Alex Meruelo Relinquishes Rights to Arizona Coyotes and Branding

Arizona State Land Department Delays June 27th Auction

It took all of 48 hours for AM to run away from his problems with the BILLION dollars he has in hand from the NHL and the Smith Entertainment Group after the sale of the Arizona Coyotes, now Utah Hockey Club.

99.9% of the Coyotes fanbase is happy to see Alex Meruelo drop the rights to an NHL team in Arizona, return the naming rights and color scheme to the league and patiently wait to break another promise to the fanbase of Tucson and take their team away from them after their lease expires in three years.

Another business decision by a slimy business man that wants to make money wherever he can – which appears to be Reno for Meruelo and the Roadrunners.

It’s not every market that calls for the head of their owner, but the Arizona / Phoenix market has been doing as such for a LONG time, and this is exactly what the fanbase wanted – despite a total refresh of placement within the waiting list for expansion.

Need more REALLY be said about fan reaction?

Meruelo struggled to make relationships within the pro hockey world according to longtime Coyotes beat writer Craig Morgan.

Meruelo saw the business side of hockey – and that’s all.

Meruelo failed the fanbase by crafting empty promises and swearing to stay true to his word, but when times got tough, and adversity reared its ugly head, Meruelo ran for the hills.

Moving on – what’s to come for the growth of the game of hockey in Arizona now that the Coyotes are gone for the foreseeable future, the branding is dormant, and the team flat-out ceases to exist?

Matt Shott Arizona Hockey Legacy Foundation

The Arizona Coyotes were passionate about the fanbase and about the growth of the game.

Shott was an employee of the Arizona Coyotes responsible for kickstarting learn to play programs, helping the Arizona Kachinas earn tier 1 status (the highest level of youth hockey within the USA) and several street, sled and roller hockey programs state wide.

For more, click here: https://www.azhockeylegacy.org

The foundation has started a fundraiser to help youth hockey in Arizona, and upon their last post about their progress on Twitter, they are more than half way to phase one of the program’s plan.

I remain passionate about the growth of youth hockey and hockey in general in Arizona, but with the Coyotes no longer guaranteed a spot back in the league in five years, it’s time to pivot to something new.

I posted this on Twitter / X yesterday, but I wanted to touch on it here too.

Post NHL draft, circa the start of free agency, I will be pivoting to Chicago Blackhawks and Rockford Icehogs coverage, mixed with Tucson Roadrunners (for however long they stick around) and Arizona State Men’s (and Women’s) hockey coverage, as well as a focus on the Hat Trick Hockey Talk podcast with my friends Ryan and Sean Haggard.