Confirmed with Link: All-Purpose Coyotes Arena Talk: [Update] Land Auction Cancelled, Meruelo waiving ownership rights.

[Dirty Old Man]

The only thing I expect to hear in the next couple of years is when the Roadrunners move up to Reno. Then the same worthless (virtual) rags that had clickbait articles for years "Coyotes leaving?" will start having articles "Coyotes returning?" None of them meaning anything tangible.

Okay, so they didn't even wait for the roadrunners to leave. Fair enough.

MSN

 

[RemoAZ]

@ TheLegand , I have no ulterior motive, am not implying anything here, just posting a link that may be of some interest.

MSN

This is the first confirmation from his lips that he's at least open to it.

"I'm definitely going to be part of the community, and if I can help bring hockey back, I'll look at that," he said. "It's definitely something I'm interested in. It's a four-sport town. I'm disappointed we don't have a hockey team, but I understand what happened, and we're going to try to fix that one day."

"I'm disappointed we don't have a hockey team here. That's what I'll say," he said. "Phoenix is a four-sport town. Maybe five if you want to include soccer, but it's a four-sports town. Baseball, football, basketball and hockey. And I hope that one day we'll be able to get hockey back."

"I think our arena is first-class right now. I love our arena," he said. "But at some point we're going to have to get a new arena."

Footprint is 32 years old and underwent a $230 million renovation as recently as 2020, though it is cramped compared with more recently built venues.


Ishbia believes a new downtown arena is in the city's future, and there's plenty of room south of the current facility to build it, which is just what the NHL wants.

"We're going to continue to evolve," Ishbia said. "My investment in basketball and this community's not going to stop."

 

[TheLegend]

This is the first confirmation from his lips that he's at least open to it.

"I'm definitely going to be part of the community, and if I can help bring hockey back, I'll look at that," he said. "It's definitely something I'm interested in. It's a four-sport town. I'm disappointed we don't have a hockey team, but I understand what happened, and we're going to try to fix that one day."

"I'm disappointed we don't have a hockey team here. That's what I'll say," he said. "Phoenix is a four-sport town. Maybe five if you want to include soccer, but it's a four-sports town. Baseball, football, basketball and hockey. And I hope that one day we'll be able to get hockey back."

"I think our arena is first-class right now. I love our arena," he said. "But at some point we're going to have to get a new arena."

Footprint is 32 years old and underwent a $230 million renovation as recently as 2020, though it is cramped compared with more recently built venues.


Ishbia believes a new downtown arena is in the city's future, and there's plenty of room south of the current facility to build it, which is just what the NHL wants.

"We're going to continue to evolve," Ishbia said. "My investment in basketball and this community's not going to stop."

Whether he's part of a new ownership group or not..... he's the gatekeeper. Everything will have to go through him.

 

[JasonDemersWasOkay]

If it’s ishbia, we’d be waiting at least 12 years for a new team, that’s when footprints lease is up. According to Morgan, there are other groups who have the potential to get something done faster, but they’re all unknowns f*** SLC and I’m sure the NHL would love to get in bed with Ishbia down the line.

Guess it depends on how fast the nhl wants to come back here. With how salted the earth is f*** SLC, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s that long, but the league likely wants to be a 36 team league by 2030, so where does that timeline fit with ishbia’s plans? Could he look to get a new arena sooner than 2036? I feel that’s doubtful, but who knows.

Lots of unknowns. f*** SLC

 

[The Feckless Puck]

Ishbia is only saying this because this is step one in his plan to extort a new arena out of the City of Phoenix. That's the sole reason he is even mentioning the sport.

 

[RemoAZ]

Ishbia is only saying this because this is step one in his plan to extort a new arena out of the City of Phoenix. That's the sole reason he is even mentioning the sport.

I'm not proud. If we had to hop on his back to get a team, I'd be fine with it. With his ultra competitiveness, I doubt he'd settle for anything less than a contender on the ice. If it takes a dozen years though, that would blow.

 

[Knights2017]

Ishbia is only saying this because this is step one in his plan to extort a new arena out of the City of Phoenix. That's the sole reason he is even mentioning the sport.

The guy just built a state of the art Corporate headquarters and WNBA practice facility a block south of Chase Field in under a year... Maybe give him a chance, he's truly our only hope to getting an NHL team back in Phoenix.

He's put his money where his mouth is every step of the way and truly is a community guy

 

[TheLegend]

The guy just built a state of the art Corporate headquarters and WNBA practice facility a block south of Chase Field in under a year... Maybe give him a chance, he's truly our only hope to getting an NHL team back in Phoenix.

He's put his money where his mouth is every step of the way and truly is a community guy

He's aiming to do what Ryan Smith is doing in downtown SLC. And what the Reinsdorf and Ilitch families are doing now in Chicago.

Kingdom building.......

 

[The Feckless Puck]

The guy just built a state of the art Corporate headquarters and WNBA practice facility a block south of Chase Field in under a year... Maybe give him a chance, he's truly our only hope to getting an NHL team back in Phoenix.

He's put his money where his mouth is every step of the way and truly is a community guy

I'm not lionizing the guy. He's a rich dude who is a big basketball fan, and so far he's been better than most Phoenix-based ownerships over the past half century. But that bar is so low it may as well be underground. And until I see proof otherwise, I don't believe for a second that Ishbia gives a shit about hockey unless it's a way to get public funding for a new arena. I certainly don't think he has any plan for hockey that helps the Kachinas, youth and USA Hockey programs, and civic engagement.

He's aiming to do what Ryan Smith is doing in downtown SLC. And what the Reinsdorf and Ilitch families are doing now in Chicago.

Kingdom building.......

Ding ding ding, we have a winner. Another pretender at the "sports business king" throne.

