While the eyes of the hockey world were focused on the NHL All-Star Game in Montreal, one more shoe dropped back in Phoenix, where the Coyotes are literally fighting for their very survival. Late Friday night the team announced that CEO Jeff Shumway resigned in order to tend to duties in other areas of Phoenix owner Jerry Moyes' business empire.
Here's what Moyes told the Arizona Republic on Friday night:
"I would be willing to sell a majority stake and stay on as a minority shareholder," said Moyes, who became an investor in 2001 and is credited with keeping the team in the Valley. "This is going to allow me to be more involved in the team, and I'll be looking for investors to come in and help with the team."There was no press conference to announce the move, and multiple media outlets failed in their attempts to contact Shumway over the weekend -- something that is never a good sign when it comes to personnel moves. With Shumway gone, both Team President Doug Moss and General Manager Don Maloney will report directly to Moyes, who will now also serve as the team's NHL governor.
The situation in Phoenix is pretty simple. Moyes, whose other businesses have been hurt badly by the global recession, wants out and wants to make some sort of return in his investment in the team as he continues to lose tens of millions of dollars per year on the team. He's said he's willing to stay on as a minority partner -- something which should make it easier to find a buyer -- but that the team simply can't survive under the conditions of its current lease with the city of Glendale even if a new buyer is found.
The other alternative, one that Moyes has said he doesn't want to consider, would mean taking the team into bankruptcy. That would allow the team to break its lease with the city, but would likely poison the relationship between the two more or less permanently, something that could very well be seen as a precursor to relocation.
Any way you slice it, things are not looking good when it comes to hockey in the valley of the sun. Stay tuned.
