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I get it, but what other choice is there? It's not like they're in a hockey hotbed with several large capacity rinks around. The Tucson Roadrunners have a hair under 9k capacity but they're in Tucson which is 2 hours away. Probably much of the same fan base since they're affiliates, but Tucson is much smaller than Phoenix. It might have made some sense, but my guess is that the players didn't want to commute 2 hours or move for a year or two.

And yes, of course Bettman will use this as flat cap negotiating.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

The exit plan should’ve been years in the making. The moment the Goldwater Institute made it their mission to kill any arena plans in Scottsdale paid with taxpayer funds and Barroway bailed in frustration, that should have been it. Meruelo doesn’t even want to be an NHL owner, he’s merely using the league and team to prove to the NBA he’s legit. The fact the NBA won’t let him own a team should tell you all you need to know about him.

This is a goddamned farce. The SJ Barracuda chirped their new arena has a larger capacity. The only winner here is ASU, because their new digs are getting a nice infusion of NHL cash.

Friedman mentioned in 32 Thoughts that the league might ask the Coyotes to be exempt from revenue sharing, but I don’t see how that would work.

Travis Boyd is down to play in a college barn: signs a two year extension. He's having a career season.

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Wow, Nick Schmaltz sets a record for points in a single game (7) in Winnipeg/Arizona franchise history, and the most points in a single game scored since 2012. Crazy-ass game too, AZ roared out to a 4-1 lead, blew it, then roared back again to win 8-5.

I can't stop watching Clayton Keller sliding into the boards. He looks like a crash test dummy hitting the wall. Unfortunately he was badly hurt and his breakthrough season is done.

https://twitter.com/PuckReportNHL/statu ... l6kQ4QNgyg

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FTR I think Sean Avery is a grade-A asshole who knows nothing about hockey but I thought this video was amusing.



I really don't know what to make of him overall as a player. Dude is wildly talented but I hardly ever notice him whenever I watch the Coyotes play. He's a bit of a perimeter guy.

However, if I were in the NHL you're goddamned right I'd be wearing ear protection, especially after seeing what happened to Phil Danault a while back. If I'm gonna be blocking shots, no fucking way am I not wearing as much protection as possible.

Regardless that tumble looked BAD. No malicious intent on the part of Nic Meloche either, just unfortunate. Hope he bounces back quickly...sometimes a broken leg takes an extremely long time to come back from, Steven Stamkos can attest.

15K at a Remparts junior game in Quebec City tonight. C'mon Bettman pull the plug!

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Not saying the support wouldn't be there, but just curious what Remparts tickets cost. Wasn't the reason for moving the Nordiques that fans weren't buying tickets due to cost? I could be way off on that. It's been a long time and I didn't pay too much attention. Not that Arizona folks are buying many tickets.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

No, the reason the Nords moved was horribly paltry--the rink (Le Colisée) did not sport luxury boxes and no one stepped up to build them. That's why they left.

The Videotron Centre replaced Le Colisée and it has luxury boxes, there would be no issue whatsoever supporting an NHL team. There just needs to be a potential owner with enough juice to convince Gary Bettman and the NHL brass that it would be a wild success, but this person also has to convince Bettman to finally admit defeat in Arizona, which will be a monumental task.

How many more years could Bettman work? He's 70.

Aren't owners basically just interested in money? Can't a potential ownership group go to the rest of the owners and point out how much more they'd make with a team in Quebec vs Arizona, and wouldn't that get the other owners on board? If the rest of the owners tell Bettman he's costing them money, he'll do whatever they want or they can fire him. Isn't his contract up soon, if not this year?

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Bettman's replacement will likely be 10 times worse than he is. I thought Bud Selig was pretty bad, but then Rob Manfred took over...I'd take 8 Seligs in a row if it meant getting rid of Manfred forever.

I'm guessing Bettman has the owners convinced that losing that Arizona market and the whatever uncertainty there is with a potential move will cost the owners more. He's a lawyer so I'm sure he's pretty good at twisting any argument to his favor.

The problem with either Quebec City or Houston is that there is no real ownership group lined up. I believe there are potential owners in both markets but obviously those folks are not enough to convince Bettman and the brass to give up on the Coyotes. When True North stepped up to buy the Thrashers, Bettman didn't hesitate to say sayornara to Atlanta. It should also be noted that the ownership debacle in Atlanta was far, far worse than anything that's gone down in Phoenixdale.

There's a prospective owner in Quebec, Mr. Videotron Pierre-Karl Peladeau, but he's a hardcore separatist and I think Bettman is probably concerned about an NHL team being used to promote a political cause.

It's also simple math: Quebec is small and Phoenix is big. The one big difference is there's a province-wide cable sports channel involved, which 8 million people can get, so it's not just about the cheapskate locals who don't want to pay NHL prices (although that might be an issue).

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As smart as Bettman is, owners are billionaires or a large group of millionaires. They're not dumb when it comes to money and they probably trust very few people. They're more worried about money than the league's image. Bettman works for them and if they get the feeling that he's screwing them over financially by being stubborn about saving face on his southern expansion, I think they'll fire him. I guess you can ask why it hasn't happened yet, so maybe I'm off base here. But I just can't see rich people knowingly getting less ROI with a team in Phoenix than moving a team to Quebec.

Someone needs to ask some owners what they think of it. Or do they all have a gag order?

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Umm...so what's going on here? Lots of cap room, small new barn incoming, young players haven't really cracked the lineup yet. I guess it's another tank year? They have a billion second rounders coming up but no firsts beyond their own.

Will they bring Kessel back? I think the Dronov PTO will pay off.

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What's up with the Coyotes first 20 of 24 games on the road? That's one game shy of half the years road games.

The first 6 are away, followed by 4 at home, then a 14 game road trip! Doesn't that beat the Isles 13 last year?

Is it for time to renovate the college arena they are playing in?

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I don't think the new rink is ready yet, which I can't imagine sits well with the NHL, but they created this mess, so they have to live with it.

I feel like they were in the midst of building it when the NHL hurriedly shoved the Coyotes in there, requiring a whole bunch of redesigns and what not.

The new rink doesn't open until 2026, is this just time to work out sharing of the college rink with ASU?

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Sorry I was referring to Mullett Arena as the "new rink." The mythical new arena they're supposedly going to build is just a pipe dream far as I know. I don't think the Tempe city council has even approved it yet. They voted to approve the negotiation process, that's as far as it's gone IIRC.

So I guess this just comes down to scheduling, ASU hockey gets to break the rink in this year to start, then the Coyotes get to have it for a bit. The Coyotes and Sun Devils Men's Hockey Team are also sharing the Mullett with a few other ASU athletic teams.

Whatever. As much of a clusterfuck as this is, I'd still pay to watch a game there.

Pull the plug on this franchise already! They say it was a sell out but I sure didn't see that in the stands through my screen. Not even mulletts could polish this turd.

This team is terrible on the ice too yet somehow they have a 65 Million player payroll!

Are they being subsidized by the league? What's going on here?

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No AI has been used in the making of this post

Phoenix is the dream that will not die for the NHL. They see a massive US TV market full of ex-Chicagoans/Midwesterners/New Yorkers and see an obvious desert destination. They also see the sports landscape there without a true no. 1 team (Suns and Cards do fine, DBacks are a mess) and see a chance to wedge their way in. But at a certain point if there's no real owner, it just won't happen. You can't keep writing off season after season. I think if the new barn doesn't come to fruition fast, they'll pull the plug on Mullettville.

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