Why have the Coyotes "failed."

Editorial note: I wrote this in response to a statement that was made saying that the NHL expansion into the south was a mistake and that the Phoenix Coyotes were doomed no matter the circumstances. Hope you enjoy.

The common thing that seems to have killed the team financially - twice - is an unfavorable lease. When this team was new to the area, they had some on-ice success but had a poor venue to watch it in (the arena was barely able to fit the NHL size ice on the floor while a second screen had to be installed for a few sections because the ice itself wasn't visible. Talk about a turn off ) To boot, the team had an unfavorable lease when they were at the American West / US Airways Arena and were threatening to move to Portland after some attempts to put an arena in Scottsdale or Mesa. The plan fell through in Mesa because the developers were asking for a publicly funded arena (Mesa doesn't have that kind of money) and the plan in Scottsdale fell through because everyone wanted to put the arena at Los Arcos (which would have been a logistical nightmare given how congested it is already)

Well, Ellman/Moyes step in, want to create an "entertainment" district in Glendale/Peoria area and want to have the Coyotes as the "crown jewel." They again get into a lease that assures Glendale will get maximum value out of the agreement while the team will get whatever's left over. At this point however, many of the players who were core components of the team (Khabibulin, Tkachuck, Numminen, Drake, Briere) were let go and replaced with guys who weren't capable of carrying the load for the team (Hanzus, Langkow, Nagy, Boucher) because while they were good components, the team lacked that supreme talent that would help them get over. What began next was a parade of cast-offs from other teams (I remember seeing the Coyotes signing Joseph, Hull, and Boyd "The Void" Devereaux before I even had an inkling to leave the metro Detroit area and thought "Wow... sucks to be them!"), waiver wire (Kapanen was okay but Tjarnqvist? Seriously? That guy had a hard time getting a Elitserien contract!), and prospects that never panned out due to poor drafting and/or development Well, it turns out that if you don't know how to manage a team in a place where hockey is an import, it's hard to get people interested enough to want to support the team. Sure the paid attendance was a few thousand off, but when the gate attendance shows more dismal figures, then those are less people going and buying concessions, souvenirs, and the like. The 7 PM start time prohibits the team from being able to include East Valley residents in their games because they're more concerned about catering to the family market in West Valley than they are to the blue-collar workers and students who'd otherwise love to go to games... if only their schedule and traffic would permit it. Throw in free ticket giveaways that give people free tickets to seats that STHs are paying thousands of dollars to have annually and the value of everything starts to take a decline real fast.

The team needs better management on and off the ice. The team needs to put a truly competitive squad on the ice while being able to know how to manage their front office and their fan experience (and no, the sock puppet doesn't help) Yeah this city loves a winner, this city would also like a hockey team it could enjoy. But when all the Red Wings fans come in and cheer for their team, when Rick Nash's and Ovechkin's highlight goals are scored on the Coyotes, when everyone refers to the team with distain and detraction, then yeah, it really makes something that's hard to have pride in.

So why not move the team to Canada? Why not move the team to the Northern states, where many people (falsely) assume that they'll be valued and appreciated? Before the southern expansion, the league was making money, but it wasn't making that much money. Now the league's doing better and Bettman's fight for a salary cap further ensured the success of the league. Yes, on a local level it may be sad to see teams losing what they are, but that's what revenue sharing is for. The NHL itself stands to make more money (thanks to the media markets, endorsement deals, etc) by having a larger American presence than it does in terms of having teams in Moose Jaw, Regina, and St. Johns. Could the north support more teams? I'm sure it could, but at this point, it should be subject to expansion, not relocation, unless there's absolutely no way in hell that a team can remain in the market is in.

In Phoenix's case, this is less to do with whether or not hockey can success versus whether or not hockey's ever been properly managed here to begin with. Bettman & the league have to assume some of the blame for that too because the US Airways Arena should have been better evaluated as a hockey venue and the Job should have been better evaluated as to whether or not the majority of their target demographic would be able to attend games on a regular basis. Neither proved to be true and that, IMO, is as much the leagues fault as it is the owners. Throw in Moyes and Balsille acting like children at a candy store and the mess is just further compounded.

I could go on, but in the end, no one wins if this team leaves. Phoenix loses a hockey team and no longer has the distinction of having all 4 major sports in their area. The NHL will lose Phoenix for a very, very long time unless another team relocates to the area within a short amount of time. You may give a victory to Hamilton if the team ends up there, but how will you convince "hockey crazed fanatics" to support a team if there are two better ones nearby that you can root for? Just ask the Islanders.