would screw him that much. He's far too smart, and far too rich for that. As for the rules for new owners, The league's existing owners must approve any sale, Bettman doesn't have a vote. They'd have a hard time coming up with justification for voting against Balsillie.

Check out Stephen Brunt's take on it a few weeks ago:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081001.BRUNT01/TPStory/TPSports/?query=">http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ ... ts/?query=</a><!-- m -->

If Balsillie wants a team, I think it's only a matter of time until he gets one, and if he does, it will likely end up somewhere in Southern Ontario eventually. I'd love to see the Jets back as well, but the Southern Ontario market makes a lot more business sense first.

[VioletlightHeron]

very interesting article, thanks for that.

I still think that between MLSE and the City of Toronto, with MLSE owning the ACC and the City not amenable to helping build a new arena, another team in the Toronto area doesn't make financial sense. A Hamilton team could theoretically, if it were better run than MLSE has run the Leafs and Raptors, draw its fan base from Hamilton to Missisauga to Etobicoke and beyond. I think MLSE management desperately does not want another team in the Southern Ontario market because they know that team will probably be better run on the sports side and would lure away Leafs fans that are sick of poor management that doesn't give a crap about winning games and championships.

[grimes]

I think MLSE management desperately does not want another team in the Southern Ontario market because they know that team will probably be better run on the sports side and would lure away Leafs fans that are sick of poor management that doesn't give a crap about winning games and championships.

I agree, MLSE probably does think that. But it won't happen to the extent that it will cause them much harm. Most Leafs fans will still be Leafs fans. But there's plenty of Leafs haters around these parts that could rally together in support of the new team. Plus, casual hockey fans could actually have a chance to go to games. There's 5 million people in the GTA. The Leafs sell just under 20,000 tickets per game, but only about 1,000 of those are available to the general public. So in a given season, there's only about 40,000 tickets available for 5 million people (granted they're not all hockey fans, but you get my point). Surely there's enough demand for another team here...

[mrlayance]

[youtube]JWqgizAD4FA[/youtube]

[tigerthelion]

Between letting pests be a part of the NHL and the horrible officiating, hockey is almost unwatchable.

[direwolf74]

Between letting pests be a part of the NHL and the horrible officiating, hockey is almost unwatchable.

Agreed. The amount of penalties they're calling these days is beyond ridiculous. I don't remember it ever being this bad in terms of the officiating. It's really taken the flow out of the game. The games I've watched so far this year have been incredibly frustrating with the constant penalty parade, and the majority of the calls are pretty borderline. Let the teams play for Christ sakes. Remember the days when a 5 on 3 was a rarity? These days it's pretty much a given that you'll see at least 2 or 3 of them every game now. It's sad.

[Dark Canuck17]

Between letting pests be a part of the NHL and the horrible officiating, hockey is almost unwatchable.

Are you sure its not just because you guys are Leafs fans that it makes it unbearable :lol:

[direwolf74]

Fantastic game tonight! What really made it fun to watch was that the officials put their whistles away for the most part and allowed both teams to play some exciting, end-to-end hockey. It was incredibly refreshing. My Flames have finally found their game and are currently riding a 4-game winning streak. We're getting goals from all over the place, the defence has been much better, and Kipper is starting to look like his old self again. Things are definitely looking up in Cowtown.

[Tthip]

After the Ottawa Buffalo game the other night Buffalo's Adam Mair was not happy with what happened on the ice - and actually went down to the Sens dressing room after the game:

[youtube]PGMASo6dY5A[/youtube]

[robert goulet]

Mair is right about 1 thing...Chris Neil IS a f*cking joke. One of the worst all around people in the NHL.

[tigerthelion]

Between letting pests be a part of the NHL and the horrible officiating, hockey is almost unwatchable.

Are you sure its not just because you guys are Leafs fans that it makes it unbearable :lol:

I can assure you, sir, that I am not a Leafs fan. :rambo:

Oh, yeah, my sig. :oops:

[tigerthelion]

Fantastic game tonight! What really made it fun to watch was that the officials put their whistles away for the most part and allowed both teams to play some exciting, end-to-end hockey. It was incredibly refreshing. My Flames have finally found their game and are currently riding a 4-game winning streak. We're getting goals from all over the place, the defence has been much better, and Kipper is starting to look like his old self again. Things are definitely looking up in Cowtown.

Looks like Kipper just needed some time.

I watched the Nucks/Bruins game last night. It was atrociously boring,but I was very pleased with the officiating. The players are 100% at fault for making it boring. The officials get an A+ rating from me. After the game, Gary Valk whined about the Bruins not getting called for enough penalties. Valk needs to STFU. It's guys like Valk that are trying to completely ruin the game. :nooooo

It's quite simple:

MORE PENALTIES = BAD
LESS PENALTIES = GOOD

Most of the penalties called, like you said, are shitty ticky tack calls. I'm sure that Habs fans and Red Wings fans love it when their theam gets powerplay after powerplay because they are so weak on their skates, but it's bad for hockey.