NHL COMMENTARY

By DANIEL DULLUM

Sports Radio Service

Thursday, June 11, 2015

PHOENIX, Arizona – In a not-so-surprising move, the Glendale City Council voted 5-2 Wednesday to break a 15-year, $225 million lease agreement signed by Glendale and IceArizona – the owners of the Arizona Coyotes – after the troubled team was purchased from the NHL two years ago.

Glendale’s leadership team (that’s a loose term) has never been happy with the terms of the deal and on Wednesday, the city employed the same deft touch that convinced the National Football League to move most of its Super Bowl activities to downtown Phoenix.

While the City of Glendale said it would proceed to book events at Gila River Arena, the Coyotes ownership group responded with a $200 million lawsuit against Glendale, along with a temporary restraining order to prevent the city from ending the original deal.

Aiding the Coyotes in this action is an army of high-end attorneys on retainer with the NHL, which has no intention of moving the club out of the desert and away from a top ten television market in the US.

In a statement, the NHL called Glendale’s actions “outrageous and irresponsible,” adding that the league “stands by and will fully support, the Arizona Coyotes in their efforts to vindicate their contractual rights.”

This is a legal battle that could drag on indefinitely. But remember, Glendale is dealing with a league that, 20 years ago, shut itself down for an entire season to get what it wanted. In this particular game of chicken, the NHL won’t be the one that flinches.

Rumors that used to bounce around are making a comeback, having the Coyotes land anywhere from Seattle to Portland, Ore., to Quebec City to Las Vegas. But the NHL has too much time and resources invested in establishing a franchise in a market that has had a healthy core of hockey fans since the old Phoenix Roadrunners from the Western Hockey League showed up in 1967. But the NHL and the Coyotes are still trying to recover from the damage inflicted – on and off the ice – by four years of being underfinanced wards of the league.

Sports talk radio in the Valley have again revved up old complaints about the team being “way out there in Glendale,” about 25 miles from downtown Phoenix, wishing they would move back to U.S. Airways Center, where they played after moving from Winnipeg. That would be nice, except the old obstructed seat issues that forced the Coyotes out in the first place still exist.

There’s talk that the NBA Suns are looking for a new playpen, claiming their 23-year-old arena is now antiquated. The City of Phoenix hasn’t said anything publically about that. It should also be noted that while a new arena to host both the Suns and Coyotes would solve the Coyotes’ problems, the hockey team needs the Suns more than the other way around.

The Suns were the first major league franchise here, and that status carries significant weight. It’s the Suns’ town. If a shared arena downtown came to pass, there’s no question the Suns would get the primary scheduling dates. Coyotes management has to know that. And the Suns know they could get a newer arena without any involvement from the Coyotes.

If the restraining order is upheld, the Coyotes will play at Gila River Arena. If not, a decision must come quickly, and in all likelihood, they would have to accept secondary dates at U.S. Airways, as the old Veterans Memorial Coliseum is exactly that – old. Fifty years old. It’s beyond doubtful that Phoenix or Maricopa County has any interest in pouring money into the market’s first “big” arena.

On Thursday, the Associated Press reported that one Phoenix city council member suggested that a return to downtown for the Coyotes could be seriously considered.

If that happens, the Glendale City Council will learn quickly what it’s like to have a white elephant on its hands.

Daniel Dullum covers the NHL for Sports Radio Service.