Dec. 16: Texas billionaire Tom Hicks says that his firm has selected a winner in the Texas Rangers auction. Hicks Sports Group Holdings LLC picked an investor group led by Pittsburgh sports lawyer Chuck Greenberg and Major League Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan as the final bidder for the team and its assets. - Demitri Diakantonis

Dec. 11: The NHL announces that it has signed a letter of intent to sell the Coyotes to Ice Edge Holdings LLC, one of the bidders that dropped out of the auction for the team in the Chapter 11 case of team owner Dewey Ranch Hockey LLC. - Ben Fidler

Nov. 3: Judge Redfield Baum of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Arizona in Phoenix approves a deal that hands the Coyotes to the NHL for $140 million. - Ben Fidler

Sept. 24: Balsillie improves bid for Coyotes: Jim Balsillie has once again sweetened his bid for the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes, revealing in documents that he's willing to wait until the end of the year to move the franchise if he wins the auction. - Ben Fidler

Sept. 24: Rangers auction heats up: With the sale expected to be completed by the end of the year, a number of serious suitors are reportedly still in the auction, which could fetch $450 million to $550 million for a minority stake in the Rangers alone. According to Reuters the potential buyers are:

• Houston businessman Jim Crane, CEO of freight company Crane Worldwide Logistics, who is pursuing the Rangers after losing out in the auction for the Chicago Cub;
  
• minor league baseball team owner and sports attorney Chuck Greenberg;
  
• former sports agent and current Chicago White Sox executive Dennis Gilbert.

Sept. 14: Predators latest to skate into trouble: Bankrupt Silicon Valley investor William "Boots" Del Biaggio III owns a minority interest of the Nashville Predators. He was recently sentenced to eight years in prison after he was found guilty of swindling millions of dollars from investors and banks so that he could buy that stake. Now that ownership stake, too, will have to resolved in bankruptcy court, a story in The Tennessean said. - Jamie Mason

Feb. 10: Coyotes dogged by auction rumors: Usually when a company goes on the auction block, the first question asked is: Who will be interested? With the Phoenix Coyotes, however, it is the opposite game being played, with the media offering a list of who doesn't want the National Hockey League franchise. - Demitri Diakantonis

2008: SHARKS, OILERS, LIGHTNING, WILD

Dec. 3, 2008: NHL's Sharks to shake things up with MLS deal: The Sports Business Journal reported that the NHL's San Jose Sharks are going to acquire a 10% to 15% stake in the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer. The deal is said to be valued between $2 million and $3 million. - Demitri Diakantonis

July 8, 2008: Katz completes purchase of NHL's Oilers: Rexall Sports Corp., a subsidiary of Canadian drugstore chain Katz Group, completed its $200 million acquisition of the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers from Edmonton Investors Group Ltd. on June 30. - Nathaniel E. Baker

Feb. 21, 2008: Nike ices deal for Bauer unit: Nike Inc.said Feb. 21 it has agreed to sell its Bauer hockey equipment business to Kohlberg & Co. and Canadian businessman W. Graeme Roustan for $200 million in a cash transaction. - Luisa Beltran

Feb. 14, 2008: OK Hockey to buy NHL's Ligthning: In what amounts to a rerun of sorts, Hollywood producer Oren Koules is again on the verge of purchasing pro hockey's Tampa Bay Lightning four months after the original deal he was a part of fell through. The deal includes the rights to the team, the leasehold rights to the St. Pete Times Forum, where the Lightning plays, and about 5.5 acres of land in Tampa's Channelside District. - Ben Fidler

Jan. 10, 2008: Leipold scores NHL's Wild: The sport of professional hockey is a fan-favorite past time in Minnesota, which could explain why hockey fanatic Craig Leipold basically swapped the National Hockey League's Nashville Predators for the Minnesota Wild. Leipold acquired the Wild for an undisclosed price from Minnesota Sports & Entertainment. Leipold walked away from the Predators in August, selling the franchise for $193 million. - Gerald Magpily

2007: PENGUINS, LIGHTNING, OILERS, PREDATORS

Dec. 19, 2007: Penguins deal is off; other deals already in the works: Shortly after Jim Balsillie, chairman of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, withdrew his offer for the National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Penguins, backup plans were put into effect, and a new bidder surfaced. Penguins owner and hockey legend Mario Lemieux announced the dissolution of the $175 million deal on Monday. - Matt Wurtzel

Aug. 8, 2007: Lightning bought; Oilers off the block: Two pro hockey franchises have chosen to skate in completely different directions, with the Tampa Bay Lightning agreeing to be sold and the Edmonton Oilers claiming to have been taken off the block. The Lightning announced Aug. 7 that its ownership group, Palace Sports & Entertainment Inc., had struck a deal to sell the team to a consortium led by former Florida Panthers coach Doug MacLean. Meanwhile, Edmonton Investors Group LP, the group that owns the Oilers, has decided to pull the franchise off the block. - Ben Fidler

Aug. 2, 2007: Local group buys NHL's Predators: The back-and-forth off-season for pro hockey's Nashville Predators took its latest turn Aug. 2 when a group of primarily local investors agreed to pay $193 million to purchase the franchise, but the team's future in the Music City is still very much in the hands of its fans. - Ben Fidler

May 24, 2007: Is Balsillie hunting Predators?: If Research In Motion's Jim Balsillie is after pro hockey's Nashville Predators with visions to moving them to Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario -- where the BlackBerry king's company is based -- he may want to think again. - Ben Fidler

June 29, 2006: Dan Marino to buy a hockey team?: According to an unattributed story in the New York Post, Dan Marino, the former Miami Dolphins quarterback, reportedly is interested in joining Mark Cuban's bid for the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins. - Matt Wurtzel

March 13, 2007: Penguins to stay in Pittsburgh: Pennsylvania politicians have struck a deal with the owners of the Pittsburgh Penguins that will ensure that one of the National Hockey League's most recognizable franchises will remain in its home city. Just a week after co-owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle declared talks for a new arena at an impasse, the franchise was reportedly set to announce March 13 that a deal has been reached for the construction of a new facility in Pittsburgh. - Ben Fidler

2006: PENGUINS, BLUES

Oct. 6, 2006: BlackBerry man wins Penguins: Pro hockey's Pittsburgh Penguins handed the keys to the franchise to a new owner late last week in a deal with a reported price tag of $175 million. The Penguins twice came close to a sale in the 10 months since they were formally put on the block. The winner was Canadian businessman Jim Balsillie. - Ben Fidler

Sept. 14, 2006: Penguins getting itchy; May 12, 2006: Exit revisited: Pittsburgh Penguins: More than one casino is ready to roll the dice on pro hockey's once-bankrupt Pittsburgh Penguins. - Ben Fidler; Jan. 27, 2006: Penguins up for sale

March 24, 2006: St. Louis Blues fetch $150M: An investor group that includes buyout shop TowerBrook Capital Partners LP and the former head of Madison Square Garden agreed to acquire pro hockey's St. Louis Blues for a price a source said was about $150 million in cash and debt. The buyer group includes Dave Checketts, former president and CEO of MSG, the New York Knicks and New York Rangers; his investment firm, Sports Capital Partners; and TowerBrook of New York and London. - Ben Fidler

Earlier, the Blues talked with Appleby.

2004-2005: REMEMBER THE STRIKE? DUCKS, CANUCKS, DEVILS

July 15, 2005: Labor accord puts NHL sale on ice: National Hockey League players will be back on the ice next season, and the agreement that will get them skating again likely will leave a buyout firm out in the cold. The NHL last weekend ended its 301-day lockout with the league and the players' association agreeing in principle on a six-year collective bargaining agreement. One byproduct of the new pact is that it will all but end the hopes of Bain Capital LLC and Game Plan LLC to acquire the struggling league. - Phineas Lambert

Feb. 25, 2005: Disney sells Mighty Ducks: Walt Disney Co. said Feb. 25 that it has a deal to sell the Anaheim Mighty Ducks to tech billionaire Henry Samueli and his wife, Susan. Samueli, the co-founder and chairman of Broadcom Corp., also owns the company that operates Anaheim's Arrowhead Pond, where the Mighty Ducks play. - Lou Whiteman

