GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Coyotes coach Dave Tippett sounded like a man who already knew the outcome of prospective owner Greg Jamison’s bid to buy the team by Thursday’s deadline.
"This is not a surprise to anybody around here,” he said. “It is what it is. We deal with it like we've dealt with it for three and a half years."
League sources told FOXSportsArizona.com on Wednesday that Jamison is unlikely to meet the Jan. 31 deadline to purchase the club before a $308 million lease agreement with the City of Glendale expires. If he does not make that deadline, a number of possibilities exist, including:
• an extension of the deadline;
• a reworked lease agreement and purchase deal with Jamison still as the principle but additional investors and an altered ownership structure in place;
• an entirely new group of owners;
• relocation to another city if all efforts to keep the team in Glendale fail.
“At this point, nobody has any idea,” said Coyotes captain Shane Doan, fresh off the disappointment of Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to the Oilers at Jobing.com Arena. “Anybody who tries to tell any of us or tell anybody else that they have an idea of what is going on doesn’t. I have no idea, and I don’t care about finding out.
"I just want to do my job and play hockey. I want it to happen, but I’m done worrying about it.”
Coyotes assistant captain Keith Yandle echoed those thoughts.
“I try not to read anything about it,” he said. “I try to show up and do my job and play hard every game, but hopefully it’s a situation where (Thursday) brings good news and we’ll finalize it so we don’t have to hear about it anymore.”
And if the deadline does somehow get extended and the Coyotes have to wait even longer for this three-and-a-half-year saga to end, they’re practiced at rolling with the punches.
“We will wait to see the news,” forward Radim Vrbata said. “I have nothing to say before we hear what’s the word. Whatever it is, we’ll go from there.”
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