Maricopa county committee formed to bring NHL back to Arizona

[Skidooboy]

Until an Actual owner with deep enough pockets steps up with the cash (and it should be someone who actually has ties to the city as opposed to a bunch of out of town mystery investor group), and an "NHL quality" arena is built and operating...or at the very least under construction....I doubt very much anything will happen.

None of that has happened in the last 15 years. Nobody local to AZ has even wanted to touch the NHL with a ten foot pole.. the only people interested in the "yotes" were liars and conmen trying to discount-bin their way into the big leagues or a sportsbook/casino.

... there is ZERO evidence anyone with the money desire and political capital with the BOG to pull it off is involved.

Just a press release from some local politician......

I could say I'm putting a committee together with the goal of bringing an NHL franchise to my grandma's care home......doesn't mean it will happen.

 

[dj4aces]

No more expansion, please. There's already too many teams in the NHL.

Technically, a return to Arizona wouldn't be "expansion". The franchise exists, it's just dormant. Or, to put it another way, the Coyotes are currently hibernating.

 

[aqib]

Coming from that 50,000 foot myopic viewpoint I’m not surprised.

Nobody is selling anything to anybody at this moment. Mr. Galvin is just trying to put together a group of people from both the political and business communities to find out if something can be done.

Is he just a guy who likes his name out there? I don't know anything about any AZ politician other than ones on Glendale Council back in the day. So is he the type who would this just to get some mentions? I don't recall the County being involved in Coyotes discussions before.

 

[TheLegend]

Is he just a guy who likes his name out there? I don't know anything about any AZ politician other than ones on Glendale Council back in the day. So is he the type who would this just to get some mentions? I don't recall the County being involved in Coyotes discussions before.

As he put it..... he's a big fan of pro sports in Arizona. He doesn't need this just to "put his name out there". The Maricopa County board of supervisors has been in the news enough the last four years.

He said he reached out to Meruelo when the TED vote failed and offered to work on getting something done on a county island that could work for all parties. Did that without any public fanfare.

But Meruelo turned him down flat.

 

[the big nobody]

Technically, a return to Arizona wouldn't be "expansion". The franchise exists, it's just dormant. Or, to put it another way, the Coyotes are currently hibernating.

I was under the impression that the franchise was suspended (or however you want to phrase it) pending Murelo's securing of a deal for the construction of a new arena; since he forfeited ownership following his failure to secure land for that deal, the franchise no longer exists. I might be wrong on that. In any case, there are still too many teams in the NHL at 32 (active) franchises. The ideal was in the mid-to-late-90s at 26-28.

 

[dj4aces]

I was under the impression that the franchise was suspended (or however you want to phrase it) pending Murelo's securing of a deal for the construction of a new arena; since he forfeited ownership following his failure to secure land for that deal, the franchise no longer exists. I might be wrong on that. In any case, there are still too many teams in the NHL at 32 (active) franchises. The ideal was in the mid-to-late-90s at 26-28.

That dormancy, and all that came with it, didn't just go away when Meruelo threw in the towel. It just means Meruelo no longer has rights to the trademarks.

The point is, that unlike former franchises that might return soon (like the Thrashers, Nordiques, Scouts, etc), the Coyotes franchise still exists. Those arguing Phoenix shouldn't get a team because they "hate expansion" is a silly argument since we're currently at 33 franchises -- even if only 32 of them are active.

 

[hammer42]

The NHL. wants a team back in Arizona but Arizona dose not want a team back when will the NHL. get through there thick skulls when a place says NO leave it be & don't try to shove it down there there throats when there are markets like Houston , Kansas City , Hamilton & Quebec City that do want teams .

 

[TheLegend]

The NHL. wants a team back in Arizona but Arizona dose not want a team back when will the NHL. get through there thick skulls when a place says NO leave it be & don't try to shove it down there there throats when there are markets like Houston , Kansas City , Hamilton & Quebec City that do want teams .

Arizona would take a team back in a heartbeat..... it just does not want a team back that relies on mountains of public funds to survive.