- Jan 3, 2012
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I didn't think it would bother me, but the day of the last game I was overcome with a bit of sadness. The reality and possible finality of the situation sunk in.
Confirmed with Link: All-Purpose Coyotes Arena Talk: Land Auction Date Set - 6/27
- Thread starter Kai Yo T
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I didn't think it would bother me, but the day of the last game I was overcome with a bit of sadness. The reality and possible finality of the situation sunk in.
Coyotedroppings
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- Jul 16, 2017
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After all these years, all the struggles and close calls, who would have thought the guy with the most dough, would pull off the finest of asshatery, of them all?
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Knights2017
Registered User
To me, it appears very easy to fail up if you are already wealthy..
These guys have always been braindead, but I'm still giving them the chance to bring the team back.. I truly believe they mean well but they just don't have the aptitude as sports team owners to get it done.
Coyotedroppings
Registered User
- Jul 16, 2017
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I see AM as close to Moyes as any owner we've had to date. They both pretty much stayed clear of hockey ops.. Moyes had the wrong guys (could hardly be helped with Gretzky as part owner) and AM, put together the right guys (thus far, we think). They also both thought they could handle the business of sports and found the damndest ways to skimp.
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- Oct 26, 2006
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I don't think Meruelo means well at all. I think he's got an ego. Meruelo learned how to do business in the casino industry, which is run by thugs and mobsters, and that seems to be the way he runs all his businesses - with strongarm tactics and dick-measuring contests.
Meruelo clearly has no idea whatsoever what it takes to be a successful sports owner. None at all. Every utterance, every action, every impulse from him makes that clear. I think he is staying in this to try and save face - no other reason. His gaslighting at the press conference certainly indicated as much. He doesn't give two shits for hockey or the fans - but to go back to his peer group having stepped on his dick THAT HARD isn't good for his rep, no matter how much money the NHL gave him to go away.
I had to laugh during the presser because Meruelo clearly wanted to appear like he was on an equal footing with Bettman, and equally clearly showed that he wasn't. Bettman is a snake, but he's a tough one and has survived way more than Meruelo has.
Edenjung
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- Jun 7, 2018
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Thats why I hope that the league told them to get help.
They need handholding with everything. Be it PR, talking to politicians, running a franchise, etc.
Perfect solution would be for AM to get Ryan Reynolds and part of the group he was the face of when trying to buy the Senators, to join him. Have them be the face of the team, do the public talking and PR.
He would be able to sway public oppinion immediatly and create a lot of buzz for the endeavor.
In addition he needs to keep his son far away and not talk himself to the media. Let your partner do that and focus on the rest.
Also fund local hockey and maybe get Shane Doan or Charles Barkley on board too (heard that Barkley likes Hockey and he is well liked).
Ryan Reynolds would be perfect for both AM, the NHL, us fans and maybe even the state. He is the kind of guy a majority of people can get behind, even if he is just the face of a group, he would be able to garner positive responses and get more people to care. He and his team know PR.
And they are the kind of people the league would like because they can bring new fans to the game that come just because he is on board.
And we would get a team.
But alas, this is only a dream. A dream that may never come true because AM is stubborn and has a big ego and i doubt RR would want to work with him.
Personally i believe that somebody has to get through to AM and tell him what he has to do if he wants to make this work. But i doubt that will ever happen.
- Oct 26, 2006
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Ryan Reynolds would be perfect for Arizona. "Welcome to Wrexham" but about trying to make hockey work in Arizona. It's the perfect premise for a reality show.
But this is AZ and the NHL, and we can't have anything that makes sense or might work.
Edenjung
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- Jun 7, 2018
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Thats true.
Maybe something like this could be pushed over social media or something.
But i am the wrong person for such things.
Dead Coyote
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- Oct 10, 2017
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Just the messenger here, but Katie Strang filed another story:
The Arizona Coyotes are gone. Someone please tell ex-owner Alex Meruelo
While the team's move to Utah left an opening for the former owner to reclaim an NHL franchise, the path back will be a challenging one.theathletic.com
Everything she says may well be right, but f*** her. She hasn't written a single empathetic or positive thing about the Coyotes her entire tenure, and now she's pissing on the corpse. Does she realize this isn't just about Meruelo?
