Quote:
Originally Posted by ericmacm
Mat Ishiba was interviewed by Sportico and expressed interest in being part of the effort to bring the Coyotes back to Arizona. Interesting to note that they asked him if he has had discussions with the NHL yet and offered no comment. Mat Ishiba was rumoured to be a potential buyer of the Coyotes but didn’t bid as high as SEG did.
If Ishiba ends up being the one to bring them back, they’re likely back at Footprint Arena in downtown Phoenix. It would have to be fully renovated to bring back hockey capabilities, but I wouldn’t consider that to be totally out of the question given what is happening with Delta Center in Salt Lake City, full renewal/renovations instead of a new arena. |
I've been following along, and I didn't get any sense of imminence about this. Ishbia mentioned they have a lease until 2036 and my sense of his comments was pushing for a new arena towards that time frame and pursuing an NHL team when that process looks secure. Perhaps a temporary move into the current arena once the league is assured the new arena is a go, if it even is hockey capable anymore (if the crappy Delta Centre is good enough for a few seasons as renovations happen, then a crappy Footprint Centre should also be ok for a few seasons). The city just recently spent a couple hundred million dollars renovating Footprint Centre and Arizona and Phoenix are tough states to get public financing for sports facilities done. Getting a second renovation for hockey pushed through would be almost politically impossible in the next few years.
It's also been said by other local commentators that he wasn't a serious bidder for the Coyotes mainly because of the arena issue. Also that Meruelo wasn't ready at that stage to walk away totally. It was a delicate negotiation the league had to do to get him to sell the team to SEG, but he still fully intended to bring back a team to Phoenix. No way was he selling it to another local buyer. The ideal situation would have been for Meruelo and Ishbia to partner up, pay for a hockey renovation (or a combined forces push for a new arena) and print money. But Meruelo is so lowly thought of that there isn't anyone in that area that wants to work with him.
The Meruelo family did recently make a sizable donation to continue supporting minor hockey in Arizona, so there is that, I guess.
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