Around the League 42: Life, the Universe, and Everything

[CandyCanes]

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

Imagine throwing away a retirement banner. What in the hell?

I feel terrible for Coyotes fans and they deserve a real team and a real owner. Hopefully they get that in expansion and the Meruelo folks are pushed away with a 10-feet pole. A lot of the stuff going on between the Coyotes and Bettman/the league felt like a stereotypical enabling relationship that you hear about on shows like My 600 Pound Life. It's bittersweet, but also good for everybody, that the Utah Jazz owner put an end to that cycle of misery.

 

[CandyCanes]

Heartbreaking to watch this goodbye to the Yotes. The Yotes fans didn’t deserve this

 

[Justicebork]

Totes postgame is tough to watch. ESPN+ still has the feed going. Nobody deserves this, can’t imagine what this must feel like for those people

 

[Brock Anton]

The fans, employees and players don't deserve this and hopefully Arizona and the NHL can find a way to revive the team without having to deal with Meruelo anymore.

But as a whole, I'm happy this complete shitshow of an organization is no longer in the NHL. The players who stick around will now play for an owner who'll actually invest in the team and try to build a winner and other GM's actually have be careful about who they give money to and not get bailed out by using the Coyotes as a toxic dumping ground to drop off their bad contracts.

 

[Justicebork]

Don’t know if anybody made it to the end but it was very moving.

 

[raynman]

I know it’s probably performative on the league’s part but it irks me that the current owner gets first crack at an expansion team in AZ. f*** that guy.

 

[Svechhammer]

I'm sorry but he didn't even bother to show up for that last game. Asshole.

My final straw with him, and it's not like it's my only gripe, but it's when the NHL had to get involved last week to get the Yotes to pay their hotel bills after they had stiffed each one they had stayed in this season. How f***ing cheap do you have to be to not pay those expenses?

No, Mereulo should never own a franchise again. I hope the NHL spends every second of the next couple years figuring out a way to legally ban him from ownership and bringing the team back with someone who cares. The fanbase is still there, but it's a non-starter with that owner.

 

[chaz4hockey]

I'm sorry but he didn't even bother to show up for that last game. Asshole.

My final straw with him, and it's not like it's my only gripe, but it's when the NHL had to get involved last week to get the Yotes to pay their hotel bills after they had stiffed each one they had stayed in this season. How f***ing cheap do you have to be to not pay those expenses?

No, Mereulo should never own a franchise again. I hope the NHL spends every second of the next couple years figuring out a way to legally ban him from ownership and bringing the team back with someone who cares. The fanbase is still there, but it's a non-starter with that owner.

Step 1: get him to agree to a move with a new owner
Step 2: make it very difficult for him to get a new franchise within the required 5 years.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

Step 1: get him to agree to a move with a new ownwr
Step 2: make it very difficult for him to get a new franchise within the required 5 years.

Bettman, 5 years in: “We have no expansion plans at this time.”

Bettman, 6 years in: “Hmm, it seems it may be time to entertain expansion again.”

 

[CanesUltimate11]

I'm sorry but he didn't even bother to show up for that last game. Asshole.

Honestly this was probably the right move for him. I doubt one person in that arena (fans or players) would have wanted him there after this shit. Though maybe it would have been cathartic for the whole arena to shout "Wanker" at him in his box.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

Honestly this was probably the right move for him. I doubt one person in that arena (fans or players) would have wanted him there after this shit. Though maybe it would have been cathartic for the whole arena to shout "Wanker" at him in his box.

He's getting a billion dollars. For a billion dollars, I'd stand at center ice all game and let the fans and players have at it.

 

[Identity404]

Mereulo getting another team would require him to pay a 1 billion dollar expansion fee. He seems like a poverty billionaire. I think most of his assets are tied up in 2nd rate casinos, tv and radio stations that are probably not positive investments at this point.

I think he bought the Coyotes in bad faith and intentionally ran the Coyotes into the ground so that the league had no choice but let him sell at a profit. It was an easy real estate flip to him. I doubt he actually wants to use those proceeds to purchase another franchise.

I think the public condition of allowing him first crack at another franchise was a misguided attempt from the league to tell Coyotes fans that they are still very committed to getting them another franchise as quickly as possible. I doubt they seriously intend to make that happen.

 

[HisIceness]

At least the Coyotes go out as winners

 

[htdoc]

Less than zero percent chance there is a coyotes team owned by him in the future...

No way the league allows him to actually hit the deadlines in the agreement. I don't think he will even follow through with the auction as soon as the money is deposited. Because he knows the league is never going to let him have another team.

