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Confirmed with Link: All-Purpose "Days of Our Meruelo" Talk

AKL said:
I would obviously prefer they wait until after the auction and only sell if they lose, I'm still hoping that's the plan and Friedman is just blowing smoke out of his ass for clicks.
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I can't picture AM being willing to give up everything he's built over the last 5 years with this franchise (and should be extremely happy with the results) only to start all over again with an expansion franchise and all new people running it. And why?

Tempe needed a lot of land prep to remove toxicity that Phoenix doesn't. Is the time spent playing at Mullett really even a problem if it's not any longer with this project than it was with TED? Why go through all that if the timeline from TED hasn't changed all that much?

The NHL wants a franchise in Arizona WITH an arena. Why go about it the most complicated way possible instead of just waiting?

Make sure the team wins the auction, grant expansion to SLC is what I think will happen. It's simple, everyone should be happy.
 
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Mosby said:
Moving to SLC and then bringing back a new team a few years later when a new arena is ready is going to piss off a lot of the local fanbase. The NHL needs to realize that, particularly given that it has gotten to this point with the auction just ahead of us.
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The 30-odd folks on here, sure. But they aren't even selling out 4600 seats. Half the people in the Valley are only vaguely aware the Coyotes are still here right now. You pump money into a new arena/entertainment district, create a huge buzz around a new team, hold the expansion draft in the new barn, get Uncle Gary to gift you an NHL Draft and an All-Star game within three years of opening...it's absolutely possible you could reap the rewards and build a new fanbase.

Folks in the Valley love shiny new things. Plus, you've got the people who will attend just because it's NHL hockey. You could call them the Cave Creek Fartknockers and use the poop emoji for a logo and I'm still gonna go to games because the next-closest place to see the NHL is a 6-hour drive out west.

The Feckless Puck said:
Well the Diamondbacks are currently working on that right now... :sarcasm:
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The Cards are already failures, too. They're just financially not a failure because the NFL prints money.
 
Kai Yo T said:
I can't picture AM being willing to give up everything he's built over the last 5 years with this franchise (and should be extremely happy with the results) only to start all over again with an expansion franchise and all new people running it. And why? Tempe needed a lot of land prep to remove toxicity that Phoenix doesn't. Is the time spent playing at Mullett really even a problem if it's not any longer with this project than it was with TED?
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Yeah just from a hockey ops perspective it seems shortsighted to give up on all of the draft picks and prospects especially. A piece like Josh Doan is worth more in goodwill and fan sentiment than you can probably quantify in $. There's a solid base here with a good GM and coach.

Outside of the ice, if he bought the Coyotes for $1b, and ends up selling them for $1b, only to spend another $500m in expansion fees, he just lost $500m for no reason. It's not really a savvy financial decision on his part. That's not even considering all the money he's spent on Mullett and everything else here trying to find a stadium solution.

It just doesn't make much sense to sell the team before you lose the auction. You're losing way more than you stand to gain. Only way around that is if Meruelo decided overnight he no longer wants to own an NHL team and he's just cutting and running.

And yeah, from the NHL's perspective, it would be super weird to "force" a move before you let a potential solution play out if you're just going to turn around and put a team back there in what would ultimately be the same timeframe, more or less.
 
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Haven’t we been “hours away from” or “very close to” moving before? Why should we, who have been through this saga for fifteen odd years, treat this smoke show media leak as any different than before? I’ll believe we’re moving when I see it, and a bunch of speculation over what’s probably just the backup plan (if Alex Meruelo doesn’t win the land auction) being made is what this looks like to me. The only thing this really confirms at all is that Salt Lake City is the backup plan. The land auction is still plan A.
 
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Sinurgy said:
Here was the original article as captured by search engines, it's too bad they didn't run with the original title but I'm sure we all know why they didn't, gotta harvest them clicks! Not surprisingly the 2 scenarios are what we've known all along. Win auction or relocate. Now there are some speculation about the league not liking the 2027 timeline but that makes absolutely no sense as it's the same timeline as TED which they were supportive of.
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TheLegend said:
Friedman not saying much more here. He's all too aware about jumping to conclusions.

www.sportsnet.ca

NHL, Arizona Coyotes preparing for possible relocation to Utah

The NHL and the Arizona Coyotes are preparing for the possibility of a move to Utah as soon as April 18, multiple sources confirmed Wednesday.
www.sportsnet.ca www.sportsnet.ca
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This is the article I was referencing above. The original title of the article was "Report: NHL preparing two scenarios for Coyotes' future, including Utah move", that's what the search engines originally captured hence my screenshot. Only now have they they changed it to "NHL, Arizona Coyotes preparing for possible relocation.". It's implying the same thing but the latter is clearly more inflammatory (i.e. clickbaity) so not surprised they changed it.
 
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AKL said:
Only way around that is if Meruelo decided overnight he no longer wants to own an NHL team and he's just cutting and running.
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Well that or the NHL somehow sweetening the pot to make it worth AM considering such a pivot. Would be pretty f***ed up if after all we've been through it was Uncle Gary who ends up completely selling us out right as we approach the finish line.
 
Summer Rose said:
Haven’t we been “hours away from” or “very close to” moving before? Why should we, who have been through this saga for fifteen odd years, treat this smoke show media leak as any different than before? I’ll believe we’re moving when I see it, and a bunch of speculation over what’s probably just the backup plan (if Alex Meruelo doesn’t win the land auction) being made is what this looks like to me. The only thing this really confirms at all is that Salt Lake City is the backup plan. The land auction is still plan A.
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To Portland, Winnipeg, and now SLC. And supposedly the contracts just needed to be signed if something else didn't work out first. These negotiations with SLC don't prove anything except they're prepared, just like the other times, IMO.

I'm definitely numb.
 
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Sinurgy said:
Well that or the NHL somehow sweetening the pot to make it worth AM considering this pivot. Would be pretty f***ed up if after all we've been through it was Uncle Gary who ends up completely selling us out at the last moment.
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I'm struggling to come up with something that would make AM want to take a $500m+ loss on this whole situation. They won't even let him sell direct to the Utah buyer because they want a cut, what could they approve that AM would want but wouldn't come out of the other owners' pockets?
 
I want to love AM and Uncle Gary, please hockey gods, don't make me hate them!!!!!
 
TheLegend said:
Friedman not saying much more here. He's all too aware about jumping to conclusions.

www.sportsnet.ca

NHL, Arizona Coyotes preparing for possible relocation to Utah

The NHL and the Arizona Coyotes are preparing for the possibility of a move to Utah as soon as April 18, multiple sources confirmed Wednesday.
www.sportsnet.ca www.sportsnet.ca
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AM selling and then using that money to get the deal done while being given a free/discount franchise is a real interesting way to solve a bunch of problems for all parties (including the other salty owners). Fans get screwed in the short term, but every other stakeholder comes out with a pretty decisive win.
 
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XX said:
AM selling and then using that money to get the deal done while being given a free/discount franchise is a real interesting way to solve a bunch of problems for all parties (including the other salty owners). Fans get screwed in the short term, but every other stakeholder comes out with a pretty decisive win.
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The highlighted part is the problem.

Vibes I'm getting is that if the NHL comes back the current fanbase might support it as long as Meruelo is not involved.
 
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