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

[Dirty Old Man]

It's crazy - I've had two sporting obsessions in my life, and it just blows my mind how time and fate have conspired to make me loathe both of them after years of thinking I'd follow them the rest of my life. Time and age are crazy, folks.

Heh, guessing the other one's motorsports, right? I didn't watch a NASCAR race this year (but I do watch F1, including all the practices usually...I know it's a sleazy over-priced business too, but it costs nothing to follow and as long as ESPN carries Sky Sports commercial free, i'm in)

 

[Dirty Old Man]

We're pretty much the same here. My other sport is college football and while I'm still hanging in there, it's getting very tough. I am all for NIL and I don't think they could've done a worse job of implementing it. Almost seems like the goal all along was to destroy the sport.

I see it as a whack a mole. They fixed the "elite teams not getting a shot at the national championship" problem by finally having a playoff like every other sport and level, but then they opened the gates of the transfer portal and NIL, and we have college kids being UFAs every year, with only 1-year "contracts"... so now I'm rooting for my rich fellow alumni to open their wallets as much as for the players (coz we know *I* ain't gonna)

 

[Sinurgy]

I see it as a whack a mole. They fixed the "elite teams not getting a shot at the national championship" problem by finally having a playoff like every other sport and level, but then they opened the gates of the transfer portal and NIL, and we have college kids being UFAs every year, with only 1-year "contracts"... so now I'm rooting for my rich fellow alumni to open their wallets as much as for the players (coz we know *I* ain't gonna)

The "elite" teams now will essentially be which collective has the most money. It's the MLB model right now, never been easier to purchase a championship (in theory) only somehow this is even worse because as you said there are no contracts. At a bare minimum they need to start requiring contracts, having free agency every single year sucks!!

 

[DaBadGuy7]

Further confirms Ishiba could’ve bought the Yotes but wasn’t willing to pay a billion to get it

 

[Dirty Old Man]

The "elite" teams now will essentially be which collective has the most money. It's the MLB model right now, never been easier to purchase a championship (in theory) only somehow this is even worse because as you said there are no contracts. At a bare minimum they need to start requiring contracts, having free agency every single year sucks!!

All true...and now that I think about it our neighbors at Arizona State may have timed all this beautifully - young coach with ties to the region and a great backstory, and I'm sure the alumni are dying to spend, spend, spend if it'll finally guarantee them a consistent winner... in a conference that just lost Texas and Oklahoma, giving it a bit of a power vacuum...

 

[RemoAZ]

I haven't watched a single NHL game, and I'm not even tempted to. The avalanche of schadenfreude from all quarters about how it's about damn time the league wasn't in Arizona - half of the UHC coverage outside of Salt Lake City is more about "Yay! No more Arizona!" than it is "Yay! A Utah hockey team!" - makes me feel like the NHL and its fans couldn't give less of a shit about me. And yes, it feels goddamned personal.

But also, the continuing narrative from UHC coaches, players, and management about how they're finally in a "winter city" and all that horseshit is making it easier every second for me to ignore my former team. The fact that Josh Doan is playing for the soon-to-be-Reno Roadrunners only greases the skids more.

It's crazy - I've had two sporting obsessions in my life, and it just blows my mind how time and fate have conspired to make me loathe both of them after years of thinking I'd follow them the rest of my life. Time and age are crazy, folks.

Same. Checking here every couple weeks is the only NHLeske news I get. Don't follow anything hockey related on any socials and I never listen to sports talk or watch sports shows anymore. With all the hitting/blocking/tackling too hard penalties in the NFL, I've hardly watched football this year and I could count on one had the number of Steelers games I missed over the previous decade. The Yotes nuked my passion for hockey and it's rolled into all sports for me. I need a new hobby! Just got back today from two weeks in the Philippines. That was fun but too expensive to do often (not to mention work).

I still will never understand how they couldn't find an owner rich enough to own the team here. Over 20 years and not one even when they could have bought the arena and Westgate for chump change. Maybe it's the result of us being a melting pot with very few people actually born and raised here combined with the NHL being the 4th most popular league if you want to put them ahead of college football and basketball which is certainly debatable.

Oh well. Thanks for keeping the board alive guys.

 

[TheLegend]

Further confirms Ishiba could’ve bought the Yotes but wasn’t willing to pay a billion to get it

Yes…… and no.

Coyotes went for a billion because the owners wanted their cake and eat it too.

Yotes were valued at about $650 million IN ARIZONA.

 

[DaBadGuy7]

Yes…… and no.

Coyotes went for a billion because the owners wanted their cake and eat it too.

Yotes were valued at about $650 million IN ARIZONA.

Well Meruelo was forced to sell and Morgan reported that Ishbia wasn’t willing to pay a billion to get it. No way Yotes were gonna be sold for less whether it was him or Smith imo

 

[TheLegend]

Well Meruelo was forced to sell and Morgan reported that Ishbia wasn’t willing to pay a billion to get it. No way Yotes were gonna be sold for less whether it was him or Smith imo

You're missing a very important element here.

