All I can say is yes please!!! I am seeing a lot of things on the internet that seem to be pointing in that direction. Also, Nick Kypreos and Doug MacLean were discussing this very subject on
590 A.M. out of Toronto on how they've heard from multiple sources that the Phoenix Coyotes will relocate to Winnipeg as soon as they're been eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs, that would be awesome true. [
Click to listen] I guess I am going to have to be a Redwings fan as well.
The NHL is preparing to hold a gun to the City of Glendale’s head and is again planning to use Winnipeg as the bullet.
Reports that Matthew Hulsizer’s $170-million bid to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes is dead may be premature but it appears there is only one chapter left to be played out in this saga.
Expect the next move to be the NHL’s. It will involve positioning the city of Winnipeg against Phoenix in a manner reminiscent of last spring’s leverage play by commissioner Gary Bettman.
Sports radio talk in Toronto on Wednesday had the deal in the desert near or at the end of the line and the Free Press has a Glendale source stating Hulsizer has pulled any concessions he’s made off the table and reverted to his original agreement with the NHL and City of Glendale.
The next move will be Bettman’s and it will likely come in the next five to 10 days. He'll need Winnipeg's help again and it's quite possible that talks between the league and True North have begun anew.
The NHL has painted itself into a bit of a corner by waiting this long to resolve the sale and now runs the risk of having to announce relocation of the franchise during a playoff run. It would be bad enough to make such an announcement in the first round but even worse to make it in the Stanley Cup final.
It’s unlikely Bettman will wait that long to pull the trigger. Expect the commissioner to get in front of this one in the latter stages of the opening round. Bettman will give Hulsizer and the City of Glendale one final crack at closing a deal.
Mark Chipman and his partner David Thomson are still interested in an NHL franchise they would bring to Winnipeg and operate out of the MTS Centre.
Playing stalking horse for the NHL a second time will, however, come with some strings says a U.S.-based attorney with experience in sports franchise transfer-of-ownership deals.
The lawyer, who has been involved in NBA and NHL relocations deals, demanded anonymity but said the next few steps will be common practice in terms of the league’s arrangement with True North.
