Those of you who have read my Coyotes mailbags in the past know that I like to lead these pieces off with some irreverent or unrelated take. I won’t be doing that today.

This is my final Coyotes mailbag; a staple of my coverage that began during my time at The Athletic, continued through my time on Substack, and has been a part of my nearly three years at PHNX Sports.

I’m not saying that the Coyotes won’t return to Arizona. I do believe that NHL hockey will be back here one day. I just don’t think it will happen as quickly as people think, and I am reasonably certain () that I will not be covering the team if and when the NHL does return. I have other plans for my life, and there are career plans that I had been mulling even before the announcement of the sale and relocation of the franchise to Salt Lake City.

As I told Roadrunners coach Steve Potvin the other day, I love the art of writing more than I love reporting, and I love it far more than I like being a show celebrity. Call me old school, but I have never believed that journalism should be about me. If celebrity is an offshoot of my coverage, so be it, but I never want this job to become performative and I never want to believe that I am important to the audience; only the subject matter that I cover.

Something about fame rubs me the wrong way. It’s elusive, it smacks of self-absorption, it fades quickly, and I think pursuing it adversely impacts your work.

Many of my former colleagues on the writing side would express similar sentiments. I’m in this business for the information gathering, the story telling, and the relationship building. In my new role — to be announced soon — I’m going to return to that focus as much as possible.

OK. Let’s get to your questions — all 88 of them!

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Coyotes questions from Discord (36)

It was never the NHL trotting it out. It was national media, who rightly focused on the issues the Coyotes franchise faced, but rarely delved into all of the good things happening in the desert.

That said, there is never a shortage of controversial headlines in a pro sport. For example: I don’t think the research on the causes of CTE is going anywhere. Heaven help the NHL and NFL if a direct link is ever proven between concussions and CTE; a link that most reasonable people already assume.

I don’t have time to gather specific articles, videos or writer lists for Utah fans. They’re going to have to do that research on their own when a certain topic piques their interest.

But I do think they should be aware of the great sites that track salaries, draft picks, free agency and a variety of other data on the NHL. Send them to the good folks at Cap Friendly and PuckPedia.

As for analytics, they should be aware of the best analytics people/sites in the business such as Dom Luszczyszyn, J Fresh, Corey Sznajder and Evolving Wild (too bad they don’t have access to Clear Sight Analytics, which is even better.

They should also be aware of the best prospect analysts in the business such as Chris Peters, Corey Pronman and Craig Button. They should be aware of the major national writers and personalities such as Elliotte Friedman, Jeff Marek (32 Thoughts is a must listen), Pierre LeBrun, Darren Dreger, Emily Kaplan and Greg Wyshynski.

I am always open to answering specific questions they may have.

I think there were preliminary discussions, but multiple sources have told me that Mat Ishbia was not interested in buying the Coyotes at the $1 billion price tag, and then spending $200 million-plus on top of that to get Footprint Center NHL ready. I don’t think Ishbia was willing to go above around $500 million to $600 million, which is probably what the franchise is actually worth.

I am reasonably certain (going to the Bettman well too often?) that I am not the most beloved journalist in all of sports, but I thank you for the suggestion and for all of the kind words that followed. When I walk away from this business, the two things that I hope to take with me are the relationships I have built and, hopefully, the impact that my work made on others.

I’m here for that. Will you bring the popcorn?

Early in my career, it was mostly locals such as Dave Lumia, Bob Moran, Mark Emmons, Scott Bordow, Jerry Brown, Paola Boivin, Paul Coro, Kent Somers and Jay Dieffenbach. As I moved to more of a national stage, reporters/writers such as Mike Russo, Mark Lazerus, Ryan Clark, Aaron Portzline, Arpon Basu, Joe Smith and Katie Strang all became major influences.

I’m sure that last name surprised you in light of the piece Katie published long ago on the Coyotes. I had my thoughts about how those sources were picked and what was missing on the other side of the story, but Katie is the best investigative journalist which whom I have ever worked, and she is an even better human being.

