So earlier this week, I was scrolling through my phone before my shift started at 5 am, when I stopped scrolling and landed on a story by Deadspin. It stated that the Arizona Coyotes were pondering on settling at ASU's hockey arena for a while until their new place in Tempe is ready. I figured there is no way that an empire as the NHL would allow this to happen. A few days later, it did. Gary Bettman, the commissioner of the NHL, decided this was a good idea.
You know what, guys, I made the decision to give up on this franchise. It saddens me because at the time the Coyotes moved from Winnipeg in 1996, it should have worked. They were in a perfect situation with the Suns and Cardinals nettled in as the D-Backs were starting in '98. The city of Phoenix was a major sports town. Guess what happened? As the city did become a major sports town, the Coyotes always were the team that was looking in. I'm giving up not because of the players, I'm giving up because every opportunity the Coyotes have, they seem to squander it. They had a new arena set for them in Glendale. They were the main tenant and had a venue where the organization can prosper. They had an establishment called Westgate, LITERALLY, right at your door. How did this not work out? Simple. But I will get to that later.
When Alex Meruelo "purchased" the Coyotes, there was a lot of hope for the franchise. Instead, he's made it worse. MUCH WORSE. There are reports of a toxic culture. John Chayka quitting before "a playoff opportunity". There is the time where the Coyotes were almost thrown out in December due to non-payment issues to the city of Glendale. Sound familiar, considering the fact that they are out of Gila River Arena at season's end. According to Yahoo! Sports, they owed the city around $1.5 million in unpaid taxes. This is fishy as Meruelo is a listed billionaire and could afford to pay the lien. I'm well aware that he has several businesses he has to manage, but maybe he shouldn't have purchased a sports franchise with a laundry list of debt problems.
As much as everyone thinks Rob Manfred is incompetent, since there is a lockout with no end in sight. Fortunately, I'm not a Ken Rosenthal that you can take to the woodshed. (ZING!) Gary Bettman has received criticism for being incompetent and gets booed loudly by fans. His handling of the Arizona Coyotes shows this. His intent of having NHL hockey in the Southwest is mind-blogging. There is a success story in the Vegas Golden Knights. The franchise has enjoyed winning seasons, great attendance numbers and a cult-like following in the area. Many believed that this was going to be a failure. I give Bettman credit for risking it and the venture for Vegas has been "golden." However, his stubbornness of not moving the Coyotes out of Arizona has made him look incompetent. Allowing businessmen to financially fumble this poor franchise has made the Coyotes a laughingstock. Now, playing in an arena that seats around 5,000 people has made the laughing intensify. There are two cities vying for the commish to change his mind. Tilman Fertitta, owner of the Houston Rockets, is trying to convince Bettman to move the team to the area. There were rumors that the team was moving there if the Coyotes failed in Glendale. Fertitta hasn't given up on his dream to bring an NHL team to Southeast Texas. Quebec City has longed for an NHL team since the Nordiques left for Denver in 1995. They have a state-of-the-art arena and a rapid fanbase waiting for that moment. (Side note: I don't want to elaborate more on this since I'm planning on a piece on them at a later date.)
I'm not going to mention the product on the ice. If it wasn't for the Buffalo Sabres being....well, the Buffalo Sabres and the Montreal Canadiens going 2003 Oakland Raiders on everyone, Arizona would infuse more laughter upon hockey followers. Management executing a plan to trade anything valuable, except Clayton Keller and Phil Kessel, to tank while convincing a fanbase to continue supporting the team as they convince themselves that Tempe will agree to building an arena while the Coyotes PLAY IN A 5,000-SEAT ARENA IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS! Did I mention that management continues to bungle every opportunity this franchise gets?
In conclusion, I given up on this franchise. It actually brings me to tears while writing this, because you as a Coyotes fan, want this team to prosper instead of entering the abyss that the NHL, most importantly Gary Bettman, has put this organization through. We do have the hockey fans that the commish craves. Remember in 2014, the Arizona Coyotes made it to the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Kings and Gila River Arena sold out every home game during that series. They were willing to drive all that way to see the organization succeed.
The suits did everything to bungle this situation from the start.........and I despise you for that.
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