Confirmed with Link: Coyotes Name Cohen Team President and CEO

[Mosby]

The Arizona Coyotes announced today that Ahron Cohen - who has served in a number of leadership roles with the club - has been named the organization's President and Chief Executive Officer by Coyotes' owner Andrew Barroway. Cohen had been working as the Coyotes' Chief Operating Officer, Chief Legal Officer and Alternate Governor.

Cohen replaces outgoing President & CEO Steve Patterson, who will continue to advise the hockey team as a consultant while pursuing outside business ventures.

"I want to thank Steve for all of his hard work and the many contributions he made to help guide us through a period of transition," said Coyotes' Owner, Chairman and Governor Andrew Barroway. "It takes a unique leader to steady the ship in rough waters and Steve did just that following the organizational changes last summer. Steve leaves the team better than where he found it as he helped position us in the right direction. We wish him all the best in the future."

Patterson will reassume his role as President of Pro Sports Consulting and focus on other business endeavors. "I thoroughly enjoyed my experience with the Coyotes," said Patterson. "The franchise has a bright future ahead and I'm excited with the direction the club is headed. I'll be there for the team in whatever capacity I can be of service."

Cohen joined the Coyotes in 2015 as the team's General Counsel. He added the COO role two years later. In these positions, he oversaw the team's business operations and legal matters, strategic arena planning and government relations.

"Ahron is a rising star in the National Hockey League and a leader in the Phoenix community. I couldn't be happier to name him as our CEO," said Barroway. "Ahron is a tireless worker and he brings real vision to the job. With John Chayka running our hockey operations and Ahron leading the business, the Coyotes continue to be in great hands. I wouldn't trade our future with any team in the NHL."

"It's an honor and a privilege to be named the President & CEO of the Coyotes," said Cohen. "I'm extremely grateful to Andy Barroway for his confidence in me."

"I'm humbled by the opportunity to lead the Coyotes as our President & CEO and to serve the best fans in the NHL," said Cohen. "I've loved every minute working with this team; for what we've achieved building the game of hockey in the Valley, for how we've positively impacted our community, and what we're poised to do in the future - both on and off the ice. I'm also thankful to Steve Patterson for his guidance. I know we'll continue to lean on Steve for his insight moving forward."

Click to read more...

 

[Matias Maccete]

No idea what to make of this.

 

[ClassLessCoyote]

Yay?

 

[RemoAZ]

Wasn't Steve supposed to be the guy that got the new subsidy/arena deal done?

 

[Coyotedroppings]

Wasn't Steve supposed to be the guy that got the new subsidy/arena deal done?

Yes

 

[TheLegend]

Posted the link in BoH. That noise you hear will be the tin foil hatters and a four legged cheerleader.

Can count on the relo gang to be jumping all over this.

Patterson leaving could either mean there’s nothing happening... OR.... it could mean he’s laid enough groundwork for Barroway and Cohen to finish to job.

 

[Matias Maccete]

Posted the link in BoH. That noise you hear will be the tin foil hatters and a four legged cheerleader.

Can count on the relo gang to be jumping all over this.

Patterson leaving could either mean there’s nothing happening... OR.... it could mean he’s laid enough groundwork for Barroway and Cohen to finish to job.

Soooooooooooo it's 50/50? I eagerly await the inevitable two week countdown.

 

[doaner]

Such turnover and what a tumoltuous front office! Yikes!

 

[rt]

Wasn't Patterson supposed to close the ASU thing that fell through? Once that was over, was he still even doing much? I don't remember him being the guy that was supposed to get us across the finish line with the Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community. We will either be playing in Glendale, on SRP-MIC land, or in Houston. That's it. There's no local city that will subsidize this mess. We will either stay put, beg a tribe for help, or take off for Texas.

 

[TheLegend]

Wasn't Patterson supposed to close the ASU thing that fell through? Once that was over, was he still even doing much? I don't remember him being the guy that was supposed to get us across the finish line with the Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community. We will either be playing in Glendale, on SRP-MIC land, or in Houston. That's it. There's no local city that will subsidize this mess. We will either stay put, beg a tribe for help, or take off for Texas.

