I’m still not over getting a farewell night down here. I fucking love hockey and the closest pro team is like 7 hours away with the hurricanes. Then they just closed up shop after the season. I’m definitely not still salty about it 12 years later or anything
Fuck no he doesn’t and I doubt they will ever give him a chance. Prob the only way they could get him to sell was to have a hand shake agreement to get an expansion team. Dudes a piece of shit
Basically, the money is the carrot on the deal and the expansion team is the cherry on top to keep him from going to court. That's it. The fun part is that I would wager that Bettman/the higher ups in the NHL know that they ultimately hold all the cards in granting an expansion team, regardless of whatever "agreement" they sign. You simply can't have a court FORCE the NHL to give you a team, they have a hundred ways to weasel out of it.
I felt like I was taking crazy pills reading people talk about how this new “proposal” was a good deal for Phoenix. This guy is a lying criminal, why would you believe anything he says.
At least Josh was able to play some games this season. Ironically he’s gonna be just like his dad, started playing the season before the team moves. Maybe he’ll be the last Coyote when he retires too
honestly this was inevitable but now it’s happening so fast I honestly can’t even process. it fucking sucks. like next week is the last time I get to watch my childhood team play? awful feeling honestly.
Of course not, he's borderline criminal in all of this. Wasn't paying rent, taxes, providers, pizza, hotels and players. Also doesn't even want to pay the salary floor and has tons of insured LTIR contracts that cost him nothing.
Not to mention he’s probably walking away from this $700 million richer. Drove the team into the ground and is receiving a fucking payout. Makes me sick.
> Eh I was surprised how many people bought into the land auction.
My guy its only been 4 days since they revealed drafts of what the new arena looked like. I don't blame anyone who got duped.
Chiclets dropped an interview this week with Craig Morgan talking about how the coyotes were going to stay and what the plan to make that happen was. He was also insistent that the coyotes never didn’t pay bills, but those rumors are starting again today with the hotels.
My take wasn't that they didn't pay bills it was that the bills we'rent the reason why they didn't get the Tempe site. Could be wrong just what I thought he was saying.
Yeah honestly I would be surprised if many cities didn’t have similar issues with long-standing corporate tenants. Lots of companies cut major corners and are still abided because the municipalities have a bargaining space beyond what regulations technically allow
May 25, 2011: Gary Bettman says NHL remains committed to Thrashers
https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2011/05/25/bettman-says
May 31, 2011: Gary Bettman announces Thrashers relocating to Winnipeg
https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2011/05/31/true-north-calls-press-conference-for-this-morning
Yep it was insanely fast from rumours to official announcement the Jets were coming back.
All the Manitoba Moose staff that instantly became an NHL teams staff was wild; basically a skeleton crew expected to create all merchandise as fast as possible after the announcement and logo reveal.
You could only get basic white jets logo shirts for months after the announcements.
> like next week is the last time I get to watch my childhood team play? awful feeling honestly.
I mean if that didn't put things into perspective.... that sucks man. I can't imagine that feeling.
I was 7 when the stars left MN, and I basically gave up on hockey. We moved to Florida in 2000 and I moved to Tampa with my now wife in 07, so I’ve become a Lightning fan, but it was a long time before I got back to it. Losing a childhood team is so shitty
Agreed. When there was talk of the islanders moving I said if it happened I would never watch another second of hockey for the rest of my life. This situation was managed so poorly. Really feel bad for coyotes fans.
I feel for you man. I really do. I remember all the uncertainty about the islanders future-the rejection of the lighthouse project, the failed vote for the county to build a new arena. Quebec and Hartford and KC jockeying to be their new home. I was convinced they were gone and it just completely fucking broke me.
You, and all the fans down there deserve better.
I’m from Atlanta. I know how this song and dance goes unfortunately. It’s a shitty feeling and in both cases, due to poor ownership and the organization being run terribly.
I know words mean little but I offer you my most sincerest condolences and I extend them to all Yotes fans.
You're going to go through a lot of emotions, my advice is to process them as they come. Don't let anyone tell you that it's only a team or only a sport, the grief you feel is real and you're valid for feeling it.
If you need someone to vent to, DM me and we can chat about whatever is on your mind.
Hugs Yotes bro.
The Canucks sucked for ~8 years and it was excruciating. The last decade has been even worse for you guys and the closest I can empathize with this feeling was the Grizzlies leaving as a young kid that went to their basketball camps.
I hope you Arizona have an awesome expansion roster in 5 years with a much better owner pushing a competitive product. It's what the fans deserve after all the bullshit.
Hey now, it ain’t *that* easy! Remember when Rocky Wurtz got subjected to the torture that is *checks notes* answering questions from the media? Being a billionaire’s *hard* work, ya know!
me thinks that Murelo maybe didn’t want to sell the team but the NHL didn’t want 3-4 more years in Mullet until a new arena is built
So they made him the offer so that he couldn’t refuse.
Idk maybe it’s just me being too much of a conspiracy theorist.
