Fox Sports Arizona
With the Winnipeg faithful now in possession of another NHL team and no longer vulturing over the Coyotes while salivating at the possibility of bringing back their one-time Jets, it’s the people in Seattle who have taken their place in the comments section of Coyotes stories all over the internet. On Thursday, businessman Chris Hansen, who is awaiting approval of his attempted purchase of the Sacramento Kings, a franchise he would then move to Seattle to revive the SuperSonics, fanned the flames a bit with a blog post on SeattleArena.com featuring renderings of the hockey setup for the new arena that is in development in the city’s downtown area. The post includes the following line …
“While I know there may have been a few skeptics out there, I have to say I am just as pumped as most of you to see the return of professional hockey to Seattle, and honestly can’t wait to see this building bursting at the seams with crazed Seattle hockey fans.”
“While I know there may have been a few skeptics out there, I have to say I am just as pumped as most of you to see the return of professional hockey to Seattle, and honestly can’t wait to see this building bursting at the seams with crazed Seattle hockey fans.”
According to Dreger, the NHL may be running out of patience in Phoenix. After years of doing their best to keep the team in Glendale, the league could make a decision on relocating the franchise in advance of the Stanley Cup playoffs."It's clear time [is] running out and relocation must be considered," Dreger tweeted. The TSN analyst listed Quebec City, Seattle and Kansas City among relocation sites, none of them new options to puckheads. But at this point, I think hockey fans know not to react too quickly to any report about the Phoenix Coyotes, and this one is no different. Don't think that's the end of the Coyotes as we know them just yet. "Current focus remains on selling the Coyotes to ownership in Glendale," Bill Daly told Yahoo!'s Nick Cotsonika. "We haven't spent much time on anything else.Adding to that, John Shannon passed on new information Wednesday night regarding another comeback by Ice Edge. According to Shannon, Ice Edge CEO is part of a new group that he leads along with George Gosbee, head of AltaCorp Capital and Vice Chair of AIMCo, a $70 Billion investment Fund. "Word is they are finalizing a proposal with NHL," Shannon said.Basically, nothing is set in stone at all, which means there really isn't anything new here. It's seemed like just about anything could happen in the Glendale ownership kerfuffle for years, and now it just seems slightlymore like that. Still, if the Coyotes do move, where they go could have a big impact on another recent hot topic: realignment. The Coyotes were supposed to be part of the Westernmost grouping in the new setup. A move to Seattle would be ideal from this perspective, since they're even further West than Phoenix. There's little headache there. But a move from Phoenix to, say, Quebec City, which Dreger said was the frontrunner, throws the conferences as the Board of Governors approved them into disarray. Somehow, I suspect Quebec City won't so into that. Would Kansas City? They'd probably be more comfortable in the proposed Conference B, with midwestern teams like the Minnesota Wild, who are almost a straight shot north of them. But if the Coyotes go East, someone is going to have to move West, and as we've seen, pretty much no one wants to move West.
Speaking at the league’s announcement of the 2014 Winter Classic on Sunday, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the league’s focus is to leave the Coyotes in the desert. “We’re not planning on moving Phoenix as we stand here today,” he said. The Coyotes have been run by the NHL since 2009, when former owner Jerry Moyes took the team into bankruptcy in a bid to sell to Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie, who would move the franchise to Hamilton, Ontario. The NHL vehemently opposed that plan, and a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge later refused to allow the sale to go through. The Coyotes have had several suitors since then, but haven’t been able to complete a deal. The latest, with former San Jose Sharks CEO Greg Jamison, fell through when his group couldn’t come through with its finances in time to meet a deadline on a 20-year, $308 million lease agreement with the City Glendale for Jobing.com Arena.Despite reports that the league has looked at relocating the franchise, Bettman said it hasn’t looked at that option yet. “We haven’t been exploring the alternatives,” Bettman said. “We are exploring everything we can do to work this out, and there seems to be considerable interest. If you go through the history of this, there have been lots of reasons, not excuses, but lots of reasons,this has taken a lot of time. There seems to be now, in the calm of the moment, a lot more interest than we’ve ever seen.” Canadian businessmen George Gosbee and Anthony LeBlanc submitted a purchase bid last week, and a group led by Buffalo, N.Y. businessman Darin Pastor also put in a proposal. Jamison is still working on a deal, and former suitor Matthew Hulsizer is reportedly interested. Bettman said the league would select an ownership bid before talking with Glendale about a lease agreement for Jobing.com Arena. The city recently hired a company to find a manager to run the arena and handle negotiations with prospective owners. “I’ve been in regular touch with the mayor and we agreed that when we get a framework lined up, then we would come see the city,” Bettman told reporters. “We don’t want the city to have to expend resources and time getting involved until there’s something concrete to present to them.”
