Lots of exciting non-news today on the Winnipeg-gets-an-NHL-team file.
First, Winnipeg Mayor Sam “Giggles” Katz suddenly threw out this quote from seemingly nowhere:
“Do I believe the Coyotes are coming to Winnipeg – my answer would be no,” mayor Sam Katz said on Wednesday. “I don’t believe that. I believe the Coyotes will stay in Phoenix and they will do everything they can, because I happen to know some of the commitments that were made when they went there. And there were commitments that – if they were not fulfilled – there could easily be a lawsuit. So I think you have to start looking at some of the other potential franchises.”
Uh dude, you couldn’t have said that sooner?
So that’s it then, no Jets in Winnipeg.
In between hauls on faux Cubans and long, breathless slurps of 18-year-old single malt, the monied partners of Atlanta Spirit, the group that owns the Thrashers, are watching the action in Arizona very intently.
“They want to sell and they have no options other than Winnipeg,” a source close to the transaction told the Free Press. “They want the NHL to solve its issues in Phoenix and sell the team to (Matthew) Hulsizer so they can then sell to the group in Winnipeg.
“The NHL will let them sell. This market has failed once before and these guys have been trying to sell for years and no local group has come forward. They are desperate to sell and the Winnipeg guys are the only ones with money ready to go.”
All right then! Winnipeg hockey roadtrips stay on next fall’s itinerary. Unless Winnipeg doesn’t get a team. Then they will be cancelled.
Boy, you can just smell the behind the scenes scheming and scrambling, eh? Poor Winnipeg. Ha ha.
Oh, and Boston just won! Eat it, Montreal! (Yes, I prefer the Bruins to the Habs. Deal with it.)
