Sportsnet: NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh asked about the Arizona Coyotes arena situation and if they should play somewhere else.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Reporter: “Yeah, I have serious concerns about Arizona. I think I’ve made public statements, a lot of them and I’ll make one more today. That, you know, I’m extremely disappointed in the ownership of Arizona and the president of Arizona. They have not reached out to the PA to talk to us about, about what’s what the situation in Arizona is.
I mean, since I’ve been here we’ve been working very closely with the league. We’ve been working to grow hockey and grow the sport of hockey. We had great announcements today that’s going to increase viewership and fans in hockey.
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And we have a team in Arizona that doesn’t seem interested in having a conversation with the union who represents the players that play on that team. And you know, so we’ll wait, it’s a wait and see approach. Unfortunately, we’ve had two, you know, unofficial deadlines to come up with some, some movement and we’ve gone past both of those.
So I’m interested to see what the ownership of Arizona has in mind. You know, as far as what they want to buy land and, you know, it’s not just about buying a piece of land, it’s like okay, you buy a piece of land, how long will it take you to permit the land? Is the land, do you need a referendum? Is it hazardous waste? Do you need to remediate the land? There’s lots of questions. So you can talk about buying land in Arizona, and it could be 10 years before a shovel in the ground.
And that’s unacc, as far as I’m concerned, that’s unacceptable, on behalf of the players of that team, and that should be unacceptable to the league.”
Chris Johnston: “Should they play somewhere else next year?
Walsh: “Again, I mean, it’s hard to say what’s going on. I mean, I don’t know if, I don’t know where they play. I mean, that’s, that’s one of the questions. So I think there’s a whole bunch of other questions that have to come for that.
I think the first the first answer a question has to be answered is, is what’s the status of Arizona? And then when you come up with the answers to that question, whether it’s a shovel in the ground next season or what have you, then we can move forward.
If it’s, we don’t have anything. I mean, let’s assume now the season’s coming, you know, with three quarter, we’re about little over halfway through the season. If at the end of the season, Arizona doesn’t have a place to play next year, well, now there’s another season of uncertainty moving forward. So we, in my time, that will be a season and a half of lost time”
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Sportsnet: NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh asked if the NHL should relocate the Arizona Coyotes if there is no progress on a new arena and if the players would support it.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Pierre LeBrun: “Do you feel there’s no concrete evidence of a plan long-term for rink in Arizona, would you support the idea of moving the team to Utah for next season?
Walsh: “If there’s no plan in Arizona, I would encourage a move to another location. Absolutely. And if Utah’s the place, Utah’s the place, I’d encourage it. You know, I haven’t seen the data to back it up if Utah’s the place.
I’m sure that the league has information on what, what markets work really well. I know Utah is a growing region. Lots of in the mid-Northwest, a lot of people are going there. So I mean, it could be another you know, Golden Knights or Seattle Kraken.
Reporter: “Would the Coyotes players be OK with that, just having to move like that?
Walsh: “I think the players want to play in an Olympic, not Olympic, the players want to play in the National Hockey League arena.
I mean, I’ve had, you know, more than several conversations now with them. I have, I have conversations almost on a monthly basis with the PA, somebody from the PA the representative talks to somebody from the team, and they’re very interested in what’s going, what the future is.”