It’s ironic that most of the vitriol over a *temporary* locker room situation is coming from the heart of “hockey purity” country…the place where you just lace up your skates and play with the boys no matter if it’s a state of the art 20,000 seat arena or a local rink or a frozen pond.
There are people bound and determined to ignore the logistics of why the NHL wants hockey to succeed and thinks it can in one of the most populated, fastest growing, biggest markets in the USA. I understand the slight felt by certain other regions but this is about long-term business. The NHL has been in the desert for 26 years now…there’s a junior scene growing with talent, a D1 school that has had plenty of drafted talent come through it’s doors in the short time it’s been around and periods of actual success and fervor around the NHL team. Yea, bad ownership and short-sighted decision making has hampered things - but that is no different than some more “traditional” markets. There is little reason to believe that the NHL can’t be a wild success in Phoenix that it has been in Tampa or Raleigh - except the market is much bigger. It has definitely been an investment - and one I think that will still pay off for the league - hence the stubbornness to ke
I’m just letting you know about things that went on in the background most people usually ignore.
You say you know about the past but you really don’t. I doubt you know that months before the Coyotes announced their proposal a city councilman from Glendale sent Katie Strang’s first article on the Coyotes to another council member in Tempe with a note asking her if they really wanted to work with the Coyotes.
So it was very apparent to Glendale had known for some time that the Coyotes were closing in on a proposal elsewhere and certain city officials wanted to throw a wrench into it.
Bottom line to this is….
Glendale had known for some time they could lose the Coyotes. Their were two other attempts before this one. The difference being this time it could work because there’s an owner with some real money behind him.
Now Glendale could have come back and said “Okay…. we’ll agree to three years plus an option for two more but you have to pay it all up front.”. They didn’t.
Because they didn’t want a third arena being built they’d have to compete with. And in a location far superior to theirs.
They were betting on Meruelo to either back off and sign up for another 20 years or leave the market completely.
Presumptions. Unfortunately, go in every direction. Not just north to south.
As odd a it sounds to some, not present company included, I was very much watching this from circa 2007. An odd, yet even time. Shakey Internet at times, from my (at the time a new development in Calgary) Dell.
Every council meeting, every AZ central post. Before patwall, all of it.
Again, I'm not against any of the Coyotes' plans.
I appreciate your knowledge on the subject at hand, MULTUPLE well shared amounts of information.
I looked forward to the future posts, that are part of NEW Coyote talk. And I will still keep up to date with the current.
And with due respect, I don't need to be "let known" anything. Information is everywhere.
The more posts people write, (type) does not give privlage of exclusive opinion, or definitive facts.
Opinions, while informed, or not, are like...
