Ouch… probably not exactly how Ron Wilson and Brian Burke wanted to start the season after revamping the team with a new “tougher” look. The clip of newcomer Mike Komisarek pretty much sums up how the season has been so far… try not to go 82 games without a win boys!
I still don’t understand why Wayne wanted to jump headfirst into the pressure cooker that is a head coaching job in the NHL. Especially with a team as underachieving as the Coyotes? Why not take some other head office job, even starting as a GM would have been a smarter move? Anyways, it should be interesting to see where he ends up now that he’s done the Team Canada thing and done the head coaching thing. Read more on his exit below from TheSportingNews.com:
Wayne Gretzky has stepped down as head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes, he announced Thursday.
“This was a difficult decision that I’ve thought long and hard about,” Gretzky said in a statement. “We all hoped there would be a resolution earlier this month to the Coyotes ownership situation, but the decision is taking longer than expected. Since both remaining bidders have made it clear that I don’t fit into their future plans, I approached General Manger Don Maloney and suggested he begin looking for someone to replace me as coach. Don has worked hard and explored many options. I think he has made an excellent choice, and so now it’s time for me to step aside.”
The team’s ownership situation continues to be unresolved.
Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie said Wednesday that he won’t move the team to Canada this season even if he wins the U.S. Bankruptcy Court fight and is given the green light to buy the team.Balsillie’s attorneys said in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Phoenix on Wednesday that they have ditched plans to move the team to Hamilton, Ont., this season, should Judge Redfield T. Baum rule in Balsillie’s favor.
The rest of Gretzky’s statement reads:
“The Coyotes scouting staff has put together a great group of young and talented players who are going to improve tremendously over the next few years,” continued Gretzky. “I’m proud of the team we’ve assembled, the organization with which I’ve been associated and the thousands of dedicated fans who have never wavered in their support of this young team. I’m confident that the best is yet to come for hockey in Phoenix.
“I want to thank every staff member of the Phoenix Coyotes, past and present. It was a real pleasure to work with each and every one of you. I’ve always said that Phoenix is a great sports city and deserves nothing but the best. I still believe that. As a young boy, I learned to play hockey in Southern Ontario, and I know what great fans they have there. It’s my hope they too will have an NHL franchise in the not too distant future.
“I often said it was the greatest honor and privilege I could imagine to be able to play in the National Hockey League. I feel the same way about being an NHL coach. I’ve loved the four years I spent coaching the Coyotes. Not a day went by when I took it for granted, and I will miss the competition of the NHL dearly. It was an honor to hold the position, and I will always consider myself especially fortunate to have had this opportunity.”
Gretzky, who is due to make $8.5 million this season, coached the Coyotes from 555-5555, finishing with a 143-161-24 record, and the team missed the playoffs in all four seasons.
Gretzky, 48, also owns a small piece of the franchise.
The Coyotes had no immediate word on a replacement. Associate coach Ulf Samuelsson had been serving as interim head coach during the preseason, and the team this week hired former NHL head coach Dave King as an assistant.
There you go Heatley… you act like a jackass and you get embarrassed in the always classic “Angry Hitler” routine. Enjoy:
Drafted by the Montréal Canadiens in the 2nd round of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, Maxim Lapierre has since been making a name for himself on one of the NHL’s most storied teams. His breakthrough 2008-2009 season saw him win the Jacques Beauchamp Molson Trophy, an award given by the Sports Writers Association of Montreal to the team’s unsung hero. After recently undergoing surgery to correct an ankle injury that had nagged him the majority of the 08/09 season, Lapierre says he is eager to get back to training. In this video, WatchMojo.com asks Mad Max about the pressures of playing in Montreal, and what he’s doing in the off-season.
Can this Series get any better? Well yes, maybe if Crosby and Ovechkin pulled a Getzlaf/Thornton, but each of them scoring a hat trick in the same game is a pretty close second… Read more from cbc.ca:
Watching Sidney Crosby pull ahead in a superstar showdown, Alex Ovechkin decided to take matters into his own hands.