Prospective Phoenix Coyotes buyer Darin Pastor met with Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers last week as his group and another led by Canadian investment banker George Gosbee are the latest potential suitors for the hockey franchise.Pastor is also an investment banker and CEO of Irvine, Calif.-based Capstone Affluent Strategies. He met with Weiers last week, according to city spokeswoman Julie Frisoni. The challenge for the city of Glendale and the National Hockey League,which has owned the Coyotes since 2009, is whether the Gosbee or Pastor groups can actually consummate a deal,unlike past unsuccessful bids. Fox Sports Arizona has reported that Gosbee and Ice Edge Holdings LLC have already put in an offer to buy the team.FSAZ’s also reports that Pastor’s potential bid is expected soon to the league office. A Pastor representative confirmed the meeting occurred but declined further comment. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman reiterated this weekend that the league wants to keep the Coyotes in the Phoenix market and is working on selling the team to a buyer here. “We’re not planning on moving Phoenix as we stand here today,” Bettman said in Detroit yesterday, according to the CBC and other reporter.There have been several unsuccessful attempts to sell the Coyotes to ownership groups who will keep the team in Glendale. If a deal is not done by the end of the year, it is expected the Coyotes will be sold and moved to another market. Quebec City is a likely landing spot if the Coyotes move though other markets could also be in the hunt. The current arena lease deal between Glendale and the NHL ends when the Coyotes season is finished. The league could further extend that, but has indicated it will not run the Phoenix franchise another year. Past Coyotes suitors, Matthew Hulsizer, Greg Jamison and members of Ice Edge Holdings,are still interested in the team and could be part of other, or renewed bids. Hulsizer, a Chicago investment executive, now has a house in Scottsdale. The process for keeping the Coyotes in Glendale this time may also be different than past efforts. Those endeavors saw bids hinge on arena management payments or other financial mechanisms from the city of Glendale to subsidize or enable the financing for the purchase.This time the NHL will likely have to strike a deal with an ownership group and then come to the Glendale City Council for an arena deal. Otherwise, the Coyotes maybe headed to a new town at season’s end.
How Phoenix Coyotes Relocation May Pose Huge Realignment Headache for NHL
Time is running out on the Phoenix Coyotes, and if the league-owned franchise is unable to find new ownership in the near future, relocation will be the best option for the club long term.
TSN's Darren Dreger reported late last month that the fate of the struggling franchise might be determined prior to postseason play, which begins on April 30. This drama in Glendale has gone on for far too long, and the league has not been able to find a buyer despite several people/groups expressing interest in owning the team over the last few years. The most recent attempt was made by former San Jose Sharks CEO Greg Jamison, who failed to complete a sale prior to his January 31 deadline. Not only does the league have a tough task in finding someone to buy this financially challenged team, relocating it will also be difficult, especially since the new realignment plan for the 2013-14 season doesn't give the NHL many options to move Phoenix unless it wants to re-do the plan.When the NHL originally came up with the plan for four conferences/divisions, the two with the Eastern clubs had seven teams each, while the other two with Western franchises had eight teams each.This left two spots open in the East for possible relocation and expansion, with three of the most talked-about destinations being Hamilton, Markham/Toronto and Quebec City.When the NHL and NHLPA finally agreed on a final realignment format for next season, the Western divisions had the two open spots with seven teams each and the Eastern ones had eight teams each. Here is what the plan looks like.
The destination for the Coyotes that makes the most sense is Quebec City. The team would be able to play in the Colisée Pepsi (pictured below) until the new arena, which should be a modern work of art, is built.Per the Edmonton Journal on March 26, 2012:
Quebec city council approved recently a $7-million refurbishment of the city’s aging Colisee, built in 1949, if an NHL team is approved before the new arena is built. Sunday’s announcement comes as the future of the Phoenix Coyotes is uncertain. Quebec City, Seattle and Kansas City could be considered as potential homes by the NHL if the league decides to move the team from Arizona.
Since the construction of the Amphithéâtre deQuébec is already underway (per CBC), the league doesn't have to worry about having a new arena for the Coyotes if they are moved to Quebec City.
