$$ Issues

[lethbridgefan83]

Im hearing that the club might have some immediate financial issues? Just watercooler type of stuff, anyone hear or know more?

[Derek Sutton]

I've heard about the same, including the club going to a certain community member (RS) about a month ago asking for 500k. Also, although I don't believe this one but the team not always getting post game meals on road trips. Luckily the season is nearly over for more then one reason.

Also the buzz around the rink last Wednesday was that Preston had asked to be released from his contract, this could still come in the off season as apparently Darryl Sutter wanted him t come to LA with him.

[lethbridgefan83]

Almost exactly what I heard.. Also curious that the Canes play by play guy's blog had a poll about who the Team Should be Owned by... Our Business Manager has resigned.. A curious get your tickets by the end of this season for next season offer (plus having booth's setup for them).. Hopefully this isn't the beginning to the end..

[scrawny69]

I as well have heard many "rumors".....
The board and the soon to be former business manager have all publicly stated that by the end of this season the team will have spent ALL of the money we have in reserves!?!
BUT I find the rumors of the team not being fed after a road game a little hard to buy!!
I also dont see the rumor of "a local promoter" lending the board any cash easy to buy!

The rumor of "a few hockey guys" buying the team being around the water coolers is a little easier for me to buy into though. What better time to approach the board and shareholders then when the team is flat broke with no financial solution out there!!??

I am a SHAREHOLDER and would love to see this team purchased by a private ownership group! I see it as the only way junior hockey will continue here in the future!
What will happen after this season is over is gonna be quite interesting that is for sure

:mad::mad:

[rednex50]

Who has control on the team? Have Season Ticket Renewals been sent out yet for 2012-13? As someone who has a team removed from my community, it sucks, and I hope that Lethbridge is not another community to suffer like we did.

I have been front and centre in every attempt to get Robison and the WHL to admit that they lied to us. Admit they thru the fans under the bus. And ultimately, admit they were wrong in doing so. Until that moment that they do...no franchise is safe from relocation.

[CanesCrazy]

I don't think it should be a surprise to anyone that the business manager is leaving. He was in charge of the finances. He brags that he is on track with expenses but doesn't say anything about that fact that drop in revenue like he didn't realize the two were connected. And don't for a minute think that his leaving was not a mutual decision between him and the board of directors. I guarantee this was not his choice alone.

This team can be saved. The board needs to hire a manager that knows something about hockey and who will take advantage of the experience of his staff. The business community needs to realize the financial impact the team has on the city and do their part to support them even if it in just a small way. The fans needs to get behind the players despite how they feel about the coaches. After all is it not about these young men to begin with?

I want the team to stay here. I will support them in part because it is obvious to all that the talent coming up is tremendous. More importantly I will support them because they are important to the City of Lethbridge.

[NumberOneCaniac]

I too want the team to stay....I want to be part of what is coming ...I believe that this team needs to owned by a group or private individual to make sure it stays here...however will Lethbridge support this team? I have been a season ticket holder for 6 going on 7 years and its always the same faces I see at the rink which all say the same thing....where are the fans? To say Lethbridge is a finicky city is an understatement...if they are winning the seats are full if loosing the seats are empty...my question is why. This is our city's team win or loose we should support the team no matter the outcome...Does Lethbridge want--really want a Junior hockey team? we will see

[loudi94]

This is our city's team win or loose we should support the team no matter the outcome...Does Lethbridge want--really want a Junior hockey team? we will see

If it were that simple, I think you would see unconditional support for the team. Fact is the team's front office has been a circus for almost as long as the team has existed. That has put people off. What there needs to be is stability and a professional group running the team game in and game out. One thing they really need to do is target the UofL and LCC students. Make the place just a little rowdier.

[CanesCrazy]

I agree that some stability in the front office is needed. They have a very good staff in there. They simply can't seem to find very good management. But it bothers me to think that people would risk losing this team and turn their backs on a bunch of kids because they are upset about the absence of a decent manager or they are upset with a coach. A person can still voice their concerns and opinions about those people without turning their backs on the kids or risk losing the team altogether.

