By George Fallar 
March 29, 2013
Okay GREAT GAME last night, Coyotes!
So, WE keep saying there’s investors interested in the Coyotes and NOTHING! Gary Bettman says there’s investors and all of a sudden IT’S NEWS?!? What up with THAT? Sure, we’re always glad when the local media catches up to this hobby blog with their information, but I’m surprised that the Commissioner of the NHL is all of a sudden a better source of information than moi.
(PRNewsFoto/Darin Pastor)
David Shoalts spewed out another Coyotes article which is, as usual, being tweeted around the planet as gospel when in fact it’s tripe.
The BIG news is that, this morning, Darin Pastor also threw his hat in the ring as a potential Coyotes buyer. Darin didn’t go the super secret “you have to guess” route, he had his PR guys put out a press release. Pastor is the founder and CEO of Capstone Affluent Strategies and has been around professional hockey. His family owned the Buffalo Bisons from 1956 to 1971, the team eventually became the Buffalo Sabres and were afflicted with the weird banana logo. Pastor sounds like a legit contender to be the new owner of the Coyotes.
In the interest of full disclosure, we had a meeting with Mr. Pastor at his request regarding the Coyotes.
That said, we know for sure there are three groups actively pursuing the Coyotes and competition is ALWAYS good.
March 28, 2013
- Oh man SEVEN games in a row?
Relocation rumors heated up again last night, started by Darren Dreger. His Twitter statements were quickly refuted by two other people, starting another flurry of Coyotes ownership buzz.
The big “news” is that the Ice Edge guys have a “whale” investor and are the frontrunners for the eventual sale of the Coyotes. As readers of this page, we all knew this a couple days ago (if not before), although I didn’t know the identity of the guy. George Gosbee is the guy, and he has the necessary chops.
Other sources also stated that Greg Jamison was now “out” of the process. This is incorrect.
A little more detail is here at “Coyotes Relocation Rumors Premature“, but you should be following Craig Morgan (@cmorgancbsfoxaz) on Twitter right now, he won’t steer you wrong and has ALL the information on the Ice Edge bid.
Here is Craig’s story from this morning on this (click here), READ IT.
March 26, 2013
- We have it on extremely good authority that Mr. Jamison was NOT in town for the game last night, so anyone that spotted him at the game should reduce their adult beverage intake before and/or during the game. It’s a measure of how badly we all want “this thing” to be over with a positive outcome.
On another note, I added a piece over on HockeyWriters.com about Coyotes attendance ramping up despite the adversity the team continues to face and how it matches the history of other NHL teams. Thanks to Greg Dunaway for number crunching. Coyotes Attendance Is Up Despite Ownership Woes
Wow, another loss for the Coyotes to the team with the most obnoxious visiting fans in the NHL. If there was a Stanley Cup for drunken and boorish behavior, these boneheads are a dynasty!
- In the midst of all that, the spies at the game were watching the Glendale and Coyotes suites. I was not, although I have seen one picture. The buzz was that all the rumored ownership contenders save Jamison were in the house last night. Of course Senator McCain and Grant Woods availed themselves of the photo opportunity of a sold out house as did local resident Alice Cooper. Beyond that, LeBlanc, Gallacher, McFarlane, and I think even Hulsizer were spotted in and around the arena.
Besides the politicos, the only one I saw in a photo that looked like a playah was LeBlanc. LeBlanc and the Ice Edge boys are rumored to have landed a whale with deep pockets to bolster their eventual bid. Check the photo, the “Jamison?” guy is likely McCain and the thin hair guy a few seats away with the snappy blue blazer is likely Grant Woods.
Having the wallets in the house has to be a good thing, right?
March 21, 2013
Beacon Sports Capital has been awarded a six month contract to pursue a deal to manage the Glendale owned Jobing.com arena and to develop a Request For Proposals (RFP). Click here for a copy of that contract.
Note the date on the contract. March FOURTH. Yet, we’re only hearing about it officially now, coincidentally (or not) two days after we submitted a public records request for any and all information related to Beacon Sports Capital. Also of note is that it is NOT signed by former Acting City Manager Horatio Skeete (who has not, to my knowledge, had the benefit of a public statement regarding his demotion) and is instead signed by Jamsheed Mehta, the next guy in line for the gauntlet that is Glendale.
