Melnyk offers more thoughts on Balsillie

by James Mirtle on Sep 18, 2009 8:45 AM CDT Comment 22 comments

There's a way of going about things, and I just simply don't like the way this has played itself out. So, my feelings and my thoughts have been well documented, and it's just not the way to go about things. There's a lot easier way that this could have been done. It's just bad advice. Listen, sometimes you get a bad meal at one of the best restaurants in the world, and in this case, I think bad, bad advice is being handed out. It's just the wrong way to go about it.

– Senators owner Eugene Melnyk

We haven't heard from all that many NHL owners over the past few months with regards to the Coyotes case, but Melnyk was on the Fan 590 here in Toronto last night and offered those thoughts above and more on Jim Balsille. Some interesting stuff in there, including the fact that Richard Rodier was on the scene in 2003 talking about buying and moving the Senators.

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including the fact that Richard Rodier was on the scene in 2003 talking about buying and moving the Senators.

Damn. So close!

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by PPP on Sep 18, 2009 8:50 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

And then Canada would already have its sevent—— wait, what?

by BleedBlue42 on Sep 18, 2009 11:22 AM CDT up reply actions 2 recs

Richard Rodier was on the scene in 2003 talking about buying and moving the Senators.

Things got a little out of hand. It’s just this league and that lying son of a b****, Bettman! Rodier and Balsillie would never hurt hockey in Canada. Canadians know that.

That 17-year-old Hokie sitting in the rafters in Greensboro didn't see any of this coming.

by JoshCVT on Sep 18, 2009 8:53 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

HA!

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by OdinMercer on Sep 18, 2009 8:56 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Block relocation to Hull

The most interesting part of the interview was near the end when Melnyk said he had territorial rights that allowed him to block a team wanting to relocate to Hull. That fed right into the Balsillie argument that the League is blocking Balsillie as an owner to enforce the Leafs territorial rights to block a team relocating to Hamilton.

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by HockeyAnalysis on Sep 18, 2009 9:32 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Except that if the Leafs wanted to enforce their territorial rights, they could … vote against a relocation to Hamilton, and thus their veto would trump the vote of the rest of the BOG. There’s no need for the rest of the league to go to bat for something one team doesn’t want – if that team is opposed, they can cast the veto instead of trying to get the other 28 non-interested teams to vote against the plan.

This is like the, “since they haven’t exercised it, that’s proof it exists” argument I’ve seen – which makes absolutely no sense. But more to the point: even if a team has veto power over a team relocating to its territory, so what? That in and of itself does not constitute anti-trust behavior, and even the CCB’s ruling re the aborted move of the Predators indicates that such a veto may not necessarily represent an anti-competitive act.

It’s easier to create a conspiracy theory and run with it. Unfortunately, much of the time the simple explanation is the one that proves to be correct – and here, it’s not “Bettman hates Canada” as some seem to believe.

by Irish Blues on Sep 18, 2009 11:07 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's not that Bettman hates Canada...

… actually, wait. He sort of does. The thing is, he doesn’t ‘hate’ Canada for an inplausible reason, he hates Canada because another team in Canada by definition means one less team in the USA, in an allegedly larger US market, with access to US money, and generally (he believes) weakens the NHL’s marketing footprint in the USA and makes it less likely for the NHL to land a big (or at least financially relevant) TV contract in the States. So, Bettman doesn’t hate Canada… exactly. He just loves the USA more. Which, I suppose, comes out to mean the same thing in the end.

Granted, most of Bettman’s line of thought is based on the immensely flawed supposition that the NHL will ‘ever’ (ever being a subjective term, but in this case meaning a time expressed in terms of the current generation of sports fans) warrant the kind of deal Bettman seems totally willing to bankrupt any number of current owners to try and get. That’s not going to happen.

by HockeyinHD on Sep 18, 2009 7:22 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

You sound like my mom talking about my dad to my sisters.

That was a rough Labor Day picnic.

Occam's Razor keeps the cutting clean.

by russellguldin on Sep 18, 2009 8:46 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs

Subtract "Bettman", replace with "the 30 owners"...

… and you get much closer to the truth. The plan to invade the Sun Belt was hatched while Gary Bettman was still adding cream and sugar to David Stern’s coffee.

There are plenty of reasons to dislike Bettman, but “Hockey in the South” shouldn’t be on the list.

by BleedBlue42 on Sep 18, 2009 11:22 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

No offence, HockeyinHD, but you have no clue what you are talking about. But you aren’t nearly the only one who has bought into the myth that Bettman had anything to do with creating the southern expansion plans, or his supposed anti-Canadian attitude.

1990 called, and wants to let you know that it’s nearly 2010.

by Resolute on Sep 19, 2009 11:19 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

:)

I always enjoy reading people who try and pretend the Commisioner of a league is just a passenger.

by HockeyinHD on Sep 20, 2009 9:30 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

The Competition Bureau is certainly watching the veto issue closely. And in the past, previous attempts to move into Hamilton were allegedly blocked by something along the lines of a veto.

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by James Mirtle on Sep 18, 2009 8:13 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Melnyk simply needs to shut up already. Regardless of what people think of Balsillie, this constant whining about him only looks poorly on Melnyk, who is coming off as a bitter little man.

by Resolute on Sep 18, 2009 10:15 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I thought Bettman had a standing gag order on anyone commenting on league business?

I've seen enough to know that I've seen too much.

by Smoboy41 on Sep 18, 2009 11:31 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Bettman's gag order

Well it’s supposed to be a gag order, but it’s a little like the old Kremlin telling the Supreme Soviet when to say “da” and “nyet”.

by oilerdago on Sep 18, 2009 11:36 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Actually I don’t really mind Melnyk running his mouth. My guess is he’s saying what a lot of the other owners are thinking.

by T is for Truculence on Sep 18, 2009 12:22 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

When in Rome...

He does own the Sens after all.

by yrmom on Sep 18, 2009 12:26 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

rimshot

That 17-year-old Hokie sitting in the rafters in Greensboro didn't see any of this coming.

by JoshCVT on Sep 18, 2009 12:34 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Being an NHL owner is like being a member of an exclusive club. You can’t insult the members of the club and expect to get in.

by skatehack on Sep 18, 2009 3:54 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

The owners are not being honest with respect to Balsillie.

Balsillie only went to war when Bettman double-crossed him on the Pittsburgh deal. Bettman played dirty first.

by godot10 on Sep 18, 2009 4:02 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Why is there no team in Hamilton?

The league has valued a Hamilton franchise at some astronomically high amount, and Bettman has stated that multiple interested parties have contacted the League in the past about putting a franchise in Hamilton.

Why has it not happened?

Melnyk says this: “There’s a lot easier way that this could have been done.” What is he talking about?

Does anyone seriously think that the NHL is simply waiting for the “right” owner to come along before expanding beyond 30 teams into Hamilton? It’s preposterous.

It looks painfully clear to me that trying to put a team in Hamilton through traditional means is a absolute loser of an idea. If it was even remotely plausible, Hamilton would’ve had a team a long, long time ago.

The Coyotes have lost over $300 million. They’re going to have a joke of a final season before they’re finally placed in K-C, and I think it’s outrageous.

by FourFeetOfCurl on Sep 18, 2009 9:15 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs