They offered it. The Preds did not and still have not matched.

The Sabres matched the Vanek sheet in minutes.

If its as easy as everyone thinks to come up with this money then why have they not matched it yet, so they can move on to players like Doan or signing Wilson and Blum.

Why wait? How does that help Nashville here?

They also knew this was coming. I will gaurantee Homer expressed to Poile this was coming. Poile and the Flyers org go a long way back. There is a ton of respect there.
- acmilano3

Vanek's money wasn't due and payable the moment the Sabres matched. It kinda makes a difference.

Just because they can match it, doesn't mean they should...
- nucks_94

Why wait?

If they are waiting becuase of the upfront 13 mill payment then are their pockets really all that deep?

Someone explain how waiting benefits them if their intention is to match?

I understand if they are trying to pull one of the flyers young studs away, but if their intention is to match why wait?

Vanek's money wasn't due and payable the moment the Sabres matched. It kinda makes a difference.
- Predaceous

so the money does make a difference and this is more than a hockey trade..

the owners have no problem letting the city of nashville subsidize 6.5 million dollars of debt last year. ticket sales were 23 million dollars last year. Rinne+Weber will equal 20 million alone next year. Owners have deep pockets but they wont throw good money after bas especially when they have twelve contracts coming up next year. Just saying. I kinda wish wilson puts his money where his mouth is so this whole cluster(frank) can be over. I dont really care if we loose weber.
- Philly1980

If you have a source, post it but I would be suspect of what is there. People and orgs often post or proclaim whatever suits their agenda.

At avg home attendance at Bridgestone last season of approx 16,700 in an arena that holds 17,113 for hockey, your figures don't add up. Using your $23m figure, 41 + 2 pre-season games would equal avg ticket price of $32 per ticket which is too low.

If nashville has the "big pockets" as they are claiming, and do match Weber. Does the city of Nashville get lawyered up and goto court over the 13 million in subsidies that they payed nashville?

I have no idea what Nashville is going to do, but one explanation could be that Nashville wants to wait until the last minute to match as an "F-U" to Philly, who have watched the Rags trade for Nash and might see Doan/Ryan land elsewhere while awaiting a decision on Weber.
- MadCap2008

and if nash wanted to be players in those other talks what does this do to their chances? they could also loose out on ryan or doan. is nashville only looking to sign Weber and do nothing else?

If you have a source, post it but I would be suspect of what is there. People and orgs often post or proclaim whatever suits their agenda.

At avg home attendance at Bridgestone last season of approx 16,700 in an arena that holds 17,113 for hockey, your figures don't add up. Using your $23m figure, 41 + 2 pre-season games would equal avg ticket price of $32 per ticket which is too low.
- blueline

there are a lot of things teams do that are shady to boost ticket sales, so they can get to the revenue sharing money....

^^^This^^^
I'll be the first to admit that the Wild got lucky with Suter and Parise. The planets and stars certainly were in perfect alignment for this transaction to be even remotely possible... Wild had the money and cap space first and foremost, but then again so did a lot of other teams... Wild had Parise's home town and his desire to go home along with being close friends with Suter and wanting to play with the same organization. As well as Suter wanting to be closer to his home in Wisconsin. This type of scenario is rare if not non-existant for the most part. 99.999% of the rest of the time, the NY, Phillys, Pittsburghs, Detroits etc.. of the league are usually preventing any real competion from small and mid-market teams...
- MnGump

Good points, although I'll say money is not always the deciding factor in every free agent signing. I'd say the biggest factor is that you have to be a desirable location first and foremost. Look at Toronto or Montreal. They are HUGE market teams, bigger than anything in the US, and they have trouble attracting huge free agents. Why? It's certainly not money...they have tons of it. It's because their teams are not always guaranteed to be good.

When you say the NYR, Phillys, Pitts, Detroits, etc., you are not just saying "well, they have a lot of money, they always get the big signings." It's a little more complex than that. They have money because they are good teams, and being a good team in a desirable location means more to most players than that. Otherwise, people would be flocking to Toronto or the Habs as well.