Ryan Smith didn't just appear out of nowhere. He was already in the process of applying for an expansion franchise. Just as Atlanta was. But his bid wasn't as publicized.

Had Meruelo solved his arena problems, Utah was still going to come into the league within the next 4-5 years..... and pay the $1.2 billion expansion cost.

Had Meruelo been able to reactivate the Coyotes in 5 years it was going to cost him that $1 billion price the league paid him to give up the hockey side for a while.

Either way..... The way the entire transaction went down was to protect that $1 billion plus expansion price no matter what. In the end.... the owners were going to get their money for a 33rd team.

 

[Dirty Old Man]

So this'll frost some of you, and me a little...I found myself in north Scottsdale for the first time in ages Saturday, and on the way back for grins stopped in at the Ice Den Scottsdale (probably been 5 years since I've been in there)...just in time for an appearance by Chance the VGK mascot in advance of a youth clinic that evening.

It's still a quality facility, best around by some measure of the 7 I know of here (certainly way ahead of its sister in Chandler, and even further ahead of Gilbert AZ Ice), and the bulletin board composite of the youth coaches is pretty impressive (Brendan Burke, Dallas Drake, Zbynek Michalek, Michael Graebner, others I'm sure I'm leaving out)... and walking around to the 3rd rink you can still go by the door to the Coyotes office with the big kachina logo on the door, and the big sign that says "NHL - Authorized Personnel Only - by order of Gary Bettman"... wonder how long they'll leave *that* there,

 

[Sinurgy]

So this'll frost some of you, and me a little...I found myself in north Scottsdale for the first time in ages Saturday, and on the way back for grins stopped in at the Ice Den Scottsdale (probably been 5 years since I've been in there)...just in time for an appearance by Chance the VGK mascot in advance of a youth clinic that evening.

It's still a quality facility, best around by some measure of the 7 I know of here (certainly way ahead of its sister in Chandler, and even further ahead of Gilbert AZ Ice), and the bulletin board composite of the youth coaches is pretty impressive (Brendan Burke, Dallas Drake, Zbynek Michalek, Michael Graebner, others I'm sure I'm leaving out)... and walking around to the 3rd rink you can still go by the door to the Coyotes office with the big kachina logo on the door, and the big sign that says "NHL - Authorized Personnel Only - by order of Gary Bettman"... wonder how long they'll leave *that* there,

It's a sad reminder of what once was

 

[AZDesertKnight]

So off topic and i don’t ever want ill will on anyone named Doan. But I’m actively hoping Josh Doan gets traded out of Utah. He’s definitely struggling this year in Utah and Tucson.

Hope he gets dished to Toronto

 

[JasonDemersWasOkay]

So off topic and i don’t ever want ill will on anyone named Doan. But I’m actively hoping Josh Doan gets traded out of Utah. He’s definitely struggling this year in Utah and Tucson.

Hope he gets dished to Toronto

Hoping Doan and Crouse get traded. The sooner Utah is unrecognizable the better.

 

[Sinurgy]

Hoping Doan and Crouse get traded. The sooner Utah is unrecognizable the better.

I want to agree with you but I'm so invested in the prospects at this point, particularly Cooley, Guenther, Butt, and Simashev that it's going to be a loooong time before the roster will be unrecognizable to me.

That said, thanks to the NHL, even being able to watch Utah if you want to is difficult so I suppose the longer that friction remains, the easier it becomes to let go. Very conflicted!

Considering how I feel as a fan, I can't imagine how Josh Doan has felt through this whole thing. He's a Coyote through and through, I suspect the Meruelo grift has hit him much harder than most.

 

[Jagged Ice]

That said, thanks to the NHL, even being able to watch Utah if you want to is difficult so I suppose the longer that friction remains, the easier it becomes to let go. Very conflicted!

It didn't take me nearly as long as I thought it would to let go. I loved this team and its prospects, but I'm done and out. My attachment level to the Utah HC is at zero.

 

[Sinurgy]

It didn't take me nearly as long as I thought it would to let go. I loved this team and its prospects, but I'm done and out. My attachment level to the Utah HC is at zero.

Are you not watching hockey at all anymore?

 

[Jagged Ice]

Are you not watching hockey at all anymore?

Barely, for now. I'm working my way back to my former team.

 

[JasonDemersWasOkay]

Craig Morgan laid off from AllCity/PHNX along with Steve Peters.

It really just f***ing sucks. Those 2 years of phnx coyotes coverage were so pleasant, having a focused podcast with accompanying pieces helped us get through those two tough years before it all fell apart.

While I have my issues with Craig’s attitude towards coyotes fans after the relocation, I’ll always appreciate his coverage over the years when the team was still here. Whatever your opinion of him these last several months, he was THE coyotes guy to follow for many many years.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

Are you not watching hockey at all anymore?

