Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Ice Edge might back out of Coyotes bidding

Ice Edge Holdings has been quick to puff out its chest when trying to prove their ability to afford the Phoenix Coyotes, but a recent setback might have them backing out altogether. Ice Edge CEO Daryl Jones explained to the Vancouver Sun why the group might pull out of the negotiations.

“The city may leave us no choice,” Ice Edge CEO Daryl Jones told Canwest News Service in an e-mail. “Their most recent proposal takes a number of steps back from prior agreements we have had with them.”

... “We believe that Glendale is playing a dangerous game of poker,” said Jones. “At the end of the day, Ice Edge doesn’t have to own this team, or any team. We make investments with the objective in generating an appropriate return. While we have become very passionate about supporting the fine hockey fans of Phoenix, a bad deal is a bad deal, and no amount of brinkmanship will lead us into signing a bad deal.”

The other bidder is Jerry Reinsdorf, owner of the Chicago White Sox and Bulls. Reports indicate that Reinsdorf wants an option to move the franchise while the Ice Edge group seems quite a bit more committed to keeping the team in Arizona.

“The National Hockey League has done an extraordinary job of supporting this franchise after years of horrific business management, and we applaud them in their effort to defend this market,” said Jones. “This season, both on the ice and off the ice, shows us that NHL hockey can succeed in Phoenix. It is up to the City of Glendale to decide whether they want it to continue to succeed.”

Hey, at least things are great for the Coyotes on the ice this year ...