Surprisingly, in an article dated March 15th (11 days after the contract was executed), Mike Sunnucks writes:
“Glendale spokeswoman Julie Frisoni said the city has had preliminary discussions about hiring Beacon for a new report and said a more formal discussion by the City Council could occur at an upcoming meeting. Beacon lists work related to the Coyotes on its website.”
Here is a link (click here) to the article, although I’d appreciate you taking my word that the text is in there rather than clicking on the link and giving the completely anti-Coyotes guy any traffic.
So, if everything is hunky-dory and above board and Beacon is the answer to everyone’s questions, why not admit they were already hired? One possibility that a cynic would come up with is that it would give one bidder a time advantage over another with the process being pushed ever closer to the brink of the end of the season.
Expect Beacon and the RFP to be agenda items for the upcoming Glendale City Council meeting on Tuesday. The agenda should be published within the next several hours at this link.
More detail will be available shortly in a blog post on another site. Stay tuned.
March 20, 2013
Drew Doughty of the LA Kings maintains the Coyotes are whiners, having spent a good deal of time sitting on the ice last night he had a unique vantage point. Plus, see the video below to see why Doughty is a true expert on whining.
[embed_youtube src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/5NZMoMvWL4Q?modestbranding=1&autohide=1&showinfo=0&rel=0″ width=”560″ height=”400″]
Rumor has it that the Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings have been granted some penalty dispensations by the NHL Officials Association for several infractions. First, they will henceforth be allowed to cover the puck in their zone to prevent further puck advancement by the opposing team. This rule override will be nicknamed “The Zombie Rule”. Further, if the offense of the opposing team appears to be trying to score and a “scrum” develops, it is acceptable to grab any and all opposing players around the neck from behind, especially if they are already engaged with another player, and deposit them on the ice with no penalty. Additionally, any infraction by the opposing team in said “scrum” (such as trying to remove a player from covering the puck) will immediately be called.
Effective retroactive to 7pm PT March 19. See video below for examples.
[embed_youtube src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/mwYHFeHUgEc?modestbranding=1&autohide=1&showinfo=0&rel=0″ width=”560″ height=”400″]
March 19, 2013
- So the Glendale City Council workshop meeting today was a bunch of blah blah blah and then discussion of the budget begins. Glendale Budget Director Sherry Schurhammer said (and I’ll come up with a time when the video is posted) that there was no budget for the Request For Proposal (RFP) for the arena and thus the Coyotes this year.
So, despite statements that Beacon Sports Capital was running the negotiation process for the city AND the statements from the mayor that things were happening with four buyers AND the statements by Canadian hockey media that Shane Doan’s agent Bross was involved in trying to round up investors AND the statement from Grant Woods that he was “on it” AND the statements from multiple sources that Greg Jamison was still working on a deal AND the statements from Coyotes brass that things were happening, Ms. Schurhammer says that’s not happening at all and nobody on the council disagrees either.
Who to believe?
March 18, 2013
- So now the Comic Con type people are abuzz about the latest name rumored to be involved with the Coyotes bidding process. Why? Because the name is Todd McFarlane (not to be confused with the guy I consider one of the unfunniest people on the planet, Seth MacFarlane). When you think about it, there’s a lot to believe about this rumor:
- He has the necessary funds, has spent tons on sport memorabilia.
- He was born in Calgary.
- He used to be a minority owner of the Oilers.
- He lives in Arizona (Ahwatukee Foothills?).
- His companies are based in Arizona.
- He has a “Spawn” store in Westgate.
So, why not? A guy from Alberta wouldn’t be bad as an investor for the Coyotes, especially one that’s now used to the great weather and therefore doesn’t want to return to the freezing cold.
There is a breaking rumor that the Coyotes are playing the LA Kings in the Staple Center tonight. Perhaps Mr. Doan will school Mr. Brown with a few “sit down, please” lessons this evening? If so, hopefully Mike Richards doesn’t then decide to also want a “sit down, please” lesson followed by five minutes in the box (like he did last time).
March 17, 2013
- Word on the street from a usually reliable source is that politico Grant Woods has thrown his hat on information in the ring with the newly announced-ish Bross (Shane Doan’s agent) group.
This may be significant because the rumor, fomented somewhat by Woods himself, had been that he was working for the Ice Edge guys. If he’s now working with Bross, and considering Daryl Jones edited his Twitter handle to eliminate the “Almost owner of the Phoenix Coyotes” text, does this mean Bross is now the guy with the upper hand to get the now highly sought after team?