Ovechkin scored a hat trick, including the winner late in the third period, to lift the Capitals to a thrilling 4-3 win over the Penguins Monday night at the Verizon Center.
Washington’s victory spoiled a marvelous performance by Crosby, who also registered a hat trick.
“It’s a great atmosphere and when you win the game it’s an unbelievable feeling,” Ovechkin told Hockey Night in Canada. “People want to see great players play well. Both teams played well and Sidney played great tonight. He scored three goals and brings energy to the team.… He’s good.”
While the showdown is tied in goals — Ovechkin and Crosby have four apiece — the Capitals are off to a flying start.
The NHL club now has a 2-0 series lead in its Eastern Conference semifinal with the Penguins.
The best-of-seven matchup shifts to Pittsburgh for Games 3 and 4, beginning Wednesday night (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 7 p.m. ET).
Washington centre David Steckel scored the other goal, and rookie goaltender Simeon Varlamov made 33 saves.
Penguins netminder Marc-André Fleury finished with 29 stops.
Ovechkin, Crosby living up to billingOvechkin and Crosby are more than living up to their immense hype and so, too, is this series, with the Capitals skating away to a pair of one-goal triumphs.
Washington took advantage of a careless tripping penalty by Pittsburgh centre Evgeni Malkin to forge ahead 3-2 with less than eight minutes remaining in the game.
After a faceoff win, Ovechkin rifled a one-timer to the short side of Fleury.
“Lots of goalies stop me, but I have too many chances to score goals, so sometimes the puck goes into the net,” Ovechkin said of the plethora of shots his continues to register on a nightly basis.
He fired 12 at Fleury on Monday.
Malkin, on the other hand, remains a disappointment through the first two games.
“I’m going to talk to a lot of players about the things we did do well [and] didn’t do well,” Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said when asked about Malkin’s struggles. “We’re going to address [it] and Geno’s [Malkin’s nickname] is no different.
“We need to get better in certain areas if we’re going to get back in this series and have success.”
Smelling blood, Ovechkin sealed the victory with 4:22 remaining, using Pittsburgh defenceman Sergei Gonchar as a screen before sending a wrist shot over the glove of Fleury — resulting in a flood of red caps onto the ice by the sold-out crowd in honour of his first career playoff hat trick.
“Sick game. Sick three goals by me and Crosby,” said Ovechkin, who celebrated by bouncing his body high off the glass following both of his third-period goals.
“It’s unbelievable to see how fans react, how fans go crazy. The atmosphere right now, it’s unbelievable in town. You see all the red, and — probably I’m afraid to go home right now.”
Following a second round of hats that descended to the ice, Crosby chatted with the referee regarding the long delay.
“People kept throwing hats,” Crosby said. “And I was just asking if he could make an announcement to ask them to stop.”
For his part, Crosby gave the Penguins a chance, netting his third goal of the game by batting a fourth opportunity behind Varlamov on the power play with only 31 seconds left.
In the end, Ovechkin got the help that Crosby didn’t receive.
“It’s nice to score,” said Crosby. “But it’s better to win. I’m sure it’s entertaining for people to watch, if I were to look at it from a fan’s point of view. As a player, you don’t like when the guy on the other team gets a hat trick. That’s usually not a good sign.”
Read the rest HERE
This is interesting. I’ve often wondered what the situation is with steroids in the NHL, but it never seems to be a big issue? Read more on the topic from ColumbusDispatch.com:
Blue Jackets captain Rick Nash slowly collected a handful of empty bottles littering his corner of the visitors’ locker room in Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena and deposited them in a trash can.
The contents of the plastic bottles — grape juice and water and protein drinks — helped Nash and teammates replenish fluids and nourish their bodies during and after the Jackets’ first playoff game against Detroit on Thursday night.
The scene is a familiar one in National Hockey League locker rooms. So is the sight of several players walking through the room with ice packs taped to aching body parts. The sport takes a tremendous physical toll, especially in the postseason, when endurance and the ability to recover are critical.
