1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 3 00:00:11,846 --> 00:00:16,600 It's a fascinating dynamic of our civilization 4 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:20,396 that we gravitate to the players like Joe Sakic. 5 00:00:20,396 --> 00:00:22,398 Who's your favorite player? - Joe Sakic. 6 00:00:22,398 --> 00:00:24,066 Why? - The captain. 7 00:00:24,692 --> 00:00:28,946 People recognize excellence, and they ignite. 8 00:00:28,946 --> 00:00:32,116 Joe Sakic! 9 00:00:32,116 --> 00:00:34,076 He was one of those guys that you couldn't wait 10 00:00:34,076 --> 00:00:36,954 - till he gets back on the ice. Two on one led by Sakic. 11 00:00:36,954 --> 00:00:39,790 In he goes. Scores! Sakic! 12 00:00:39,790 --> 00:00:44,211 The speed, the quickness, the soft hands, the eyes. 13 00:00:44,211 --> 00:00:46,672 Seeing plays get set up. 14 00:00:46,672 --> 00:00:47,757 It was like ballet. 15 00:00:48,340 --> 00:00:50,593 Sakic beats one man, beats another guy. 16 00:00:50,593 --> 00:00:53,554 Here he comes, right in, a shot-- He scores! 17 00:00:53,554 --> 00:00:55,973 The most valuable player is Joe Sakic. 18 00:00:56,640 --> 00:00:59,727 Everything arose from him touching that puck. 19 00:00:59,727 --> 00:01:03,647 Sakic fakes it, takes it. Scores! Joe Sakic! 20 00:01:03,647 --> 00:01:06,692 Shot and save. Rebound. Off the post-- 21 00:01:06,692 --> 00:01:07,777 Scores! 22 00:01:07,777 --> 00:01:10,404 Joe Sakic was the Colorado Avalanche. 23 00:01:10,404 --> 00:01:13,073 The Hart Trophy goes to Joe Sakic. 24 00:01:13,073 --> 00:01:16,327 The face of our franchise for the past two decades. 25 00:01:17,161 --> 00:01:19,747 {\an8}I'm thrilled to announce that Joe Sakic has agreed to become 26 00:01:19,747 --> 00:01:21,582 {\an8}the executive vice president of hockey operations 27 00:01:21,582 --> 00:01:22,750 for the Colorado Avalanche. 28 00:01:22,750 --> 00:01:24,752 Three seconds, two seconds. 29 00:01:24,752 --> 00:01:25,836 One second. 30 00:01:25,836 --> 00:01:27,004 It's over! 31 00:01:27,004 --> 00:01:32,092 The Colorado Avalanche are Stanley Cup champions. 32 00:01:32,092 --> 00:01:33,302 Joe's our captain. 33 00:01:58,327 --> 00:02:01,580 Well, that's all terrific. Of course, it almost didn't happen. 34 00:02:05,084 --> 00:02:07,503 It was a good day. It was a beautiful summer. 35 00:02:08,087 --> 00:02:11,924 {\an8}I was looking towards vacation and my phone rang. 36 00:02:15,511 --> 00:02:17,513 {\an8}And it was Mark Kiszla. 37 00:02:18,264 --> 00:02:20,933 {\an8}And, uh, Kiz said... 38 00:02:20,933 --> 00:02:22,142 {\an8}Charlie, how's it going? 39 00:02:22,142 --> 00:02:24,353 "So, have you heard?" 40 00:02:24,353 --> 00:02:28,274 The New York Rangers just offered Joe Sakic $21 million 41 00:02:28,274 --> 00:02:30,985 with 15 million up front. 42 00:02:30,985 --> 00:02:32,987 What do you got to say about that? 43 00:02:32,987 --> 00:02:35,739 There's silence on the phone for a few seconds. 44 00:02:36,991 --> 00:02:40,119 Charlie says, "I don't know anything about that." 45 00:02:41,203 --> 00:02:45,499 This is a crisis because there are a lot of things you can do in business. 46 00:02:45,499 --> 00:02:48,794 But one thing you can't make up, is money in the bank. 47 00:02:49,295 --> 00:02:51,881 We did not have that money in the bank. 48 00:02:51,881 --> 00:02:54,633 I said, "Well, I guarantee you it's happening." 49 00:02:54,633 --> 00:02:57,469 The New York Rangers are offering him a three-year contract, 50 00:02:57,469 --> 00:02:59,847 a total package of $21 million. 51 00:02:59,847 --> 00:03:02,600 But most of the money is being paid up front 52 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:06,020 {\an8}in the form of a $15 million signing bonus. 53 00:03:06,020 --> 00:03:09,565 I don't know. I don't know. I don't even know how to metabolize it. 54 00:03:09,565 --> 00:03:12,693 Wednesday, August 13th at 6 p.m. 55 00:03:12,693 --> 00:03:14,528 That's the Avs' deadline. 56 00:03:14,528 --> 00:03:18,157 So, now it was, "Okay, Charlie, what tricks you got? 57 00:03:18,157 --> 00:03:21,535 How you gonna raise this money in seven days?" 58 00:03:25,748 --> 00:03:27,082 In the movie business, 59 00:03:27,082 --> 00:03:30,044 we have a little trick when we're developing stories. 60 00:03:30,044 --> 00:03:33,088 And that's the ticking clock. 61 00:03:33,088 --> 00:03:34,673 Well, here it was. 62 00:03:35,966 --> 00:03:39,053 Seven days, and the clock is ticking. 63 00:03:40,346 --> 00:03:42,431 Sports circles across North America 64 00:03:42,431 --> 00:03:43,557 are still buzzing today 65 00:03:43,557 --> 00:03:47,061 about that gargantuan free agent offer sheet the Rangers have made 66 00:03:47,061 --> 00:03:49,396 to Colorado Avalanche captain, Joe Sakic. 67 00:03:49,396 --> 00:03:51,941 {\an8}A reported three year, $21-million contract 68 00:03:51,941 --> 00:03:56,320 {\an8}that features a $15-million signing bonus, all of it up front. 69 00:03:56,320 --> 00:03:59,031 Somebody had looked at our balance sheet. 70 00:03:59,031 --> 00:04:00,908 They had done their homework. 71 00:04:00,908 --> 00:04:03,202 The Avalanche lost 8 million last year, 72 00:04:03,202 --> 00:04:05,496 and according to several different reports, 73 00:04:05,496 --> 00:04:07,331 {\an8}the Avalanche will be unable to match. 74 00:04:07,331 --> 00:04:10,084 I've covered sports in Colorado for nearly 40 years. 75 00:04:10,084 --> 00:04:13,504 I never had any other story involve a movie. 76 00:04:14,213 --> 00:04:18,050 This was an entertainment world connection 77 00:04:18,050 --> 00:04:20,344 imposing itself on the sports world. 78 00:04:20,344 --> 00:04:24,223 Can the Avs come up with that kind of cash that quickly? 79 00:04:24,223 --> 00:04:26,016 My job was to find the money. 80 00:04:26,016 --> 00:04:27,977 A city that loves its hockey, 81 00:04:27,977 --> 00:04:29,895 and its team's best player, 82 00:04:29,895 --> 00:04:31,647 holds its collective breath. 83 00:04:39,321 --> 00:04:41,573 So, how did you know about the offer sheet? 84 00:04:43,325 --> 00:04:44,493 Hmm. 85 00:04:45,369 --> 00:04:48,163 I don't know, after all these years, I can reveal my source, 86 00:04:48,163 --> 00:04:49,623 but I can tell you one story. 87 00:04:54,461 --> 00:05:00,134 If you wanna ask-- Or you wanna know how familiar I am 88 00:05:00,134 --> 00:05:03,679 with the fact that the Nuggets, 89 00:05:03,679 --> 00:05:05,723 and then the Avalanche, 90 00:05:05,723 --> 00:05:08,726 were never rolling in dough 91 00:05:09,476 --> 00:05:12,062 compared to their peers in the league. 92 00:05:13,105 --> 00:05:15,983 I believe it was 1989. 93 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:21,530 {\an8}Two gentlemen, Peter Bynoe and Bertram Lee, 94 00:05:21,530 --> 00:05:24,199 {\an8}put together a proposal to buy the Nuggets. 95 00:05:24,783 --> 00:05:26,660 {\an8}Bynoe and Lee were smart. 96 00:05:26,660 --> 00:05:30,122 They recruited a brilliant sports executive 97 00:05:30,122 --> 00:05:32,875 to be part of their ownership group. 98 00:05:32,875 --> 00:05:37,379 They gave this brilliant sports executive a piece of the team, 99 00:05:37,379 --> 00:05:39,923 and he was going to be president of the Denver Nuggets. 100 00:05:40,924 --> 00:05:43,218 {\an8}His name is Dave Checketts. 101 00:05:43,218 --> 00:05:44,428 {\an8}Here we go. 102 00:05:46,013 --> 00:05:48,849 {\an8}That sale did not go through, 103 00:05:49,349 --> 00:05:52,519 but Dave Checketts had very intricate knowledge 104 00:05:52,519 --> 00:05:57,357 of the history of the tenants of the building 105 00:05:57,357 --> 00:05:59,318 the Nuggets and the Avalanche played. 106 00:06:02,154 --> 00:06:05,115 I mean, it's pretty obvious that-- 107 00:06:05,908 --> 00:06:07,409 why I knew what I knew... 108 00:06:07,409 --> 00:06:12,122 ...but Dave Checketts was the mastermind of this deal. 109 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:17,795 Many owners have said to me, "You know, that really changed everything." 110 00:06:18,378 --> 00:06:21,632 And none of them would have done this. 111 00:06:21,632 --> 00:06:25,094 Um, but Charlie and I were friends before any of this happened. 112 00:06:35,187 --> 00:06:37,981 I met Dave Checketts at the NBA Board of Governors meeting 113 00:06:37,981 --> 00:06:39,316 {\an8}in 1992. 114 00:06:39,316 --> 00:06:42,945 I was the newly installed governor of the Denver Nuggets. 115 00:06:43,821 --> 00:06:46,532 The team was an embarrassment. It was in the cellar. 116 00:06:47,074 --> 00:06:49,076 They were losing a lot of money. 