Without Heather McWhorter…what would we do for Phoenix news….she does an unbelievable job everyday and thanks so much for the following…….
We’re closing in on the August 5th auction date and I thought now would be a good time to send out an update on a few things.
First things first: We are still lacking a few signatures on our petition. If we don’t have enough signatures, we won’t be sending it into the Judge. So if you have not as of now, please take a few moments to sign the petition and forward it along to your friends. We feel it very important for the Judge to hear from us as well. We are also investors in this team, spending our hard earned money on tickets, merchandise, etc. The petition can be found here: http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/phxcoyotes
Some of you may have received a letter in the mail recently from Dewey Ranch Hockey, LLC asking you to submit your claim as an unsecured creditor. If you renewed you season tickets prior to the May 5th bankruptcy filing, you likely received this letter. Basically this is a precautionary measure in case the unthinkable happens and the team does actually move this season. Personally I am waiting until after the August 5th auction to send in my claim, you can do the same if you so desire.
If you’ve not already done so, please stop by one of the local rinks and pick up a copy of this month’s Arizona Rubber magazine. There’s a great article in there that mentions the Save the Coyotes Coalition. If you don’t live locally, you can read the online version here http://www.arizonarubber.com/ Or you can also subscribe to the magazine through their website as well.
One official bid from the Reinsdorf group and one letter of intent to bid from a new group calling themselves Ice Edge Holdings, LLC was submitted to the courts on Friday. As I’m sure you’ve heard, Ice Edge wants the Coyotes to play a “limited number of home games in a chosen Canadian Sister City”. The group has been in discussions with officials from Saskatoon and Halifax about playing five Coyotes’ regular seasons games in either community. Ice Edge is leaning toward Saskatoon, although no firm deal is in place. Should the NHL approve the group’s plan, the Coyotes would play “home games” in Saskatoon’s Credit Union Centre against the Montreal Canadiens, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, New Jersey Devils and Vancouver Canucks. If the Coyotes make the playoffs, Ice Edge plans to host some playoff games in Saskatoon as well. They also would like to move the Coyotes’ farm team, the San Antonio Rampage, from Texas to Thunder Bay.
As I’m sure you can imagine, this would likely not be a favorable scenario for the fans in Arizona. This would not only take away regular season home games, but also home playoff games which are much needed when you are trying to solidify a fan base. I’d encourage you all to not get too upset about this particular group of bidders at this point, until a formal bid is submitted. Their ideas still must be approved by the NHL Board of Governors and they’d have to prove to Judge Baum that this wasn’t an attempt to slowly relocate the team.
A few more things to note about the interested parties:
-The Reinsdorf group’s bid was 115 pages long, while the Ice Edge “letter of intent” was only 11 pages long.
-Involved with the Ice Edge group is Anthony LeBlanc, who would allegedly act as chief executive of the Coyotes if the group’s bid wins. LeBlanc is a former employee of Jim Balsillie’s; having held the title of vice president of global sales for Research in Motion for 9 years.
-The Ice Edge group’s known investors now include: Anthony LeBlanc, John Breslow, Daryl Jones and Keith McCullough.
Upcoming important dates to remember:
-July 29: NHL Board of Governor’s meeting in which Ice Edge Holdings, LLC will address the board on their ideas
-July 31: Objections to bids must be filed with the Bankruptcy Court.
-Aug 3: Responses to objections are due in to the court.
-Aug 5: Auction hearing.
If you’d like to attend the August 5th auction proceedings, please do. The actual court room is reserved for participating parties and their council but there’s an overflow courtroom on the 6th floor where you are welcome to come view the proceedings. Please keep in mind that it is a federal court building and appropriate behavior is expected from all in attendance. I’ll post the details of the time and location at www.SaveTheCoyotes.com as the day draws closer. It will likely start early in the morning and run most of the day. So if you are unable to attend, we will be sending updates via Twitter again so you can all keep up with what’s happening in court. You can find me on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/TheYotesDiva
Before I close, I’d like to personally thank you all for all you’ve done this summer to show your support of our Coyotes. It has certainly been a strange off season so far & it has been a very trying time for us all. I appreciate your willingness to voice your support of the team and encourage you to continue to do so..
Sincerely,
Heather McWhorter