Phoenix Coyotes Saga: The End of the NHL in Arizona May Finally Be Here

It has been a long two years. It has been a constant ride of highs and lows, ups-and-downs, hopes and doubts. It now appears that what Coyote fans have feared all along will come to fruition. The team probably will be relocated. 

There will be hundreds of jobs lost, millions in lost tax revenue for the city of Glendale, and a beautiful hockey arena will sit vacant.

This is thanks to a small “watchdog” firm located in a tiny building on a quiet street who most people hadn’t heard of until about a year or two ago. But none of that matters, what matters is that they received their free publicity and 15 minutes of fame.

The Goldwater Institute isn’t solely responsible for the potential relocation of the Coyotes. They are just the straw that broke the camel's back so to speak. If there had been someone willing to use their own money or investors’ money to purchase the team, Goldwater would be irrelevant. 

It is unfortunate timing though, because for the first time since moving here, the Coyotes would have had an owner who actually cared about the sport, not just one who purchased the team to further real estate dealings or for other ulterior motives. 

It also comes at a time too when the Coyotes have one of the best GM/coach tandems in the NHL and where they could really bring the fans back if they stay.

Attendance is abysmal this season (but still not the worst in the league), and they have been in the bottom 10 in attendance every year since the lockout. However, attendance issues, bankruptcy, and operating in the red aren’t just issues for “sunbelt” teams. 

Practically every team in the NHL, outside of a few, has trouble drawing fans when the team is not competitive. One need only look back five years ago to the 2006 season when the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks and Washington Capitals all had worse attendance than the Coyotes. 

The Pittsburgh Penguins averaged fewer than 12,000 fans in 2003-2004 when they were the worst team in the NHL, before they drafted a young phenom that brought the team back to life.

For three seasons, 2003-04, 2005-06, 2006-07, the original six Blackhawks averaged barely 13,000 in the stands. In 2007-2008, coincidently, the Blackhawks made a push for the playoffs.

The point is that most teams will suffer when they aren’t competitive. 

Yes, the Coyotes have been competitive for the past two seasons, but the bankruptcy and uncertainty surrounding the team has certainly been a factor in keeping fans away.  They had not made the playoffs the eight seasons prior to the bankruptcy and ownership catastrophe. 

There is one bright spot in all of this.  As petty and spiteful as it may sound, with the team moving, it will at least deprive all the Detroit Red Wings, Penguins and other such teams’ fans from seeing their beloved out-of-town team in person. There are plenty of hockey fans in Phoenix—the problem is they just weren’t Coyote fans.

The NHL has done everything in its power to keep the Coyotes in Arizona, but in the end it just won't work. 

The argument can certainly be made that Arizona is indeed not a hockey market since there were no buyers for the hockey team. It will be disappointing when they move, but I will wish them well, possibly in their new/old home of Winnipeg, and I will still watch them on NHL Center Ice. 

Shane Doan will probably hold a record for the only player in all of sports to start his career in one city, play most of it in second city, and then finish in the original city without ever being traded or signed as a free agent.