It’s now official: the Coyotes have been sold.
The NHL Governors voted yes to the sale and relocation of the club to Salt Lake City.
A story finally settled… But one that, we agree, should have been settled a long time ago.
I say the story should have been settled long ago because we know what a fiasco it was in Arizona.
The NHL couldn’t afford to keep having a team playing in a 5,000-person amphitheater, because it’s not good for the league’s image.
It’s a bit of a cabochon, and we’ve been saying for a while that the situation is ridiculous in the desert.
Even some players and owners shared their displeasure with what was going on in Arizona, as reported in an article by Elliotte Friedman…
And that says a lot about how everyone saw things:
Owners and players complained publicly and privately about how ridiculous this was becoming for a professional league. – Elliotte Friedman
That’s all in the past now.
It’s all very well for the Coyotes and for those who did everything in their power to keep the team in the desert… But at a certain point, the league has no choice but to move on.
A page of history has officially been turned with the sale of the club, and now the important thing for the NHL will be to look forward.
Remember that the organization’s new owner, Ryan Smith, intends to be very aggressive on the free agent market this summer, which could allow the Salt Lake City team (it doesn’t have a name yet) to be competitive before long.
That’s a change, because Arizona hasn’t had a good hockey club on the ice for a long time…
And that’s good for the league too.
In brief
– The NHL is ready to welcome a club to Salt Lake City.
– Really?
– With good reason.
– The Caps’ big guns will have to step up, or else…
More must-reads: