Too much drama in Phoenix

First, the Coyotes were going to going to Tempe but the arena idea failed with voters, then they were going to get with the league and buy some land next to Scottsdale in June to develop into a multi-sport/entertainment complex, and in the interim they would sell to the franchise to the NHL for 1….BILLLLLLION…DOLLARS (puts pinky finger to mouth) and the NHL would then turn around and sell the franchise to Ryan Smith in SLC Utah (?) for (puts pinky finger to mouth) 1.2…BILLLLLION DOLLARS…..MUAHAHAHA!!!!…..to allow for the Arizona group time to build the complex, then give them a new expansion franchise around 2028-2029, and probably by then the league would have 34 teams, with Houston and Atlanta^3 getting expansion teams in between…

But NOW we find out that the team has been told to get ready for a move to SLC next year before the land auction takes place!

And NOW NOW I’m hearing on social media that the Coyotes were not making payments to hotels for the team when they were on the road!!!

Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo has issued a statement saying he basically can’t say anything now…well of COURSE he can’t, the season isn’t over yet!

I’ve seen this scenario play out in minor leagues many a time and here’s what I feel is about to happen:

1. If…IF…Meruelo is hemorrhaging money because he’s had to put the team in a 5000-seat barn for the last 2-3 years (and it would be no surprise if bills aren’t being paid), then my guess is he’s going to take his Billion, pay off any debts owed, and run to another country faster than P-Diddy.
2. I believe Meruelo was going to be a part of this new sports complex being built adjacent to Scottsdale but like I said, he probably runs away, or it’s possible the land auction may still happen with either Meruelo and the league-led group, or even another local group entirely that’s vested in continuing to force hockey on Arizonians who haven’t much interest in futility, same as the last 30 years giving up 100 million for the cause. However, the possibility exists someone else may come along with 101 million+ and will try to buy it and develop condos for a golf community and upend that effort. Maybe Elon Musk will build a new Dogecoin mining complex or Jeff Bezos will buy it for a new data center?
3. SLC gets their “new” team, and goes with a new name, logo, jersey, etc. Ryan Smith is already soliciting ideas for a new team name (more like, “Guess what I’m going to name the team”…). Smith works to improve Delta Center to make it NHL-compatible while simultaneously working to build a new arena for the team.
4. Houston and Atlanta get expansion franchises in the next 4 years. I see Houston first in 2026, then Atlanta in 2028, and if Phoenix does indeed work our, 2030. Two year gaps allows the league to replenish the expansion draft pools and keeps existing teams from drying up on talent.
5. Quebec City still gets nothing.

The fact that Phoenix is (most likely) leaving BEFORE the land auction tells me things are falling apart and the NHL is moving past Meruelo and whatever snake oil dreams he has concocted up.

But Bettman will never let Phoenix die. Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, he will be damned if he doesn’t get them a team and one that will exist “forever“.

I get it, he wants the NHL to be a universal sport, not just a northern sport. He has only expanded to the northern latitudes 5 times in the 31 years he’s been Commissioner:

• Columbus
• Minnesota
• Seattle

Then there’s the others:

• Miami
• Anaheim
• Atlanta (moved to Winnipeg)
• Nashville
• Vegas

He only moved Atlanta to Winnipeg because he had to.

I give him credit, other than Atlanta’s Thrashers, he’s not had any other teams relocate until now. He’s always been able to help find a solution for the city and the team. But he’s never been a fan’s commissioner. And I get it, he’s a businessman, it’s about money, not what the fans want. That’s why we have the incessant ads on the dashers that annoy the crap out of everyone watching but make the league (and the owners) money, even though viewership suffers.

/rant

The greatest (hockey) day of my life

About 24 hours ago, I was working from home, the usual Monday, putting out “fires” of all sorts and dealing with the usual issues that come up when supporting users…when I got a message from a co-worker who asked if I had seen our internal site’s page for news on upcoming events. Of course I hadn’t, so I meander over to the web site and check it out…

My reaction:

So…a little background…
I began working for Scripps Networks Interactive (Home of HGTV, Food Network, Travel Channel, etc.) in 2016. In 2018 they were acquired by Discovery Communications to become Discovery, Inc. Last year, Discovery, Inc. and AT&T’s subsidiary WarnerMedia agreed to a merger and became Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).

WarnerMedia owned the former “Turner Networks” of TNT, TBS, CNN, and Turner Sports channel among others. Turner Sports acquired the rights to the NHL last year as NBC Sports Network went dark.

Still following?

Turner Sports operates their NHL (and NBA) studios in Atlanta. Knoxville (where I am) is the headquarters for US-based WBD programming.

Stay with me!

Yesterday (Monday) the Stanley Cup was in Atlanta as they began their first season covering the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

_{Stanley Cup featured on Inside the NBA – Charles Barkley refuses to touch it!}

The Keeper of the Cup, on his way back to Toronto, made a special stop here in Knoxville to display it. He arrived this morning and there was a sizeable crowd in the lobby awaiting his arrival.