117 00:06:49,076 --> 00:06:51,662 Charlie and I have a lot in common. 118 00:06:51,662 --> 00:06:55,874 We both have lived in a world where franchises are losing money 119 00:06:55,874 --> 00:06:57,126 or deep in debt. 120 00:06:58,836 --> 00:07:02,172 {\an8}My first job in sports had been at the Utah Jazz, 121 00:07:02,172 --> 00:07:05,676 {\an8}a club that, in the 1980s, was bankrupt. 122 00:07:07,928 --> 00:07:12,558 There were days I could not cash my paycheck 123 00:07:12,558 --> 00:07:17,563 {\an8}until Adrian Dantley, our best player, deposited his. 124 00:07:17,563 --> 00:07:20,983 Yeah. Hair on fire is the vernacular. 125 00:07:20,983 --> 00:07:24,528 Well, I mean, fortunately for me, 126 00:07:24,528 --> 00:07:29,074 by the time that this story starts with Charlie Lyons, 127 00:07:29,074 --> 00:07:32,327 I was running kind of a different show in New York. 128 00:07:32,327 --> 00:07:35,581 Dave Checketts' career continued to skyrocket 129 00:07:35,581 --> 00:07:38,417 and in very short order, went to work for the Knicks 130 00:07:38,417 --> 00:07:43,922 {\an8}and then oversaw the entire Madison Square Garden empire 131 00:07:43,922 --> 00:07:46,884 {\an8}that included the Knicks and the Rangers. 132 00:07:49,178 --> 00:07:51,805 I was immediately like, "I want to get to know this guy. 133 00:07:51,805 --> 00:07:54,766 I think the stuff that's coming out of his mouth is really smart." 134 00:07:54,766 --> 00:07:57,019 Under what conditions, for instance, 135 00:07:57,019 --> 00:08:00,772 do you take and trade away young players to go for it? 136 00:08:00,772 --> 00:08:04,401 Dave was kind of my mentor. 137 00:08:05,485 --> 00:08:08,488 It's one of the most unique things about sports, 138 00:08:08,488 --> 00:08:12,951 is that you're partners with all of these other franchise owners, 139 00:08:12,951 --> 00:08:17,331 and yet, you want to beat them all the time, too. 140 00:08:17,331 --> 00:08:20,334 You want-- You want to win when they come in, 141 00:08:20,334 --> 00:08:23,045 and you want to be on equal footing 142 00:08:23,045 --> 00:08:26,298 when it comes to the quality of your arena. 143 00:08:28,258 --> 00:08:31,887 {\an8}Because McNichols Arena was just the oldest, 144 00:08:31,887 --> 00:08:35,015 most rundown building in the league, 145 00:08:35,015 --> 00:08:38,268 the Nuggets were held up as the poster child of franchises 146 00:08:38,268 --> 00:08:40,771 that were bleeding money and were in trouble. 147 00:08:42,439 --> 00:08:47,110 {\an8}McNichols Arena, I would call it-- affectionately call it a nice dump. 148 00:08:50,989 --> 00:08:53,992 It's a very simple business in a certain respect. 149 00:08:53,992 --> 00:08:55,452 It's very much like Broadway. 150 00:08:56,036 --> 00:09:01,583 You have your arena, and that generates a big portion of your revenue. 151 00:09:01,583 --> 00:09:04,628 {\an8}And McNichols was the oldest facility in the league. 152 00:09:04,628 --> 00:09:08,006 {\an8}It was rundown. And you didn't have very many luxury suites. 153 00:09:08,006 --> 00:09:09,591 {\an8}So the result is, 154 00:09:09,591 --> 00:09:13,095 {\an8}it didn't have any ability to generate any additional revenue. 155 00:09:13,095 --> 00:09:15,305 And it wasn't a great place for the fans. 156 00:09:15,305 --> 00:09:18,308 You gotta ask? 157 00:09:18,308 --> 00:09:21,395 Jeepers! Look at the crowds! 158 00:09:21,395 --> 00:09:23,855 But you start doing the math. 159 00:09:23,855 --> 00:09:26,858 One sports team in a small market 160 00:09:26,858 --> 00:09:32,656 was not enough to generate the returns to build a new state-of-the-art arena. 161 00:09:33,448 --> 00:09:36,410 So it was clear we needed a second team. 162 00:09:37,577 --> 00:09:40,580 There is no other way to do it. 163 00:09:41,581 --> 00:09:43,917 They were looking around for a team. 164 00:09:43,917 --> 00:09:46,670 Sakic scores! 165 00:09:47,713 --> 00:09:51,383 Lately, ice hockey has become one of the hottest sports going. 166 00:09:51,383 --> 00:09:53,719 By this time, Gary Bettman had gone over 167 00:09:53,719 --> 00:09:55,721 to the National Hockey League as commissioner. 168 00:09:55,721 --> 00:09:58,432 {\an8}We're getting the word out there that we've got a great sport. 169 00:09:58,432 --> 00:10:01,685 {\an8}Everything associated with it is fun, it's exciting, it's hip, 170 00:10:01,685 --> 00:10:03,437 and the people are thinking about us. 171 00:10:03,437 --> 00:10:05,564 And I got a call from a gentleman 172 00:10:05,564 --> 00:10:08,025 at the Walt Disney Company, and he said, 173 00:10:08,025 --> 00:10:12,446 "Look, I'm thinking that the Quebec Nordiques are gonna be sold." 174 00:10:13,905 --> 00:10:16,158 I was at The Denver Post as a part-time guy, 175 00:10:16,158 --> 00:10:18,952 {\an8}and just happened to get a scoop dropped on my lap 176 00:10:18,952 --> 00:10:22,748 {\an8}that the owners of the Denver Nuggets were going to make an offer 177 00:10:22,748 --> 00:10:24,291 {\an8}for the Quebec Nordiques. 178 00:10:24,875 --> 00:10:28,086 Quebec City is the smallest of the small-market teams 179 00:10:28,086 --> 00:10:30,088 in the 26-team NHL. 180 00:10:30,672 --> 00:10:32,883 Quebec was in financial distress. 181 00:10:32,883 --> 00:10:35,761 {\an8}The projections for the '95-'96 season 182 00:10:35,761 --> 00:10:39,139 {\an8}are that we're going to lose between 12 and 14 million. 183 00:10:39,139 --> 00:10:41,641 I'm never gonna forget the day Marcel looked at me 184 00:10:41,641 --> 00:10:43,310 {\an8}and there were tears in his eyes. 185 00:10:43,310 --> 00:10:47,814 {\an8}He said, "You know, I-- I-I got to-- I got to sell 186 00:10:48,732 --> 00:10:50,734 and I want to sell to you." 187 00:10:51,234 --> 00:10:53,862 As he was saying he had to sell, 188 00:10:53,862 --> 00:10:57,282 he went into a monologue about Sakic... 189 00:10:57,282 --> 00:10:59,743 Joe Sakic with a shot-- He scores! 190 00:10:59,743 --> 00:11:04,039 ...as if to say, you're this close to winning a championship. 191 00:11:04,039 --> 00:11:06,333 The Quebec Nordiques are moving to Denver. 192 00:11:06,333 --> 00:11:07,709 The COMSAT Corporation, 193 00:11:07,709 --> 00:11:10,712 which already owns the Denver Nuggets, has purchased the Nordiques franchise. 194 00:11:10,712 --> 00:11:13,465 They will begin play in Denver next season. 195 00:11:14,091 --> 00:11:17,636 Uh, first of all, I want to thank you all for waiting patiently. 196 00:11:17,636 --> 00:11:19,888 {\an8}With me on my left is Charlie Lyons, 197 00:11:19,888 --> 00:11:22,265 president of the COMSAT Entertainment Group 198 00:11:22,265 --> 00:11:23,975 and who will be the governor of the franchise. 199 00:11:23,975 --> 00:11:25,852 And we're here to answer your questions. 200 00:11:27,604 --> 00:11:31,358 {\an8}Let's face it, Charlie didn't know much about hockey 201 00:11:31,358 --> 00:11:32,776 other than there was frozen water. 202 00:11:32,776 --> 00:11:34,736 Uh, the answer is, uh-- 203 00:11:34,736 --> 00:11:39,825 Let's be clear, I knew nothing about hockey, truthfully. 204 00:11:39,825 --> 00:11:42,536 I think the press reports in Denver have been accurate. 205 00:11:42,536 --> 00:11:46,123 {\an8}Pierre will be executive vice president general manager of the club. 206 00:11:46,123 --> 00:11:49,709 It was always a very close relationship between Pierre Lacroix and Charlie Lyons. 207 00:11:49,709 --> 00:11:53,547 Pierre was a larger-than-life brain. 208 00:11:53,547 --> 00:11:54,631 Let's start there. 209 00:11:56,425 --> 00:11:58,218 Pierre comes in, he knows everything about hockey. 210 00:11:58,218 --> 00:11:59,636 He's a hockey lifer. 211 00:11:59,636 --> 00:12:01,304 And he said, "You know what? 212 00:12:01,304 --> 00:12:03,056 We're gonna win. 213 00:12:03,056 --> 00:12:05,851 But the only way we're gonna win is if we're a family." 214 00:12:05,851 --> 00:12:08,061 I've been involved with professional sports 215 00:12:08,061 --> 00:12:09,146 for over 30 years. 216 00:12:09,146 --> 00:12:12,858 The one thing that I'm a big believer, and I'm 100% convinced, 217 00:12:12,858 --> 00:12:16,027 is that what wins in professional sports is chemistry. 218 00:12:16,027 --> 00:12:19,865 To have that aspiration to be the champion of the world 219 00:12:19,865 --> 00:12:22,742 means the only way you're gonna get there is if you get there together. 220 00:12:22,742 --> 00:12:25,829 The support of this ownership group has been incredible. 221 00:12:25,829 --> 00:12:27,873 He had the same philosophy in mind. 222 00:12:27,873 --> 00:12:29,791 Always wanted to support us 223 00:12:29,791 --> 00:12:33,545 in order to offer the people of Colorado the best product available. 