Ice Edge Releases Open Letter to Phoenix Coyotes Fans
by Travis Hair on Mar 12, 2010 4:01 PM MST
in Features
14 comments
With all the negativity that's been put out in the press lately regarding the state of the sale and the process that the Ice Edge Group is going through to get the team. IEH released today an Open letter to all Coyotes fans. Here's the text of the letter from Anthony LeBlanc, CEO of Ice Edge Holdings presented without comment for the time being.
These are exciting times to be fans of the Phoenix Coyotes. Our team sits in the top four of the very competitive western conference, and with less than a month remaining in the regular season, the team is well positioned to bring playoff hockey to the valley for the first time in over half a decade.
We are happy to report that regardless of reports to the contrary, there have been no material changes in the process to date. As we stated from the outset, we fully expected the transaction to take upwards of six months, similar to other recent transactions for other NHL franchises. Ice Edge Holdings continues to work very closely with the City of Glendale and the NHL towards finalizing a lease that will be appropriate for all parties.
The execution of a revised lease is the key outstanding issue, and once completed will allow the transaction to move towards closing. We are neither behind nor ahead of our expected timelines.Ice Edge Holdings remain committed as ever to the Phoenix Coyotes and to the long term success of the NHL in Arizona. We look forward to joining all of our fellow fans as the Coyotes march towards the playoffs, and participating in white outs when playoff hockey is played for the first time in Glendale.
The fans of the Coyotes have been through more than any sports fan should have to endure. We have said in the past that to be a sports fan is to make a commitment to a team, both emotionally and financially. To do so requires a two way street between the fans and those that own the franchise. Ice Edge Holdings looks forward to showing the great hockey fans of Arizona and the Southwest that commitment for many years to come. We thank you for being the strongest fans in the National Hockey League.
Go 'