Surrey, BC - Blog

Alain Vigneault agrees in principle on contract with the New York Rangers

david.hutchinson@century21.ca — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMT

While the Vancouver Canucks continue to look for their new head coach, their old one has likely found his new team.

Alain Vigneault and the New York Rangers have agreed in principle on a contract that could be made official today in Manhattan.

The New York Post reported Sunday that the delay in confirming Vigneault’s hiring may be due to discussions between the Rangers and Canucks over the two years remaining on the 52-year-old’s contract when he was fired May 22, two weeks after Vancouver was eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the second straight National Hockey League season.

The Rangers, eliminated in the second round, fired John Tortorella as coach one week after Vigneault was dismissed.

Tortorella was interviewed last week by Canuck general manager Mike Gillis, and it will be ironic if each team’s castoff is deemed essential by the other club.

Los Angeles Kings’ assistant coach John Stevens, long considered the front-runner for the Canucks’ job, also met last week with Gillis. But the volatile Tortorella may be a better fit with the Canucks short-term, as a new coach will be under immense pressure to win immediately with an aging, flawed lineup that both Gillis and Vancouver owner Francesco Aquilini believe should challenge for a Stanley Cup next season.

If it’s not a good time, the new coach won’t be here for a long time and Stevens may have more appealing options than joining the Canucks.

Whomever Gillis hires will inherit Vigneault’s winning streak of five straight division titles. Vigneault is easily the most successful coach in Canucks’ history, amassing a 313-170-57 record over seven seasons and coming within one win in 2011 of the franchise’s first Stanley Cup.

But Vigneault’s playoff record is a dismal 1-10 since Game 5 of that final against the Boston Bruins, and the Canucks were easily swept 4-0 by the San Jose Sharks in May.

These recent playoff failures did not dissuade other teams from pursuing Vigneault, who reportedly turned down a five-year offer to the coach the Dallas Stars for the chance to lead a better team in one of the world’s great cities.

Vigneault met Friday with Rangers’ chairman Jim Dolan after flying to Palm Springs earlier in the week for a formal interview with New York general manager Glen Sather.

Sather first showed interest in hiring Vigneault a decade ago, and the coach’s resume hasn’t dimmed at all since then. He is a three-time coach-of-the-year finalist and won the Jack Adams Award in 2007 after his first season with the Canucks.

Unless the deal falls through, Vigneault’s new contract will reflect his elite status among NHL coaches as the Rangers will make the man from Gatineau, Que., one of the highest-paid in his profession.

Vigneault is believed to have earned $1.25-1.5 million this past season in the last year of his previous contract with the Canucks, and the two-year extension Gillis agreed to pay him only one year ago presumably contained a raise.

Typically, teams hiring a coach still under contract to his previous team assume the entire cost of the new deal, except in cases where the coach’s new salary is lower than his old one. This is not believed to be the case with Vigneault and the Rangers.

Vigneault’s top assistant in Vancouver, Rick Bowness, was also in demand around the NHL and agreed two weeks ago to join the Tampa Bay Lightning as Jon Cooper’s associate coach.

imacintyre@vancouversun.com

Prices continue to hold their own in transitioning

jashanjot.singh@century21.ca — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMT

SURREY, BC – The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board’s Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) processed 1,379 sales in May,a decrease of 15 per cent compared to the 1,616 sales in May of last year and 1 per cent more than were processed in April. By historical comparison, sales in May were the slowest for that month since 2001. Looking at inventory, the Board received 3,172 new listings in May – 4 per cent fewer than received during the same month last year – raising the volume of active properties to 10,651 the highest it’s been this year and 2 per cent lower than those available in May 2012.

