The NHL and the city of Glendale on Friday pledged to "reboot efforts to secure" the Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena, according to Paul Giblin of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. The team will “continue to play in Glendale under the ownership of the NHL, at least in the short term.” Neither the NHL nor the city “offered many details about their next steps after potential buyer Greg Jamison failed to meet a crucial deadline to purchase the team.” NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly on Friday said, “We remain hopeful the Coyotes sale process will be resolved successfully and we will continue to work with the city of Glendale to move the process forward.” Coyotes President & COO Mike Nealy “issued a similarly worded statement, noting that Jamison intends to continue his efforts to purchase the team” (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 2/2). FOXSPORTSARIZONA.com’s Craig Morgan cited sources as saying that WHL Portland Winterhawks Owner & CEO Bill Gallacher “could be part of a group in the running to purchase the team on a fast track.” Gallacher has been “a bridesmaid in his quest to own an NHL team on several occasions," most recently with the Stars and Devils. Portland was a "rumored destination for the Coyotes once before" and has an "NHL-ready arena" in the Rose Garden. It is unclear if Gallacher is "only pursuing a controlling interest or could be part of a group that still involves Jamison” (FOXSPORTSARIZONA.com, 2/1). An ARIZONA REPUBLIC editorial stated, "The market appears to be saying something that Arizona hockey fans don’t want to hear, which is that investors cannot envision the team turning a profit” (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 2/2). In Montreal, Pat Hickey wrote, “The No. 1 question should be: Why does the NHL want to keep these dogs in the desert?" (Montreal GAZETTE, 2/2).