You know which journalist has called me more than any other since the announcement of relocation? Katie Strang Somehow, in spite of the dark places that her work usually takes here, she is an incredibly kind and incredibly positive person. I’ll even tell that my most recent conversation with her helped me frame the next chapter of my life in a positive way, which in turn allowed me to move on from this burden of a beat that I have almost single-handedly managed for the past 15 years.

Once Meruelo’s window closes or he opts out, the league would be open to any other group. As I have already reported, there are other groups interested. I know this beyond a shadow of a doubt because I have spoken to two of those groups.

I would say my writing voice. It takes a long time for a writer to get fully comfortable crafting a story in their own voice. There are many fits and starts, lots of awkwardness and lots of failures before you get into that zone.

My column off the Suns game on Friday was an example. I was there to write a game-related sidebar. My lengthy experience me told me there was no such granular story worth telling after the Suns got blown out and fell behind 3-0 in the series. My confidence in my writing and voice allowed me to switch gears to a column that was only tangentially related.

I think you’re probably reaching here. Coyotes games have included portions of Utah in the past, but if you want to build this conspiracy, know that Gary Bettman first floated the potential sale and relocation to the Coyotes right after the Tempe vote failed. The details, however, did not take shape until a while after that.

We will announce my new role at PHNX soon. Suffice to say, I am going to get back to more storytelling that is steeped in good reporting. Having to plan five or six shows a week, book all the guests for those shows, and then take part in all of those shows was a full-time job in and of itself.

I’m not sure many people understand how much time goes into being a beat writer outside of regular podcasts and radio appearances. I conducted an informal poll of some of my former colleagues at The Athletic and the estimates were between 70 and 100 hours a week, minus those broadcast constraints. When you account for time on the road away from family, that number rises.

I’ll be blunt: While I thoroughly enjoyed the PHNX Coyotes show, its demands impacted my available time and energy for in-depth reporting. I’m looking forward to getting back to more of that. It’s the fuel behind my storytelling.

Not really, but if I were to return, it would be at the college level. I don’t much like the NBA version of basketball. No sport puts more media and marketing focus on individuals over team. In truth, I don’t like much about the NBA vibe, although I’ve met a lot of really great people while covering the Suns, including former Suns such as Grant Hill, Shawn Marion, Steve Nash, Mike D’Antoni, Alvin Gentry and Jerry Colangelo.

I have no idea how to parse the percentages. Both were factors. Only the league knows how much each mattered.

The stories I could not tell are still stories I cannot tell. The reasons vary. They might have been told off the record. They might require better sourcing. They might require more proof and a legal team to support publication.

I don’t know for certain. I have heard rumors just like everybody else of what it was like to work with a young, confident, yet inexperienced executive. I have heard rumors that he took over the social media accounts and published some less-than-wise posts. I wanted to ask more about his role in my scheduled one-on-one interview with Alex Meruelo, but Alex cancelled that interview, preferring to hand-pick the outlets to which he spoke and therefore manage his message.

Make of that what you will.

I haven’t had time to delve into this yet but I will if — and that’s a big if — the Roadrunners end up playing at Mullett Arena.

I have no idea on either front. I do know that when Tempe was still a possibility, Coyotes president and CEO Xavier Gutierrez floated the idea of additional tenants. Sun Devil men’s and women’s basketball was one of those possibilities.

I haven’t heard much more than what I published here. I can tell you that ASU is strongly considering bringing the Suns’ G League team to Mullett. My best guess at this point is that if the Meruelos want the Roadrunners to play at Mullett, they will only be granted the opportunity to play a small amount of games there; not a full season and likely not even a split season, which would put a tremendous amount of strain on the staff and players.

This is raw land. There are no sewer lines, no water lines, no electrical lines, no canals, no roads, no bridges. There are also myriad site plans that the City of Phoenix would need to approve before proceeding. It would take a full year to complete all of that — and it would all need to be completed before construction — if the City of Phoenix approves the zoning for an arena; zoning which apparently is open to interpretation.

I don’t think it is even being discussed; nor do I think it will be. The Coyotes and D-backs have separate plans.

