When are they going to pull the plug? Phoenix has constantly lost money, and has a horrible fan base after so many years. This is not a NYI team, or another 'bottom of the barrel' team. They are a playoff team with few fans.
I understand that it would be great to grow the game in Arizona, and doubly serves Canadian fans who enjoy going down there for golf and the nice weather, and get to treat themselves to a nice game. However, when is enough.. enough?
Has the NHL done its' due diligence about doing everything it can to retain a team in a market, or have they gone over-board trying to make it work. The due diligence first and foremost is NOT to any single market or team. It is to the NHL as a whole. This is a winning product that they are icing, and they are doing it below the cap. Is spending more going to attract more fans? Is a serious and stable owner going to generate more of a fan base? Do they need a superstar to attract them?
It has been so long, I just don't know what is right or wrong anymore. It will suck for the those Phoenix fans if the team was to move, but this is a business, and the team has to generate a profit after 'x' amount of years or look to relocate and hope for better.
All these bonds and associations getting involved just seem overly complicated to me, and really stink of "Nobody thinks it will work but we are desperate". Sounds like people trying to make money off one another. Sounds like a community that has built a new building, and is scared to death that their tenant will move and leave them empty, so they want to throw good money after bad.
It sounds more and more like all of this is just prolonging the inevitable. I really believe that Phoenix is done having an NHL team. If they start selling out in the playoffs, and have a long and successful playoffs, MAYBE things will change. At this point, it looks pretty grim.
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