Not long ago, we asked if NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was delusional.
In fact, at the time, Bettman told Fox Sports Arizona that the Phoenix Coyotes financial problems will be resolved and — get this — new investors will be coming on board.
It was exactly the same line he had handed to a group of Canadian business leaders earlier that week. of course, as we found out this week, Bettman’s position on the Coyotes borders on the insane.
Maybe, he just has to keep trying to tell everyone that all is well in Phoenix because he was the guy who convinced businessmen Dr. Richard Burke and Steven Gluckstern to buy the Winnipeg Jets and move them to Phoenix back in 1995 (Burke and Gluckstern sold the team years ago after Gluckstern lost almost half his personal wealth on that dog). Maybe Bettman just has to continue trying to fool folks who know better.
This week, the Arizona Republic reported something I’ve been reporting for years. Since 2001, the Coyotes have lost $200 million. Since the Coyotes moved to the desert, the franchise has lost more than $300 million. The current owner, Jerry Moyes, is in huge trouble. His old partner, Steve Ellman, is now almost irrelevant.
Moyes is losing his shirt. Maybe $40 million this year. Still, Bettman is telling anyone who will listen that all will be well and the Coyotes aren’t going anywhere.
That’s crazy. Since last year, Moyes has been trying to find a partner or new ownership altogether and while Bettman claims an investor is out there, one finds that really, really, really hard to believe.
My friends, Sam Katz, Bryon Hamilton and Jason McCrae-King were just at a game in Phoenix is which, maybe, 8,000 people attended. I’ll ask this question again: How are the Coyotes EVER going to be successful?
Gary Bettman must live in some weird alternative universe where everyone is rich and there is no recession. He does not inhabit the same time-space continuum as the rest of us.
Bring the Coyotes back to Winnipeg. Now. They might still lose money, but at least someone will care.