The NHL playoffs were moving along a little too smoothly to not have a bombshell be dropped right in the middle of everything. The sale of the Phoenix Coyotes has hit yet another snag and this time it’s a big one.
Sources tell TSN the city of Glendale has asked Ice Edge Holdings to return to the bargaining table as a back up plan to buy the Coyotes, in the event the deal with Reinsdorf falls through.
Sources say Glendale reached out to Ice Edge late last week amid growing concern Reinsdorf’s accepted bid to purchase the Coyotes from the National Hockey League is at risk of falling apart.
The situation in Glendale remains fluid; if the city does not agree to the league’s conditions, it is possible the NHL will instead move quickly to finalize a purchase agreement with Canadian billionaire David Thomson and move the team to Winnipeg. Sources tell ESPN.com there is a purchase agreement ready if the Glendale situation disintegrates.
If the team moves to Winnipeg, the Ice Edge group would then move the existing AHL team, the Manitoba Moose, to Thunder Bay, Ontario.
In a preliminary agreement known as a memorandum of understanding (MOU), the Glendale City Council has agreed to pay $65 million in public funds over three years to the NHL, the current owner of the Coyotes, as part of Reinsdorf’s purchase. The NHL took over the team after Jerry Moyes, the previous owner, threw the franchise into bankruptcy court in a failed effort to sell the club and move it to Hamilton, Ontario.
The $65 million to be paid by Glendale is nearly 40 percent of the total Reinsdorf will have to pay to the NHL to acquire the Coyotes. But although Glendale is paying 40 percent, Reinsdorf and his group will own 100 percent of the team.
A lot of folks often wondered what would happen if movies turned out differently and should this whole thing breakdown the way it’s being painted by Scott Burnside, the comparisons of the Coyotes to the Cleveland Indians in the movie “Major League” take on a whole new light. In this case, only this time they lose in the playoffs and get moved away.