Per Friedman: Coyotes players told team moving to Utah starting next season (Mod warning post #50)

[Glorydays22]

I think the idea of them moving to Utah who wants a team instead of fighting with Arizona officials who don't. I think it a win for the organization and players.

 

[JacketsFanWest]

My guess on names is Pioneers since that is a major thing for Salt Lake (as I found out having tried to stop by the LDS Genealogy library on Pioneer Day a few years ago without any idea what Pioneer Day was).

I looked up what high school and college mascots are being used in the SLC area and there's the Jordan High School Beetdiggers just south of Salt Lake.

 

[crowi]

Utah Meruelos, they'll ruin your fandom and your franchise.

 

[Dead Coyote]

Coyotes were kicked out of their arena (lease was not renewed) by the city of Glendale because they weren’t earning enough revenue to cover facility costs, rent etc.

They had to play at Mullet Arena in a pinch, Coyotes ownership was looking for other solutions (city of Tempe shot down an arena plan IIRC).

In a last ditch effort the Coyotes decided to bid on a land auction outside of Scottsdale. But the NHL realized, that even if the Coyotes won (which the probably wouldn’t, mayor of Scottsdale wasn’t keen on using city resources to build the arena on land they wouldn’t profit much from) that Arizona would have to play at Mullet arena for another 4 years at least. That is unacceptable for a pro franchise.

Utah ownership (Smith) has been aggressive throughout this process to bring a team to Salt Lake. They will share the arena with the Jazz (infrastructure is there, it’s not perfect but better than 5,000 seat arena). NHL decides to rip the bandaid and cut their losses with Arizona and move the team to a market that they believe will capture a decent amount of potential growth.

Someone correct me if I’m wrong on any of this, this is just my understanding of the situation

This post is full of misinformation.

1. The Coyotes and Meruelo left Glendale because the previous ownership and NHL hated Glendale. There are literally comments around that time from Bettman about Glendale in their business deals. Meruelo made it clear that he wanted to build a new arena and that he would only be a temporary tenant at Glendale for a few years while that happened, and Glendale said that they wouldn't accept anything less than a 15-30 year lease if the team wanted to play there at all. Meruelo refused to sign that, so the team left.

Before Mullett Meruelo was looking at ASU and had an offer on the table but chose not to go with it because he wanted to build a sportsbook with the Arena and you can't do that on ASU land.

2. The NHL has known that the Yotes would need to play in Mullett for another couple of years since before the Tempe vote. The Tempe site needed mass remediation as it's literally currently a trash dump. Even if he won at Tempe, it would have been years before an Arena was built.

And the Scottsdale mayor has absolutely no power in this situation at all. He can dislike the Coyotes and think it's a bad deal for the state, he can't do anything about it. The state has already approved the auction, and you're required to give a detailed plan of what you want to do with the land, which the state then determines if it's a viable thing to do and approves of the site going to auction or not based on that. The Scottsdale mayor only has purview over what happens in Scottsdale, which this land has nothing to do with. It isn't in his jurisdiction at all.

And the thing he was mad about was the water situation for the Arena, because obviously a hockey arena needs a lot of water. He didn't want the water coming out of Scottsdales allotment.

Meruelo and XG have stated previously that they were going to get the facilities up and running themselves and that it wasn't going to be a part of any city's water reserves as they were going to import it themselves.

Also the Arena is 100% privately funded by Meruelo and there's no usage of city resources at all for Scottsdale or any other city.

Now whether that succeeds or not is one thing, but Scottsdale has no power over the land deal auction whatsoever nor does he have any purview over the arena. Meruelo may very well not be able to fund it privately himself, but that has nothing to do with Scottsdale. The Land auction is done by the state, and they are the only ones who have power over the deal and what gets built there. Has nothing to do with Scottsdale.

The rest of your post is speculation, as there's been no statements from the NHL about any of this, but the statements I quoted are wrong.

 

[Melrose Munch]

This post is full of misinformation.

1. The Coyotes and Meruelo left Glendale because the previous ownership and NHL hated Glendale. There are literally comments around that time from Bettman about Glendale in their business deals. Meruelo made it clear that he wanted to build a new arena and that he would only be a temporary tenant at Glendale for a few years while that happened, and Glendale said that they wouldn't accept anything less than a 15-30 year lease if the team wanted to play there at all. Meruelo refused to sign that, so the team left.

