Hulsizer Hopes To Complete Acquisition Of Coyotes By Feb. 28 NHL Trade Deadline

Matthew Hulsizer's deal to buy the Coyotes from the NHL is "moving forward and should be completed within the next couple of weeks, but the team is hoping the sale beats" the league's Feb. 28 trade deadline, according to sources cited by Scott Burnside of ESPN.com. The sale was "to have been completed by mid-February, but a delay in the sale of bonds by the City of Glendale (part of the new lease agreement with Hulsizer) has slowed the process." The bond sales are "expected to begin this week and would still, in theory, give the city time to complete" the deal with Hulsizer by the trade deadline. It is believed that Hulsizer "hopes to be ensconced as owner before the deadline so he can work with GM Don Maloney and his staff to begin charting a course for the future, and nothing is more crucial to the team's immediate future than making the playoffs." The Coyotes are 29th in NHL attendance, but "those numbers bloomed last season as the team charged toward an unlikely playoff berth." Burnside noted the "same dynamic is unfolding this season as the Coyotes announced their second sellout" Saturday against the Blackhawks (ESPN.com, 2/14). 

NOT A FAN OF THE DEAL? THE PHOENIX BUSINESS JOURNAL noted on the "philosophical side of the Coyotes saga," D'Backs Managing General Partner Ken Kendrick and his wife, Randy, "may not like Glendale’s $197 million deal for Hulsizer to buy the team." Randy Kendrick, who "serves on the board of conservative groups the Goldwater Institute and Arizona Free Enterprise Club, says she’s not keen on individual subsidies and incentives for specific businesses." She said that her husband also would "prefer such issues be taken to voters in referendums," something that Glendale has not done with its Hulsizer deal. Still, Randy Kendrick insisted that she is "not lobbying for Goldwater attorneys to sue Glendale over the deal." Goldwater is "considering a lawsuit challenging the legality of Glendale’s Coyotes package," and Goldwater officials stress that "they have not talked to the Kendricks about a possible suit." The D'Backs did say that the NHL "approached Ken Kendrick about" investing in or buying the Coyotes, but he declined (BIZJOURNALS.com, 2/13).