Does it mean that LeBlanc and the rest of the Ice Edge guys are once again out of the running for the Coyotes? I don’t know.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to everybody, drive safe please!
March 15, 2013
The Glendale City Council agenda is published and, once again, there are no public agenda items related to the Coyotes or the city owned arena. Click here to read the agenda. The standard wording of an arena agenda item for the private executive session is included. More interesting are the items related to the now ex city attorney Craig Tindall and the probably soon to be ex (if he isn’t already) acting city manager Horatio Skeete. It’s also interesting to note that the city clerk has been excluded from further discussion if the agenda is to be believed.
With the NHL regular season ending little more than a month after next Tuesday’s City Council meeting, there is a noticeable lack of discussion of anything “real” to do with the disposition of the arena. It’s also apparent that the closed executive session is becoming the most important tool in the “new look” city council’s toolbox.
March 14, 2013
Update from Gary Bettman via Sarah McLellan tweets (follow her at @azc_mclellan if you don’t already):
- Bettman said the league is working with a number of groups. He hopes one will move forward in near future to get deal done. Bettman said he thinks Jamison is still among that group, but efforts of other groups stalled when looked like Jamison would get deal done.
Now, that’s a typical Bettman statement and is, in my opinion, at least a little disingenuous. I’m fairly certain that Gary KNOWS Jamison is “still among that group” even using lawyer level semantics. But of course I could be wrong. Or not.
- The rumor of the day is that a guy named Terry Bross is working to broker a deal for the Coyotes. If that name sounds familiar to you as a Coyotes fan, it should. Mr. Bross is Shane Doan’s agent. The news is out and about, it’s even out there on video from “Hockey Central Insiders” John Shannon, who is a rare bird indeed (a reliable Canadian sportswriter). Shannon states there are now three groups vying for the Coyotes.
- , start around the 2:30 mark if you wish.
- What does that mean to us? I’m not sure which of the groups Mr. Bross is working with or for. A logical person might assume that Shane Doan has a hand with him getting involved in the process. That can only be a good thing. My personal admiration for the Coyotes Captain is almost embarrassing, partly because he is ANOTHER rare bird, an honest and ethical guy that can make things happen in the hockey business. Witness the credit people gave Shane for his work getting the lockout resolved, although of course Doaner refused to accept any of that credit.
Competition is always good for deals, several things become much more likely. First, of course, is that a deal will actually get done. Second, and more important to the overall long term success of the Coyotes in Glendale, is that the resulting deal will be the best possible for all parties involved. For the buyers, that means a reasonable price for the team and an arena agreement they can live with. For the NHL, that means unloading the Coyotes and getting the Board of Governors off their case. For Glendale, it means the white elephant arena problem is resolved and they have a long term agreement.
Good stuff.
March 13, 2013
- UPDATE: whoop looks like Mr. Jones removed the “Almost owner of Phoenix Coyotes” today. I looked this morning and it was there. I’m not sure that’s interesting or means anything, but…
Ice Edge guys apparently reappeared in droves at the Coyotes/Kings game last night. This on the heels of purported Ice Edge politico savant Grant Woods also reappearing on the scene with pal John McCain at the home game before that. Before that on March 8, Daryl Jones (@HedgeyeDJ, flying the “Almost owner of Phoenix Coyotes” on his Twitter page) tweeted “I just has (sic) the pleasure of meeting @SenJohnMcCain … No surprise, we talked hockey !”. While he coyly didn’t answer queries based on that tweet, speculation is now fueled that Ice Edge and crew are frontrunners in the Coyotes sweepstakes.
Yet, one person familiar with the situation and all of the players involved said “They just want the attention”. I really have no clue how far along they may be with their negotiations, presumably with Beacon Sports Capital, nor do I know if they still want to stage some “home games” in Saskatoon. So I guess we’ll see where this goes in the coming days.
The Greg Jamison name continues to be in the mix as well. Glendale CM Gary Sherwood, shortly after the January 31 Glendale “deal” deadline had passed, mentioned that Jamison is still in the running and may be seeking a ten to twelve year deal with the City of Glendale worth around 12 million dollars a year.
John Kaites, through his PR guy, mentioned that he is also in the hunt for the Coyotes. While the inclusi0n of Beacon Sports in the negotiating soiree looks like it points to the Kaites/Reinsdorf consortium actively pursuing the Coyotes, there have been no further peeps from that crew since the hat was initially thrown in the ring.