Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Lawsuit against Islanders owner Charles Wang takes a conflict-of-interest-y turn

08/14/2014 at 4:53am EDT

Would-be Islanders suitor Charles Barroway is suing current Islanders owner Charles Wang for $10 million after Wang reneged on the sale of the soon-to-be-Brooklyn-based team, and the New York Times' Richard Sandomir went so far as to pen an editorial-style article suggesting that Wang's--well, let's be honest here--awful stewardship of the team merits all but a moral imperative to sell the team to someone who can competently manage it.

This morning, the New York Post's Josh Kosman reports that Barroway's lawsuit involves someone with an intriguing tie to a certain sport's commissioner, and that commissioner now finds himself in a sticky situation:

An adviser working for the hedge-fund manager who sued the New York Islanders for reneging on a deal to sell him the team is NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman’s half-brother, The Post has learned.

Andrew Barroway hired Jeffrey Pollack several months ago after reaching a handshake deal to buy the club from owner Charles Wang for $420 million, sources said.

Wang and Bettman are believed to be pals.

And in addition to reporting that Barroway had difficulty actually coughing up the cash to purchase the team, Kosman reports that Wang increased the asking price for the team substantially (and many suspect that Wang did so after the Los Angeles Clippers sold for a billion dollars):

Wang in mid-July unexpectedly raised his asking price for the team from $420 million to $548 million, making it nearly impossible for Barroway to complete the purchase, the lawsuit claims.

And who's Mr. Pollak?

Pollack, 13 years Bettman’s junior, is best known for being the former chief executive of the World Series of Poker. Over the last four years he has been a sports and entertainment adviser and helped Robert Pera in 2012 buy the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies.

Kosman continues...

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

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