 

[Knights2017]

He's aiming to do what Ryan Smith is doing in downtown SLC. And what the Reinsdorf and Ilitch families are doing now in Chicago.

Kingdom building.......

Yeah, and??

 

[TheLegend]

Yeah, and??

I’ll let you figure that one out.

 

[Sinurgy]

We need Shane Doan to hit on some very lucrative investments!

 

[Coyotedroppings]

Enjoy!

 

[Sinurgy]

Enjoy!

A good rule of thumb is that whenever the media uses a question as a headline, than answer is no. Don't get me started on using the word "could".

 

[RemoAZ]

A good rule of thumb is that whenever the media uses a question as a headline, than answer is no. Don't get me started on using the word "could".

After decades of pretty much constant bad news from owners and the NHL, even a sliver of positive Coyotes talk from someone that can actually afford the team and already has solid roots in the state with the Suns is like a cracker to a starving man. I'd love it if someone else stepped up but we've been waiting for that savior for how long?

 

[Knights2017]

After decades of pretty much constant bad news from owners and the NHL, even a sliver of positive Coyotes talk from someone that can actually afford the team and already has solid roots in the state with the Suns is like a cracker to a starving man. I'd love it if someone else stepped up but we've been waiting for that savior for how long?

There will NEVER be a standalone NHL arena with separate ownership from the Suns.. it wouldn’t surprise me if Ishbia buys the Dbacks at some point

 

[JasonDemersWasOkay]

Daily reminder, f*** Utah and anyone who roots for them

 

[Coyotedroppings]

Daily reminder, f*** Utah and anyone who roots for them

I’ll be rooting for ‘em.

 

[SuperZero]

Daily reminder, f*** Utah and anyone who roots for them

Why the blame on Utah? It's a pretty similar the situation with Phoenix and the original Winnipeg Jets. There was an opportunity to bring a major sports franchise to the city. Utah had an owner with money and an available building. The blame should be placed on the inept ownership groups the Coyotes had throughout the league and the politics of Arizona and people like the Goldwater group that makes securing public funds difficult (you can argue whether that is a positive or negative but it is part of the difficulty in securing a new arena).

You can refuse to watch the team if you want and even dislike them, but blaming Utah and even Ryan Smith for losing the coyotes is misplaced when the blame belongs to the NHL for approving the terrible past ownership and the inept grifting owners that have been far too common the last decade plus

 

[JasonDemersWasOkay]

Why the blame on Utah? It's a pretty similar the situation with Phoenix and the original Winnipeg Jets. There was an opportunity to bring a major sports franchise to the city. Utah had an owner with money and an available building. The blame should be placed on the inept ownership groups the Coyotes had throughout the league and the politics of Arizona and people like the Goldwater group that makes securing public funds difficult (you can argue whether that is a positive or negative but it is part of the difficulty in securing a new arena).

You can refuse to watch the team if you want and even dislike them, but blaming Utah and even Ryan Smith for losing the coyotes is misplaced when the blame belongs to the NHL for approving the terrible past ownership and the inept grifting owners that have been far too common the last decade plus

Don’t care. They have my team now, so I will hate them and their fans forever.

 

[Bonsai Tree]

Don’t care. They have my team now, so I will hate them and their fans forever.

Spoken like a true Winnipeg Jets fan. We are better than that. Utah didn’t poach the Coyotes anymore than we poached the Jets.

The NHL and NHLPA forced the team out rather than continue to let them play in the Mullet.

 

[LittlePipes]

C’mon JDWOK…
we need you

 

[awfulwaffle]

Why the blame on Utah? It's a pretty similar the situation with Phoenix and the original Winnipeg Jets. There was an opportunity to bring a major sports franchise to the city. Utah had an owner with money and an available building. The blame should be placed on the inept ownership groups the Coyotes had throughout the league and the politics of Arizona and people like the Goldwater group that makes securing public funds difficult (you can argue whether that is a positive or negative but it is part of the difficulty in securing a new arena).

You can refuse to watch the team if you want and even dislike them, but blaming Utah and even Ryan Smith for losing the coyotes is misplaced when the blame belongs to the NHL for approving the terrible past ownership and the inept grifting owners that have been far too common the last decade plus

I actually place some of the blame on Sarver. He had a sweetheart lease with the city of Phoenix. Dallas has both the Mavericks and Stars, and they make it work with separate owners in the same building. Sarver didn't want to give up any of his revenue though. He's a scumbag.

 

[Knights2017]

Spoken like a true Winnipeg Jets fan. We are better than that. Utah didn’t poach the Coyotes anymore than we poached the Jets.

The NHL and NHLPA forced the team out rather than continue to let them play in the Mullet.

No, we're not better than that and we don't have to be. Hoping Ryan Smith's plans blow up in his face

 

[The Feckless Puck]

The only thing aggravating to me about the Utah situation is the fact that everything is getting done so easily, seemingly without any effort or roadblocks at all. They just broke ground on a new practice facility in south Salt Lake that used to be a mall. They have approval and funding for a huge new downtown entertainment district. And all of this happening more or less within the three months since they got the team. Whereas we waited (in vain) for these kinds of things for fifteen years.

As for the Coyotes fans who "seamlessly" became Utah fans, though, what do you expect them to do... be bitter-ass get-off-my-porch curmudgeons like you and me? They still like NHL hockey, and just like the Winnipeg fans who went along to Arizona with the old Jets, they love their franchise. Considering how loyal and true those Winnipeg fans were for us, especially when the hurt-feelings, online-troll crowd of their Manitoban peers caused so much grief and anger for us after the Coyotes' bankruptcy, I'm heavily inclined to be on the side of the ex-Coyotes fans cheering for Utah, rather than the miserable bastards (like me) who didn't go along for the ride.