You got what you wanted Strang, leave us the f*** alone.
- Oct 26, 2006
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The sense I get is not that she's going after the market - she's going after Meruelo. And honestly? Good for her. Go get him! Someone hold him to account, please.
Because this IS just about Meruelo. He's the one who came onto the scene with lofty promises and then did in less than five years what outside forces have been trying to do for almost 20 - get the Coyotes relocated out of Arizona. And it's directly due to Meruelo's actions that it happened like this.
I don't believe Katie Strang is a very objective reporter, but this piece by her just nails the whole situation.
We had to find out the hard way why the NBA passed on Meruelo. The NHL just needed someone to hold the bag for a few years. He couldn't even do that right.
Kai Yo T
Registered User
28 years full of ownership turnover and not one good owner or ownership group was willing to take on this franchise and the Arizona market that whole time. The NHL was always dealing from desperation when it comes to finding an owner for this team and always ended up lowering their standards in regards with who they ended up selling it to - slim pickin's.
It took the NHL 4 years just to find Meruelo! Meanwhile other states have ownership groups begging for expansion.
Any potentially good owner saw the predicament Ellman and Moyes put the franchise in and was smart enough to avoid it like the plague. All that was left was the pretenders to choose from and here we are.
It took the NHL 4 years just to find Meruelo! Meanwhile other states have ownership groups begging for expansion.
Any potentially good owner saw the predicament Ellman and Moyes put the franchise in and was smart enough to avoid it like the plague. All that was left was the pretenders to choose from and here we are.
TheLegend
Megathread Gadfly
She's never been derogatory towards the market and/or the fans. Just wants to expose the darker side of the business aspect.
That said.... there's a problem with the TMZ style reporting in that when you see these kinds of upheavals there's always going to be that "about to be ex-employee" who wants to take their anger out at someone and she's more than willing to give them a platform, no matter how exaggerated (or not) their story might be.
One of the biggest problems I believe is the political climate here. Anywhere else in the country TED would have passed in a landslide. Yet, a senile old lady running a book store help derail everything. Dumb, dumber and dumbest, we have all three in spades here.
I’ve heard the Diamondbacks are eyeing the land but I dunno how true that is.
The mistake in Tempe was probably going to a vote in the first place, not the actual campaign. You can’t have the public vote. They’re idiots.
The mistake in Tempe was probably going to a vote in the first place, not the actual campaign. You can’t have the public vote. They’re idiots.
RemoAZ
Let it burn
I've moved to the sad stage of grief. I was going to look to buy an acre maybe NE Peoria or on the Phoenix side to eventually build a house if the arena got approved and jump back into season tickets in the future. Now I think I'll look farther west and save a boat load of money. I was surprised how many people immediately jumped to the Utah board. I'm guessing more of the regular posters don't live here than I thought. I can't just start rooting for someone else's NHL team. I'm not built that way. I can't even watch the playoffs and that's pretty much the only hockey I've enjoyed the last half dozen years or more. I guess the fact that the team did so much to push me away as a fan, especially since Meruelo took over has made it easier than if they would have actually got to the point where they were a contender and then left. That would have been way worse.
- Jan 3, 2012
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Giving Smith credit because he already has an arena with 11k unobstructed seats? STFU.
Edenjung
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If AM wasn't such a dumbass i would have said that they can group up and go for it together. Have a combined thing. But AM is dumber than a bucket of apples so thats a No.
- Oct 26, 2006
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Dbacks move to Scottsdale, Phoenix nukes the Chase, Meruelo tries to build new arena next door to Footprint.
That would be worthy of a reality show.
- Jan 3, 2012
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Convert Chase to a 30k seat NHL arena with a swimming pool. No one has that.
Well hold the phone here. I agree, no way Meruelo has the brains to team up and collaborate on this. BUT... If Ken Kendrick buys it, who's to say he doesn't build both a baseball and hockey arena? Might Kendrick be a possible candidate for Coyotes 2.0 owner?
Ah. Was not aware. TY.
Trying to think who might that next owner be once Meruelo is out of the picture (as is looking increasingly probable). It's tough.
Ishbia. Either renovate downtown again or break the lease and go to the new plot of land.
