The Arizona Republic is reporting that “potential buyer” Matt Hulsizer paid money into escrow to the NHL. The city owes the league $25 million to cover losses after the NHL took over the team last season. The city of Glendale sent out a release on the issue, as reported by the Republic: "As the city and the prospective buyer work toward finalizing documents, in a show of good faith, the prospective buyer has deposited $25 million dollars into escrow," Glendale's statement read. "This shows the city has met the NHL deadline for finding a qualified buyer, who will keep the team here, a requirement to release the City's $25 million currently in escrow," the statement said. "Glendale and the NHL will continue to move forward to work with the prospective buyer to facilitate a purchase of the team that will keep the Coyotes in Glendale for the long term."
Keep in mind if Hulsizer, or whoever the “potential buyer” is, and the city don’t reach a deal, the city will be on the hook for the $25 million again. We’ve often wondered why the city chose to shut down a deal that would have made current Chicago Bulls and White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf the new owner of the Coyotes. The deal had an out clause, but still, if Reinsdorf can’t make it work in Glendale, no one can. But, that ship sailed and the city can only wait and hope Hulsizer comes through.
Matthew Coller is a staff member of the Business of Sports Network, and is a freelance writer. He can be followed on Twitter
ProHockey Talk’s Joe Yerdon reports that the NHL Board of Governors approved a by-law which eliminates shootout wins from being used as a factor in tie-breakers in figuring playoff placement.
The move is an attempt to increase the importance of winning in regulation or in the first overtime. Earlier this off-season, a debate waged over whether the shootout should continue to exist.
According to ProHockey Talk, here’s how the rule book reads now:
NHL By-Law 27.3 now reads as follows (with the approved revision in underlined italics): At the conclusion of the regular Schedule of Championship Games the standing of the teams in each Conference shall be determined in accordance with the following priorities in the order listed:
a) First place in each of the three divisions seeded 1, 2 and 3.
b) The higher number of points earned by the Club.
c) The greater number of games won by the Club (excluding games won in the Shootout).
d) The higher number of points earned in games against each other among two or more Clubs having equal standing under priorities (b) and (c).
e) The greater differential between goals scored for and against by clubs having equal standing under priority (d).
The change seems to be more of an attempt to appease the shootout haters, and somewhat of a weak one at that. The question is will we really see teams fight to score against non-conference opponents or, when the game is tied, will they sit back for the guaranteed two points? Fringe teams may play a little harder, but locks for the playoffs will take the one point.
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Matthew Coller is a staff member of the Business of Sports Network, and is a freelance writer. He can be followed on Twitter
It’s a move we all expected. The NHLPA has finally approved former MLBPA head Donald Fehr, now all that awaits is an inevitable approval by the players, then it’s time to get down to business in working out a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Here is the press release sent out by the NHLPA concerning their endorsement of Fehr:
The National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) announced today that its Executive Board has voted to accept the recommendation of the Search Committee (Ryan Getzlaf, Jamie Langenbrunner, Brian Rafalski, Brian Rolston and Mathieu Schneider) that Don Fehr be named the new NHLPA Executive Director.
The recommendation to appoint Fehr as Executive Director will next be submitted to the full NHLPA membership for consideration, along with various amendments to the NHLPA Constitution that were approved by the Executive Board earlier this summer. The Executive Director and Constitution membership votes are expected to conclude following individual team meetings that will take place during training camp and the first part of the regular season, and Fehr’s appointment will not become official until that time. In the interim, Fehr will continue to assist the NHLPA as a consultant.
"The Search Committee is pleased that the Executive Board has endorsed our recommendation to select Don Fehr as our new Executive Director and we look forward to our fellow members voting on this important matter," said Mathieu Schneider.
"I am gratified by the Executive Board's vote, and I look forward to meeting all the Players at team meetings which begin later this month," said Fehr.
Fehr, 62, joined the Major League Baseball Players Association as its General Counsel in 1977, and served as the MLBPA Executive Director for 26 years until he stepped down in December, 2009.
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Matthew Coller is asenior staff member of the Business ofSports Network, and is a freelancewriter. He can be followedonTwitter
September 7, 2010, the Chicago Blackhawks’ under-24 Stanley Cup winning tandem of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews will do what people under 24 do: play video games. The two generation X’ers who faced off in the 2010 Olympics and raised the cup together will now raise video game controllers to on the streets of Manhattan at the Reebok Store to kick off the release of EA Sports’ NHL 11.
The two players will apparently compete in a live trick shot competition before playing USA vs. Canada on EA’s newest hockey game. The first 100 fans will also get their NHL 11 copy signed by the stars.
The game was given an 8.5 rating by IGN.com.
Matthew Coller is asenior staff member of the Business ofSports Network, and is a freelancewriter. He can be followedonTwitter
Canadian Tire, Canada’s largest hockey retailer, provides all of Olympic gold medalist and Stanley Cup winning captain Jonathan Toews’ gear. Now Canadian Tire will team up with more than just Toews; the company signed a five-year agreement to become the NHL’s official sporting goods retailer in Canada. The agreement, according to NHL.com the agreement includes a launch of the NHL-powered Canadian Hockey School, founded by Toews.
