PHOENIX — A bankruptcy judge has rejected both bids to
buy the Phoenix Coyotes.
Judge Redfield T. Baum turned down the offers of Canadian
billionaire Jim Balsillie and the NHL in a 31-page ruling on Wednesday.
However, he left the door open for the NHL to buy the
team if it amends its offer to provide more money to Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes
and former coach Wayne Gretzky.
"In hockey parlance, the court is passing the puck to the
NHL who can decide to take another shot at the sale net or it can pass off the
puck," Baum wrote.
The ruling comes on the eve of the start of the NHL
season after nearly five months of often bitter legal wrangling between
Balsillie and the league.
Moyes took the team into Chapter 11 on May 5 with a plan
to sell to Balsillie, contingent on moving the franchise to Hamilton, Ontario,
over the NHL's vehement objections.
Balsillie's bid, which rose to $242 million in an effort
to persuade the city of Glendale to drop its opposition, was denied outright by
the judge, who said the NHL had the legal right to determine who owns its member
teams and where they play.
"This conclusion effectively is the end for the efforts
of PSE, Balsillie, Moyes and the Coyotes to force a sale and relocation of the
hockey team. …," Baum wrote.
PSE is the company formed by Balsillie to pursue the
Coyotes.
The NHL board of governors voted 26-0 against Balsillie,
labeling him untrustworthy. It is the third time Balsillie has tried and failed
to buy an NHL team. Previous efforts to purchase the Pittsburgh Penguins and
Nashville Predators also fell through.
The league offered $140 million to buy the team and try
to resell it, first to a purchaser to keep the team in Arizona. Failing that,
the NHL said it would look to relocate the franchise.
Baum based his rejection of the league bid on that fact
that it would pay all unsecured creditors in full, except Moyes and Gretzky, who
would get only a share of what was left after every other party got its money.