No sale on Coyotes, but NHL is the winner

And the winner of the Phoenix Coyotes is ... nobody! As threatened earlier this month, Judge Redfield Baum rejected both bids for the bankrupt NHL franchise, ruling that neither Jim Balsillie's plan to move the team to Hamilton over the league's objections nor the league's offer to buy the team itself and search for a new owner met the standards of a bid that was in the best interest of creditors. If the NHL lost the battle, though, it looks to have won the war. Baum decisively rejected Balsillie's attempt to buy the Coyotes under any circumstances, ruling that the NHL has the right to approve or deny prospective owners, and the league had previously voted unanimously to bar the BlackBerry king. The NHL, meanwhile, will be allowed to revamp its bid to produce more money for outgoing Coyotes owners Jerry Moyes and Wayne Gretzky (which was Baum's main objection to the league bid) — or, presumably, it can sit back and wait for a new crop of non-Balsillie bidd...