9 Comments

puckgod on July 17, 2017 at 2:14 am

Actually I have no idea what the timeline is for a sale, etc,etc…
question 1-3 ???

4. One idea came to me… as fans I’m wondering if we could collectively come up with ways to increase /strengthen the fan base? Ie. Encourage more tailgating…? Other activities…fantasy
league…?
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surgalt on July 17, 2017 at 8:55 am

There have been 2 schools of thought presented on this. The first is the deal is done with a few details to be ironed out. The second is the negotiations have just begun. My bet is the second. The person mentioned the least is likely the most active, Gary Bettman. Here’s the rationale: A. The time the Canes have been on the market is becoming a problem of itself. (Think the big house on your street that has been for sale for 3 years.) Other big ownership issues, Arizonia ownership and the Vegas’ start up kept the Canes off the front burner. They are now much less of an issue. B. Karmanos and Bettman have been able to live in harmony for their entire time in the NHL. PK was even on the leagues executive counsel until recently. C. PK has a history of battles with associates in every phase of his life, to the point he seems to relish the confrontations. D. The relationship between Karmanos and Bettmann seems to work well. Bettmann seems to be one of the few people who can keep PKs hubris out of play. E. Greenburg saved Bettman’s ass in 1999 when the Pens ownership was going belly up. Bettman has seen Greenburg do impressive work. He has been asked to do it again. F. The complexity of the financials of the Canes hockey Club and Gale Force Holdings, the arena lease, the evaluation of needs to improve team marketing and ad revenue and assembly of investors will make any deal complicated to complete. There will be devil in the details for sure. In summary, there are a lot of moving parts in play. We know PK wants it sold It appears Bettman can keep PK from making any deal impossible with outrageous demands. It is widely thought Greenberg can assemble the team with the money to finance the deal. We know the local market will embrace the deal if/when it happens and the team performance outlook continues rising. Those forces should be enough to get a deal done and the team in Raleigh at least until the current lease expires. Then the 30 other owners in the league will need to approve the deal. This will all take at least a year.
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ctcaniac on July 17, 2017 at 10:21 am

1. I think it is unlikely (surgalt does a great job of listing the many issues) that it happens soon. But I do think there is a small possibility that the sale is announced today. Since there are letters of intent on both sides it means much of the heavy lifting has been done. As I understand it, an intent to buy letter is not like playing poker, if it is accepted the buyer needs to have the resources ready to proceed.
That would make it seem the biggest hurdle is Karmanos and his wont to involve litigation.
2. see 1–my guess would be more than wild.
3. My biggest hope would be the GMRF and HCBP remain. They have a plan and it is going well.
4. While it didn’t get tons of comments, I liked the crystal ball article. Others could revolve around which prospects will make the team soonest, which teams in the division/conference/league will be successful in 17-18 and why, a look at the salary cap in the coming years (this ties in with the Hossa comments in the other thread, because a $5.3 cap hit might break the cap in out years).
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- dmilleravid on July 17, 2017 at 2:07 pm
  
  I am working on an interactive spreadsheet that everyone will be able to play with that shows the Cap situation over the next few years. Should be ready later this week.
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icecobra on July 17, 2017 at 10:56 am

1) I think we know that a letter of intent occurred and that an offer was made. So, it appears to be real. Things like this take a lot of time. It is very possible all this has been kept hidden and it is farther along than I think but my gut feel is this still has a long way to go before it is done.

2) No idea how long it will take for a deal to occur, if it does.

3) My fear is every time there is an ownership/management change they have to put their stamp on it to show who is in charge. My experience is this is not always a good thing. So, I am skeptical. There are no guarantees this move will keep the team in Raleigh. Unless it is contractual, there are no guarantees. Make no mistake, they would be buying this to make money. If it is not happening here, they could move. I do not see how this would lessen that possibility. What if they take a new direction putting a new GM in place. Is that good after we have suffered thorough many year to finally start to see a possibility of rebuilding working. My point, new management could mess things up. I am very reserved about this, not euphoric.

4) I made my comments on the salary cap and Hossa in the other post. Don’t see it.
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dogbutler on July 17, 2017 at 11:05 am

1. I hope it goes through, Greenbush has done hockey deals, and is know as a fan friendly owner. The devil is how much PK wants, and how the transFer of ownership power goes.
2. At least a year, a lot of valuation to be done as to tram value, a line up of investors and finanacing, and seeing whether current minority owners stay or jump ship.
3. I hope the Hockey Ops side stays intact. The improvements made, are too good to justify sacking GMRF, Peters and crew. We could use anot her Jim Cain type running the marketing and fan relations side.
4.
A.The Holy Roman Empire: Holy, Roman, an Empire, or none of the above.
B. The airspeed velocity of an unladen v. Laden swallow
C. Which prospect stands the best chance of making the team out of Camp this year
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raleightj on July 17, 2017 at 12:11 pm

I was quite excited when I heard about the “sale” last week.

I don’t think it will actually happen.
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Matt Karash on July 17, 2017 at 5:31 pm

My thoughts over the weekend on the possibility of a deal were either that 1-It was really close and hence leaked in process of preparing for it; 2-Quite possibly still very early in the process.

I guess maybe it is fair to give it a couple more days, but with today’s press conference passing, #2 looks more likely.

Important to note is that there is something going on and that this is more than the run of the mill rumor which has zero basis. Karmanos formally acknowledged having an offer. That does not guarantee that something closes, but it does mean that something is possible and to some degree in process.

Also worth noting is that for #2 and without knowing at exactly what stage the media intercepted it, the negotiation and details could be measured in any of days, weeks or months.

The reason for optimism is legitimate, but yet again Canes fans will have to exercise the patience that has been our mantra for a few years now.
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stormwarning on July 18, 2017 at 11:50 pm

I think this will be a slow process with lots of lawyers involved. Just buying a house can take months to finalize.

I’m not sure that a change in ownership will lead to increased attendance, but it will be nice to maybe not worry about relocation rumors for a bit. I’ve spent a good deal thinking about puckgod’s idea to collectively build the fanbase. I’ve considered making up Beginner’s Guide to Hockey, and Guides for New Hurricanes fans to distribute somehow. I’ve also considered joining the Hurricane’s boosters and maybe trying to work an information table or something during some games. Don’t know what the solution is ultimately, youth hockey leagues will help, promoting local college hockey also. Would love to discuss this further and get some help.
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