Calgary Sports & Entertainment in '17 said they were no longer actively pursuing a new arena dealGETTY IMAGES
The Calgary city council has "extended an olive branch in the form of a new committee aimed at bringing all the parties back to the negotiating table" for a new Flames arena, according to a front-page piece by Meghan Potkins of the CALGARY HERALD. Council voted 12-1 yesterday to "create an event centre assessment committee" which will include three council members to "help oversee potential talks." Calgary Sports & Entertainment owners last September said that they "were no longer actively pursuing a new arena deal after months of occasionally frosty negotiations with city hall." The two sides had "disagreed over a funding model for the facility, with the Flames rejecting the city’s pitch of a three-way cost split" of $185M in cash and other benefits from the city, $185M from a ticket surcharge and $185M from the club. But amid the "conciliatory tone of parts" of yesterday’s council meeting, "some old cleavages were still apparent." Mayor Naheed Nenshi told council members that while he "supported restarting talks, he was concerned that 'CSEC has been saying publicly that the city won’t return their calls.'" The new committee is "expected to meet in June" (CALGARY HERALD, 5/29).
DESERT ISLAND: SPORTSNET.ca's Chris Johnston noted the NHL is "still holding out hope" that the Coyotes "might get a new rink." The team has "struggled with attendance issues while playing out of the Gila River Arena in suburban Glendale." NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly "indicated that the Coyotes are still considering 'at least three' different arena options." Daly added, "They’re working on it. ... There continues to be a high level of confidence that they can get something done. A lot of different moving pieces, a lot of communities in the Valley are interested in helping them out and the benefits an arena can bring" (SPORTSNET.ca, 5/28).