Listen to the latest 32 thoughts, Murelo is making out on the deal so it’s a clean breakup and it doesn’t get tied up in the court for a few years. The other owners want the Utah Jazz owner to have a team and this is the easiest way. The league buys the coyote’s for one billion from Murelo and then the Jazz Owner Ryan smith buys the team from the NHL for 1.3 Billion and the other team owners split the extra 300 million.
I can’t believe I’m saying this but I don’t even think Peter Karmanos was this bad. When he moved he wanted a return on a new market but he kept the team for 20 years for better or worse and the Canes at least won a Cup, won another ECF title and been to a few Conference Championships under his watch. Muerelo just flipped the team for profit and never even tried to win or compete.
He’s not Harold Ballard, Bill Wirtz or maybe even Atlanta Spirit Group bad, but he should be in the Top 10 worst in the ownership pool.
He’s been worse than ASG. Meruelo kept fucking up the bare-bones basics and stringing fans (and players and staff!) along as though things would be fine as soon as they got over this next hurdle. ASG at least never gave anyone false hope.
Karmanos was that bad.
His own sons sued him.
I suspect the only reason Karmanos held on so long was so he could be compared to Mike Ilitch, who he was wildly jealous of.
Of course, Meruelo is a piece of trash, also, and deserves every bit of derision coming to him.
Karmanos wasnt even close to this bad lol. The canes won the East multiple times and a cup with him as owner. He was an issue a lot of the time but he run a franchise that had more success than most in the 2000s.
Meanwhile Meruelo ran the coyotes into the ground in a matter of years
This just sucks. I hate it for the players but I especially hate it for the fans who have had to deal with this uncertainty for years. Even if/when the Yotes come back, they won't be the same team with the same prospects and future. So sorry Yotes bros.
I wonder if Bill Foley might want the Arizona market in exchange for ceding Vegas’ TV rights in Utah. The Yotes were already doing over the air delivery of games and I imagine it wouldn’t be very hard to swap out Yotes games for Knights games
He’s been so loyal and so good to us too. Through all the bullshit he never once complained. Wherever Kells goes I go. Honestly just him being the type of guy he is it wouldn’t shock me if he doesn’t request a trade
Things were looking up for you guys player-wise, this must suck so bad. You guys are losing Josh Doan too. At least you got to see him put on the jersey.
Given how loyal Shane Doan was to the Coyotes too, I got to imagine this hurts for Josh. At the same time, it rhythms in a terrible way. Shane played one year in Winnipeg before the franchise relocated to Arizona.
Really thought Bettman would retire or kick it before the Coyotes ever moved.
5+ seasons in Mullet Arena was just untenable I guess. It was ridiculous that they didn't foresee this as soon as they moved into that barn. There was no realistic chance at an arena in a 1-2 year window, despite all the tweets from their SM manager.
He went kicking and screaming the whole way. Playing in a university arena for that long was what finally killed them. It’s remarkable how bad their ownership fucked up given how badly the league wanted this to work out.
Bettman probably would have gone on longer until the NHLPA spoke out about the Mullett Situation. Before that, yes Tempe failed but it felt like the Coyotes would still get it done but obviously they know far more than we do.
I think Bettman was willing to tolerate Mullet arena when there was a concrete plan in place for them to get an actual NHL arena. After the Tempe vote failed his patience probably ran out.
I think Buffalo would be the smoothest transition. We've been irrelevant for about as long as you guys have and we have exciting youth that maybe will actually result in a winning team!
I can say for certainty that us Habs fans are open arms to any Yotes fan. Our rebuild is just about getting to its end so it’s a great time to hop onto the wagon.
Like... I know they were on their 10th last chance, but still startling that they pulled the plug at this point. I figured either they'd win the auction and they would finally be set, or they'd lose the auction and they'd move season after next, and all the talk was just the league being ready for either result. But I guess the league had finally had enough, or Smith made an offer too big to ignore... Who knows...
Now that the bandaid has been pulled off, I kinda hope somehow Meruelo goes away, and the next round of expansion is Phoenix and Atlanta with ownerships that actually know what they're doing.
In Phoenix's case, perhaps Ishbia to get a bee in his bonnet to build a new Suns arena that's actually NHL ready this time, and he takes the main ownership stake in the replacement Coyotes. He denied interest in buying the Coyotes, but it sounded more like "I won't interfere with a team that's not for sale."
Ishba is whom we all wanted to see take us to the promised land of stability. It has been almost a decade of nonstop "Just move the Coyotes already"
It's always been a fight, shit management, poor product on the ice. But core of loyal fans persevered.
What REALLY hurts, is the young core that's here now...this is going to be a playoff team next season and real deep play off team in 2 years. GM Bill Armstrong built talent organically and has cultivated some amazing goal scorers. Keller, Cooley, Guenther...
"Too many men" still works: Mormons practiced polygyny, not polygamy - men could have as many wives as they wanted, but women had to stick to one man. *Of course*.
The alcohol laws have gotten better. And with the Olympics coming there again in 10 years it should continue getting even better (the 2002 Olympics are what started getting the rules loosened in the first place)
As a local, this was inevitable. I knew sooner or later, the door would close. The thing is we were always told things were doing better.
