|
Post by Ducky on Nov 13, 2004 23:28:55 GMT -5
Present franchise values compiled by forbes magasine
PUCKS & BUCKS
The value of NHL franchises as compiled by Forbes magazine (all dollar figures in millions US):
1 New York Rangers $282
2 Toronto Maple Leafs 280
3 Philadelphia Flyers 264
4 Dallas Stars 259
5 Detroit Red Wings 248
6 Colorado Avalanche 246
7 Boston Bruins 236
8 Montreal Canadiens 195
9 Los Angeles Kings 193
10 Chicago Blackhawks 178
11 Minnesota Wild 163
12 New York Islanders 160
13 Tampa Bay Lightning 150
14 San Jose Sharks 149
15 Vancouver Canucks 148
16 St. Louis Blues 140
17 Columbus Blue Jackets 139
18 Phoenix Coyotes 136
19 Ottawa Senators 125
20 New Jersey Devils 124
21 Florida Panthers 121
22 Calgary Flames 116
23 Washington Capitals 115
24 Nashville Predators 111
25 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 108
26 Atlanta Thrashers 106
27 Edmonton Oilers 104
28 Buffalo Sabres 103
29 Pittsburgh Penguins 101
30 Carolina Hurricanes 100
|
|
|
Post by hatrick007 on Nov 14, 2004 19:19:16 GMT -5
Wow... I really don't trust Forbes figures right now.... theres no way the Penguins are worth even close to 100 million. And I would love to see someone stupid enough to pay almost 300 milliion dollars for the Rangers.
|
|
|
Post by jets4ever on Nov 17, 2004 15:09:17 GMT -5
Anaheim, $108M? If you offered Disney $108K you could get that franchise tomorrow. Where did Forbes come up with those numbers?
|
|
|
Post by hatrick007 on Nov 18, 2004 12:58:09 GMT -5
Hmm.. The NHLPA paid them to come up with those fake numbers....MUAUAUAUAUHAHAH
|
|
Al
Rookie Member
Posts: 30
|
Post by Al on Nov 19, 2004 21:18:10 GMT -5
nhlcbanews.com/dalymail/daly_mailbag111504.htmlDaly answers fans' CBA e-mails -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- November 15, 2004 Periodically, NHL Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer Bill Daly will answer CBA-related e-mails from fans submitted to NHLCBANEWS.com. Below are Daly's answers to several recent questions. Keep checking NHLCBANEWS.com for more mailbag features. Martin L. from London, Ontario asked: Q: Bill, how can the numbers from Forbes magazine and the Levitt Report be so different? Bill Daly: This is not a new phenomenon (Forbes has been publishing similarly inaccurate reports for years), and, in light of the lack of information upon which the estimates were based, is not surprising. Forbes did not have access to any of the relevant financial information one would need to determine Club operating results. As a result, the magazine made speculative "guesses," which are factually inaccurate. By contrast, the independent review and report of NHL Club finances performed and issued by Arthur Levitt was based on complete and unfettered access to all relevant financial materials of both the League and all 30 Clubs. Mr. Levitt (the former Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission), Lynn Turner (the former Chief Accountant for the SEC, and currently Professor and Director of the Center for Quality Financial Reporting at Colorado State University), Eisner & Company LLP, and a substantial number of independent accounting firms which audited and certified the financial statements of the NHL Clubs collectively spent 2,000 hours in preparing Mr. Levitt's independent report on the League's financial condition, and Mr. Levitt concluded that the results reported are accurate and fairly reflect the financial results of the League. Needless to say, we are fully confident that the numbers published in the Levitt Report, and as recently updated and reported by the League, completely and accurately reflect the state of the our business.
