CXLVIII - Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo had 'productive' meeting with Phoenix mayor

[Tom ServoMST3K]

I'm baffled that the league would let the team run up to the auction with the fate of next year in the balance.

That's why I've said I think next year is in Mullett for sure. I assumed the league would let this ownership group take one more crack at it, and the timing just didn't work for that.

Maybe I'm dead wrong on that though - I just can't imagine a franchise could pull off a late-June relocation.

 

[5 Minute Major]

I'm baffled that the league would let the team run up to the auction with the fate of next year in the balance.

That's why I've said I think next year is in Mullett for sure.

Maybe I'm dead wrong on that though - I just can't imagine a franchise could pull off a late-June relocation.

If the NHL could pull off the bubble season, that would be a piece of cake.

 

[TheGreenTBer]

I'm baffled that the league would let the team run up to the auction with the fate of next year in the balance.

That's why I've said I think next year is in Mullett for sure. I assumed the league would let this ownership group take one more crack at it, and the timing just didn't work for that.

Maybe I'm dead wrong on that though - I just can't imagine a franchise could pull off a late-June relocation.

I agree and I still don't believe this team is done until they're actually done, if that happens.

They've been rumored to be done countless times before. I'll believe it when I see it, regardless of what is reported.

 

[PainForShane]

I agree and I still don't believe this team is done until they're actually done, if that happens.

They've been rumored to be done countless times before. I'll believe it when I see it, regardless of what is reported.

Yep. Imo any of the posters wanting to break out the Helium should wait until an official relocation announcement. Until then this is all just talking heads yammering in their echo chambers about a potential sale that 'might be close' or whatever

 

[hockeyguy0022]

Sixty eight threads later, this feels so anticlimactic somehow. If a move it is, how about we make it someplace more exotic, like Saskatoon? Does the ghost of Bill Hunter have any money?

Don't joke about that... Sasktel Centre (15,2XX) is currently bigger then Delta in SLC, and the new rink in sk is going to be 18.5K lol.

 

[TheLegend]

I obviously have no proof other than making logical conclusions/assumptions but I simply cannot fathom a situation where the NHL completed a traditional sale of the team to AM. My guess has always been that he was given the team and is the official owner of record however there was never money actually exchanged, and that there were numerous clauses tied to the building of an arena put in the "sale" to allow the NHL to force a second "sale" back to the NHL regardless of AM's wishes.

Even what's his face (I don't remember his name) from a while ago mentioned that possibility when he talked about the ways the NHL could force the sale of the team.

So that's what I mean when I say "he's not the owner of the team".

What’s his face was Richard Rodier I believe.

And he was looking at possiblies in how the league could force Meruelo to give up the franchise and at that point he thought Meruelo had the upper hand on that.

(Edit) Haven’t checked in on him lately so he may see things differently now.

BTW…. Forgot to mention the NHL sued Moyes over the whole BK proceedings and lost.

 

[TheLegend]

Clarity?
He has been completely clear and direct for months. You just didn’t want to hear it so discredited him for no reason.

He said clearly they “don’t have the votes”
Tempe won’t pass

That the league has been sourcing other options.

They coyotes may be leaving way before anyone else.

You completely discredited and dismissed him.

You wanted people to ignore insiders and reporters who turned out to be right.

Why would you expect people to take your opinion? Who has been more right. You or serevalli?



On the Dfo rundown today.
He said that they were stiffing teams on bills

Yes clarify…

A lot of his comments were containing the phrase “I think”. Not all…. but plenty of them.

What was getting back to Yotes fans was mixture of things that made no sense from what was being said in our area. And yes, that included yours truly.

So Craig had him come on along with Friedman to get it all out there.

Morgan could have easily NOT asked him on and kept the status quo. And Seravalli could have turned the invite down and stuck to his own world.

 

[TheLegend]

Just FYI…. this is affecting more than just the Coyotes.

 

[Legion34]

Just FYI…. this is affecting more than just the Coyotes.

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Friedman and cj already said the

Yes clarify…

A lot of his comments were containing the phrase “I think”. Not all…. but plenty of them.

What was getting back to Yotes fans was mixture of things that made no sense from what was being said in our area. And yes, that included yours truly.

So Craig had him come on along with Friedman to get it all out there.

Morgan could have easily NOT asked him on and kept the status quo. And Seravalli could have turned the invite down and stuck to his own world.

????? “His own world? Getting back to yotes fans? From who? He is a league wide NHL reporter with a publically accessible podcast.

“Yotes fans” don’t have their own little bubble that you need permission to get in to talk about the team. Or appear on local radio to discuss the team? I have no idea what you mean here. If you didn’t believe him. You were wrong. If your team management or local reporters lied to you. Admit you were wrong and move on.

