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

[BKarchitect]

Sorry guys. My sister has lived in the Phoenix area for 25 years and I’ve gone to more Coyotes games than any other NHL team. Playoff games with the whiteout was still the best rink atmosphere I have ever attended in person. Met JR and KT and the Yotes classic kachina jersey I had then sign is framed on my bedroom wall.

It really sucks that it seems like the Cooley-Guenther-Doan 2.0 core will not live to see its peak in the area. The franchise finally got a good GM and good young coach and this BS ownership and arena shit has to happen. What a nightmare.

Hard to believe the NHL will totally abandon the market with the amount of energy that has been developed into the youth programs that have developed real talent even outside of Matthews. But it’s just heartbreaking that the player and prospects that most of you all have been following and cheering for will now be in a totally different market. It’s not their fault and it’s not the fault of fans in Salt Lake City who will adopt them. But it stings none the less…

 

[Bondurant]

If you're trying to get tickets to the last game BUY THEM NOW because they're going like crazy. I got mine but it took like 5 different tickets because as I was completing purchase someone else scooped them up. Prices have tripled since this morning.

Not worth paying those premiums for a team jumping ship and the marquee opposition players will be scratched or "injured".

 

[Baby Doaner]

I feel so mad and numb. I’m sad that this is happening and have no idea why. Was the auction not going to go our way? Was AM forced to sell?

 

[Llewzaher]

So looking at some Utah news, the state approved of their new arena and entertainment district, however the SLC city council has to approve the 900mil tax hike…and have not

Man oh man

 

[Nowotny]

I feel so mad and numb. I’m sad that this is happening and have no idea why. Was the auction not going to go our way? Was AM forced to sell?

It looks like owner was forced to sell (NHL just had it with him). And "auction" was probably a charade anyway

 

[Baby Doaner]

It looks like owner was forced to sell (NHL just had it with him). And "auction" was probably a charade anyway

They should have forced him to sell locally. I’m really upset with the NHL if this is the case and I will forever boo Gary Bettman from here on out.

 

[benedictTavares]

I have been to dozens of games since I have moved to AZ. Very sad if they do lose the team. Hopefully then can lock down a deal with the NHL for an expansion team.

 

[Bondurant]

Given how this has played out and other moving parts yet to be finalized in Utah, I wonder how many players with leverage decided to dictate their own future and request trades once the season wraps.

 

[super6646]

Remember this one??? Jim Cramer strikes again!

LOL.

Feel awful for y’all btw, but that’s a funny tweet, especially if you actually get the history with Cramer.

 

[Tad Mikowski]

I'll believe it when I see it

 

[XX]

Ill believe it when I see it

So the guy stiffing hotels to save pocket change is going to pull off a mega development and then massively overpay for a franchise that is years away from relevancy? In a city that may hate him?

 

[Bondurant]

I'll believe it when I see it

If the price tag is correct I'd wager NHL is calling Meruelo's bluff and just want him gone forever even at the cost of a cool billion.

 

[IrishFin]

I appreciate Bettman for keeping this team here as long as he did. But he deserves some criticism for his push that hockey couldn’t work in the west valley when the new ownership group took over. I think he played a part in the downfall with Glendale even though Meruelo is shady AF.

 

[GhostofTommyBolin]

They should have forced him to sell locally. I’m really upset with the NHL if this is the case and I will forever boo Gary Bettman from here on out.

You can't sell anything locally if no one wants it.

 

[LittlePipes]

thinking about Bettman’s little chat at all star game time , re: coyotes staying ? pretty slimy in retrospect.

 

[Bondurant]

I appreciate Bettman for keeping this team here as long as he did. But he deserves some criticism for his push that hockey couldn’t work in the west valley when the new ownership group took over. I think he played a part in the downfall with Glendale even though Meruelo is shady AF.

Bettman erred drawing the line in the sand too early. Stable ownership and a good team would have overcame the shortcomings of location. Even with my plebe upper bowl weekend ticket package once there was an owner, players people heard of like Phat Phil and Hall and credible hockey on the ice...more people started showing up. New barn should've been a long term goal.

 

[Factotum]

I've been lurking with you all for 14 (!!) years, watching this team much longer than that

Thank you all for the great reading over the years. I truly checked multiple times a week, often times daily. Not much more of a diehard group here, so strong salute to you all

This team truly got me into the sport. Ended up playing Juniors and still play recreationally to this day

At this point, for years now, I've loved the GAME more than anything. So as great and memorable this ride with the Coyotes has been, it's come to a close, but that won't end my love for this game

For the Coyotes, there were a lot of missteps along the way, a lot of misfortune. Cant help but reflect back and imagine what might have been

But being honest with myself, in the near 30 years they've been here, the indisputable inflection point WAS the failure of TED

If TED passed, we'd all be sitting pretty. I have zero doubt about. That'd have been the beginning of something great. The franchise would have turned the corner

Im not going to shit on Meruelo or kick him on the way out. He had some shortcomings, but I respect him and appreciate him for the effort these past few years. First guy with real money that came in and put a plan together.

Meruelo, the league, and ultimately the team and organization got sunk by NIMBY's and numbskulls that fell victim to and ignorantly paraded around political misinformation. That unfortunately has become all too common in this state as of late. Like every other corp along Rio Salado isnt receiving a GPLET. He, and we all, got boned by political idiocy. That is what ultimately cost the Valley the Coyotes

I'll elave it at that. I just have to say- Really enjoyed the ride. Im uncertain if I'd like to see a team come back. If I would, it'd only be to keep the local hockey community strong.

As a fan, I think Im set with ASU and possibly an AHL team making their way to the Valley. I'd like to see that happen. In terms of spectatorship, those two outlets would satisfy my hockey fix

I will certainly follow the team as its players and GM/Coaching staff remain, but as that inevitably disbands with time, my interest will wane

Anyway, just want to extend a thank you to this community and wish you all the best

If anything, this got me to finally sign up on this board

 

[gorsk11]

I’ll be coaching squirts. But if anyone wants to meet at AZIce Gilbert to watch the last game, I’ll stay and watch.

I just posted that I would be up for that. So count me in unless I find some free tickets.

 

[HowlofRevel]

I quoted wrong post. delete pls

 

[Le Tricolore]

Just another fan of another team coming here to pay respects.

I'm a Montrealer and when I was a kid, I loved the Expos almost as much as the Habs. The last few years when the writing was on the wall was f***ing dreadful. I went to games and had fun but I just knew every last game of the season I went to may be the last ever MLB game in Montreal.

One day it was.

It sucks. I'm so sorry that you guys have had to deal with such incompetent ownership.

 

[Edenjung]

They should have forced him to sell locally. I’m really upset with the NHL if this is the case and I will forever boo Gary Bettman from here on out.

There was no one to sell to locally.

 

[Prarievarg]

 

[Cujorulesdtown9]

Blue Jackets fan here, but, as someone that grew up a fan of and watching Curtis Joseph (yes im old), I inevitably watched Phoenix games when he played there, so this team will always have a special place in my hockey fandom.

I am so sorry to all of you Coyotes fans, you all deserve so much better. Hopefully sometime down the road we will hear the howl in the nhl again.

 

[AlainVigneaultsGum]

Hopefully sometime down the road we will hear the howl in the nhl again.

 

[Killing Joke]

Just wanna stop by and say it sucks the team is relocating especially given the talent this team has accumulated as of late and will do once again. They have some fun and exciting players, and IMO the best jerseys in the game. It's really shitty they aren't going to be around after all the struggling years you guys had to put up with.

Hopefully a team comes back to the state, the fans deserve it, the market can work there.