Patterson was outside consulting at the time of the ASU deal.

From various tidbits I picked up on over the next several months..... He also talked with the tribe, which led to a later comment he made last year about Anthony LeBlanc going public with some things before he should have and it strained the relationship with them (ie: the rumor that the tribe wouldn’t deal with the current ownership as it was.)

As far as I’m concerned it changes nothing.

 

[Tom Polakis]

"I'm humbled by the opportunity to lead the Coyotes as our President & CEO and to serve the best fans in the NHL," said Cohen..."

No matter what happens, at least we always have this.

 

[moosemeister]

I’m sure it costs less to have Cohen instead of Patterson too

 

[rt]

No matter what happens, at least we always have this.

I’d argue we might have some of the best fan quality. To put up with this? You have to be the real deal. Fan quantity on the other hand, ugh...

 

[johnchayka89]

Patterson was a consultant who was brought in “full time” to lay the groundwork for the organization going forward.

His ties to the local political circles were invaluable. (Perfect person for the job)

Him leaving is a signal that the organization is on firm ground now.

He remains a consultant for us.

 

[moosemeister]

Patterson was a consultant who was brought in “full time” to lay the groundwork for the organization going forward.

His ties to the local political circles were invaluable. (Perfect person for the job)

Him leaving is a signal that the organization is on firm ground now.

He remains a consultant for us.

Your username still gets me hahaha

 

[XX]

Patterson was a consultant who was brought in “full time” to lay the groundwork for the organization going forward.

His ties to the local political circles were invaluable. (Perfect person for the job)
.

He was completely useless when it came to ASU and renovating SDS. There is no 'groundwork' here that will cover financing gaps.

 

[johnchayka89]

He was completely useless when it came to ASU and renovating SDS. There is no 'groundwork' here that will cover financing gaps.

I know, we didn’t get the happy ending...yet.

These things take time. He was hired to evaluate and set up the business model. Not just get a new arena.

The deal with ASU soured before Patterson was in control. That was Anthony LeBlanc’s deal, not Patterson’s.

 

[XX]

I know, we didn’t get the happy ending...yet.

These things take time. He was hired to evaluate and set up the business model. Not just get a new arena.

The deal with ASU soured before Patterson was in control. That was Anthony LeBlanc’s deal, not Patterson’s.

Time is not on the Coyotes' side due to how leveraged Barroway is. He needs new investors. He does not magically accrue more money to build an arena the longer this goes on.

Patterson was terrible at ASU and did not engage with boosters, alumni, or even local leaders when seeking out funding for SDS. If I had to choose someone to run point on a new arena deal, I would probably pick a random HF poster over Patterson.

The Coyotes have a never-ending optional lease at Gila River but it's not profitable at all. We're basically waiting around for someone to buy a chunk of the team, all of it, or for the tribes to decide to throw some money at the issue. The insinuation that this is some years long grind of negotiations is silly. Either you have the money to hold up the Coyotes end of the bargain or you don't. The league pulled the plug in Atlanta because they had no options. They still technically have options in the valley, however meager they are. So this bag holding could go on indefinitely or the league could pull the plug next summer. We don't know.

 

[johnchayka89]

Time is not on the Coyotes' side due to how leveraged Barroway is. He needs new investors. He does not magically accrue more money to build an arena the longer this goes on.

Patterson was terrible at ASU and did not engage with boosters, alumni, or even local leaders when seeking out funding for SDS. If I had to choose someone to run point on a new arena deal, I would probably pick a random HF poster over Patterson.

The Coyotes have a never-ending optional lease at Gila River but it's not profitable at all. We're basically waiting around for someone to buy a chunk of the team, all of it, or for the tribes to decide to throw some money at the issue. The insinuation that this is some years long grind of negotiations is silly. Either you have the money to hold up the Coyotes end of the bargain or you don't. The league pulled the plug in Atlanta because they had no options. They still technically have options in the valley, however meager they are. So this bag holding could go on indefinitely or the league could pull the plug next summer. We don't know.

