Phoenix Coyotes want an outdoor game

As recent as six months ago, the Phoenix Coyotes were on the brink of moving elsewhere. But now the rumors are mentioning the organization as a possible destination for one of the NHL's most prestigious events as the Coyotes have expressed interest in hosting a future outdoor game.

"We've been pretty vocal," chairman and governor George Gosbee said. "We'd love to have an outdoor game. We'd love to have it at Chase (Field). But we also want to have a Frozen Four. We also want to have the world juniors. We're looking at it, and we're being very vocal and we're looking at the plans for everything and hopefully our plan will work where the NHL would support it - just like we hope that we might be able to do something with USA Hockey and world juniors and maybe the Frozen Four."

The NHL has six outdoor games on tap this season, and deputy commissioner Bill Daly told a Toronto radio station on Monday the league is planning more for next season. With the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings set to play at Dodger Stadium on Jan. 25, the NHL obviously considers warm climates a viable option.

"We have expressed our desire and the fact that we are prepared to host a stadium series game to league representatives over the past month," President and CEO Anthony LeBlanc said via email. "It is far from a sure thing, however we are hopeful that we can illustrate why we feel an event like this would be very successful in Arizona. We look forward to attending the stadium series game in Los Angeles next month."

The ideal date would be in February 2015, near the time when the University of Phoenix Stadium is hosting the Super Bowl. Pursuing this event and other noteworthy hockey tournaments is part of IceArizona's efforts to grow the sport in the Valley.

"We really want to bring hockey to the desert in a bigger way, and all those things will help us," Gosbee said. "If we can get one of them, we'll be really happy about it."

In February, the Coyotes are honoring 13 members of the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" gold-medal winning team before a game against the Chicago Blackhawks. But hosting an outdoor game would be a real coup, especially considering the team still hasn't been awarded an All-Star Game since losing that event because of the 2004-05 lockout.

"I'd love to have an outdoor game, and I'd love to be able to convince the NHL we can sell 50-or-60,000 tickets for it," Gosbee said.

Sarah McLellan writes for the Arizona Republic