2010-2011 NHL season

Marathon tilt between Barch and Stortini in Dallas....

 

Semin and Moulson sign extensions.

 

Another maggot ex-owner is revealed for the conniving, thieving douchebag that he is:

Len Barrie’s misadventures in leading the Bear Mountain golf resort and real-estate development into bankruptcy left more than 100 angry investors and creditors in his wake, including 18 current and former National Hockey League players who lost a total of more than $13-million.

Sean Burke, goaltender coach for the Phoenix Coyotes, is one of the unfortunate 18, having lost more than $600,000. What angers him more than losing the money is the impression Barrie, who used his share of Bear Mountain to help buy part of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2008, is not going to face any consequences.

“How does a guy get away with being able to build something to that level, with everybody else’s money, and then not be accountable at the end of the day?” Burke said. “He’s walking away with a hell of a lot more than he ever walked in [with], whereas everybody else is walking away with nothing.”

Burke and his fellow investors will see nothing from the bankruptcy settlement. The majority of Bear Mountain was taken over by its biggest creditor, HSBC Canada, last fall. The bank agreed to pay a group of unsecured creditors $500 each with a promise that if a sale of the assets exceeded $195-million in the next three years, some of the excess would go to them. No such promises were made to the investors.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/current-former-nhl-players-lose-more-than-13-million-in-resort-deal/article1883049/

The NHL victims, with the amounts they invested with Barrie:

Mike Vernon, $2 million (plus $7.6-million loan guarantee with HSBC); Ray Whitney, $3 million; Rob Blake, $600,000; Sean Burke, $600,000; Trevor Kidd, $600,000; Scott Mellanby, $600,000; Joe Nieuwendyk, $600,000; Gary Roberts, $600,000; Brian Savage, $600,000; Ryan Smyth, $600,000; Brian Carlin, $600,000; Wes Walz, $500,000; Jeff Finley, $300,000; Todd Simpson, $300,000; Matt Pettinger, $150,000; Rob Niedermayer, unknown; Greg Adams, unknown.

Guys like Barrie keep getting welcomed into the ownership fraternity, and Jim Balsillie remains on the sidelines. Things that make you go hmmmmmm.

 

A partial bench clearing brawl in an ECHL game between Reading and Florida on Jan. 22

Resulted in both coaches getting suspended a game as well as 13 players fined or suspended.

The biggest suspensions were to Reading's Todd Perry and Florida's Elgin Reid who both got five games and fined. Florida's Mike Egener got three games and a fine and Reading's Ryan Donald got two games and a fine.

Reading is an affiliate with Toronto and Boston while Florida is in the Carolina and Tampa Bay system.

Don't see guys coming off the bench very often anymore, just thought some might want to see it.

 

Raise your hand if your surprised about Barrie. The talk when he and Koules bought the Lightning is that a good chunk of the transaction was done with someone else's money that they were basically propped up by the league and other owners. While I wasn't thinking "oh Barrie has got to be a con artist or swindler" I'm not surprised the Bear Mountain project came apart and left a lot of people in a bad way. At least with Koules there was something tangible as far as a source of revenue is concerned with the Saw movies -- whether you think the movies are crap or not (I have never watched any of them) they apparently make money. Barrie wasn't exactly a big name investor type guy with a long line of real estate success -- that at least I'm aware of anyway. Too bad for Vernon being out of the game and losing that much money (so would he owe 7.6 mil to HSBC as well?).

 

Post story on Semin's extension:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/27/AR2011012706864.html

 

The issue regarding the lack of a no-trade clause was played up high in the piece. Any thoughts that he might be dealt? I'm stunned ... Semin has the game, but has developed a burgeoning reputation as a living heart donor (if only he'd stop slaughtering the Whalercanes on a regular basis).

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It's GREAT to see lots of red and black behind the talking heads in the Raleigh Convention Center.

 

And *that's* how seriously the players are taking the draft. Cam Ward No. 1 overall.

 

This draft is hilarious. Those white jerseys for Team Staal are kinda ugly though.

 

*Dropping the gloves*



Seriously, Eric Staal had said weeks ago, when he was selected as a captain, that he would take "his good friend" Cam Ward. Stayed true to his word, and made a lot of local fans very happy.

Got OV anyway ... not exactly sacrificing a chance at a good showing with the goings-on so far. I am interested, though, where Jeff Skinner goes. I suspect that all the Whalercanes would prefer to play on the same side. Who knows ...

The sweaters aren't exactly purty ... Dunno if I'm really dying for one or two ...

 

Lidstrom broke up the twins. Good for him.

 

The blue sweaters are nice. I just don't love the red on white.