Phoenix Coyotes captain Shane Doan may have beaten the infamous “Mantracker,” but the hockey team that he plays for may be captured and returned back to Winnipeg.
That bodes well for the Atlanta Thrashers fate here in Georgia’s capital.
According to Ken Campbell of The Hockey News, the NHL and True North Sports and Entertainment have entered into a conditional memorandum of agreement to sell the league-owned Coyotes for $140 million. TSNE will also spend an additional $60 million to add 2,500 seats to the 15,015-seat MTS Centre to up the capacity to NHL levels.
According to league sources cited by Campbell, the deal to move the Coyotes will happen only if the NHL’s deal with Chicago businessman Matthew Hulsizer to keep the team in Arizona falls through.
Hulsizer agreed to purchase the Coyotes and keep them in Arizona for $175 million after getting concessions from the city of Glendale, Ariz. The suburban Phoenix city of almost 227,000 agreed to front the would-be Yotes owner $100 million from future parking revenues to help close the deal; the proceeds of which were to come from the sale of bonds.
But the Goldwater Institute, an Arizona conservative think tank, threatened to sue the city, claiming that the deal violated Arizona’s gift law. The bonds, which were expected to hit the market in February, still have not been issued.
Much like how “Mantracker” stakes out and methodically swoops in on his human prey on the popular Science Channel and Canadian Outdoor Life Network reality-TV series, TSNE is reportedly ready to snag the former Winnipeg Jets and bring them back home before the schedule makers set the 2011-12 schedule.
According to numerous published reports, a decision could be made as soon as the team is officially eliminated from the playoffs, putting Phoenix well ahead of Atlanta in the race to move an NHL team back North of the border.
However, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly denied a report by Toronto radio station 590 The Fan that a move was imminent.
“The report is untrue," Daly said in a statement released to the Associated Press. "No decisions have been made at this point in time, and there has not been a timetable set for making that decision. We are still continuing in our efforts to effectuate a sale of the franchise in Glendale."
Nevertheless, somber resignation has fallen upon some of the Coyotes faithful, who watched their team dig a 3-0 hole to the Detroit Red Wings in their first round playoff matchup on Monday.
“I think it's the beginning of the last games we'll see in this building, and I'm extremely upset," Phoenix season ticket holder Tim Kaminski told the Arizona Republic’s Bob McManaman. "I've been following this team since it started in 1996, and I've got a commemorative puck from that very first game on Oct. 10 vs. the Sharks.
"Lord knows I feel like burning the arena down if they have to leave. I'm not going to, but that's how I feel."
The hockey team that plays in a metropolitan area named after a mythical bird that rose from the ashes may fall into the scrap heap of history of bad ideas that crashed and burned.
It’s looking increasingly likely that this could be the end of the Coyotes.
- Gary Lawless of the Winnipeg Free Press reported last week that TSNE is getting ready to launch a season ticket commitment campaign to assure the NHL’s Board of Governors that Manitoba’s largest city of just over 684,000, which lost the Winnipeg Jets to Phoenix after the 1995-96 campaign, can support an NHL team.
- James Mirtle of Toronto’s flagship Globe and Mail writes that the AHL is in contact with Manitoba Moose owner Mark Chipman – the face of TSNE – and has a developed a contingency plan if the Moose are dislodged from the MTS Centre to make way for an NHL team.
- It’s well documented that TSNE has expanded the press box facilities at the six-year-old MTS Centre by 117-percent to accommodate 130 people.
A move by Phoenix back to Winnipeg would come as good news to Thrashers fans as it would shut the door on the most NHL-ready of cities that Atlanta could relocate to.
The Thrashers’ seven-man ownership group – the Atlanta Spirit – is in preliminary talks to sell the team along with possibly the Atlanta Hawks and the operating rights to Philips Arena to a number of buyers, who would keep the Thrashers in Atlanta. Although as of the close of the regular season, none of the interested parties have come forth with a formal offer.
Although the Spirit remains committed to keeping the Thrashers here publically, team employees were reportedly told that Atlanta’s hockey team could move if negotiations fell through to sell the team locally.
While the Spirit is not in talks with any party to relocate the franchise according to Thrashers president Don Waddell, it is widely anticipated that TSNE would make an overture to buy the team if the deal to buy Phoenix falls through. That overture may or may not be accepted by the team’s owners depending on the status of ongoing negotiations to keep the team here.
With the clock ticking away toward prospect camp and next season, time is of the essence. The longer the Phoenix saga drags on, the better the chances get of keeping Atlanta’s hockey team here next season.
A franchise has not relocated since the Hartford Whalers moved to North Carolina to become the Carolina Hurricanes in 1997-98 as three of the four former WHA entrants into the NHL switched cities over a three year span in the late 90’s.
However, only one of those teams left town without giving the home fans a chance to say goodbye. The Quebec Nordiques were sold and relocated to Denver to become the Colorado Avalanche shortly after getting swept by the New York Rangers in the first round of the playoffs in May of 1995.
The Jets were also sold that year, but played a lame duck season at Winnipeg Arena before bolting for Phoenix to start the 1996-97 campaign.
However, in all three instances as in the Coyotes’ current saga, explicit warnings were made well in advance unless the local, state or provincial governments of each of the four cities made certain concessions, the teams would bolt town.
Asking for government givebacks is one of the criteria used in order to determine if a team can operate profitably in its host market under NHL Bylaws.
That has not happened with the Thrashers – at least publically.
If anything, the Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority – the techincal owners of Philips Arena – has already given the Spirit one of the necessary tools to withstand any short-term credit crunch. The Spirit, presumably with the consent of the authority, refinaced the arena's bonds last August.
As a result, the Hawks, who were once pledged as collateral if the Spirit defaulted on repaying the bonds, were replaced with certain future operator revenues. That allowed the Spirit to borrow approximately $125 million from the NBA's credit facility in December – right around the time that the Spirit's long standing lawsuit with rogue partner Steve Belkin was settled.
Any potential hasty relocation of Atlanta’s hockey team must be approved by the NHL’s Board of Governors and would require the league’s governors to waive bylaws that prohibit relocation after January 1 of the year prior to a proposed move. A Thrashers-to-Winnipeg scenario would also create scheduling issues. If the Thrashers land in Manitoba, they would probably move to the Western Conference, forcing another team to move to the East.
Thus, even if the governors determine the Atlanta market is unable to support a hockey team and gives its blessing to move the Thrashers in time for next season, any decision by the Spirit to sell the team to TSNE or another outside group would have to be made quickly.
Quebec City, Las Vegas and Kansas City are other possible candidates to get Atlanta’s hockey team. But only Kansas City has a new NHL-ready arena. Quebec City reportedly has a willing buyer, but the team would have to play in the antiquated Le Colisee for a couple of years while a new rink is built.
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