“The Balkan” is Detroit venture capitalist JB Smith
John Kincade, co-host of the Buck and Kincade Show on the flagship station of the Thrashers 680 The Fan, has finally let the cat out of the bag. The person he has been telling us about who is interested in buying the Thrashers, NBA Hawks and Philips Arena…the person he has referred to as “The Balkan” is non other than Detroit venture capitalist J.B. Smith. Smith is formerly of Equity11, “an independent, private equity firm focused on investment of growth capital and business expertise into scaleable business models” per their website.
Kincade broke this via his twitter account saying, “J.B. Smith has been attempting to put together a deal to purchase the Thrashers, Hawks and Philips Arena since early March” and “J.B. Smith will now get the full ‘media treatment’ and will make his desire to own all 3 entities public knowledge”.
I spoke with Kincade earlier today and asked him about his involvement with J.B. Smith and getting him together with the Atlanta Spirit, LLC
“I was asked to introduce J.B. Smith to the AS, LLC”, he replied. “When I did so, I then got out of the way”.
Kincade also told me that he is only interested in seeing that the Thrashers remain in Atlanta and simply wanted to do whatever he could to make sure that happens.
“I’m not a reporter, but I wanted to get the parties together”.
Last winter Smith was interested in investing in the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL.
Stick with the AJC, I’m sure there will be a lot more to this story coming from beat writer Chris Vivlamore.
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273 comments Add your comment
Hoof Arted
May 19th, 2011
2:24 pm
SomaAtl95, thanks.
SomaAtl95
May 19th, 2011
2:28 pm
Gladly, Hoof. Just google “jim balsillie coyotes” and you will see everything that went down 2 years ago.
h
May 19th, 2011
2:29 pm
Are they talking about building yet another arena in Winnipeg??? Interesting stat with current arena is that if they sell out EVERY game that will put Winnipeg at 23rd in attendance in the league based on last year’s attendance figures and if you use figures from 2007-2008 (before US economy struggled) they would be no better than 27th…..
DWTOO
May 19th, 2011
2:37 pm
None of this matters – the Rapture is happening saturday. I’ll be having a beer on the way out.
SomaAtl95
May 19th, 2011
3:14 pm
Posted on C-Vivs blog about the tailgate, thanking a decent WPG fan – posting it here as well:
Thank you EXJet – Thank you for your candor. What us Thrashers fans don’t understand is that you guys lost the Jets and wouldn’t want to face losing NHL again when they come back to you (and we all hope they do by expansion), we have already lost 1 team due to crappy ownership, if crappy ownership strips us on NHL for a second time it will kill the sport here, again. Hockey is too great a game to go without!
Why on earth are so many of your countrymen wishing the pain you guys felt once onto us for a second time? With the impending demise of the KHL there will be quite a few more Russians available in the talent pool, the NHL could support 32 teams without issue and properly align conferences into 4 divisions of 4 teams each.
We in Atlanta would love Winnipeg and QC to both get teams back, just not by taking another team away from us. Don’t blame the fans when the owners cry hardship – The A$G was 7 out of 32 in Basketball payroll. They were 28 out of 30 on Hockey Payroll. Basketball doesn’t sell out here.
Our owners are screwing us and it makes it worse to be relentlessly mocked. Thanks again for being so cool about not mocking us.
glovesave29
May 19th, 2011
3:19 pm
DWTOO is right, it’s over…only not the religious zealot reasoning (!). I have resigned myself to that fate and now accept it for what it is. I am certainly not happy about it, but there’s nothing to be done by getting angry about it. Karma will deal with the Spirit clowns in due course…
Bettman SHOULD come in and keep us here and offer $80M reduced cost franchises to both Quebec and Winnipeg. Boom – everyone is happy.
Time to return to the highest level of the minors, the AHL. Perhaps we can get TNSE to put the Moose down here in Atlanta. We can rename them the Flames and can all get out all of our old red jerseys. We will embrace our hockey heritage. Guys like Dan Bouchard, Eric Vail, Tim Ecclestone, Bobby Simpson and Tom Lysiak – the guys who still call Atlanta home – should have a part in all this. Perhaps host a game between the Flames and Knights alumni. Be a part of a community – basically do the EXACT opposite of what Waddell has done. Model ourselves after the Wolves – in to win and forget about developing players for the bigs. Be an independent team – a home for the guys just barely not good enough for the NHL, and offer a great arena (Gwinnett) and a great place to call home. Sure, I will miss the NHL – but really…is coming in 25th-30th place in the NHL every year better than having a couple of AHL Calder Cup championships?
I can here it now – “Ladies and Gentlement – YOUR Atlantaaaaaa Flames!
h
May 19th, 2011
3:36 pm
Sorry Glovesave but I’ll take poor NHL over good AHL every time. I get your point but just a different level of hockey…..but…..if AHL is my only choice, then I guess I could go watch, but I’ll care alot less.
glovesave29
May 19th, 2011
3:39 pm
I hear you H, but at this time, the NHL doesn’t really seem to be an option for us…
Joe Friday
May 19th, 2011
3:47 pm
“I’ll take poor NHL over good AHL every time. I get your point but just a different level of hockey…..but…..if AHL is my only choice, then I guess I could go watch, but I’ll care alot less.”
I disagree, and I’ve been a hockey fan for 45 years and Original 6 club season ticket holder. I never once had anywhere near the fun or passion I had with the Knights here. The IHL (and the AHL is the same) is a lot of fun to root for, and they guys that are playing aren’t pansy ass Euros and prissy prima donnas like Kovy and the Sedins and their ilk, they’re lunch pail guys riding busses and busting their tails out there. And you can the up and coming guys being groomed for The Show.
I’m sorry, but I’m done with the NHL. Their Mickey Mouse run league is going to circle de toilet slowly but surely. It’s not a sustainable model, and the ludicrous contracts they hand out assures their demise.
The AHL will be $20 bucks a seat for great lower bowl tix, beers will still be $8 but that’s why God made Jameson and flasks. And it’s good hockey. Bettman can take his circus back up north and we’ll do just fine with the AHL club. The Winnipeg Thrashers need a new AHL affiliate and what better way than to place the farm club here. I’ve thought this was the plan for quite some time, get rid of the unsustainable NHL model here, and fill the dates with the same 10000 fans buying the same beer and hotdogs, voila.
Joe Friday
May 19th, 2011
3:53 pm
But, we do need to tar and feather Gearon, Seydel, Levenson et al before it’s said and done. . . those boys better sell the Hawks as well and the local ones better move out of town, they’re done here, I can just see the ugly scene if I’ve had enough vino the next time I’m in Chops and Seydel stumbles into the bar . . . I hope Waddell gets a nice golden parachute, he’s a pariah now just like the Spirit boys
IceDaddy
May 19th, 2011
3:57 pm
JB Smith news.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Hollywood-Stake-Appoints-JB-iw-1820010269.html?x=0
Red Light
May 19th, 2011
3:59 pm
Except for the players who grew up in Manitoba…and currently there are 25 in the league (11 born in Winnipeg itself), there isn’t anyone (including the NHL) except the fans in Winnipeg that want a team based there or to travel to play there. That has to count for something.
glovesave29
May 19th, 2011
4:02 pm
JF – I have my Bouchard #30 jersey with the 1976 bicentennial patch in the closet and ready to wear at the next Flames game. See ya there.
One thing you NEVER got at a Knights game was anything less than 110% effort. Those guys wanted to move up and gave everything every night. I respected that. That effort + 10K in the crowd = a good time.
Joe Friday
May 19th, 2011
4:06 pm
“One thing you NEVER got at a Knights game was anything less than 110% effort. Those guys wanted to move up and gave everything every night. I respected that. That effort + 10K in the crowd = a good time.”
Yep. I truly had a ton more fun at Knights’ games than I ever had at Thrashers’ games, and that includes our one playoff run for the Thrashers.
Joe Friday
May 19th, 2011
4:17 pm
Nice JB Smith “news”. Google “Hollywood Stake, LLC” and see what you find. You get a link to one thing, that bogus PR release in the link above, they invented this company today, probably done online for $100 for some Vegas registered fake company. This circus is getting beyond ridiculous. What are the odds that Kincade and this SI guy just whipped up this whole thing as a hail mary to try to save the club? If they did, kudos to them, at least they tried to shake someone out of the trees to compete with “The Balkan”.
Red Light
May 19th, 2011
4:18 pm
From Hollywoodstake.com
IF YOU CAN FIGURE OUT WHICH EMAIL SUITS YOUR NEEDS, CONTACT US:
mycompanydeservesmoney@hollywoodstake.com
careers@hollywoodstake.com
script@hollywoodstake.com
investors@hollywoodstake.com
glovesave29
May 19th, 2011
4:20 pm
JF – have you EVER heard a louder crowd at ANY Atlanta hockey game than the Cup clinching game against Ft. Wayne? That was a fun night. The players also made their way over to the local watering hole with the trophy. Party went long into the Knight.
Joe Friday
May 19th, 2011
4:26 pm
“The players also made their way over to the local watering hole with the trophy.”
I was there and drank from it. From Sir Knight getting beat up one night, to the melee in Game 3 of the playoffs vs. the Thunder, to that Cup, I had more fun 30 times over at Knights’ games than I ever had a Thrashers’ game. Truly, I just kept going back thinking they were going to get it, but the whole organ-I-zation from Day 1 was like a pretend hockey team, never any identity, never any passion, the closest we got to a Thrasher identity was the Nasty Nest, hoo boy.
It’s ok, I really think the AHL will do well down there.
For you guys that don’t see through this Kindcade/Clemons/Balkan fairy tale, please give that up, it ain’t happening. The story line is that “they tried for years” and that’s going to be the biggest travesty from the NHL, that they’ll try to sell us that bill of goods . . . there was nothing to sell until they just recently settled with Belkin, the fix was in on this from Day 1.We should have known it the day they extended Buf and our new GM, that was ok’d by the TSNE, not our Spirit Squad.
glovesave29
May 19th, 2011
4:28 pm
A teammate of mine was the mascot that night!
You remember Claude the Trumpeter breaking the glass and landing on his keester?
Joe Friday
May 19th, 2011
4:29 pm
http://www.hollywoodstake.com/#!
lol! Clemons built that at lunch today, right?
I think these guys have a better chance of buying us out and are a fair share more interesting: http://www.hollywoodsteak.com/
Joe Friday
May 19th, 2011
4:30 pm
“You remember Claude the Trumpeter breaking the glass and landing on his keester?”
Oh yea, he broke his freakin’ neck, they take him off on a stretcher, he goes to Grady, yet he make it back in the 2nd half of the third to blow the darn thing in a neck brace!
If we ever meet I need to tell you my story about that Game 3 Turner Cup playoff melee that they had to call the riot police in (during Freaknik!) to end that wound up with Toporowski being banned from the league, and some folks (ahem) winding up in the pokey
ThrashDawg
May 19th, 2011
4:57 pm
Man there has been alot of water go under the bridge these last few days concerning the Thrashers. There is no doubt that a few of you guys are 100% certain that all is lost for the Thrashers in Atlanta. Did I miss something or is this just an semi-educated guess on your part?
tbone
May 19th, 2011
5:58 pm
Still have my Knights sweater. Great times with the Knights.
Badger Bob
May 19th, 2011
6:40 pm
Re: getting screwed twice by owners, I used to think worse of Tom Cousins until talking with Dan Bouchard. As he alluded to on the radio show (link was a couple pages back), Cousins was blackballed by the owners for pointing out how the owners had been cheating the player retirement fund. The more I learn about the business of hockey, the more I hate the NHL. Love the sport, hate the league.
