Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay Random
Insult noted, as is your absence of any argument better than an insult.
They didn't buy the team. They took it over from the receivers and went to work to find a buyer.
True, because there was no possible owner who did NOT want to move the teams. In Phoenix, they did find exactly such an owner.
The Jets and Nordiques were playing in undersized and antiquated buildings, and were guaranteed money-losers. The Coyotes had a modern arena with plenty of revenue potential; it was not Bettman's fault that Alex Meruelo eventually got himself evicted from that building, nor should he have been expected to foresee it. I grant you that Glendale was a stupid place to put a hockey team, but then so is Kanata, and nobody is saying the Senators should relocate away from Ottawa.
False.
I told you there are 1.15 billion reasons why they did that. The NHL doesn't like moving franchises.
Here are all the franchises that have relocated since Gary Bettman became commissioner:
Minnesota North Stars, 1993 (to Dallas)
Quebec Nordiques, 1995 (to Colorado)
Winnipeg Jets, 1996 (to Phoenix)
Hartford Whalers, 1997 (to Carolina)
Atlanta Thrashers, 2011 (to Winnipeg)
All five of these franchises had been in deep financial trouble for years before they moved, and no owners could be found who were willing to keep them in place.
Three of the five were former WHA teams. The league had never granted them franchises in the first place, but only took them on as the price of the merger that ended the war between the leagues. They did not believe that Winnipeg, Quebec, or Hartford were viable locations for major-league sports franchises, and at the time, they turned out to be right.
It takes a considerable degree of paranoia to look at that list and conclude that Gary Bettman is conspiring against Canadian teams.
Source, please. Considering that Key Arena was not an NHL-quality rink, was not even usable for anything at the time, and had to be completely torn down (except for the roof) and redeveloped… I think a ‘citation needed’ is in order.
In any case, if that did happen, I'd say that shows the league was indeed willing to relocate the Coyotes, but it proved not to be necessary. The Jets and Nordiques were not staying put no matter what the league did or whom they threatened.
|
The reason I compared this to arguing with a flat earther is the NHL themselves say they bought the team out of bankruptcy and you continue to deny it.
This is from an article on NHL.com:
"The NHL has owned the Coyotes since buying the franchise out of bankruptcy in 2009"
Is this clear enough for you? If it is I'm curious how you see this as not an extraordinary move in keeping the Coyotes in Phoenix?
Then explain why fans of other teams that moved or came very close to moving should not see this as the Coyotes getting special attention from the league.
Fyi. Quotes from Daly are easily searchable on Google which mention Key Arena being suitable for the Coyotes.