224 00:12:33,545 --> 00:12:36,298 Shot-- Score! 225 00:12:36,298 --> 00:12:37,591 Joe Sakic! 226 00:12:37,591 --> 00:12:38,842 That's a perfect partner. 227 00:12:38,842 --> 00:12:41,136 And then on top of it, he moved across the street, 228 00:12:41,136 --> 00:12:42,971 so we became best friends. 229 00:12:42,971 --> 00:12:45,098 He became godfather to my kids. 230 00:12:46,266 --> 00:12:49,686 What happens next? - I mean, we kick ass is what happens. 231 00:12:52,147 --> 00:12:55,275 Mellanby, trying to clear. Didn't get it out. Sakic held it in. 232 00:12:55,275 --> 00:12:56,401 Still held in. 233 00:12:56,401 --> 00:12:59,905 Uwe Krupp, shot-- Score! 234 00:12:59,905 --> 00:13:04,910 The Colorado Avalanche have won the Stanley Cup! 235 00:13:07,746 --> 00:13:09,539 I can't fucking believe this! 236 00:13:09,539 --> 00:13:10,832 We won, baby! 237 00:13:10,832 --> 00:13:12,834 - We won the fucking Cup! We won the Cup! 238 00:13:12,834 --> 00:13:14,252 Charlie! 239 00:13:25,722 --> 00:13:30,018 The Denver community absolutely embraced the Avalanche from day one, 240 00:13:30,018 --> 00:13:32,562 and the Avalanche fell in love with the Denver community. 241 00:13:32,562 --> 00:13:37,234 Yelling and screaming, holding up the newspapers, 242 00:13:37,234 --> 00:13:39,528 holding up anything that they can. 243 00:13:39,528 --> 00:13:41,071 Some of the pom poms. 244 00:13:41,071 --> 00:13:43,782 And they're going to celebrate. Ed? 245 00:13:46,660 --> 00:13:51,164 Our president, Charlie, has a special presentation 246 00:13:51,164 --> 00:13:52,999 to make to the whole team. 247 00:13:52,999 --> 00:13:54,834 I'll tell you what I wanna do for you guys, 248 00:13:54,834 --> 00:13:57,921 'cause you're the best people in professional sports 249 00:13:57,921 --> 00:14:00,966 and it's an honor to be part of your family. 250 00:14:00,966 --> 00:14:05,178 Uh, Pierre and I got together and figured what you need is a vacation. 251 00:14:05,178 --> 00:14:08,348 So we're gonna send you away-- We'll send you away for a week, 252 00:14:08,348 --> 00:14:10,892 and you're gonna stay in a real nice spot-- 253 00:14:10,892 --> 00:14:13,770 real nice resort-- for seven days. 254 00:14:13,770 --> 00:14:15,397 So, what the heck! 255 00:14:15,897 --> 00:14:17,566 Riot! Riot! 256 00:14:20,277 --> 00:14:25,031 When Joe Sakic held up that cup in front of the crowd, 257 00:14:25,031 --> 00:14:26,116 they went nuts. 258 00:14:26,116 --> 00:14:29,494 You, the people of Denver, the state of Colorado, 259 00:14:29,494 --> 00:14:32,080 you have the best sports fans in America. 260 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:35,000 - Thank you very much. 261 00:14:35,792 --> 00:14:37,419 What is a star? 262 00:14:37,419 --> 00:14:38,587 It's intangible. 263 00:14:43,008 --> 00:14:44,551 The truth is that 264 00:14:44,551 --> 00:14:49,723 if you actually spend a lot of time thinking about that success 265 00:14:50,765 --> 00:14:55,395 you're gonna fall on your face because it's fleeting, it comes and goes. 266 00:14:55,395 --> 00:14:57,314 So what it did for me 267 00:14:58,523 --> 00:15:02,152 is it made me want to work harder at everything else, 268 00:15:02,152 --> 00:15:07,407 and it just increased the pressure to be better at everything you do. 269 00:15:12,329 --> 00:15:15,582 Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States. 270 00:15:16,791 --> 00:15:19,336 I'd like to welcome all of you to the White House, 271 00:15:19,336 --> 00:15:22,631 especially Charlie Lyons, the President of Ascent Entertainment 272 00:15:23,423 --> 00:15:28,094 {\an8}and, of course, the 1996 Stanley Cup winners, the Colorado Avalanche. 273 00:15:29,888 --> 00:15:31,348 We have a championship. 274 00:15:31,348 --> 00:15:32,807 We now have two teams. 275 00:15:32,807 --> 00:15:37,812 We now have the pieces to build a state-of-the-art venue. 276 00:15:39,731 --> 00:15:43,693 My first stop was the great Mayor Wellington Webb's office. 277 00:15:44,861 --> 00:15:46,863 Mayor Webb was beloved. 278 00:15:46,863 --> 00:15:48,948 Great big city leader. 279 00:15:48,948 --> 00:15:54,496 He was interested in Denver being one of the greatest cities in the world. 280 00:15:56,039 --> 00:15:59,459 {\an8}It's always been my belief that if you're going to be a big city, 281 00:15:59,459 --> 00:16:02,921 {\an8}uh, that you have to have all the sports in order to compete. 282 00:16:02,921 --> 00:16:05,382 It's kind of that ego thing for cities. 283 00:16:07,509 --> 00:16:11,054 By them winning and bringing the Stanley Cup to Denver, 284 00:16:11,054 --> 00:16:13,848 it gave us what the kids call swag. 285 00:16:18,019 --> 00:16:19,896 I said, "Mayor Webb, we just won the Cup. 286 00:16:19,896 --> 00:16:22,857 You got your championship, man. Come on. Let's go." 287 00:16:24,359 --> 00:16:27,362 Every sports team wants a new arena or a new stadium. 288 00:16:27,362 --> 00:16:30,865 We have no illusions about what it takes to be successful. 289 00:16:30,865 --> 00:16:32,409 The question's always, who pays? 290 00:16:33,076 --> 00:16:34,077 That's it. 291 00:16:34,077 --> 00:16:37,914 Is this good for the taxpayer, and not just good for the owners? 292 00:16:37,914 --> 00:16:41,751 And so he wasn't just going to roll over for a professional sports team. 293 00:16:41,751 --> 00:16:43,044 You had to make the case. 294 00:16:43,044 --> 00:16:44,462 There's nothing wrong with this market. 295 00:16:44,462 --> 00:16:46,339 It's probably the best sports market in the country. 296 00:16:46,339 --> 00:16:48,842 And he pushed back. He was tough. 297 00:16:48,842 --> 00:16:54,472 The people need to decide whether they want to invest in a stadium. 298 00:16:54,472 --> 00:16:58,143 They were having trouble putting a deal together for a new arena. 299 00:16:58,143 --> 00:16:59,310 A lot of trouble. 300 00:16:59,310 --> 00:17:01,312 So much trouble that people like me thought, 301 00:17:01,312 --> 00:17:02,814 "Well, maybe this won't ever happen." 302 00:17:02,814 --> 00:17:05,191 When the negotiations started breaking down, 303 00:17:05,191 --> 00:17:07,110 trying to close the deal on the Pepsi Center... 304 00:17:07,110 --> 00:17:11,698 I hinted that maybe we would move the team to Singapore 305 00:17:11,698 --> 00:17:13,408 or someplace local. 306 00:17:13,408 --> 00:17:14,951 I had a news conference. 307 00:17:14,951 --> 00:17:16,494 I passed a vending machine. 308 00:17:16,494 --> 00:17:18,413 And I just happened to see a Coca-Cola in there 309 00:17:18,413 --> 00:17:20,540 and asked my press person, Andrew Hudson, 310 00:17:21,666 --> 00:17:23,543 did he have change for the vending machine? 311 00:17:23,543 --> 00:17:26,004 He said, "No, you're not gonna do what I think you're gonna do." 312 00:17:26,004 --> 00:17:27,797 And I said, "Yeah, I think I'm gonna absolutely do 313 00:17:27,797 --> 00:17:29,174 what you think I'm not gonna do." 314 00:17:30,967 --> 00:17:34,053 He got up with a Coke can and said, "That's what I think of that." 315 00:17:37,307 --> 00:17:39,267 What fun is a negotiation if you agree? 316 00:17:39,267 --> 00:17:41,102 You might as well beat each other up for a while. 317 00:17:41,102 --> 00:17:43,897 But under all of that charade, 318 00:17:43,897 --> 00:17:48,318 many of us didn't realize how far out on a ledge Charlie was. 319 00:17:49,027 --> 00:17:51,696 During the course of that season, 320 00:17:51,696 --> 00:17:56,034 Charlie had a big project going 321 00:17:56,034 --> 00:17:57,243 that was not hockey. 322 00:18:02,081 --> 00:18:04,000 All the while, while this is happening 323 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:06,211 for the teams in the building, 324 00:18:06,211 --> 00:18:09,839 I was doing my level best to build a media company. 325 00:18:09,839 --> 00:18:13,468 {\an8}We had a subsidiary, Beacon Communications, 326 00:18:14,052 --> 00:18:16,429 {\an8}that was an independent film company, 327 00:18:16,429 --> 00:18:20,058 and we came up with a strategy where we like to own our films. 328 00:18:21,267 --> 00:18:23,728 Charlie Lyons was going to become a movie mogul. 329 00:18:25,605 --> 00:18:27,899 {\an8}My guest today is a former carpenter 330 00:18:27,899 --> 00:18:32,612 who's made more blockbuster movies than any actor in history. 331 00:18:32,612 --> 00:18:35,198 I guess maybe it was you're seeing a pattern here. 332 00:18:35,198 --> 00:18:39,911 He starred in seven of the top 20 moneymaking films of all time. 333 00:18:39,911 --> 00:18:43,039 It's just we weren't afraid to try and get the Nordiques. 