Ron Todson, President of the Board, says, “We’re in a transitioning market. We’ve seen a significant improvement in activity compared to last fall, but by historical standards we’re lagging. Sales are about 20 per cent lower than normal for this time of year, while the number of new listings coming on stream is right on average. An industry standard for measuring the health of the real estate market is comparing the ratio of number of sales to the number of active listings. The British Columbia Real Estate Association describes the Lower Mainland market as balanced when that ratio is between 15 and 20 per cent. In the Fraser Valley, that ratio has favoured buyers hovering between 10 and 15 per cent for most of the last three years. Todson adds, “In order for there to be significant downward pressure on home prices, you need to have a sustained period of time when the ratio of sales prices are remaining relatively stable.”

In May, the benchmark price of single family detached homes in the Fraser Valley was $549,200, an increase of 0.2 per cent compared to $548,000 during the same month last year. For townhouses, the benchmark price was $298,000, a decrease of 2.9 per cent compared to $306,800 in May 2012 and the benchmark price of apartments was $203,400, virtually unchanged from $203,600 in May 2012.

“Real estate is specific to community and property type and conditions can change rapidly,” says Todson. “For example, the townhome market in Langley currently is brisk; the condo market in White Rock is not. The range in Fraser Valley alone is considerable, which is why it helps to have a local REALTOR® guide you and look out for your best interests.”

All numbers and details are provided by the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board

Seattle already in talks to bring in Coyotes

david.hutchinson@century21.ca — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Plans to potentially relocate the Phoenix Coyotes to the West Coast this fall were set in motion weeks ago.

Seattle mayor Mike McGinn told NBC affiliate King 5 that he and city councillors met with potential investors Ray Bartoszek and Anthony Lanza two weeks ago about possibly bringing the embattled NHL franchise to the city for next season.

Discussions got serious enough that it led to a conversation between McGinn and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman last week.

"I let him know of the situation here, and that we were supportive of bringing the NHL to Seattle," McGinn said. "We have Key Arena, so we talked about the potential of them being in Key Arena while we continue to work on a new arena plan."

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly played down McGinn's meeting with Bettman, saying the discussion was "like any number of conversations the commissioner has all the time with a variety of people."

Seattle councillor Tim Burgess, however, said he believed a tentative deal had been reached on a lease agreement for an NHL team to play at Key Arena next season. The aging multi-sport arena, which opened in 1962, is capable of seating 11,000 for hockey.

The city has a deal in place with investor Chris Hansen to build a new arena that hinges on an NBA franchise coming to Seattle. Hansen, however, previously indicated he would be open to breaking ground if the first tenant were to be an NHL team.

If the Coyotes move to Seattle this fall, they would have to play at Key Arena for at least two years.

All of this, of course, depends on whether or not the City of Glendale and the Coyotes are able to reach a lease agreement for Jobing.com Arena.

The NHL, which owns the team, has a prospective buyer lined up in Renaissance Sports and Entertainment that would keep the franchise in Arizona. The league has given the city and suitor until June 25 to strike a deal. Bettman stated last week that if no deal is reached it's possible the team could relocate.

With that in mind, McGinn didn't want to get Seattle sports fans' hopes up.

"I really want to bring down expectations," he said. "We are very clearly Plan B for the NHL and this team."

David Stern mentions Vancouver as having interest for NBA team

david.hutchinson@century21.ca — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMT

In the press conference yesterday for the Seattle/Sacramanto relocation, David Stern mentioned that he is aware of interest from cities such as Vancouver, Seattle, Kansas City, Anahiem and Virgina Beach for a possible NBA team. I wonder how much interest Aquilini has shown with the NBA. You have to think that with the new collective bargaining agreement where almost every team should break even with revenue sharing, luxury taxes etc. it would appeal a lot more now than ever before.

Aquilini would be able to fill at least 45 additional dates in an arena that he already owns. He could leverage the Canucks with a new team with regards to season ticket packages and corporate sponsorship and appeal to a huge market that may be priced out for the Canucks.

I think with a successful product, the team could do very well in this market. The game is more global than ever with tons of foreign players that would love to play in Vancouver. The population of the city is 50% higher than when we last had a team and the dollar is at par vs. $.65 in the 90's. The NBA's 2nd largest market after the U.S. is China and Vancouver is a great gateway to that market.