|
|
|
Post by Ducky on Nov 28, 2004 17:56:10 GMT -5
Ice Follies Fans chill as pro hockey pucks up. BY BILL GALLO bill.gallo@westword.com
Mark Poutenis The good thing about the hockey lockout? Todd Bertuzzi is looking for work. The bad thing? Nobody gets to drive the Zamboni, big lovable galoot of a vehicle that it is. Otherwise, who the hell cares? Not many. Except for the good citizens of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, the people who brew Molson's (What? Whaddya mean he wants to be a U.S. senator?) and eleven hermits in northern Minnesota wearing Elmer Fudd hats who've just hooked up to the Dish Network. That's it. That's everybody. Now that the National Hockey League season has been more or less nixed, you see no one on the 16th Street Mall in a maroon Colorado Avalanche jersey and hear no one in a corner saloon bitching about (or admiring, eyes all ashine) that vicious hit Vaclav Prospal put on Vaclav Nederost the other night. Fact is, neither Vaclav is even in the country anymore. They're both at home in the Czech Republic, playing for Ceské Budejovice and Liberec, respectively, until NHL commish Gary Bettman and the NHL owners and the NHL players' union can get over their differences and get back to playing a game that's reportedly beloved in snowshoe country and obviously ignored everywhere else. For now, the assorted combatants are all cooling their skates in the penalty box. Glowering. Sulking. Holding their ground like a goalie before the net. Hell will be a hockey rink before these mules come to terms.
Meanwhile, as the eminent economist Marcus Camby pointed out last week, hockey's current woes could prove an unforeseen boost for another indoor/outdoor sport that fewer and fewer people around the country pay attention to. You know the one: Big brown ball. Tall guys. Sneakers that cost 200 bucks. Denver Nuggets coach Jeff Bzdelik recently allowed that he'd personally love to see the NHL lockout end soon because he's a devoted hockey fan, too. But don't you believe it. With hockey on ice -- no, wait a minute, that would be off ice -- action-starved sports fans here and in other NHL/NBA cities will just naturally gravitate to the only dead-of-winter game in town, which is hoops. Actually, the timing couldn't be better for the Nuggets -- aside from the inconvenient fact that the Avalanche and the Nuggets happen to be owned by the same guy, Stan Kroenke. With rising young star Carmelo Anthony and glamorous free agent Kenyon Martin on the roster, the once-hopeless Nuggets promise to be an authentic contender this year, and the more fan adoration and media coverage they get, the better for them. Sans pucks, the struggling NBA is in for a huge bonus -- especially at the Pepsi Center. Not only that, but the players are bound to be physically happier, too. As veteran center Camby points out, an arena floor that has no sheet of ice underneath it is a warmer, softer, more traction-friendly floor.
As they enjoy their sudden (but not unexpected) winter-sport monopoly, NBA types will also be paying close attention to the NHL's labor troubles: Hockey owners claim they lost $273 million on revenues of $2 billion in 2002-03, and TV fees trail player salaries by untold millions. The owners want a salary cap, like football and basketball have. Naturally, the players want to preserve the current market-value system. Hoopsters will be watching, because the NBA's own labor agreement expires July 1, 2005, and it, too, could face a work stoppage -- the first since the 1998-99 season was trimmed to fifty games.
While the wrangle continues -- there's even been rumbling about drafting the best player of all time,Wayne Gretzky, as a replacement for Bettman -- NHL players have fled the mess in droves. You already know that Avalanche star Peter Forsberg is playing this season for MoDo in his native Sweden and that Avalanche goalie David Aebischer is with Lugano, in Switzerland, as is Alex Tanguay. From what we hear, that milk-chocolate puck the Swiss use doesn't hurt as much when you catch one in the face. But that's just the start of the defections. At last count, a total of 209 NHL players are now playing in Europe: 52 in the Czech Republic, 42 in Sweden, 38 in Russia. They're being pretty paid well, too. Does that mean the NHL is about to crumble? Through the years, the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and Ottawa Senators have all threatened to follow the lead of the Quebec Nordiques and the Winnipeg Jets by leaving hockey's beloved Canadian homeland for more lucrative markets in the big, bad, Budweiser-swilling United States. Must they now consider Prague or Hamburg?