334 00:18:43,039 --> 00:18:44,749 Please welcome Harrison Ford! 335 00:18:46,209 --> 00:18:51,089 We weren't afraid to approach Harrison at the height of his career 336 00:18:51,089 --> 00:18:52,549 as an independent company, 337 00:18:52,549 --> 00:18:55,260 even though we had never done anything large before. 338 00:18:55,260 --> 00:18:57,929 He was going to have Harrison Ford in this movie, 339 00:18:57,929 --> 00:19:01,599 and it must have an airplane in it, and, man, it was going to be cool. 340 00:19:03,226 --> 00:19:05,520 We thought Harrison was a really safe bet 341 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:10,775 {\an8}to commit to his salary in the absence of having the film green lit, 342 00:19:10,775 --> 00:19:13,403 so you're committed to pay him whether you make the movie or not, 343 00:19:13,403 --> 00:19:16,447 which is a really tricky thing in the business. 344 00:19:17,115 --> 00:19:20,952 He loved the script and decided that this was something he wanted to do, 345 00:19:20,952 --> 00:19:22,620 and Sony was excited about it. 346 00:19:22,620 --> 00:19:24,414 A Columbia Pictures release. 347 00:19:24,414 --> 00:19:25,498 Perfect. 348 00:19:25,498 --> 00:19:28,835 It was all on a gimbal on the Sony back lot. 349 00:19:28,835 --> 00:19:31,796 We knew we were going to be releasing a major film, 350 00:19:31,796 --> 00:19:35,008 but we had no idea what was going to happen. 351 00:19:36,551 --> 00:19:39,679 {\an8}If ever there was a recipe for a lot of trouble 352 00:19:39,679 --> 00:19:42,640 {\an8}it's where we were sitting at that moment. 353 00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:44,017 {\an8}We were losing money. 354 00:19:44,809 --> 00:19:48,479 If we don't get a building, it's really hard to make the two teams work. 355 00:19:48,479 --> 00:19:51,274 So, look, let's not kid ourselves. 356 00:19:51,274 --> 00:19:54,277 There was a lot riding on all of this. 357 00:19:54,277 --> 00:20:00,033 As the leader of this chaos, I had to be certain that we didn't blow it 358 00:20:00,033 --> 00:20:03,202 because that was a bet-the-ranch move 359 00:20:03,202 --> 00:20:07,332 {\an8}to make a movie that big and everybody's watching. 360 00:20:09,208 --> 00:20:12,629 To this day, I can't tell you what was opening night 361 00:20:12,629 --> 00:20:14,047 {\an8}of the Avalanche season... 362 00:20:14,047 --> 00:20:16,215 or what night the Avalanche got eliminated. 363 00:20:16,215 --> 00:20:18,551 But Charlie would remind me. 364 00:20:19,260 --> 00:20:20,929 "July 25th." 365 00:20:20,929 --> 00:20:22,347 On July 25th... 366 00:20:22,347 --> 00:20:23,890 "July 25th." 367 00:20:23,890 --> 00:20:25,558 President of the United States. 368 00:20:25,558 --> 00:20:27,727 "The movie opens July 25th." 369 00:20:27,727 --> 00:20:29,562 Harrison Ford. 370 00:20:29,562 --> 00:20:32,523 Air Force One. Opens everywhere, July 25th. 371 00:20:35,735 --> 00:20:38,279 Around that same time frame, 372 00:20:39,030 --> 00:20:42,992 we had an unfolding situation with free agency. 373 00:20:42,992 --> 00:20:47,622 Contract negotiations will begin next week with captain, Joe Sakic. 374 00:20:47,622 --> 00:20:49,415 We're now past July 1. 375 00:20:49,415 --> 00:20:52,293 There are some in the NHL who feel that with Patrick Roy 376 00:20:52,293 --> 00:20:57,465 making $4 million plus a season and Forsberg now striking it rich, 377 00:20:57,465 --> 00:21:01,636 the Avalanche may not be prepared to dig so deep into their pockets again. 378 00:21:01,636 --> 00:21:04,305 It was a potential gathering storm, 379 00:21:04,305 --> 00:21:09,394 {\an8}but there was so much confidence in our organization about Pierre. 380 00:21:10,186 --> 00:21:11,688 Pierre was the best at this. 381 00:21:11,688 --> 00:21:15,650 We will take all the time we need in order to make the right decision. 382 00:21:15,650 --> 00:21:18,695 I remember calling Sakic, and he was sort of hinting 383 00:21:18,695 --> 00:21:21,781 that he wasn't real thrilled with the negotiations with the Avalanche. 384 00:21:22,699 --> 00:21:26,369 And it was all happening at the same time. You have a major movie coming out, 385 00:21:26,369 --> 00:21:27,745 where you're going to live or die... 386 00:21:27,745 --> 00:21:31,791 Harrison Ford brings Air Force One in for a landing in theaters this Friday. 387 00:21:31,791 --> 00:21:33,793 How do you think the film is going to do? 388 00:21:33,793 --> 00:21:34,877 Well, you never know. 389 00:21:34,877 --> 00:21:38,464 But this film is as well-equipped to do well as any film I've ever made. 390 00:21:38,464 --> 00:21:42,176 Everybody's become accustomed with seeing a movie loss of $150 million. 391 00:21:42,176 --> 00:21:43,594 It's possible to do. 392 00:21:44,262 --> 00:21:48,474 {\an8}We're steaming towards that opening with uncertainty. 393 00:21:48,474 --> 00:21:51,561 Air Force One took off at the box office this weekend. 394 00:21:51,561 --> 00:21:55,648 The Harrison Ford film brought in more than $37 million over the weekend. 395 00:21:55,648 --> 00:21:57,942 Thankfully, people loved the film. 396 00:21:57,942 --> 00:21:59,610 This is a president as a hero. 397 00:21:59,610 --> 00:22:01,821 It's a great film, fun adventure. 398 00:22:01,821 --> 00:22:04,240 It was a combination where you had a great director. 399 00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:06,701 {\an8}A great writer named Andrew Marlowe. 400 00:22:06,701 --> 00:22:08,161 {\an8}A perfect performance. 401 00:22:08,161 --> 00:22:11,873 {\an8}Marc and Army delivered a great film. On time. On budget. 402 00:22:11,873 --> 00:22:14,667 We had the number one movie in America. 403 00:22:17,587 --> 00:22:19,922 So, life's good. The movie's performing well, 404 00:22:19,922 --> 00:22:22,467 and I read the sports section every day. 405 00:22:22,467 --> 00:22:25,678 I'd pick up and I go, "Oh, poor Dave, that sucks. 406 00:22:25,678 --> 00:22:26,929 He lost Mark Messier." 407 00:22:32,602 --> 00:22:38,149 {\an8}When you are building a team, imagine a wheel. 408 00:22:39,025 --> 00:22:40,902 I think it's easy to get a rim. 409 00:22:42,028 --> 00:22:44,030 I think it's easy to get spokes. 410 00:22:45,031 --> 00:22:47,784 It's really hard to get the hub. 411 00:22:48,785 --> 00:22:50,995 Messier was the hub of the wheel. 412 00:22:50,995 --> 00:22:55,249 Life after Mark Messier began today for the New York Rangers. 413 00:22:55,249 --> 00:22:58,169 Vancouver? That shocked everybody. 414 00:22:58,169 --> 00:22:59,962 They had a big void at center. 415 00:22:59,962 --> 00:23:01,589 - An explosive hole. - Mm-hmm. 416 00:23:01,589 --> 00:23:02,965 You know where this goes. 417 00:23:03,883 --> 00:23:05,510 In professional sports, 418 00:23:05,510 --> 00:23:11,057 you are 100% dependent upon the performance of human beings. 419 00:23:11,057 --> 00:23:13,351 I mean, it really is 420 00:23:13,351 --> 00:23:17,605 the ultimate human performance show. 421 00:23:18,231 --> 00:23:23,194 Mark Messier was literally the savior in New York. 422 00:23:23,194 --> 00:23:24,529 The messiah! 423 00:23:24,529 --> 00:23:25,696 And rightfully so. 424 00:23:25,696 --> 00:23:29,075 Greatest leader I've ever covered in any sport, 425 00:23:29,075 --> 00:23:30,618 and nobody's in second place. 426 00:23:30,618 --> 00:23:33,621 But this was a time when, I mean, 427 00:23:33,621 --> 00:23:36,958 you're delusional if you don't know that the player was in decline. 428 00:23:36,958 --> 00:23:39,335 Our hockey experts felt like 429 00:23:39,335 --> 00:23:43,297 giving him more than one year guaranteed would be a mistake. 430 00:23:43,297 --> 00:23:45,925 And Mark left and went to Vancouver, 431 00:23:45,925 --> 00:23:51,097 and that set off for us a torrent of negative reaction, 432 00:23:51,097 --> 00:23:53,182 and there wasn't much I could do about it. 433 00:23:53,182 --> 00:23:56,978 {\an8}Yeah, I think when you're put on the back page of the New York Post 434 00:23:56,978 --> 00:23:59,981 and the headline reads "Dumb & Dumber," 435 00:23:59,981 --> 00:24:01,941 that's about as bad as it gets. 436 00:24:03,568 --> 00:24:08,072 The only thing I said about that was, "Well, I'm dumb, so you get to be dumber." 437 00:24:09,615 --> 00:24:11,951 Do you realize what you've done? 438 00:24:12,451 --> 00:24:13,452 Hey! 439 00:24:13,452 --> 00:24:15,746 I couldn't be in New York as long as I was 440 00:24:15,746 --> 00:24:17,999 and be overly sensitive to the press. 441 00:24:17,999 --> 00:24:19,417 But I did see that. 442 00:24:19,417 --> 00:24:20,793 And I think they, 443 00:24:20,793 --> 00:24:22,712 as an organization, have a plan in place. 