"As Canada's largest retailer of sporting equipment and a brand steeped in Canadian history, Canadian Tire is who Canadians trust for their first pair of skates, stick, helmet and pads. Over the past 90 years, we've equipped millions of first-time hockey players, like Jonathan Toews, from head to toe," said Mike Arnett, President of Canadian Tire Retail in a statement. "Through the Canadian Tire Hockey School, we're building on our hockey roots to help develop a lifelong enjoyment of the game. We're also thrilled to add the NHL and Canadian hockey star Jonathan Toews to our winning team. With this stellar line-up, we've become more than Canada's hockey store; we're Canada's hockey school."
Tire will now be designated as an Official Partner of the NHL Heritage Classic™, NHL All-Star Game, Stanley Cup® Playoffs, Stanley Cup Final and NHL Face-Off™
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In early July, it was reported Calgary oilman Bill Gallacher would purchase the Dallas Stars. Unfortunately for The Hockey News (who originally reported the sale), not only has that purchase not happened, but the sale of the team has seen new bidders emerge. The newest: News Corp./FOX. Yes, the media giant is said (via ProHockey Talk) to be one of three possible bidders which include Gallacher and Vancouver businessman Tom Gaglardi.
News Corp., who is also involved in the possible purchase of the Texas Rangers (read more at www.bizofbaseball.com) could end up with the Stars, Rangers and guaranteed contracts for FSN Southwest, presumably at whatever price they choose or no price, and control all programming. The sales are far away at this point and would have to be made separately.
Another road block would be that the purchase would have to be approved by the NHL Board of Governors. The Governors might want to avoid controversy or any chants of conflict of interest (or maybe that’ll just be me). It wouldn’t, however, be the first time a media outlet owned a hockey team. Up until 2005, the Anaheim Ducks were owned by Disney (who also owns ESPN).
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Matthew Coller is a staff member of the Business of Sports Network, and is a freelance writer. He can be contacted at
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The Associated Press is reporting that the NHL Players Association has filed a grievance over the league’s rejection of a 17-year, $102 million contract between the New Jersey Devils and superstar winger Ilya Kovalchuk.
The deal was rejected by the league because it circumvented cap rules, which commissioner Gary Bettman had warned against after several other long-term front-loaded deals (see the complete breakdown of Kovalchuk’s deal here). The NHLPA claims that the contract is legal under the collective bargaining agreement and should be allowed.
Agents predicted last week that the deal would likely be allowed since nothing in the collective bargaining agreement forbids front-loaded contracts. Front-loading the deal allows Kovalchuk’s cap hit to be around $6 million despite him earning $11.5 million from 2012-2017.
The ruling on Kovalchuk’s deal will be closely watched by several other big-name NHLers whose contracts come up next season. Brad Richards, Zdeno Chara and Joe Thornton are among the names who will likely end up with front-loaded deals if Kovalchuk’s contract is allowed.
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When the NHL adopted a salary cap, teams could no longer load up top-to-bottom with superstars. Instead, winners have found a new strategy: put more than 50 percent of cap space into a few top flight players. The last two Stanley Cup winners have done just that.
The Pittsburgh Penguins currently have 60 percent of their cap space wrapped up in six players. The Chicago Blackhawks put all their chips with Marian Hossa, Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith and Brian Campbell – all All-Star caliber.
AOL Fanhouse writer Adam Gretz spoke with Penguins GM Ray Shero (read the entire articlle here) concerning this strategy:
"If you have money tied up in three or four guys, hopefully that means you've got three or four top players," said Shero during a phone interview with FanHouse. "The worst thing you can do is have three or four guys tied up in big money contracts, but they're not difference makers. We're fortunate here to have Crosby and Malkin as our franchise players. We have a lot of money tied up in them, $8.7 a piece cap wise per year. When you go back to the pre-lockout era, it's hard to recall, but there used to not even be a roster size and you could have as many guys on your roster as you wanted. When Detroit won the Cup, back whenever it was, and Luc Robitaille was a fourth-line player, a Hall of Fame guy, you could carry 28 guys on your payroll if you could afford it."
The Blackhawks are hurting because of the types of risks referenced by Shero, their names are Christobal Huet ($5.625 million) and Brian Campbell ($7.140 million). Both aren’t stars and both have enormous contracts. The Blackhawks are forced to fill in more marginal players than they’d like because of those failed contracts.
One way around being forced to use average players is to develop young ones. Gretz notes that Shelly Anderson of the Post-Gazette wrote that this increased need means development camps are now more important.
"We didn't really want to use the development camp as an evaluation as much as an education for the players," Shero told Fanhouse. "I think it was our best development camp so far. The competition was really good, we liked what we saw in Eric Tangradi and Dustin Jeffrey, and they showed they have a chance to help us.
"Still, It's more of an education for the players both on and off the ice," he continued. "This is the one time we can see a number of college players, and they have to pay their own way, but I think it's good for them because they never had the chance to come to training camp to get a feel for what it's like. It's really their only chance to see what it's like in that environment and meet the people and coaches and have some idea of what to expect."
Along with putting the big bucks into stars and developing young talent, Shero says that each time finds their own identity and formula for winning. But eludes to goaltending as, let’s just say, not as important as it once was.
"I think it really just depends on how your team is going to be built. Detroit has never really had a ton of money in goaltending, they choose to spend it elsewhere. A team like Philadelphia now, that's kind of what they're doing, going heavy in defense and not as much in goal. Every team is a little bit different. If you have it, you want to keep it. If you don't, there's other avenues you can go to to hopefully have success on a year-to-year basis. I think it just really depends what you have for assets in goal. I'm not looking to move Marc-Andre Fleury to replace him with another goaltender, that's just not what we're looking to do. We have Marc-Andre, we'll keep him and build our team that way."
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