NHL franchise updates
- By now everyone has heard about the Toronto Maple Leafs announcement that Leaf ticket prices for next season will increase by 3.5%. Natually there is outrage that prices would go up while they are icing a lousy team during a serious economic recession. Get with it folks, someone has to pay Brian Burke's obscene salary. Besides if you can afford Leaf season tickets, then you can afford the 3.5% increase. And remember there are 4,000 individuals on the Leaf's waiting list for season tickets. Admit it - you're a masochist so pay up.
- From the obscenely wealth to the nearly bankrupt. The City of Glendale has acknowledged that the Phoenix Coyotes play virtually rent-free. Sources say that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and the city of Glendale have come to terms on an agreement that will see Glendale concede at least $15 million per year to the Coyotes towards a new lease deal.
- Disgraced former Nashville minority owner William J. (Boots) Del Biaggio III pleaded guilty to fraud recently and this week it was announced that Calgary billionaire Brett Wilson has a handshake agreement in place to buy shares of the Nashville Predators. Wilson's share will be "nominal," so this isn't a buy in of the size that one Boots Del Biaggio had in the summer of 2007. Of course Boots's shares are still mired in bankruptcy court.
- The latest revelations, contained in La Presse, indicate that Belarusian brothers Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn, as well as Czech defenceman Roman Hamrlik, had social ties with 38-year-old Pasquale Mangiola, who stands accused of conspiracy, drug and weapons charges. The entire season is unraveling in Montreal - oh yes, happy 100th birthday Habs!