444 00:24:22,712 --> 00:24:26,841 The in-case-of-Mark-leaving plan, and they have to find a way to move forward. 445 00:24:26,841 --> 00:24:29,051 This is the kind of off-season-- 446 00:24:29,051 --> 00:24:30,553 The kind of summer 447 00:24:30,553 --> 00:24:36,100 that would make most general managers just pull their hair out. 448 00:24:36,100 --> 00:24:40,771 But Neil-- Neil still has retained almost all of his hair. 449 00:24:40,771 --> 00:24:42,732 Congratulations, Neil. 450 00:24:42,732 --> 00:24:44,525 That was a joke, by the way. 451 00:24:44,525 --> 00:24:50,573 I just knew that we needed to do something to plug that giant hole left by Messier. 452 00:24:50,573 --> 00:24:54,785 And that's when I started to focus on Joe Sakic, 453 00:24:54,785 --> 00:24:56,746 who was a Group 2 free agent. 454 00:24:56,746 --> 00:24:58,831 Oh yeah, he was Group 2. 455 00:24:58,831 --> 00:25:00,917 And then I thought, what the hell does that mean? 456 00:25:04,462 --> 00:25:07,131 What exactly was a Group 2 free agent? 457 00:25:07,965 --> 00:25:09,050 Go ahead. 458 00:25:09,050 --> 00:25:10,176 Paragraph ten, 459 00:25:10,176 --> 00:25:13,304 subsection two of the six-year collective bargaining agreement 460 00:25:13,304 --> 00:25:14,889 was Group 2 free agency. 461 00:25:14,889 --> 00:25:17,934 A Group 2 free agent was in a position 462 00:25:17,934 --> 00:25:22,897 where they could be open to receiving a free agent offer sheet. 463 00:25:22,897 --> 00:25:25,149 Except for the fact that his former team has 464 00:25:25,149 --> 00:25:28,361 168 hours in which they can match it and keep him. 465 00:25:28,361 --> 00:25:29,904 No one ever did this, 466 00:25:29,904 --> 00:25:35,534 because if the team that held the rights to the player decided not to match, 467 00:25:35,534 --> 00:25:40,539 {\an8}they received your next five first-round draft picks. 468 00:25:41,249 --> 00:25:43,709 To go to five straight drafts and have your fans say, 469 00:25:43,709 --> 00:25:46,754 "We don't have a first-round pick this year, and we didn't win the Stanley Cup?" 470 00:25:46,754 --> 00:25:48,381 That's punitive, and I'm sure 471 00:25:48,381 --> 00:25:51,926 a lot of owners thought there's no chance anybody's gonna do this. 472 00:25:53,511 --> 00:25:54,804 So, I thought about that. 473 00:25:54,804 --> 00:25:57,598 But in the Sakic situation, 474 00:25:57,598 --> 00:26:00,643 we still had a really good team. 475 00:26:00,643 --> 00:26:03,437 We had one of the best defensemen in the league in Brian Leetch. 476 00:26:03,437 --> 00:26:07,108 We had one of the best goaltenders in the game in Mike Richter, 477 00:26:07,108 --> 00:26:09,902 we had the best hockey player that ever played the game. 478 00:26:09,902 --> 00:26:13,406 And plugging Joe Sakic into the middle of that team 479 00:26:13,406 --> 00:26:18,119 meant that we were Cup contenders, I felt, for the next few years, 480 00:26:18,119 --> 00:26:20,371 and I think Neil agreed with that. 481 00:26:20,371 --> 00:26:21,998 And what people think on the outside, 482 00:26:21,998 --> 00:26:25,418 is that Neil Smith decided, "You know what, I'll sign Joe Sakic. 483 00:26:25,418 --> 00:26:27,420 Why don't I sign Joe Sakic?" You know? 484 00:26:27,420 --> 00:26:29,213 That's not how it works. 485 00:26:33,843 --> 00:26:36,178 Dave Checketts, the president of Madison Square Garden, 486 00:26:36,178 --> 00:26:38,556 walked into my office and said, "Well, we're gonna do it. 487 00:26:38,556 --> 00:26:41,183 We're gonna sign Sakic to an offer sheet." 488 00:26:41,183 --> 00:26:45,146 And I said to him, "Dave, this never works in the NHL. Never." 489 00:26:45,146 --> 00:26:47,940 The Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup, 490 00:26:47,940 --> 00:26:49,859 and they lost $8 million, 491 00:26:49,859 --> 00:26:53,612 {\an8}and they couldn't get their new arena financed. 492 00:26:53,612 --> 00:26:55,531 It was very attractive to me, 493 00:26:55,531 --> 00:26:59,994 just thinking of the situation that once we launched this offer sheet, 494 00:26:59,994 --> 00:27:03,789 they were gonna have seven days and I really liked our chances 495 00:27:05,249 --> 00:27:07,043 by front-loading it 496 00:27:07,043 --> 00:27:11,380 and making it so they had to write a check for 15 million bucks in seven days. 497 00:27:12,715 --> 00:27:16,761 The way we'll do it was to heavily front-load an offer 498 00:27:16,761 --> 00:27:21,140 so that Colorado couldn't possibly come up with that much money 499 00:27:21,140 --> 00:27:24,018 to match the offer, and they'd have to take the draft picks. 500 00:27:24,018 --> 00:27:28,022 I know it sounds terrible, but it's within the rules. 501 00:27:28,022 --> 00:27:29,732 I had the right to do that. 502 00:27:29,732 --> 00:27:32,193 It wasn't that I was doing something illegal. 503 00:27:35,946 --> 00:27:37,365 Sound is speeding. 504 00:27:37,365 --> 00:27:39,533 Okay. Can we get a slate in? 505 00:27:39,533 --> 00:27:41,035 Pardon me, sir. 506 00:27:41,035 --> 00:27:43,871 Joe Sakic interview, take one. You got that, Tim? 507 00:27:43,871 --> 00:27:46,457 My agent gave me a call 508 00:27:46,457 --> 00:27:49,460 {\an8}and asked me if I'd be interested in listening to 509 00:27:49,460 --> 00:27:50,669 the New York Ranger proposal, 510 00:27:50,669 --> 00:27:54,298 if that would be a destination that I'd go to. 511 00:27:54,298 --> 00:27:58,177 And, you know, obviously, New York Rangers, Madison Square Garden. 512 00:27:59,053 --> 00:28:01,555 - I always loved playing in New York. Sakic on a breakaway. 513 00:28:01,555 --> 00:28:03,682 - And he scores! Nice play. 514 00:28:03,682 --> 00:28:06,769 It was an exciting possibility to think about you getting an opportunity 515 00:28:06,769 --> 00:28:08,104 to play with Wayne Gretzky. 516 00:28:09,897 --> 00:28:11,315 Is there someone you're dreaming of being, 517 00:28:11,315 --> 00:28:12,817 or you're thinking about playing in the NHL? 518 00:28:12,817 --> 00:28:14,235 I still remember those days. 519 00:28:14,235 --> 00:28:16,737 We always jumped the fence to get into the school, 520 00:28:16,737 --> 00:28:19,073 and my friend was always Mark Messier and I was Wayne Gretzky. 521 00:28:19,073 --> 00:28:20,866 So, yeah, I had a lot of interest. 522 00:28:23,494 --> 00:28:26,622 My agent flew to New York, met with them quietly, 523 00:28:26,622 --> 00:28:28,499 didn't want anybody to know what was going on. 524 00:28:28,499 --> 00:28:29,667 And it was really secretive. 525 00:28:29,667 --> 00:28:32,795 A couple hours later, he called me and gave me the offer. 526 00:28:33,921 --> 00:28:36,048 That'd be pretty stupid not to sign something like that. 527 00:28:36,048 --> 00:28:37,466 I said, "We have a deal." 528 00:28:38,717 --> 00:28:41,262 The offer sheet came in at the last minute of business 529 00:28:41,262 --> 00:28:42,847 on the night of the first day. 530 00:28:42,847 --> 00:28:45,599 - Was that intentional? - Yes. 531 00:28:47,726 --> 00:28:51,063 I've always done free agent offer sheets 532 00:28:51,063 --> 00:28:53,607 when no one thinks it's about to happen. 533 00:28:53,607 --> 00:28:56,652 I like the shock value of saying, "Guess what?" 534 00:28:59,697 --> 00:29:03,367 So we've been ambushed and we've got seven days. 535 00:29:03,367 --> 00:29:07,621 At that time, Charlie and Pierre Lacroix were neighbors. 536 00:29:09,165 --> 00:29:12,460 I wandered across the cul-de-sac, 537 00:29:13,043 --> 00:29:17,798 and Pierre has that look on his face, like, "What tricks you got, big guy?" 538 00:29:18,674 --> 00:29:21,552 He wasn't in full control, it was in Charlie Lyons' control. 539 00:29:21,552 --> 00:29:24,972 Here I was, sitting with arguably one of the greatest general managers 540 00:29:24,972 --> 00:29:27,933 in the game, and he had no bullets. He didn't have a gun. 541 00:29:27,933 --> 00:29:29,685 There was nowhere for him to go. 542 00:29:29,685 --> 00:29:31,228 He was not a happy man. 543 00:29:31,228 --> 00:29:34,857 And he was upset and shocked. 544 00:29:34,857 --> 00:29:38,527 Everybody thought there should be some courtesy, 545 00:29:38,527 --> 00:29:39,904 but it's war. 546 00:29:40,696 --> 00:29:42,573 It's the National Hockey League. 547 00:29:43,115 --> 00:29:47,661 It's a culture where you fight for every last inch. 548 00:29:48,370 --> 00:29:51,832 So now it was "Okay, Charlie, what tricks you got? 549 00:29:51,832 --> 00:29:55,461 How you gonna raise this money in seven days?" 550 00:29:55,461 --> 00:29:59,798 You better not mess this up. 551 00:30:01,926 --> 00:30:05,596 Well, I just remember thinking, "Oh, boy, you know, I'm gonna have a long week." 552 00:30:05,596 --> 00:30:08,140 I've described it as an insane asylum. 