No deadline set for Coyotes new franchise

[dash]

so says Herr Bettman - Hey Gary, don't you get it, anybody with half a brain takes a look at the Coyotes books and says, "Nope, not feasible".

Bettman won't set deadline for potential Coyotes move | Hockey | CBC Sports

 

[puckhead]

Deadline = the day that Glendale puts down its checkbook.

 

[dash]

(because one is not enough)

Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs said she didn’t know enough to provide an update on the search for a Phoenix Coyotes owner during her annual State of the City address, but the National Hockey League maintains it’s still in contact with Glendale officials.

Scruggs says she isn’t one of them.

“Now, this would be a perfect time to provide you with an update on the Phoenix Coyotes, but I won’t be doing that because I don’t know anything other than what has already been reported by the media,” Scruggs told those gathered at the Glendale Civic Center for her Thursday speech. “But, we continue to hope the National Hockey League will find a new owner that will bring stability to this franchise.”

 

[puckhead]

Deadline = the day that Glendale puts down its checkbook.

I should have clarified.... or when the cheque bounces:

Glendale mayor talks tough on NHL - The Globe and Mail

In addition to blasting the NHL during a budget meeting Tuesday, the mayor asked her colleagues on city council to petition NHL commissioner Gary Bettman to return most of the $20-million that is currently in an escrow account for the May 2 payment. The city did not have enough money to put all of the $25-million it promised the NHL in the account and Scruggs indicated it still does not have the shortfall of $5-million.

 

[dash]

Oh, Elaine, how can you be so naive? From the same article (puck's link)

One year ago, the NHL told city council it was close to selling the Coyotes to Chicago businessman Matthew Hulsizer. Mayor Scruggs said the only reason she and the majority of the council members voted one year ago to provide $25-million to the NHL for a second consecutive year to cover part of the team’s losses was that NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told council the city’s money would not be at risk because the new owner would eventually cover all the losses

 

[Nasty_Magician]

This really is tiresome. At what point do you just cut your losses and move to a more profitable city? They've all been mentioned, Seattle, Hamilton, Quebec City, etc. All make so much more sense than the desert.

 

[puckhead]

“They have been in control of this process for the entire time. They have led us to this terrible point we’re at today,” the mayor said, adding later that “it’s their problem, they misled us and they can’t do this to our city.”

I do imagine there was a pretty serious foot-stomp after this statement

 

[dash]

I do imagine there was a pretty serious foot-stomp after this statement

lol...Elaine better be careful when she places that foot, road and sewer maintenance has taken a back seat to Coyotes hockey in Glendale.

 

[Darkstone42]

lol...Elaine better be careful when she places that foot, road and sewer maintenance has taken a back seat to Coyotes hockey in Glendale.

Fortunately for her, road maintenance isn't very important in Arizona, since the weather isn't hard on the roads at all.

Coyote fans I've met are well aware they likely won't have a team next year, and those fans are pretty torn up about it, but there simply aren't enough of them.

 

[BOSSMANPC]

DS, How far is Glendale from Phoenix? I heard it's an hour away.

If so wouldn't it make more sense to build an arena there? People in the desert are not going to drive an hour to watch a hockey game.

 

[Slimpikins]

Deadline = the day that Glendale puts down its checkbook.

According to the NHL it won't be the reason they moved, just an unfortunate coincidence...

 

[dash]

The NHL seems reluctant to budge off their $170 million figure to sell the Coyotes. They sold the Thrashers to True North for $110 million + a $60 million relocation fee about a year ago. As we all know, Bettman is a stubborn coot.

 

[BlueandWhiteForever]

DS, How far is Glendale from Phoenix? I heard it's an hour away.

If so wouldn't it make more sense to build an arena there? People in the desert are not going to drive an hour to watch a hockey game.

Ottawa fans don't seem to mind that much.

 

[puckhead]

DS, How far is Glendale from Phoenix? I heard it's an hour away.

