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View Full Version : Sale of Montreal Canadiens approved


Ferrygoat
12-01-2009, 08:32 PM
Rumor has it that former owner of the Montreal Canadiens George Gillett was the main investor in Jim Kelly's group trying to buy the Buffalo Bills. Now that he has sold the Canadiens things could get really interesting.
OpIv37
12-01-2009, 08:34 PM
rumor from who? Where?
Canadian'eh!
12-01-2009, 09:11 PM
ummm... Unless Uncle George sells his share of Liverpool he won't probably have the cash. He got a lot of money for the Habs. And he did one hell of a great job as the owner.

He marketed the team so well, built a great base, hired good people, and then sat back and let them run the team. Never was cheap on salary or interfered in any way that i heard of.

I doubt this is true, but if it were he'd be one hell of a great choice.
Demon
12-01-2009, 09:13 PM
I'm trying to remember, but i can back up ferryboat as George Gillett was one of the main guys in the group to buy the Bills with Kelly. If i remember correctly, it was Gillett, Rich and Jacobs.
Jaybird
12-01-2009, 09:22 PM
he sold the team because of monetary reasons, i find this hard to believe
BillsWin
12-01-2009, 09:25 PM
I think he would make a very good owner.
methos4ever
12-01-2009, 09:47 PM
I think he would make a very good owner.
He and Hicks still owe over 350 million for Liverpool, which is why he is selling off. So if you want him, add the cost of the Bills (around 900 mil) to that, if people thought Ralph was cheap, wait til they see him!

http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/168527/hicks-and-gillett-given-extra-time-repay-liverpool-debt
BillsWin
12-01-2009, 11:13 PM
He and Hicks still owe over 350 million for Liverpool, which is why he is selling off. So if you want him, add the cost of the Bills (around 900 mil) to that, if people thought Ralph was cheap, wait til they see him!

http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/168527/hicks-and-gillett-given-extra-time-repay-liverpool-debt

Well if money werent an issue for him, I think he could do well for the Bills. But as you have pointed out, it is an issue.
methos4ever
12-02-2009, 05:31 AM
Well if money werent an issue for him, I think he could do well for the Bills. But as you have pointed out, it is an issue.
Sorry BW, I didn't mean to be Debbie Downer, but also let me fix my prior statement...it's 350.5 Pounds Sterling which equals around 580.5 million dollars US. And they're having to get extensions on that. I just don't want an owner (even if he could be good) that will put us in the Bucs situation of inflating the cap numbers for the sake of paying off a debt somewhere else.
BertSquirtgum
12-02-2009, 10:06 AM
i think the owner of the bruins is a more likely candidate. he's from buffalo.
Canadian'eh!
12-06-2009, 08:50 AM
i think the owner of the bruins is a more likely candidate. he's from buffalo.

It's likely to be a partnership anyway. Jacobs, Gillett, Benson and Trump are the 4 big names. If 2-3 of them got together, they could definitely afford it.

Whoever said George would be cheap is way off. He ran the Habs the right way from day 1. He was not cheap. his goal was to have a top product and hire top people. Not to mention he was a HUGE supporter of the team's history and went to great lengths to honor it.

He was a 1st rate owner. Never cheap, Never interfering.

Also, he sold the team to the Molson family, and not Rene Angelil and Pedneau (sp?) who would have destroyed teh franchise by moving the games to some crappy french channel and eventually a PPV, plus turned it into a terrible team that prioritzed signing players as
1- Quebec French
2- Other French
3- not interested.