Balsillie offers to play only part of coming season in Hamilton if he buys Coyotes

Balsillie agrees to only some games in Canada

PHOENIX — Canadian billionaire James Balsillie has proposed having the Phoenix Coyotes begin the season in Arizona, then move to Hamilton, Ontario, as quickly as possible.

Balsillie’s attorney, Jeff Keffler, made the comment Wednesday after U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Redfield T. Baum said it was “reasonably probable” that he could not resolve the many outstanding issues in the messy Coyotes fight by a Sept. 14 deadline set by the Canadian.

Outside the courthouse after the hearing, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman blasted Balsillie’s idea of moving the team after the season begins, saying it disrespects the game and the players. The NHL vehemently opposes Balsillie’s bid to buy the team.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

PHOENIX (AP) — Canadian billionaire James Balsillie has proposed having the Phoenix Coyotes begin the season in Arizona, then move to Hamilton, Ontario, as quickly as possible.

Balsillie’s attorney, Jeff Keffler, made the comment Wednesday after U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Redfield T. Baum said it was “reasonably probable” that he could not resolve the many outstanding issues in the messy Coyotes fight by a Sept. 14 deadline set by the Canadian.

The comments came during a hearing on whether the judge should overrule the NHL board of governor’s 26-0 vote rejecting Balsillie as a potential owner. The Canadian wants to buy the team contingent on moving the franchise to Hamilton.

“We may have to move during the season,” Keffler said.

League attorney Shep Goldfein scoffed at the idea.

“You want to talk about disruption of families and players and the fan base,” he said. “I don’t think that’s ever happened. I’m not aware it’s ever happened.”

The NHL, which has made a bid to buy the team, wants the judge to rule the Coyotes will play the coming season in Arizona, citing the damage done to the team by the current uncertainty as the season approaches. The first preseason game is Sept. 15.

Baum noted that if he rules in favor of Balsillie on the ownership issue, the NHL would appeal and seek a stay. By then, the regular season will have started, the judge said.

That led Keffler to make the offer to begin the season in Glendale and move to Hamilton as quickly as possible.

Thomas Salerno, attorney for the debtors headed by Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes, said the team would lose “$30-$40-$50 million” if it plays the entire season in Glendale, money lost to the team’s creditors.

Keffler said that if Baum rules that the team will play this season in Arizona, it will kill Balsillie’s bid.

Keffler told the judge that Balsillie was willing to play a season in Glendale if the NHL would split the anticipated losses, not tie up the case in appeals and act on the request to relocate the franchise to Hamilton.

For the first time since Moyes brought the team into bankruptcy on May 5, Balsillie was in the courtroom. So was his nemesis, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.

Baum succinctly summed up the efforts of Balsillie and his representatives.

“Either they have the ability to force themselves into the league, in a simple sense, or they don’t,” Baum said. “If they don’t, then game over.”

Keffler argued that the NHL vote was a “thin pretext” conjured up by lawyers when the league’s real concern is a legal battle with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The contention is largely based on a November 2006 letter from the Maple Leafs’ counsel that cites the franchise’s position that any relocation of a franchise must be approved by a unanimous vote.

The NHL says that Bettman has decided that relocation would be simply by a majority vote.

Goldfein called the allegations “just made up” and “something from the Twilight Zone.”

The judge put aside assertions by Balsillie’s attorneys that the NHL had a serious conflict of interest because it was a bidder. The league filed a $140 million offer to buy the team last week when a group headed by Jerry Reinsdorf pulled out.

Balsillie’s attorney, Susan Freeman, said the NHL was considering making a bid at the time the owners rejected the Canadian as an owner. That put the league in a position of rejecting a competitive bid.

Baum said more briefs need to be filed on the matter before he is prepared to hear that issue.

The judge had sharp questions for attorneys for the NHL and Balsillie. He noted that Balsillie was asking for an unprecedented ruling.

Balsillie is offering $212.5 million, contingent on immediately moving the franchise to Hamilton. Under that bid, Moyes would get $104 million of the $300 million he says he loaned the Coyotes.

Another bidder is Ice Edge, a group of investors who say they will pay up to $150 million and would keep the team in Glendale. However, five regular-season games would be played in Saskatoon.

Moyes would get next to nothing under the NHL and Ice Edge bids.