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Daly: Glendale lease deal will lead to sale of Coyotes

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While the fans in Arizona are excited about the prospect of the Coyotes finally being sold to an owner willing to keep them in town, the group actually selling the team appears to be really excited to be making a deal. That group, of course, is none other than the NHL itself.

The Hockey News hears from NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly about how excited they are that they’ll likely be able to spin a perpetual financial loser they bought for $140 million into a team they’re selling to Matthew Hulsizer for $165 million.

“It has always been the league’s objective to secure ownership that will ensure the Coyotes’ long-term future in Glendale,” NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement issued by the league. “And consummation of the proposed transaction will achieve that.”

The league bought the team out of bankruptcy more than a year ago and has said all along that a new lease was essential if the team were to stay in Arizona.

“We are very pleased that the parties appear to have reached an agreement that will finally lead to a transition of ownership of the Phoenix Coyotes,” Daly said. "... We look forward to working closely with the Hulsizer group and moving quickly toward the conclusion of this process.”


While everyone is talking about things in a way that makes you think they’re trying to not jinx the process, this is the furthest along any of these deals have come when it comes to the Coyotes. Getting this taken care of in Phoenix would help eliminate one of the darker clouds hanging over the league as the Coyotes have been swimming in rumors of their imminent demise for years now, an image that makes the NHL look like a low-rent league incapable of success.

Should Hulsizer become the new owner, his next trick will be to turn a profit in Glendale, something none of the Coyotes previous owners have been able to do. A new lease agreement will go a long way towards helping that out.