For the 47th time, let the coyotes die [UPDATED]

There’s one Sliding doors scenario, where the NHL simply allows Jim Balsillie buys Arizona Coyotes and transferring them to Hamilton, Ontario, more than a decade ago. Would it have worked? It is difficult to know. Balsillie’s BlackBerry sank not long after the proposed purchase date and may have caused a number of problems north of the border, just as it did in Arizona. The Leafs should certainly have calmed down with a team moving just 67 kilometers away. And perhaps having the smallest arena in the league, as it was the Copps Coliseum (now FirstOntario Center), would have led to more complications.

Still, the NHL would have an owner with many pockets (at the time) in a fervent hockey market. And none of this could have been worse than what the Arizona Coyotes were, are and will be in the future.

In the last installment of “As The Coyotes Burn,” Katie Strang of The Athletic takes a deep dive into the latest group of clown-laden owners who promised the NHL that they could save the ‘Yotes once and for all, but proved to be just another clown in the constant parade of charlatans and pudwhacks that acquired the franchise. This time it’s Alex Meruelo and the super clods that came with him. You would think that the NHL may have noticed that the NBA didn’t think he was capable to buy the Atlanta Hawks, thanks to non-aligned finances. But the NHL is always happy to pick up NBA trash. After all, that’s how they got Gary Bettman.

It’s Strang’s masterful work, as always, but a lot of it is something you’ve probably read about someone in sports before. An owner who doesn’t have as much money as he told the league that accepted him as a buyer / owner. Savvy mistreatment of employees, justified for him and his cronies for having a lot of money, but not as much as he wants the world to believe. Nickel and dimming everyone in sight to give the appearance of rationalization, but actually having nothing in their pockets, including the greatest means to expect these people to leave for less money. Disconcerting hires and internal organization. Employees in the last group of landlords are feeling totally helpless and those who are no longer around need to go to court to receive the money owed to them.

Oh, and to complete the set, because it wouldn’t be without him, the owner’s son messing up everything in a department he doesn’t know. A lot of that you could probably write from memory and you’ve certainly seen it all before. Each owner must be considered a Bob Nutting until they prove they are not.

The whole piece is certainly worth your time, just to illustrate clearly how desperate the NHL has been to keep the Coyotes in Arizona to hand over the keys to any donkey that raises its hand. Including donkeys who tried to intimidate Strang, one of the most talented hockey writers who is respected in all circles, unlike these idiots.

Alex Meruelo is the fourth owner of the Coyotes since the league took control of Balsillie’s team and anchored the team in the desert. It has been clear for more than a decade that the team will not work with its arena in Glendale, if it can work in the market, but no new arena plans have left the planning stage. For a second, it looked like one in Tempe might come up, but then the state of Arizona gave up its share of the business. With the article detailing how Meruelo’s group tried to toughen up several suppliers as to what they are owed, how they will find the money to build a new arena in a more palatable area is a ridiculous mystery.

Meruelo has not been in charge for a long time, but the article does nothing to show how he would get the Yotes out of that spiral. They have been at the bottom of the league in frequency, revenue and ranking for so long that they have become the very definition of “entrenched”. Meruelo also doesn’t look anything like a visionary.

At some point, the NHL has to admit that the Coyotes have been repaired so much that they are now broken beyond repair. This is an organization that only last year had its fraud of a GM abandoning the ship in such a way that the league banned him for a year, elaborated an unrepentant racist that they then had waive the rights of thanks to the setback, and now this story is breaking. And all of this is normal for an organization that has spent years struggling with the city itself lies in its massive losses.

The NHL swallowed a possible relocation site by granting an expansion team to Seattle. And in a post-pandemic world, assuming that we will ever reach that world, moving a sports franchise can be next to impossible. Still, you would have to think that Quebec City would still be more than willing to fill its brilliant arena every night with an NHL team. Portland and Kansas City still have their buildings. How could any of them be worse than that?

Coyotes cannot be saved. The NHL and several idiots have spent almost 15 years trying to prove it. When is it time to declare “victory” and move on?

Update: The Coyotes issued a statement, and it is almost as adamant as you can imagine that the organization portrayed in Strang’s article would do:

Again, to reiterate, Strang is one of the most respected writers in the business. As she stated in the article, the Coyotes and the league had a chance to respond to everything in it and were approved. Attacking Strang’s integrity after the fact is the height of amateur idiocy. Hit all the dumb buttons of “It ‘it’s all the fault of the previous guy, ”“ Hwe’re doing the community a favor here ”and“ Ddon’t you know this guy is already rich? ”Simply brilliant things.