I am pondering that very thing. I had two conversations over the weekend to gain insight on the entire process.

I can’t answer that. It calls for too much speculation, but I do think Mullett played a major role in the decision. More precisely, the possibility of the Coyotes playing five more years at Mullett played a role in the decision.

That’s a pretty broad question, Angela, but I’ll try to provide some snapshots.

Watching Shane Doan engage for far too long with every person that ever approached him.

John Chayka’s text messages to me at 2 AM.

Setting up our fireside chat at Bill and Kyla Armstrong’s house.

Getting countless pieces of valuable information from the parking attendants on my into games.

Watching Paul Bissonnette evolve from an insecure, fourth-line fighter to a charismatic cottage industry.

Anything that Ray Whitney said; best quote in my Coyotes history.

Brad Treliving’s sense of humor.

André Tourigny’s irresistible affability.

Dave Tippett’s focus.

Conor Garland’s offseason plans.

Rich Nairn innocently offering gum to reporters with bad breath.

Dave Vest’s sick sense of humor.

Jimmy O’Neal’s stories.

Games of Two Touch, or as Brad Richardson called it, Sewer Ball.

Yes, I will be there. Thanks, Michael. Right back at you.

The relationships. I joked with Shane Doan the other day that I could run this franchise’s alumni relations department because I probably stay in touch with more former Coyotes than anybody but Doan.

That is incorrect. He is the best quote in all my time covering the Coyotes. He didn’t like talking to media, or at least that was his shtick, but every time he came out to talk, he offered pearls of wisdom or one-liner nuggets of gold.

As I wrote above, I think you’re probably reaching here. Coyotes games have included portions of Utah in the past, but if you want to build this conspiracy, know that Gary Bettman first floated the potential sale and relocation to the Coyotes right after the Tempe vote failed. The details, however, did not take shape until a while after that.

I have said it time and again, but I am most grateful for the relationships that I built along the way and the opportunity to practice my favorite form of art: writing. I didn’t get to practice that art as much over the past few years. I want to get back to doing more of that.

The reasons I jumped at the opportunity to join PHNX all became reality. We were able to create different forms of Coyotes content that were both humorous and informative. We were able to have countless guests on our show — anyone from commissioner Gary Bettman to former Tempe mayors Hugh Hallman and Neil Giuliano.

The past three years were the first time in my career where I felt that the Coyotes got the coverage that a pro team warrants.

I do the Coyotes mailbag all at once. I like to get into a flow.

Yes, the Meruelos did retain ownership, but the Kachinas are in the process of finalizing a logo usage agreement as part of their separation.

I don’t know about the Grizzlies unless they eventually become an AHL team. For next season, and with all of the other things that Utah has to worry about, I suspect the affiliations between Utah and Tucson will remain.

After that, however, I fully expect Utah to own its own AHL franchise/affiliate to create synergy and to ease all of the elements of operation. I also wonder if the Meruelos will be able to find another taker for a Tucson affiliation after next season. Word gets around, and the words about the Meruelo group in the hockey community have not been kind.

I am amazed by how much the community has grown, and by how tightly knit it is. I grew up around the game in Chicago and experienced something similar. Hockey is a very community-based sport.

I hope this community will continue to grow and prosper. Given the current work taking place by key individuals, it has a good chance of doing so, but the loss of the Coyotes will clearly impact the youth level.

I can’t speak for Petey’s plans, but I am mulling a Coyotes book. Stay tuned.

It’s so hard to predict. If Alex Meruelo is successful in his bid to build an arena for the Coyotes, we could have a team in five to six years. If he’s not, and he drags this process out, we could wait even longer. With all of that in mind, and with the time it would take to build a team through expansion — now that GMs have learned which mistakes not to make after the Vegas experience — I can’t envision a winning NHL team for at least 10 years.

Utah might have one in three.

I am torn on this one. There is something to be said for eliminating the bad Coyotes juju of the past. The only exception might be if it’s a Shane Doan-led ownership group taking over. He deserves the right to resuscitate the Coyotes brand. Here’s what he said when I asked him.

“I don’t think you should wipe away all of the past; I think that you should build upon the past. In the same way that we’ve built upon every different group and iteration in the past, we should continue to build on that. Getting rid of it all would be a mistake. We need to learn and develop and understand how to be successful here in the Valley.”

I think so, but I don’t think it will happen as fast as fans hope it will.

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Questions from X (52)

Good question. He hasn’t told me. He won’t talk to me. We’ll see.

I am going to keep that to myself. All that I will say is that I did not initiate it — I was on my way to a one-on-one with Gary Bettman — and it was not a cordial exchange.

Great question. In short, yes. How could you think otherwise given the string of ownership groups that have come through here looking to “crush the investment,” or the ones that have mismanaged the franchise or just treated people poorly?

I asked Bettman this very thing in the aforementioned one-on-one after the news conference to announce the sale and relocation of the Coyotes.

“The answer is yes,” he said. “We vetted everybody, but at the end of the day, circumstances sometimes overcome whatever your due diligences are. There have been some ownership changes necessitated by the owners themselves. There have been some that were put upon us that we had to deal with in the courts. At the end of the day, we did the best we could in the circumstances we were confronted with, and no matter how difficult the circumstances were, we stood by this market.”

Not necessarily. It’s a good location, but I thought Tempe was the perfect location for the Coyotes. It’s five minutes from the airport, 10-15 minutes from downtown Phoenix, accessible enough from the west side, and closer to the overwhelming population, wealth and corporate bases of the city.

Not with this ownership group; maybe with another.

I have no idea who will be covering the team in Salt Lake City, and unfortunately, I didn’t really have any media contacts in the city before this month. We’ll have to wait and see.

Some of them, yes. Some will keep homes here. I know there was some pushback nationally on the idea of players not wanting to leave Arizona. They wanted to get away from the Meruelo ownership group and everything that came with it (including playing at Mullett Arena and training in a business park), but many did not want to leave Arizona, particularly those who had been here a while. It was/is home to them. I will challenge any report that suggests otherwise. It would be a false report.

They have to acquire land, get all the zoning and site plan approvals from the City of Phoenix, install the infrastructure (sewers, electrical lines, water lines, roads, etc.), apply for reinstatement with the league within 3.5 years, and have the arena 50-percent constructed before they apply for reinstatement.

If Meruelo ends up achieving all of that then yes, the $1 billion purchase price by Ryan Smith will go right back to the league as an expansion fee in Arizona.

Shane has an immense capacity for forgiveness, but I doubt he would ever work for Alex Meruelo again. That act alone would lend legitimacy to a guy whom most people, locally and in hockey circles, want gone.

No, but I have asked. This is an unprecedented situation so they are working their way through it. I will report whatever they tell me once they have made a decision.

Hayton does not have much leverage in free agency as an RFA with arbitration rights, but I do think he has value — more as a depth center once this team’s other prospects take over top-six roles.

No. They would still have many of the same issues. The only way for that situation to work is if the same owner owns both the NHL and NBA teams, or the NHL team owns the arena. The Coyotes would have neither of those advantages.

The NHL, more than any other major North American pro league, is dependent on arena revenue because it does not have the massive broadcast rights deals that the NFL, MLB and NBA enjoy. Without ownership of an arena, NHL teams do not get naming rights, parking rights, the full gamut of potential corporate sponsorships, and revenue from other events such as concerts.

There is not a single NHL team that plays as a tenant in somebody else’s building. They either play under the same ownership group, or the NHL owner also owns the building.

Thank you, Justin. You have been here for a long while. I sincerely appreciate your loyalty throughout my years of Coyotes coverage.

Thanks for asking, John. I am doing fine.

I think everybody at PHNX is processing the loss of the Coyotes differently. I have had to reinvent myself so many times during my career that I have a well-worn blueprint for how to emerge on the other side.

I have talked with trusted confidants. I have thought about what drives me. I have explored numerous possibilities and I am already in transition mode.

