THE NHL may have looked the other way during the first week of 2007, when Kings governor Tim Leiweke visited Kansas City and did his AEG ownership’s bidding by lobbying for the Penguins to move to the AEG-owned and operated arena in KC should things have fallen through in Pittsburgh, but the league doesn’t appear to be looking away now.
It isn’t looking away at what from the outside appears to be a blatant conflict of interest and from the inside might be violations of the NHL Constitution and League By-Laws by AEG, which secretly agreed to loan the now-indicted “Boots” Del Baggio $7 million for use toward becoming part of the ownership group of the Predators, coincidentally enough another candidate to move to Kansas City.
Slap Shots has been told by a well-placed individual familiar with the thinking on Sixth Avenue that the NHL will look into the circumstances behind the loan from AEG to Del Baggio, and loans of up to $20 million to Del Baggio from outgoing Nashville owner and current Minnesota owner Craig Leipold.
Think of it. Had Del Baggio remained a part of the group purchasing Nashville, the Kings and the Wild would have had a financial investment in the Predators, and apparently without the knowledge of Gary Bettman or any other member of the Board of Governors.
Reporters from The Tennessean have done a remarkable job in uncovering details of the entangling financial alliances among those invested in the sale of the Predators, one of the NHL’s chronic problem franchises.
But though Bettman told that newspaper that the burden for revealing these loans fell on Del Baggio during his application process, we’re told that the league intends to look very, very carefully at the behavior of AEG and Leipold, who were, by the way, two of Bettman’s most militant allies throughout the lockout and canceled 2004-05 season.
There are rules in the Constitution and By-Laws that regulate financial transactions between teams. According to our informant, even if it is not yet clear that AEG and Leipold violated those rules – the inquiry is in its embryonic stages – it is clear enough that all parties were obligated to report the loans to the NHL office .
Prevailing opinion is that Bettman and the NHL look bad for not knowing that Del Baggio was going to morph into John Spano right before everyone’s eyes. But Bettman looks worse for not knowing what his allies on the Board were doing behind his back.
And his allies look much worse than the commissioner.
Leipold is a small player on the NHL scene. But AEG, LA owner Phil Anschutz and Leiweke have somehow amassed real power within the league despite running one of the NHL’s eyesore franchises. The Kings have missed the playoffs five straight seasons and in eight of the 12 seasons Anschutz has owned the team. They have won one playoff round (in 2001) since their 1993 trip to the Cup Finals.
They are likely to have the league’s lowest payroll this season while GM Dean Lombardi sheds anyone with market value over the age of 25, yet have raised prices this offseason while promising to do so again next summer.
Ownership could not care less about putting a winning product on the ice, instead it’s consumed with manufacturing a scheme that will place an NHL team in AEG’s arena in Kansas City.
There is a growing sense that the NHL is becoming a banana republic. Bettman has a chance now to exert some real authority. It’s time for the league to take a hard look at Anschutz, Leiweke and AEG, and to apply meaningful punishment if in fact the Kings did violate NHL financial regulations.
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The less said the better about the Rangers not only allowing Petr Nedved to come to training camp, but also assuring No. 93 that he would be given a meaningful chance to win a job.
That’s saying too much already.
Even less said even better about the Rangers’ insane training camp and exhibition schedule that will force the team to travel to Ottawa and Tampa Bay during a stretch of five games in six nights and six in eight before going to Bern for a pair of exhibition and then to Prague to open the season with two against the Lightning.
Could the Garden need the money from road appearance fees so badly to conjure a schedule like this one, and in a year in which the Rangers are essentially a brand new team?
It’s even less rational than bringing Nedved – one of our favorite people to have played for the Rangers, you should know – into the mix.
OK, how long into the first Battle of the Hudson before Bobby Holik gets a goaltender interference penalty?
Here’s the amazing thing. Garth Snow is telling people that the Islanders underachieved last year with Ted Nolan. Really.
Finally, this just in. Green Bay is offering $20M to Mats Sundin to stay retired.