We are officially in the final week of the existence of the Arizona Coyotes as next Thursday, April 18th, National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman is expected to announced the sale of the team to Ryan Smith, owner of the NBA’s Utah Jazz, who will be relocating them to Salt Lake City.
It’s been a rough week for Coyotes fans and the current ownership group has let them down big time and frankly, is been an embarrassing situation for the National Hockey League. Relocation is obviously a last resort in any sport, but in this case, due to the incompetency of the Coyotes’ ownership group, this is where we are.
Last year, the Coyotes had a plan to build an arena and entertainment district in Tempe, Arizona, but ultimately, residents there voted it down in a referendum, leaving the future of the organization in the desert unclear. Then, over a week ago, the Coyotes confirmed rumours that they were going to participate in a land auction in North Phoenix, which, if it was successful, they would build their new permanent home, along with other amenities in the area.
However, if Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo were to win the land auction, completion of the arena project wouldn’t be complete until 2027 or 2028, a move that would’ve forced the team to remain at the 5,000-seat Mullett Arena. That’s something the National Hockey League did not want and now, the team is on the verge of relocation, with an official announcement coming next week.
One interesting wrinkle to this situation is that, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the National Hockey League is reportedly going to give Alex Meruelo a five-year exclusive window to bring back the Coyotes through expansion. I will add here that there’s no doubt a market for hockey in Arizona and the NHL wants to have a team there, it’s just a shame how this ownership group treated the fans, players and staff to get to this point. There’s a good chance that we’ll see expansion in the coming years, but I personally believe we’ll see teams in Atlanta, Georgia and Houston, Texas before the NHL returns to Arizona.
Understandably, Coyotes players are not happy with the situation and with having to move to an entirely new location and state ahead of training camp for the 2024-25 season. Coyotes General Manager Bill Armstrong has flown to Alberta and will meet with the players to field questions they have about the current situation.
The Coyotes may not have had a lot of success during their tenure in Arizona, but one moment that sticks out, at least for me and I know several others too, is their run in the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs. That year, the Coyotes won the Pacific Division and finished third in the Western Conference, led by Ray Whitney, Radim Vrbata and Shane Doan, along with some stellar goaltending from Mike Smith, who finished the regular season with 38 wins, along with a 2.21 GAA, a .930 save percentage and eight shutouts. The Coyotes would go on to defeat the Chicago Blackhawks in six games in the first round of the playoffs, followed by a series win in round two over the Nashville Predators to set up a Western Conference Final with the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings would go on to win the series in five games and won their first Stanley Cup in franchise history just weeks later. 2012 will be a year that Coyotes fans won’t ever forget.
With moving to Salt Lake City, Utah, it’s going to be a big change for Coyotes players, but with a stable owner in Ryan Smith, who wants to make the team competitive out of the gate. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on Friday that Smith wants to spend money in free agency and make trades right away that will make the franchise competitive for the 2024-25 season.
The franchise will play at Vivint Arena, home of the National Basketball Association’s Utah Jazz. It’ll hold around 14,000 fans for hockey, but isn’t an ideal home for them permanently. In 2034, Salt Lake City is expected to host the Winter Olympics and with that will come a new arena, but with the Coyotes relocating to Utah next week, I personally wonder if that will accelerate the timeline for a new rink. But, that’s just speculation on my end.
Next Wednesday is set to be the Coyotes’ final game in the state of Arizona as they host the Edmonton Oilers at Mullett Arena. While relocation won’t be made official until the next day, it’s set to be an emotional day for the fan base and it also means hockey fans will be saying goodbye, at least for now, to one of the best logos to ever grace the ice in National Hockey League history.