The 49th Wealthiest Man In The World Interested In Purchasing The Vancouver Canucks

[Michael Griffiths]

Could the Canucks soon be the richest team in the NHL ever?

Russian billionaire seeking an NHL club

http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/story.asp?id=91D88659-CB76-48D0-9783-2A20691883C7
Greg Douglas

Vancouver Sun

Saturday, September 20, 2003

SCENE & HEARD: Hmmm ... let's see now: Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich phones American multi-millionaire John McCaw to check on the sale status of the Vancouver Canucks, suddenly one of the more financially flush NHL teams in Canada.

Is such a peculiar scenario even possible? Stanley McCammon from McCaw's Seattle office deflects the question to Dave Cobb in his GM Place office and Cobb says, precisely: "Stan assures me neither he nor John have ever had a conversation with Mr. Abramovich or any of his people about the Canucks. We're intrigued where these things start."

This one started in Dallas shortly after talks between the Stars ownership council and the Abramovich group broke down. Not accustomed to taking no for an answer, the Russians indicated that Vancouver would be the scene of their next approach through McCaw's Seattle corporate door.

Described by Forbes magazine as the world's 49th wealthiest
person, Abramovich rocked the British soccer world this past July when he bought the famed Chelsea football club for $233 million US. He also owns a hockey team in the western Siberia region of Omsk. Forbes magazine says Abramovich, a major shareholder in the world's fourth largest oil company, has a net worth of $5.7 billion US.

Taking Cobb and McCammon at their word, maybe the door in Seattle hasn't been pounded yet. When a big, ol' Russian bear comes knocking, you're bound to hear it.

? Copyright 2003 Vancouver Sun

 

[Pinball Wizard]

I've seen bad things happen to teams that all of a sudden get budgets. First move... lose Burke. He wouldn't operate as well without constraints, no matter how stubbornly he denies it.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

maybe he'll move 'em to moscow

 

[BoMac]

Hey Michael,

What do you think? The Vancouver Russians? Would YOU still support this team?



Canucks deny reports Russian billionaire to buy club
WebPosted Thu Sep 25 14:08:53 2003
CBC SPORTS ONLINE -

The Vancouver Canucks say there is no truth to reports that the team and its ice rink are about to be sold to a Russian billionaire.

"... we would like to find local ownership because we think that works best for the franchise."
-- Canucks president Stan McCammon
Newspapers in Canada and overseas today reported that Roman Abramovich, a Russian oil magnate with an appetite for sports franchises, was about to buy the Canucks and General Motors Place.

Some reports even indicated Abramovich would transform the Canucks with an all-Russian lineup.

But today Canucks president Stan McCammon told the Vancouver Province, "we haven't had any contact with this individual."

A story Wednesday in the Russian newspaper Vedomosti said Abramovich was selling his 50-per-cent interest in Russian Aluminum Inc. in order to buy the NHL club from Seattle businessman John McCaw.

While it's true that McCaw has been shopping the Canucks for the better part of the past three years, McCammon said the owner would prefer local investors to take over the team.

"John's thrust has always been that we would like to find local ownership because we think that works best for the franchise," he said. "Our position hasn't changed recently."

No firm price tag has been placed on the Canucks and their venue, but hockey insiders believe the asking price would be in the $220 million (US) range.

That amount of money doesn't faze Abramovich, who would earn up to $3 billion from the aluminum deal, and who dropped more than $560 million last summer to buy the English soccer club Chelsea and stock it with his hand-picked players.

Forbes magazine lists Abramovich as the 49th wealthiest person in the world with a net worth of $5.7 billion. In addition to Chelsea, he also owns Avangard Omsk, a Russian hockey team that thrived under his ownership and is now one of the country's top squads.

Russian-born NHL players spending the summer in their homeland heard rumours of a possible purchase by Abramovich of an NHL team that would be stocked entirely with Russian players.

Hall-of-Famer Viacheslav Fetisov, now with Russia's sport ministry, is a friend of Abramovich and would have an interest in becoming involved in management of any team he might buy.

"It wouldn't hurt to have our own, wholly Russian team in the National Hockey League," says Fetisov. "It would stir up more interest."

In addition to oil and aluminum, Abramovich's holdings including aviation and television properties. But his empire is under investigation by Russian authorities looking for evidence of tax evasion, a situation some say has prompted him to sell off his Russian interests in a bid to move to Britain.

According to Vedomosti, Abramovich turned his attention to the Canucks after his bid to buy the Dallas Stars collapsed.

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

imagine the puns

If I hear 'Chelski' one more time I will physically hurt people

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

uh oh. mr. chelski is on a roll. since i jumped on the Chelsea bandwagon, i may have to jump on the Canucks bandwagon as well. hahaha

 

[Angel]

i am trying to buy tickets right now to a bloody game.......... you'd think it was U2 or something. 5 minutes in and they are saying sold out

 

[Michael Griffiths]

Yeah, tickets are 80% sold out for Vancouver games, too. Everything before 2004 is sold out. Vancouver sold 15,000 season tickets this year. So, yeah, scalpers it is then.

 

[Chizip]

15,000 suckers

 

[Michael Griffiths]

At least they're not "blue" suckers...if you know what I mean.

 

[Pinball Wizard]

elaborate. for my benefit.

 

[Chizip]

mine too

 

[Michael Griffiths]

Do you want the PG13 version (ie, Chizip) or the R version (ie, Cujo)?

 

[Angel]

ahhh... the good times we had........ Ready for round two boys?

 

[Pinball Wizard]

I don't know.

Adult situations sound inappropriate.

 

[Chizip]

full frontal nudity

 

[Chizip]

NHL Preseason Standings

GP W L T OTL PTS GF GA HOME AWAY L10
St. Louis 6 4 1 1 0 9 17 13 4-0-0-0 0-1-1-0 4-1-1-0
NY Islanders 4 4 0 0 0 8 13 4 1-0-0-0 3-0-0-0 4-0-0-0
Ottawa 4 4 0 0 0 8 14 6 2-0-0-0 2-0-0-0 4-0-0-0
Tampa Bay 5 4 1 0 0 8 15 7 3-0-0-0 1-1-0-0 4-1-0-0
Toronto 7 4 3 0 0 8 22 17 0-2-0-0 4-1-0-0 4-3-0-0
Dallas 6 3 1 1 1 8 17 12 3-0-0-0 0-1-1-1 3-1-1-1
Anaheim 5 3 1 1 0 7 16 14 2-0-1-0 1-1-0-0 3-1-1-0
Calgary 5 3 1 1 0 7 20 10 3-0-1-0 0-1-0-0 3-1-1-0
Colorado 5 3 1 1 0 7 16 12 2-0-1-0 1-1-0-0 3-1-1-0
Philadelphia 5 3 2 0 0 6 17 14 2-1-0-0 1-1-0-0 3-2-0-0
Los Angeles 5 3 2 0 0 6 14 10 2-1-0-0 1-1-0-0 3-2-0-0
NY Rangers 6 3 3 0 0 6 20 21 2-0-0-0 1-3-0-0 3-3-0-0
Atlanta 6 3 3 0 0 6 11 17 2-0-0-0 1-3-0-0 3-3-0-0
Minnesota 6 3 3 0 0 6 17 15 2-1-0-0 1-2-0-0 3-3-0-0
Vancouver 7 3 4 0 0 6 13 18 2-2-0-0 1-2-0-0 3-4-0-0
Columbus 6 2 2 2 0 6 15 18 2-0-1-0 0-2-1-0 2-2-2-0
Chicago 7 2 3 2 0 6 15 21 2-1-1-0 0-2-1-0 2-3-2-0
Pittsburgh 7 2 4 1 0 5 14 22 1-2-1-0 1-2-0-0 2-4-1-0
Phoenix 4 2 1 0 1 5 9 10 0-0-0-0 2-1-0-1 2-1-0-1
New Jersey 5 2 2 0 1 5 13 15 1-1-0-0 1-1-0-1 2-2-0-1
Nashville 5 1 1 2 1 5 12 11 0-0-1-1 1-1-1-0 1-1-2-1
Washington 5 2 3 0 0 4 15 14 1-3-0-0 1-0-0-0 2-3-0-0
Detroit 5 2 3 0 0 4 20 16 1-2-0-0 1-1-0-0 2-3-0-0
Carolina 6 2 4 0 0 4 14 21 2-1-0-0 0-3-0-0 2-4-0-0
Boston 6 2 4 0 0 4 8 23 0-0-0-0 2-4-0-0 2-4-0-0
San Jose 6 2 4 0 0 4 13 14 1-2-0-0 1-2-0-0 2-4-0-0
Edmonton 4 1 1 1 1 4 8 10 1-0-0-1 0-1-1-0 1-1-1-1
Florida 4 1 1 1 1 4 19 16 1-1-0-0 0-0-1-1 1-1-1-1
Montreal 5 1 2 0 2 4 8 10 1-2-0-2 0-0-0-0 1-2-0-2
Buffalo 4 1 2 0 1 3 11 13 0-0-0-0 1-2-0-1 1-2-0-1


get used to looking up at the blues in the standings ladies and gentlemen. this is their year.

 

[zoney!]

Yay for the Blues (in the preaseason).

Shall we ALL remind Chizip that the Blues can't get out of the first round of the playoffs? So, it really doesn't matter if they sit on top of the league the whole season, we all know they will be done in Early April.

 

[Chizip]

excuse me buddy, but we can get out of the first round just fine

the second round has always been our nemisis

 

[popacrobat]

blues

 

[Pinball Wizard]

Watch out for Tampa and the Islanders too!!!!

 

[Angel]

Chizip.... pre-season doesn't count. We are trying out new players.

Did ya miss me? *Didn't think so