CXLVIII - NHL BOG approves sale and relocation of Coyotes to Ryan Smith, league announces establishment of franchise in Utah

[Llama19]

Meruelo on Gambo radio show...does not sound like Meruelo...

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[red devil]

 

[LadyStanley]

Hoping we know the answer in the next month or two. I’m skeptical ASU will want to commit Mullett Arena to 41 home dates for the Roadrunners. Some sort of split between Tucson and Tempe would probably make more sense, with Mullett hosting 10-15 games if ASU is willing to consider that option.

36 home games (72 game AHL) season. Plus post season. Max one home PS game, nominally, but some teams play zero home PS games.

 

[blues10]

Won’t Mureolo need an NHL arena and also pay the NHL 1 billion to get back in the game?

 

[Llama19]

Meruelo on Gambo radio show...does not sound like Meruelo...

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Meruelo states he needs 'permitting' from Phoenix to make it happen...

He needs the theme park district, too...he does not see this as a tax...

He has not spoken with any city officials...but wants to meet with the Phoenix Mayor...

He states he will move Roadrunners from Tucson to ASU...

 

[LT]

These are terrible.

 

[rojac]

They need to give the Jets portion of the franchise history back to Winnipeg now

It’s even more absurd to have a Bobby Hull banner hanging in Arizona in 2029

Well, Bobby Hull is not part of the Jets NHL history. So, it wound make no sense to be part of Coyotes history. And in fact, I'd argue that any Bobby Hull banner in Winnipeg is like Montreal's banner honouring the Expos retired numbers. It's honouring a player from a different league who played in the city.

As I've said elsewhere, I think the best way to treat these things is close a team's record book when they move or fold, so all these would be separate record books:

Winnipeg Jets 1.0
Arizona Coyotes
Atlanta Thrashers
Winnipeg Jets 2.0
Utah Whatevers

 

[JKG33]

No. No more soccee/lacrosse sounding names.

Utah HC I get since we're looking at a 1 year place holder. But no more singular names, although I will say Blizzard isn't the worst one ever

 

[KeziaTML]

Give me the Utah Yeti and be done with it.

 

[LadyStanley]

Won’t Mureolo need an NHL arena and also pay the NHL 1 billion to get back in the game?

Yep



And limitations on how much ownership he can sell to bring in partners/cash. (Specifics not included in article)

 

[KevFu]

I'm more curious if the Yotes logo and branding revert to the NHL after 5 years if no franchise is awarded.

I'd assume that the NHL owns the Coyotes IP in the interim, but license AM to use it, and he'd buy that back as part of the $1b if he gets the arena deal done.

Won’t Mureolo need an NHL arena and also pay the NHL 1 billion to get back in the game?

Yes.

 

[Brodie]

These are so bad. From interviews, I’ve seen it does sound like Smith really likes the name Utah Venom too, which is maybe the worst one?

 

[LadyStanley]

Practice facility should be high on the list. Especially as players may want to buy/build homes nearby.

And I'd expect some new arena lockerroom areas this summer.

 

[MaskedSonja]

HC or Hockey Club would certainly be a new spin for a team name in NHL-has a classy ring to it. Otherwise I like Blizzard, though none are bad names/

Thats just my take-others milage may vary, or Im just easy to please LOL.

Honestly surprised they didnt do a take on them being Bee state (Stingers, Swarm)

 

[LadyStanley]

LeBrun and Dreger

 

[Brodie]

I’m sorry, I just can’t get over this. How do you have millions and millions of dollars to spend on branding consultations and come up with a list of names that sound like Monster Energy rip offs

 

[eojsmada]

I’m sorry, I just can’t get over this. How do you have millions and millions of dollars to spend on branding consultations and come up with a list of names that sound like Monster Energy rip offs

It's called getting ahead of squatters. You buy the names that sound obvious or that may have been collated as being used in conjunction with Utah and Hockey, from social media, and you simply grab them early before anyone has a chance to squat on them.

 

[Llama19]

Alex Meruelo: Coyotes’ failure in Arizona ‘starts from the beginning’

To quote:

"Meruelo clarified several times in his exclusive interview with Burns & Gambo that he still owns the team. The Coyotes are “inactive” and per the league agreement, he will have five years to reactivate the Coyotes if he is able to get an arena up and running within that window.