After seeing the incredible success that the Winnipeg Jets have enjoyed since relocating from Atlanta prior to the 2011-12 season, there should be no concerns about the NHL being able to thrive in a small Canadian market in 2013.Quebec City would be the second-smallest market in the four major North American sports leagues if it got an NHL team (Green Bay of the NFL is the smallest), but there are plenty of hockey fans in the region to help a team thrive on and off the ice. When you look at the approved realignment plan, the logical decision would be to move the Coyotes to Seattle because that would not result in any changes to the new realignment plan since the franchise would stay in Division A. Here's the problem with Seattle. It doesn't have an NHL-ready building for the Coyotes to play in while a new arena is constructed. Key Arena is not fit for an NHL team, so while Seattle might be the ideal spot for the NHL to expand or relocate to in the near future, it's not the best option for relocation in 2013. There is a proposed arena in Seattle, but construction has not started, so there's no way that the city could be a home for the Coyotes during the 2013-14 season.
Complicating matters is the fact that there are no other traditional hockey markets in the Western United States or Western Canada that are a strong fit for a team right now. Kansas City has an arena fit for an NBA and NHL franchise, but that's not a traditional hockey market and doesn't deserve to get a team before Seattle, Quebec or Southern Ontario. Portland is one possible relocation option if the NHL wants to keep the Coyotes in the West, but it's not a large market and it's uncertain if there are any owners willing to bring a team to the city. It was puzzling that the NHL would go ahead and complete realignment before the Coyotes situation for next season was finalized. If the team needs to be relocated for next season and Quebec City is the only quality option, the league and the NHLPAare going to have to sit down and adjust the new conference format, which would be a difficult process. A Quebec City team would need to go into Division C (in the above picture) because it would be the best fit geographically, and it would allow Quebec to renew divisional rivalries with the Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins.If that were to happen, Division C would have nine teams, which means one team in that division has to go to the West or a team in Division D would need to go to the West and be replaced by a club from Division C.
There are probably only a few possible scenarios for the NHL to consider if the Coyotes went to Quebec City and were placed in Division C:
- Detroit Red Wings move from Division C to Division B, Colorado Avalanche move to Division A
- Columbus Blue Jackets move from Division D to Division B, Detroit moves to Division D, Colorado Avalanche move to Division A
- Move Coyotes to Kansas City, put them in Division B, move Colorado Avalanche to Division A
Other than Detroit and Columbus, there are no other teams that the league could justify putting in Division B, which is made up of mostly Central time zone teams.
One of the main goals of realignment was to put the Red Wings and Blue Jackets in the Eastern divisions, so it would be surprising if either franchise moved to a West division in the event that Quebec City gets a team for the 2013-14 season.Despite being in the Eastern time zone, the Red Wings have been in the Western Conference since the NHL realigned in the 1993-94 season, which has forced the Original Six club to travel a lot more than anyone else in the Eastern time zone. Detroit helped the league in 1994 by going to the West, and it was time for the NHL to repay the favor.
One of the main goals of realignment was to put the Red Wings and Blue Jackets in the Eastern divisions, so it would be surprising if either franchise moved to a West division in the event that Quebec City gets a team for the 2013-14 season.Despite being in the Eastern time zone, the Red Wings have been in the Western Conference since the NHL realigned in the 1993-94 season, which has forced the Original Six club to travel a lot more than anyone else in the Eastern time zone. Detroit helped the league in 1994 by going to the West, and it was time for the NHL to repay the favor.
The Blue Jackets have struggled as a franchise since entering the league for the 2000-01 season, and to help the team thrive financially and on the ice, moving it to the East so it could form rivalries with the current Atlantic Division teams was a decision that had to be made. When a team is being relocated, the No. 1 goal is finding a market that allows the franchise to succeed financially long term, not the one that fits into the current alignment of the league. With that said, it's very difficult to find a scenario where the Coyotes could be relocated this summer and the NHL would not have to change its realignment plan.The issue for the NHL is that it has too many teams that need to be in the Eastern divisions for rivalry, geography and financial reasons. One way to fix this would be to expand, but for a league that had 13 teams lose money during the 2011-12 season (per Forbes) and has gone through three lockouts since 1990, expanding isn't the best plan for the NHL. Unless the NHL finds a market in the Western United States that's a good fit for the Coyotes and has an arena that meets the league's standards, relocating this franchise could create a huge realignment headache for the league and the NHLPA this summer.