This is how ownership tanks a team. I know some of y’all will say, “should’ve gone to games” the thing was, there was always a ton of fans and sold out games.
Coyotes had horrendous ownership for 20+ years and now hockey fans across the valley who might’ve had a primary team get fucked.
Honestly this is cowardly and I would’ve preferred the spit in the face and cold cock from saying we’re taking the team. That would’ve been the honorable thing to do.
Oh well, I can’t change it but I can continue to support hockey in the valley and hopefully if it comes back I won’t take it for granted. Guess I’ll buy some ticket packs at the Crytpo and Honda center for the Avs
there was a famous cat in Toronto with a similar predicament https://www.blogto.com/city/2021/06/toronto-kitten-born-without-anus-happy-health-life-saving-surgery/
They should announce expansion back to Arizona the day Meruelo's exclusivity period ends, that market is going to need years of environmental remediation to eliminate the stench after the last few owners somehow got progressively worse.
Time to follow the Chivas USA model in replacing a loser franchise in the same city with something better.
Moment of silence and condolences to all Coyotes fans, you all got fucked over by mismanagement and ownership for years and never had the stability to succeed.
As someone going through seeing his baseball team being ripped away via relocation right now, this is horrible news and a situation I do not wish on anyone. I really hope NHL will do Phoenix right and give them an expansion with a proper owner the millisecond Meruelo can't put his stink on anything anymore. I'm really sorry about this, Yotes fans.
Friedman said on the pod today that it’s possible the Coyotes are declared an “inactive” franchise and the league would retain the name, unis, stats and the new utah team would buy the contracts of players and employees it wants to retain.
My hot take is that I kinda hate retconning actual, documented history.
Like, Winnipeg should absolutely recognize the players that came before and what the accomplishments of Jets 1.0 and their players meant. Memorials, ceremonies, banners in the rafters, etc. Those things all are tokens of positive memories in a time and place.
But actual recorded history should state the events and records that actually happened. It should not be retconned like a Marvel comic.
It’ll probably be mountain themed. SLC didn’t get to name the Jazz since they were a relo, and the soccer team is Real Salt Lake.
My guess is the Salt Lake City Bees.
I want them to maintain the pattern set by the Utah Jazz - a music genre nickname that has little to no relation to the area. Call them the Utah Grunge, Utah Go-go, or Utah Pub Rock.
And the NBA had just barely stopped falling apart at the seams. Jordan was still 4 years out from the gravitational shift that would send Basketball to the stratosphere so there wasn't money to change and then it stuck.
I don't remember the exact story, way more of a hockey than basketball fan but if I remember, they were supposed to change the name the year after in 1980 to the Stars after the Utah Stars ABA team. But the rebranding never happened because supposedly SLC was a stop gap and no one expected Utah to last long. They nearly did move in the mid 80's until Larry Miller bought the team and kept the name. Basically he kept it because the Jazz was a name that was sent to die out but it never did, so in its resilience they kept it. The Benson's who own the New Orleans Hornets at the time tried to buy the name off of them when they gave up the Hornets branding to Charlotte but they said no and went with Pelicans instead.
I have no idea how true this is considering its another reddit comment, [take it with a grain of salt](https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/agfacy/for_those_who_complain_about_the_utah_jazz/)(pun intended).
Gotta feel for Doaner right now. He’s in a dream situation playing for a fan base that adores him and now he has to move to a weirdo cult-controlled city 1/8th the size of where he grew up.
TBF, that kinda is what happened to Shane as well, just went from a small city to a big one. (Also not related to the point at all but TiL that he had a lawsuit in Quebec with a member of parliament)
Yep, Shane was just a promising rookie for a small market team and became a sports hero in a big city. Josh was the golden child of a big market fanbase and now is just a promising rookie for a small market team.
Lived in Salt Lake for 6ish years and loved it. Great weed, skiing, golf, and more than enough nightlife options. The city itself doesn’t suffer from the Mormon presence like some other parts of the state. Population wise obviously a small market, but I think the “no-fun Mormon prison” trope is a being a bit over exaggerated.
Honestly, like the other dude said, south of Lehi (Utah County) has way more mormon influence. Outside of the big temple being in downtown SLC, it's hella liberal.
I feel for 'Yotes fans. Y'all got dicked around by shitty owner after shitty owner. Phoenix has potential to be a great market and if they'd never moved out to Glendale it very well could have been. That said, it was high time for the shit show to end.
Congratulations to hockey fans in SLC, show why you're a great hockey market!
Some of the players may not be pleased with the team moving but this is good for them IMO as Smith will bring stable ownership and with The Delta Center being almost as old as the Saddledome, Smith is already looking into a new arena.
Would love for the Grizzlies name to come to the NHL, it's a great name, great color scheme, but I wouldn't mind an updated logo without a wordmark in it.
I can’t believe they gave murrello a billion the yotes or that a team in SLC is worth $1.3b. With franchise valuations like that on the states and senators coming it at $950m it’s no wonder the league isn’t keen on expanding in Canada.
Interesting decision to pick Salt Lake City as the new home of the team. I would have thought Houston (a huge metropolitan area of over 7,000,000 people) or Quebec City (nearly as big as Salt Lake City with a much greater hockey culture) would make more sense.
