This falls squarely under the "WTF" category...

The sale of the Tampa Bay Lightning from Palace Sports and Entertainment to Absolute Hockey LTD. has fallen through

Palace Sports nixed the purchase agreement when Absolute Hockey did not come up with a required $5-million payment. Now the investment group has splintered as Coral Springs real estate developer Jeff Sherrin is suing Hollywood producer Oren Koules for allegedly failing on Nov. 13 to make a capital contribution of $4.16-million.
Sherrin is asking $50-million in damages.

...

While the deal as originally announced with much fanfare on Aug. 7 is no longer valid, don’t be surprised if a deal is resurrected at a later date with Koules or a group led by him.

Well, looking at the above alone, one can be thankful things fell apart (long term) because if they can't get their act together to make a money payment - how are they supposed to cover player paychecks and other franchise bills?

This also paves the way for a group of owners minus Sherrin to purchase any other NHL franchise for sale. So the team being sold from Palace Sports to another group with Koules as part of it may or may not happen. Though a team sale would be likely if the right group came along (per Tom Wilson's quotes from that faithful August 7th morning).