8/16/2023 0 Comments Arizona unbridled![]() ![]() It’s also assumed that a pro sports ownership group that leaves its franchise’s future to the whim of local voters would have a viable backup plan in its arsenal. But the problem is the Coyotes would be a tenant in a building owned by someone else, which would only prolong the club’s chronic inability to generate optimal revenue. Given how obviously loath NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has been to give up on the Phoenix market - at one point acting as the de facto CEO after the league took control of the team in the wake of its bankruptcy - it’s been posited that the Coyotes could play at the arena controlled by the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. After 26 years, something like nine different owners, untold millions of losses, one bankruptcy and one trip to the playoffs in the past 11 seasons, the franchise’s possibilities in Arizona appear to be running out. Now that their proposal to build a $2.1-billion (U.S.) entertainment district around a privately funded new rink has been roundly defeated - this after the Coyotes’ commissioned polling that suggested the proposal would easily pass - it’s anyone’s guess what’s next. It’s expected they’ll play there again this coming season.Īnd beyond that? Well, that’s where the angsty confusion comes in. Last season, with what turned out to be the false promise of a shiny new rink in Tempe dangling in the distance, the team got league approval to set up shop in a 4,600-seat college rink on the campus of Arizona State University. The club, as it currently exists, is essentially a pop-up NHL franchise - as temporary an entity as can exist in a league that’s been around for more than a century. Getting drafted by the Coyotes, after all, is like finding out you’ve got a new home without knowing your new address. And after Tuesday night saw the franchise’s long-anticipated plan to build a new arena in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe roundly rejected by voters in a local referendum, it’s only reasonable to wonder how much longer Arizona’s eternally-embattled NHL team will even exist - and if so, where.Īs in: Congratulations on being drafted, son. Barring trades, the sixth overall pick will be made by the Arizona Coyotes. It’ll be a facial expression worthy of scrutiny.įor the fresh-faced hockey player selected sixth overall in next month’s NHL draft, what would normally be an occasion for unfettered celebration figures to be accompanied by at least a smidgen of angst-ridden confusion. ![]()
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