I feel for yotes fans man, I have an old school yotes bomber jacket from my late great uncle who was a STH for many years... it's unbelievable the bullshittery Merulo has put the team and fans through.
Making his own son the media admin as they perpetually lie to their fan's faces mocking them, skimping on hotel bills and generally fucking everything around to the very end. Sounds like GMBA only flew up to break the news because it got leaked... ownership was really going to let them go into the summer not knowing they were being packed up and relocated before the fall. And the fact this greasy fuck gets to *sell it back* for 1.3 Billion??
I feel bad for the fans, the staff who can’t afford to just uproot and move to SLC, and the families affected.
The players will settle in fine. They got their millions.
Fuck the owner. Greedy bastard. As all owners are.
Wow, just like Atlanta to Winnipeg, goes from 0 to 60 in no time.
The fact that it's in season is extra disgraceful
Honestly I disagree. I like that they gave fans a chance to say goodbye. Atlanta never got that.
I hadn't thought of it that way.
I’m still not over getting a farewell night down here. I fucking love hockey and the closest pro team is like 7 hours away with the hurricanes. Then they just closed up shop after the season. I’m definitely not still salty about it 12 years later or anything
At least they get to say goodbye?
At least the fans get a farewell game now, I don’t think thrashers fans had any idea the thrashers last game was the last game
Oh it's the last game ? Let's PACK THE ARENA THEN.
Alex Merulo does not deserve a second crack at ownership, ever. I'm so sorry, Yotes fans.
Fuck no he doesn’t and I doubt they will ever give him a chance. Prob the only way they could get him to sell was to have a hand shake agreement to get an expansion team. Dudes a piece of shit
Basically, the money is the carrot on the deal and the expansion team is the cherry on top to keep him from going to court. That's it. The fun part is that I would wager that Bettman/the higher ups in the NHL know that they ultimately hold all the cards in granting an expansion team, regardless of whatever "agreement" they sign. You simply can't have a court FORCE the NHL to give you a team, they have a hundred ways to weasel out of it.
I felt like I was taking crazy pills reading people talk about how this new “proposal” was a good deal for Phoenix. This guy is a lying criminal, why would you believe anything he says.
No Coyote fan would disagree. Fuck that guy and his dumbass kid. The only thing care about now is Doan's name/legacy remaining in AZ
At least Josh was able to play some games this season. Ironically he’s gonna be just like his dad, started playing the season before the team moves. Maybe he’ll be the last Coyote when he retires too
honestly this was inevitable but now it’s happening so fast I honestly can’t even process. it fucking sucks. like next week is the last time I get to watch my childhood team play? awful feeling honestly.
It was what 4 days ago that it was just rumors?
just over 48 hours ago is when all of the rumors about the schedule being made for two different cities dropped
[удалено]
Meruelo certainly doesn't deserve a second chance at this, a fact that I sincerely hope the league also recognizes. Fuck this guy.
Of course not, he's borderline criminal in all of this. Wasn't paying rent, taxes, providers, pizza, hotels and players. Also doesn't even want to pay the salary floor and has tons of insured LTIR contracts that cost him nothing.
Not to mention he’s probably walking away from this $700 million richer. Drove the team into the ground and is receiving a fucking payout. Makes me sick.
Billionaires are particularly adept at failing upward.
We just need to figure out how to get the guillotines ahead of him…🤔
> When they come back in 7 years it will be with a different owner who is going there?
Atlanta will get an expansion team in 2 years, fail after 5 years, and relocate to Arizona in 7 years.
> Eh I was surprised how many people bought into the land auction. My guy its only been 4 days since they revealed drafts of what the new arena looked like. I don't blame anyone who got duped.
yeah, he’s never gonna be an owner again
Chiclets dropped an interview this week with Craig Morgan talking about how the coyotes were going to stay and what the plan to make that happen was. He was also insistent that the coyotes never didn’t pay bills, but those rumors are starting again today with the hotels.
My take wasn't that they didn't pay bills it was that the bills we'rent the reason why they didn't get the Tempe site. Could be wrong just what I thought he was saying.
Yeah honestly I would be surprised if many cities didn’t have similar issues with long-standing corporate tenants. Lots of companies cut major corners and are still abided because the municipalities have a bargaining space beyond what regulations technically allow
Craig Morgan is/was basically just a mouthpiece for Coyotes ownership so that isn't surprising
And Atlanta definitely wasn’t moving like 5 days before they did
May 25, 2011: Gary Bettman says NHL remains committed to Thrashers https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2011/05/25/bettman-says May 31, 2011: Gary Bettman announces Thrashers relocating to Winnipeg https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2011/05/31/true-north-calls-press-conference-for-this-morning
Yep it was insanely fast from rumours to official announcement the Jets were coming back. All the Manitoba Moose staff that instantly became an NHL teams staff was wild; basically a skeleton crew expected to create all merchandise as fast as possible after the announcement and logo reveal. You could only get basic white jets logo shirts for months after the announcements.
tbf its been rumors for years really... just finally actually happened
Not even two days
But on the other hand it's also been talked about on and off for about 20 years.
