The future of the Coyotes franchise...

Brian in Mesa

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There's no way Bettman has any faith in Meruelo to get this done.. Bettman had to interrupt him multiple times to clarify an answer or cover for a stupid answer...

Bettman clearly wants NHL to work here, but he's tied to a complete clown.

Not that promising for the future of NHL hockey in AZ.
Too bad the NHL didn't help with the sale, and reserve the team's name, image, and likeness, etc., but keep it open to anyone who could successfully get an arena done here in Arizona rather than giving exclusivity to the same old owner.

Heck, then the league itself could have tried to get something done and then sell the expansion team and an arena to a prospective buyer.
 

Chris_Sanders

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I would rather have no hockey in AZ than to be another poverty franchise in AZ

Hopefully we get a new owner and franchise in the next 5-10 years.

Meanwhile, Utah sucks
 

ASUCHRIS

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I would rather have no hockey in AZ than to be another poverty franchise in AZ

Hopefully we get a new owner and franchise in the next 5-10 years.

Meanwhile, Utah sucks
How could anyone possible trust Meruelo at this point? Him still getting any say in the future of hockey in this state is a total disaster.
 

Brian in Mesa

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How could anyone possible trust Meruelo at this point? Him still getting any say in the future of hockey in this state is a total disaster.
The league should have bought the team, held the name, image, and likeness, then sold to Utah. Then tell Alex he has a couple of years to show some progress, or the team would be awarded to anyone else who could get it done. He should never have simply been given a 5-year deadline and the rights to the team. Meh.

An expansion team sounds great unless the owner is the same.
 

puckhead

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How could anyone possible trust Meruelo at this point? Him still getting any say in the future of hockey in this state is a total disaster.

I know the league doesn't, which is how we got here. Meruelo gets the opportunity to put up or shut up and being the shrewd commissioner he is, Bettman gave him a runway that requires him to prove everything he was currently lacking gets remedied. AM has taken it on the chin from every direction so if he's serious and can actually pull this off, he'll have earned a second chance in my book. I very much doubt he can do so, but that's his problem. It will take a herculean effort to make it all happen inside the time-frame he's been given.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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The coyotes page should be moved to Other Sports until we actually have a team again.
 

bankybruce

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My vote

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Hoop Head

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I don't know much about Meruelo but isn't him bidding a good thing? Doesn't he have a handshake deal with the NHL that if he can get that land and an arena then the Coyotes, or an NHL team by another name, will return? I thought he had like 3-4 years to make if happen.

Can someone fill me in? Also, why isn't he liked outside of selling to Utah.
 

Yuma

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I don't know much about Meruelo but isn't him bidding a good thing? Doesn't he have a handshake deal with the NHL that if he can get that land and an arena then the Coyotes, or an NHL team by another name, will return? I thought he had like 3-4 years to make if happen.

Can someone fill me in? Also, why isn't he liked outside of selling to Utah.
He has five years.

It's a bunch of things. For one he was building a team the right way through the draft, and now all those players are in Utah (including Josh Doan who played for ASU). He mishandled rent payments, personal relationships with Glendale officials that started the whole mess of him having to play in Tempe while he tried to find land to build a stadium. He talked big, but underperformed on everything he laid out for the franchise. There's no trust now with him and the fans.
 

jf-08

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AM also put his arrogant 24-year old son (Alex Jr) into the position of "Chief Brand Officer", whatever the hell that means and Jr. thought he knew more than actual hockey insiders.

Son did Shane Doan wrong. He told Doan he wasn't ready for a job in hockey ops and pushed him out the door.

Jr. is insecure and an asshat and and also pushed NHL PR guru Rich Nairn out the door because Jr. thought he knew more than him.

Jr. treated the working staff (kitchen staff, maintenance, etc) with contempt and micromanaged things and was a bully, intimidated, and drove fear and reports state that some of the common staff were left in tears commonly.

Jr. got rid of things and niceties like player swag for the families, reduced office equipment to a barren state, but spent a buckton of money (many hundreds of thousands of dollars) on that gawd-awful fashion designer who came up with the most terrible uniform in the history of sports.

If the team somehow gets resurrected (and I am 90% sure it won't), Jr. needs to be sh1tc@nned if this team has any chance of being anything but the most terrible run organization in sports.

Which is sad, because I love, love the team and for the past many decades I've watched almost every game. But I hate the position that arrogance and incompetence has put this (former) team in.
 

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