All Quiet Before the Legal Storm

PHOENIX--Waiting for this town to get all worked up about the potential loss of the Coyotes is a waste of time. It's just not going to happen.

That's not an insult or criticism, just a fact. This is a city where about 7,000 households on average watch Phoenix games on TV, an indication there just hasn't been the kind of grassroots growth in support of this NHL franchise that was once imagined.

Could there ever be? Depends on who you talk to. Today, in another steamer expected to see the thermometer jump over 40C, there's more local interest in tonight's American Idol finale than there is in the bankruptcy proceedings set to begin in a few hours downtown.

It's kind of like one of those old westerns with the false front buildings. There's a hockey team here, but is there anything real behind it? Who knows.

From a news point of view, the biggest worry is that nothing will be decided today, that Judge Redfield T. Baum will listen and then require time to make an intelligent decision. That said, bankruptcy proceedings tend to move quickly because people are looking for their money, and both sides in the Coyotes dispute are looking to expedite matters.

The primary issue today is who controls the Coyotes. If it's the NHL, well, it's probably bye-bye Jim Basillie, at least until the next NHL team gets in trouble. The hockey club may, however, stay in bankruptcy, with the league using that process to cut the best possible deal for new owners trying to make a go of it in Phoenix.

If it's Jerry Moyes - good news for Balsillie - then you almost certainly will see an NHL appeal, and the entire business will get dragged off to another court.

Unfortunately, this may all get stickier at a time when the NHL's unfortunate post-season schedule may be about to dissolve all the positive momentum generated by the terrific second round of the playoffs.

It'll be 10 days from now until the Hurricanes and Penguins get to Game 5, if the series gets that far. It'll be 11 days before the Hawks and Wings get to Game 6, if necessary. The Pittsburgh-Carolina series has a pair of two-day breaks in the middle of that competition, while Detroit and Chicago have three sets of two off-days during that series.

This approach is deadly to the rabid hockey fan who has spent the last month watching at least one game every night. Now, it becomes more of a guessing game as to when the games will be played at a time of year when outdoor options become increasingly attractive even to the worst couch potato.

As well, with fewer games, there's more room for non-playoff stories to become prominent. If this bankruptcy process drags out and gets nastier, there's going to be an awful lot of bad ink out there for the NHL.

Those of us looking for compromise, something that would give Balsillie a chance to make a go of it in Hamilton while offering a good faith opportunity for some business group to make hockey work in Phoenix, appear likely to be disappointed.

But we'll know more in a few hours.

Comments

[THOSS]

After 13 years they have 7,000 fans -I doubt that they have 700 hundred fans. Sounds like a real hockey town.

[Rick Fry]

Seems too bad that the days of the actual game being front and center are gone. The 1st 2 rounds were great and now dumb scheduling does indeed undo the enthusiasm one has built..lets just play the games.
As for the Arizona situation..it may be interesting but I for one am just plain tired of all the garbage..franchises in what are, to me at least, silly locals..strikes, law breaking owners, collective agreements..blah blah blah the league has lost focus and direction and aside from good games generally looks unprofessional. I think that is the worst possible image for any league to have.. being Mickey Mouse..

[Victor]

I wonder how many households were watching in Winnipeg just before they left. What a wise business decision GB made there.

[Whitfit]

Agreed about the timing of the games. If they could do every other night for each series, having a game a night, the rhythm doesn't get disturbed. This is really bad planning. They are killing interest in the series.

For a fan like me, who really only watches the playoffs, they need to work harder to keep the interest.

[Adam Kozak]

I just think it would be such great news not only for hockey fans in Ontario, but fans that are of the NHL and also mild fans. Anytime a new expansion franchise begins there's always a lot of excitement and i just think it would be much needed positive buzz for the league.

[Al]

I read somewhere else that 500 people showed up to the save the 'Yotes rally. 500. How many tens of thousands would fill Rogers Centre at a similar "save the Leafs" rally?

[Tincup Canuck]

like any town...it takes a good team to bring in the fans (except in toronto)...but the NHL cant wait forever...time to move on.

[James]

What if balsille gets upset and buys a KHL hockey franchise and puts in toronto? Would that draw a crowd?