It also might be a tempting time for players who are willing to take shortcuts, because the NHL doesn’t test for performance-enhancing drugs during the playoffs. For all the prices paid to hoist the Stanley Cup, a fear of being caught taking banned substances is not among them.
The NHL’s performance-enhancing drug policy, enacted three years ago by the league and players union, does not permit testing during the playoffs and off-season. It’s a five-month window in which the only enforcement against doping is the honor system.
Some players and NHL officials told The Dispatch that they would support a stronger, year-round testing program, but for now, there is no threat of any testing until September.
“You would have to be an idiot to get caught under a system like that — an absolute moron,” said Charles Yesalis, a Penn State University professor who specializes in the use and impact of performance- enhancing substances. “To me, you have to go far beyond that testing system to have a true sense of whether players are not doping.”
Since the drug policy went into effect, only one player, former NHL defenseman Sean Hill, tested positive for a banned substance, in 2007. Hockey’s doping record stands in contrast to the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the Olympics and other international sporting events in which cheaters routinely are caught.
So, are hockey players that honest or is the policy that ineffective?
“I’d say we’re that clean,” said Nash, who added that he has never considered using banned substances and would support a year-round testing program. “I have been here for five or six years, and I haven’t seen anything once.”
The Dispatch conducted an anonymous survey of the Jackets, and not a single player thought that the league has a doping problem.
National doping experts say the NHL policy is “woefully inadequate” and too flawed to allow a judgment on what percentage of players might be using steroids, stimulants or other banned substances.
“I think most people in professional sports wish the problem away,” said Dr. Gary Wadler, a New York official with the World Anti-Doping Agency and an expert on drug use in sports. “They tweak their programs to take the heat off, but there hasn’t been any heat on hockey.”
Under current policy, an NHL team can receive up to three no-notice tests a season. The Blue Jackets were given the league maximum last season but only one test this season.
Test year-round?
Drug-testing policies are enforced in professional football and baseball and in the Olympics year-round. In those sports, hundreds of athletes can be randomly tested during the playoffs and out of competition.
But the NHL has allowed its athletes to compete in the playoffs and train in the off-season without testing. The league and players union decided in the collective bargaining agreement to exclude playoff testing because of potential distraction for teams. As for the off-season, only players participating in international competitions are subject to testing.
Jackets general manager Scott Howson says his league is clean, but he understands why some might push for a policy revision.
“I think it needs to be looked at,” Howson said. “One of the critiques of our system is the timing of the tests.”
The issue of revamping the league’s drug-testing policy was raised at the most recent general managers meeting in March and is expected to come up this summer at the players union meetings. Any changes would require both sides to agree.
Most people within the game defend hockey and say it’s relatively free of performance-enhancing drugs. But its guardians want to ensure that their sport doesn’t suffer through scandals like those that have plagued pro baseball.
Bill Daly, the NHL’s deputy commissioner, said the league would back year-round testing. He said he favors testing players during the playoffs, although not necessarily in the same manner as during the season.
“The league would be supportive of enhancing the scope of the policy,” Daly said. “Having said that, it is a little misleading what some people have said about players’ ability to use it during the off-season. Most (performance-enhancing drugs) are three-month cycles to get out of the system. So you are really not dealing with a long period of time that the player could really be getting any benefit from using the drug. Our players are great role models, and they have a great reputation for their integrity, and I would hate to see that get affected.”
Read the rest HERE
This is sage advice:
Here they are courtesy of TSN. Bobby Ryan’s should have been #1:
The goalie fight is a rare thing, but it never disappoints. Here’s a video list that includes some of the best:
George Gillett has hired BMO to help him assess his options, including a sale of the Montreal Canadiens, the most successful hockey franchise in the history of the National Hockey League (NHL).
From ESPN:
Gillett, an American, owns 80.1 percent of the team and 100 percent of the Bell Centre. He also has a 50 percent ownership stake in prestigious English Premier League soccer team Liverpool, and owns the NASCAR team formerly known as Gillett Evernham (now Richard Petty Motorsports), event promoter Gillett Entertainment Group, ski resorts, car dealerships and agricultural companies.