I know they sell coupons for tickets at the college because my granddaughter and her friends are always getting them for a reduced rate over the regular student ticket price. I don't know if they do that with the university also but you are correct in that it is certanly a market they need to tap into.

[mjw22]

Maybe with the financial crisis the price will be right for a private group to step up. Something like ex players did in Kamloops. Sutters have a big connection to Lethbridge albeit a different franchise but still same city. Darryl vs Brent lol I hate to see any franchise move but community owned ones are in Robison's sights and WPG is waiting in the wings. After the renos that were done and your seating capacity I think you stay unless they are in bankrupt mode. Personally I think Robison (in betmans clothing ) would like to move a small market team ie. S.C. or P.A and it doesn't affect alignment. Remember whether you're teams winning or losing attend the games or lose your team. If you're unhappy with management/coaches express that via emails phone calls etc. Good luck :)

[canes77]

I don't think there is anything to worry about. This club is staying in Lethbridge.

If the Board ever receives a formal offer from someone wanting to buy the franchise, it is still their decision whether or not they choose to accept the offer to sell the franchise. A potential offer would easily get shut down if it was from either an out-of-town buyer or from someone who had plans to move it elsewhere.

Keep in mind that the Board members don't "own" the franchise outright. It isn't like each Board member would gain $500 000 in a potential sale. It makes no difference to their own personal financial situation whether they had to accept a $10 million offer from an out-of-town buyer over a $7 million offer from a buyer in Lethbridge.

In fact, I believe in this potential situation, the shareholders as a whole would be given the chance to vote on a potential sale. They are all hockey fans and most are season ticket holders. There is no chance that an unsafe offer would be accepted.

And if I am wrong... the WHL Board of Governors still has veto power over the Canes Board of Governors. No one is admitting to what happened with Chilliwack last year but at least the Governors helped save Tri-City from losing their team a few years ago from those same two morons (Brian Burke and Glen Sather). Here's hoping the League would be on our side!!

[canes77]

For those who like conspiracy theories... maybe this has been Rich Sutter's 3 year plan all along...

1, an unpopular Sutter (at least in the Board's view) who knowingly won't get the GM job in 2009 sets up his brother's associate (Rich Preston) to get the job instead...
2, Preston then hires Sutter (at least while the club could still afford it) and for the next 2-3 years, chooses to trade almost every player in exchange for excellent draft picks and players for the long term...
3, Preston resigns after the 2012 season in order to work in the NHL with Darryl Sutter again...
4, the franchise is out of cash and the club is forced to put up a For Sale sign (is this why the great Jim Bradley resigned?)...
5, both the Board and League veto any purchase offers other than from a local buyer, therefore giving Rich Sutter and Co. the opportunity to purchase the Canes in 2012 with a nice, renovated arena AND some great prospects.

Maybe this is why Preston never seems too upset at his losing record...

[blacksheep]

This is a pretty good theory. First the shareholders would have to approve any sale. Second the league last sold Chilliwack for around 6 or 7 mil???? This is in the price range for a franchise. Gives new perspective when proven time and again the team has a revenue problem due to market share of a very active southern alberta entertainment market. Over optimism on the revenue can cause problems. Would doubt anyone spending 7 or so mil just so they can lose money. Any one say AJHL??:confused:

[lethbridgefan83]

The Board of Directors and Management have Alienated the fans..... And dont get me wrong this city is probably one of the most finnicky places, and its happened with all our sports franchises we have had from the Lethbridge Mounties/Lethbridge Black Diamonds in Rookie A Baseball to the Lethbridge Hurricanes for the Dub..

But the fact is when we hired Preston, I dont think we could get "Anyone" else to run this squad.. The BOD went all that Summer supposively interviewing players etc etc etc.. Then they hire probably the least qualified candidate.. Why?? Because he was the only one that would sign onto this sinking ship... We lost a LOT of ground that year because the team was basically in Stand Still mode for 4-5 months..

