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Good news, Phoenix Coyotes fans: the team’s not moving to Canada and will remain in the desert — according to the mayor of Winnipeg, anyway.
The bad news: he’s probably wrong.
Today, as Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs rejected a plan that would have partnered the city with the Tohono O’odham Indians in its attempt to keep the Coyotes from leaving the Valley, the mayor of Winnipeg — the former and potentially future home of the Coyotes — told reporters he doesn’t expect the Howlers to relocate to Canada.
“Do I believe the Coyotes are coming to Winnipeg? The answer would be no. I believe the Coyotes are staying in Phoenix,” Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz said following a city council meeting this morning. “I think we should start looking at some of the other potential franchises.”
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In reality, though, things aren’t looking good for the Valley in terms of keeping an NHL team around.
For starters, they built the stadium in Glendale, so good luck getting east Valley residents to drive up to an hour away to watch a sport the majority of them don’t understand. Even if the Coyotes stay in Glendale, the team will have the same attendance issues it’s had the past two years (worst in the NHL and second-worst in the NHL, respectively).
Then there’s the Goldwater Institute and its pesky pursuit of keeping things Constitutional.
Sadly, we have a feeling the Coyotes played their last game in the desert when the Detroit Red Wings completed the sweep of the team in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last week — but if there’s a way to hurt your chances of getting re-elected mayor of a Canadian city, Katz probably found it by prematurely disappointing his city’s hockey fans.