Meruelo states he never had any intentions to sell the team. He had a meeting with the NHL on March 6 and reiterated the lack of desire to sell before the league asked Meruelo if he can tell his players he knows when he can expect to have an arena built.

“I looked at them and stared and said, ‘No,'” Meruelo said.

“Look, I would say it really starts from the beginning,” Meruelo said. “There’s not one mistake. It starts from the beginning. They come here and play in Phoenix arena and there were so many obstructed views of seats that they had to relocate to Glendale.

Meruelo then admitted in arena negotiations he thought the other side was bluffing.

“I was kicked out of the (Glendale) arena,” he said. “They asked me to sign for 20 years and I said I wouldn’t do that and when I said no they said they would kick me out. I didn’t think they would do it and they did. They thought for sure I would never have enough time to relocate it to another city.”

As far as the permanent Tempe arena vote not passing, Meruelo offered his perspective on why that did not work.

“When the public does not understand and they believe all you gotta say it’s a billionaire tax, help or giving free money to a billionaire, they don’t go for it,” Meruelo said. “And even though it’s not true, I’m not asking for anything, I wasn’t asking for any tax abatements or help from the public — for whatever reason they didn’t understand that and didn’t accept it.”"

Source (Article/Audio): arizonasports.com/story/3546267/alex-meruelo-coyotes-failure-in-arizona-starts-from-the-beginning/

 

[GKJ]

Removing the team from Tucson just seems like such a mistake, except possibly if they get an ECHL team

 

[GKJ]

It's called getting ahead of squatters. You buy the names that sound obvious or that may have been collated as being used in conjunction with Utah and Hockey, from social media, and you simply grab them early before anyone has a chance to squat on them.

He had a survey taken, so he knows what people are thinking.

 

[WaveRaven]

Well, Bobby Hull is not part of the Jets NHL history. So, it wound make no sense to be part of Coyotes history. And in fact, I'd argue that any Bobby Hull banner in Winnipeg is like Montreal's banner honouring the Expos retired numbers. It's honouring a player from a different league who played in the city.

As I've said elsewhere, I think the best way to treat these things is close a team's record book when they move or fold, so all these would be separate record books:

Winnipeg Jets 1.0
Arizona Coyotes
Atlanta Thrashers
Winnipeg Jets 2.0
Utah Whatevers

Huh ... Bobby played for the Jets in the NHL not for long mind you but he was on the 1979 team.

 

[Big Z Man 1990]

They need to give the Jets portion of the franchise history back to Winnipeg now

It’s even more absurd to have a Bobby Hull banner hanging in Arizona in 2029

Agreed.

 

[rojac]

Huh ... Bobby played for the Jets in the NHL not for long mind you but he was on the 1979 team.

You're right. I had forgotten that. My apologies.

 

[bleedblue94]

I would argue that it probably wasn't a great idea to use Nash saying "this is what it is all about" in a promo for the coyotes moving ti Utah

The PA “lost” the 2005 and 2013 CBA negotiations, making concessions they did not want to. The 2020 MOU was pretty much neutral, maintaining the 2013 status quo.

I don’t see any reason to expect the PA will “win” the next 2026 CBA negotiations. The NHL is going to be strongly against adding arena or other franchise/business influencing requirements into the CBA—they want to retain those rights for themselves.

The NHLPA is among the weaker as major sports unions go, I’d rank the four major NA unions as

1) MLB
…big gap
2) NBA
…moderate gap
3) NHL
…smaller, but discernible gap
4) NFL

I don't expect the next CBA to be win/loss. The perception they lost the CBA battles are fine, but the fact they did is part of why the PA isn't the same PA it was even 2 years ago. It has been reported as well that Walsh did a lot behind scenes to get involved in this and push the move.

Regardless it is shortsighted to look at the players of today and suggest that they do not want more of a voice in things. All of them are trying to figure out how to monetarily maximize their careers more than ever before and at younger ages. Any option to do that will be something they will be more active in and people (agents) around them will push for them to be more active in for the betterment of their financial future.

The extreme apathy and willingness to follow shit leadership that resulted in those "losses" you referenced seems to have changed after the harsh impacts of escrow the last few years. Nothing seems to make people stand up and pay more attention than their paycheck...

Not at all a shot at the coyotes, but selling more season tickets in two hours than the previous arena had in capacity is stark comparison of the situations...

 

[GordonGraham]

Will The people want to support the Roadrunners at ASU with him as an owner ?