Today is the deadline for AZ real estate developer
Steve Ellman to make an initial payment of $10M to Coyotes
Owner Richard Burke for the team and Burke tells Scutari &
McManaman of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC he remains "confident"
that the $87M deal will get done. Burke: "I totally expect,
after conversations [yesterday] with Steve and others, that
this will get done [today] as scheduled." Meanwhile, Wayne
Gretzky said yesterday that he is still weighing Ellman's
offer to become an investor in the team: "Some moments I
wake up and think, `Wow, this is the right thing to do,' and
then other times I sit back and say, `Well, maybe it's not
the right time'" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 5/26). ESPN.com's Nancy
Marrapese-Burrell wrote that Gretzky joining the NHL's
ownership ranks "could be the most substantial boost to that
side since expansion payments. You simply can't buy that
type of credibility" (ESPN.com, 5/25).
DEAL IN JEOPARDY? But in Toronto, Al Strachan writes
that "barring a financial miracle," Gretzky "will not become
a part" of the Coyotes ownership group. Strachan adds that
"it seems quite possible" that the proposed sale of the team
to Ellman "will collapse," allowing Blazers/Seahawks Owner
Paul Allen to buy the Coyotes and move them to Portland.
Strachan, who writes that there is a "50-50" chance that
Ellman will make the $10M payment today: "Since the deal has
been pending for months and Ellman has been unable to raise
sufficient extra capital, it is likely that the proposal
will collapse. ... Reliable sources said that the Coyotes'
debt load, combined with a lack of an imminent return on the
investment makes the deal unattractive" (TORONTO SUN, 5/26).
