Thanks!

YotesFan47

Registered User
Jun 16, 2012
4,165
2,088
Phoenix, Arizona USA
With the team moving I’ve found I have little to no interest in hockey. Bitter is how I've been explaining my feelings to people. Anyway, I've been around here for a long time, feel connected to all of you as we've been sharing experiences. I wanted to take a moment to say thanks for all the great years I've had here, and I wish you all the best. I'm happy to be friends with each and every one of you, don't hesitate to reach out if you want my contact info.
 

Baby Doaner

Registered User
Mar 14, 2021
981
965
With the team moving I’ve found I have little to no interest in hockey. Bitter is how I've been explaining my feelings to people. Anyway, I've been around here for a long time, feel connected to all of you as we've been sharing experiences. I wanted to take a moment to say thanks for all the great years I've had here, and I wish you all the best. I'm happy to be friends with each and every one of you, don't hesitate to reach out if you want my contact info.
It was fun sharing season tickets with you that one year.
 

The Feckless Puck

Registered Loser
Sponsor
Oct 26, 2006
18,612
11,579
With the team moving I’ve found I have little to no interest in hockey. Bitter is how I've been explaining my feelings to people. Anyway, I've been around here for a long time, feel connected to all of you as we've been sharing experiences. I wanted to take a moment to say thanks for all the great years I've had here, and I wish you all the best. I'm happy to be friends with each and every one of you, don't hesitate to reach out if you want my contact info.

Man, I feel this so hard. I'm in limbo myself... I probably won't know which direction to go until the offseason and the draft arrives. But don't go too far if you leave... :)
 

The Feckless Puck

Registered Loser
Sponsor
Oct 26, 2006
18,612
11,579
Guys/Gals take all the time you need but as a transplanted fan of the Winnipeg Jets who still cheered for this franchise remotely you may want to give Utah a chance down the road.

Once the bitterness fades, I think a lot of us are going to do just that.

But man, it's still just a week old. We're still in the stages of denial and grief. I don't blame anyone for feeling uprooted and rudderless...
 

hbk

HFBoards Sponsor
Sponsor
Feb 28, 2002
23,033
9,642
Visit site
Once the bitterness fades, I think a lot of us are going to do just that.

But man, it's still just a week old. We're still in the stages of denial and grief. I don't blame anyone for feeling uprooted and rudderless...
i get it. I do. Been there and the reason I followed the team was the belief that the team would finally be able to have the financial resources to be successful. Obviously that didn't happen in AZ but it will in Utah. Jets came back to Winnipeg and I'll be honest. I don't cheer for them. I still cheer for the Coyotes.
 

The Feckless Puck

Registered Loser
Sponsor
Oct 26, 2006
18,612
11,579
i get it. I do. Been there and the reason I followed the team was the belief that the team would finally be able to have the financial resources to be successful. Obviously that didn't happen in AZ but it will in Utah. Jets came back to Winnipeg and I'll be honest. I don't cheer for them. I still cheer for the Coyotes.

Well, I'll tell you something - if it comes down to the Utah team or a Meruelo-owned Coyotes team, I'll probably cheer for Utah (if Josh Doan is still playing there and BA is the GM). But I don't blame anyone who decides otherwise. Especially after the decades of shit we got poured on us by the NHL and fan gatekeepers. There's a very real sense among many Coyotes fans that it's not just our team, but we specifically who are not wanted, and I think those are the fans who will end up giving up the game out of bitterness. I was very nearly one of them last week before I got my second wind...
 

Coyotedroppings

Registered User
Jul 16, 2017
6,640
5,543
the decades of shit we got poured on us by the NHL and fan gatekeepers.
I feel like the NHL did right by us fans, as best they could. The gatekeepers were the only interested parties, imo. Now Glendale? NHL did them wrong as wrong can be. I also despised uncle Gary saying the Yotes were not sustainable in Glendale, that was the beginning of the final knell. I mean, even if they weren't sustainable there, you keep your mouth SHUT.
 

Dead Coyote

Registered User
Oct 10, 2017
2,332
2,674
I feel like the NHL did right by us fans, as best they could. The gatekeepers were the only interested parties, imo. Now Glendale? NHL did them wrong as wrong can be. I also despised uncle Gary saying the Yotes were not sustainable in Glendale, that was the beginning of the final knell. I mean, even if they weren't sustainable there, you keep your mouth SHUT.
I can't say I'm super happy with Gary.

People will say that he gave us infinite chances, we got more leeway than any other franchise would, that if we were a small town Canadian Market we would have been moved 10 years ago and should have been moved 10 years ago.

But I find myself looking at the last time a team moved.

13 years.

What has changed since 2011?

A whole hell of a lot. Billionaires and the owners have gotten inmeasurably wealthier. There's been more of them than ever, and those already established have made more than ever. The NHL has gained far more teams than they've lost. And that includes teams that have similar climates and interest as us.

Gary has repeatedly said that the league can afford to give a lot more leeway with teams. And I would tend to agree, At the very least, even if he has been lying the entire time, teams are worth a lot more than what they were. The league measures sales in billions and not millions now. And revenue too- in 2011 the league reportedly made 3.3 billion in HRR. We're reportedly up to nearly double that.

So I look at the situation the league is in, and I go...hmm...seems like they shouldn't care much about even a few hundred million in lost revenue if it's going to be an investment in the future.

And then I look at what Gary has publicly said. He approached Meruelo and asked him to sell. Then he spent weeks convincing Meruelo to sell by...saying that it wasn't fair to the players to play in such a small arena?

He almost singlehandedly (not that Meruelo needed much help) ruined the relationship with Glendale.

