The Coyotes are set to play next season at Gila River Arena, "finishing out a two-year lease agreement with the City of Glendale, but plans for a future home could emerge soon," according to Sarah McLellan of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. Coyotes CEO & co-Owner Anthony LeBlanc said, "We put a time frame on everybody that we as the Coyotes need to make a decision of partnering with one group. We want to do that in I’d say the next two to three weeks. We’ve kind of put out May 1 as this line in the sand." McLellan notes a partnership with Arizona State Univ. that could produce a shared facility "has been mentioned as a possibility." However, the concept of a new building that houses both the Coyotes and Suns "has gained attention lately after Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton expressed support for the idea in his State of the City speech Tuesday." When asked about Stanton's speech and position on the issue, LeBlanc said, "I thought it was an important next step. ... That's an indication that the City of Phoenix understands the timeline is real. We need to make a decision on our part. Obviously, working with the City of Phoenix is more complex." He added, "Sometime in the early part of May, you’ll hear an announcement of a selection of a location and a partnership with a location" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 4/21).
CULTURE & DEVELOPMENT: McLellan notes if the Coyotes' deal to move the AHL Springfield Falcons to Tucson is finalized, pulling players from the lower level "would become much easier in a time when the team’s prospects are expected to help the NHL product improve." LeBlanc said, "This is about development. This is about a philosophy and a culture of doing a better job of developing our players. " McLellan notes the Coyotes "have been in talks with the City of Tucson and Rio Nuevo, which owns the Tucson Convention Center where the team would play." LeBlanc said that the TCC currently houses the Univ. of Arizona's hockey team and "has a seating capacity of 6,700 for hockey games," although he "believes that could be stretched to 7,000" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 4/21).