I think a lot of how you cope with this sort of loss is tied to how you embrace change and challenges. I’m actually looking forward to a new chapter and the possibilities that it presents.

As the great Joni Mitchell wrote/sang:
Well, something’s lost, but something’s gained
In living every day

Shane Doan puts a group of local businessmen together and brings the Coyotes back via expansion. That’s the dream scenario.

I delved deeply into this in my last Coyotes column.

Petey delved deeply into it in his open letter to Alex.

It’s an uphill climb, Matt — a steep, rocky, slippery, wind- and snow-swept climb. He doesn’t have many local allies. He doesn’t have much of a local reputation. He hasn’t show much aptitude for managing a pro team, or any concern for the scores of people whom he has negatively impacted.

I’ll never say never, but as I wrote in that column, you’ll find precious few in this community who still believe that Meruelo can spearhead that charge. You’ll find precious few who want him to spearhead that charge.

Yes, there are groups interested in owning the Coyotes. I know because I have spoken to them. The devil is in the details. This market still needs a long-term arena solution. And the cost of expansion ain’t cheap. It may even be inflated over what NHL teams are actually worth.

I will remain with PHNX. As for what’s next for all of us, we will announce that soon.

I do. I think Atlanta, Houston and Phoenix will all have teams. I am less certain about Québec. I know Canadians think that the fan base there is enough, but the league weighs much more than fans when considering a market because there is much more that matters beyond a fan base, including market size for TV rights, corporate sponsorships, growth, tax structure, etc.

No. Others suggested he do so, but he never did. Glendale City Manager Kevin Phelps confirmed this.

It was primarily the seating capacity and the lack of ancillary revenue at Mullett that impacted overall league revenue. I have heard from multiple sources that the Coyotes lost more than $60 million this season and about $50 million last season.

However, the annex and weight room at Mullett were also issues for NHL players. The annex was never upgraded after its initial construction and the weight room was tiny by NHL standards.

A new owner won’t have to buy the rights after five years. The market will simply be open for expansion after that. I hope it’s not an out-of-state owner. That has been part of the problem with past Coyotes ownership groups here; a lack of connection to the community.

I’m not saying a new owner can’t come from outside Arizona and still run things well, but this franchise’s history of outside ownership is not good.

My job is not to be positive, Chris. It’s to be objective. I’m not a fan. I’m a journalist.

As I wrote above, I’m not saying that the Coyotes won’t return to Arizona. I do believe that NHL hockey will be back here one day. I just don’t think it will happen as quickly as people think, and I am reasonably certain (there it is again) that I will not be covering the team if and when the NHL does return.

Good question. Not the way they have so far. Getting support from the City of Phoenix and Mayor Kate Gallego will be a major challenge. And putting her on media and social media blast won’t help sway her. She does not need the Coyotes. She is crushing it on the business development front, having lured Intel, the Wexford Phoenix Biomedical Campus, the growth of ASU’s downtown campus, and the TSMC plant, among other things.

Thank you very much. I’ll miss my trips to Tampa. It is a highly underrated city.

No. Sorry. We only cover teams in Arizona.

I’m sure there are candidates. I don’t know if they are willing. I have not delved into such possibilities. First, he has to secure land on which to build an arena. Baby steps…

They assume the Coyotes’ draft position and the sixth-best odds to land the No. 1 overall pick. Everyone here fully expects them to win it. It would be one final insult to the Coyotes fan base.

I have no idea. Not many in Arizona or within hockey circles think he will.

If you mean the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community site (not Scottsdale) near where the D-backs have their spring training facility, then yes, that land is already zoned and ready to go.

2027-28 is the earliest possible season for a Coyotes return. Don’t hold your breath.

That would depend on the new Coyotes ownership group and its plan. The Coyotes as a franchise have burned a lot of bridges in this community. It would take the right person to rebuild those bridges.

That remains to be seen, and that will be the subject of a story I hope to write this fall. Needless to say, the loss of the Coyotes will have an impact, and the folks at ASU are well aware of that fact.