553 00:30:08,140 --> 00:30:11,519 We've retained a psychiatrist to help us deal with the media. 554 00:30:11,519 --> 00:30:13,896 It's like a nuclear bomb going off. 555 00:30:13,896 --> 00:30:16,190 Neil Smith has given Sakic a... 556 00:30:16,190 --> 00:30:19,527 {\an8}$15 million signing bonus. All of it up front. 557 00:30:19,527 --> 00:30:21,445 This is like winning the lottery. 558 00:30:21,445 --> 00:30:24,657 We'll see. We're very surprised about it. But I am very excited about it. 559 00:30:24,657 --> 00:30:26,575 There was calls coming in from everywhere. 560 00:30:26,575 --> 00:30:29,245 There were double agents that were going back to Dave, back to me. 561 00:30:29,245 --> 00:30:31,539 Trying to find stories as soon as they could. 562 00:30:31,539 --> 00:30:33,415 I don't know where that story came from! 563 00:30:33,415 --> 00:30:35,584 Fans were saying, "Please-- Please, Joe. Stay." 564 00:30:35,584 --> 00:30:37,753 Pierre Lacroix offered these thoughts. 565 00:30:37,753 --> 00:30:41,340 I want to ask our fans to trust us. We'll make the right decision. 566 00:30:41,340 --> 00:30:43,801 {\an8}By the looks of it, the Avalanche will be unable to match. 567 00:30:43,801 --> 00:30:47,304 I got to be honest with you, I wasn't too worried about the economics. 568 00:30:47,304 --> 00:30:48,722 One minute you think they're gonna match, 569 00:30:48,722 --> 00:30:50,140 the next minute you think they're not gonna match. 570 00:30:50,140 --> 00:30:52,810 Everybody telling me, "Don't match. Don't match. Don't match." 571 00:30:52,810 --> 00:30:55,646 "Hurt the league. Hurt the league." "Five draft picks. Five draft picks." 572 00:30:55,646 --> 00:30:56,772 - Five... - Five... 573 00:30:56,772 --> 00:30:58,357 - ...future... - ...first-round draft picks. 574 00:30:58,357 --> 00:31:01,110 The media criticized me for putting more attention 575 00:31:01,110 --> 00:31:05,823 on Air Force One than I was on July 1st free agency. 576 00:31:05,823 --> 00:31:08,325 They were right. What if we can't pull this off? 577 00:31:08,325 --> 00:31:10,869 He is going to New York. 578 00:31:18,294 --> 00:31:21,797 Aviation is a great proxy for life. 579 00:31:21,797 --> 00:31:25,175 When things go wrong when you're flying an airplane, 580 00:31:25,175 --> 00:31:28,262 there's a tendency to want to immediately address it. 581 00:31:28,887 --> 00:31:30,556 But that's the worst thing you can do. 582 00:31:31,432 --> 00:31:33,100 History is replete 583 00:31:33,684 --> 00:31:37,438 in situations where that first move makes a situation worse. 584 00:31:38,897 --> 00:31:43,485 So, one of the things they drill into you when an emergency has occurred, 585 00:31:43,485 --> 00:31:45,821 take your hands, don't touch anything. 586 00:31:46,655 --> 00:31:49,700 Sit on 'em. Catch your breath for a moment. 587 00:31:50,534 --> 00:31:52,578 Let your head clear. 588 00:31:53,871 --> 00:31:56,790 It's okay to go screw up, but you got to learn from it. 589 00:31:57,625 --> 00:32:01,920 For me, Dikembe Mutombo was the mistake. 590 00:32:03,339 --> 00:32:08,218 The Nuggets were the first eighth-place team to beat a first-place team. 591 00:32:08,218 --> 00:32:13,349 That's when Dikembe became famous. And he must've been beloved in Denver. 592 00:32:13,974 --> 00:32:17,269 It was a-- A miracle. 593 00:32:18,187 --> 00:32:21,106 {\an8}The Hawks swoop in and signed Dikembe Mutombo. 594 00:32:21,106 --> 00:32:23,734 It was just a time for me to move on with my life. 595 00:32:23,734 --> 00:32:26,403 Losing a gentleman of that class 596 00:32:26,403 --> 00:32:29,698 that was that powerful a personality in the locker room, 597 00:32:29,698 --> 00:32:33,952 that was that tremendous in the community, I was devastated. 598 00:32:33,952 --> 00:32:36,830 You learn, unfortunately, sometimes the hard way. 599 00:32:41,919 --> 00:32:43,796 You lose a star like Dikembe, 600 00:32:43,796 --> 00:32:46,799 it sits there like a damn parrot on your shoulder, 601 00:32:46,799 --> 00:32:50,010 screaming in your ear, "You dumbass, don't do this again." 602 00:32:51,220 --> 00:32:55,557 The New York Rangers are trying to steal away your captain. 603 00:32:55,557 --> 00:32:58,936 Charlie Lyons takes that right to heart. 604 00:32:58,936 --> 00:33:01,897 This was not gonna happen with the Avalanche. 605 00:33:01,897 --> 00:33:04,233 We're going to go into this like warriors. 606 00:33:06,652 --> 00:33:10,280 The beauty of a hit movie is it's noisy. 607 00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:13,325 The President of the United States of America, 608 00:33:13,325 --> 00:33:15,452 Harrison Ford, ladies and gentlemen! 609 00:33:16,745 --> 00:33:18,163 That was a very good movie. 610 00:33:18,163 --> 00:33:20,374 So good, according to President Clinton, 611 00:33:20,374 --> 00:33:21,917 he's already seen it twice. 612 00:33:21,917 --> 00:33:26,588 This whole bringing this movie into it, it's a crazy story. 613 00:33:26,588 --> 00:33:27,673 It's an amazing story. 614 00:33:27,673 --> 00:33:29,299 I can tell you, I was writing a lot that 615 00:33:29,299 --> 00:33:31,802 Avalanche fans, if they wanna keep their team together, 616 00:33:31,802 --> 00:33:35,055 they better go out and buy Air Force One tickets every single day. 617 00:33:35,055 --> 00:33:38,976 New York said, "Whatever you do, do not go see Air Force One." 618 00:33:38,976 --> 00:33:41,353 "Boycott Air Force One," that was the headline. 619 00:33:41,353 --> 00:33:42,771 Yes, they promoted our film. 620 00:33:42,771 --> 00:33:45,399 - Air Force One sold out for 4:40? Yeah. It's sold out. 621 00:33:45,399 --> 00:33:50,362 When you say don't go see Air Force One, think of why not? 622 00:33:50,362 --> 00:33:52,072 "Maybe I should go look at it and see what it is." 623 00:33:52,072 --> 00:33:53,657 Oh, yeah. Of course I saw that movie. 624 00:33:53,657 --> 00:33:56,535 I thought my future might depend on it as well. I might have seen it twice. 625 00:33:56,535 --> 00:33:58,287 {\an8}Do you remember saying, "I plan to go see it, 626 00:33:58,287 --> 00:33:59,621 {\an8}so maybe I'm the dumbest one of all"? 627 00:33:59,621 --> 00:34:02,040 No, but that sounds like something I would say. 628 00:34:02,040 --> 00:34:03,542 - I hope he liked it. - I love the movie. 629 00:34:03,542 --> 00:34:04,793 I did not see it. 630 00:34:04,793 --> 00:34:06,879 The New York Rangers were very confident. 631 00:34:07,546 --> 00:34:13,594 Dave Checketts bet me a steak dinner that the Rangers would get Joe Sakic, 632 00:34:13,594 --> 00:34:17,055 and I went, "No. That's not gonna happen." 633 00:34:17,055 --> 00:34:18,223 They'll find a way. 634 00:34:18,223 --> 00:34:21,852 Look, it's really easy to draw a straight line, saying, 635 00:34:21,852 --> 00:34:24,104 "The movie's doing well. Therefore they have the money." 636 00:34:24,104 --> 00:34:25,189 It doesn't work that way. 637 00:34:25,189 --> 00:34:26,273 Didn't they teach you that at Yale? 638 00:34:26,273 --> 00:34:29,026 You can't go to your film company and say, "Hey, congratulations, 639 00:34:29,026 --> 00:34:31,862 you don't have any money from the windfall you generated 640 00:34:31,862 --> 00:34:33,489 to make future big movies, 641 00:34:33,489 --> 00:34:35,616 because we're now going to pay a hockey player." 642 00:34:35,616 --> 00:34:40,037 What it did is it increased our confidence about our ability to execute on a plan... 643 00:34:40,037 --> 00:34:41,497 Cut the green wire. 644 00:34:41,497 --> 00:34:46,418 Everybody could see these guys got a movie that just was the top movie in history. 645 00:34:46,418 --> 00:34:48,629 That drives instant respect. 646 00:34:48,629 --> 00:34:50,464 So, they pick up the phone. 647 00:34:52,424 --> 00:34:54,468 Well, I remember the frantic phone calls. 648 00:34:56,136 --> 00:34:59,681 I knew, for any plan to work here, 649 00:34:59,681 --> 00:35:03,435 we had to settle the arena situation first. 650 00:35:03,435 --> 00:35:08,357 If there was ever a time to stop the theatrics 651 00:35:08,357 --> 00:35:12,486 on both our parts, between the city and Ascent, this is the moment. 652 00:35:12,486 --> 00:35:15,197 We both have to represent our side. 653 00:35:15,197 --> 00:35:17,366 But the mayor saw what was going on, 654 00:35:17,366 --> 00:35:22,329 he saw that Denver was getting victimized by a mega operation in New York. 655 00:35:22,329 --> 00:35:24,623 I never accepted that bullshit. 