The remaining 19.9% belong to Molson, who merged with Coors earlier this decade.
Why Sell Now?
According to this CBC piece:
John Thompson, sports editor of the Liverpool Echo in Liverpool, England, told CBC News that he suspects Gillett needs to raise cash after he borrowed more than $600 million US last year with Dallas Stars owner Tom Hicks to buy Liverpool FC.
“George Gillett and Tom Hicks have to repay that loan in July. It’s unlikely in most people’s eyes that they’ll get an extension or find a loan from somewhere else. So maybe the chickens are coming home to roost,” said Thompson.
“Equally it could be a strategic move by George Gillett in terms of refinancing some of his assets and all the rest of it.”
What did Forbes value the club at?
Celebrating their centennial season, The Canadiens were valued by Forbes in October at $334 million US — third highest in the NHL behind the Toronto Maple Leafs ($448 million) and New York Rangers ($411 million).
But that was October, which means that the numbers were crunched before the Lehman collapse on September 15th 2008 which sent markets tumbling worldwide.
When you consider that that even the mighty National Football League (NFL) laid off 100 staffers, you have to wonder, how has the NHL been and will be affected? And in turn, how will valuations get affected?
If asset prices - be it real estate, stocks, etc. - have tumbled anywhere from 25% to 75% since then - it could be argued that even a crown jewel such as The Habs are worth $250M to $300M, if not less. I am not sure he would agree, rightfully so, but the point is: this isn’t the best time to selll, so we think that he’s hoping for a partial sale.
Of course, at this juncture, we’re speculating… not just on the value, but on what, exactly, is up for sale.
Is it
- just the club? or
- the club + arena? or
- the club + arena + GEG?
Ah yes, GEG, or Gillett Entertainment Group is the vehicle that keeps the Bell Centre busy day in, night out.
Moreover, is Mr. Gillett looking at selling his entire 80% stake? If partial, what is he looking to sell/raise?
What did he pay for it?
Mr. Gillett bought his stakes in the Canadiens and the Bell Centre in 2001 for $181 million with the help of $140 million in loans from two banks and the Quebec pension fund, the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec.
Anyway you dice it, Mr. Gillett will either make a tidy profit or hit a grand slam, but with the global economy slowing down and the NHL’s fortunes up in the air, it’s not unwise for Mr. Gillett to consider selling his stake.
The question remains, is it unwise for the Habs fan to pool their resources and buy a share, providing in turn some liquidity to meet his obligations?
What would it take?
When Mr. Gillett bought his stakes in the Canadiens and the Bell Centre in 2001 for $181 million, the combined assets were valued at $200M.
So say you need $300M to walk away with 100%, you would need something along the lines of the following breakdown:
Running some very basic math, it is not out of question to consider fans across the city, province and country would pony up some hard-earned to partially or fully acquire the company.
Here’s the [Initial] Offer:
Frankly, at the risk of sounding like we’re sucking up to Mr. Gillett, we’d suggest:
- A partial sale of some of his equity where he would remain Chairman and 50.1% owner (at least for the time being).
- that Molson remains 19.9% owners, as well.
- we would put together a consortium of wealthy individuals and idealistic fans to acquire 30% (initially) for something in the range of $100M, give or take a few million. This effectively values the assets at $333M, spot on what Forbes attributed the club. This would be for 30% of the Habs, the Bell Centre and GEG. We would agree to this rich valuation (given the economic conditions) if we got an option to buy an additional 20.1% at the same valuation, effectively giving Mr. Gillett more liquidity down the road and the Public a path towards owning 50.1% of the company.
This would provide some liquidity immediately to Mr. Gillett and allow him to retain a majority ownership of the club until conditions in the world economy improve.
I’ll spend some time examining cases where the public has owned sports franchises and post a follow up article soon.
Feedback, suggestions and questions welcome.
PLAY