While we wait for the answer to that question, hockey is still being played in certain un-Manitoban places -- even here. The minor-league Colorado Eagles were a smash hit in their first season up in Loveland, and they should draw even better as sophomores for GM Ralph Backstrom. The University of Denver Pioneers are off to a shaky start (freshman goalie), but the defending NCAA national champs always play an exciting brand of pucks in the Ritchie Center. And if you've got an unquenchable, deathless urge for Avalanche hockey in this barren season, you can satisfy that, too. If you're willing to travel. And if you wear very warm clothes. The Quebec Avalanche Hockey Club, aka Avalanche du Quebec, is in the middle of its fourth season of play in eastern Canada. The leading scorers for those Avs? Center Caroline Proulx and forward Stephanie Lambert. The unflappable goaltender? One Kim St.-Pierre. At last look, the Avalanche was just 2-7 in the National Women's Hockey League standings, but that included a pair of tough, one-goal losses this month to the Ottawa Raiders.
Otherwise, confirmed puckheads must, during this drought, use their vivid imaginations to find suitable entertainment. Actually, there are plenty of alternatives out there, most of them readily available on the boob tube. For one thing, figure skating. Give Tonya Harding her billy club back, put her out there with five or six guys in powder-blue sparkle outfits, and it will look just like the third period of an Avs-Red Wings game. Live from Dresden, you've got the international ice-dancing championships. And let's not forget that other thing. You know, that deal with the little steel sled the guy slips under his butt. Luge. With Peter Forsberg in Sweden and Niklas Sundstrom in Milan and the Zamboni in dry dock, you might even settle into your easy chair with The Brothers Karamazov or the collected poems of Emily Dickinson. No? Those reruns of The Love Boat come on at 7:30.
We'll live, all of us. In the meantime: Go, Nuggets. Go, Pioneers. Go, Avalanche du Quebec. For that matter, Go, Ceské Budejovice.
|
|
|
Post by Ducky on Dec 4, 2004 10:33:04 GMT -5
Sat, December 4, 2004
Union working on offer NHL can't dismiss easily
By CP
NEW YORK -- The NHL Players' Association is working on a proposal that will see players give up serious concessions in a bid to salvage the season. But what the union tables to the NHL on Thursday will definitely not contain a fixed link between player costs and league revenues -- a salary cap.
One wonders if NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow mentioned that when he sat down to lunch with commissioner Gary Bettman yesterday.
The union offer is expected to feature major givebacks in other areas, but the key will be the payroll tax. The union's offer Sept. 9 had a tax that charged 20 cents on the dollar for payrolls over $40 million US, which the league labelled as "window dressing." Money generated by the tax would then be shared among the teams.
The union has been tight-lipped about its new proposal, in part because it is still putting the finishing touches to it. But the popular figure being thrown around is that the new payroll tax would charge 75 cents on the dollar for payrolls exceeding $40 million.
There are other new wrinkles to the package, one that the union believes will make it very hard for Bettman to tell his owners to unilaterally reject it.
The league, meanwhile, may come to the talks armed with a counter-proposal.
"I wouldn't rule anything out, it really depends on what we get," Bill Daly, the NHL's executive vice-president and chief legal officer, said after the GMs' dinner meeting wrapped up Thursday in Manhattan. "We may not be in a position to counter-propose in 24 hours (after the first meeting), but on the other hand we might. It all depends on what they offer us."
At the very least, if the union offer is as strong as it is being labelled, the two sides may finally sit down and stay in the boardroom for a few weeks in an attempt to hammer out a new deal. It sure beats 2 1/2 months of inactivity.
The clock continues to tick on saving this season. Not that anyone south of the border really seems to care.
Take this week's Monday Night Football as an example. With two minutes left in the game, ABC flashed graphics to compare Brett Favre's durability as an NFL quarterback, showing the consecutive games leaders in Major League Baseball, then the NBA, and then ... nothing.
So much for the Big Four.
As the NHL and NHLPA prepare to re-open bargaining talks, that omission on Monday Night Football should be a stark reminder just how damaging not having a season this year could be. Out of sight, out of mind -- can the NHL survive an entire year without hockey in a country that doesn't seem to care it's not operating right now?
