Arizona (Phoenix) Coyotes 1996-2024

[syz]

With Atlanta and especially Hartford, the league had a lot more lead time to craft a response. Atlanta happened fast at the end, but IIRC the pieces were falling into place by January, and Bettman was working to control the narrative through that process as the ownership group had kind of hijacked the franchise by that point.

From the outside looking in, the Coyotes seemed to press the relocation button more quickly. It doesn’t feel like the league really had a good spin to put on this one, they realized Meruelo wasn’t paying bills again and the union was getting involved, and they finally told him to pull the plug.

My guess is they’ll wait till the formal vote and sweep this season under the rug as hard as they can, focusing the narrative on Utah to avoid having to talk about the mess Meruelo left.

Feel like they're kinda stuck though as long as Meruelo's the guy with the rights, aren't they? Like it seems like this whole "revival window" is still in his hands; is there a stealthy way for them to try and change that?

 

[Rangers79]

Stayed up late last night to watch, glad I did. Feel bad for their fans, had to be such an empty feeling. It's unfortunate but it honestly should've happened years ago and handled better

 

[These Are The Days]

Hard to support fans who only filled the arena on the teams last night there. Where were you for the last 20 years?

Please don't be the dude who shows up at the wake and starts talking shit when they already had an eternity to do it and everyone attending has already heard it

 

[5 Minute Major]

I hope the Coyotes fans continue to follow their team because, it still is their team. They can take the location of where they play away from you but not the memories of those players that played for your team and still will be playing. Just in a different location. Those players are still yours to root for.

And good luck with getting a new team. I look forward to seeing that happen.

 

[ponder719]

This is true......might be the shortest relocation (out of state) in NHL history, if that's any consolation.

Largely irrelevant, but this got me curious, and it's not quite. The Kansas City-Denver relocation, 603 miles, seems to be shortest of the relocations since the 1967 expansion; Phoenix to SLC is 662. Hartford to Raleigh is 619, and the original move, Hartford to Greensboro, was 650. All of the other moves just seem blatantly farther (Denver to NJ, Atlanta to Calgary, Atlanta to Winnipeg, Oakland to Cleveland, Winnipeg to Phoenix, Quebec to Denver, Minnesota to Dallas) so I didn't look them up.

 

[Saga of the Elk]

When you see this sort of thing happen in Hartford, Atlanta, Colorado, Quebec, Winnipeg, Minnesota and Arizona, it makes you wonder about the league's fundamental ability to run itself.

The NHL loves to tout loyalty, fanaticism, passion, tradition... and it finds these utter dirtbags to control its product lines.

Very unfair to its customers. The NHL treats fans like we're morons, from the shady double-speak of everything Gary Bettman says, to the bizarre decisions of hockey ops, to the narrative-driven reffing at times. And now another team, another fanbase, is fractured and betrayed. Sad state of affairs, and a shameful one.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

I wouldn’t and don’t pay a shit product.
My problem is the shit product was 30 years long with multiple owners.
Not just one bad one. A string of them….

So what’s the problem at that point?

You JUST identified the problem. They had a shit product for 30 years with multiple owners.

Most fanbases won’t tolerate that. Non-traditional markets certainly won’t, and as we’ve seen from the Senators lately, traditional markets have their breaking point as well.

 

[syz]

I hope the Coyotes fans continue to follow their team because, it still is their team. They can take the location of where they play away from you but not the memories of those players that played for your team and still will be playing. Just in a different location. Those players are still yours to root for.

And good luck with getting a new team. I look forward to seeing that happen.

Although strangely in this case none of the "franchise" stats from the Jets/Coyotes era are transferring to Utah, which will be treated statistically as though it's an entirely new expansion franchise.

 

[jigglysquishy]

Should have moved to Winnipeg in 2011 and righted a wrong.

 

[Royale With Cheese]

Serious question - have the Coyotes EVER had a really good owner?

It seems to have mainly been a collection of fools over the years that never seriously wanted the Coyotes to actually work. I could be wrong as I haven't followed closely for years.

 

[syz]

When you see this sort of thing happen in Hartford, Atlanta, Colorado, Quebec, Winnipeg, Minnesota and Arizona, it makes you wonder about the league's fundamental ability to run itself.

The NHL loves to tout loyalty, fanaticism, passion, tradition... and it finds these utter dirtbags to control its product lines.

Very unfair to its customers. The NHL treats fans like we're morons, from the shady double-speak of everything Gary Bettman says, to the bizarre decisions of hockey ops, to the narrative-driven reffing at times. And now another team, another fanbase, is fractured and betrayed. Sad state of affairs, and a shameful one.

They at least seem to have gotten better recently about finding owners who have money and are willing to spend it. It's just kinda weird that they couldn't do that in Arizona no matter how hard they tried.

Though I will say there probably aren't many owners who would be willing to overcome the whole "need to build an arena" hurdle out of pocket. If the tax payers say no then it's probably not going to happen, and afaik Arizona's tax payers have been saying no.

 

[FoxysExpensiveNYDigs]

Yotes fans deserve better. Loved watching those late 90s teams with Tkachuk, Roenick, Doan, Khabibulin, etc.

May hockey return to the desert post haste.

