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GLENDALE, Ariz. -- George Gosbee and Anthony LeBlanc fulfilled every Canadian boys dream last week by becoming NHL owners. But before they had even completed the deal to buy the Phoenix Coyotes from the league, Gosbee, LeBlanc and their partners were already in the crosshairs. The issue was the five-year out clause they put in an arena lease agreement with the city of Glendale. On one hand, they understood the consternation; Coyotes fans had gone through an emotional roller coaster in four years of waiting for an owner. What bothered the members of IceArizona was that they had no intention of moving the team. That would mean they had lost $50 million in their new venture and had failed, something none of them have had much experience with. "Its frustrating for me because for this exit clause to kick in, we have to lose $50 million and thats not something I want to do," Gosbee said. "We came into this to build a successful organization in Phoenix and thats our plan. We have no plans of relocating anywhere else and we have no plans to lose $50 million, I can tell you that." For LeBlanc, buying the Coyotes completed an arduous quest that lasted more than four years. He started his career as a salesman for a regional cellphone company in New Brunswick and later joined Research in Motion just as it was developing the Blackberry. LeBlanc worked his way up through the ranks in eight years with the company, becoming a marketing executive before leaving in 2008 to pursue his dream of owning a hockey team. He started Ice Edge Holdings with a goal of bringing a major junior or minor league team to Thunder Bay, Ontario, where his family moved when he was 10. After former Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes took the team into bankruptcy in 2009, LeBlanc shifted his focus toward the Valley of the Sun. His initial effort, with partner Daryl Jones, fell through, as did a minority ownership with Chicago businessman Matthew Hulsizer. LeBlanc also was working with former San Jose Sharks CEO Greg Jamison in his attempt to buy the team. When Jamisons bid fell through in January, LeBlanc decided to take one more crack at buying the Coyotes. This time, he and Jones brought in Gosbee, a Calgary businessman whose specialty was completing complicated financial transactions. "If George didnt get involved, we wouldnt have bought this team, its as simple as that," LeBlanc said. Gosbee grew up in Alberta and, like LeBlanc, spent his Saturday nights watching Hockey Night in Canada and loved playing shinny games with kids in the neighbourhood. His two sons are also accomplished hockey players; John plays for a Junior A team in Port Alberni, British Columbia, and Carter at a high-performance school in Calgary. Gosbee made his mark professionally in energy investment banking, handling mergers and acquisitions for numerous companies. Once he became a part of the group trying to buy the Coyotes, Gosbee put his background to perfect use, bringing in what had been lacking in previous deals: investors with hard cash to spend. Gosbees ability to close the deal earned him the moniker the Great Gosbee and helped him offset the devastation of having his Calgary home flooded out in June. "We had a good partnership and were able to put all the missing pieces together," said Gosbee, who is now looking to buy homes in Calgary and Phoenix. "I thought if I was able to deliver the last piece to it, I was comfortable with it (being called the deal saviour), but there was a lot of legwork done before I got there." Though theyve only known each other since Gosbee came on board in February, the two have become fast friends. Gosbee and LeBlanc have the common bond of being Canadians who love hockey and have reached the upper echelons of their fields of expertise. Theyre also different in ways that complement each other: LeBlanc the gregarious salesman, Gosbee the calculating businessman. "I would say it was the perfect partnership," said Gosbee, the teams new governor. "Were similar in some aspects. Hes got some strengths Ill never get near to and I think I have some strengths where he doesnt have the experience with, so its a great combination." The task ahead for Gosbee and LeBlanc is making the Coyotes a successful venture in a market that has, at times, been nonchalant in its support for hockey. When the team is winning, the fans will latch onto the bandwagon, as they did when the Coyotes went to the Western Conference finals two years ago. Gosbee and LeBlanc gave general manager Don Maloney more financial leeway in this years free-agent period -- he was able to lure top-line forward Mike Ribeiro to the desert -- and plan to give him a bigger bankroll in the years to come. While being run by the NHL, the Coyotes had limited marketing options, so now the new owners have started aggressively marketing the team to increase suite and season-ticket sales, along with corporate sponsorships. With a competitive team, better marketing and a firm ownership group in place, Gosbee and LeBlanc