The dream of desert hockey might finally be dead. Greg Jamison, the man trying to keep the Coyotes in Phoenix was able to guarantee a $300-odd million, 20-year lease with the city of Glendale, if he could agree to buy the team by last Thursday. He missed that deadline. So now, as we have time and time again over the last few years, we will discuss What's To Be Done With The Phoenix Coyotes.
The general feeling seems to now be to cut the cord entirely, move the team to another city, chalk the whole thing up as one big, giant (sort of) loss, and one day look back fondly on the days of the White Out and Jeremy Roenick wearing that hideous jersey (though we will not look back fondly at the jersey itself). At least one of the reasons everyone seems to think it's just time to pack it in is that the city doesn't even seem willing to extend the same deal it was to give Jamison to anyone else, even if anyone else was interested. There are other things to worry about, after all.
From the Arizona Republic:
[Glendale city Mayor, Jerry] Weiers, who was sworn in last month along with three other City Council members, said the deal was too costly for the city that is considering layoffs of police, fire and other employees. "When someone calls 911, they don't want a Zamboni to show up; they want a firetruck or a police car to show up,"he said.
OK, well arguably, that depends on what kind of emergency they're having, but Weiers' point is duly noted. Things like police and firefighters cost a lot of money, and when times are tight it's difficult to justify, especially as a new legislator,pouring copious vats of cash straight into a financially cratering hockey franchise. All of which means the questions are again coming in about where the team would (will) go when the time is right. On CBC over the weekend, Elliotte Friedman (who points out in a column here that there are only nine events scheduled for all of 2013 at Glendale's Jobing.com Arena), was adamant that the team will not end up in the Toronto area. Yet. "If, and I stress if, this team has to move... to Canada, it's not going to Toronto next year," Friedman said. "There will not be a second team in Toronto next year, I'm hearing. And if it has to go to Canada, that is, there's only one more place it could go." That place is Quebec City, which is in the process of a $7 million renovation of a rather large arena that, by virtue of being the home rink for the QMJHL's Quebec Ramparts, seems just about perfectly designed for an NHL team. But Quebec City is not the only name on the list of potential homes for the Coyotes. Seattle, also potentially the next home of the Sacramento Kings, is a possible spot. That's certainly the speculation from Forbes.com, anyway, where Mike Ozanian tells us that two sports teams occupying a new arena in Seattle is "better economics" than just one. But over at the Seattle Times, Geoff Baker disputes the idea for two reasons: First, that NBA sale would have to go through, and second, Quebec City is just better equipped."It's doubtful the NHL would give the go-ahead for the Coyotes to relocate to Seattle without assurances that an NBA team is, in fact, coming and that construction on the new arena can begin...the 15,177-seat (for hockey) KeyArena has never been used for NHL games and hasn't played host to hockey of any kind since the WHL Thunderbirds left after 2009. That's an obstacle that could be overcome, but the reality is, there still is not any firmly established ownership group in Seattle that appears ready to take over a hockey team right away." But could there be another option in the Pacific Northwest? Maybe. Last week, as the Phoenix deal fell through, the Toronto Sun reported that Bill Gallacher, owner of the WHL's Portland Winter Hawks, might be interested in bringing the team there and setting them up at the Rose Garden Arena, currently home to the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers and which can seat just over 18,000 for a hockey game, not to mention owned by billionaire Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen who came close to grabbing the Penguins when things were looking rough in Pittsburgh a few years ago. Gallacher, man of a massive corporate resume,was also for a time rumoured to be part of the bid Jamison was assembling in Phoenix. So, is this for real? It sounds real enough. But then again, in the ongoing saga of the Phoenix Coyotes, everything sounds real enough,particularly money. At the Orgenonian (or OregonLive.com), the whole thing is deemed totally bunk for one simple fact: Allen has a "longstanding view that bringing in another professional team that would compete for dollars with his basketball team makes no sense." Nobody from Microsoft has ever made a poor competitive decision. Any of these cities would probably prove to be a more lucrative spot for an NHL franchise in the long run than Phoenix really ever had the chance of being. They could even relocate and get expansion money too, Ken Campbell at the Hockey News says. It's unlikely that Commissioner Gary Bettman would very seriously enjoy moving another franchise to Canada, rather than somewhere else in the U.S. based on potential TV revenue alone, but there's a guaranteed market in Quebec. You can't beat that. It's,what's the phrase? good economics.
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