CEO/President Anthony LeBlanc had promised that by the NHL Draft he would have an announcement concerning the new arena planned for the Arizona Coyotes.
He kept his promise... sort of.
Where will the Coyotes play in the interim?
What he did say is that the team will be working with AEG Facilities, who manages the Gila River Arena, to attempt to extend the agreement to play at their present home through the 2018-19 season.
It will take at least that long to build a new arena.
Oh yes... where will this new arena be located? Well, we will need to wait about three more weeks to find out the answer to that query.
You see, due to some legal red tape (you knew that would be the case) the location cannot be disclosed just yet.
LeBlanc explained it this way:
"We're not at liberty to discuss the site at this point, but we are moving forward and are actually in the prowess of trading legal documentation between us and the organizations we are working with. We anticipate getting that done over the next several weeks."
Who's paying for this thing?
While not being able to be more specific about the site location, what LeBlanc was able to do was elaborate how the new arena would be financed.
"What we are going to be approaching this is with a concept of not looking for taxpayer dollars," he said. "Are we looking for some form of refund of sales tax generated? Perhaps. Those are preliminary discussions we had with the state legislature a couple months ago."
How will this new structure be financed? According to LeBlanc, the new facility will be a "public/private" venture, with more than 50 percent being picked up by the ICE/Arizona ownership group.
And the possible sites are...
There are three possible sites being considered, including sharing a new arena with the Phoenix Suns in downtown (unlikely since the Suns will get first choice of dates, etc.), a partnership with Arizona State University in Tempe, and finally the most likely choice...in an area of the defunct Scottsdale Six Drive-In on the Salt River Indian Reservation at McClintock Drive and McKellips Road.
One factor in all this relocation discussion is how it affects the capability of the team to attract free agents if the arena issue isn't resolved. In some respects, it was a factor when Mikkel Boedker was a free agent after the 2014-15 season and was negotiating a new contract with the team. His agent felt that his client had a right to know where the team would be playing, or even if they were on stable financial ground.
Goligoski knows
In fact, newly signed defenseman Alex Goligoski had some doubts about the stability of the team and where they would play before he signed a five-year contract with the team. He was assured that the new arena is a reality, and the team is going in the right direction by drafting such talented prospects lately.
So, if anyone wants the scoop on where the new arena will be located, perhaps see if Goligoski wants to spill the beans (doubtful).
Otherwise, we guess we will need to wait another three weeks to hear the news of where the arena will be located.