At some point the Phoenix Coyotes’ ownership situation will stop being, as NHL commissioner Gary Bettman calls it, “a work in progress,” but that day has not come yet. Bettman met with members of the media on Wednesday and the subject of the Coyotes naturally came up.
“There’s still a number of groups that are engaged in the process, and we’re still in close contact with the city,” Bettman said. “At some point, we may have to [turn the page]. I’m hoping not to get to that point, and I’m not setting a deadline for it.”
No, we didn’t just copy and paste that from a Bettman statement taken months ago, but for the sake of comparison, here is what he said back in January:
“Nothing imminent, but it’s still being worked on. It’s still a work in progress and there’s no significant development that I’m in position to report,” Bettman said. He also added, “Our goal is to bring it to a conclusion in Phoenix. If, in fact, we don’t have an alternative, we’ll deal with it. But we’re not at that point.”
To be fair, we don’t expect Bettman to reveal any information that might hurt the Coyotes’ chances of finding an owner. For example, if Bettman were to name a date that the Coyotes need an owner by, that could just complicate the process.
Maybe there is progress being made. Every now and the Coyotes have gotten a ray of hope, but they have often proven to be optimistic with the benefit of hindsight. For now, if there’s progress being made, it’s largely happening behind closed doors.