 

[HolyGhost]

So is it official now? I know the vote is happening today.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Feel like they're kinda stuck though as long as Meruelo's the guy with the rights, aren't they? Like it seems like this whole "revival window" is still in his hands; is there a stealthy way for them to try and change that?

My best guess is they don’t expect Meruelo to have the capital to run a franchise, so they’re thinking he will either fold and they can pick a new owner to pay an expansion fee, or he sells the rights to someone else and they can charge a “transfer fee” a la the Atlanta/Winnipeg sale.

So is it official now? I know the vote is happening today.

3pm today.

 

[PositiveCashFlow]

View attachment 854317
see ya later with some salt added

Why are they gathered around the sun devis logo and not the coyotes?

 

[Mez]

As a neutral fan the Oilers postgame thread on their board shitting on the team and their fans is disgusting and makes me happy they haven't come close to a Cup in my lifetime.

Wtf? i just read it, it was so tame....what are you on about?

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Spoiler: mean fans

Post-Game Talk: - “You’re My Favourite Mistake” Oilers tank game 81 to let AZ close this franchise with a W

Gary’s favourite mistake indeed with how many times he has bailed out this useless franchise over the last 28 years (including having the league control it for a time) just to keep this fledgling team in the desert, trying to disprove what everyone said from day 1: hockey will not work in the...

forums.hfboards.com

GDT: - LXXXI | "Closing Time, You Don't Have To Go Home But You Can't Stay Here" | Oilers @ Coyotes | 4.17.24 | 8:00PM | SN

(49-25-6) --vs-- (35-41-5) Game Day: Wednesday April 17th '24 Game Time: 8:00PM Location: Mullet Arena Broadcast: SN ----- Adam Henrique - Connor McDavid - Zach Hyman Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Leon Draisaitl - Warren Foegele Dylan Holloway - Ryan McLeod - Corey Perry Mattias Janmark - Connor...

forums.hfboards.com

Let the Oilers fans know how you feel everyone.

why do you care what Oiler fans think? lol

 

[jetsmooseice]

Yeah it's sad for the fans etc. etc. but who can say they didn't get a fair chance. The Coyotes came into being after the NHL gave up on Winnipeg Jets 1.0 after 16 years in the NHL. Hell, the WHL gave up on the Winnipeg ICE after four seasons, one of which was a half-assed pandemic bubble.

Meanwhile Phoenix had 28 YEARS to get things right. At a certain point you have to cut bait and move on. Is it possible that the people who said Phoenix was a questionable location for a NHL team may have been right all along?

 

[Dr Pepper]

When you see this sort of thing happen in Hartford, Atlanta, Colorado, Quebec, Winnipeg, Minnesota and Arizona, it makes you wonder about the league's fundamental ability to run itself.

The NHL loves to tout loyalty, fanaticism, passion, tradition... and it finds these utter dirtbags to control its product lines.

Very unfair to its customers. The NHL treats fans like we're morons, from the shady double-speak of everything Gary Bettman says, to the bizarre decisions of hockey ops, to the narrative-driven reffing at times. And now another team, another fanbase, is fractured and betrayed. Sad state of affairs, and a shameful one.

You say this as if relocation is something we only see with the NHL.

Ask Montrealers about the Expos, or Rams fans in St. Louis.......hell, maybe you'll find some Grizzlies fans still sore about losing their team too.

 

[Melrose Munch]

When you see this sort of thing happen in Hartford, Atlanta, Colorado, Quebec, Winnipeg, Minnesota and Arizona, it makes you wonder about the league's fundamental ability to run itself.

The NHL loves to tout loyalty, fanaticism, passion, tradition... and it finds these utter dirtbags to control its product lines.

Very unfair to its customers. The NHL treats fans like we're morons, from the shady double-speak of everything Gary Bettman says, to the bizarre decisions of hockey ops, to the narrative-driven reffing at times. And now another team, another fanbase, is fractured and betrayed. Sad state of affairs, and a shameful one.

The NHL is running on fumes despite the revenue, making money in spite of itself. This is not how a major league is run and I wonder what the plan is if Houston and Atlanta somehow don't bid. Not being in 3 of the largest 20 US markets, means you're not a major league.

Hope the next lockout doesn't come because the NHL is done as part of the Big Four if it does. The seeds are in place for the MLS to pass it.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

You say this as if relocation is something we only see with the NHL.

Ask Montrealers about the Expos, or Rams fans in St. Louis.......hell, maybe you'll find some Grizzlies fans still sore about losing their team too.

or Seattle with the Supersonics

I'm surprised the NBA....a global game now...hasn't expanded back there

 

[Dr Pepper]

or Seattle with the Supersonics

I'm surprised the NA....a global game now...hasn't expanded back there

Definitely.....just saying, there's ample cases of relocation in any of the "big 4" leagues over the years.

 

[57special]

It was a long, lingering illness. At the end, we were all more relieved, than sad that it ended.

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

From a Hartford Whalers fan and former season ticket holder, I’m sorry Coyotes fans. You’re part of a club no sports fan ever wants to be a part of. Hoping you get a team back soon and that it’s done the right way.

 

[Fatass]

Stayed up late last night to watch, glad I did. Feel bad for their fans, had to be such an empty feeling. It's unfortunate but it honestly should've happened years ago and handled better

And the Coyote fans were treated to their club pretty much pounding the Oilers.