This is it folks, don't blink. The entire debacle otherwise known as the sale of the Phoenix Coyotes started with a surprise move to put the team into bankruptcy in May 2009 and then moved out of court and into the hands of NHL ownership of the team. The league went through several potential private owners before finally finding the right rich guy to buy the team and strike a lease deal with the City of Glendale.
The deal with Matthew Hulsizer, rich guy, was seemingly inches away from completion before the meddlesome Goldwater Institute raised concerns that sent things back into a tailspin. We are now, according to a report in the Phoenix Business Journal, facing the final show down.
How do we know it's the final showdown?
"Commissioner Gary BettmanNational Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly are flying into Glendale as the sale and future of the Coyotes reaches another breaking point," answers the Journal.
Bettman will reportedly meet with the various parties and try and work out yet another deal that will hopefully appease the GWI "watchdogs".
Either way, this could be the end of the road for the Coyotes as they either work out an agreement that moves the sale to Hulsizer to completion or they pack up their skates and head back to Canada giving the GWI what they seem to want, a giant financial blow to the tax payers of Glendale if the team leaves.
Last-ditch Coyotes deal could be in the works | Phoenix Business Journal
If a new deal can’t be worked out or Goldwater’s opposition is not reduced, the sale could wither and die. Hulsizer could also end up pursuing other NHL franchises that are on the market, and the Coyotes would likely end up back in Winnipeg next season.
Bettman will reportedly make a public statement during the first intermission of tonight's game.