Before Mullett Meruelo was looking at ASU and had an offer on the table but chose not to go with it because he wanted to build a sportsbook with the Arena and you can't do that on ASU land.

2. The NHL has known that the Yotes would need to play in Mullett for another couple of years since before the Tempe vote. The Tempe site needed mass remediation as it's literally currently a trash dump. Even if he won at Tempe, it would have been years before an Arena was built.

And the Scottsdale mayor has absolutely no power in this situation at all. He can dislike the Coyotes and think it's a bad deal for the state, he can't do anything about it. The state has already approved the auction, and you're required to give a detailed plan of what you want to do with the land, which the state then determines if it's a viable thing to do and approves of the site going to auction or not based on that. The Scottsdale mayor only has purview over what happens in Scottsdale, which this land has nothing to do with. It isn't in his jurisdiction at all.

And the thing he was mad about was the water situation for the Arena, because obviously a hockey arena needs a lot of water. He didn't want the water coming out of Scottsdales allotment.

Meruelo and XG have stated previously that they were going to get the facilities up and running themselves and that it wasn't going to be a part of any city's water reserves as they were going to import it themselves.

Also the Arena is 100% privately funded by Meruelo and there's no usage of city resources at all for Scottsdale or any other city.

Now whether that succeeds or not is one thing, but Scottsdale has no power over the land deal auction whatsoever nor does he have any purview over the arena. Meruelo may very well not be able to fund it privately himself, but that has nothing to do with Scottsdale. The Land auction is done by the state, and they are the only ones who have power over the deal and what gets built there. Has nothing to do with Scottsdale.

The rest of your post is speculation, as there's been no statements from the NHL about any of this, but the statements I quoted are wrong.

Not liking Glendale is fine but given what's going to happen on the 18th, I would prefer Glendale.

The Scottsdale mayor had no power, but he did have influence, and frankly, Scottsdale has too much power in the Phoenix area. This is an issue that should be discussed, because this will be the second time Scottsdale has played a hand in killing an Arena.

 

[Iggys Dome]

This post is full of misinformation.

1. The Coyotes and Meruelo left Glendale because the previous ownership and NHL hated Glendale. There are literally comments around that time from Bettman about Glendale in their business deals. Meruelo made it clear that he wanted to build a new arena and that he would only be a temporary tenant at Glendale for a few years while that happened, and Glendale said that they wouldn't accept anything less than a 15-30 year lease if the team wanted to play there at all. Meruelo refused to sign that, so the team left.

Before Mullett Meruelo was looking at ASU and had an offer on the table but chose not to go with it because he wanted to build a sportsbook with the Arena and you can't do that on ASU land.

Wasn't the City of Glendale the ones that voided the lease in 2015 under conflict of interest laws being violated by the Coyotes? And the City was losing millions per year from Gila River arena due to the Coyotes having sub-optimal attendance?

2. The NHL has known that the Yotes would need to play in Mullett for another couple of years since before the Tempe vote. The Tempe site needed mass remediation as it's literally currently a trash dump. Even if he won at Tempe, it would have been years before an Arena was built.

And the Scottsdale mayor has absolutely no power in this situation at all. He can dislike the Coyotes and think it's a bad deal for the state, he can't do anything about it. The state has already approved the auction, and you're required to give a detailed plan of what you want to do with the land, which the state then determines if it's a viable thing to do and approves of the site going to auction or not based on that. The Scottsdale mayor only has purview over what happens in Scottsdale, which this land has nothing to do with. It isn't in his jurisdiction at all.

And the thing he was mad about was the water situation for the Arena, because obviously a hockey arena needs a lot of water. He didn't want the water coming out of Scottsdales allotment.

Meruelo and XG have stated previously that they were going to get the facilities up and running themselves and that it wasn't going to be a part of any city's water reserves as they were going to import it themselves.

Also the Arena is 100% privately funded by Meruelo and there's no usage of city resources at all for Scottsdale or any other city.