"The lockout and the progress in the negotiations hasn't been highlighted by the U.S. media," allowed Daly. "But again, I don't view that necessarily as a lack of interest as opposed to, first of all, there hasn't been a whole lot to report on, and two, where we are is not really a big surprise to anybody who follows the game because everyone understood that this would be a real possibility.
"They'll be covering us when we come back."
Some of them did show up to Thursday night's GMs meeting with Bettman and Daly at a posh Italian eatery in Manhattan. Scribes from the New York Times, New York Post and Philadelphia Inquirer were there, among others.
"This is the first hockey story in our paper in three months," said one New York writer
|
|
|
Post by Ducky on Dec 4, 2004 18:46:14 GMT -5
September 15, 2004 Blame Blues for CBA woes? By Dan Stiehr TheFourthPeriod.com
With the current CBA set to expire this afternoon, it's important to acknowledge the role the St. Louis Blues have played in the current labor landscape. Since the early 90's, the Blues have been one of the league's most active teams, and perhaps the team most responsible for throwing the pay scale out of whack.
Entering 1990-91, the Blues made waves by signing restricted free agent Scott Stevens from the Washington Capitals. The following season, the Blues signed Brendan Shanahan from the New Jersey Devils, and lost Stevens as compensation in the process.
Shanahan was another RFA, and a popular theory at the time was that Stevens was awarded over the Blues' package of Rod Brind'Amour and Curtis Joseph as a means of the league getting back at the Blues for their frequent activity.
Owner Mike Shanahan, president Jack Quinn, and GM Ron Caron added Dave Christian and Petr Nedved, and inked Michel Goulet, Marty Mcsorley and Scott Stevens (after his initial contract with New Jersey expired) to offer sheets which their teams all matched.
The Shanahan/Quinn/Caron triumvirate had admirable goals in these signings – put a winner on the ice and of course sell tickets and merchandise.
When they began their shopping spree, league salaries rarely reached the high six figures. While salaries may have been low in relation to other sports, so were league revenues. The trio iced a high-priced team and inflated salaries on other teams as agents now had ammunition to hold owners for ransom.
Over this period, Detroit and New Jersey loaded up with draft picks that would ensure domination over the next decade-plus.
The Blues' most high profile picks during the height of their spending spree: solid contributor (for other clubs) Ian Laperriere, Eric Boguniecki, perennial disappointment Jamal Mayers, Steve Staios (an underrated force on the Edmonton blueline), and plugger Mike Grier.
While early 90's management had the fans' best interests' in mind, they chose a poor method to attain them and they began to unravel the league's financial status in the process.
While Mike Keenan is likely the most hated man ever employed by the club, his questionable acquisitions came mostly via trade that didn't affect salary structure much. Deals with Dale Hawerchuk and Shayne Corson were both regrettable, but lacked the league-wide impact of the previous group or successor Larry Pleau.
Pleau's era saw a return to financial mismanagement.
Sean Hill parlayed one slightly above-average season with Carolina into a multi-year pact in St. Louis. He barely lasted a calendar year with the club before being shipped back to the Canes for AHL'er Steve Halko and a fourth rounder.
Rich Pilon and Mike Keane won't attend sweater-retirement ceremonies at the Savvis Center, yet each pocketed sizable contracts from the Blues.
Pleau also overpaid Keith Tkachuk (after trading far too much to acquire him) and Doug Weight (a more equitable deal, though Jochen Hecht scored only thirteen fewer points than Weight last season while playing eleven fewer games).
Signing marginal third line/fifth defensemen-type players and overpaying players who are talented, but not the league's elite, has destroyed the financial viability of the league.
The problem does not lie in Joe Sakic getting paid top dollar; the problem lies in teams like the Blues paying Weight, who is highly skilled but not on a level with Sakic, similar money.
This creates a cycle of ever-increasing salaries, one that the team helped begin in 1990 and the league plans to end 14-years later.
|
|
|
Post by jets4life on Dec 4, 2004 21:37:29 GMT -5
...and this from a team who came within an inch of moving to Saskatoon in 1983.
|
|