I agree about the financial issues.

How can we assume the ASU deal was the best option to peruse?

The answer to our acute woes is simple.

Win hockey games

 

[The Feckless Puck]

This is actually good news. Cohen has been a quiet superstar in the Coyotes organization and is extremely capable. Patterson... well, I'm not totally sure he did a whole lot while he was here, and that's pretty much in keeping with what he did before he got here.

 

[rt]

Maybe Joe Schoen will buy the team and rename us the Rottweilers.

 

[RemoAZ]

I agree about the financial issues.

How can we assume the ASU deal was the best option to peruse?

The answer to our acute woes is simple.

Win hockey games

Earn fans the old fashioned way. Win! Funny how this is never talked about an option. I've always believed it's just a matter of finding someone who can legitimately afford the team. They don't have to spend at the top of the league. They just need to be more competitive. The continued talk about being broke and a subsidy as the only option not only sours fans, it give corporate sponsors no incentive to sign up. What large corporation is going to invest a dime of their marketing budget into a team that only talks about moving and is always rumored to be broke? The team needs stability in ownership and to win some damn games.

 

[Jamieh]

Earn fans the old fashioned way. Win! Funny how this is never talked about an option. I've always believed it's just a matter of finding someone who can legitimately afford the team. They don't have to spend at the top of the league. They just need to be more competitive. The continued talk about being broke and a subsidy as the only option not only sours fans, it give corporate sponsors no incentive to sign up. What large corporation is going to invest a dime of their marketing budget into a team that only talks about moving and is always rumored to be broke? The team needs stability in ownership and to win some damn games.

I'm not sure you even have to win all the time, but you do have to be entertaining. I stopped going the last few years as quite frankly the Coyotes weren't worth my entertainment dollars. After Christmas last year I went to more games than the previous two seasons. They now play a style that makes the game fun to be at regardless of outcome. Now I would like to see them win a lot but imo they are in the entertainment business and not the Stanley Cup business. As an example, a few times a year we fill the barn with Oilers fans. In years past we would stiffle the Oilers offence and try to squeeze out a win. That's great but now Coyote's fans and Oiler's fans leave after watching a boring game rather than raving about the amount of offensive talent they watched. You won't attract fans with boring defensive hockey.

 

[Jakey53]

I'm not sure you even have to win all the time, but you do have to be entertaining. I stopped going the last few years as quite frankly the Coyotes weren't worth my entertainment dollars. After Christmas last year I went to more games than the previous two seasons. They now play a style that makes the game fun to be at regardless of outcome. Now I would like to see them win a lot but imo they are in the entertainment business and not the Stanley Cup business. As an example, a few times a year we fill the barn with Oilers fans. In years past we would stiffle the Oilers offence and try to squeeze out a win. That's great but now Coyote's fans and Oiler's fans leave after watching a boring game rather than raving about the amount of offensive talent they watched. You won't attract fans with boring defensive hockey.

I don't give a damn how the game is played, I want wins. If we beat the Oilers 2-1 by shutting down McDavid is more exciting than losing a high scoring contest. It is fun to watch a high scoring game, but if you always lose, that gets old also. RemoAZ said it best, "win some damn games". I guess winning and entertainment kind of go hand in hand.

 

[Jamieh]

I don't give a damn how the game is played, I want wins. If we beat the Oilers 2-1 by shutting down McDavid is more exciting than losing a high scoring contest. It is fun to watch a high scoring game, but if you always lose, that gets old also. RemoAZ said it best, "win some damn games". I guess winning and entertainment kind of go hand in hand.

You wouldn't have paid me to be a Devil's fan years ago and attend games. However I always attend an Oiler's game when I'm in a City where they are playing. Hockey played fast and open is way more fun for fans than boring defensive hockey, I suspect our attendance will show that going forward. Say you are an Oiler's fan and you attend an Oiler's game in AZ. Now you attend that stiffling game, how likely are you to attend another Coyote's game other than the Oilers?