For sale: one professional ice hockey team, to the highest bidder (some conditions may apply). In effect, that is the status of the Phoenix Coyotes, the NHL team that reportedly lost nearly US$70 million (Dh256m) last season - but can be yours. If the price is right.
The franchise is up for auction early next month, and anyone can bid, as long if you have a few hundred million dollars and an fondness for frustration - and as long as you're not Jim Balsillie. The Blackberry billionaire and Southern Ontario resident has offered $212m for the Coyotes - and the right to relocate to Hamilton, or Kitchener- Waterloo, Ontario, or Toronto, or? well, you get the idea.
Pretty much anywhere as long as it is in Ontario and not in Arizona. Which makes financial sense, considering the team has lost in excess of $20m per season since the 2004-05 lockout (including $67m last year).
However, the NHL does not want Phoenix to move to Ontario because the league would lose out on the hefty expansion fee it could charge a start-up team in that region. So, auction bids will only be accepted from parties which state their intention to keep the team in Phoenix. If no one steps up - unlikely, but possible - then there'll be another auction with bids accepted from any and all Balsillie types; that is, people who want to take the team out of town.
At the moment, the team is owned by a trucking magnate, Jerry Moyes, who claims he never really wanted control in the first place, but bought in on the cheap off of previous owner Steve Ellman, the man who cold-called Wayne Gretzky and convinced him bring his sterling reputation behind the bench in Phoenix. For all of the assists Gretzky piled up during his career, this is one instance where he really should have known to pass. Instead, he's battling the City of Glendale in court over how much money is owed to him by the team.
Anyhow, back to Moyes. Calling him the "owner" is not quite correct. If you ask the NHL, they would probably tell you it is not correct. That's because back in February, when the NHL stepped in financially and helped the Coyotes pay their bills, Moyes and the league signed an agreement that said Moyes would not do anything significant - like try to sell the team or enter into bankruptcy - without getting the NHL's approval. It appears he did both.
Why? Moyes' trucking interests were hit hard by the recession; no one was buying tickets to watch the Coyotes; and, the team has an awful arena deal (for example, when fans use the arena parking lots, it costs the Coyotes money instead of being a cash generator.) So, Moyes first tried to sell the team to Balsillie, then - when the NHL vetoed the deal - he filed for bankruptcy protection. The NHL has also accused Moyes of trying to derail the deal the league wants - which would see the Coyotes sold to Chicago sports giant Jerry Reinsdorf - while Moyes, of course, claims he's well within his rights.
The chances are Reinsdorf's bid will be accepted - with a provision, perhaps, that allows him to relocate the team in a few years, if attendance and the finances have not improved. There are also other parties sniffing around the team; an indication that, most likely, the Coyotes will have a Phoenix-friendly owner.
But it could all fall apart at any time. It already has, several times, so it would be a huge surprise if the contentious Coyotes team transaction suddenly turns smooth. At the end of next month, at least, we should know: a) who owns the Coyotes; and, b) where they'll be playing for the future.
And those are two things more than we know right now.
smccaig@thenational.ae
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
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APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
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Naga
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Australia World Cup squad
Aaron Finch (capt), Usman Khawaja, David Warner, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa
Water waste
In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.
Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.
A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.
The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 650hp at 6,750rpm
Torque: 800Nm from 2,500-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 11.12L/100km
Price: From Dh796,600
On sale: now
Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
MATCH INFO
CAF Champions League semi-finals first-leg fixtures
Tuesday:
Primeiro Agosto (ANG) v Esperance (TUN) (8pm UAE)
Al Ahly (EGY) v Entente Setif (ALG) (11PM)
Second legs:
October 23
match info
Southampton 2 (Ings 32' & pen 89') Tottenham Hotspur 5 (Son 45', 47', 64', & 73', Kane 82')
Man of the match Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
New schools in Dubai
War
Director: Siddharth Anand
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Ashutosh Rana, Vaani Kapoor
Rating: Two out of five stars
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Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
Changing visa rules
For decades the UAE has granted two and three year visas to foreign workers, tied to their current employer. Now that's changing.
Last year, the UAE cabinet also approved providing 10-year visas to foreigners with investments in the UAE of at least Dh10 million, if non-real estate assets account for at least 60 per cent of the total. Investors can bring their spouses and children into the country.
It also approved five-year residency to owners of UAE real estate worth at least 5 million dirhams.
The government also said that leading academics, medical doctors, scientists, engineers and star students would be eligible for similar long-term visas, without the need for financial investments in the country.
The first batch - 20 finalists for the Mohammed bin Rashid Medal for Scientific Distinction.- were awarded in January and more are expected to follow.
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
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Brief scores:
Southampton 2
Armstrong 13', Soares 20'
Manchester United 2
Lukaku 33', Herrera 39'
The Library: A Catalogue of Wonders
Stuart Kells, Counterpoint Press
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Civil%20War
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TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
FORSPOKEN
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Starfield
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Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
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