Not surprisingly, talks between the City of Glendale and Ice Edge Holdings, the group of Canadian and U.S. businessmen (mostly Canadian) interested in purchasing the Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey League, have broken down.
According to Ice Edge legal counsel Grant Woods, who informed the Arizona Republic of the group’s decision late Monday afternoon, Ice Edge could not get an exclusivity agreement with the City of Glendale and chose not to continue negotiating. A spokesman for Chicago-based sports mogul Jerry Reinsdorf would not comment on the Ice Edge situation saying only that the bid from Reinsdorf was still on the table, “if the people in Arizona are still interested in our offer.”
So here’s the situation as of 10:50 p.m. CDT on Monday night:
1) The NHL still owns the Coyotes.
2) Ice Edge is still interested in purchasing the team if it is considered the exclusive bidder.
3) Reinsdorf’s people say the Chicago-based owner of the White Sox and Bulls is still in the picture.
4) Winnipeg-based True North Sports and Entertainment is still being considered by the NHL as a potential buyer if all else fails and it becomes apparent that no buyer is interested in keeping the Coyotes in Glendale, Ariz.
In other words, Winnipeg has never been closer to re-acquiring an NHL franchise than it is right now.
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