Let the bidding begin on Sept 10th…

I have been very silent on the subject of Hockey lately, especially where the Phoenix Coyotes are concerned. My current residence is a 20 minute walk away from the arena Jim Balsillie wants to move the Coyotes too. Many people in Hamilton have been waiting for the NHL since 1991 when the league made a horrible mistake and gave an expansion franchise to the wrong city. Hopefully very soon, possibly Sept 10th when the Coyotes go up for auction to the highest bidder… we’ll be one step closer to correcting that mistake. Here is a very good blog entry written by Bob McCown about the subject, enjoy.

Peter

Richard Rodier: The Optimist

Written by Bob McCown

Almost by definition, lawyers are optimists. Even in the darkest hour, they must continue to believe they will win; that the case they have presented is worthy of victory.

It comes as no surprise that Richard Rodier is confident when the dust finally settles in the Phoenix Coyotes’ bankruptcy proceeding, his client, Jim Balsillie will prevail.

You see, Rodier isn’t just an attorney in this matter. He is, in fact, the architect of Balsillie’s desire to own an NHL franchise in Southern Ontario.

Some years ago, he convinced the RIM boss that the National Hockey League would encounter big problems if forced to defend itself in anti trust proceedings. Rodier told Balsillie that if they were able to get their hands on a team, any team, that the League would ultimately not be able to prevent them from moving it.

And that was what motivated Balsillie. He already had an interest in acquiring a franchise, but had no desire to be an “out of town” owner. The earliest speculation was that he wanted to move some club to Waterloo, his adopted hometown and the city where the RIM Empire was based. Whether that was ever the plan has never been made clear, but what has become known is that Hamilton has been his chosen site for some time (maybe all time).

Balsillie and Rodier’s first foray was to Pittsburgh. A deal that only fell apart at the eleventh hour when the NHL, sensing that Balsillie wasn’t committed to operating the Penguins in Pittsburgh, added more than twenty clauses to the sale agreement that would have made moving the Pens all but impossible. They walked away.

Next stop was Nashville, where once again a deal was reached, this time with Predators owner Craig Leopold. The selling price was 238 million, but when Leopold told Commissioner Gary Bettman of his plans, word is that G.B. went postal. It was Bettman, still fuming over Balsillie walking away from Pittsburgh, who blocked the sale. Instead, he forced Leopold to take a 65 million dollar haircut and sell the team to a group of Nashville locals plus the now infamous “Boots” Del Biaggio. The quid pro quo was that Leopold got to buy Minnesota for much less than has been reported. Leopold still came out on the short end of the deal, but he feared Bettman’s power and felt as though he had no choice.

Now twice thwarted, Rodier “the pit bull,” kept going. He looked at acquiring Del Biaggio’s shares in Nashville when that mess surfaced. He sniffed at Atlanta and doubtless other places. At one point, Rodier confessed that Balsillie had received inquiries from no fewer that ten different NHL owners about his possible interest in buying some or all of their teams.

And one team they had their eyes on was Phoenix. It was no secret to anyone who bothered to look that the Coyotes were a financial disaster and that their ownership could not sustain the losses they were incurring for much longer. Rodier realized that another attempt to buy a franchise on the open market would simply be thwarted once again by Bettman. But if Jerry Moyes, majority owner of the Coyotes, were to declare bankruptcy with an offer from Balsillie in his back pocket, there was a chance that the NHL’s opposition might be neutered.

You see, Rodier knew that the league feared an anti trust case and in Phoenix there was a real chance to get to that point. The past few weeks have provided more than a few ups and downs for Balsillie and Rodier, but now, their ambition may be as close as it has ever been to being realized.

On September 10 an auction will be held and Judge Redfield T. Baum will make a decision on the future of the Coyotes soon thereafter. As of now, the expected bidders will be Balsillie, Jerry Reinsdorf and a Connecticut-based group which calls itself Ice Edge. Others may yet emerge, but there is no evidence that anyone else has even a passing interest.

And yet, Rodier is unconvinced that this will be a three horse race. Rather, he believes that the other two groups will pull out, leaving Balsillie’s offer as the only one on the table. He is, however, quick to say that such an occurrence doesn’t mean that Baum will be forced to award the franchise to Balsillie by default. He will only acknowledge that an uncluttered road is more easily traveled.

He also knows that Bettman will continue to fight until there are no battles left to be contested. But if Gary slips up, just once, Rodier and Balsillie will have the NHL where they want them, in anti trust. And that is the battlefield that the League, its owners and its commissioner fear most.

Source