Quote:
Originally Posted by valo403
Yep, probably should have sold all that Bear Stearns stock too while he was looking into his crystal ball. Your posts never cease to entertain with their stunning lack of attachment to reality.
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There are 4 or 5 teams that were struggling before the crash, there are nearly as many owners in jail, and that has nothing to do with the crash, thus far the expansion of the NHL into the sunbelt has been a disaster due to lack of due dilligance on the part of the league allowing ownership groups who have little but iou's to buy teams, the league has been so commited to getting into the markets they havn't cared how. I assume the plan was that the vast TV deals would enable the questionable owners to cover their losses
Conversely they have a stinking rich wanna be owner who wants in but isn't allowed because he has pissed them off and wants to put a team in Ontario, had Bettman shown any ability to be flexible and admit his US plan was failing he would have worked with Ballsilli to make it happen 'properly', to be honest he still could, Bettman could ring Ballsilli and tell him you have to pay off the city and keep the team their for another couple of years as the price of the league working to get a team into Hamilton.
The reason the Yotes are in the place they are is because Bettmen didn't want to let go of Phoenix as a market, the crash was 3 years ago, it was utterly predictable that it would sink several franchises from almost the moment the market fell apart, Gary didn't have to predict the market crash, he just had to be sensible about what it would do and start the plan to move teams and probably contract the league as well.