Coyotes CEO Sets Record Straight…
“Hockey will be a great sport in Phoenix and Glendale, probably way beyond my years.”
Jeff Shumway, quoted in Arizona Republic
As I still think there is more to the story, Jeff Shumway reveals that even though the financial situation is not the greatest right now (due to the typical issues such as our overall economy), the Phoenix Coyotes aren’t leaving town as reported by other media outlets.
From my experience, we have people on one side saying that the franchise is doomed and should pull out right away, and the other side has the company line with continuing to preach the line that the financial issues will get better and that reports of the Coyotes’ demise is not the whole story.
I think the truth is somewhere in the middle.
Ever since I’ve been writing about the Phoenix Coyotes, there always has been this rift between those north of the border and those of us passionate fans here in the states. Earlier it was Nashville, and now it’s Phoenix. I understand the frustration that NHL tickets are difficult to come by in some markets where down here there are empty seats. I probably would feel it too.
However, there seems to have been this effort, with this team, and with this franchise, to write everthing possible to dismantle it. Though the story keeps popping up, year after year, and now it’s happening during the season when the Coyotes are pushing for the post-season and the future looks very bright.
What I plan to do though is to figure out what the published reports have been saying, opining, and describing about the Coyotes since they arrived here. I’m an anolamy; I’m a transplant and root for the team in my backyard, so I don’t have a notion of long term history except what I have picked up here and there.
Just like Buffalo, Ottawa, and Nashville before it, the Coyotes have a financial struggle right now. One way to stem the tide is for more people to go to hockey games. If there is no discretionary income to do that though, it might prove difficult for awhile. I do have a cautious optimism that the Coyotes will be here for as long as Mr. Shumway says.
But I have learned that anything can happen, even when I don’t want it to.
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