[Desert Dweller]

There are many hockey fans in Phoenix. Most all come from hockey cities. I'm from Buffalo and while I'll go to maybe 5 to 10 games a year I enjoy watching the teams I grew up with. The fans are not native Arizonians but us transplants, but the Coyotes have been managed so poorly as to not put a winner on the ice that we go to the games to watch our hometown teams or other favorites.

I purchased the NHL package and I rarely bother watching "western" hockey and prefer the east coast teams. Phoenix is not a big league city and the minor league Roadrunners also attracted the transplants.

There is a very good article in today's AZ Republic on how we in Arizona only support winners. http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/PaolaBoivin/53567

It's true. Because our loyalty lies back home. Me with the Bills, Sabres and Leafs. I wear my Coyotes jersey when it isn't the Sabres or Leafs here. Coyote hockey would do fine if they put a winner on the ice or an effort to be a winner. With management that is something we don't and won't have here.

[Wayne Bryan]

Tell me, the extended breaks in between conference final games are result of scheduling conflicts with stadiums and not some coordinated strategy by the boneheads at NHL head offices. This comes at a time, when the league is coming off one of the greatest playoff match-ups in recent memory and perhaps the emergence of the Great Ones heir apparent. If this was idea of NHL brain-trust this may come back and bite them. Instead of talking about two exciting conference final match-ups we may, unfortunately be talking about the great Coyotes/Balsillie/Bettman saga. This will do nothing to grow the league stateside.

[Einstein Comparedtoyou]

The 7000 stat is for TV viewing, not the number of fans you idiot. Game attendance has averaged better than 15,000/game for the past 4 years. Not too surprising that you fail to grasp even the most basic concepts about this situation...

[Brian Campbell]

Not a doubt in my mind that Mediation = Expansion in a settlement with the all too despised RimJim in his attempt to slimjim his way in to the old boys club.
The Pension Fund must be pulling out their calculators in an effort to come up with Plan B should it appear likely that the Burke media monopoly may be circumvented. Everything has a price and I am sure they are figuring out what their cut of the expansion fee should be.
Rest assured fans, a new team in Ontario won't be a cheaper alternative in the long term. It just means more seats to leave vacant by the corporate suits who are already lining up with cheque in hand.

[Jeff]

They've appointed Mats Sundin as the mediator. He says he needs the summer to think about it. Question? If Gary "Peewee Herman" Bettman takes control of the team, do you think he'd have the grapes to fire the Great One?

[2nd Guess]

I checked the various arena websites. There's no reason I can see why the East series couldn't have started Saturday, the West on Sunday, and both run every other day/night through (at the latest) May 29. The only off-day would have been Friday (May 15).

Do the TV networks want a later final? Is the NHL trying to stay away from conflicts with other sports? I agree with the other comments that any benefit accrued from selective scheduling is lost (duh!) when your product is unavailable.

[Bold Bravado]

Hey Damien, I truly thank-you for finally coming up with something I can get behind and oozes with something too lacking in columns these days, "Common Sense"!! For anyone to think that the Coyotes moving to Hamilton is realistic, keep looking for the hole "Alice in Wonderland" fell in!! I even heard a report they were looking at playing in Copps next season! Damien correct me if I'm wrong, and I have been a couple of times. If Bal-SILLIE, fitting name, is appointed as the new owner, there would be several negotiations on terminating any existing lease and financial agreements. Then in order to move the team, this would need to be passed by "Bettman's Boys" the NHL "Board of Governors". Even if passed, there is then the little case of infringement on both the Sabres and Leafs regional rights. Which I believe both would place unforgiving compensation on. Jim Balsillie, you have a better chance of landing an NFL team, which would cost about $1 billion US!!!

[FormerTorontonianNowInPhoenix]

The Coyotes were sunk the day they put the arena in the middle of nowhere out in Glendale. The only good thing about that location is the free parking. I've been to the Leafs' last two visits to Phoenix and there were barely 10,000 people at each game.

If the team was in Scottsdale, where the arena was originally supposed to have been built, it would have stood a much better chance of surviving, though still no guarantees.

The mismanagement of the Coyotes is just an extension of the mismanagement of the entire Greater Phoenix area -- a city that puts 80% of its economic eggs in the construction basket, 10% in tourism and the rest in whatever lame scheme comes along.

Until this city gets its act together, it will always be boom and bust. Sad, because we have some of the best weather and most beautiful scenery in the country