Welcome to TBO.com. Skip directly to: our Keyword Search, Section Navigation, Content.

TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online

Erik Erlendsson

Erik Erlendsson covers the Tampa Bay Lightning for The Tampa Tribune.

@ErlendssonTrib
Send us your questions

Most Recent Entries

Monthly Archives

Is the sale of the Lightning really done?

Posted Feb 13, 2008 by Erik Erlendsson

Updated Feb 13, 2008 at 11:34 PM

Here’s the beauty of a blog, folks. The ability to relay some information that may not be able to get into a newspaper into a forum where you, the fans, can get some inside information. I saw that some picked up on this today on some message boards (I haven’t had a lot of time tonight to read what you guys are saying, but I’ve seen some) where I mentioned a couple of days ago that the falling through of the bank that was to finance Oren Koules was semi-old news and that it actually happened between 10-14 days ago. In between then and when the news actually became revealed, Koules was already working behind the scenes, knocking on lender’s doors, looking for somebody else to loan him the rest of the money to complete the transaction.

Koules actually hired at least one of the contact people at the French bank to help along in the process. He also has a friend in the financial field in California with contacts in the banking world. So, knowning that from some inside sources who couldn’t go on the record with it and that it couldn’t get into the newspaper in that form, I was able to present in this format and allow you guys - the well informed, passionate and (somewhat) loyal readers - to read between the lines there and understand that the bank falling through was going to have a minimal impact on the deal. Kudos to those who did.

Now, having said that, I didn’t expect to be hit with a bombshell when we touched down in Philadelphia today around 5:30 p.m. It didn’t help that we were delayed by over an hour because of the crummy weather here in the Northeast. It’s cold and very, very wet. It’s never good to check out the weather channel on line and see a 100 percent chance of rain in the city you are trying to get to.

But the deal is anything but done at this point. The financing is not secured, but it doesn’t really have to be at this point, it would just give everybody a greater comfort level. After all, there was a purchase agreement announced in August and we all know where that ended up. This time, however, it’s a little different. Koules has the down payment and he all but had the financing to complete the deal before the bank pulled out. Not his fault. So if one bank was willing to bankroll the deal, it shouldn’t be a major process to find another one.

And don’t think that the timing of this isn’t important, either. The trade deadline is less than two weeks away and there are plenty of things on the Lightning’s table and you would have to think Koules wants to be involved as a decision maker in that process.

What does the team do with Dan Boyle? Well, the chances of his re-signing a new deal just got a lot better with Koules having more of a say in potentially approving a new long-term contract.

What does the team do with the Big Three? Word is that those guys, along with Boyle, are a big reason why he wants to buy this team. So unless Jay Feaster or John Tortorella can convince - assuming they want to - of the long-term benefits of breaking up the Big Three, nobody is going anywhere.

There are other potential trades out there and Koules has been in contact with Feaster in conversational tones about who might be available and who might make sense for the team to acquire or move.

Lightning president Ron Campbell talked today about the type of owner Koules might be and compared him to Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in terms of his passion for the game and for the team.

So let me hear it, what are your feelings on this? Happy to have some sort of a resolution to this process? Like the comparison to Mark Cuban?

Reader Comments

Por (Boltzgirl) on February 14, 2008 (Suggest removal)

Boyle is an asset and should be kept!We have done better just in the short time he has been back.Richie has not earned his paycheck consistently.Hope someone other than NJ gets him.Lukowich didn’t like it there-who would?!We need what’s best for OUR TEAM though.What about goaltending coaches?The front of our net has been very weak for so long.Maybe a different/better coach is needed for Homer and the others?Just a thought since we have lost SO many games/points due to that position.