Now whether that succeeds or not is one thing, but Scottsdale has no power over the land deal auction whatsoever nor does he have any purview over the arena. Meruelo may very well not be able to fund it privately himself, but that has nothing to do with Scottsdale. The Land auction is done by the state, and they

Sure, he has no say in whether Coyotes would win the auction. But you would think they would at least consult with Scottsdale considering the land development literally borders Scottsdale. Although I just read this article where he backtracks a lot of his comments, apparently his big issue was with traffic congestion because of the new entertainment complex Merulo wants to build: 'A win-win': Scottsdale mayor walks back his criticism of Arizona Coyotes project

 

[Dale Gribble]

Still wish the Seattle Franchise went with Sasquatch instead of Kraken. If you are going with a Mythological creature, it would make more sense to go with the one tied to your Region.

As for Salt Lake, I think they're going to be happy with the team they will receive - Armstrong is building something that will be very good soon. Feel bad for the Yotes fans, losing a team sucks.

As for team name, not my team but... Utah Grizzlies if they can find a way to get it or something along the lines of Stingers or Swarm makes sense.

 

[Dead Coyote]

Not liking Glendale is fine but given what's going to happen on the 18th, I would prefer Glendale.

The Scottsdale mayor had no power, but he did have influence, and frankly, Scottsdale has too much power in the Phoenix area. This is an issue that should be discussed, because this will be the second time Scottsdale has played a hand in killing an Arena.

I agree, and if Meruelo and the NHL (because Gary Bettman and co absolutely had a hand in killing any chance of Glendale being an option) were smarter they probably should have just kept playing in that arena. But they didn't.

And again, Scottsdale has no influence in the land auction. As a matter of fact, that land auction deal is still in place. Meruelo is still currently involved in it and still looking at building an arena there. Scottsdale can say that the water can't be used, and that they won't fund it. They can't say that the arena can't be built. Again, the STATE has full control over the auction and land deal. We have heard nothing currently about the auction being cancelled or Meruelo not being a part of it- two things that to my knowledge have never happened in the history of a land auction deal (auction being cancelled or bidder withdrawing).

Whether or not AM has the money to build an arena, whether the league wants him in, whether he'll be able to join the NHL again, that's all immaterial. He's almost definitely going to go to that auction, bid on that, most likely win the bid (80% of the time there is only one bidder for the land) and attempt to do whatever he ca with the land.

Here's a great infographic about the auction.

Wasn't the City of Glendale the ones that voided the lease in 2015 under conflict of interest laws being violated by the Coyotes? And the City was losing millions per year from Gila River arena due to the Coyotes having sub-optimal attendance?

Sure, he has no say in whether Coyotes would win the auction. But you would think they would at least consult with Scottsdale considering the land development literally borders Scottsdale. Although I just read this article where he backtracks a lot of his comments, apparently his big issue was with traffic congestion because of the new entertainment complex Merulo wants to build: 'A win-win': Scottsdale mayor walks back his criticism of Arizona Coyotes project

No, they were not. They simply did not renew the lease.

Glendale did vote to opt out of their agreement in 2016, The Coyotes and Glendale then went on to agree to a year to year lease.

There were reports that AM did not pay taxes, rent, etc at the Arena, and that there was some delinquency, for sure. It was also said by Kevin Phelps that he did eventually become up to date with finances.

Long-expected breakup with Glendale may be at hand: Where do Coyotes go from here?

City informs team that it won't renew operating agreement beyond 2021-22 season

azcoyotesinsider.substack.com

This is a great article by Craig Morgan about the situation. AM came in and was always up front that he wanted a new arena, Bettman and the NHL said that the Coyotes can't succeed long term in Glendale, and that they will not stay there permanently, and after Glendale broke the lease they wanted the Coyotes to sign a long term deal for 12-15 years minimum. Bettman is quoted as saying they wanted 20.

Can't remember what podcast it was, but Morgan also said on air that Phelps and Glendale cared more about the long term lease than the money owed, and that it was never about the money.

 

[Siludin]

The real losers in this whole ordeal are Columbus, who had relied for so long on the Arizona Coyotes being the laughing stock of the NHL.
Now the Coyotes will reacquire novel darling status for at least a couple of seasons, while the Blue Jackets are the new undisputed champions of the crumbs.

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

The real losers in this whole ordeal are Columbus, who had relied for so long on the Arizona Coyotes being the laughing stock of the NHL.
Now the Coyotes will reacquire novel darling status for at least a couple of seasons, while the Blue Jackets are the new undisputed champions of the crumbs.

