The situation in Phoenix with the bankruptcy sale of the Coyotes has now reached a new level of confusion that may take years to sort out. With the announcement late Wednesday afternoon that the September 10 auction will be open to all comers, all bets are off as to having any logical thoughts as to what will happen. The Arizona Republic has now found the topic interesting with a rare second story about how ugly it has gotten.
The only complete bid at this point is Jim Ballsillie's and he will never be approved by the NHL. Therefore the door will be open for endless lawsuits that will drag on for years or possibly even contraction.
I still go back to my original prediction of a few months ago when I said a logical negotiated settlement will be for Ballsillie to drop his Coyote bid in exchange for an open bid for a 31st franchise to be located in the Toronto area. This latest twist on the open auction could lead to something like that.
The contempt of court hearing set for Wednesday involving Jerry Moyes's release of confidential data was continued with little explanation. After reading Forechecker's analysis of what Ballsillie did to stir up problems with the Predators in 2007, I would assume that the whole "leak" was orchestrated by the Ballsillie camp anyway.
Bill Daly's statement on the open auction is somewhat confusing as he discounts Ballsillie's bid in spite of the judge allowing him in.
Make It Seven proved that persistence in spite of adversity paid off and released this statement posted at Mirtle's site.
The Third Intermission's piece attests to the free for all that is in the making at the September 10 open auction.
Here's a post from the East Valley Tribune that lays the whole mess at the feet of Gary Bettman.
The Canadian press is having a field day with the abrupt change with articles from the CBC, Mirtle, The Star, and the Globe and Mail.
In Pred Nation...
Dirk's post on Ballsillie's underhandedness in the 2007 Predators sale (mentioned above) is clearly enough reason in and of itself, not to allow Ballsillie anywhere near the NHL. Had Ballsillie been an owner, a charge and conviction of tampering would have occurred.
Mark at the View From 111 expounds further on the Ballsillie camp's underhandedness. I think copies of Dirk's and Mark's post need to be delivered to Judge Baum as a reminder of the low life characters that he is dealing with.
Ballsillie, led by his attorney (head scum) Richard Rodier, appears to be capable of extreme industrial/corporate espionage that would be worthy of a Hollywood movie. His grand plan may be to weaken the entire NHL and start up another whole league. I wouldn't trust any of those folks as far as I could throw them.
It became official that Antti Pihlstrom was leaving the Predators to play in the home country this year and will actually start practice this week. Section 303 broke the story locally (with a H/T to Ads Short Shifts) with a Google translated story via Twitter. They followed with a post on their site. Rachel and Dirk also discuss the move.
Ryan at The Red Light District has a breakdown of the Preds heading in to the fall campaign, with his forecast as to what the final roster will look like.
Dirk at On The Forecheck has his daily Breakfast Links and hits on some good stuff that I missed along the way.
It's Question and Answer time for Brandon Felder so if you have a topic for him to discuss go to his site and make a suggestion.
Kelly at Confessions of a Predator's Fanatic explains the name of her blog and longs for a trip to Chicago for the upcoming US Olympic summer camp.
Jim Diamond discusses the Pred's highest profile signing that was on August 5, 2005. As a Pred can coming off the missed season it was an exciting time in franchise history.
Here is the direct link to the Jonathon Blum radio piece from Tuesday courtesy of Admirals Short Shifts. Eric also previews part one of his Summer Sit Down with Ads coach Lane Lambert.
Preds.com has a piece on Dan Hamhuis and another installment of the "Ladies" of the Preds blog.
Around the NHL...
Part four of Michelle Kenneth's journey through the past season is up and has a humorous story about my most awkward event of the year in my interview with George Larague. Here's the link to a video of the actual event. All four parts of Michelle's journey are great reads by a good writer and even nicer person.
Looking back at the Lighthouse news, here is a link to a bunch of recent stories for anyone wanting to catch up.
Brendan Shanahan is returning to the Devils for his 22nd season. That is a good fit that everyone involved appreciates. It was fun seeing his debut against the Preds last year.
On the other side of the coin, Jeremy Roenick is scheduled for a news conference today at 11:00 Pacific to announce his retirement. Puck Daddy has a great top ten of JR's culture moments. The Sporting News also has a Top Ten list of JR quotes.
Teppo Numminen also retired with the record for most games played by a European. It was amazing that he returned last season after heart surgery that would have ended most players careers. The Sporting News has a nice story on Teppo also.
Former POTG Radio guest and Kings blogger, Connie Kim, has been added to the KingsCast Radio show as a host. Congrats to all involved as Connie really knows her stuff!
Off Topic... Since I missed a couple of days with Chaco stories during Chaco Week, last week, here is another site that is really interesting, Gamblers House.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
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