Not Meruelo, but I believe Bettman did. As I wrote above, I think there were preliminary discussions, but multiple sources have told me that Mat Ishbia was not interested in buying the Coyotes at the $1 billion price tag, and then spending $200 million-plus on top of that to get Footprint Center NHL ready.

I don’t know. I heard rumors about two potential bidders, but I called them and they shot down those rumors. Everybody thinks they know who is going to bid on this land or what it might costs at auction. Most of that talk is just hot air. We won’t know the other bidders until the day of the auction, an Arizona State Land Department spokesperson told me.

The Coyotes players did not know until the very end. Everybody heard rumors and possibilities. Gary Bettman laid out the timeline. He met with Meruelo on March 6 to lay out the plan the league had decided to pursue, but Meruelo resisted for another couple of weeks before agreeing to the sale. It happened quickly.

Even when sources in Salt Lake City were telling local media here in Arizona it was happening, I could not be sure of that because I had more context than those local outlets.

Bettman had done this with other markets before Salt Lake City — made them think they were getting the team and then pulled the rug out from under them at the last minute. I operated with that knowledge in mind.

I think Frank Seravalli was the first writer to get confirmation from a league source. That was a vital source; a necessary source to break and confirm the story. From a journalism-standards perspective, Salt Lake City sources are not enough to confirm and break this story.

I have no idea how to measure the likelihood.

Early in my career, it was mostly locals such as the East Valley Tribune’s Dave Lumia, Bob Moran, Mark Emmons, Scott Bordow and Jerry Brown, or The Arizona Republic’s Paola Boivin and Paul Coro.

He would keep the billion in that event.

His motivation is ego driven. He doesn’t want to lose. He wants to prove he can get this done and bring the Coyotes back.

I don’t think the NHL will ignore this market. It wants to be here because it’s a good market. How long the process takes is impossible to peg. Any new ownership group would still have the same arena issues and political issues to navigate.

Thank you so much. We appreciate everybody who jumped onboard the PHNX Coyotes train over the past three years.

It’s the people. Since the Coyotes arrived in 1996, youth hockey has grown exponentially in the state; always ranking among USA Hockey’s top 10 states for growth.

We have produced plenty of talent beyond Auston Matthews, Matthew Knies and Josh Doan. There are lots of kids playing college or junior hockey.

Arizona State has a Division I program that never would have happened without the Coyotes.

This is, 100 percent, a hockey community. Those who suggest otherwise are simply ignorant of the realities on the ground here.

Once the five years are up, Arizona becomes like any other NHL expansion market, deputy commissioner Bill Daly told me. Past the five-year window, any new group would have to initiate the expansion process just like Ryan Smith did in Salt Lake City. Nobody would need Meruelo’s approval on anything.

Your question is worded oddly, but the playoffs would not have solved any of the underlying issues that led to relocation.

No.

I think Arizona will have another team. I just don’t think it will happen as quickly as people hope it will.

I don’t know. Everybody has to cope with this in their own way, but I find talking about it helps.

I think I already did in this column. That, and what I have said in this mailbag is as much as I am going to say.

It would be so on brand for the Coyotes.

lol. Sorry, but Doan is a part of this city’s fabric. There will be more stories.

I think he will face a lot of opposition and his local reputation will hurt his cause. I don’t know if he will be able to succeed. He has a lot of work ahead of him, mending fences and convincing key stakeholders that he has learned from his myriad missteps of the past five years.

The “no” side ran a much stronger and apparently better funded campaign. I thought they were dishonest with some of their messaging, but that’s politics. It’s often a dishonest game of misinformation. They won in spite of a deal that all council members, all former mayors and many key business leaders supported.

I didn’t mind the tax structure of the deal. Nor do I agree that arenas aren’t worth the cost. I see the community side of sports teams; one that has immense but esoteric value.

If the TED’s failure leads to a better ownership group down the road, maybe it will prove to be a blessing in the long run, but Tempe was the perfect location for the Coyotes. I am still surprised that the NHL didn’t pull the plug right after that vote failed.

Photo of players saluting fans after the final Coyotes game at Mullett Arena via Danielle Cortez, PHNX Sports

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