CHICAGO — One way or another, you just get the sense a resolution is coming with the NHL’s ownership of the Phoenix Coyotes.
In fact, all signs point to it coming quickly.
After telling sportsnet.ca last month that they “hoped” the Coyotes wouldn’t be moved before next season, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly went one further during the league’s annual state of the union address ahead of the Stanley Cup final.
“It’s possible that the team won’t play there next year,” Daly said Wednesday. “Look, we’re in the short strokes in Phoenix now. The ownership group we’ve negotiated a deal with has been negotiating a deal with the city of Glendale. I think everybody knows kind of what’s on the table.
“I think the puck pretty much is in the city of Glendale’s end with respect to how they want to deal with that.”
At issue is a lease agreement with Renaissance Sports & Entertainment — which recently reached a deal to buy the Coyotes from the NHL – to run Jobing.com Arena.
The ownership group headed by Canadian investors George Gosbee, Anthony LeBlanc and Daryl Jones is in negotiations with the city council in Glendale, Ariz., over the management fee it would receive to run the building.
The outcome of those talks will likely dictate the future of the organization and a decision should come by the end of the month.
“There’s a Board of Governors meeting on (June) 27th, there’s a city council meeting on June 25th – stuff’s going to happen,” said Bettman.
It is unclear exactly what would happen if the deal fell through.
Relocation is a strong possibility — Quebec City, Seattle and Kansas City are seen as the top contenders — as is simply disbanding the team. Industry sources have recently started suggesting that that option shouldn’t be overlooked.
Bettman indicated that his phone has been ringing regularly from interested parties in other cities, but wouldn’t specifically discuss what other markets the league might be considering.
“I don’t want to begin a process — particularly publicly — where there’s going to be a lot of speculation as to where the team might go if it moved,” he said. “Because all that would do would be to unfairly raise expectations in places.
“I don’t want to do that to fans in those communities.”
Among the other issues Bettman and Daly touched on:
– The league is “optimistic” that a deal will be reached to send players to the Olympics in Sochi, Russia next year.
– Names for the realigned divisions that will be used next season have been agreed upon and will be announced in conjunction with the release of the 2013-14 schedule.
– The NHL and NHLPA are in talks to revive the defunct World Cup, which was last staged in 2004. “We are very much committed — at least at 10,000 feet — to bringing back a World Cup and doing it on a regular basis,” said Bettman.
– Concussions were down slightly this season on a per-game basis.
– Overall revenues will exceed 58 per cent of last year’s total despite the lockout wiping away 42 per cent of the schedule.
– The NHL isn’t concerned about the quality of officiating, which has come under fire during these playoffs. “The officials in this league are the best in the world I believe — not just in hockey but in any sport,” said Bettman.
However, the update on the Coyotes situation was the most newsworthy information to come out of the commissioner’s annual address.
The NHL has run the Coyotes since Jerry Moyes unexpectedly placed the team in bankruptcy in 2009 and it has been on unstable footing ever since. However, after moving the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg two years ago, the league is reluctant to move another franchise.
“We’re going to try to preserve what’s in place — that’s what we’ve always done,” said Bettman. “We actually believe that if you gave the community an owner, not the league, who said I’m committed to being here (that) this franchise could be successful from a business standpoint.
“We’ve seen what the fanbase will do with all the uncertainty. … If there was certainty surrounding this franchise, its fortunes would improve dramatically and immediately just by virtue of putting in a real owner.”
But will a potential owner ever be able to reach a deal with the new Glendale city council, which has vowed to stop giving handouts?
We’ll know soon enough.
After a seemingly endless search for stability, it’s looking more and more like time might be running out on hockey in the desert.
“No matter how this plays out I don’t think anybody can excuse of having a grass is greener-type approach to this,” said Daly. “We’ve been committed to this market, we’ve done everything humanly possible to make this franchise work in this market.
“Now is the time we’re going to find out whether that works.”
