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Glendale City Council unanimously backs amended arena lease deal

Nashville Predators v Arizona Coyotes

Gila River Arena

NHLI via Getty Images

A day after the City of Glendale and the Arizona Coyotes came to terms on an amended arena lease agreement, the City Council has voted unanimously to rescind its cancellation of the management deal and approved the proposed amendment, per the Coyotes’ Twitter feed.

That brings an end to most recent chapter of the rocky story that is the Coyotes’ history in Glendale, but this move hasn’t erased all uncertainty about the franchise’s future.

As opposed to the previous 15-year deal, the amended agreement will only run through 2017, so the question has shifted to what will happen with the Coyotes come the 2017-18 campaign.

In his statement yesterday, Coyotes co-owner Anthony LeBlanc said, “We know that hockey works in the Valley and we are committed to Arizona for the long-term.” Of course, if you wanted to speculate, you could attempt to read into him saying Arizona rather than Glendale. It might be over-analyzing, but Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton was willing to help bring the team back if a resolution couldn’t be reached with the City of Glendale.

Speculation like that is likely to persist until the Coyotes given the short-term nature of the agreement, but at least the immediate dispute is resolved as the Coyotes work towards bringing the team back to the playoffs.

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