According to the Globe and Mail, the current co-owners of the Toronto Argonauts are interested in making a pitch for the beleaguered Phoenix Coyotes franchise. Howard Sokolowski and David Cynamon are planning to meet with Glendale city officials next week with a plan to put together a bid that can be tabled for the Coyotes.

Sokolowski and Cynamon were part of the Ice Edge Holdings that pursued the Coyotes in the summer when they were under the tutelage of Jerry Moyes, but now that Moyes is (soon) out of the picture it looks like Cynamon and Sokolowski are back in business. They have clarified that this offer is not a part of the Ice Edge Holdings group, however, and that they are not approaching the Phoenix Coyotes ownership situation as a part of Ice Edge Holdings.

Instead, Cynamon and Sokolowski have put together a different group of about a dozen investors.

Arizona bankruptcy court is expected to grant approval to the NHL’s $140 million bid to buy the Coyotes on Monday. Meanwhile, the Cynamon/Sokolowski group will be meeting in Glendale with city officials to table a bid that will have to include an offer on the lease of the Jobing.com arena.

To add another tidbit to this case, as if anything else was necessary, the original Ice Edge Holdings group, represented by Keith McCullough, has claimed their own interest in bidding on the Coyotes. “We have submitted a letter of intent to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes if, in fact, the NHL is successful in buying the team out of bankruptcy,” McCullough said.

So it seems that, now that Balsillie’s bid is out of the way and the fray has opened up to simply involve the NHL and its selection of approved bidders, the Coyotes will be under new ownership soon. Bettman has expressed a desire to have the team remain in Glendale, but something tells me that his desires are a lot less “written in stone” this time around now that he’s more satisfied with the crop of investors.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

Tags: Gary Bettman, ice edge holdings, jerry moyes, phoenix coyotes, sale

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 11:16 pm and is filed under Gary Bettman, NHL, NHL Notes, Team Analysis, Team Ownership. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.