656 00:35:24,623 --> 00:35:27,501 We're tough people, we don't back down from anybody. 657 00:35:27,501 --> 00:35:30,546 Somebody putting some money up for us, that don't mean nothing. 658 00:35:30,546 --> 00:35:32,506 - Bring 'em on! - And Wellington said, 659 00:35:32,506 --> 00:35:34,716 "Yeah, this is the time. Let's bring it home. 660 00:35:34,716 --> 00:35:37,803 Got to keep the captain, and let's get that Pepsi Center built. 661 00:35:37,803 --> 00:35:39,471 That's a priority of mine." 662 00:35:39,471 --> 00:35:40,764 Fans are real funny. 663 00:35:40,764 --> 00:35:43,141 They say they support their team no matter what. 664 00:35:43,141 --> 00:35:45,769 But the reality is, fans show up when teams win 665 00:35:45,769 --> 00:35:47,437 and they don't show up when teams lose. 666 00:35:47,437 --> 00:35:50,482 Neither one of us want an arena that's gonna be empty, 667 00:35:50,482 --> 00:35:53,819 so maybe we do better, by the city taking less money up front, 668 00:35:53,819 --> 00:35:56,488 providing the team to accumulate more dollars 669 00:35:56,488 --> 00:35:59,616 so that they can make sure that they can purchase the players they need 670 00:35:59,616 --> 00:36:00,701 to fill up those seats. 671 00:36:00,701 --> 00:36:03,078 So, we said, "Let's use that analogy. 672 00:36:03,078 --> 00:36:05,998 If the team is winning, the city will get more money, 673 00:36:05,998 --> 00:36:09,376 and we didn't want to be the Boston Red Sox trading Babe Ruth." 674 00:36:09,376 --> 00:36:12,004 We wanted to make sure Joe stayed here. 675 00:36:15,966 --> 00:36:18,969 I had a lot of people on the streets ask me if I heard-- 676 00:36:19,636 --> 00:36:21,722 If I have any inkling on what's gonna happen, 677 00:36:21,722 --> 00:36:23,557 and I-- Honestly, I had no idea. 678 00:36:23,557 --> 00:36:25,434 The President may be alive, 679 00:36:25,434 --> 00:36:27,060 but he may not be the president. 680 00:36:27,060 --> 00:36:28,812 I'm just going to wait and see what happens. 681 00:36:28,812 --> 00:36:31,523 I do recall making a lot of calls 682 00:36:31,523 --> 00:36:33,984 and hearing stuff about things that are in progress. 683 00:36:33,984 --> 00:36:35,611 The wheels are in play. 684 00:36:35,611 --> 00:36:37,905 So, there were three great moving parts. 685 00:36:37,905 --> 00:36:40,157 So the first step was the arena. 686 00:36:40,157 --> 00:36:44,328 The second step was there was this wonderful partner in town 687 00:36:44,328 --> 00:36:47,414 {\an8}and great corporate presence in Liberty Media. 688 00:36:47,414 --> 00:36:51,126 {\an8}So I thought, "Maybe, what the heck, let's give them a buzz, 689 00:36:51,126 --> 00:36:53,837 and see whether or not they're interested in buying 690 00:36:53,837 --> 00:36:58,675 a small piece of the combination, the Pepsi Center and the two teams." 691 00:36:58,675 --> 00:37:00,344 And then the biggie. 692 00:37:00,344 --> 00:37:05,390 We had been staring at the end of the Fox broadcasting agreement. 693 00:37:05,390 --> 00:37:06,892 So why not re-up it? 694 00:37:06,892 --> 00:37:08,352 Fox is a great partner. 695 00:37:08,352 --> 00:37:12,189 Let's keep the games on TV and maybe get a little up-front cash. 696 00:37:12,856 --> 00:37:16,902 The idea of stabilizing the two teams 697 00:37:16,902 --> 00:37:22,491 on the premium cable sports service in the world, that's a no-brainer. 698 00:37:22,491 --> 00:37:25,077 - Good, then that settles it. - It doesn't settle it at all. 699 00:37:25,077 --> 00:37:27,079 I had no idea if any of it was gonna work out. 700 00:37:29,039 --> 00:37:33,377 The plan was sort of stirring around and also, it was being debated. 701 00:37:33,377 --> 00:37:34,795 This is a military situation. 702 00:37:34,795 --> 00:37:37,381 I'm the Secretary of Defense. Check your regs. 703 00:37:37,381 --> 00:37:39,549 The media was saying, "What the heck is going on?" 704 00:37:39,549 --> 00:37:41,635 Just tell me whether they match it or not. 705 00:37:41,635 --> 00:37:44,262 "Are you keeping Joe? We really don't care about any of that other shit." 706 00:37:44,262 --> 00:37:46,181 Will the Avs match the Rangers' offer? 707 00:37:46,181 --> 00:37:49,184 Will Joe Sakic remain a Coloradan or become a New Yorker? 708 00:37:49,184 --> 00:37:51,645 Today, nobody really knows. 709 00:37:54,481 --> 00:37:55,774 On that fateful day, 710 00:37:55,774 --> 00:37:58,527 everybody was kind of congregated in my office. 711 00:38:00,904 --> 00:38:03,115 {\an8}Be young, have fun, drink Pepsi. 712 00:38:03,115 --> 00:38:06,660 {\an8}And if you're Joe Sakic, figure out to do with your $21 million. 713 00:38:06,660 --> 00:38:09,371 The Colorado Avalanche today matched the Rangers' offer. 714 00:38:09,371 --> 00:38:11,415 Get off my plane! 715 00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:16,378 - It worked. - Joe's back! 716 00:38:18,296 --> 00:38:21,717 Denver wanted to hug Joe so badly. 717 00:38:21,717 --> 00:38:23,301 This decision is great. 718 00:38:23,301 --> 00:38:26,471 I was ready to go to New York, but I'm just happy everything worked out. 719 00:38:26,471 --> 00:38:28,765 We promised our fans to be competitive. 720 00:38:28,765 --> 00:38:30,976 He came over to the house and brought the check. 721 00:38:30,976 --> 00:38:32,811 It's a great day. No question about that. 722 00:38:32,811 --> 00:38:34,563 {\an8}- There was no hard feelings. - In the end, 723 00:38:34,563 --> 00:38:37,566 {\an8}Joe Sakic turned out to be a false, post-Messier Messiah. 724 00:38:37,566 --> 00:38:38,817 More than anything else, 725 00:38:38,817 --> 00:38:41,319 I was just so disappointed we didn't get him. 726 00:38:41,319 --> 00:38:44,156 {\an8}The Avalanche have their captain and their captain has his windfall. 727 00:38:44,156 --> 00:38:47,034 And everybody's bouncing from press conference to press conference. 728 00:38:47,034 --> 00:38:49,036 It took three years of haggling 729 00:38:49,036 --> 00:38:50,537 between Ascent and the city of Denver 730 00:38:50,537 --> 00:38:52,956 to agree on terms to build the Pepsi Center. 731 00:38:52,956 --> 00:38:55,792 Both the Avalanche and the Nuggets are gonna be here 25 years. 732 00:38:55,792 --> 00:38:59,254 It's a great deal for the city, but it's a great deal for us. 733 00:38:59,254 --> 00:39:02,799 I think it was a great breakthrough and now we don't back off of anybody. 734 00:39:02,799 --> 00:39:05,343 Mr. President, welcome aboard, sir. 735 00:39:05,343 --> 00:39:07,512 It's the movie that saved the Avalanche. 736 00:39:07,512 --> 00:39:09,848 Liberty Two-Four is now Air Force One. 737 00:39:12,851 --> 00:39:14,352 Did you leave something out, Charlie? 738 00:39:15,103 --> 00:39:17,230 - Does that surprise you? - No. 739 00:39:20,609 --> 00:39:23,111 - I'm sorry. - Oh, Charlie. 740 00:39:23,111 --> 00:39:24,988 There was a lot going on. 741 00:39:24,988 --> 00:39:26,990 You remember when you came to my trailer? 742 00:39:26,990 --> 00:39:28,325 You and Army? 743 00:39:29,242 --> 00:39:30,827 We do. 744 00:39:30,827 --> 00:39:32,287 Yeah? 745 00:39:32,871 --> 00:39:33,997 There's more. 746 00:39:35,207 --> 00:39:36,249 More? 747 00:39:36,249 --> 00:39:37,667 Yeah, let's watch the rest. 748 00:39:48,303 --> 00:39:50,055 Release dates are really important 749 00:39:50,055 --> 00:39:52,808 for theatrical motion pictures. 750 00:39:52,808 --> 00:39:57,062 And there's this communication that goes on between the studios 751 00:39:57,062 --> 00:39:59,064 as to who's claiming what, 752 00:39:59,064 --> 00:40:01,316 who's gonna put their flag in the ground. 753 00:40:01,316 --> 00:40:03,235 The movie opens July 25th. 754 00:40:03,235 --> 00:40:05,237 If you looked at the movie calendars months ago, 755 00:40:05,237 --> 00:40:08,323 that would have been the only movie to open on July 25th. 756 00:40:08,323 --> 00:40:11,284 Now, there are reports that-- Wait, no, this is important-- 757 00:40:11,284 --> 00:40:15,247 There are reports that Warner Bros. will release Conspiracy Theory on that date. 758 00:40:15,247 --> 00:40:16,957 Titanic may come out on that date. 759 00:40:17,624 --> 00:40:22,045 {\an8}Sony had asked my partner and I to go down and convince Harrison 760 00:40:22,045 --> 00:40:25,715 that a date in November was their desired date 761 00:40:25,715 --> 00:40:27,509 to release Air Force One. 762 00:40:27,509 --> 00:40:28,885 I think they were of the view 763 00:40:28,885 --> 00:40:33,306 that we would go down and inform him in a way that would make him happy... 