Red Light
May 19th, 2011
7:28 pm
Sadly, Badger Bob, the only cheats in this scenario are the ones who posed as being upper management capable here in Atlanta. I simply don’t know why everyone expects the NHL to bail out this situation when they know that several other teams will be going down the same road as the one is here. I still believe we are only seeing the beginning of failed franchises until they re-write the CBA. If you are a potential buyer, and know the Cap floor is going up again, the new TV deal may soften that blow, but does nothing for your locally generated revenues. I don’t know why anyone expects it to work in Winnipeg, if it didn’t work here. It’s delusional and downright irresponsible.
Flamestillburns
May 19th, 2011
8:13 pm
I’ve been reading this blog all year and never posted. I’ve come to the conclusion that Bill, aka Rawhide, should run the Thrashers. He’s the only one I trust. And I agree with what he implied several weeks ago–it’s highly unlikely the Thrashers are leaving now. Why would the league allow it? It just doesn’t make sense for the NHL in either long-term finances or public relations. Does anybody else think the team is safe, at least for another year, and probably into the future?
glovesave29
May 19th, 2011
8:33 pm
Its Tom Cousins in negotiations to keep the team here. The meeting was set up by one Mr. Gary Bettman!!
Tom Lysiak
May 19th, 2011
9:13 pm
GS29 – Talk about coming full circle….
I wish we had all been aware of that information about Tom Cousins disclosed in the Bouchard interview YEARS AGO. The man deserved for that to be public knowledge a long time ago.
Joe Friday
May 19th, 2011
9:34 pm
Everybody else is denying it, but Globe and Mail say the deal is done and will be announced Tuesday:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/atlanta-thrashers-moving-to-winnipeg/article2029179/
Personally, I think the deal has been done for months, and all they’ve been doing since then are dotting i,’scrossing t’s, and waiting the appropriate amount of time to do it.
And the story line is going to be that the NHL has been working behind the scenes for years trying to sell our club, but that’s bullcrap. Nothing could be bought with the Belkin lawsuit going on.
Alan R.
May 19th, 2011
9:37 pm
Let’s let Tuesday come.
And go.
With no announcement, and no parade down Portage.
Again.
glovesave29
May 19th, 2011
10:00 pm
Alan – the sad part is all it takes from the league is to give Winnipeg and Quebec expansion teams in 2013-2014.
Joe Friday
May 19th, 2011
10:03 pm
Alan, the sooner you grab on to reality her the better, they’re gone, it’s been done for quite some time, methinks and they’re just waiting to announce it . . .
Get the pitchforks ready folks, the Spirit boys go up on the rail, Kincade should go with them. I apologize for him to whoever bought into that Balkan nonsense . . .
Alan R.
May 19th, 2011
10:09 pm
Joe – I’m not saying you’re wrong in that. A deal very well could already be done, and this whole thing is a sham. However, I’m waiting to see what happens.
Alan R.
May 19th, 2011
10:14 pm
Reality is one thing, but results is completely different. We’ve all been results-oriented people here.
It’s amazing. One Globe and Mail report, and everyone is running around like we’re in the Titanic after having slammed into an iceberg.
Flamestillburns
May 19th, 2011
10:14 pm
Just saw the word on Versus intermission report–which came first, the Toronto report or the league denial? I feel like a sucker.
Joe Friday
May 19th, 2011
10:14 pm
it’s done, don’t let them drag your emotions on this roller coaster, the Globe dude works for the paper owned by Thomsan, the TSNE guy, he knows . . . let’s channel the emotions into something positive here, and that’s getting these owners and hitting them where it hurts, boycott their businesses and run them out on a rail . . .what a joke Kincade made himself out to be with this Balkan foolishness, wonder if he gets canned? Nah, no one at that station cares about hockey
ZAvalanche
May 19th, 2011
10:18 pm
I am so pissed – I cannot believe the f@$%ing sh!t i just heard on Versus.
Joe Friday
May 19th, 2011
10:29 pm
Guys, it’s been done for a long time. It’s why they extended Buf and why the extended Dudley, you think the Spirit Squad approved those? This plan has been in place for months. It’s why they filed that lawsuit against King and Spalding, and outed themselves as liars, they knew they were gone. It’s why everything was 50% off the last home game.
Rawhide, take this Balkan blog down and wipe it, it’s embarrassing now that we got suckered into that foolishness.