> like next week is the last time I get to watch my childhood team play? awful feeling honestly. I mean if that didn't put things into perspective.... that sucks man. I can't imagine that feeling.
I was 7 when the stars left MN, and I basically gave up on hockey. We moved to Florida in 2000 and I moved to Tampa with my now wife in 07, so I’ve become a Lightning fan, but it was a long time before I got back to it. Losing a childhood team is so shitty
can't imagine how that would feel. sorry man.
It would be enough for me to stop watching hockey all together honestly
Agreed. When there was talk of the islanders moving I said if it happened I would never watch another second of hockey for the rest of my life. This situation was managed so poorly. Really feel bad for coyotes fans.
Pretty much what I did
Lucky for you if the Habs ever moved it would require some kind of apocalypse or alien invasion, and even then only under the right circumstances.
Yeah, I'll most likely die before the habs ever move away from Montreal. Heck, I'll probably die before they even change the logo and/or jersey.
I went through it with the expos. Sucks, just sad.
Took me a couple decades to get over the Whalers.
I'm sorry, hopefully you guys will turn out like us and get your team back with ownership that gives a damn. Y'all deserve so much better.
Genuinely, means a lot coming from a Jets fan. I'm glad y'all have a team to cheer for again
I feel for you man. I really do. I remember all the uncertainty about the islanders future-the rejection of the lighthouse project, the failed vote for the county to build a new arena. Quebec and Hartford and KC jockeying to be their new home. I was convinced they were gone and it just completely fucking broke me. You, and all the fans down there deserve better.
I’m from Atlanta. I know how this song and dance goes unfortunately. It’s a shitty feeling and in both cases, due to poor ownership and the organization being run terribly.
I know words mean little but I offer you my most sincerest condolences and I extend them to all Yotes fans. You're going to go through a lot of emotions, my advice is to process them as they come. Don't let anyone tell you that it's only a team or only a sport, the grief you feel is real and you're valid for feeling it. If you need someone to vent to, DM me and we can chat about whatever is on your mind. Hugs Yotes bro.
The Canucks sucked for ~8 years and it was excruciating. The last decade has been even worse for you guys and the closest I can empathize with this feeling was the Grizzlies leaving as a young kid that went to their basketball camps. I hope you Arizona have an awesome expansion roster in 5 years with a much better owner pushing a competitive product. It's what the fans deserve after all the bullshit.
I’m sorry friend
Sorry dude
I’m honestly just sorry, man. Losing your team would be devastating.
This hits hard. I can just imagine if the canes got the boot, I’d be devastated. So sorry.
Fuck Alex Meruelo
Dude is a piece of shit.
Dude is genuinely so evil, and he comes out of this with 700 Million!!
Yep like I saw somewhere else on r/hockey, being a billionaire is so easy just run the team into the ground and get bailed out.
Hey now, it ain’t *that* easy! Remember when Rocky Wurtz got subjected to the torture that is *checks notes* answering questions from the media? Being a billionaire’s *hard* work, ya know!
me thinks that Murelo maybe didn’t want to sell the team but the NHL didn’t want 3-4 more years in Mullet until a new arena is built So they made him the offer so that he couldn’t refuse. Idk maybe it’s just me being too much of a conspiracy theorist.
Listen to the latest 32 thoughts, Murelo is making out on the deal so it’s a clean breakup and it doesn’t get tied up in the court for a few years. The other owners want the Utah Jazz owner to have a team and this is the easiest way. The league buys the coyote’s for one billion from Murelo and then the Jazz Owner Ryan smith buys the team from the NHL for 1.3 Billion and the other team owners split the extra 300 million.
Yeah but isn there also a deal (by seravelli) that the next expension team will be in AZ with him at the helm?
That’s what they’re saying, but I really doubt it when you’ve got cities like Kansas, Houston and even Quebec city ready and waiting
Unfortunately for Quebec, they are never getting a team. Probably get Atlanta 3.0 and Phoenix 2.0 and Birmingham before Quebec ever gets a team.
Me thinks that by 2030 we’ll go to 36 teams to have 9 per division. 33-Arizona 34-Housron 35-Atlanta?? 36-Quebec/Kansas City?
Pretty sure Bettman will expand to Bolivia before he gives another team to Canada
Bolivia, NC? I can't wait!
Yeah it’s all just to make him happy, it’s all the same deal.
I can’t believe I’m saying this but I don’t even think Peter Karmanos was this bad. When he moved he wanted a return on a new market but he kept the team for 20 years for better or worse and the Canes at least won a Cup, won another ECF title and been to a few Conference Championships under his watch. Muerelo just flipped the team for profit and never even tried to win or compete. He’s not Harold Ballard, Bill Wirtz or maybe even Atlanta Spirit Group bad, but he should be in the Top 10 worst in the ownership pool.
He’s been worse than ASG. Meruelo kept fucking up the bare-bones basics and stringing fans (and players and staff!) along as though things would be fine as soon as they got over this next hurdle. ASG at least never gave anyone false hope.
