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Phoenix Coyotes Sale Not Likely to be Done by the 15th


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Phoenix Coyotes on the move? NHL may soon consider relocation

With all this sudden Jarome Iginla chatter, most hockey fans spent the majority of Wednesday evening talking about a player that probably should have been moved last year, at the very least. But somewhat overshadowed in the rumoured end to the Iggy Derby was Darren Dreger's update regarding a team that probably should have been moved last year: the Phoenix Coyotes.

According to Dreger, the NHL may be running out of patience in Phoenix. After years of doing their best to keep the team in Glendale, the league could make a decision on relocating the franchise in advance of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

"It's clear time [is] running out and relocation must be considered," Dreger tweeted.

The TSN analyst listed Quebec City, Seattle and Kansas City among relocation sites, none of them new options to puckheads.

But at this point, I think hockey fans know not to react too quickly to any report about the Phoenix Coyotes, and this one is no different. Don't think that's the end of the Coyotes as we know them just yet.

"Current focus remains on selling the Coyotes to ownership in Glendale," Bill Daly told Yahoo!'s Nick Cotsonika. "We haven't spent much time on anything else."

Adding to that, John Shannon passed on new information Wednesday night regarding another comeback by Ice Edge. According to Shannon, Ice Edge CEO is part of a new group that he leads along with George Gosbee, head of AltaCorp Capital and Vice Chair of AIMCo, a $70 Billion investment Fund. "Word is they are finalizing a proposal with NHL," Shannon said.

Basically, nothing is set in stone at all, which means there really isn't anything new here. It's seemed like just about anything could happen in the Glendale ownership kerfuffle for years, and now it just seems slightly morelike that.

Still, if the Coyotes do move, where they go could have a big impact on another recent hot topic: realignment. The Coyotes were supposed to be part of the Westernmost grouping in the new setup. A move to Seattle would be ideal from this perspective, since they're even further West than Phoenix. There's little headache there.

But a move from Phoenix to, say, Quebec City, which Dreger said was the frontrunner, throws the conferences as the Board of Governors approved them into disarray. Somehow, I suspect Quebec City won't so into that.

Would Kansas City?

They'd probably be more comfortable in Division B, with midwestern teams like the Minnesota Wild, who are almost a straight shot north of them. But if the Coyotes go East, someone is going to have to move West, and as we've seen, pretty much no one wants to move West.

Stay tuned on this one.

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I still say Portland is the best choice. Population may not be in the same ballpark as Seattle/KC/Houston but it has an arena and more hockey history than some of the oft suggested cities.

Seattle and Quebec can bid on expansion teams for 2015 when arenas are in the process. Let the NHL get a big pile of money.

Toronto can grab a team like the bjs or florida when they finally lose enough money.

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Seattle makes total sense. The Hanson group, including Steve Balmer of MicroSoft, already have bought the NBA franchise in Sacremento. They expect an arena completed in two years. The Yotes could play in the existing 10,000 seat arena until then.

Canucks can only hope this is what comes down. It would cut how many miles & hours off their travel? The ownership group is absolutely solid. They don't have to scratch deals together like Ice Edge. Kansas City has no history of success. Quebec City cannot run a province so why would a NHL team be a go for a 2nd round?

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Seattle is not possible at this time. The arena is no where near done whereas Quebec has an arena that can be used until the new one is built.

I personally don't care for the move to seattle... I am in quebec and wouldn't mind a second chance for the canucks to play here close to home

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