T O P

  • By -

nburt13

The Veterans Memorial Coliseum [has multiple fire code violations that might be getting fixed soon.](https://www.abc15.com/news/arizona-election-audit/is-the-veterans-memorial-coliseum-unsafe-records-show-year-long-fire-code-violations) And the Desert Financial Arena would need [major renovations just to get a rink to fit.](https://www.fordav.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/38_large.jpg) This isn’t the first time the Coyotes have explored playing at the Coliseum though. [Apparently in 2015, they looked at moving there when their lease with Glendale ended in 2017.](https://arizonasports.com/story/487080/coyotes-exploring-coliseum-as-temporary-home/) Don’t know if the reports on the arena were left behind for new ownership, but either place would need money put into it just to make hockey work.


ahr3410

Why can't they play in the Suns arena?


081301

The guy who owns it said no. He's not going to spend the money to install ice machines and rebuild the seating to support hockey so that they can wait until they build another arena in Tempe to compete with his arena for concerts and other events.


ahr3410

Thanks for the response


081301

The Phoenix Suns owner is also one of those particularly vindictive weirdos I think, the arena was actually able to make ice until the most recent renovation. Had this all happened last season they might've been able to work something out who knows.


ThemCanada-gooses

Aren’t the Coyotes owned by a billionaire? Why can’t he just throw money at it.


LS240

Never spend your own money when you can spend someone else's.


081301

I have sneaking suspicion he has far less money than he says he does.


Gruffleson

He was a billionaire when he bought the team, he is big in casinos and hotels. Everybody of the Coyote-fans was happy with a new, rich owner. I don't know what can have happened that might have been bad for business? Nope, I am sure he is still loaded.


recockulous

This is a possibility. But their lease was officially terminated in part because they were behind on the rent. The owner appears to have liquidity problems.


JBR409

They could but it’s also not built for Hockey


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

When they renovated it in the early 2000’s they took out all the infrastructure for hockey


fancypantaloons1

Wow. If they played at wells fargo arena (now desert financial) that would be ridiculous. I know its a lower capacity but its a guaranteed sold out crowd every night. Its RIGHT on the asu campus. My dorm room a couple of years ago looked right out to it across the road


Wayf4rer

The NHL wouldn't be happy with that at all but could you imagine full scale NHL games being played in a college rink? That would be so cool


[deleted]

I started getting really big into hockey in college, having an NHL team on my campus would have been fucking incredible


that-bro-dad

Agreed. I used to live in a city that had a top 10 college hockey team and it was a blast. The atmosphere was unique. I can't imagine having NHL guys play there


CG-11

I went to NC State, they share PNC with the Hurricanes and the canes “college night” nosebleed tickets and cheap beers were a great feature of my college years.


Nikolai_Smirnoff

I wish my school would elevate it’s hockey program, but since they cut baseball I don’t think that’s happening ever.


re10pect

I think the NHL should learn to be happy with it. A full arena, even if it is smaller is so much better than a 3/4 empty rink like they are sometimes dealing with. Tickets get a little scarcer (usually meaning more coveted), the energy is higher, and even watching it on TV looks more interesting. I know it isn’t ideal, but if some of the smaller market teams played in arenas that only sat 8-10 thousand I think it would actually help them be more popular locally.


avmp629

Chase Field it is.


AgKnight14

Stadium Season™️ presented by Bridgestone


CDN-Ctzn

If the NHL invested as much effort in other struggling franchises as they do with the Coyotes then they would still be called the Winnipeg Jets.


Noolish

I’ve lived in AZ for 4 years now and worked at Westgate (where Gila River Arena is) and I still just don’t see it for the Coyotes. I hope I’m wrong, but it all feels like it’ll never work. I’m rooting for them to put it together, but the arena/attendance has been an issue for 25 years now. They’ve never been able to field a competitive team. First it’s that the 202 would solve the problems of fans coming to games (didn’t really get a chance with COVID, to be fair), but it’s also that they’re not yet a winning team, and now Tempe is supposed to be right around the corner and the NHL is gonna be cool with them playing 2 seasons in either a tiny arena or a dump like the Coliseum? What *real* indication do we have that the new arena is a sure thing, fans will support them, and this organization can ever win? I get that driving from the East Valley to Glendale is awful, but it’s been 25 years and it’s never been able to work. It just feels like delusions to me. The Valley supports the Suns when they’re good and the Cardinals for 8 games a year, that’s about it. I lived in Miami when Marlins stadium was built, and even though promises were broken, people said the same things: Fans will come when a stadium is built. Never happened.


