Gary Bettman to Len Barrie: Put Up or Shut Up

Friday may be a big day in Tampa Bay Lightning history. As previously reported by 620WDAE's Steve Duemig and here in this column, Lightning co-owner Len Barrie hasn't contributed one nickel to the Lightning franchise. That will change on Friday or else—or else what is pretty uncertain at this time.

One thing is—Barrie must fork over $10 million dollars to the NHL to prove he can provide funds for the continuation of the franchise or risk losing any managerial connection to the Lightning.

Barrie completed a major real estate sale for portions of his Canadian resort Bear Mountain Golf Resort and Spa to investment firm Siraj Capital of Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Will Barrie funnel some of the reported $350 million into the Lightning? Not really. According to the St. Petersburg Times, the money is to be used on the resort for "further expansion and development of the resort" and provides the company an ownership interest. Does it place the Lightning ownership at risk?

"Not at all," Siraj Capital general counsel Jonathan Strum told the St. Pete Times on Tuesday. "We're looking for assets that grow. We're not looking to hockey. From a financial perspective, hockey is out of it. Maybe the investors can get some hats or a jersey or two at the closing."

In other words, those Dubai investors believe they cannot make money as the NHL. I guess they didn't just get rich because a dinosaur died in their backyard a million years or so ago. The deal won't close until October, so Barrie will not have an influx of dollars in time for the meet-and-greet with the Commish.

It's unknown what, if anything, will happen if Barrie can't come up with the $10 mill. It's possible he could be expelled from the group. He could receive some sort of penalty assessed by Commissioner Gary Bettman or he may simply have no say in what happens with the team. Or Bettman may give him a dirty look and send him on his way.

Fellow co-owner Oren Koules and GM Brian Lawton are likely hoping for anything but the latter.