NHL Rumor Wire – May 10th, 2011
By Editorial Staff
The Phoenix Coyotes and Atlanta Thrashers have both been rumored to move to Winnipeg. Only one of the teams will go and one will stay, then again, both could end up staying.
Headline: Another $25M from Glendale to keep Coyotes
"The Glendale City Council will vote Tuesday on a new Phoenix Coyotes plan that involves the Arizona city coming up with another $25 million to keep the team from moving to Winnipeg.The city and National Hockey League say the new $25 million allotment gives the NHL (which owns the Coyotes) and city another season to sell the team to “a qualified ownership group that will be committed to retaining the team in Glendale”.That $25 million coupled with another $25 million Glendale paid to the National Hockey League on Monday could also help close a sale of the Coyotes to prospective buyer Matthew Hulsizer. “It’s an option,” said two officials with knowledge the Coyotes deal."
Headline: NHL Should Let Coyotes Go To Winnipeg And Keep Thrashers In Atlanta
From Mike Ozanian (Forbes.com)
"Given that the Coyotes are losing much more money than the Thrashers, why would the NHL want the Coyotes to stay and let the Thrashers go? Presumably it is because of the $195 million total ($170 million purchase price plus $25 million from Glendale) the NHL would not get to keep much net of its $140 million purchase price of buying the team out of bankruptcy and to absorb losses. But of the $170 million price for the for the Thrashers, only $110 million would go to the current owners, Atlanta Spirit LLC, while the NHL would get $60 million as a relocation fee."
Headline: Coyotes staying will have huge impact across NHL
From Ken Campbell (The Hockey News)
"With Glendale city council almost certain to vote Tuesday night in favor of putting another $25 million down the black hole known as the Phoenix Coyotes, the move will carry enormous reverberations both in Arizona and beyond.First to Glendale, where the city council will once again be pressured by the threat of relocation into funding the majority of losses for the Coyotes for at least one more season. That much has been well documented. But what hasn’t come to light is the near certainty the $25 million this time around will come directly out of the city’s operating budget. The last $25 million came from a utilities-repair account, but the difference this time is the same money the city would have used repair roads, build infrastructure, hire policemen and keep libraries open later will go instead to funding a hockey team that everyone outside the NHL’s brain trust sees as ultimately doomed for failure."
Headline: Winnipeg only option for Thrashers sale: source
From Gary Lawless (Winnipeg Free Press) Note: this article is a little over a week old.
"“They want to sell and they have no options other than Winnipeg,” a source close to the transaction told the Free Press. “They want the NHL to solve its issues in Phoenix and sell the team to (Matthew) Hulsizer so they can then sell to the group in Winnipeg.“The NHL will let them sell. This market has failed once before and these guys have been trying to sell for years and no local group has come forward. They are desperate to sell and the Winnipeg guys are the only ones with money ready to go.”Former Atlanta Braves pitcher Tom Glavine said last week he’d like to put together a group to buy the Thrashers, but he himself didn’t have the “$80 million to $100 million” required to make a deal."