Then in an already sticky City we alienate the fan base.. We raise Ticket Prices, we raise concession prices, we almost completely eliminate any "Fan" enviornment that we had.. (Remember the days of the guys in the red Unitards, remember the days of the Trumpeter from the College, the days where after every goal Twister or whoever from the promotional staff would throw the plush hockey puck toys into the stands, or water bottles etc, the days where there were Promotional Giveaways EVERY intermission of just about EVERY game, contests etc etc etc) I know its sad that you have to give away stuff to get people into the games, BUT thats the way this City is and thats the dynamic that we face..

And maybe if we
A. Put a team on the ice that could make the playoffs 70% of the time
B. Get a Business Manager that went into every major corporation, every business and pounded the pavement for those advertising dollars, or giveaways etc etc. And someone that goes out into the community, the schools, the bigger business's, maybe greases a few palms with some free tickets, and gets some people out to the rink!
C. Put someone in Management that actually could run the whole show and GAVE him the leeway to run the Whole show without constant interference from the BOD
D. Give the fans something to cheer about, because happy fans buy Beer, they buy food, they buy merchandise, they buy 50/50 tickets (this isnt revenue, but people get excited over a $5000 share of the pot), they get other people excited and people want to come..

Then maybe we wouldnt be in this current situation.. If you look at my previous posts you'll notice Ive stated a common theme.. As much as everyone may think its wrong because Young Players are involved, this is still a "Business" first, foremost and always.. Without the Business you dont have a team to put those young players on..
Something is fundamently wrong when 3000 people show up(now the next numbers may not be completely accurate, but they are only to prove a point)
1800-2000 Season Ticket Holders (this number is a guess, but again to the point)
400-600 Tickets that are discounted (Coaldale Food Market, 1st Choice Savings, Sobeys, U of L, Servus Credit Union etc etc) these all count as attendance whether the tickets are used or not, just like Season Tickets
50-100 People per game on the Flex Packs etc
That leaves you probably less then 200-300 people that actually pay Full Tilt to see this team.. And I think that number is high..
We have a building that I believe sits close to 5000 people, and we are lucky to be at 50-60% capacity on any given night, that probably doesnt pay the per game expense of the team (electricity, staffing, building maint, etc etc)

Lots of problems folks and no pending solutions.. Now we are out of money, and I think starting to run out of time...

[canes watcher]

They aren't out of money. Like any other business, they have a very expensive asset that they can borrow against, and any bank would give them that money. 83, I am not sure where you get the Black Diamonds mention from? That team was very well supported, one of the best attended teams in its league at the time they were moved. That was an ownership problem, not a finicky crowd problem. the owners -- like many whl owners -- were just scum.

[TooLoud]

I completely agree with lethbridgefan 83. As much as no one wants to admit it, this IS a business, and as such , must make a profit to move forward. Granted, as a community owned team, the level of profit required is probably not as high, but that seems to me to be the problem. I am not advocating private ownership, but I highly doubt that private ownership would have allowed the team to get to the precarious financial position that it is in now. An owner with a personal financial stake would certainly realize when mistakes are made, and adjust operations accordingly. While understanding that they are in the "entertainment" business, there is an expectation that investment yields return. And, dammit, it is high time that our BOD starts taking the same tact. It astounds me that with the level of business accumen that resides with the board, that they can continually make such bone headed decisions about executive personell. The last business manager hiring was an absolute head scratcher, and while I certainly don't dislike the current one, it was clear from the get-go that he was in far over his head. And, no matter what we think or say on these posts, the bottom line is that to ensure that the team has support from the community, the hockey muckety mucks that we have here MUST ensure that they are fielding a competitive, entertaining squad. Not 3-5 years from now, but NOW. The crap that we as fans have been forced to endure, missing the playoffs six of the last 10 years, and the, at best, disappointing play of last year and the beginning of this one, has to stop. I can see signs of improvement, and I believe that RP is the man for the job. But, I fear that this business entity, if it does not start acting a a business entity, is not long for this world. And that would be sad........End of rant

[JMoney1988]

I just have a question, this whole money issue thing that is going on, will there be a team in Lethbridge next year or not?

