After embarrassing week Alex Meruelo walks away from the Arizona Coyotes

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Josh Tupper
June 25, 2024 (9:50)

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The Stanley Cup festivities are being covered by all of the major sports networks, but the future of hockey in the desert is uncertain due to a huge revelation made by Arizona Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo.

After the North Phoenix land auction was canceled earlier this week, Alex Meruelo has made the decision to leave the Arizona Coyotes, according to Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports.

"Alex Meruelo is calling it quits. Multiple sources told PHNX Sports that ownership addressed Coyotes staff on Monday, telling them that they have no plans to pursue further arena options." Morgan said.

This week, Meruelo was scheduled to take part in a property auction in Phoenix; however, the Arizona State property Department canceled the event due to many issues with their plan, one of which being that the area wasn't zoned for an NHL arena.

The Coyotes relocated non-traditionally to Salt Lake City, Utah, in April, taking with them their hockey operations personnel and players. Following this action, Meruelo's ownership of the Coyotes and its brand were no longer active in the NHL; nevertheless, he was granted a five-year opportunity to return a franchise to the state.

With today's news, the future of the National Hockey League in Arizona is murky and it also is unclear what will happen to the Coyotes' branding and logos, jerseys, etc., although it's safe to say that the NHL will probably purchase those from Meruelo before a new ownership group comes in. We'll have to wait and see what the NHL says, but it's also unclear if the ownership and five-year reactivation period can be transferred to a new group.

Later in his article, Craig Morgan said that he's heard there are at least two groups interested in bringing an NHL franchise back to Arizona as an expansion team in the coming years.

"PHNX is aware of at least two groups with interest in bringing an expansion team back to Arizona, but it will be hard to gauge their level of interest and ability until they can formally enter the fray and the process begins." Morgan said.

The NHL will likely comment on this news in the coming days, but for now, this is a major blow to the chances of a franchise returning to the desert.

Source: Go PHNX
Sources: Alex Meruelo is walking away from Coyotes ownership