If so wouldn't it make more sense to build an arena there? People in the desert are not going to drive an hour to watch a hockey game.

they were trying the "if you build it they will come" business model.
there is a football stadium there, though an all-day long weekend event (complete with tailgating) is much different than trying to race out to a 6:00 or 7:00 start in rush-our traffic on a weeknight.
it's actually a nice complex, but too tough of an area to get to for the locals to easily support.

they will make that sacrifice in Kanata (Ottawa), or even in Saskatoon. But it's a tough haul in Phoenix.

 

[BOSSMANPC]

Ottawa fans don't seem to mind that much.

I agree, I was just wondering where the arena is located.

 

[BOSSMANPC]

they were trying the "if you build it they will come" business model.
there is a football stadium there, though an all-day long weekend event (complete with tailgating) is much different than trying to race out to a 6:00 or 7:00 start in rush-our traffic on a weeknight.
it's actually a nice complex, but too tough of an area to get to for the locals to easily support.

they will make that sacrifice in Kanata (Ottawa), or even in Saskatoon. But it's a tough haul in Phoenix.

Thank You Puck, That's what I was driving at. The Phoenix metro area is a hell of a lot bigger than Ottawa or Saskatoon. I'm not defending keeping the team there just looking for info.

I think some people think i'm defending them staying there but just looking at it geographically.

 

[TimKerrRules#12]

Buttmen needs to hurry up and get this done, the quicker he gets teamed moved to good spots, quicker realignment can actually happen, and revenues will go up.

 

[Destroydacre]

Meh I believe the Coyotes will be playing in Quebec come October. Things are shaping up exactly like they were last season with Atlanta when the NHL insisted there were no plans in place for a Thrashers move. Gotta give Winnipeg credit though. Pulling off moving the Thrashers franchise in a matter of a couple weeks like they did was pretty damn impressive.

 

[Darkstone42]

The Coyotes have done an awful job with arenas so far. Jobing.com (besides having an atrocious name) is a beautiful arena, and they surrounded it with cool places so you can make a day of it when you go to the game (though they all close at 10, so you better have your fun before the game), but it's about 45 minutes from downtown Phoenix, which is about the center of Phoenix, and Phoenix is a huge city. So it's only really feasible for about a quarter of the population to make it to a weekday game.

People who have to go to work early, people who can get hung up late at work on weekdays, and parents of school-aged children are very hard-pressed to get to games.

So why not move it into the city? Well, that's where the Coyotes used to play. But the arena sucked and there was no parking. According to one of the ushers I met at the game, there was only about enough parking for a quarter of the arena. Otherwise you'd have to park about an hour's walk away or so. So there goes the benefit of being in the city, eh? Folks still take a long time to get to and from the game, making weekday games difficult to populate.

I don't think Phoenix is as bad a market as it appears from the raw numbers. I just think the folks in charge of planning the franchise and building its infrastructure missed on a lot of important details.

 

[Destroydacre]

The Coyotes have done an awful job with arenas so far. Jobing.com (besides having an atrocious name) is a beautiful arena, and they surrounded it with cool places so you can make a day of it when you go to the game (though they all close at 10, so you better have your fun before the game), but it's about 45 minutes from downtown Phoenix, which is about the center of Phoenix, and Phoenix is a huge city. So it's only really feasible for about a quarter of the population to make it to a weekday game.

People who have to go to work early, people who can get hung up late at work on weekdays, and parents of school-aged children are very hard-pressed to get to games.

So why not move it into the city? Well, that's where the Coyotes used to play. But the arena sucked and there was no parking. According to one of the ushers I met at the game, there was only about enough parking for a quarter of the arena. Otherwise you'd have to park about an hour's walk away or so. So there goes the benefit of being in the city, eh? Folks still take a long time to get to and from the game, making weekday games difficult to populate.

I don't think Phoenix is as bad a market as it appears from the raw numbers. I just think the folks in charge of planning the franchise and building its infrastructure missed on a lot of important details.

I don't buy it. America West Arena never had any problems getting attendance for Suns games and fans seem to do alright getting out to Glendale for Cardinals games. Ponicks just isn't a hockey market. It's time for Bettman to face up to the fact that putting a team there was a bad idea and it resulted in a failure. Time to cut ties (and losses) and move on. There is no magical savior, no instant fanbase that's gonna come out of the woodwork. It just won't happen.