The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Whatever happens to the Phoenix Coyotes in the immediate future, it's painfully obvious to everyone Ð except maybe Gary Bettman Ð that the franchise has no long-term future in the desert. Maybe the mega-wealthy Jerry Reinsdorf, owner of the NBA's Chicago Bulls and MLB's Chicago White Sox, will succeed in his bid to get the team and keep it in Phoenix. Maybe hedge fund company Ice Edge Holdings Ð whose strange offer includes playing a handful of games in Saskatoon to boost revenue Ð will get the team and keep it in Phoenix. But it won't last. There are only so many rich guys willing to lose so much money by propping up hockey in 90-degree weather year after year. This is a franchise that, depending on which media report you believe, bled somewhere between $35 million and $67 million in red ink last season alone. This despite the NHL's Robin Hood-style revenue sharing program that takes from the rich and gives to the poor. Other reports state the Coyotes haven't turned a profit since... well, since moving to Phoenix from Winnipeg in 1996. True, the Desert Dogs have been a pretty meager bunch most of those years. Surely that impacts attendance, and thus revenue. But if you need to have a great team every season to escape writing an eight-figure cheque, what long-term hope is there? Something's gotta give in Phoenix. Maybe not now, but in time. So the question of the Coyotes' relocation is not one Bettman can keep running away from. Sooner or later, he and the NHL brass that supported him will have to concede that setting up shop in Arizona was at best an error in judgment. Does that mean Bettman should just throw up his hands and abandon his goal of growing hockey in the States, which in turn would mean a bigger TV deal, which in turn would mean more money for everyone? Not at all. One of the unfortunate aspects of the Phoenix dilemma is that it has stirred up that tiresome "us versus them" mentality that Canadian hockey fans have toward fans south of the border. Just because they live in the U.S. does not mean fans cannot be as passionate about hockey as those of us where the game was born. Sells out San Jose sells out every game and, from what I've read, have a following that can only be labeled as rabid. Tampa Bay averaged almost as many fans per game last season as did Edmonton (granted, Tampa's arena is bigger). And for the longest time, before their team evaporated into a punchline, Colorado was selling out every home game, every season. So yes, hockey can work in non-traditional American markets. And when it does, the entire league, including Canada's six members, are the winners. Phoenix is one of those cases where it just doesn't work, never has worked and, based on all available evidence, never will work. That doesn't mean the people of Phoenix are ignorant hicks; it just means hockey isn't their thing. That's fine. The NBA didn't play well in Vancouver. Different strokes for different folks. This brings us back to the question of where the Coyotes truly belong. Bettman and the NHL brass are bound and determined not to let the team hightail it to Hamilton. That's not so much an anti-Canada position as it is probably the league's preference to let Hamilton join as an expansion club, giving all owners a share of the entrance fee. Winnipeg is out, if for no other reason than it would make Bettman look like the biggest buffoon in sports to see part of his master plan for growth completely reverse itself in just 13 years. Kitchener-Waterloo? It's been mentioned in the press as a possible location, but one must seriously question how much substance there is to this idea. That means the Coyotes will doubtless still be rising for The Star-Spangled Banner at home games when they do indeed vacate the desert. Names like Kansas City and Las Vegas have popped up on the rumour mill, but if the NHL is serious about cultivating the sport in the U.S., the logical place to go is none other than Houston. Largest city The largest city in Texas, Houston is also the fourth-largest city in the U.S. It represents a media market that is positively enormous in its size and scope. The Stars have already proven that hockey works in Texas. In fact, Dallas is one of the NHL's most profitable teams, according to Forbes.com. Recall that the Oilers very nearly moved to Houston in 1998, prior to a group of big-hearted local investors coming to the rescue. It would have been a sad day had that happened. The Oilers are important to the NHL. The Coyotes, on the other hand, are a drag on the league and have failed in every respect. Move the Coyotes to Houston. The game will grow, the NHL will still probably add another Canadian team via expansion, and the mess that keeps getting messier in Phoenix will finally be cleaned up.
