Coyotes face more instability with voters’ rejection of proposed arena

Associated PressMay 18, 2023, 10:20 AM EDT

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TEMPE, Ariz. — The Arizona Coyotes were confident more than two decades of instability were coming to a close.

A “yes” vote on a referendum for an entertainment district would allow the franchise to finally build its own arena.

When Tempe voters said no in an election, the team was left in shock and with no clear path to the future.

“What is next for the franchise will be evaluated by our owners and the National Hockey League over the coming weeks,” Coyotes President and CEO Xavier A. Gutierrez said.

The Coyotes’ internal polling showed the three propositions related to the arena would pass easily.

Voters had other ideas, overwhelmingly saying “no” to the proposed $2.3 billion Tempe Entertainment District, leaving the franchise still in a state of flux.

“The National Hockey League is terribly disappointed by the results of the public referendum regarding the Coyotes’ arena project in Tempe,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “We are going to review with the Coyotes what the options might be going forward.”

The Coyotes have faced instability almost since moving to Arizona from Winnipeg in 1996.

The franchise shared then-America West Arena with the NBA’s Phoenix Suns before moving to Glendale’s Gila River Arena in 2003. When former owner Jerry Moyes took the Coyotes into bankruptcy, the NHL stepped in and ran the organization for four seasons.

A new ownership group brought hope in 2013, but turmoil resurfaced two years later, when the city of Glendale backed out of a long-term, multimillion-dollar lease agreement. The Coyotes leased the arena on an annual basis until Glendale announced it was terminating the contract after the 2021-22 season.

The Coyotes’ temporary solution was to share Mullett Arena, a 5,000-seat building that’s by far the smallest in the NHL, with Arizona State University.

Now the organization has to shift gears yet again after voters rejected a proposed new arena.

The Coyotes said they will play in Mullett Arena next season, but it is not a long-term option. Playing at such a small arena hurts the overall league revenue and the Mullett, while nice, is not up to NHL standards.

“During the 2023-24 season, the Arizona Coyotes will play at Mullett Arena,” Gutierrez said in a statement. “We remain committed to Arizona and have already started re-engaging with local officials and sites to solidify a new permanent home in the Valley.”

One option could be to move back downtown and share what’s now called the Footprint Center with the Suns. The Coyotes had an icy relationship with former Suns owner Robert Sarver, but new owner Mat Ishbia might be more amenable to a partnership.

The Coyotes have said there was a backup plan if the Tempe deal fell through – perhaps a move to another Phoenix suburb – but have kept it under wraps.

A return to Glendale is likely out because of the team’s strained relationship with the city, though another city might be willing to work something out. Phoenix is surrounded by tribal lands, but any deal there would be complicated, particularly if owner Alex Meruelo wants a casino to be part of the development.

Relocation rumors have followed the Coyotes for years and the rejection by Tempe may lead to a road out of the desert. Bettman has been adamant the franchise will remain in Arizona.

Maybe the Coyotes and league can look at relocating somewhere like Portland, Oregon, Kansas City, Houston, Milwaukee or Salt Lake City. Canadian fans in non-NHL cities have clamored to have a team of their own, so perhaps the Coyotes head back to Canada, maybe to Quebec City or Hamilton, Ontario.

From an on-ice perspective, the Coyotes will attempt to continue to operate as if nothing has changed.

But the rejection vote could hamper the team in free agency, with some players unwilling to head to the desert when there’s so much uncertainty. It may also impact their ability to sign first-rounder Logan Cooley and the Coyotes’ other draft picks, who might not want to join a team when they don’t know if it’s still going to be in Arizona.

The Coyotes are in a tough spot all around. The optimism surrounding a possible escape from instability turned into more chaos with the “no” vote.

Fate of Arizona Coyotes arena project in the hands of voters

Associated PressMay 16, 2023, 2:07 PM EDT

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The Arizona Coyotes are about to learn the fate of a proposed entertainment district that would include a new home for the team, which has crisscrossed the city searching for a permanent place to play.

Residents in Tempe are voting on a referendum that will determine whether plans for the $2.3 billion Tempe Entertainment District will move forward.

The vote is taking place after the city of Phoenix and Sky Harbor International Airport expressed concerns about the residences that would be built as part of the project in the high-noise area under the airport’s flight path.

If the arena is built, the Coyotes would finally be able to settle down after playing in three different venues since moving to Arizona.

The franchise shared a downtown Phoenix arena with the NBA’s Phoenix Suns after relocating from Winnipeg in 1996 then moved to Glendale’s Gila River Arena in 2003. But the Coyotes’ had a troubled tenure in the Phoenix suburb.

Then-owner Jerry Moyes took the Coyotes into bankruptcy in 2009 and Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie put in a bid to purchase the team with the intention of moving it to Hamilton, Ontario. The NHL, wanting to keep the team in Arizona, put in a counter bid and a Phoenix judge ruled the team could not be sold to Balsillie to circumvent the NHL’s relocation rules.

