There is no prospective owner on the horizon and no building plan.
There are some people in the Phoenix metropolitan area who have not given up on getting another National Hockey League franchise in the market. Andrea Doan, whose husband Shane played for the Arizona Coyotes franchise is chairing the advisory panel on pro hockey to Arizona and there are finally some people on the committee. The group includes two former mayors of smaller municipalities in the market along with the son of a former franchise owner and other community and business leaders. But the group does not have someone who not only wants to buy an NHL franchise but is also willing to spend money to build an arena. The Phoenix-area doesn’t have an NHL team because it lacks a suitable arena.
The Phoenix market was a problem that began when the NHL approved the relocation of the Winnipeg Jets franchise to Phoenix in 1996. The franchise moved into the city-owned arena. But about 4,000 arena seats had obstructed views. The building was designed not to present a hockey game. Very quickly the Phoenix team’s ownership realized the arena was not suited for an NHL franchise and started looking for a new venue. Eventually, the ownership settled on Glendale, Arizona as the team’s future home. The team started playing in Glendale in 2003 but various ownership groups had financial problems and the franchise went insolvent in 2009. Jim Balsillie attempted to buy the team and move it to Hamilton, Ontario but the league blocked the sale. On August 19th, 2021, the city of Glendale chose to not renew its arena operating agreement with the Arizona ownership beyond the 2021–22 season. The team ownership signed a deal with Arizona State University to use the school’s 5,000-seat arena. In April 2024, NHL ownership had enough and the franchise was sold to Ryan Smith who moved the team to Salt Lake City.
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Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com
