Marty Walsh is running out of patience with the Arizona Coyotes.
The NHL Players' Association's executive director took aim at the franchise on Friday before a large group of NHL media, indicating he has "serious concerns about Arizona," which has yet to firm up plans for a new home rink and is currently playing out of Arizona State University's college arena.
"I have serious concerns about Arizona," said Walsh in Toronto on Friday, after he and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced a return to the Olympics in 2026, as well as a four-nation event in 2025 featuring Canada, the U.S., Finland, and Sweden.
"I think I've made public statements, a lot of them, and I'll make one more today," said Walsh, after Bettman had completed his media conference. "I'm extremely disappointed in the ownership of Arizona and the president of Arizona. They have not reached out to the PA to talk to us about what the situation in Arizona is."
The Coyotes' arena situation has been in flux since their lease expired at Gila River Arena at the end of the 2021-22 season, prompting a temporary arrangement to be made with ASU to play at its 5,000-seat facility. A public vote to build an arena and entertainment complex in Tempe, Ariz., was defeated last May. Walsh is frustrated with the lack of progress since then.
"It's not just about buying a piece of land," he said. "You can buy a piece of land. How long is it gonna take you to permit the land? Do you need a referendum? Is it hazardous waste? Do you need to remediate the land? There's lots of questions. So you could talk about buying land in Arizona and it could be 10 years before there's a shovel in the ground? As far as I'm concerned, that is unacceptable on behalf of the players on that team and should be unacceptable for the league."
Every day without progress, said Walsh, causes further delay.
"We're a little over halfway through the season. If, at the end of the season, Arizona doesn't have a place to play next year, well now there's another season of uncertainty moving forward."
When Bettman was asked during his media conference beforehand about the situation, he offered a lukewarm vote of confidence that team president Xavier Gutierrez will deliver on an arena plan.
Walsh was less enthusiastic.
"The last conversation I had with the commissioner was that the owner was looking at a piece of land in the Arizona area," he said. "I'm not sure where that stands. I have my personal concerns whether that will happen. You know, there was a piece of land in Mesa. There was a piece of land in Phoenix. There was three ballot questions in Tempe. None of that came to fruition, so let's see what happens."
With respect to the possibility of relocation, Walsh said he has first-hand knowledge of the interest in NHL teams.
"A lot of mayors have said to me, 'We'd love to have team," said Walsh, citing the mayors of Atlanta, Houston, and Phoenix. "If there's no plan in Arizona, I would encourage a move to another location."
The Coyotes players, Walsh added, "want to play in a National Hockey League arena."
Walsh was careful to say he was not criticizing the league for how the Coyotes are managing things.
"The league feels that Arizona is a good market for hockey to be in," he said. "And I can understand that. The issue that I have and that the players have is: how long do you wait to get a home? They're playing in a college arena and they are the second tenant in that arena. .... This is not the way to run a business."
Teams in the 21st century are investing in their facilities," Walsh said.
"In this particular case, we have a 5,100-seat college arena that doesn't sell out every night."
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