Sports Illustrated came out today with a link-bait piece rating the best and worst owners in professional sports, and when it came to the NHL section, look what we find:
Five Worst NHL Owners |
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No offense to the Music City -- it's just not a hockey town. If things had gone right, the Predators would now be playing in Hamilton, Ontario, where a hockey team could thrive. But former owner Craig Leipold backed out of a deal to sell the Preds to Jim Balsillie after the BlackBerry pioneer couldn't promise he would keep the team in Nashville. Instead, a panicked consortium of 30 local investors put together a deal to keep the team from moving. The Preds now face a shaky future in Nashville as the team can break its lease if it loses enough money or attendance drops. With the economy facing an uncertain future and pro hockey fighting against the grain in a non-traditional market, Hamilton may end up getting its team after all."No offense" to Sports Illustrated, but a creaking dinosaur of a sports rag rehashing a two-year old obsolete storyline doesn't make for insightful analysis.
And where did this "30 local investors" idea come from? The Predators ownership group consists of 10 individuals, including the discredited "Boots" Del Biaggio. Perhaps SI is thinking of the Edmonton Investors Group, which saved the Oilers from leaving town back in the late 90's, and more aptly fits the description of " a panicked consortium of 30 local investors put together a deal to keep the team from moving." At least if you're going to bash the Preds for being a small market team with group ownership, you could at least pick the right history to work from.
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