Bettman caught off-guard

From Rick Westhead of the Toronto Star:

Even the smug man in charge at NHL headquarters would surely agree last week was an especially bad one.

As he addressed the league’s board of governors in New York, Gary Bettman admitted he had no clue that two of his closest NHL confidants – L.A.’s Philip Anschutz and Minnesota’s Craig Leipold – had lent San Jose banker Boots Del Biaggio a combined $17 million (U.S.) to help him pay for a $25 million stake in the Nashville Predators.

NHL owners were speechless, according to a source who attended the meeting, as Bettman grumbled he had been in the dark. Neither Anschutz nor Leipold had made him aware of the cozy back-door deal.

Read the entire article here.

The news just keeps getting worse for the NHL. It is reports like this that make me pass on posting news of Edmonton and Tampa’s sales being approved by the Board of Governors. If the NHL approved Del Biaggio’s bid, then those groups will obviously be approved.