Did Gary save us in the past? Maybe. We don't really know. No doubt he was an advocate for hockey in the desert. I'm starting to wonder how much of what Gary has had come out of his lips came from himself, or just came from the owners in general?

What I do know is that he's majorly responsible for Meruelo selling the team.

That doesn't sound much like someone who would give us infinite chances and wants hockey in Arizona just as much as any fan of the team and is willing to do what it takes to get it.

That sounds like someone doing the same thing Meruelo did- weighing their options and choosing the best option for themselves while they talk out of the side of their mouth about how committed they are to hockey in the desert.
 

Dead Coyote

Registered User
Oct 10, 2017
2,332
2,674
@YotesFan47 I don't know you personally, but I can say you've been one of my favorite posters on this site for a long time. Your sentiment echoes many of my own. I hope you stick around in the F40 discord, but I'll understand if you want nothing to do with it. I think I'm getting close to that point myself. One of my fantasy sim leagues told me that they'll be changing my team name to whatever Utah brands itself as next season (I am currently the Yotes) and I've found myself giving less and less of a shit- I may end up just quitting hockey altogether for a while.
 

More Cooley

We walk together forever
Jul 2, 2015
518
808
With the team moving I’ve found I have little to no interest in hockey. Bitter is how I've been explaining my feelings to people. Anyway, I've been around here for a long time, feel connected to all of you as we've been sharing experiences. I wanted to take a moment to say thanks for all the great years I've had here, and I wish you all the best. I'm happy to be friends with each and every one of you, don't hesitate to reach out if you want my contact info.

I'm not saying I'll miss your avatar...but I'll miss your avatar
 

AZviaNJ

“Sure as shit want to F*** Coyote fans.”
Mar 31, 2011
6,694
4,355
AZ
Man, I feel this so hard. I'm in limbo myself... I probably won't know which direction to go until the offseason and the draft arrives. But don't go too far if you leave... :)
Same…and that’s what I expected, but I am finding myself more invested in Utah than anticipated after a week. Think that’s where my NHL fandom is headed.
 

RemoAZ

Let it burn
Mar 30, 2010
11,161
7,503
Glendale, Arizona
If I was wagering, I’d bet it had more to do with the fear of embarrassment should the Yotes get in the playoffs, than fairness to the players.
Watching the presser along with Betman's and Meruelo's quotes and interviews, the reason the sale was made is because they were playing in a college arena. Betman is quoted saying they didn't want that in the playoffs. That's 100% on Meruelo. He made that happen. My only question is; Was that the plan all along? Bankruptcy, multiple owners, in limbo how many times and for how many years, and moving to the East Valley like they said had to happen for two decades is what lost our team.
 

Naych_PHX

Feeling Salty
Jun 14, 2004
6,788
562
phoenix
No, Thank YOU! All of you. A lot of NHL fans don't know how good they have it. I'm not going to cry over spilt milk anymore (But I am). I will try to follow the team still. They'll be broadcast locally in Az I think. Everyone has their own path here. I'll see you on the other side whoever chooses to.
 

Vinny Boombatz

formerly ctwin22
Mar 21, 2008
11,000
6,606
Chandler, AZ
Watching the presser along with Betman's and Meruelo's quotes and interviews, the reason the sale was made is because they were playing in a college arena. Betman is quoted saying they didn't want that in the playoffs. That's 100% on Meruelo. He made that happen. My only question is; Was that the plan all along? Bankruptcy, multiple owners, in limbo how many times and for how many years, and moving to the East Valley like they said had to happen for two decades is what lost our team.
I don't think the decision to move away from Glendale is what cost us the team.

There are numerous milestones along the way that everyone has been tortured to death by now to realize it's the culmination of many factors that inevitably lost us the team.

I'm hopeful that at some point in the future we will have NHL hockey back (with new stadium)...it's just unfortunate that when the team is looking like it's going to be good that they leave town, but again, it really is the Coyote way.
 

Jagged Ice

Registered User
Sponsor
Jul 10, 2011
3,237
2,756
Central Phoenix
I have moved on pretty quickly and I won't be a fan of any other team but I will still enjoy the game of hockey.
Same here. I love the game too much to just stop watching the NHL. I might dive a little deeper into college hockey. The Sun Devils won't be moving, have a strong program, and are joining an exciting conference in the NCHC this fall.
I don't share your optimism in AM getting an arena. He's a nobody already rejected by the NBA and now the NHL. The league is glad to be done with him. They know he won't get a barn built if he couldn't accomplish Tempe.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Summer Rose

Coyotedroppings

Registered User
Jul 16, 2017
6,640
5,543
Watching the presser along with Betman's and Meruelo's quotes and interviews, the reason the sale was made is because they were playing in a college arena. Betman is quoted saying they didn't want that in the playoffs. That's 100% on Meruelo. He made that happen. My only question is; Was that the plan all along? Bankruptcy, multiple owners, in limbo how many times and for how many years, and moving to the East Valley like they said had to happen for two decades is what lost our team.
That's on both Meruelo and Bettman, the latter started the vitriol. I don't think there was any nefarious plan all along.
 

Bonsai Tree

Turning a new leaf
Feb 2, 2014
9,246
4,583
Life goes on. The hurt and the bitterness of being betrayed will pass. It hurts more to leap onto the Utah bandwagon than to ignore it. The NASCAR circuit gets along quite nicely without me, and I without it. The same will go for the NHL. My interest in sports will return to baseball and football. I will get season tix for the Cardinals. Should the NHL return to Phoenix, I'll once again support the team, as long as Meruelo isn't involved.
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad