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Report: Dallas Stars may not have new owner until late June

DallasStars

While we’re focused on following ownership stories in Phoenix, Atlanta, and St. Louis as well the Dallas Stars are inching closer to solving their own front office mess.

Dallas is in the process of getting things moving forward with Canadian businessman Tom Gaglardi to have him purchase the Stars from Tom Hicks. Hicks has been looking to get out of owning the Stars for some time now as he’s got his hands full with selling his other sports ventures like the Texas Rangers and his stake in Liverpool soccer. Gaglardi has emerged as the main man and while it’s a virtual certainty he’s going to be the next owner thanks to a deal that could be worth around $250 million, it appears they’re going to have to sweat things out a little longer to get things squared away.

A report from the Dallas Morning News today states that things might not be completed with the Stars and Gaglardi until late June. Mike Heika has the details on how the formality of a bankruptcy hearing will be needed to see if anyone is willing to outbid Gaglardi for the team.

That means while an official hearing might last only three days, Gaglardi would not be able to become the owner and authorize moves until late June. That window also goes for anyone who might try to outbid Gaglardi before the team goes to a prepackaged bankruptcy hearing or during the hearing, the sources said.

A bankruptcy hearing will be necessary to clear the team of potential lawsuits from current creditors. Because not all creditors are paid when a sale is completed, teams often are moved through prepackaged bankruptcy hearings. The Chicago Cubs did it in 2009, and the Rangers did it in 2010.

The Rangers’ hearing became cumbersome because a competing bid was put forward. The Stars are hoping their hearing will be quick and clean because they have learned from previous negotiations, the sources said.


The Texas Rangers had some drama come forth in their auction thanks to numerous parties wanting to get in on buying the team. We’re suspecting that a hockey team in Dallas, despite its successes, won’t attract the same kind of attention especially at that steep cost.

The other curious part is the timing of when things might be completed. If things are done by late June and Gaglardi is in place to start making decisions on where and how he wants to spend money, it could make a huge difference as to whether or not they get to keep All-Star forward Brad Richards.

Richards is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and he’s made it clear in not so many words that if the ownership situation is still up in the air in Dallas he might not be willing to stick around to see it get straightened out. If the Stars lose Richards over the summer, the pressure will be on GM Joe Nieuwendyk to find a way to replace is his playmaking ability. It’ll also cause fans to question why Nieuwendyk didn’t make a move to deal Richards to make sure the team didn’t lose him for nothing. If things don’t work out in a timely way, it’s possible you could see Richards traded before July 1 so a team can get exclusive negotiating rights with the UFA to be until July 1.

Still, that’s putting the cart before the horse in regard to Stars ownership as they’ll need to get Gaglardi squared away first before even deciding on what they can do about Richards. Stars fans will just have to hope things are taken care of in time so Richards doesn’t get away without a fight.