He didn’t really. The 5 year roadmap had progression points with the intention that the Coyotes would return by the end of it. The NHL never intended for Meruelo to sit on his ass for the entire 5 years AND THEN start building after. Which meant that at some point between years 2 and 3, the construction process had to be started.
So then the combined Jets 1.0 and 2.0 would be an NHL franchise from 1979-1996, then inactive from 1996-2011? Then the league pretends the Thrashers didn't exist? Seems complicated. Easier to give Jets 1.0 + Coyotes history to Utah as there's actually a direct correlation.
Now return the Jets pre 96 history to them.
The NHL never intended for Meruelo to come back. Five years to get an arena built, for this guy? That was an impossible task that they only threw in as a fig leaf to fans that could only have come together via a miracle.
I can't imagine the league trying Yotes 2.0 untill they find an owner with deep pockets and is actually reliable. Considering everything that fan base has gone through and how hard the league pushed to make hockey in Arizona work, they can't start Yotes 2.0 on anything less than a strong footing.
That was my impression of the deal. That timeline (coupled with his inability to actual work with local partners) basically meant that if the land auction didn't go to plan then that's it. He had no margin of error in terms of timing. This deal was basically structured to allow Meruelo to save some face, have money to get an arena project going if he somehow got the land and for the league to finally rid itself of a messy situation.
Amen to this. Temmu Selanne 72 goal season with the Jets!
Now return the Jets pre 96 history to them.
That was what it looked like. Unless everything went fast and perfectly, it was a time bomb set to go off after five years. Had the SLC deal gone down this week, the five year window probably would have never been needed. As it was, the bomb was set to go off after five years, mercifully putting the entire soap opera to an end without anybody having to pull the plug.
I think Ryan Smith bought everything but the name and history. The Coyotes were suspended. Utah is an expansion team. I think, with the news today, the Coyotes are done forever, but I could be wrong.
Competent ownership and management would solve everything. There is no reason why an NHL team in Phoenix somehow cannot succeed.
For the good of the NHL I think they should shut down the Coyotes experiment until they can find a market down there with a good amount of support.
