Quote:
Originally Posted by muta
agreed, there has been hostility.
But there are cities that are starving for a team and will support it mercilessly (ie. Quebec city), and will do whatever it takes off the ice to make it happen. Then there are teams like phoenix that have a limited fan base, have not supported their team well for many years, and have had a laughing stock of an ownership situation for the last four years - and they're still getting chances, over and over and over.
Honestly, i agree with you landshark... But it's just frustrating to see that a franchise like that isn't being moved to a city that salivates for it.
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Prior to Game 1 of the Finals, Bettman and Daly held a press conference, and answered many questions about the Phoenix/Glendale situation...
Near the end of the video, at about the 27 minute mark, they're asked this very question, if they are getting phone calls from other markets that want an NHL team, why are they fighting so hard to keep the Coyotes in Glendale?
This is part of his response...
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Gary Bettman
We try to avoid franchise relocation. We try to do everything possible. We don't think it's fair to fans, and we don't think it's fair -- unless you have to move -- to do it to communities that build you buildings.
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This confirms what I've been saying for years when this question comes up. Glendale played the game the way the NHL and all pro sports leagues want cities to play the game. They spent hundreds of millions of dollars to build the Jobing.com Arena, and gave the Coyotes a favorable lease deal to play there.
The majority of NHL teams play in arenas that were at least partially publicly funded. They really don't want to give their own cities reasons to start questioning the value of providing funding to arenas.