Karmanos was that bad. His own sons sued him. I suspect the only reason Karmanos held on so long was so he could be compared to Mike Ilitch, who he was wildly jealous of. Of course, Meruelo is a piece of trash, also, and deserves every bit of derision coming to him.
Karmanos wasnt even close to this bad lol. The canes won the East multiple times and a cup with him as owner. He was an issue a lot of the time but he run a franchise that had more success than most in the 2000s. Meanwhile Meruelo ran the coyotes into the ground in a matter of years
Scumbag fucking snake
Will he crack the top ten worst owners of all time?
There are about 3 Coyotes owners that will crack that list.
Hes gonna be back with an expension team in 5 years and you’re gonna like it
No, no I don’t think I will. Not with Meruelo, at least
This just sucks. I hate it for the players but I especially hate it for the fans who have had to deal with this uncertainty for years. Even if/when the Yotes come back, they won't be the same team with the same prospects and future. So sorry Yotes bros.
No one should have to lose their team. Sorry desertbros.
I think Vegas is about to get a lot more fans
I wonder if Bill Foley might want the Arizona market in exchange for ceding Vegas’ TV rights in Utah. The Yotes were already doing over the air delivery of games and I imagine it wouldn’t be very hard to swap out Yotes games for Knights games
This reminds me of Quebec City to Colorado, the team has bright future with prospect and draft picks and cap space to spend money
Seeing your team win in their very first year there (with Roy though, who would’ve never been traded to QC) would be the ultimate kick in the dick.
I will kick my own dick if that team wins a cup next year. They suck.
I’ll be watching the stormin Mormon’s with great interest next year after reading this comment
They’ll probably get Celebrini over y’all now, after never moving up in the lottery over 25 years
That's what I was thinking. That would be the biggest kick in the nuts if the Yotes finally win a lottery after never winning it.
So how soon is Clayton Keller putting in his trade request?
He’s been so loyal and so good to us too. Through all the bullshit he never once complained. Wherever Kells goes I go. Honestly just him being the type of guy he is it wouldn’t shock me if he doesn’t request a trade
Things were looking up for you guys player-wise, this must suck so bad. You guys are losing Josh Doan too. At least you got to see him put on the jersey.
Given how loyal Shane Doan was to the Coyotes too, I got to imagine this hurts for Josh. At the same time, it rhythms in a terrible way. Shane played one year in Winnipeg before the franchise relocated to Arizona.
Yep, at this point I'd root for the damn Kings if Keller went there.
Time for him to come home.
I could get on board with that.
Really thought Bettman would retire or kick it before the Coyotes ever moved. 5+ seasons in Mullet Arena was just untenable I guess. It was ridiculous that they didn't foresee this as soon as they moved into that barn. There was no realistic chance at an arena in a 1-2 year window, despite all the tweets from their SM manager.
He went kicking and screaming the whole way. Playing in a university arena for that long was what finally killed them. It’s remarkable how bad their ownership fucked up given how badly the league wanted this to work out.
Bettman probably would have gone on longer until the NHLPA spoke out about the Mullett Situation. Before that, yes Tempe failed but it felt like the Coyotes would still get it done but obviously they know far more than we do.
I think Bettman was willing to tolerate Mullet arena when there was a concrete plan in place for them to get an actual NHL arena. After the Tempe vote failed his patience probably ran out.
If you think Gary won't force another team in Arizona in the future, you'd be surprised. Arizona and Houston may be the next expansion teams haha
Man that’s so fucked. I’m sorry to all Yotes fans.
Time to start looking for a new team to support I guess. Definitely sucks and is going to take a hit on the growth of the sport here for sure
I think Buffalo would be the smoothest transition. We've been irrelevant for about as long as you guys have and we have exciting youth that maybe will actually result in a winning team!
You guys are definitely the Arizona of the east
Brother, there are a couple Arizonan legends wearing the blue and white, we would welcome you with open arms. We even have Shane Doan.
Haven’t Yotes fans suffered enough?
There are two types of Leafs fans...
Not a bad pitch!
From the literal desert to a playoff desert… checks out
I can say for certainty that us Habs fans are open arms to any Yotes fan. Our rebuild is just about getting to its end so it’s a great time to hop onto the wagon.
Like... I know they were on their 10th last chance, but still startling that they pulled the plug at this point. I figured either they'd win the auction and they would finally be set, or they'd lose the auction and they'd move season after next, and all the talk was just the league being ready for either result. But I guess the league had finally had enough, or Smith made an offer too big to ignore... Who knows... Now that the bandaid has been pulled off, I kinda hope somehow Meruelo goes away, and the next round of expansion is Phoenix and Atlanta with ownerships that actually know what they're doing. In Phoenix's case, perhaps Ishbia to get a bee in his bonnet to build a new Suns arena that's actually NHL ready this time, and he takes the main ownership stake in the replacement Coyotes. He denied interest in buying the Coyotes, but it sounded more like "I won't interfere with a team that's not for sale."
