Ottawa Senators bidding war about more than sale price

As competitors jockeyed to get an edge over their rivals in the final hours before the Monday bidding deadline — all for the crown jewel of owning the Ottawa Senators — the team's original owner says the race has blown wide open.

Bruce Firestone, whose group bought the Sens 33 years ago as an expansion franchise for $50 million, guessed last week the team would end up selling for $1.1 billion.

The news then dropped that a bid connected to actor Ryan Reynolds reportedly fell through, upending predictions and making Firestone cut back his forecast.

"Now I'm going to reduce that to a round number like a billion, simply because Mr. Reynolds and the Remington Group have dropped out," said Firestone. "That may moderate the price."

The bidding groups connected with rapper Snoop Dogg, musician the Weeknd and various billionaires and real-estate moguls are no doubt weighing the implications and adjusting their numbers. There are reportedly six bids in total, each playing for more than money, according to Firestone. It's also about prestige.

"If you understand the psychology of billionaires, they don't like losing and they don't like being shown up," he said. "Their competitive instincts are aroused. They hate losing."

In the end, any prospective owner is unlikely to score the team without the go-ahead from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, who Firestone expects is keeping a "scorecard" to rank the bids. 

"Pretty much nothing happens in the NHL without Mr. Bettman being onside," said Firestone.

In his view, Bettman's scorecard will rank the bids on financial depth, business acumen and real estate chops, but also on less tangible measures like trust, reputation and celebrity buzz.

"He will be looking for somebody who's not going to