Phoenix Coyotes 2011-12 Season: Will This Be Their Last in Arizona?

The Phoenix Coyotes played their first home preseason game Wednesday night to an expectedly sparse crowd of around 5,000.

Usually the beginning of a new season brings about a sense of hope and newness.  For the Coyotes it could mean the beginning of the end.

They enter the season without an owner for the third year in row and are now without the goaltender who carried them to the playoffs the past two years, no matter how terrible he was once they got there.

The past two years have been an endless cycle of rumors and disappointments with the situation becoming a national joke.

In 2009, the first season after bankruptcy was declared, there was much optimism that a new owner could be found.  Under new coach Dave Tippett the team found success on the ice, and fans were able to enjoy the Stanley Cup playoffs in person for the first time in eight years.

The team took the heavily-favored Red Wings to Game 7 only to fall short but ended the season on a positive note with high hopes for the future both on and off the ice.

2010 was much of the same, with the team having similar on-ice success while the drama dragged out off the ice.

The Coyotes were then swept from the playoffs by the Red Wings without ever really competing in a game.  It was worse than anyone could have envisioned; even the most ardent Red Wing fan would not have predicted the absolute domination that occurred in that first-round series.

For the 16th consecutive year there would be no Western Conference semifinal games played in Arizona.

The feeling at the end of the 2010 season was much different than 2009, with nothing to show from a full season of work, both on the ownership and in the playoffs.

There was a buyer, but his bid was stonewalled by a community group’s threat of a lawsuit.  After growing weary of dealing with the Glendale City Council, he eventually withdrew a revised offer when the City of Glendale reopened the sale to other bidders.

The team enters 2011 most likely on its last breath.  Due to not having an owner, the team is unable to make any significant free agent acquisitions and will take the ice with largely the same team as in 2010, minus the goaltender who was the team’s most valuable player for the past two seasons.

There is little hope for the playoffs and even less for the Coyotes remaining in Arizona for the 2012 season.

There have been reports that former San Jose Sharks president Greg Jamison has bid on the team.  That news surfaced a month ago, but there have been no additional reports since that time.

Today it was confirmed that a group involving Chicago Bulls and White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf is again involved in negotiations.

But Coyote fans have seen potential owners come and go for the past two years, so hopes should be tempered.

With each passing day, the hope for the Coyotes to remain in Arizona grows dimmer.  We are now at twilight time.

Will the beginning of the 2012 season be different?

Coyotes’ fans can only imagine the cathartic feeling of walking into Jobing.com Arena, ownership group in place, a competitive team on the ice and the security that they will be able to watch NHL hockey in Arizona for years to come.