BS Buffalo Sabres.

 

[BobRossColton]

Apparently the state reptile is a gila monster, would be pretty cheeky to call them that.

 

[ChompChomp]

A lot of people, esp Sharks announcer Randy Hahn, calls the Yotes the "Desert Dogs." In SLC, bring on....

The Deseret Dogs!

 

[Chaos2k7]

I feel like 98% of folks know nothing about Utah at all.

There is alot more happening than a church, lol

 

[Megustaelhockey]

I feel like 98% of folks know nothing about Utah at all.

There is alot more happening than a church, lol

Winter sports, national parks, hiking, Sundance, uhhh, and that's what I can think of.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

They have dirty soda and a real housewives show for some reason, too.

 

[majormajor]

The real losers in this whole ordeal are Columbus, who had relied for so long on the Arizona Coyotes being the laughing stock of the NHL.
Now the Coyotes will reacquire novel darling status for at least a couple of seasons, while the Blue Jackets are the new undisputed champions of the crumbs.

Jarmo made some hilariously bad choices but they have super stable ownership and frequently sell out their building despite not winning. I just googled it and it's something like 14 sellouts this year. They're closer to the antithesis of the Arizona organization.

 

[Headshot77]

Utah Honey Bees would be dope haha.

They can be the Utah B's, then they get the Oakland A's in relocation and rename their NBA team the C's

 

[BB79]

They can be the Utah B's, then they get the Oakland A's in relocation and rename their NBA team the C's

We'll sue them for stealing our nickname!

-Bruins fans

 

[joestevens29]

I feel like 98% of folks know nothing about Utah at all.

There is alot more happening than a church, lol

There is only one church? That is something I didn’t know

 

[Scomerica]

Still wish the Seattle Franchise went with Sasquatch instead of Kraken. If you are going with a Mythological creature, it would make more sense to go with the one tied to your Region.

As for Salt Lake, I think they're going to be happy with the team they will receive - Armstrong is building something that will be very good soon. Feel bad for the Yotes fans, losing a team sucks.

As for team name, not my team but... Utah Grizzlies if they can find a way to get it or something along the lines of Stingers or Swarm makes sense.

The supersonics mascot is a sasquatch though and there's every expectation the NBA returns to Seattle soon.

Sockeye was basically the other choice but...it's a salmon (and there was issues getting naming rights) or Mets after the original Stanley cup team in the 1910's which would probably have clashed with the baseball team...and is kinda lame.

Krakens grown on me, it's different. Penguins aren't found in Pittsburgh either in the wild and it works there, LA doesn't have a King, Seattle is probably more known for Jets than Winnipeg and used to be known as Jet city.(I actually have no clue why Winnipeg are called the Jets barring it was named after an older team).

For a laugh they should call them the Salt Lake Lakers.

 

[rojac]

Literally nothing makes sense about having more east coast teams play at 10:00 and west coast teams play at 4…

It’s bad enough the NHL insists that roughly 20% of a teams games are played at a really inconvenient time already…

Which is pretty much. The same for MKB and NBA as well. MLS may have fewer games in different time zones.

 

[Legion34]

I saw a thing that said salt lake sidewinders.

That’s pretty good. Phoenix is pretty good still

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRbAHkGzy8OAsBL16g16GHCsJL4GIFazsscX5c8c1cRcQ&s

https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/ytc/AIdro_lDV9r6GNcR6BvuLWKMIX3JvDAXTiAIKofvVOoOQNiGNcg=s900-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj

 

[Ted Hoffman]

I'm just curious what the next bombshell is. Because you know there's something out there that hasn't reported ... yet.

 

[Demon Eyes]

Need the NBA team owner to buy the NHL team if the NBA team controls the arena revenues, like they do in AZ, Houston, Portland, and I assume Smith in Utah does as well.

Smith owns the arena as well as the Jazz

 

[BruinsFan37]

I have a dreadful feeling that Meruelo will spend the next 4 years going to the Board of Governors meeting and saying "We're not ready" and then in the final year of the agreement, flipping the rights to some new owner -- who will then apply for extension having just taken over the team. Wash, Repeat. The BoG won't care as long as they get paid, but in the meantime Arizona fans are left out in the cold.

Would almost be better if the team completely folded and they started anew with an expansion team from scratch.