Good morning all,
We had a pretty busy past few days concerning the ownership situation. There's a lot of information flying around. Unfortunately this is where we're at: Goldwater has officially put up a road block. They haven't filed suit but they've tampered with the situation enough that the sale cannot be completed unless they back down.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly came to town yesterday and confirmed what we were afraid of - Goldwater is the problem. The Commissioner also came to speak with the Coyotes staff, the City of Glendale and to request a meeting with the Goldwater Institute. Goldwater refused his request stating that they would only agree to speak with the Commissioner with the media present. This would be an unnecessary and ridiculous media spectacle - and is not what either side needs to reach an agreement. It is quite obvious that Goldwater isn't willing to listen to reason - they have their own agenda.
Fox Sports Arizona did a great job of covering the issue last night. You can watch the video of the Dave Strader interview with Gary Bettman here - which aired during the first intermission of last night's game against the Canucks. You can also find the NHL's coverage of the situation here. You can watch the entire press conference on the Coyotes website here.
I'm open to your suggestions as to what you think our next move should be. If it's feasible and doable - we'll do it. We are having an impact on the Goldwater Institute - several people have called and gotten hung up before even being able to speak to anyone at the Institute. Your emails are pouring in to them. If you go to their Facebook page, you can make some noise there as well. They are also on Twitter. I find it interesting to note that most of their comments of support are coming from outside the country. Whom exactly are they trying to protect? Not Glendale - not even Arizona.
Mr. Bettman has stated that there is still no deadline - but time is running short. They remain dedicated to Glendale - but if Goldwater continues to be obstructive they will in fact damage the taxpayers as opposed to helping us - as they claim to be doing. They will cause thousands of jobs to be lost, they will cause the arena to possibly close and thus become more of a burden to the city and it's taxpayers. They will cause Westgate to become a ghost town if the team leaves. So let's keep on pestering them. There's a reason we have Paul Bissonnette on our website banner - we're fighters. So let's keep fighting.
And just for fun - feel free to post this photo to any site you want. A Coalition member made it and sent it to me yesterday to share with everyone. I just posted it on Goldwater's Facebook page. Let's see how long it takes them to remove it... :)
On a side note - if anyone is interested in a possible road trip this weekend to watch the Coyotes take on the Ducks in Anaheim, there's a Coalition member interested in going to the game. If have any interested in carpooling, please email me back and I will get you in touch with him.
Hello. I am a New Follower from MWBH. Have a great day!!
ReplyDeleteSarah
http://www.sarahsblogoffun.com/2011/03/take-three-tuesday-blog-hop_07.html
There seems to be a lot of questions regarding Goldwater and what they are doing to stop this deal. Why doesn't Hulsizer just buy the team with his own money and bypass them altogether? Wouldn't that solve this?
ReplyDeleteBecause Hulsizer wants it for free, and he doesn't have that much money to buy a team by himself. He is in a no lose situation.
ReplyDeleteThat's not accurate Anonymous. Had you read any of my other posts, you might've figured the answer to that question out. The NHL sold the Lightening for 90 million. The Lightening have a cup, Marty St. Louis et al... far better assets than what the Coyotes have to offer. MH is getting a fixer upper to say the least. A broken and alienated fan base who have been nothing but spit on since day one, a tattered and historically losing team - isn't worth the asking price that the NHL has placed on it. No good business man would pay what the NHL is asking to be quite honest - he'll need that money to pay for the fixer upper he's getting.
ReplyDeleteYotesDiva - so what you are saying then is that the NHL is asking too much for the team? And because of that, Glendale should top up what Hulsizer is willing to pay to meet the NHL's asking (demanding) price? Pardon me for saying this, but that is ridiculous. Coyotes Fans/Glendale know that the NHL wants a team in Arizona. They should be using that to their advantage and get a lower price placed on the team from the NHL to keep them there. Goldwater is right-you are being used. Glendale should be saying to the NHL that if they really want a team here, that is by your words a "fixer upper", they should be giving it to Hulsizer at a lower price so he can make a proper go of it, for the NHL's sake. Goldwater is not the issue here. Glendale doing whatever it takes to keep the team is the real issue. The NHL should be catering to your demands (remember, they WANT to be there). Goldwater is standing up for Glendale, when in fact, Glendale should be doing that themselves.
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