So I was away for a bit and I expected to come back rested and armed with all kinds of material and what did I find????? Nothing has changed. Nothing has happened. No one has done anything. It’s all quite funny. It’s as if we are stuck in pause mode while the rest of the sports world moves on without us. I can’t speak to radio or television, but man the print guys have let us down. Nothing worth talking about is there????

I mean hockey is bigger news in Tampa Bay where the Bolts signed Steve Yzerman. Remind me who broke this story. Let’s see, David Shoalts rumored (is that a verb?) that a deal “may already be done” and was quickly shot at (or down) by Darren Dreger. Now, who’s to say what really happened here. I mean, maybe they were both kind of right. Maybe the bolts and Yzerman where down to dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s when someone squealed to Shoalts. Conversely, maybe Yzerman was, like Nonis at the time and only after boatloads of cash were put in front of him did he agree to move to Tampa. We certainly will never know the real truth. There are always three sides to the story and to be honest, what do any of the parties involved have to gain anyways? I mean Shoalts will stick by his story and sources, as will Dreger.

Speaking of Shoalts, did you see his shot across the good ship Bettman?? The funniest thing about the whole Coyotes story is how guys like Shoalts have been played through this whole saga. I mean Shoalts attacks Bettman for playing the fans (who) in Phoenix and those in Winnipeg by speaking out of both sides of his mouth- Shouldn’t Shoalts be talking to whomever keeps leaking stories to the press? Hasn’t it been the media who has gotten this story wrong more times than right, in at least the prediction game???? Do you remember the Reinsdorf bid is dead saga- how long did it last until he rose again, like Hurly in Lost?????? Seems to me that if Shoalts has anyone to be mad at it’s those who feed him stories. At least he isn’t alone in this one.

Happy to be back

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

shoalts piece is here

So, when the dust settles, it looks like neither Lightning owner will win. One will be gone entirely. The other almost entirely diluted. The mistake the league made in allowing Koules and Barrie into the club that isn’t good enough for Balsillie will, once again have ridden itself of mistakes from a previous day.

There really are two scenarios left in this mess. the first is that Palace Sports & Entertainment will be left holding the bag to the team that their deceased owner, Bill Davidson bought years ago. The other, is that one of these guys will find a partner to bail them out. Saving enough to remain in name only. Yes, they will be at the press conference. Yes they will have a stake. Somewhere down the line, they will be gone though as the person with the money will find they have no use for them anymore.

Tonight, Damien Cristodero, of the St. Pete Times has an excellent story on the next chapter of the Bolts which is about to unfold. Oren Koules, it appears has found a much better financier than Len Barrie has:

“When it comes to his attempt to buy a majority interest of the Lightning, Jeff Greene is nothing if not confident.

“I don’t need financing,” the Los Angeles real estate investor said Monday. “I have the funds available to do this transaction.”

He also said, “If everything falls into place, there’s a very good chance we have a deal.”

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed Greene, working with Oren Koules to buy out co-owner Len Barrie, filed a league ownership application. The NHL has not said the same about Anthony Sansone, the St. Louis real estate developer working with Barrie to buy out Koules.

In fact, Daly said it is “premature” to consider Sansone a serious candidate to gain control of the team.

With that, Greene and Koules emerged as the apparent front-runners in the race to bring stability to a franchise that has known little since June 2008, when OK Hockey took control from Palace Sports & Entertainment.” My favorite part of the story is when Koules says how happy he is to have someone like Greene interested. That and the part where Greene says this is simply a business deal. Come on, who in the year 2009 buys a hockey team in Tampa Bay strictly for business? What Koules means is he can’t believe someone with a lot of money who appears to be totally credible would want to keep him in some small part as part of the group. Classic. All that remains is for Doug MacLean to become an advisor.

And there you have it. Another Gary Bettman mess. Stay tuned. There will be more.

Damien’s article is here

Interesting as I sit here looking around the internets at the different reports on the current status of the ownership of the Tampa Bay Lightning. One article seems to suggest that Len Barrie may well be on his way to buying out Oren Koules and the other suggests that Barrie is ready to throw in the towel and let Koules buy him out.

David Shoalts in the Globe suggests that Barrie’s time is up.

“Those close to Len Barrie say he is likely to throw in the towel on his one-year run as co-owner of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning next Saturday, clearing the way for (sparring) partner Oren Koules to take over. Under the agreement worked out by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman when it became apparent Barrie and Koules could no longer co-exist, Barrie was given until the end of September to put together a deal to buy out Koules. If he failed, then Koules would get a chance to buy out Barrie. Neither Barrie nor Koules is talking, as Bettman issued one of his infamous gag orders. But a person with knowledge of how the buyout agreement was set up confirmed the reason Barrie was allowed to go first is because no one thinks he can pull it off. ”

Damian Cristodero, the bolts writer at tampabay.com offers a different scenario:

“Anthony Sansone Jr. would not say when he will decide whether to try to join Len Barrie as an owner of the Lightning. He also declined to identify the “very substantial” financial investment entity he would bring with him. But the St. Louis real estate mogul offered this Friday: “We’re certainly in the advance stages of due diligence. There’s a lot that has to be done and a lot that has to be handicapped.” The process can’t move fast enough for Barrie, in the midst of a league-mandated 60-day window to buy out co-owner Oren Koules, with whom he has been squabbling.”

That certainly doesn’t sound like Barrie is about to throw in the towel does it? Both stories will appear in their respective papers tomorrow.

Interesting times indeed. Not the craziness of Arizona, but not far behind either.

You can read about Anthony Sansone Jr.’s potential purchase of the Lightning with Len Barrie here.

You can read about Len Barrie throwing in the towel and giving up his ownership share of the Tampa Bay Lightning here