believe hockey can be successful in the Valley. "We have a really strong hockey side of the business," said LeBlanc, who is working on getting his immigration status cleared before buying a home in Arizona. "Im not going to sit here and guarantee were going to go to the playoffs or win the Stanley Cup, but I will guarantee this is a franchise that is going to play hard and be competitive every night. You have that and strong ownership, those two things are the litmus test you need." Now that they own the team, its time for Gosbee and LeBlanc to see if they can pass the test and make the out clause a moot point.Cheap NFL Jerseys China . After taking two big hits this week -- losing at home and dropping back-to-back games for the first time all season -- Indiana struck back by playing its most complete game of the year. NFL Jerseys Wholesale . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. https://www.nfljerseys2020.com/ . -- The Magic have their first victory of the new year. Discount NFL Jerseys 2020 . The deal is pending a physical, assistant general manager Bobby Evans said. Traded from Seattle to Baltimore on Aug. 30, Morse also can play first base and right field to give manager Bruce Bochy some flexibility in writing his lineup. Wholesale NFL Jerseys 2020 . Collaros, 25, was solid last season, posting a 5-2 record as the starter while incumbent Ricky Ray was injured. Collaros also started Torontos 23-20 regular-season finale loss to Montreal — Ray didnt dress because the Argos had already clinched first in the East Division — but was one of three quarterbacks to play that day.TORONTO -- DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors pushed aside the Minnesota Timberwolves -- again.With Toronto down 95-94 with 8:46 left, DeRozan and Lowry keyed a 17-4 Raptors run that took the game away from the youthful Timberwolves. Toronto eventually pulled out a 124-110 victory, handing Minnesota its 13th straight loss at the Air Canada Centre.We just picked it up, DeRozan said. We kicked in our experience of understanding how we have to win games. We cant underestimate a team like that that plays extremely hard.DeRozan had a team-high 27 points for the Raptors, Lowry added 25 points with 11 assists, and Jonas Valanciunas registered his team-leading sixth double-double on 20 points and 10 rebounds.We just have guys that are used to it, trying to come through at the end of games and sticking with the game plan and sticking with the course of action, Lowry said.After Toronto fell behind 11-2, coach Dwane Casey sat all his starters except for DeRozan in an attempt to get kick-start his team into action. Toronto still trailed by 10 at the end of the first quarter, but it sent a message.We can be a good team, but we cant be special if we allow things to happen that happened in the first two quarters, Casey said.His counterpart, Tom Thibodeau, shared that sentiment, especially after seeing his team enter the final 12 minutes with the lead, 89-88. However, the Timberwolves could only shoot 38.9 percent in the final quarter, allowing the Raptors to outscore them 36-21.I thought the first three quarters were very good, connected, making the right reads, right plays, ball movement and screening a lot of good things happened, Thibodeau said. Then in the fourth quarter we got away from that.Zach LaVine led all Timberwolves scorers with 29 points, while Andrew WWiggins, playing in his homtown for the third time in the NBA, had 25.ddddddddddddHowever, the loss didnt take off too much of the shine playing in front of family and friends for the Canadian, who is still waiting for his first taste of NBA victory on home soil.We need to get that first win here for it to be really good, but its always good to play back home, he said.TIP-INSTimberwolves: Minnesota fell to 2-14 when allowing 100 or more points. The Timberwolves have had double-digit first-half leads in 11 of their 22 games. The 37 points that Toronto scored in the second quarter were the most Minnesota has given up in a second quarter this season.Raptors: Wore their blue-and-white Toronto Huskies uniforms for the second time this season. Uniforms are replicas of those worn by the Huskies during the NBAs inaugural season in 1946-47. DeRozan played his 543rd game for the Raptors, breaking a tie with Morris Peterson for the most in team history. Toronto successfully converted 10-or-more 3-pointers for an eighth straight game, extending its franchise record. Raptors are 10-1 this season when Carroll scores 10 or more points.HE SAID ITAll his shots are lucky. To me its a bad shot. -- DeRozan jokingly about Lowry, who with 5:41 to go in the third quarter drained a 31-foot jump shot, one of the five 3-pointers he had on the night.RING IT UPBefore the opening tip-off, USA Basketball mens national team director Sean Ford presented DeRozan and Lowry with their Team USA Olympic championship rings. The pair helped the U.S. win its third straight gold medal in August.UP NEXTTimberwolves: Host Detroit on Friday night.Raptors: At Boston on Friday night. ' ' '