NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman yesterday reiterated that he "doesn’t see the City of Glendale and Gila River Arena as economically feasible" to house the Coyotes, according to Josh Cooper of YAHOO SPORTS. Bettman's comments at the NHL GM meetings in Boca Raton, Fla., come a "day after he sent a letter to the Arizona state legislature" supporting a bill that would provide "public-private funding to get a new arena built, with more emphasis on public funds than private." Bettman yesterday said that the league "wants the team to stay in the Phoenix metropolitan area." Bettman: "I don’t want it misconstrued. We are not giving up on the Coyotes in the Greater Phoenix Area. The fact that the Coyotes are even having discussions about moving out of Glendale is because the City of Glendale chose to terminate the long-term agreement they had with the team. Had they not terminated that agreement we wouldn’t be having this discussion." He added, "The team has got a number of options and is going to pursue them so nobody should think that team is moving other than out of Glendale. But short-term they’re going to stay in Glendale while they’re pursuing the options.” Cooper noted the Coyotes in November "entered an agreement" with Arizona State Univ. to build a new arena in Tempe, but ASU "pulled out of the deal (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 3/8).
THE NIGHTMARE CONTINUES: The NATIONAL POST's Michael Traikos writes it has been an "ongoing nightmare for the Coyotes, who have struggled to find on- or off-ice success in Arizona." The team is in "second-to-last place overall this season and is averaging the third-worst attendance." But Coyotes GM John Chayka "believes it’s unfair to suggest the team needs to relocate to Quebec City, Seattle or another city" (NATIONAL POST, 3/9). Coyotes RW Shane Doan said, "I truly don’t even know what to say in the fact that we make it hard to be a Coyotes fan at times, and we sure appreciate the fans that stick with us because it’s difficult and it’s because of a whole bunch of things. It’s not because of what we necessarily do or what has been done by us. It’s what has to happen and things that happen. As a fan of the team, it makes it tough" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 3/9).
