It's mere hours from being officially over, friends. Sources are telling ESPN Dallas and others that the hearing this morning in Delaware went well and that the judge approved the pre-packaged plan and Tom Gaglardi's bid to purchase the Dallas Stars out of bankruptcy.
Paperwork is being done and it seems now that with the NHL Board of Governor's having already approved Gaglardi via a unanimous fax vote earlier this week, the only thing that remains is an official announcement, which is expected to come down later today after some more minor paperwork and details on the business side of things are taken care of.
A press conference to officially announce Gaglardi will take place early next week. We expect it will be Monday.
From there Mr. Gaglardi is expected to name Jim Lites the new team president of the Dallas Stars with interim president Tony Tavares moving on, if he hasn't already done so. The transformation of the front office and (hoped for) influx of resources can then begin to take shape as the Stars barrel toward the new year.
It was February of 2010 when this all began. The search has spanned parts of three different seasons and Tom Hicks vacated his other sports holdings in the process in Liverpool FC and the Texas Rangers.
There's been a lot of skepticism and a lot of "crying wolf" that has been done for the last 22 months. That's over now. I see no reason not to start celebrating.
We'll be back with an official announcement when there is one.
Updated: Some quotes from the lawyers types after the jump...
Some quotes are floating around some of the business journal type sites. Here's one from a lawyer working the case...
"We're happy with confirmation of the plan and approval of the sale and look forward to closing the transaction," Martin A. Sosland, a lawyer for the team, said in an interview after the hearing. Gaglardi has already received approval to buy the team from the NHL Board of Governors and the sale may be completed as early as today, Sosland said.
And from Gaglardi's attorney...
"Tom loves hockey, and he loves the Dallas Stars," said Gaglardi's attorney, David W. Parham, in an interview after the hearing. "This is a great day for hockey in Dallas and we look forward to closing the sale."
And a quote from the judge...
Walsh noted how quickly the Stars will exit court protection, saying "this is probably close to a record." There were "no glitches; it's almost boring," Walsh said.
Quotes from Bloomberg. Check out the whole story in which they try to explain the sale price again here.