[NumberOneCaniac]

I just have a question, this whole money issue thing that is going on, will there be a team in Lethbridge next year or not?

Yes there will be a team in Lethbridge

[moon]

I just have a question, this whole money issue thing that is going on, will there be a team in Lethbridge next year or not?

Yes.

Amongst many reasons the biggest would be that there is no better option for the team to go.

[rednex50]

And if I am wrong... the WHL Board of Governors still has veto power over the Canes Board of Governors. No one is admitting to what happened with Chilliwack last year but at least the Governors helped save Tri-City from losing their team a few years ago from those same two morons (Brian Burke and Glen Sather). Here's hoping the League would be on our side!!

The situation as I saw it. Chilliwack Majority owners (Porter/Burke/Sather) couldn't figure out why or how the fans of Chilliwack felt alienated. Keith and Bond knew why, and tried to have Porter removed as team President / Governor and Burke/Porter vetoed it. It became a power struggle. Keith and Bond HAD a clause for 1st Right to purchase others % of Ownership stake, however because of the Back Door Deal Robison had with Graham Lee getting a WHL franchise, and Lee playing the greatest game of poker ever (sorry people...True North was NEVER going to move THEIR AHL team to Victoria...its their team, and like we witnessed, when they landed an NHL team, the Nucks switched AHL teams as Winnipeg wouldn't want to help Vancouver and Vancouver wouldn't want to let another NHL club control their prospects), Robison told them if they couldn't get along, no matter the marketplace, he promised Lee the next team that goes up for sale.

So even though it would have simply have been existing owners buying out their partners, Robison told them it would constitute as a team on the market, and therefore, Graham Lee would have first rights to the franchise (even though there was a clause in the ownership agreement that Burke claims he never knew anything about...he's the only one saying he knew nothing about it BTW, the others are not willing to talk about it...hmmm, I wonder why????).

So, if Lethbridge is losing money, Robison stated on one of his "Ask the Commish" BS Segments that he has asked "several struggling teams" to re-do new business plans for approval from the league. I imagine that if a struggling team doesn't come forward with a suitable plan, then the League will strip ownership of that team and like in Portland, look for a suitable owner themselves.

My question then would be...who has Robison promised and hand shaked as the "next one" in line for the next ownership changed franchised? The Bruins had minor owners who was willing to buy out the other owners, had a clause for 1st right on buying out partners, but the Majority Owners and WHL themselves ignored that, over-ruled and gifted wrapped the Bruins to RG Properties.

I hate to say it, but under that premise, if Lethbridge went to change a single owner on the club, if there was a back door deal out there, they would likely suffer the same fate. We had local owners/investors with big names and pockets. They were ignored. We the fans were ignored. WHL ignored their own rules on making sure that existing markets are given every chance to keep their team.

That's why i am being a pain in their ass with emails, posts on twitter and facebook. Who's next? I think we the fans are at least owed that much to know who may potentially own your own struggling team as little as a year or 2 down the road.

I don't care if your a Giants fan, Raiders Fan or Hurricanes Fan. We all need to step up, make our voices heard and make the WHL and BoG be accountable and transparent to the people that actually allows them to have a job, their clubs or the league to make money. They make a lot of money on from us all. The least they can do is tell us "who's next" when it comes to promised new ownership/locations.

[mjw22]

rednex 50 is right you cant trust the owners or robison. :burningmad: I would think with WPG in a hockey frenzy right now the WHL would want to get into that market and take advantage of the buzz created by the Jets. Kootneys owner wants out of Chilliwack I do believe.The WHL most likely has a group waiting in WPG so there would have to be some shuffling taking place. What could happen is Ktn moves to Leth putting private owners in Leth and old Leth franchise is sold to WPG. SC would move into central div to balance divisions. Would the city support new ownership if it was ran properly like the Ice. I believe the WHL wants into WPG & Nanaimo for bigger markets travel and rivalries . PG to Nanaimo without current owners would make sense. I also think they want out of the small markets under 3000 fans that may be struggling financially .