Back in 2003, the NHL Draft was held in Nashville. I took the family to go see what it was like to be in a major hockey arena and have a weekend getaway. One of the events was to have the Stanley Cup on display, and pictures and poses with the cup were offered. We went to the draft, watched the first round, (the kids got bored after the 2nd pick!) and so we went walking around. I had a momentary thrill as Terry Murray was walking by, and he stopped and we chatted for a few minutes. He was very kind and said hi to my kids. He’d just signed as an assistant with Philadelphia (after serving as Head coach of the Panthers) and I honestly wasn’t aware of it, but he seemed to be glad to be there and was wonderful to talk to.

When we came up to where the Cup was located, I noticed the line stretching all the way around the bend, and knew that with 2 hungry rugrats in tow, I was not going to be able to stand in line for 2-3 hours getting a picture.

_{The moment I’ve waited 30 years to do}

Fast forward to today. I get 6 of my jerseys and head into the office. I’m anxious and nervous, like I’m on a first date! The Cup’ arrival was delayed 30 minutes but when it arrived there was a lot of cheering in the lobby.

I get in line and wait 10 minutes. Much faster than Nashville in 2003. While in line I’m excitedly telling co-workers how it’s been 30 years that I’ve wanted to do this. One of them filming the event asked me to discuss it, and while I was reflecting upon it, I got slightly choked up thinking about how this trophy was something I’ve imagined so many players wanting to hoist over their heads and how I’d wished I’d have had a chance to play hockey as a kid and dream of doing the same.

The closer I got the more excited I became, and when that moment arrived, a packed lobby saw me nearly driven to tears as I finally got to touch one of the most prestigious trophies in all of sports. We couldn’t lift it, but we could touch it, hug it, and even kiss it. And by God, I did just that!

You could not erase the smile off my face with a brillo pad. So many coworkers were happy to be able to do what I did (although I didn’t see anyone else plant their lips on it!). I changed into 6 different jerseys to have my picture taken with the Cup. I waited 30 years and dammit I was milking it for all I could!

_{Give daddy a kiss!!!}

The first jersey I wore was my #70 Predators jersey. This was given to me by my kids for Christmas a couple of years back. It has my name and my birth year.

The next jersey I wore was the UT Vols #88 jersey. I had to represent the Big Orange, and since both my kids are now students there, I felt it was necessary.

Next was my Knoxville Ice Bears’ Mike Bulawka Team USA “Miracle on Ice” throwback I got in a post-game auction. The Miracle on Ice is just as much a part of hockey lore as the Stanley Cup.

#4 was my Wayne Gretzky St. Louis Blues Jersey. No, he didn’t win a Cup with St. Louis, but it was the only Gretzky I had, and I couldn’t have a pic of the Cup without wearing my Gretzky jersey!

Fifth was my Knoxville Ice Bears “Turn back the clock” jersey, #66, obtained from one of the owners (a Lemieux Fan). It had all the former Knoxville Pro Hockey logos on it (Knights, Cherokees, Speed) and I wanted to have a bit of that connected to the Cup.

Finally, my Hartford Whalers Adizero customized with Brad Shaw’s name and number. In 1991, I was able to watch my first NHL hockey game (ironically, on Turner’s SportSouth Network) and it was the Whalers vs. the Maple Leafs. It was also Felix Potvin’s first NHL game. Brad Shaw was a player on the Whalers team and I always liked him from then on. Maybe because it was that his name reminded me of Terry Bradshaw (NFL Steelers QB) I don’t know, but I was a fan of the Whalers and the logo. It’s one of the most awesome sports logos to this day, even though the team moved to Raleigh and became the Carolina Hurricanes years ago.

Several employees had fun with me as I repeatedly went to my desk and grabbed one jersey after another and returned for another pic.

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I cannot begin to thank my company for giving us these “perks” every so often, I became a kid again if only for a moment. I went from 52 back to 22 in a few moments of time, and my love for the game has been revitalized.

I honestly hadn’t been paying too much attention to hockey in recent years. Whether it was my health, the pandemic, my family, life in general, whatever…I was reminded of what my passions in life were with this one event. Now, to go watch some NHL on TNT.

SKYWARN Recognition Day 2015 is TONIGHT!!!

Just a quick reminder that tonight after about 9PM, I should be at the National Weather Service participating in SKYWARN Recognition Day.

It’s an annual event where the local NWS bureaus have ham stations set up to make contacts on HF, VHF, UHF, repeaters, APRS, you-name-it.

This year, I’m taking my DMR radio to work up a few digital contacts if possible. I got permission from the folks at Vol-Net to use their system, so hopefully we’ll be able to make it work.

I’ll attempt to tweet out my frequency as I go along (@k4hsm). Sometimes I’ll be scanning around, other times I may call CQ on a dead frequency. I typically get on repeaters more than HF, but that changes based on band conditions.

So do be looking for me tonight. SKYWARN Recognition Day goes for 24 hours from 7PM-7PM ET (0000-2400Z) so if I’m not around, be listening for WX4MRX all day, because someone should be there!