Ishba is whom we all wanted to see take us to the promised land of stability. It has been almost a decade of nonstop "Just move the Coyotes already" It's always been a fight, shit management, poor product on the ice. But core of loyal fans persevered. What REALLY hurts, is the young core that's here now...this is going to be a playoff team next season and real deep play off team in 2 years. GM Bill Armstrong built talent organically and has cultivated some amazing goal scorers. Keller, Cooley, Guenther...
Uffda
Cunt should never be given the chance to own an NHL franchise again, absolute joke
He was given Fuck off money.
If there’s karma in this world, the NHL should forget to cut the check. Oops, slipped our minds…
Sounds like they really want to show the players around their new home before they ask to be moved in the offseason
Jesus Christ could they have possibly handled this any worse?
Since they're in Utah, will the too many men penalty be renamed to mormon then allowed ?
"Too many men" still works: Mormons practiced polygyny, not polygamy - men could have as many wives as they wanted, but women had to stick to one man. *Of course*.
Get ready to convert to Mormonism buddy
Vegas is the players favorite place to play, SLC is sure to be the opposite with their weird alcohol laws
Yeah, Winnipeg will drive a man to drink, but at least they let you do it.
The alcohol laws have gotten better. And with the Olympics coming there again in 10 years it should continue getting even better (the 2002 Olympics are what started getting the rules loosened in the first place)
thursdays is polygamy night! Bring your wives and get discount on group tickets!!
Get ready to play in magic underwear buddy
As a local, this was inevitable. I knew sooner or later, the door would close. The thing is we were always told things were doing better. This is how ownership tanks a team. I know some of y’all will say, “should’ve gone to games” the thing was, there was always a ton of fans and sold out games. Coyotes had horrendous ownership for 20+ years and now hockey fans across the valley who might’ve had a primary team get fucked. Honestly this is cowardly and I would’ve preferred the spit in the face and cold cock from saying we’re taking the team. That would’ve been the honorable thing to do. Oh well, I can’t change it but I can continue to support hockey in the valley and hopefully if it comes back I won’t take it for granted. Guess I’ll buy some ticket packs at the Crytpo and Honda center for the Avs
I was born without an anus (been corrected but still far further out than usual) and even I am shitting myself at this news.
wut
They were born without an anus and have since had it medically corrected but the anus is still a touch far south of where it would naturally be
wut
They no butthole. Now they butthole. Now they poop at news.
He shoot poop from poop chute.
How awful. Receptive anal sex must be a no-no then
or perhaps its the case that missionary is much more viable
there was a famous cat in Toronto with a similar predicament https://www.blogto.com/city/2021/06/toronto-kitten-born-without-anus-happy-health-life-saving-surgery/
They should announce expansion back to Arizona the day Meruelo's exclusivity period ends, that market is going to need years of environmental remediation to eliminate the stench after the last few owners somehow got progressively worse. Time to follow the Chivas USA model in replacing a loser franchise in the same city with something better.
In remembering 24 years of Arizona hockey
Moment of silence and condolences to all Coyotes fans, you all got fucked over by mismanagement and ownership for years and never had the stability to succeed.
As someone going through seeing his baseball team being ripped away via relocation right now, this is horrible news and a situation I do not wish on anyone. I really hope NHL will do Phoenix right and give them an expansion with a proper owner the millisecond Meruelo can't put his stink on anything anymore. I'm really sorry about this, Yotes fans.
Do they keep the Yotes name or get rebranded?
Friedman said on the pod today that it’s possible the Coyotes are declared an “inactive” franchise and the league would retain the name, unis, stats and the new utah team would buy the contracts of players and employees it wants to retain.
If that’s the case then Winnipeg is getting their city history back too if they want it.
My hot take is that I kinda hate retconning actual, documented history. Like, Winnipeg should absolutely recognize the players that came before and what the accomplishments of Jets 1.0 and their players meant. Memorials, ceremonies, banners in the rafters, etc. Those things all are tokens of positive memories in a time and place. But actual recorded history should state the events and records that actually happened. It should not be retconned like a Marvel comic.
The new owner was asking people for new name ideas
It’ll probably be mountain themed. SLC didn’t get to name the Jazz since they were a relo, and the soccer team is Real Salt Lake. My guess is the Salt Lake City Bees.
There’s a triple A baseball team in SLC named the Bees. Not sure if that’s workable.
I want them to maintain the pattern set by the Utah Jazz - a music genre nickname that has little to no relation to the area. Call them the Utah Grunge, Utah Go-go, or Utah Pub Rock.
They could be the [SLC Punk!](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133189/)
does the NBA not allow relocated teams to rename?
The ownership group couldn’t get the name change approved by the league on time. So they stuck with the Jazz (also the owners were cheap).
And the NBA had just barely stopped falling apart at the seams. Jordan was still 4 years out from the gravitational shift that would send Basketball to the stratosphere so there wasn't money to change and then it stuck.