Nashville is in a tough spot right now because they were/are just starting to be one of those places, but when Suter left, that was a big blow.

Sarcasm. Who gives a rats patutt what a players tweets. I would be impressed if someone provided hard numbers, quantify deep pockets and provide a modicum of fiscal feedback outside of a Colin Wilson tweet.

Did anyone ask Colin why he is not signed if their pockets are that deep?
- acmilano3

The tweets are from W. Brett Wilson, one of our owners. A Canadian billionaire. NOT Colin Wilson.

Lol.

Sarcasm. Who gives a rats patutt what a players tweets. I would be impressed if someone provided hard numbers, quantify deep pockets and provide a modicum of fiscal feedback outside of a Colin Wilson tweet.

Did anyone ask Colin why he is not signed if their pockets are that deep?
- acmilano3

EVERYTHING that everyone has said to you just goes right over your head!!! It's like talking to a freakin wall. We have like 15 mill before we hit the cap FLOOR! If you just want to argue go over to the flyer boards they are good at that!

If you have a source, post it but I would be suspect of what is there. People and orgs often post or proclaim whatever suits their agenda.

At avg home attendance at Bridgestone last season of approx 16,700 in an arena that holds 17,113 for hockey, your figures don't add up. Using your $23m figure, 41 + 2 pre-season games would equal avg ticket price of $32 per ticket which is too low.
- blueline

I dont mean to be a wiener. I think the flyers are a holes for OS weber (cause Nash is my fav team in the west) but it is what it is...

http://www.tennessean.com...-ice-success-public-money

there are a lot of things teams do that are shady to boost ticket sales, so they can get to the revenue sharing money....
- Philly1980

Once again, the link?

and if nash wanted to be players in those other talks what does this do to their chances? they could also loose out on ryan or doan. is nashville only looking to sign Weber and do nothing else?
- acmilano3

I have no idea what Nashville's intentions are, but history tells us that teams like Philly/NYR are the ones who are most likely to try to make the splashy trades/FA moves. As a result, they are the ones who are more likely to miss out.

If nashville has the "big pockets" as they are claiming, and do match Weber. Does the city of Nashville get lawyered up and goto court over the 13 million in subsidies that they payed nashville?
- Philly1980

That's pretty silly. Ha! Been reading some Ballsack/Rodier bs?

Sarcasm. Who gives a rats patutt what a players tweets. I would be impressed if someone provided hard numbers, quantify deep pockets and provide a modicum of fiscal feedback outside of a Colin Wilson tweet.

Did anyone ask Colin why he is not signed if their pockets are that deep?
- acmilano3

HAH! All this time, I just thought you were trying to be difficult.....when you were really just playing stupid!



Great stuff...keep it coming!

That's pretty silly. Ha! Been reading some Ballsack/Rodier bs?
- blueline

And he just said he didn't mean to be a weiner....

I dont mean to be a wiener. I think the flyers are a holes for OS weber (cause Nash is my fav team in the west) but it is what it is...

http://www.tennessean.com...-ice-success-public-money
- Philly1980

As a head's up...don't believe any of the stats put out by the Tennessean. As a former journalist, I can tell you that their credibility regarding Preds matters is pretty bleak.

That's pretty silly. Ha! Been reading some Ballsack/Rodier bs?
- blueline

well why should taxpayers be paying for poor decisions by the owners....hey bottom line is im not paying so why do i give a poop.

I dont mean to be a wiener. I think the flyers are a holes for OS weber (cause Nash is my fav team in the west) but it is what it is...

http://www.tennessean.com...-ice-success-public-money
- Philly1980

Nothing in the article about gross ticket sales. Besides, it was written before the end of the Preds' post-season play.

Oh, Nate Rau despises the Preds as do most at the Fish Wrap.

If you have a source, post it but I would be suspect of what is there. People and orgs often post or proclaim whatever suits their agenda.