764 00:40:34,850 --> 00:40:40,188 ...and I'll never forget going into his trailer after a long day 765 00:40:40,188 --> 00:40:42,065 and he says, "What do you guys want?" 766 00:40:42,065 --> 00:40:46,862 "The studio has suggested November," blah, blah, blah. 767 00:40:46,862 --> 00:40:48,446 And he looks, he said, "That's all great. 768 00:40:48,446 --> 00:40:51,449 I want to go in July, The Fugitive date. That's my date." 769 00:40:53,326 --> 00:40:54,411 Say that again. 770 00:40:54,411 --> 00:40:58,206 "That's all great, guys. We're going in July." 771 00:41:01,042 --> 00:41:06,256 And so, being the strong-willed characters that we were, 772 00:41:06,256 --> 00:41:08,175 we looked at you and said, "Okay." 773 00:41:10,135 --> 00:41:12,179 - And did we come out in July? - Yes, we did. 774 00:41:12,179 --> 00:41:14,639 How did we do against Titanic? 775 00:41:14,639 --> 00:41:16,224 Well, that's the interesting thing. 776 00:41:16,224 --> 00:41:17,434 You didn't stop there. 777 00:41:17,434 --> 00:41:20,854 That upset you, didn't it? - No, it didn't upset me. 778 00:41:20,854 --> 00:41:23,857 I-I thought it was bad business for everybody involved, 779 00:41:23,857 --> 00:41:26,193 and so I said so. 780 00:41:26,193 --> 00:41:27,569 You picked up the phone-- 781 00:41:27,569 --> 00:41:30,488 I spoke, myself, to the head of a studio. Yeah. 782 00:41:30,488 --> 00:41:34,284 He gets on the phone, and the studio executive pleads his case. 783 00:41:34,284 --> 00:41:36,620 Why would you want to compete with that 784 00:41:36,620 --> 00:41:40,207 when you have a free ride if you wait until November? 785 00:41:40,916 --> 00:41:43,460 - To which he said... -"Pick another date." 786 00:41:45,503 --> 00:41:47,839 Which, in fact, they did. 787 00:41:47,839 --> 00:41:50,217 Will his movie open on the same date? 788 00:41:51,760 --> 00:41:53,470 No, but it has nothing to do with me. 789 00:41:54,804 --> 00:41:57,224 - His movie is not ready. - You're good on the phone, aren't you? 790 00:41:57,224 --> 00:41:59,935 His movie is not ready to be released. 791 00:41:59,935 --> 00:42:01,144 The result is, 792 00:42:01,144 --> 00:42:04,439 we ended up getting on that date and the rest is history. 793 00:42:04,439 --> 00:42:06,191 Titanic moved to December 794 00:42:06,191 --> 00:42:10,612 and Conspiracy Theory just nudged a couple of weeks, 795 00:42:10,612 --> 00:42:14,032 but it was enough to make all three movies very successful. 796 00:42:15,200 --> 00:42:16,910 A hell of a story, Charlie. 797 00:42:17,494 --> 00:42:21,331 Well, I think everybody owes you an enormous debt of gratitude... 798 00:42:21,331 --> 00:42:23,625 - Charlie. - But I'm afraid of that. Yes? 799 00:42:23,625 --> 00:42:26,086 - I'm afraid of what you're gonna say here. - Yeah. 800 00:42:26,086 --> 00:42:29,547 Yeah, so as one was slowly turning to poo, 801 00:42:30,382 --> 00:42:32,717 - the other was rising from the ashes. - Yes. Yes. 802 00:42:32,717 --> 00:42:34,761 - Or from the poo, as it were. - Like a zenith, yes. 803 00:42:34,761 --> 00:42:37,847 - Yeah, like a zenith from the poo. - Yes. 804 00:42:37,847 --> 00:42:39,891 - That's me. Yeah. - That's it. Yes. 805 00:42:39,891 --> 00:42:42,394 - So, you saved everybody. - Again. 806 00:42:42,394 --> 00:42:44,896 - And, you know, there was-- - Again. Again. 807 00:42:44,896 --> 00:42:46,731 Yeah. It's true. Over and over again. 808 00:42:46,731 --> 00:42:48,608 You're welcome, Charlie. 809 00:42:48,608 --> 00:42:51,027 That wasn't so hard, right? 810 00:42:51,027 --> 00:42:53,989 - I helped create chaos. - You did indeed. 811 00:42:54,948 --> 00:42:57,367 This is much better than I thought it was gonna be. 812 00:42:57,367 --> 00:42:59,411 It's a regular thriller, ain't it? 813 00:43:02,205 --> 00:43:03,248 {\an8}Here we are. 814 00:43:05,083 --> 00:43:07,836 - Charlie, it's good to see you. - Good to see you, brother. 815 00:43:07,836 --> 00:43:10,672 - So, you matched the offer. It's true. 816 00:43:10,672 --> 00:43:14,092 I-- [chuckles] I walk into my office, 817 00:43:14,092 --> 00:43:16,553 and leaning on the file cabinet is a package. 818 00:43:18,638 --> 00:43:20,807 The package has my name. 819 00:43:21,516 --> 00:43:24,561 Handwritten. Nothing official about it. 820 00:43:24,561 --> 00:43:29,274 The Garden address and a P.O. box in Denver, Colorado. 821 00:43:30,859 --> 00:43:32,777 I don't want to open this. 822 00:43:32,777 --> 00:43:34,696 You got to get the security guys... 823 00:43:34,696 --> 00:43:36,573 - We got to do a sweep. - ...get them up here. Yes. 824 00:43:36,573 --> 00:43:39,576 Get 'em up here. Tell 'em they got to open this. 825 00:43:39,576 --> 00:43:44,456 They got to figure out whether this is anything lethal. 826 00:43:44,456 --> 00:43:47,959 And my security guy walks back into my office. 827 00:43:47,959 --> 00:43:52,297 He's holding the picture so I can only see the back of it. 828 00:43:52,297 --> 00:43:54,424 And he said, "Dave, it's a picture. 829 00:43:54,424 --> 00:43:57,552 Everything's okay, but you're not gonna like it." 830 00:43:59,304 --> 00:44:00,722 He hands it to me. 831 00:44:01,556 --> 00:44:04,851 There it was, Nelson Rockefeller flipping the bird, 832 00:44:04,851 --> 00:44:06,853 and I knew who it was from. 833 00:44:08,146 --> 00:44:11,232 I'll tell you the truth, Charlie, I was never mad at you. 834 00:44:11,232 --> 00:44:13,276 - I was mad we didn't get him. 835 00:44:14,361 --> 00:44:17,364 And I walked into this room next to my office, 836 00:44:17,364 --> 00:44:21,409 and there's one of those large commercial garbage cans. 837 00:44:21,993 --> 00:44:25,121 - I smashed and broke it. - Oh, no! 838 00:44:25,121 --> 00:44:27,040 And threw it in the garbage can. 839 00:44:27,040 --> 00:44:29,501 - Don't you wish you had it today? - I wish I had it. 840 00:44:29,501 --> 00:44:30,960 It would be worth a lot now. 841 00:44:34,589 --> 00:44:37,884 Everybody says to themselves, "What would have happened if?" 842 00:44:37,884 --> 00:44:40,011 If the Avalanche don't match, 843 00:44:40,011 --> 00:44:43,098 Joe Sakic gets a hero's welcome to New York, 844 00:44:43,098 --> 00:44:47,143 and I think the Rangers would have won at least one more Cup. 845 00:44:48,061 --> 00:44:52,565 Do the Avalanche win the 2001 Stanley Cup? 846 00:44:52,565 --> 00:44:54,025 I don't know. 847 00:44:54,025 --> 00:44:55,652 I think they used this, and rightly so, 848 00:44:55,652 --> 00:44:57,946 as an example of how crazy things could go 849 00:44:57,946 --> 00:45:00,740 if you didn't have restrictions on the salaries. 850 00:45:02,200 --> 00:45:05,787 The sun had set for the rascals 851 00:45:05,787 --> 00:45:08,123 stringing it together with chicken wire. 852 00:45:12,585 --> 00:45:17,424 {\an8}Between the Waltons and the Kroenkes, I think Denver is in great hands. 853 00:45:17,424 --> 00:45:20,885 I just couldn't be happier with the shape that they're in. 854 00:45:20,885 --> 00:45:24,681 Joe retires, decides to come back 855 00:45:24,681 --> 00:45:28,643 and learn the business from Pierre Lacroix as general manager. 856 00:45:28,643 --> 00:45:32,021 The Cup is coming back to Colorado! 857 00:45:32,021 --> 00:45:33,398 How about this team? 858 00:45:34,232 --> 00:45:36,901 Joe Sakic is hockey in Colorado. 859 00:45:36,901 --> 00:45:39,654 So, think of all I've done to help the Avalanche. 860 00:45:42,240 --> 00:45:45,285 There should be a statue of me in front of the building, don't you think? 861 00:45:48,788 --> 00:45:52,917 - I'm so proud of you. So proud of you. - 25 years later, I'm still here. 862 00:45:52,917 --> 00:45:55,211 - They can't get rid of me yet. - That was the idea. 863 00:45:55,211 --> 00:45:56,713 It's been remarkable. 864 00:45:56,713 --> 00:45:59,007 We always try to maintain the same culture that Pierre brought. 865 00:45:59,007 --> 00:46:00,258 And you own the town. 866 00:46:00,258 --> 00:46:03,136 This is a great city, and they love the Avs, always have. 867 00:46:03,136 --> 00:46:05,597 The culture that you've created in this town, 868 00:46:05,597 --> 00:46:09,642 and the way you're beloved, we couldn't have been happier for you. 869 00:46:09,642 --> 00:46:12,812 And that, when it came time for Pierre to hand the baton, 870 00:46:12,812 --> 00:46:14,063 he handed it to you. 871 00:46:14,689 --> 00:46:17,275 It was all about saving Sakic. 872 00:46:22,530 --> 00:46:24,949 So all of this is about saving Sakic? 873 00:46:24,949 --> 00:46:26,326 That's pretty much it. 874 00:46:26,326 --> 00:46:28,536 Well, and the movie was kind of important, too. 875 00:46:29,662 --> 00:46:32,332 - Yeah. 876 00:46:32,332 --> 00:46:34,834 - Don't do that again. - Yeah.