The NHL ran the Coyotes for four seasons and the financial constraints took a toll, leading in part to a seven-year playoff drought.

A new ownership group brought new hope in 2013 but turmoil surfaced again in 2015, when the city of Glendale backed out of a long-term, multimillion-dollar lease agreement. The Coyotes then leased Gila River Arena on an annual basis until Glendale announced it was terminating the deal after the 2021-22 season.

The franchise found a temporary solution, working out a deal to share Arizona State’s Mullett Arena for three seasons. The Mullett has a capacity of 5,000 and is by far the smallest home arena in the NHL.

The Coyotes submitted a bid to buy a tract of land in Tempe and the Tempe City Council voted to begin negotiating on a new entertainment district. The City Council later voted to send the project to a public vote.

The Coyotes thought they were in good standing with the city of Phoenix and Sky Harbor before a legal filing in March sought to rescind Tempe’s recent zoning and land-use changes. It also asked to prohibit future residential considerations in an area the FAA says is incompatible with residential development due to its positioning under Sky Harbor flight paths.

The Coyotes countered by filing a $2.3 billion notice of claim against the city of Phoenix for alleged breach of contract.

NHL to play 1st exhibition games in Australia in September

Associated PressApr 12, 2023, 10:00 AM EDT

Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

The NHL is going down under for the first time, with the Los Angeles Kings and Arizona Coyotes set to play in Australia in September.

The trip is the league’s first foray into the Southern Hemisphere.

The Kings and Coyotes will face off in two exhibition games at Rod Laver Arena – center court at the Australian Open tennis tournament – in Melbourne on Sept. 23 and 24. Australia is set to be the fourth continent to host NHL action.

“The Arizona Coyotes and Los Angeles Kings are two of our league’s rising young teams and among our most innovative and adventurous franchises,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “We look forward to their two games at Rod Laver Arena and know this history-making visit will thrill our many avid fans in Australia and cause so many more throughout the sports-loving nation to be captivated by our great game.”

The Kings and Coyotes organizations previously each played games outside North America before agreeing to go to Australia.

There is currently one Aussie in the NHL, Nathan Walker of the St. Louis Blues. Signed with the Blues through next season, he said recently he was disappointed they weren’t chosen to participate.

“It’ll be great for the game of hockey,” Walker said. “I hope they can grow it a bit more back home. I know all my buddies back home are pretty pumped to go watch it.”

Coyotes’ Matias Maccelli turning heads in rookie season

Associated PressApr 7, 2023, 5:01 PM EDT

Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

TEMPE, Ariz. — Matias Maccelli charges across the blue line and stops so abruptly near the right circle that the defender skates right past. Without appearing to even glance back, he slips a pass between two defenders right on the tape of a trailing teammate.

An athletic move, adept vision, goal.

It’s the type of play the Arizona Coyotes rookie has been making all season, putting him in the conversation to be a Calder Trophy finalist despite missing a month of the season.

“He’s been one of the driving forces of our team,” Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong said. “He just creates so much with his skating, puck handling and elite passing.”

Building on a short NHL stint a year ago, Maccelli made Arizona’s roster out of training camp this season and got off to a sizzling start. Showing off his playmaking ability, the 22-year-old Finnish forward was second among NHL rookies in scoring with three goals and 19 assists in 30 games before going down with a lower-body injury.

Maccelli picked up where he left off after returning, scoring seven goals with 16 assists the next 30 games.

Maccelli was second behind Seattle’s Matty Beniers (56) among NHL rookies with 46 points and leads with 36 assists. Maccelli is the seventh rookie in the past 15 seasons to have at least 35 assists the first 60 games of a season and leads all NHL rookies with 0.75 points per game.

“It was really good for me going into this season,” Maccelli said of his time with the Coyotes last season. “It was huge that I got myself into the league a little bit and I knew what to expect for this year.

Maccelli has had success at every level despite often being the smallest player on the ice.

The 5-foot-11, 176-pound winger could get by with his incredible skill set when he was young, like a tall kid who dominates in basketball because he’s taller than everyone. It worked when Maccelli played in the United States Hockey League and when he returned home to play in Finnish Liiga after the Coyotes selected him in the fourth round of the 2019 NHL draft.

Maccelli continued to thrive when he returned to the U.S. to play for the Tucson Roadrunners, breaking the Arizona AHL affiliate’s single-season points record with 57 points in 47 games.

Maccelli got called up when the Coyotes got hit with a rash of injuries last season and ended up playing 23 games, finishing with a goal and five assists. The callup gave him the confidence he could play in the NHL, but also showed what he needed to work on.

“He’s got to find (open) ice to work,” Armstrong said. “I think that was the big challenge for him when he first came into the league, trying to find that ice. That was a hard thing for him, knowing if I go over here I could get killed. It’s a faster game and it takes some time to settle down in your brain and also feel confident you can play at the NHL level.”