It doesn’t need to get back to you. These aren’t private conversations. It is published reporting. You either chose not to listen to, or believe

But to act like fans/reporters have to stick to one area is just odd

Somewhere along the way you decided you were the sole authority on this topic who gets to tell people who to listen to. You seem to lack insight into your behavior and are doubling down on this weird gate keeping thing.

 

[Fenway]

An educated guess is the Mayor of Scottsdale saying he would fight a new arena in North Phoenix was the straw that broke Bettman's back and if the Jazz owner is willing to pay $1.2 BILLION for the Coyotes that inflates the value of the other 31 teams.

The NHL is spooked by the implosion of RSNs and they can't predict how it will play out.

The shutdown of AT&T Sportsnet caused issues in Pittsburgh, Salt Lake, and Vegas. NESN took over Pittsburgh and the Jazz and Golden Knights were forced to move to free OTA television. The former FOX RSNs ( now Bally ) are all on life support and that is a concern for the NHL, MLB, and NBA.

 

[GKJ]

I'm baffled that the league would let the team run up to the auction with the fate of next year in the balance.

That's why I've said I think next year is in Mullett for sure. I assumed the league would let this ownership group take one more crack at it, and the timing just didn't work for that.

Maybe I'm dead wrong on that though - I just can't imagine a franchise could pull off a late-June relocation.

If they went up to the auction, they would stay in Arizona next year. Bill Daly said it either wouldn’t or would be unlikely if it went into June.

But this is only April.

 

[JKG33]

Just FYI…. this is affecting more than just the Coyotes.

View attachment 850277View attachment 850278

Normally I'm about as pro-player as one can be, but the NTC angle is just crying for the sake of it. Most players will be able to update their trade lists by summer. What do they think is gunna happen? The Coyotes relocate and all of them get traded there before July 1?

Besides, I'm sure SLC is aware and if they do trade for anyone with a NTC, they'd do their due diligence to avoid a Jeff Carter in Columbus situation

 

[GKJ]

 

[GKJ]

I’ll live blog this as I listen to the segment and merge it

Friedman: There are some people calling executive level of the Coyotes ownership “cowards.” He was in Vancouver when the Coyotes were there

Sounds like players knew this was coming last week. Using the term ‘absolute betrayal’ among players and staff to talk about the auction and have sale of the franchise being worked on

Friedman says AM will get the option but he wonders how anyone could possibly trust him based on what he’s heard.

After Bill Daly’s comments, says he was ‘fooled a bit’ by XG going on TV with Todd Walsh about how they were going to win the auction (which is to say he knew this was likely at the GM meetings)

People around the league think AM is getting too good of a deal, but the league wants to make a clean break.

Jeff says he talked to someone who basically said that after the Ottawa sale, that $1b keeps this out of court. Friedman also says you can’t devalue your franchises.

The main reason why there is such careful wording is that Meruelo is unpredictable and is determined to use his leverage as best he can. Thinks there is a deal there and willingness to get it done. “He has the hammer.”

Meruelo will get a 5 year window to archive some benchmarks. “He’s got work to do and things to accomplish.” There are people who don’t think he will do it.

One possibility is that team will be made “inactive” and Ryan Smith will buy the contracts.

Obviously intend to go back there but won’t happen quickly.

League wants Ryan Smith in it, and they know he’s bailing them out of a tough spot. He says Smith wants an opportunity to meet players and staff before they break for the summer and that they’re going to be aggressive in the offseason and give assurances that the team won’t be underfunded.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Is he making it sound like it's a done deal?

 

[GKJ]

Is he making it sound like it's a done deal?

He made it sound like that they’re going to do what they have to do to get this done.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

So it's exactly what everyone with a set of eyes and ears knew. Meruelo is a snake and a crook. It was so f***ing obvious.

 

[TheLegend]

Somewhere along the way you decided you were the sole authority on this topic who gets to tell people who to listen to. You seem to lack insight into your behavior and are doubling down on this weird gate keeping thing.

LOL!!

Pretty broad accusation there.

“Gatekeeper”?

Hardly. I’m just one person who’s been here the last 14 years defending positions I feel worthy of defending.

Have I always been right? No.

If I’m this gatekeeper you accuse me of there you wouldn’t see me posting half of what I’ve put up here in all that time.

Accusing me of being “gatekeeper” is really just a piss poor way of admitting you don’t like people having an opposing opinion to you.

Seems to me you’d rather prefer the megathread exist as an echo chamber for everyone to take a grand dump on the franchise and its fans and y’all could pat yourself on the backs for it.

 

[TheLegend]

Normally I'm about as pro-player as one can be, but the NTC angle is just crying for the sake of it. Most players will be able to update their trade lists by summer. What do they think is gunna happen? The Coyotes relocate and all of them get traded there before July 1?

Besides, I'm sure SLC is aware and if they do trade for anyone with a NTC, they'd do their due diligence to avoid a Jeff Carter in Columbus situation

I agree… nevertheless the situation is obviously real.

