- Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun: Alberta businessman Darren Thompson has come up with the idea to buy the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan 66% shares in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment for an estimated $1.3 billion worth or shares. Thompson’s plan would then be to sell 1 million shares for $1,000 to Canadians, and form a new corporation. He has created 2 websites, owntheleafs.com and owntheleafs.ca.
- AP in the Globe and Mail: Potential Coyotes owner Matthew Hulsizer has altered the terms to buy the club to help hopefully please the Goldwater Institute. Hulsizer said he’d guarantee $75 million of the $100 million bonds that are being used in the transaction.
“We said, ‘look, we’re going to take the $100-million. You get $25-million back. Seventy-five million, we’ll guarantee it’,” he said. “I’m on the record as saying that I should not move on the deal. I don’t feel like I should. It’s a free market. I’m signing up to take on losses that would otherwise be borne by the Glendale and Arizona taxpayers.
“However, the deal needs to move forward. And when you look out 25, 30 years, we want to do what’s in the best interest of Arizona and the best interest of hockey fans.”
- Tim Sassone of the Daily Herald: Patrick Sharp injured his knee in yesterday’s 2-1 win over Phoenix. They won’t know the extent of the injury until today or tomorrow.
- Jesse Spector of the NY Daily News: Rangers defenseman Marc Staal missed yesterday’s game with a ‘body injury’ (Tortorella’s terms). 4 weeks ago, Staal did miss 3 games with a knee injury.
- Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Blues 2010 1st round pick, Jaden Schwartz, will decide sometime this summer if he’ll sign a deal with the Blues or return to school. Their other 2010 1st round pick, Vladimir Tarasenko, can’t sign a deal with them as he still has another year left on his contract with HC Sibir of the KHL. He is said to want to come to North America next year and is working on getting out of his KHL contract. Sibir GM, “Without particulars, (Tarasenko) has a contract for the next season, but there is a 70 percent certainty that he will leave for the NHL.”