With the way things are going in the National Hockey League right now, the city of Hamilton, Ontario, which boasts a population of about 500,000, may get more than what it asked for with more than one big-league hockey team.
While NHL lawyers and the Phoenix Coyotes' ownership, which thanks to a bankruptcy filing is contested now, are out playing the legal version of the coyote and the roadrunner, new rumors surfaced that the Atlanta Thrashers may end up moving to the hockey-hungry Canadian city with a purchase from an investor group led by Vancouver, British Columbia-based Tom Gaglardi.
The Coyotes have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and reached a tentative deal with Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ:RIMM) co-founder Jim Balsille to buy the team and move it to Hamilton. However, NHL executives for some reason still insist that ice hockey in the Arizona heat is the perfect idea and are trying to block the deal by claiming the league now owns the team following the bankruptcy.
Meanwhile, Thrashers ownership has denied the team is for sale and says it isn't going anywhere. However, the owners did not deny they received buyout inquiries, according to press reports.
The Associated Press quoted Bruce Levenson, one of the seven partners who runs Atlanta Spirit LLC, which also owns the Atlanta Hawks and Phillips Arena, that the Thrashers has received several inquires from investors and hired a firm to assist in handling them. Levenson also said the team is not moving. There was no mention of who Atlanta Spirit hired, but according to The Deal Pipeline, Levenson relied on Goodwin Procter LLP for legal advice when his group bought the team in 2003.
Calls to the Thrashers seeking comment were not immediately returned, and an NHL spokesman declined comment.
The Thrashers was one of several teams previously mentioned that could possibly be on the auction block or looking for investors. The Carolina Hurricanes, Tampa Bay Lightning and Nashville Predators were mention as possible acquisition targets.
While all this gets settled, we have to wait and see which team gets targeted next to move to Hamilton. - Demitri Diakantonis
See story from The Associated Press
See related story about the Dallas Stars from Dealscape
See The Deal's Hockey Dealwatch
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