The sad thing is that they had to pay him a huge windfall as a reward for his pathetic business practices and his return on his investment in just a couple years is crazy high for someone who's day to day method of running the business was to defraud every single person they did business with. Every single purchase or contract with every vendor to not pay a single bill until litigation threatened and then try to negotiate a discount after services already provided or purchases delivered. He had to get out now as his strategy has a shelf life before no one will do business without pre payment... they milked it for every penny they could, destroyed their reputation and now get to pocket a big windfall selling for well more than their original purchase price (assuming everything being reported is true)...

The league framing it this way solely to get his signature on the paperwork without dragging it out in litigation and making it even more messy and public. Which would just embarass the league more and show how much of a colossal mistake they made vetting and approving this owner... not the first time they have approved a terrible owner and didn't do enough due diligence. The league has a long history of that... but in today's media world it hits different than sone of their more shameful shady previous clusters of bad ownership situations...

 

[raynman]

Mereulo getting another team would require him to pay a 1 billion dollar expansion fee. He seems like a poverty billionaire. I think most of his assets are tied up in 2nd rate casinos, tv and radio stations that are probably not positive investments at this point.

I think he bought the Coyotes in bad faith and intentionally ran the Coyotes into the ground so that the league had no choice but let him sell at a profit. It was an easy real estate flip to him. I doubt he actually wants to use those proceeds to purchase another franchise.

I think the public condition of allowing him first crack at another franchise was a misguided attempt from the league to tell Coyotes fans that they are still very committed to getting them another franchise as quickly as possible. I doubt they seriously intend to make that happen.

Their rosters made it seem like it had to be some sort of scheme to make a bunch of money. I think they were paying more in LTIR contracts than they were for the actual players on the ice.

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

Their rosters made it seem like it had to be some sort of scheme to make a bunch of money. I think they were paying more in LTIR contracts than they were for the actual players on the ice.

They still have Datsyuk on their books I believe lol

 

[Svechhammer]

Did they like steal all of our traditions from 2006

 

[bleedgreen]

I couldn’t watch last night. Losing a team leaves a scar and I’ve said before I wouldn’t wish it on my enemies. Of course it’s only sports, and it doesn’t compare to real life but we spend a lot of time with these kids games and your team is part of your identity on some level. You still love the sport but don’t really have a home inside of it. I sympathize with Yotes fans, just as I sympathized with the Winnipeg fans that lost that team in the first place.

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

Nashville has stole a lot of traditions

 

[Navin R Slavin]

He's getting a billion dollars. For a billion dollars, I'd stand at center ice all game and let the fans and players have at it.

He started with a billion dollars, though. And the reason he started with a billion dollars is that he's exactly the type of person who would put his self interest above the interests of everybody else.

Of course he wasn't at that game. Come on, man!

 

[Justicebork]

Here is the sign off from one of the longtime voices of the Coyotes, worth a watch.

 

[chaz4hockey]

Less than zero percent chance there is a coyotes team owned by him in the future...

No way the league allows him to actually hit the deadlines in the agreement. I don't think he will even follow through with the auction as soon as the money is deposited. Because he knows the league is never going to let him have another team.

The sad thing is that they had to pay him a huge windfall as a reward for his pathetic business practices and his return on his investment in just a couple years is crazy high for someone who's day to day method of running the business was to defraud every single person they did business with. Every single purchase or contract with every vendor to not pay a single bill until litigation threatened and then try to negotiate a discount after services already provided or purchases delivered. He had to get out now as his strategy has a shelf life before no one will do business without pre payment... they milked it for every penny they could, destroyed their reputation and now get to pocket a big windfall selling for well more than their original purchase price (assuming everything being reported is true)...

The league framing it this way solely to get his signature on the paperwork without dragging it out in litigation and making it even more messy and public. Which would just embarass the league more and show how much of a colossal mistake they made vetting and approving this owner... not the first time they have approved a terrible owner and didn't do enough due diligence. The league has a long history of that... but in today's media world it hits different than sone of their more shameful shady previous clusters of bad ownership situations...

“league more and show how much of a colossal mistake they made vetting and approving this owner... not the first time they have approved a terrible owner and didn't do enough due diligence”

John Spano says hello.

 

[DaveG]

I know it’s probably performative on the league’s part but it irks me that the current owner gets first crack at an expansion team in AZ. f*** that guy.

was probably the only way to get AM to sell unfortunately. There's no way in hell the owners will actually approve him being the next owner of the team though IMO, and I wouldn't be surprised if they already had something set up for someone else to be a competing bid for the property out by Scottsdale for an arena district to be the new owner.

 

[Bub]

“league more and show how much of a colossal mistake they made vetting and approving this owner... not the first time they have approved a terrible owner and didn't do enough due diligence”

John Spano says hello.

"Don't forget about me!" -- Bruce McNall