ESPN; Delay of Coyotes sale has cascading effects

Hum, this is an interesting little news tidbit that just came across the Tweet Deck. Why do I get the feeling that the Desert Dogs are on life support in the Phoenix area? They can only fool around so long before the NHL is going to pull the plug on the Coyotes.

Scott Burnside, ESPN --- The trade deadline isn't the only deadline looming on the NHL landscape.

The City of Glendale, never quite on the same page as anyone else when it comes to getting the job done, failed to begin selling bonds to raise money that would go to Chicago businessman Matthew Hulsizer as part of an agreement on a new lease for Jobing.com Arena. That bond sale must go through before the lease agreement with Hulsizer is finalized, and that deal must be completed before the league will close on its sale of the Phoenix Coyotes to Hulsizer.

Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told ESPN.com Friday that the league has established no deadline for the sale of the bonds and multiple sources familiar with the deal insist they expect the deal will close, just not as soon as had been anticipated.

One of the reasons for the delay in the bond sales, which were expected to be completed by this week, is the specter of a lawsuit by watchdog group the Goldwater Institute.

Goldwater threatened legal action because the deal may contravene state rules on subsidizing private businesses. If the monies committed by the City of Glendale are greater than what they would receive through parking revenues and other monies that would go to the city as part of the deal, it would break state rules.

It's not clear whether Goldwater will take the municipality to court if the deal is consummated.

While the NHL may not have imposed a deadline the reality remains that the NHL does not have infinite patience with the City of Glendale.