First, my name is Douglas Hoyes; I’m a chartered accountant, and co-founder of Hoyes, Michalos & Associates Inc., one of Ontario’s largest personal insolvency firms. I deal with personal bankruptcy matters every day, so even though the Phoenix Coyotes are a hockey team, not a person, their situation is very familiar to that faced by numerous residents of Hamilton, and Ontario, and Canada today.

They have too much debt, and not enough income to service that debt. They have filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which is a way to restructure. In Canada we call that a proposal; people do consumer proposals all the time. In a consumer proposal we contact your creditors and work out a plan where you repay some of your debt, over a period of time.

The Phoenix Coyotes are attempting to do the same: reduce their debt. The difference between a Hamilton resident filing a consumer proposal and what the hockey team is doing is that in the United States, a judge is involved. The judge has the power to sell assets, and that’s where it gets interesting.

Apparently Jim Balsillie, co-founder of RIM, the Blackberry makers, wants to buy the team and move it to Hamilton, or somewhere else in Ontario. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman doesn’t want the team moved, because that would be an admission that hockey isn’t viable in the desert. Mr. Balsillie has been trying to buy an NHL team for a while, but he’s been blocked by Bettman. Now, if the court approves the sale, there may not be anything Bettman can do about it.

In Canada, the bankruptcy process is designed to give people a fresh start. The Phoenix Coyotes obviously need a fresh start, so I applaud Mr. Balsillie for using the bankruptcy process to accomplish that objective. Whether or not he succeeds, it will be interesting to watch.

And if you are reading this and feeling like a Coyote, with more debt than you can handle, give us a call at 310-PLAN, or in Hamilton at 905-777-0770, or e-mail us, and one of our associates would be pleased to walk you through your options.