A key issue with NHL potentially coming to Seattle
Jun 17, 2013, 6:30 PM | Updated: 6:32 pm
By Brady Henderson
Mayor Mike McGinn tried to temper expectations when he acknowledged that the city has been in talks with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman about the possibility of the Phoenix Coyotes relocating to Seattle and playing at KeyArena this fall.
“We are very clearly Plan B for the NHL and this team,” McGinn told Chris Daniels of KING 5 over the weekend.
Sean Gentille, who covers the NHL for the Sporting News, used the same term when he joined “Bob and Groz” on Monday. But while he agreed that talk of relocation to Seattle is partially about putting the squeeze on the city of Glendale, Ariz. – where the Coyotes currently play – he described Seattle as an attractive market and said the potential move shouldn’t be dismissed as impossible.
“This has certainly been in the works for a while. This is a real thing because they (the Coyotes) needed a legitimate Plan B and that’s certainly kind of what this qualifies as,” Gentille said. “Now, Gary Bettman, his sort of stated stance on the whole thing for a long time – and his actions kind of back that up – is that he wants to keep the team in Arizona for a variety of reasons. So you can’t discount that because all things equal the league would rather have the team stay put.
“But it doesn’t detract from the legitimacy, I think, of the conversations that they’ve had with Seattle or the legitimacy of the threat that they’ll move there soon.”
Bob Stelton and Dave Grosby say that’s much easier said than done, and they explain why in the video below.
You can listen to Monday’s show here.