I voted that the team will not be leaving at the end of this season.
First, there is no city for them to go to that is ready.
Second, as dilusional as I may seem, I believe the NHL wants to be in the Phoenix market long term.
Third, the NHL would rather sell expansion franchises to QC and or Markham/Seattle than relocate a team. - more financial gain.
Forth, all this doom and gloom is based on the CoG deadline, not the NHL deadline.
We have been here for 3 years without an owner and were supposed to be moving every year, yet here we are.
This is all very sound, taking emotional bias out of the situation.
QC is the closest to being ready, but the NHL knows they can string them along and get there in time via expansion. This is the best move for the league in the long run - get big-time expansion fee from a market they know will pay it. T2 is not ready and I don't think Hamilton can happen. With the population loss in Buffalo the last 25 years, a team that close could eventually destabilize the Sabres. I doubt the NHL wants to see that happen.
I too believe the NHL wants to stay in Phoenix long-term. It's an important market if the league truly wants to be seen as a national sport in America, which of course it does. And before someone throws out Atlanta as a comparison, it is not. It's a terrible sports town and doesn't even pack it in for Braves games anymore. Atlanta is static and likely will never change. But Phoenix, because of its constant growth and new populations coming in, can change over time. This is a place that was tiny back in the 1960s when the Suns came and the NBA was criticized heavily for moving to such a backwater outpost back then. But in the nearly 50 years the Suns have been there, Phoenix has exploded and is now one of the biggest markets in the country. And, in the long run, population-projection models for southern US cities are very bullish. Meanwhile, projections for core NHL cities in the Rust Belt continue to project negative. (This is the same reason the Big Ten is trying to add ACC teams, as they see the number losses too.) The league needs to stay in Phoenix and think about adding Houston as well. Seriously. Because if there's ever another situation of the Canadian dollar tanking, the NHL will need American markets to offset that.
Phoenix can absolutely be a hockey market. Like Toronto or Detroit? Of course not. That's silly. But it can absolutely be stable like Tampa Bay or the California teams are. The fact is, the Coyotes have never been stable in the Valley, going through bad ownership at every turn and then agreeing to go to fracking Glendale, which I think, if they move, was really when the team's fate was sealed. If you get a guy in there that took care of the team, ala Reinsdorf, and the Los Arcos deal worked out, I theorize the Coyotes would be entirely stable and play in front of solid crowds. Without the constant threat of upheaval, I believe it would be much better supported. The human nature is to run from disorganization and drama. That's all the Coyotes have had in the Valley. Honestly, we're lucky it hasn't been worse on the support side.
They're probably still gone, but part of me is starting to think the league, after this long, might just dig in its heels, keep the team there and figure that another arena in a better part of town is needed. Just my random "of the moment" take on things.