Oct. 8, 2004: Face-off or face-lift? Forget lockouts, salary caps and luxury taxes. The NHL must remake itself akin to arena football and pro soccer. - Jonathan Berke

Sept. 14, 2004: McCaw near Canucks sale: Word of a deal to sell the Vancouver Canucks and their home arena for C$250 million ($192 million) was the third most important hockey story in Canada as Canadians geared up for the championship game in the World Cup of Hockey and girded for a lockout in the National Hockey League. - Laura King

March 2, 2004: Vanderbeek group gets Devils: The defending Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils made a major trade March 2, but it was for some fresh capital, not a goal scorer. Lehman Brothers Inc. executive Jeffrey Vanderbeek gave his notice to the investment banking firm and will lead an investment group that's infusing equity into the hockey team. - Jonathan Berke

2003: SENATORS, COYOTES, SABRES, THRASHERS, MAPLE LEAFS

May 2, 2003: Slap shot: In Canada's capital city, saving the (bankrupt) Ottawa Senators is viewed as an act of highest patriotism. - Matt Miller (See more on their bankruptcy story in The Deal Pipeline.)

April 25, 2003: Stadium oasis for two Arizona teams: Hockey's Phoenix Coyotes are hoping a new stadium will provide a spark. The team is reportedly trying to raise as much as $400 million and hopes to move into a new 17,500-seat facility by Dec. 27. - Jonathan Berke

April 11, 2003: Golisano cleared to own Sabres: After a season this hockey team and its fans would like to forget, bankrupt Buffalo Sabres can at least look forward to having a new owner. On April 10, Judge Michael Kaplan of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of New York in Buffalo cleared former New York gubernatorial candidate Tom Golisano to buy the National Hockey League franchise for as much as $94.5 million. - Jonathan Berke (See more on their bankruptcy story in The Deal Pipeline.)

April 8, 2003: Turner Sports says no sale: A Turner Sports spokesman denied reports that any deal was in place to sell basketball's Atlanta Hawks, hockey's Atlanta Thrashers and the Phillips Arena where they both play. - Jonathan Berke

Feb. 11, 2003: Toronto teams get new owner: The Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors on Feb. 11 got a new majority owner as part of a reorganization of the parent that runs both teams. - Jonathan Berke

2001: PANTHERS, CANADIENS

June 5, 2001: Huizenga sells NHL's Panthers for $101M: A group led by former football great Bernie Kosar acquired the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League on June 5 for $101 million from H. Wayne Huizenga's Boca Resorts Inc. - Jonathan Berke

Jan. 31, 2001: George Gillett Jr. buys Montreal Canadiens: Buyout maven George N. Gillett Jr. on Jan 31 entered the ownership ranks of another winter sports pastime by acquiring an 80.1% stake in hockey's Montreal Canadiens and the team's arena, the Molson Centre, from Molson Inc. for a bargain-basement C$190 million ($126.4 million) in cash. - Jonathan Berke

Jan. 26, 2001: Pro hockey becomes a buyer's market; Dec. 22, 2000: Multiple stadium deals becoming common

2000: DEVILS, ISLANDERS, AVALANCHE

Aug. 9, 2000: Devils are in the details: Harvey Schiller, president of the YankeeNets LLC, may have jumped the gun in telling Bloomberg News that his company has "all the money that we need in place to get this done." The deal is the YankeeNets' purchase of the New Jersey Devils from John McMullen for $175 million. - Jonathan Berke

April 26, 2000: Wang buys N.Y. Islanders: Legendary Computer Associates International Inc. founder Charles Wang came back to the area where he founded his company to, along with CAI's president and CEO, Sanjay Kumar, buy the star-crossed New York Islanders hockey team for about $180 million in cash. - Jonathan Berke

April 24, 2000: Denver teams sold: Selling the National Basketball Association's Denver Nuggets and National Hockey League's Colorado Avalanche has been tougher than scaling Mount Everest. - Jonathan Berke