I'm not. In fact, I was leaving the CineGrill here in Peoria the other night and there was a hockey game on at the bar and I actually reflexively turned my head so I wouldn't see who was playing.

Craig Morgan laid off from AllCity/PHNX along with Steve Peters.

No surprise at all. Without the Coyotes, hockey is absolutely dead in the Valley, and when Meruelo moves the Roadrunners it'll be dead in the whole state.

I don't have too much longer left on this miserable rock of a planet, but I'll always remember the time when Arizona had some of the most respected youth hockey teams in North America and the highest enrollment numbers for USA Hockey in the country. Those were the salad days, but they're not coming back.

Craig will find a new job - he's a media cockroach, and I mean that in the best possible sense, because you just can't kill the guy (metaphorically). Peters, though... he burnt enough bridges toward the end of the Meruelo bullshit that he may be in trouble.

 

[TheLegend]

I'm not. In fact, I was leaving the CineGrill here in Peoria the other night and there was a hockey game on at the bar and I actually reflexively turned my head so I wouldn't see who was playing.



No surprise at all. Without the Coyotes, hockey is absolutely dead in the Valley, and when Meruelo moves the Roadrunners it'll be dead in the whole state.

I don't have too much longer left on this miserable rock of a planet, but I'll always remember the time when Arizona had some of the most respected youth hockey teams in North America and the highest enrollment numbers for USA Hockey in the country. Those were the salad days, but they're not coming back.

Craig will find a new job - he's a media cockroach, and I mean that in the best possible sense, because you just can't kill the guy (metaphorically). Peters, though... he burnt enough bridges toward the end of the Meruelo bullshit that he may be in trouble.

Craig and Steve weren't the only ones who got let go. Two to three others PHNX also got pruned. And several others in the other cities.

ALLCity is making the same mistakes The Athletic did and they will end up getting bought up by a bigger media company too. They burned through $12 million worth of financing since August.

Peters still has his ESPN gig.

Craig said he will restart his substack for now.

 

[Sinurgy]

Barely, for now. I'm working my way back to my former team.

My former team is the Red Wings whom I've grown to dislike after dealing with their fans during those playoff years we kept running into them. So haven't been able to transition to them. I'm just kinda floating around, not watching much beyond football and volleyball.

I'm not. In fact, I was leaving the CineGrill here in Peoria the other night and there was a hockey game on at the bar and I actually reflexively turned my head so I wouldn't see who was playing.



No surprise at all. Without the Coyotes, hockey is absolutely dead in the Valley, and when Meruelo moves the Roadrunners it'll be dead in the whole state.

I don't have too much longer left on this miserable rock of a planet, but I'll always remember the time when Arizona had some of the most respected youth hockey teams in North America and the highest enrollment numbers for USA Hockey in the country. Those were the salad days, but they're not coming back.

Craig will find a new job - he's a media cockroach, and I mean that in the best possible sense, because you just can't kill the guy (metaphorically). Peters, though... he burnt enough bridges toward the end of the Meruelo bullshit that he may be in trouble.

No way...Phoenix had the highest enrollment in USA Hockey in the country?! Man it's crazy how much the NHL f***ed up what should've been an awesome thing (as Vegas has already proven). While I choose to believe they really did want the Yotes here, Alex Meruelo ended up being such a poor choice I can't help but wonder if the exit was part of the plan all along and they found the perfect useful idiot in Meruelo to pull it off.

I'v not watched much NHL this year either, I'm kind of annoyed at myself for letting my emotions get the best of me here but in my defense I think a big part of it is I'm just sort of falling out of the habit. It will be telling what happens when college football ends, if I can't find myself watching any hockey down the stretch it's not going to be looking good.

Part of me wants to be a good soldier like those who seemlessly transitioned to Utah but thus far it's just not happening.

Craig and Steve weren't the only ones who got let go. Two to three others PHNX also got pruned. And several others in the other cities.

ALLCity is making the same mistakes The Athletic did and they will end up getting bought up by a bigger media company too. They burned through $12 million worth of financing since August.

Peters still has his ESPN gig.

Craig said he will restart his substack for now.

Whatever happened to the girl that was part of their crew? I don't remember her name, I just remember feeling bad for her after she got a serious taste of what it was like to be a Coyote fan where you're basically on the defense 24/7 with a big contingent of the hockey world relentlessly attacking you and actively routing for your demise.

 

[TheLegend]

Whatever happened to the girl that was part of their crew? I don't remember her name, I just remember feeling bad for her after she got a serious taste of what it was like to be a Coyote fan where you're basically on the defense 24/7 with a big contingent of the hockey world relentlessly attacking you and actively routing for your demise.

Leah Merrill is still there. She moved up to manager of all content at PHNX.

Losing he hockey team was hard for her. She's a hockey girl first and Craig and Steve leaving hit her pretty hard. They were like mentors to her.