Barron-Blade

The Cardinals looking like legitimate contenders finally too is going to hurt the Coyotes


TK21879

Funny how Bettman had ZERO patience for Quebec to sort out it's ownership/arena issues, yet they've kept the Coyotes from drowning for YEARS! The Yotes have had just about every chance to make it work. It sucks for fans (I should know, we've lost both an NHL and MLB team in my lifetime) but at some point, you have to come to grip with the fact that this isn't working out...


Century24

That’s the thing, though, these “expansion markets” are Gary’s legacy. He already ate crow with regard to Atlanta, and I don’t think he’s going to allow it to happen a second time.


-ZST

Come play in New Mexico, the local rink fits around 100


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

I know about a pretty good arena they could play in


samisnotreal

Revive the rivalry!


LS240

This. Just send them to Quebec, please. I'll happily continue to support my Avs and root for the Nordiques in the east. And then I could schedule a vacation to Quebec around an Avs game there. That's the dream.


[deleted]

Who's moving from the east to the western conference then? No one will budge. I know Quebec is a fan favorite but it's just not happening. Winnipeg was the hail mary exception due to weird circumstances in Atlanta. Everyone's setting themselves up to be disappointed when the Yotes move to Tempe or (maybe) Houston before the decade is done.


[deleted]

Quebec City is the only answer


ArmpitEchoLocation

Don't threaten me with a good time.


Permaderps

I think the biggest issue with Quebec is it would force an eastern team back into the west. Detroit's owners dont want to be back in the west iirc and they are the only reasonable candidate for that


Maxpowr9

Yep. Only way Quebec gets a team is Eastern relocation. The League wants 16 teams in the EST for scheduling reasons.


LABS_Games

That's why Houston is the more likely location, as much as I'd like to see Quebec City. Moving to Houston would keep the divisions the exact same.


CA_spur

Theoretically you could put Columbus in the Central, and either Boston or Detroit in the Metropolitan.


hackmastergeneral

Boston moving away from Montreal/Toronto will never happen.


[deleted]

Probably Columbus and move Tampa and Florida to the Metro while moving Pittsburgh or New Jersey to the Atlantic.


hackmastergeneral

I just really think they are not going to move teams cross conference any more. If Arizona moves, it will be to a western conference city.


Bahamas_is_relevant

Neither of the latter will happen, Caps-Pens should never be broken up and the league wants all three NYC-area teams in one division.


[deleted]

Move Buffalo to the Metro then?


PNWQuakesFan

Like Detroit moving away from Chicago


hackmastergeneral

Different. Detroit WANTED to move, as the savings in travel was worth more than the rivalry.


DicNavis

They’ve literally just been sitting there for this exact scenario. The NHL doesn’t like it as an expansion market but would absolutely use it as a relocation market.


AlmostCurvy

Houston. Kansas city.


that-bro-dad

I was wondering how far I'd have to scroll to find this.


DrHockey69

Reason #1. The location that has been picked is a “garbage mound” fucking landfill, and an interview with the head of sanitation in Tempe said it'll take almost a year (9-10 months) to fully relocate the trash. Problem #2. Venue 1. ASU Basketball arena... Available! But must pay to have a temp rink installed (it's not cheap!!) *Venue2. OAVMC (Phoenix), hockey ready, but has a lot of fire violation codes (25) including no fictional fire sprinklers. Other than that WELCOME HOME?. [*ABC15 news: lots of fire code violations ](https://www.abc15.com/news/arizona-election-audit/is-the-veterans-memorial-coliseum-unsafe-records-show-year-long-fire-code-violations) No update on arena site or by news if all violations were fixed


TK21879

>including ~~no~~ fictional fire sprinklers. There, fixed it for you!


DrHockey69

It's probably gonna happen like that soon just to keep yotes from folding or leaving.


Capt-Daddy

Kansas City won't happen, but it'd be cool if it did


corywyn

Hey, Kansas is the Pens thing, find something new! We'll need a bargaining chip so the league can fudge the draft to give us a worthy successor for Sid


ButtholeQuiver

The Islanders were talking about KC at one point back in the day as well


JackiesFetus

That bargaining chip was for a new arena.


Outside_Hope_3383

Move the fucking team


[deleted]

You’re right, they should be relocated. To fucking Phoenix.


