Up To Eight NHL Teams Reportedly Talking To Balsillie About Sale

Balsillie In Talks With Various NHL Franchises

As many as eight NHL teams have "been in discussions or made overtures to [RIM co-CEO] Jim Balsillie in recent months about a possible sale or minority partnership," according to sources cited in a front-page piece by Theresa Tedesco of the NATIONAL POST. Balsillie's attorney Richard Rodier confirmed that there "have been discussions with current NHL owners, although he refused to identify the teams." Tedesco notes of the eight teams in talks with Balsillie, several are teams in the southern U.S., including the Thrashers, Hurricanes, Lightning and Stars. Other discussions have "involved partners in groups that own teams," such as the Oilers, where "one of the 34 partners had expressed an interest in selling his stake" to Balsillie. But Balsillie has said that he is "not interested in owning an existing Canadian team," nor does he "want to move a franchise from one Canadian city to another." Sources indicated that Balsillie "maintains a firm desire to relocate a team from the [U.S.] to Canada, most likely to Hamilton, Ont., and refuses to accept conditions that include a prohibition from moving a team that is struggling in its current market." NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly yesterday confirmed that the "league is 'aware' that 'contacts' have been made between" Balsillie and some team owners (NATIONAL POST, 6/4).