 

[GKJ]

So it's exactly what everyone with a set of eyes and ears knew. Meruelo is a snake and a crook. It was so f***ing obvious.

That’s among my impressions. There was an insinuation that Meruelo knows how to play games in the segment and that he is a wild card.

My overall impression based off this is that this is now a rescue operation. And also confirms some of the things we kinda already know, but they do not trust Meruelo, they do not trust this process and you could probably fairly insinuate that they do not trust the auction.

Meruelo also has still not had any of these meetings with the team/organization.

I can’t see the league going back into business with him.

 

[JKG33]

After listening to the 2 PHNX podcasts last night, a couple episodes of the Jeff Marek show regarding the Coyotes, and now the above summary from today's 32T pod, here's what I'm thinking...


Meruelo is an arrogant dickhead and a grifter. The NHL values the Phoenix/Arizona market, but they want him gone and they realize how f***ed it is to be playing 3-5 seasons in a college barn.

Everyone loves Ryan Smith, he's impressed the right people and SLC has great potential as a hockey market. Having lived near the area myself, hockey isn't huge now but with the winter climate and affluent demographic, this could really be huge for the league. Combine all that with a practically guarenteed new arena for the Olympics and this is as good as the NHL could ask for.

Back to Meruelo, his tenure as AZ owner has been a shitshow of empty promises and unpaid bills. The NHL can probably win a legal battle to "kick him out" of the owners club but nobody wants an even messier situation. This $1B payout is a more than generous offer that makes Meruelo whole and retains franchise value. The problem becomes Meruelo's ego and him still wanting a team. I fully believe the NHL will give him that window of 1st rights at AZ expansion.. with benchmarks that the league thinks are nearly impossible to hit yet low enough that Meruelo's arrogance will lead him to believe they're achievable.

Ultimately the league wants Ryan Smith and SLC, and they want AZ but without Meruelo. There's a long ways to go but this series of deals seems like the best way to get all of the above, with an eventual new owner in AZ

 

[TheLegend]

I’ll live blog this as I listen to the segment and merge it

Friedman: There are some people calling executive level of the Coyotes ownership “cowards.” He was in Vancouver when the Coyotes were there

Sounds like players knew this was coming last week. Using the term ‘absolute betrayal’ among players and staff to talk about the auction and have sale of the franchise being worked on

Friedman says AM will get the option but he wonders how anyone could possibly trust him based on what he’s heard.

After Bill Daly’s comments, says he was ‘fooled a bit’ by XG going on TV with Todd Walsh about how they were going to win the auction (which is to say he knew this was likely at the GM meetings)

People around the league think AM is getting too good of a deal, but the league wants to make a clean break.

Jeff says he talked to someone who basically said that after the Ottawa sale, that $1b keeps this out of court. Friedman also says you can’t devalue your franchises.

The main reason why there is such careful wording is that Meruelo is unpredictable and is determined to use his leverage as best he can. Thinks there is a deal there and willingness to get it done. “He has the hammer.”

Meruelo will get a 5 year window to archive some benchmarks. “He’s got work to do and things to accomplish.” There are people who don’t think he will do it.

One possibility is that team will be made “inactive” and Ryan Smith will buy the contracts.

Obviously intend to go back there but won’t happen quickly.

League wants Ryan Smith in it, and they know he’s bailing them out of a tough spot. He says Smith wants an opportunity to meet players and staff before they break for the summer and that they’re going to be aggressive in the offseason and give assurances that the team won’t be underfunded.

Thanks.

Right now I don’t think you’d find a Coyotes fan (including me) who’d disagree with any of this.

(so much for my “gatekeeping”, huh)

 

[GKJ]

Thanks.

Right now I don’t think you’d find a Coyotes fan (including me) who’d disagree with any of this.

(so much for my “gatekeeping”, huh)

Gives credence that they’re still not paying all of their bills though, however that was not explicitly corroborated. Just ‘some of the things he heard’ on Wednesday’ seemed outrageous to him. He was able to speak with players there. He thinks one of the reasons the players were closed off was not because of the questions, but because of what the answers would be.

 

[MaskedSonja]

That’s among my impressions. There was an insinuation that Meruelo knows how to play games in the segment and that he is a wild card.

My overall impression based off this is that this is now a rescue operation. And also confirms some of the things we kinda already know, but they do not trust Meruelo, they do not trust this process and you could probably fairly insinuate that they do not trust the auction.

Meruelo also has still not had any of these meetings with the team/organization.

I can’t see the league going back into business with him.

thank you for this blogging of the info. Catches me up on a bunch of stuff that I wasnt aware of! Still got some catching up to do, but this was great thank you!

 

[Hunter Gathers]

So it's exactly what everyone with a set of eyes and ears knew. Meruelo is a snake and a crook. It was so f***ing obvious.

Bingo. I pop in and out but barely comment in this these days but it has been obvious to anyone with a pulse that the team was done and the league was just finding a way to deal with/around Meruelo.