The OHL Erie Otters yesterday filed for bankruptcy to stop the Oilers Owner Daryl Katz "from forcing a sale ... to collect" a $4.6M debt, according to Ed Palattella of the ERIE TIMES-NEWS. Court records and interviews show that the Otters remain "solvent, with enough money to meet payroll and other daily expenses." The club remains "for sale," and Otters Owner Sherry Bassin has hired a Florida-based Game Plan Special Services "to complete a deal." The Otters by filing for Chapter 11 "won an automatic stay against the Oilers' legal actions, which, the Otters hope, will allow Bassin to sell the team with no interference." Bassin "does not dispute he owes the Oilers" and the Katz-owned Ontario Major Junior Hockey Corp. "millions of dollars in loans." He "arranged to start getting the money" in '11, to "help cover expenses for the Otters, which were then in financial trouble, until he sold to the Oilers." With the "collapse of that sale, Bassin has objected to the Oilers' attempts to force a sale to recover the debt, which would prevent Bassin from picking a buyer." The Oilers have "continued to press for a sale." Court records show that the Oilers yesterday "intended to conduct a 'private sale' of the assets of the Otters." Bassin yesterday said, "We knew they had a date planned for today. We wanted them to delay that, and their conditions of delay were totally unacceptable to us. This is why it was done." OHL Commissioner David Branch in a statement said that the bankruptcy "will affect neither the Otters' playoff run nor its standing in the draft" (ERIE TIMES-NEWS, 4/9).
OIL SPILL: In Edmonton, David Staples writes Katz' ownership of the Oilers "has been an epic disaster when it comes to on-ice play."The Oilers are a "full order of atrocious below the worst teams." Katz "has lost a generation of Oilers fans with his incompetence" (EDMONTON JOURNAL, 4/9).