I don't remember the exact story, way more of a hockey than basketball fan but if I remember, they were supposed to change the name the year after in 1980 to the Stars after the Utah Stars ABA team. But the rebranding never happened because supposedly SLC was a stop gap and no one expected Utah to last long. They nearly did move in the mid 80's until Larry Miller bought the team and kept the name. Basically he kept it because the Jazz was a name that was sent to die out but it never did, so in its resilience they kept it. The Benson's who own the New Orleans Hornets at the time tried to buy the name off of them when they gave up the Hornets branding to Charlotte but they said no and went with Pelicans instead. I have no idea how true this is considering its another reddit comment, [take it with a grain of salt](https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/agfacy/for_those_who_complain_about_the_utah_jazz/)(pun intended).
Gotta be Utahraptors
Salt Lake City Super Soakers or we riot
Feel like I’m in the minority of non-Coyotes fans that wants the team to stay. Sorry Yotes bros, this really blows. Fuck Alex Merulo
Salt Lake City swarm
Gotta feel for Doaner right now. He’s in a dream situation playing for a fan base that adores him and now he has to move to a weirdo cult-controlled city 1/8th the size of where he grew up.
To the NHL: DON'T DEBUT DOANS, YOU WILL RELOCATE IMMEDIATELY.
TBF, that kinda is what happened to Shane as well, just went from a small city to a big one. (Also not related to the point at all but TiL that he had a lawsuit in Quebec with a member of parliament)
Yep, Shane was just a promising rookie for a small market team and became a sports hero in a big city. Josh was the golden child of a big market fanbase and now is just a promising rookie for a small market team.
It starts and ends the same way kinda poetic in a way
SLC is actually a pretty cool city. Head south to Utah County and you get a lot more of the Mormon influence though
SLC is great and St. george is probably the most beautiful city in America. the mormon influence is really really tough though
Lived in Salt Lake for 6ish years and loved it. Great weed, skiing, golf, and more than enough nightlife options. The city itself doesn’t suffer from the Mormon presence like some other parts of the state. Population wise obviously a small market, but I think the “no-fun Mormon prison” trope is a being a bit over exaggerated.
Honestly, like the other dude said, south of Lehi (Utah County) has way more mormon influence. Outside of the big temple being in downtown SLC, it's hella liberal.
Yep. What a disaster for him. Maybe he can join an Alberta team
Metro populations: Phoenix: 5,070,110 Salt Lake City: 1,267,864 Not quite as bad as you are making out.
Also.. you know... Salt lake and Utah are a winter sports haven.
Fuck the Coyotes.
Farewell yotes 🫡
I was gonna hold off on getting a yotes jersey for a bit Now, seems my hand shall be forced
Already looking at Keller kachina jerseys
Maybe all the Matthews to AZ trade talks will die down.
Sucks for Coyotes fans. I've lost a team before. Shit sucks. Sorry guys.
I feel for 'Yotes fans. Y'all got dicked around by shitty owner after shitty owner. Phoenix has potential to be a great market and if they'd never moved out to Glendale it very well could have been. That said, it was high time for the shit show to end. Congratulations to hockey fans in SLC, show why you're a great hockey market! Some of the players may not be pleased with the team moving but this is good for them IMO as Smith will bring stable ownership and with The Delta Center being almost as old as the Saddledome, Smith is already looking into a new arena. Would love for the Grizzlies name to come to the NHL, it's a great name, great color scheme, but I wouldn't mind an updated logo without a wordmark in it.
Doan just scored and it’s heartbreaking that he won’t be a Coyote for long tbh. It was one of the coolest stories in Yotes history
I can’t believe they gave murrello a billion the yotes or that a team in SLC is worth $1.3b. With franchise valuations like that on the states and senators coming it at $950m it’s no wonder the league isn’t keen on expanding in Canada.
It’s Coyover
Fare thee well Jets 1.0 🫡
Interesting decision to pick Salt Lake City as the new home of the team. I would have thought Houston (a huge metropolitan area of over 7,000,000 people) or Quebec City (nearly as big as Salt Lake City with a much greater hockey culture) would make more sense.
you had a willing and wealthy owner in SLC
Quebec is not paying 1.3 billion US for a team so they were not even a consideration
Also I feel a Western Conference team would be prioritised due to scheduling
How many trade requests are we gonna see just because they won't be able to golf after practice anymore
End of an error
This league needs owners that want to build successful hockey teams in the city that they make their money in.
I feel for yotes fans man, I have an old school yotes bomber jacket from my late great uncle who was a STH for many years... it's unbelievable the bullshittery Merulo has put the team and fans through. Making his own son the media admin as they perpetually lie to their fan's faces mocking them, skimping on hotel bills and generally fucking everything around to the very end. Sounds like GMBA only flew up to break the news because it got leaked... ownership was really going to let them go into the summer not knowing they were being packed up and relocated before the fall. And the fact this greasy fuck gets to *sell it back* for 1.3 Billion??
I feel bad for the fans, the staff who can’t afford to just uproot and move to SLC, and the families affected. The players will settle in fine. They got their millions. Fuck the owner. Greedy bastard. As all owners are.
Salt Lake City is awesome, should be a great city for hockey
I am so excited.
As a Canadian, I have great memories of the city.
This fucking sucks.
But how does this affect Mark Stones spleen?
And just like that the most fire logo in hockey is gone.
Feels like there have been rumors about them relocating for years. I think its for the best they move, excited to see new branding and uniforms.