Its weird this came out now because the past few weeks the story has been if the Coyotes are able to buy this land in North Phoenix they have the private funds to build an arena and stay in Arizona.
I just cant get into Hockey, it's like soccer, It does not appeal to me. I think because I was raised in Texas, I never played hockey or had a rooting interest in any team.
its also been out there that the NHL has promised the Coyotes owner a team whenever the league expands again if they can get an arena deal in place.
We knew it was a longshot at best and the Jazz owner has been putting a full court press on trying to buy the Coyotes to move them to Utah. I would rather have an expansion team and start fresh without the bad contracts the Coyotes have on their roster. Atlanta and Houston are likely expansion candidates in 4-5 years.
I was watching some talking heads out of Canada and they were complaining about the Coyotes not being a candidate to move to Quebec City, but there are a million reasons why the league hasn't put a team back there since the Nordiques left and it has nothing to do with fans. They also said its likely Houston is going to get a team in the next few years because this market is just too big not to get a shot.
If I'm being honest, I'd rather have an expansion team than the Coyotes...but beggars can't be choosers.
I am the same way and in recent expansion the league has pretty much set the rules for new teams to have a chance to be good right away. Vegas did make the Stanley Cup Final their first year and won the title in year 5.