The Blues said that they "received 'multiple bids' for the club Monday, the self-imposed deadline for accepting offers from interested parties," according to Jeremy Rutherford of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. SCP Worldwide would not specify the number of offers; Blues minority Owner Tom Stillman and Chicago businessman Matthew Hulsizer "had made the only known bids for the team in recent months, and both were turned down." A source indicated that Stillman "has submitted a second bid." It is unclear if Hulsizer "made a follow-up bid before the deadline." A source said that the Blues are "asking for $180 million" in a sale. Sources indicated that Stillman's "original offer in April was approximately $110 million." The amount of his second bid "was not disclosed, but it's believed to be in the same neighborhood." Earlier this month, Game Plan LLC Founder Robert Caporale, whose firm is conducting the search for a buyer, said that "one of the groups interested in buying the Blues wished to forgo the bidding process and focus on negotiating a sale price." Rutherford reports it is "believed that was Hulsizer's group." Even if Hulsizer "has not yet submitted a second offer, he is still considered to be in the picture," which is why yesterday's deadline "should be considered a small step in the process and not a day that makes the sale of the Blues imminent" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 8/23).
MOVING THROUGH THE NEUTRAL ZONE: In Dallas, Mike Heika cited sources as saying that the sale of the Stars "is trudging forward." The sources said that a "good target date right now is around Labor Day (probably after, because they don't want a case to get delayed by any possible holiday down time)." That would allow Vancouver businessman Tom Gaglardi to "either get his bid in and push it through a quick pre-packaged bankruptcy hearing or for another potential buyer to bid over Gaglardi in a more extended pre-packaged bankruptcy hearing." Heika noted the lenders are "battling for position on the final payday and that is slowing things down, but Monarch and Chase don't want to start paying the players' paychecks for next season, so they would like to get this done before Oct. 15 when the first checks are due" (DALLASNEWS.com, 8/18).