Being a smaller player with quickness, Maccelli always had a knack for avoiding the big hits delivered by larger players. The NHL is filled with massive players who can also skate, so there was an adjustment for a player used to skating around everyone.

Maccelli has worked in recent years at becoming more of a two-way player, a prerequisite if he was going to play for the Coyotes, and spent last summer building strength. The added muscle has allowed him to better absorb the inevitable hits in the NHL, fend off defensemen and battle for pucks in scrums.

“I’m still not the biggest guy out there, but there’s a little more weight on me and a little more strength,” Maccelli said. “That was the biggest thing.”

Now that he’s in the NHL, Maccelli has gotten a front-row view of what a skilled smaller player can do.

Clayton Keller has blossomed into Arizona’s best player, leading the team with 36 goals and 46 assists. The 5-11, 178-pound forward was voted to his third NHL All-Star game and needs four points in the final four games to match Keith Tkachuk’s Coyotes record for points in a season since the franchise moved from Winnipeg in 1996.

“I’m taking every opportunity I can, in the game, at practice, to watch what he does, try to get something in my game, too,” Maccelli said.

Maccelli already has the skill set to succeed in the NHL. The more he adds to his game, the more of a force he will become.

Coyotes file $2.3 billion claim against Phoenix over arena

Associated PressApr 5, 2023, 10:54 PM EDT

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TEMPE, Ariz. — The Arizona Coyotes appeared to have finally found an answer to their arena issues by working out a deal to build an entertainment district in Tempe.

A snag with the city of Phoenix now puts that in doubt, adding another layer to the franchise’s long-running bid to find a permanent home.

The Coyotes and the firm the franchise hired to develop a new arena project near Sky Harbor International Airport filed a $2.3 billion notice of claim against the city of Phoenix on Wednesday for alleged breach of contract.

The claim, a precursor to a lawsuit, that was filed along with Bluebird Development is seeking damages from Phoenix for a legal filing by the city March 27.

Phoenix asked in its legal filing to rescind Tempe’s recent zoning and land-use changes, along with prohibiting future residential considerations in an area the FAA says is incompatible with residential development.

The city and Sky Harbor said the plan for the Tempe Entertainment District, which would include a new home arena for the Coyotes, could not include previously approved multifamily housing due to noise issues under airport flight paths.

“Phoenix City Hall’s bad behavior seems intended to preserve its downtown sports venue monopoly and has nothing to do with safety or soundness of the airport,” Coyotes CEO and President Xavier Hernandez said in a statement. “While Phoenix bureaucrats have allowed developers to build a basketball arena, a ballpark, and apartments in flight paths, when Tempe attempts to do the same a manufactured crisis arrives.”

The $2.3 billion in damages sought equal the entitlement value of the Tempe Entertainment District.

An amendment to an intergovernmental agreement between the cities of Phoenix and Tempe, dating to 1994, would have allowed the residential development in the Tempe Entertainment District if Tempe lived up to its commitments.

The amendment was sent to Tempe on Feb. 7 and Tempe sent a letter on March 17 ending discussions.

Phoenix officials said they were willing to agree to a compromise allowing the Tempe Entertainment District and other known current projects were permitted in exchange for Tempe’s renewed commitment that no more residential projects be built in the high-noise area under Sky Harbor’s flight path.

“Phoenix will respond in due course, but the developer restates the same arguments that the airport, and more importantly, the FAA has already debunked,” the city said in a statement. “At the same time, we can understand and appreciate the developer’s frustration. But their frustration is misdirected. They should be frustrated with Tempe.”

The Coyotes have been negotiating with the city of Tempe to build on a tract of land just west of downtown in their bid to find a permanent home. The team is currently playing at Arizona State’s 5,000-seat Mullett Arena, by far the NHL’s smallest arena.

The proposed arena and entertainment district are set to go to a referendum in May, but now the Coyotes’ bid to find a permanent home has hit another road block.

The franchise shared America West Arena with the NBA’s Phoenix Suns after relocating from Winnipeg in 1996 before moving to Glendale’s Gila River Arena in 2003.

Former owner Jerry Moyes took the Coyotes into bankruptcy in 2009 and Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie put in a bid to purchase the team with the intention of moving it to Hamilton, Ontario. The NHL, wanting to keep the team in Arizona, put in a counter bid and a Phoenix judge ruled the team could not be sold to Balsillie to circumvent the NHL’s relocation rules.

The NHL ran the Coyotes for four seasons and the financial constraints associated with that took a toll, leading in part to a seven-year playoff drought.

A new ownership group brought new hope in 2013, but turmoil surfaced again in 2015, when the city of Glendale backed out of a long-term, multi-million lease agreement. The Coyotes leased Gila River Arena on an annual basis until Glendale announced it was terminating the deal after the 2021-22 season.

The franchise found a temporary solution, working out a deal to share Arizona State’s Mullett Arena for three seasons. The Mullett, with a capacity of 5,000, is by far the smallest home arena in the NHL.

Now the Coyotes have another fight on their hands to find a permanent home.