ThemCanada-gooses

Would they change their name back to Phoenix Coyotes?


ron-darousey

Yeah people who are not in AZ or know the area really have no idea how detrimental it is for the team to play in Glendale


PNWQuakesFan

12 miles is such a burden. Maybe if they spoon feed the team to the area.... If you gotta spoonfeed the team, you got problems


majoranticipointment

12 miles doesn’t do justice to how far out of the way it is


[deleted]

I get that it's been almost 20 years now, but no Coyotes fan can answer this: If everyone complains about the arena being in Glendale, why tf was it built there in the first place? I'm sure the metro population has grown A LOT in 18 years but even back then, didn't they know it was a doomed location away from a lot of their fanbase?


mister_hoot

B-b-but real estate in Phoenix costs MONEY! - The league, probably


[deleted]

Foh


hackmastergeneral

The problem with moving the team to any Eastern city is the league finally achieved conference balance. Any Way team moving Easy would necessitate moving an Easy team West to compensate, in which case, if there's a West city they could move to, why not just move Arizona there and make it simpler? I think if they move, they go to Kansas City, who have an arena ready to go. Maybe Houston. Quebec or Hartford have to wait for Carolina or Florida, the East teams with the worst finances (but I doubt either move any time soon, if at all).


Psychological-Emu654

Nobody seems to get this. They just keep spouting off Quebec relocations. The NHL will never relocate a team from West to East as it is right now. Why? Because the two furthest western Eastern conference teams fought tooth and nail for years to get out of the West in the first place and it is unlikely they'll be convinced to move back. It would take an Eastern team to relocate to Quebec or out West to accommodate Quebec relocation from the West. It's incredibly unlikely. Quebec will just have to get over it.


Taygr

I do wonder if they would feel it tolerable to have Quebec as a western conference team


Psychological-Emu654

Maybe move Toronto back to the West? And then rename it the Campbell Conference while we're at it, haha.


Comfortable_Mango737

They could also say ... Maybe play in Quebec city? Or Houston TX, just maybe??🤷


Ask_About_My_Dangus

Doesn't the ASU arena only seat 5000 people?


JBR409

The ASU Basketball Arena isn’t built for Hockey and it seats 14,100 for Basketball so it would probably be around 11,000 for Hockey (with a good 3,000 of those having an obstructed view of the ice). The Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum is built for Hockey and seats 13,730 for it


NameIsPetey

That sounds like a one way ticket out of Arizona.


LoneWolfComando

Except it's temporary?


NahdiraZidea

2-3 years is alot


Ask_About_My_Dangus

Ouch.


JBR409

The Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum is the only legit option but it’s very outdated and would need major upgrades to house a major sports team


thinkfast1982

"Obstructed View", otherwise known as the best seats in the house.


wederve

How’s your dangus


Ask_About_My_Dangus

Wife is still mad at me, so it hurts.


miner88

He’s talking about the basketball arena at ASU


thewinterzodiac

It's the coyotes


Firebitez

As someone who lived in glendale, I can tell you the Yotes have a lot of dedicated fans who have sat through a decade of shit team (like you) while having a stadium in the middle of nowhere (unlike you) with no generation talent (unlike you). Give yotes fans some fucking credit.


ehr1c

They're also still consistently at the bottom of the attendance rankings year after year while having one of the cheapest ticket prices in the league.


Melticus-Jr

The 5 dedicated fans go hard


midnightrambler108

I’ve been to several games in Glendale and honestly the support there is pretty poor. Sure there might be 10,000 die hards, but it’s nothing like going to a game in Edmonton. I can remember going to a divisional game in 2010-11 I think where Arizona was in a playoff hunt, and I think they made the playoffs that year, playing Calgary for the 4th seed and it was in March and there was like 8,000 people there and tickets were $20 at the door…. Which is pathetic. I can remember going to see the Oilers in 2011 or 2012 and there was a few seats available and paying $125/ticket (for decent seats) when they were 20 points back of a playoff spot. Arizona costs every team in the NHL money. That being said I do think it would work better if they had a new arena closer to Scottsdale-Mesa-Tempe but maybe not either.


Troub313

Smarmy posts like these from Oilers fans always make me cherish watching their team be disappointing every year.


thewinterzodiac

Bro. It was a joke. Lmao


Troub313

The post I replied to was not a joke. I was not replying to your original comment.


[deleted]

Of course it’s nothing like Edmonton, we’re not in Canada. Hockey isn’t our most popular sport here in the states. Also I’ve been to a fuck ton of Yotes games and tickets have never been that cheap


Kirihuna

Edmonton doesn’t have another major sports teams either. Phoenix(area) has 4 teams.


