Ice Edge CEO says Coyotes deal still on track
The head of Ice Edge Holdings says his company remains on track to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes, despite widespread speculation that the acquisition is in trouble over financing.
Chief executive officer Anthony LeBlanc also says the company has hired former Arizona attorney general Grant Woods to finalize a new lease agreement with the city of Glendale.
In an e-mail to The Associated Press on Monday night, LeBlanc quoted Mark Twain in saying "Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.''
Earlier in the evening, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly issued a statement saying the league has no agreement to move the Phoenix Coyotes to Winnipeg or anywhere else if owners cannot be found to keep the team in Arizona.
Daly said that the league's focus remains on keeping the team in Glendale and "based on the communications and information'' the NHL is receiving, those involved continue to be highly confident that the transaction can be completed.
Daly was responding to a report in the Phoenix Business Journal that Toronto billionaire David Thomson has an agreement in principle to potentially move the franchise back to Winnipeg if a buyer to keep the team in Arizona can't be found.
The league has been in talks with Thomson and Mark Chipman, who heads the company that owns the arena in Winnipeg, Daly acknowledged, "regarding their potential interest in owning an NHL franchise and potentially bringing an NHL franchise back to Winnipeg.''
"It remains an intriguing possibility and one we would consider given appropriate circumstances, but there is nothing new to report on that front at this time,'' Daly said.
The Winnipeg Jets moved to Arizona and became the Phoenix Coyotes in 1996 and the team has never turned a profit in the desert.
LeBlanc said he attended the Paul McCartney concert at Jobing.com Arena, the Coyotes' home, on Sunday night and was reminded of the "Paul is dead'' rumor of many years ago. Reports of Ice Edge's demise are equally incorrect, he indicated.
"Ice Edge continues to work closely with the city of Glendale and the NHL to finalize all required pieces of this very complex transaction,'' he said.
LeBlanc called hiring Woods "the final piece of the puzzle to bring everything to closure.''
The NHL bought the Coyotes in U.S. Bankruptcy Court last year after an attempt by Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie to buy the team and force a move to Hamilton, Ontario, was rejected. The league has said it would look into moving the team if no local owner is found by June. Any sale that would keep the team in Arizona would require a new lease agreement with the city of Glendale.
Daly's statement did not address widespread reports, none substantiated, that a group headed by Jerry Reinsdorf, owner of baseball's Chicago White Sox and the NBA's Chicago Bulls, has re-entered the situation and could replace Ice Edge as a local buyer. Reinsdorf withdrew a bid in bankruptcy court last year, citing the inability to reach a suitable agreement with Glendale.
"Our focus continues to be on completing a transaction with local ownership that is committed to operating the team in Glendale,'' Daly said. "Based on the communications and information we are receiving on a regular basis, the stakeholders involved continue to express a high level of confidence that that can be successfully achieved. ``
Meanwhile, on the ice, the team is having its best regular season in franchise history. The Coyotes, under first-year coach Dave Tippett, have clinched their first playoff berth since 2002 and, entering Monday's action, had the third-best record in the NHL behind Washington and San Jose.
The team has played to consecutive sellout home crowds.
LeBlanc called the Coyotes' success "one of the best sports stories in recent memory.''
