Saskatoon Coyotes

It's been called the "Volunteer Capital of the World", the "City of Bridges", the "City that really does Shine", and now Saskatoon may be called part-time home of the Phoenix Coyotes.

That's right - Saskatoon... Phoenix Coyotes.

As first reported by the Globe and Mail, a group of Canadian and American businessmen have formed a group called "Ice Edge Holdings LLC" that want to place a bid to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes. Reports say the group's bid will be $150 Million - $2 Million more than the only other bid by Jerry Reinsdorf.

As part of their deal, the group would be looking to do the following...

1. A new lease deal with the City of Glendale for the Jobing.com Arena

2. Increase ticket prices in Phoenix

3. Introduce paid parking for all Coyote home games in Glendale

4. Play five regular season games in a "Canadian Sister-City" which would be Saskatoon or Halifax.

Of course the fourth point is the big one and would need NHL approval, something I just don't see happening.

Let's face it, the NHL - whether they're right or wrong - is committed to making the Coyotes work in Arizona. They haven't given up just yet and will do everything they can to make it work in this last kick at the can.

So why would they possibly agree to having five home games played in another Country let alone another city?

From the "Ice Edge" perspective, it's all about the bottom line. Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon will soon hold just under 15,000 seats once renovations for the 2010 World Junior Hockey Championships are complete. Add in over 40 luxury suites, and it's a decent sized rink for an AHL team and perfect for the WHL.

As for the NHL, considering two NHL pre-season games sold out in half an hour - there's no question five regular season games would be the hottest ticket in town. In fact, they could start tickets at $80 and go up to $150 and the place would sell out in seconds. Guarenteed Money for "Ice Edge".

So there's no question that Saskatoon would be a great choice to host five regular season games but it just doesn't make sense in the big picture for keeping the Coyotes in Phoenix.

Whomever buys the team needs to work hard on building a solid fan base in Glendale. While there are a small group of passionate fans - there is still much work to be done. This club has lost hundreds of millions of dollars since re-locating from Winnipeg so it won't be an easy task to turn things around.

The last thing you want to do is alienate your fan base even more by taking away five games and playing them in Canada. Sure they'll sell out, sure they'll make money, but at what expense? One that could be the fatal blow to this team that's already more than three quarters of the way in the grave.

Let's say the NHL agrees to this proposal. Let's also say that the bankruptcy judge accepts the bid and this goes ahead. So five games are played in Saskatoon and it's a huge success. The club makes a ton of money from those games and there are smiles all around. What next? If five was so successful, why not make it ten? That would give them even more money! After ten, let's go to fifteen... you get my drift. At some point there will be no point in having a team in Phoenix and the team would be better off re-locating - something the NHL does not want to do at this time.

So to all my Saskatchewan friends and followers of this blog, I have this to say...

Don't get excited. This idea will never fly. Chris Pronger has a better chance of being named Mayor of Edmonton than this move ever happening.