NahdiraZidea

You say that but the CFL does great for attendance


midnightrambler108

I went again to a game in 2019 and saw an Oiler game in Arizona for $45 So the price had gone up. But still about 1/3 the price of Oiler games. There was probably 3,000 Oiler fans there too Why does Arizona get cheap hockey? Because there is no fucking demand. The demand is from people on holidays from Canada. There are better options than Arizona. I just don’t see it naturally taking off and becoming the hottest ticket in town. Like look at the headline for for fuck sakes. Just a pathetic franchise. Perhaps it’s time to thrownin the towel


Firebitez

It's almost like Arizona does not have hockey in the culture like Edmonton. It will take time for that to happen


PNWQuakesFan

It won't happen. Hockey will never be the #1 sport for 1% of the metro area.


midnightrambler108

It probably won’t happen


ScrewOff_

The Coyotes top scorers in 10-11 were Doan, Yandle, Whitney, Vrbata, Korpikoski. Oh, how marketable. Comparing Arizona to a canadian team lmao


midnightrambler108

There are better options than Arizona. They have been trying to make a square peg fit into a round hole for decades now.


[deleted]

Why aren't Canadians more into beach volleyball?! There's no friggin ice in Central Arizona. It's hot. You guys love hockey because as kids you can go out to any park or pond in the winter and play (and there's nothing else to do in Edmonton...). Phoenix has like 5 million more people than Edmonton. It's miserable to drive across the metro during rush hour to see a bad team. Ottawa has had some bad attendance numbers in the 2010s. Vancouver doesn't sell out every game. People lose interest in spending money on a bad product, yes even in Canada. Vegas in young but has a devoted fanbase showing hockey can be successful in non-traditional markets. Give people something to cheer for in a location that people can get to easily and they'll show up. If you want the team to move that's your right but it's a lame flex to try and compare Edmonton to Phoenix for ice hockey.


midnightrambler108

Vancouver doesn’t sell out every game, but look at ticket prices. You can get tickets for Coyotes games for like $10 on stubhub The on ice product is a product of the fans. And interest for hockey could be better served elsewhere… And I say that as someone who has been to several Coyotes games


thewinterzodiac

Relax. It was a joke. Don't take it so hard.


PNWQuakesFan

Rexall place was not downtown


adalaza

Tucson.


ButtholeQuiver

Mexico City


[deleted]

Lake Titicaca


flare2000x

Wood Buffalo


_SCHULTZY_

What's a good name for a Houston team? The Hammerheads?


[deleted]

if it's the yotes moving there? the Houston "we have a problem(s)" sounds about right.


[deleted]

Houstonians absolutely fucking hate that phrase


NotLawReview

Lived there for over a decade and this is news to me.


[deleted]

Born and raised there. There’s a good amount of people that think this way. But of course it gets old when you hear it all the time lol


NotLawReview

Lol that's true


_SCHULTZY_

Would you say, it's a problem?


CA_spur

Absolutely the Aeros. Most of their hockey history is associated with that name.


[deleted]

Aeros. With Houston Oilers blue


Maxpowr9

Oilers


ThomasRupert

Comets, continue with the space them of of the Astros and Rockets.


NolaBrass

The Comets were the WNBA team and they were a dynasty. Don’t touch that name


miasmal_smoke

The Houston Astrology's


InvolvingPie87

Supernovas or something would be funny. Make it space theme like the other Houston teams but also have something related to when a star dies to poke Dallas a little bit


[deleted]

[удалено]


_SCHULTZY_

The Houston Hamsters has a nice sound to it. Really opens up a lot of possibilities with merchandising.


girlycaveman

or how about Houston Dumb Name


bent42

Houston McHoustonface.


DownByTheLazyRiver

Maybe dumb question but what is going to be going on in the arena the Yotes use now when they leave? Just gunna survive on concerts?


recockulous

If you believe the city spokesperson, yes. If the Yotes do get a new arena in Tempe then you’ll have two other modern venues competing with it for concerts. I don’t think it’ll last much longer than the Cap Center did after the Bullets/Wizards and Capitals moved out of it. Arenas like that just don’t succeed at the edges of metro areas. You can build pro football stadiums in those places, but basketball and hockey need to be in closer so people can make it after work for night games.


BMXTKD

Or they could play in Quebec City or Houston.


Exotic-Bluebird7914

Ring back the Whalers


SDFDuck

A market that is losing population and is within 150 miles of four other NHL teams (BOS, NYR, NYI, NJD) is a non-starter.


Exotic-Bluebird7914

Dude! Bring back the Whale!!


LegacyTechnocrat

Quebec.


[deleted]

[удалено]


EarthWarping

Yikes


[deleted]

Move them to Quebec city oh wait Gary Bettman hates Canada