[teemudog]

Being a huge hockey fan, and a season ticket holder here in Phoenix, I could really go on a rant here.

It was stupid decisions by Bettman, the Coyote owners, and the politicians that :censored it up for us fans.

Yeah, 4 to 5,000 each game, and I was one of them. :nooooo

Well don't give up on your team yet. I'm sure Gary has something up his sleeve to try to stop Balsillie. Realistically though, is there any way you can see the team being viable in Phoenix long-term? Would they be playing to a full house every night if the team was any good? Or do just not enough people care about hockey down there?

The problem with attendance is that they moved to Glendale. There were plenty of places more centrally located, but the owners had no money. They should never have been allowed to come here in the first place with such a tiny budget.

We lost all our superstars, from the start Selanne (get the name?) then Khabibulin, Roenick Tkachuk, Briere, on and on, due to no money. Bettman was so hell bent of diluting the league he let this happen, give hope to a desert city in the US and have it work out so poorly. So, recap, they move to BFE and lose all stars and the triple the ticket cost, jack the schedule to eliminate East Coast teams from ever coming here. Who wants to see the Wings 6 times a year kick our asses, or see the Kings 6 times a year (mediocre game). So between the cost of ticket, gas, etc. people stopped coming.

We love hockey here, and I do empathize with the Jets fans, the move never should have happened, especially the way it did. they should have formed a new team so the area has some loyalty, like Diamondback Baseball team here. And Direct tv packages allow the comfort of watching your fav team without leaving home. Having a home town elsewhere is the majority of fans here, so they cheer for their team, not necessarity the Coyotes.