NHL Corners Market on Character and Integrity

Another angle in the Phoenix Coyotes saga as the franchise wearily dog paddles away, trying to keep its head above water. It comes from a column on the front page of the National Post today, which takes a hard run at the NHL for its description of billionaire owner wannabe Jim Balsillie. The league told the American bankruptcy court that Balsillie doesn’t have “the character or integrity to be an NHL owner”.

That boulder was catapulted from the league’s glass mansion earlier this week. It’s a little high and mighty, as the column points out, for a league that has welcomed the following people into its inner circle.

Boots Del Biaggio, now off to jail for fraud.
Henry Samueli, awaiting sentencing on SEC violations.
John Rigas, in jail for embezzlement.
Sanjay Kumar, in jail for conspiracy.

Mmmmmm. Look at all that integrity and character.

Hey, Gare. Just checking here. Didn't you guys allow an entire season to be wiped out in a battle for "cost certainty”, a battle you say you won? Um, don't we still live in a world where Dany Heatley made 14 million dollars last season? I guess that's more incompetence than a lack of character.

Now the league pushing hard to have the "Yotes be sold to Jerry Reinsdorf, even though he’s offering less money, wants a boat load of incentives, subsidies, and tax breaks. Yet just like Balsillie, Reinsdorf still has the right to move the Coyotes anywhere he wants in a few years. Huh? So much for protecting the Phoenix hockey fan (“fan” is intentionally written in the singular).

Balsillie’s true sin? Not doing things the NHL way. I’d say, based on the league’s way of doing things, that’s probably a good thing.