Let the Coyotes die for the 47th time [UPDATED]

There is a Sliding doors scenario, where the NHL simply leaves Jim Balsillie buys the Arizona Coyotes and moved to Hamilton, Ontario, more than a decade ago. Would it have worked? Hard to know. Barsillie’s BlackBerry did not go tank too long after the proposed purchase date and could, just like in Arizona, lead to a number of problems north of the border. The Leafs would surely have been appeased by a team that would have moved just 68 miles away. And perhaps the league’s smallest arena, such as the Copps Coliseum (now FirstOntario Center), would have led to more complications.

Yet the NHL (at the time) would have had a deep pocket owner in a fiery hockey market. And none of that could have been worse than the Arizona Coyotes currently are, and also will be going forward.

In the latest installment of “As the Coyotes Burn,” Katie Strang of The Athletic takes a deep dive into the latest group laden with buffalo, promising the NHL to save the ‘Yotes once and for all, but proving they’re just another clown float in the ongoing parade of charlatans and pudwhacks who acquired the franchise. This time it’s Alex Meruelo and the uber-clods that came with him. You would think that the NHL might have noticed that the NBA did not think he was capable of purchasing the Atlanta Hawks, thanks to mismatched finances. But the NHL is always happy to pick up the NBA’s trash. That’s how they got Gary Bettman, after all.

It’s masterful work as always by Strang, but a lot of it is stuff you’ve probably read about someone else in sports. An owner who does not have as much money as he told the league that accepted him as buyer / owner. Constant abuse of employees, justifying himself and his accomplices by having a lot of money, just not as much as he wants the world to believe. Nickel and dull all in sight to give the appearance of streamlining, but in reality nothing in their pockets, including the greater to wait out those people for less money. Confusing rent and internal organization. Employees of the last ownership group feel helpless and those who are no longer there have to go to court to get money they owe.

Oh yes, and to complete the set, because it would not be without it, the owner’s child fucks everything in a section of which he knows nothing. Much of this you can probably write from your memory, and you have certainly seen it before. Every owner should be considered a Bob Nutting until they prove they are not.

The whole piece is definitely worth your while, if only to illustrate clearly how desperate the NHL was to retain the Coyotes in Arizona that they would hand over the keys to almost any jacket that raises its hand. Jackasses included who tried to intimidate Strang, one of the most accomplished writers in hockey respected in every circle, unlike this non-comp.

Alex Meruelo is the fourth owner of the Coyotes since the league snatched control of the team from Balsillie and anchored the team in the desert. It has been clear for a decade that the team will not work with their arena in Glendale if it can work in the market at all, but no new arena plan has ever come from the planning phase. It seemed like there was going to be a moment in Tempe, but then the state of Arizona withdrew from their part of the deal. With the article outlining how Meruelo’s group tried to bolster different suppliers on what they owe, it’s a ridiculous mystery how they’ll get the money to build a new arena in a more palatable environment.

Meruelo has not been in charge for so long, but the article shows nothing how he would get the Yotes out of this spiral. They have been in the bottom of the league for so long in terms of attendance, income and rankings, that it has become the definition of ‘hedge’. Meruelo also does not appear to be something that looks like a visionary.

At some point, the NHL has to admit that so much has been done with the Coyotes that they can now be broken irreparably. This is an organization that has had the fraud against a GM ship in such a way over the past year that the league banished him for a year, set up an unrepentant racist they then had to the rights on thanks to the setback, and now this story must break. And it’s all equal to the course for an organization that has spent years fight with the very city it sits in their great losses.

The NHL devoured one possible relocation spot by allocating an expansion team to Seattle. And in a post-pandemic world, assuming we ever get into the world, a sports franchise can be almost impossible. Still, you have to think Quebec City will still be more than willing to fill its bright arena with an NHL team every night. Portland and Kansas City still have their buildings. How can anyone be worse than that?

The Coyotes cannot be stored. The NHL and various dimwits have been trying to prove it for almost 15 years. When is it time to declare ‘victory’ and move on?

Update: The Coyotes have issued a statement, and it’s just as ballooning as you think the organization portrayed in Strang’s article would come up:

Again, to repeat, Strang is one of the most respected writers in the business. As she said in the article, the Coyotes and the league got the chance to respond to everything in it, and they succeeded. Attacking Strang’s integrity is the pinnacle of amateur idiocy. It touches all the idiots of ‘I’t ‘s all the previous guy’s fault, ” Hwe do the community here a favor, ‘and’ Ddo not you know this man is already rich? “Not brilliant stuff.