At avg home attendance at Bridgestone last season of approx 16,700 in an arena that holds 17,113 for hockey, your figures don't add up. Using your $23m figure, 41 + 2 pre-season games would equal avg ticket price of $32 per ticket which is too low.
- blueline

/

About a year ago, a part-owner of the Predators (not Wilson) independently sought an investor to buy a 25% stake in the team for $50 million. One CB reader kicked that tire (yeah, we do that demo, too), and this is what they received:

http://mobilwi.typepad.co...87970b017743797ca9970d-pi

re: forbes.com

That’s an income statement, yo. And it’s not a good one. As you can see, the Predators lost money in every season except 2007-2008. [In April of this year, the Tennessean posted an in-depth article about the Predators’ struggling finances despite on-ice success and receiving public money.] But that happens. Businesses lose money all the time. Hockey teams do, too: According to Forbes, whose estimated team valuations report very closely mirrors our discovery from the Predators, 18 teams lost money during the 2010-2011 season (data for 2011-2012 isn’t out yet). Many of those teams, however, have much higher revenues than the Predators, making the losses less concerning. And while we don’t have enough information here to really understand the overall financial health of the Predators, what stands out to us are the gate receipts. In other words, ticket revenue. Admittedly, it’s more just anecdotal fodder than anything conclusive about what the Predators can and can’t do. But it’s fun. And we like to have fun here.

The Predators don’t have a major attendance problem - they sell 97.5% of tickets, good for 18th in the league - but they don’t charge a lot (average ticket-- $51) and their home, the Bridgestone Arena, has a limited capacity (17,100). As such, they only collected $24 million (projected) in gate receipts in 2010-2011 (likely a bit more last season). So, if they match the Flyers’ offer to Weber, they will probably pay him more - $27 million - over the next 12 months than they will receive in ticket revenue.

What’s more, the $50 million-for-25% stake investment proposal values the Predators at around $200 million, meaning the $56 million due to Weber over the first four years of the deal would essentially allow him to buy a quarter of the team. Over the life of the contract? Weber would collect enough money to become majority owner. Now, I’m not an accountant, nor do I play one on the intertubes, but I’m guessing paying your employees enough money to own you in 14 years isn’t a great strategy.

How do the Predators’ finances compare to some of the most valuable teams in the league? Well, let’s look at the Flyers, who rank eighth in Forbes' valuations (that seems low, but Canadian teams and the Rangers have massive profit margins): According to Forbes, the Flyers collected $54 million in gate receipts and generated a total revenue of $111 million in 2010-2011, compared to the Predators’ $24 million in gate receipts and $75 million in revenue (projected). The Flyers, of course, didn’t lose $7 million-- they profited a pedestrian $3.2 million. And none of this is to mention the deep pockets of Comcast Spectacor backing the Flyers, which makes their profit numbers inconsequential.

But what you really want to know is: Can the Predators afford to match the Flyers’ offer? We don’t know for sure. They have plenty of cap room-- that’s not an issue. It’s the upfront money that will be the sticking point. We dove into that earlier, but here’s more: Weber’s agents told anyone who would listen that they’re not confident the Predators have the means.

As a head's up...don't believe any of the stats put out by the Tennessean. As a former journalist, I can tell you that their credibility regarding Preds matters is pretty bleak.
- wings-suck

sure ill just believe the rantings of a billionaire who is trying to give hope to fanbase that has none.

sure ill just believe the rantings of a billionaire who is trying to give hope to fanbase that has none.
- Philly1980

Ok - that last comment indicates it's time for you to get lost.

Forbes. Please.

EVERYTHING that everyone has said to you just goes right over your head!!! It's like talking to a freakin wall. We have like 15 mill before we hit the cap FLOOR! If you just want to argue go over to the flyer boards they are good at that!
- SouthNash

Sorry. We are Phila fans. Get over it. Don't blow smoke up our you know whats.

The cap means nothing here. Even the average hockey fan knows that.

BTW - I think some of the points made on this board by Nash are valid. Good points. Honestly. Please do a little research.

So even though Poile didn't sign him to a similar but far cheaper contract when he had the chance, you think that now he is gonna swallow his pride and match to this mega deal? I don't think so but we will have to see what his and the ownerships decision is.