2022-2023 NHL Misc. Thread
- Thread starter CanadaCanes
- Start date
Since Fox is basically pieced out and no longer really engaged in regional sports, that would be the longest of long shots.
From the reporting it's far more likely that Sinclair/Diamond will restructure their $8 billion in debt under a bankruptcy administrator, and attempt to carry on with their existing contracts ... since that's the only source of revenue to pout into that massive canyon of debt. Creditors would far rather get paid something than get paid nothing, and their fixed assets wouldn't cash out to much of anything. Interesting though ... this is basically the same debt that Sinclair took on when they purchased the Fox regional networks. That means that in almost 4 years of operations, they've made zero positive impact on their debt. Congrats on that.
Long term if all this goes up in smoke, I do think you could see the three leagues most impacted by this move to a more streaming based model ... either by doing their own thing or cutting a deal with ESPN or one of the other streamers. MLS is now on Apple TV, for example and Amazon is getting more and more into sports streaming. ESPN has the infrastructure and a portion of the NHL's broadcasting, so that would seem a logical home if they can bulk up the infrastructure a bit.
NoMich
Well-known member
HurryCanes
Well-known member
basically like an offensive lineman pancaking a quarterback. Bad look
I know the NHL Players Association will oppose it, but for safety reasons they should consider an eye-for-an-eye rule on clear intent to injure. You're out until the player you injured comes back. Since that won't fly, in the meantime they should certainly do away with the five-day limit.
Chuck Fletcher, meet Gerard Gallant. At least he wasn’t left on a loading dock.
www.nhl.com
Fletcher fired as Flyers GM, replaced by Briere | NHL.com
Philadelphia 7th in Metropolitan Division, has qualified for playoffs once since 2018
www.nhl.com
HurryCanes
Well-known member
briere is certainly one I haven’t thought about recently. Used to give us fits.Chuck Fletcher, meet Gerard Gallant. At least he wasn’t left on a loading dock.
Fletcher fired as Flyers GM, replaced by Briere | NHL.com
Philadelphia 7th in Metropolitan Division, has qualified for playoffs once since 2018
How the hell was the hit on Ryan not a major? Oh, wait. That was useless Trevor Hansen making the call.
TheBigKahuna
Well-known member
Someone on XM this AM leaked that it wasn't Torts the press conference was about, but instead, was Fletcher. Hours before it was announced.
Weirdly, because I think he's a terrible GM, I kind of feel for Fletcher here. He was brought in to manage a decline and then kick off a re-build, but it's obvious that he got undercut by ownership. No way in heck the Tortorella hire was his idea, and there's no way he was given cart blanche to dump contracts this season the way he should have been if ownership was investing in rebuilding. With several of these struggling franchises (Philly, Vancouver, Arizona, Anaheim) it's pretty obvious that ownership is a bigger issue than management. There comes a time when you've got to admit that the basic structure of your roster just isn't going anywhere, but for some reason a lot of owners just can't or won't see it.Chuck Fletcher, meet Gerard Gallant. At least he wasn’t left on a loading dock.
Fletcher fired as Flyers GM, replaced by Briere | NHL.com
Philadelphia 7th in Metropolitan Division, has qualified for playoffs once since 2018
HurryCanes
Well-known member
jerry jones has entered the conversation
It's this kind of contract management that gets teams in trouble. You've got a veteran D-man on a plus value contract this season, almost exclusively because he decided to start making blocking shots his first priority in life. Now, you can debate whether or not that commitment to getting repeatedly hit by pucks struck in anger is tied to the fact that the player is getting a bit older and is in a contract year (hint ... it absolutely is), but signing him to a $3 mil AAV deal rewards him for work he did this year that he hasn't done for you in past years. And it does so over a 3 year period. Do you see the disconnect?
NoMich
Well-known member
Word on the street has it that Bally Sports will declare bankruptcy this Friday, March 17. This shouldn't mean anything for the NBA and NHL since Bally is probably already paid up for this season. MLB, however, probably will not receive any money from Bally for the foreseeable future, not until the details of the bankruptcy deal is worked out anyway. MLB plans on streaming those teams' games in market for free on the MLB.tv app. I think you still have to pay to subscribe to MLB.tv like normal, but at least the league will be providing your team's games for you.
What does this bankruptcy mean for the affected NBA and NHL teams next season? Unless another company is dumb enough to start up their own RSN and pay the full media rights fees to the leagues, then I'm not sure. Hopefully the leagues can figure something out, but I'm sure they'll be seeing quite the hit to their bottom lines next season. No way the NHL salary cap goes up any time soon with this going on.
What does this bankruptcy mean for the affected NBA and NHL teams next season? Unless another company is dumb enough to start up their own RSN and pay the full media rights fees to the leagues, then I'm not sure. Hopefully the leagues can figure something out, but I'm sure they'll be seeing quite the hit to their bottom lines next season. No way the NHL salary cap goes up any time soon with this going on.
Trying to bury that news on St Patrick's Day? How very northeast corridor of you, Sinclair.
They didn’t wait, they filed tonight.
Yeah, most of the reporting that goes beyond the "this is a horrible thing that happened" level is from baseball writers ... most of whom don't seem to know that the NHL exists ... so you have to extrapolate a bit. Looks like Sinclair's first goal is to shed under-performing markets. Given that our Bally RSN is anchored by a terrible NBA franchise and an NHL franchise I'd wager that Bally Sports South either is on the axe list or will be fully merged with Southeast. That's all presuming they can rub together enough nickels to stay operational while they con a judge into allowing them to restructure their massive mountain of debt ... aka stiff a bunch of legit creditors.
Again, this flying chicken coop only needs to stay in the air for about 5-6 weeks and then the NHL has the offseason to figure something out. Good freaking luck with that. Oh, and we the fans can 100% count on paying WAY more for whatever comes down the pipe for next season.
Again, this flying chicken coop only needs to stay in the air for about 5-6 weeks and then the NHL has the offseason to figure something out. Good freaking luck with that. Oh, and we the fans can 100% count on paying WAY more for whatever comes down the pipe for next season.
HeyKurtz
Well-known member
There is relevant reason for this. The NHL teams that this affects have already (or mostly) been paid their rights fees for the current season. The MLB teams have not been paid for the season that starts in two weeks.