It appears that the financial savior for the nearly defunct Phoenix Coyotes has taken his ball of cash and is going home, no longer willing to play.
So now what will be NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman’s next move?
After Bettman decided to have the NHL take over the bankrupt franchise two years ago instead of allowing gazillionaire Jim Balsillie to purchase the team, Windy City businessman Matthew Hulsizer has been the strong front-runner to purchase the team.
After hitting several hurdles including the threat of a lawsuit to the city of Glendale regarding use of tax dollars to fund the Yotes operation, Hulsizer has finally walked away from hockey in the desert.
All this comes after Glendale rolled a wheelbarrow full of tax dollars ($50 million cash) to Bettman to cover last year’s and this year’s losses in hope of Hulsizer going through with the purchase.
It’s hard to feel sorry for a league losing this sale after how it recently deserted the fans in Atlanta, allowing the Thrashers to relocate to Winnipeg after what many felt was a lame effort to keep the team in Atlanta.
A lot of fans also feel the NHL has shown favoritism to the Yotes in their efforts to keep them in place while letting the Atlanta Spirit Group (owners of the Thrashers, NBA Hawks and Philips Arena) dump the Thrashers after having the team on the block for a shorter period of time.
Hulsizer was expected to buy the Coyotes for a far less amount than Balsillie was said to have offered for the team but regardless of that, we’ll have to wait and see how Bettman responds to this continuing saga that just won’t go away.
Used with permission of the author.
Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.
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