PCLoadLetter
Well-Known Member
What a mess.
FB, no, they won't vacate immediately. The deadline is strictly for a new lease agreement Jamison reached before buying the team. He made the agreement, but hasn't bought the team. I'm not sure exactly what the current lease terms are, but there's no urgency to leave -- outside of the NHL's desire to shed itself of the team.
For what it's worth, a friend who's fairly well connected in the Phoenix hockey community has been told the problem isn't with a lack of money, but instead that the NHL doesn't like the structure of the ownership group. I'm skeptical, but if it's true, I think the deal gets done.
He also brought up an intriguing possibility that is apparently more serious than I would have guessed: the team could actually move to a new arena on tribal land adjacent to Scottsdale, near the Diamondbacks' new spring training site. Again, I'm skeptical that the tribe would dump the money into an arena. He's not. If it really is workable, the location is infinitely better than where they are now.
If I were a betting man I'd say the team is in Quebec next season, but I'm not sure what to think at this point.
On a side note -- and I know I've made similar points in the past -- this is the most shoddily-reported story I've ever seen. Few reporters in Arizona are tracking it, and for the most part they're just throwing shirt at the wall and seeing what sticks. The Canadian press has been shockingly bad, with just a load of dishonest cheerleading for the team to move to Canada.
FB, no, they won't vacate immediately. The deadline is strictly for a new lease agreement Jamison reached before buying the team. He made the agreement, but hasn't bought the team. I'm not sure exactly what the current lease terms are, but there's no urgency to leave -- outside of the NHL's desire to shed itself of the team.
For what it's worth, a friend who's fairly well connected in the Phoenix hockey community has been told the problem isn't with a lack of money, but instead that the NHL doesn't like the structure of the ownership group. I'm skeptical, but if it's true, I think the deal gets done.
He also brought up an intriguing possibility that is apparently more serious than I would have guessed: the team could actually move to a new arena on tribal land adjacent to Scottsdale, near the Diamondbacks' new spring training site. Again, I'm skeptical that the tribe would dump the money into an arena. He's not. If it really is workable, the location is infinitely better than where they are now.
If I were a betting man I'd say the team is in Quebec next season, but I'm not sure what to think at this point.
On a side note -- and I know I've made similar points in the past -- this is the most shoddily-reported story I've ever seen. Few reporters in Arizona are tracking it, and for the most part they're just throwing shirt at the wall and seeing what sticks. The Canadian press has been shockingly bad, with just a load of dishonest cheerleading for the team to move to Canada.