The forward lines had been tweaked and goalie Louis Domingue debuted a new set of red pads, but other than that, it appeared not much had changed for the Coyotes when they reconvened at Gila River Arena on Wednesday for practice after a two-day break from the ice.
Except, of course, the spotlight on their arena situation.
That’s become magnified in recent days after NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman sent a three-page letter to Arizona legislature leaders Tuesday encouraging them to pass a public-financing bill for a new arena in downtown Phoenix or the East Valley.
Majority team owner Andrew Barroway also released a statement, explaining that the Coyotes can’t survive in Glendale and team owners are losing tens of millions of dollars annually. If the franchise reaches a point “where there is simply no longer a path forward in Arizona,” Barroway said, then the organization “will work with our partners in the League office and across the NHL to determine our next steps.”
Coach Dave Tippett said he didn’t address the topic with the team Wednesday, nor did anyone bring it up with him.
“I don’t know the gist behind it, so I better not comment on it if I don’t know what’s going on,” he said. “It’s more of the same from what’s been around for a long time.”
After getting dropped into bankruptcy in 2009, the franchise was commissioned a wardof the league until the current ownership group purchased the club in 2013.
Two years later, the city of Glendale nixed a 15-year, $225 million arena management agreement with the team and, while the Coyotes have continued to play out of Gila River Arena after negotiating a two-year deal and re-upping for next season, they’ve been in search of another location in the Valley to permanently call home.
“I truly don’t even know what to say in the fact that we make it hard to be a Coyotes fan at times, and we sure appreciate the fans that stick with us because it’s difficult and it’s because of a whole bunch of things,” captain Shane Doan said. “It’s not because of what we necessarily do or what has been done by us. It’s what has to happen and things that happen. As a fan of the team, it makes it tough.”
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Earlier this year, Arizona State pulled out of a plan to potentially house the team in Tempe. Mesa’s Sloan Park, which is the spring-training home of the Chicago Cubs, has been mentioned as another possible landing spot. All the while, a bill that would create a funding model for a new facility has awaited a vote in the Senate with leadership telling The Republic it likely does not have the votes to pass.
“The good thing is there’s options out there,” goalie Mike Smith said. “I could imagine it would be a pretty complex deal to get done, and it’s definitely not cheap. So I think it’s something that’s out of our control. That’s why there’s people above us that look after that stuff.”
Players feel a sense of helplessness, Doan said, but the toughest part is recognizing the people who have lived through the off-ice uncertainty for years.
“You care and you take on the responsibility of the team, and then you continue to at times be an apologist for them,” he said. “That’s frustrating.”
One of the longest-tenured Coyotes, Smith has noticed the sport’s growth in the Valley since joining the team in 2011 and he hopes it continues to evolve.
“It’d be sad if it didn’t work out,” he said. “But I’m sure in a way it will and definitely if you put it in the right spot, they will come. If you build it, they will come.”
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While Wednesday was business as usual on the ice for the Coyotes, who return to action Thursday when they host the Senators,Doan said there’s no way players don’t hear what’s going on with the arena – especially if they have family and friends who inquire about the latest news.
“You’ve grown so callous to it now that it is what it is,” Doan said. “But you recognize how you end up in this situation where we’re more worried about survival than we are building the brand and building the franchise. You hope that at some point we can get to the right side and start building the brand and building the franchise, and it’d be exciting to see how great it could be. … I think we’re able to get through this the way we’ve got through everything over the last 10 years and when we come out the other side, hopefully it’s over and done with and that there’s a situation where it can be working on advancing it instead of surviving.”
And Doan believes the team will have that chance in Arizona.
“By no means is this anything that we haven’t (gone through)in the past,” he said. “It is what it is, and there’s always hope that it all gets worked out and (I) continue to be an optimist.”
Reach the reporter at sarah.mclellan@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8276. Follow her at twitter.com/azc_mclellan.
Thursday's game
Senators at Coyotes
When: 7 p.m.
Where: Gila River Arena.
TV/radio: Fox Sports Arizona/KTAR-AM (620).
Coyotes update: Center Alexander Burmistrov (upper-body injury that looks like a concussion) and defenseman Kevin Connauton (upper-body injury) remain sidelined. "Both still a little ways away," coach Dave Tippett said. "I think both of them are continuing to get treatment."
Senators update: The Senators opened a three-game road trip Wednesday in Dallas against the Stars having won three straight. Ottawa is 5-3-1 in the second game of a back-to-back this season. The team was 17-12 on the road this season entering Wednesday’s game. Its last road win in Arizona came Jan. 10, 2015. Defenseman Erik Karlsson led the team in points with 58, while forwards Kyle Turris and Mark Stone tied for a team-best 22 goals. In total, three Senators have reached the 20-goal plateau as winger Mike Hoffman had 20.
