The Ice Edge group has recently signed a letter of intention to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes from the NHL and has included a long-term commitment to keep the team in Arizona. With the team losing money in its currently location, one has to question the wisdom of any investment group willing to take such a risk.

Even so, it looks like Bettman has his wish for now as both groups announced the agreement in separate statements on Friday.

Ice Edge chief executive officer Anthony LeBlanc said, “Ice Edge has committed to keep the Coyotes in Glendale for the remaining term of the original lease.” That original lease carries a 26 year term at the Jobing.com Arena. Yep, 26 years of hockey in Arizona.

LeBlanc also said that there’s no “out clause” that will allow Ice Edge to break the lease agreement, telling the Associated Press that he and his group are committed to hockey in the location. “We believe in this team and the demographics of the Valley,” he said.

The Ice Edge deal is worth $150 million and it is believed that the NHL Board of Governors could be set to act on the ownership proposal as early as next week, meaning that the sale will be finalized soon and the Coyotes will be destined (or damned) to spend a quarter of a century in Glendale.

At the core of this sale is Ice Edge’s belief in hockey in Phoenix. They believe, regardless of the studies and the analysts, that hockey can and will succeed as a viable sport in Glendale and they believe in the possibility of the Coyotes as a franchise to put butts in seats in the Jobing.com Arena.

Those beliefs will certainly not be enough to sell hockey to the locals in Glendale, however, and it will take a lot more than $150 million and a good feeling to make hockey work in Arizona’s desert.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

Tags: ice edge, investment, phoenix coyotes, team purchase

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 13th, 2009 at 9:44 pm and is filed under 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.