I have two questions for the faithful. 1, do you keep watching the NHL? I can’t support this Mickey Mouse league any longer, what they’ve done here to us is beyond the pale.
2, how do we exact justice against these owners and Waddell? We need to out them for who they are and what they’ve done, we need to figure out who these owner’s businesses are and hit them where it hurts.
If anyone listens to Kincade again, you get what you deserve there.
Hell hath no fury like a hockey fan scorned.
Big Wally
May 19th, 2011
10:39 pm
Joe, to answer question #1, I’m done with the NHL. If I don’t have a dog in the hunt, no use in watching it anymore. No one to pull for. We will never get another NHL team now, so there is no reason to follow the sport anymore. We all knew that even when the Flames left, that at some point, we might get another team, so I still followed the sport on TV and went to Knight’s games all the time. Now, Hockey is relegated to the likes of LPGA golf, or bobsled racing in my book. The NHL let incompetence and/or crooks steal two franchises from us. I’m done.
Viking
May 19th, 2011
10:39 pm
No NHL hockey in Atlanta? @#$%
Mild interest in Braves, can’t really get into football, enjoy only the last 5 min of basketball and NASCAR provides as much excitement as the washing machine in action….
Viking
May 19th, 2011
10:47 pm
Joe F, I bought a few Thrashers paraphernalia at half price at the last game with a terrible feeling that they would soon just turn into reminders of past times.
Flamestillburns
May 19th, 2011
10:50 pm
Can’t say if I’m done with the NHL; I love the game too much. Even after the Flames left when I was 13, I still kept up. The Knights were great, Thrashers even better, but I can’t believe we’re probably going to get s——-d twice by the NHL.
In reality, what do you do to ASG? I could care less about the Hawks, haven’t cared since ‘nique left. Where are all the corporate giants in this city? For that matter, where’ s the city?
I’m really sad about this–right when my older boy was ready to go to a game, the team splits.
Joe Friday
May 19th, 2011
10:54 pm
http://www.sportsradio1290.com/
the reporter is on the air right now, confirming the story
Joe Friday
May 19th, 2011
10:56 pm
he’s saying that the NHL signed off on this months ago, and then left it up to True North and Atlanta Spirit to work out the deal
Joe Friday
May 19th, 2011
11:00 pm
it sounds like the deal is done in terms of the agreement on terms is reached, and that the reason for the denials is that they wanted to keep it under wraps and are pissed the Brundt had a source that leaked him the news, and now they still have to dot i’s and cross t’s on the contract and they expect to have that done over the weekend.
So, now does the Spirit at least have the class to announce it tomorrow morning and call off the Select a Seat and save folks the embarrassment of going down to the Gulch Saturday in a futile effort to save something that’s been gone for months?
ThrashDawg
May 19th, 2011
11:05 pm
Wow! What a disgrace and an outrage for this to happen to the city of Atlanta not once, but twice! This is absolutely mind boggling if true! How can Bettman and the ASG look themselves in the mirror? Wow!
Big Wally
May 19th, 2011
11:05 pm
Joe, you used Atlanta Spirit and class in the same sentence. Come on now.
Joe Friday
May 19th, 2011
11:09 pm
The Spirit boys are going to have hire bodyguards, and forget about the social scene in Atlanta now, they’re all pariahs. Waddell probably retires and moves somewhere.
I think we can get an AHL club, mabye in 2012-2013, that’ll be nice. But first I want a piece of the Spirit Squad, Waddell, and Kincade for that nonsense he pulled. What a circus.
Alan R.
May 19th, 2011
11:10 pm
If Tuesday comes, and there’s an announcement, that’s fine, really. I can handle it.
If Tuesday comes, and there’s no announcement, then I’m going to laugh. Just like I laughed at all the “announcements” that came with regards to Phoenix.
Big Wally
May 19th, 2011
11:14 pm
The ASG needs to be spit upon every time someone sees them. I can only hope for personal and professional misery in each and every one of their lives. Bettman too for that matter. Might as well throw in the mastermind “Waddell”.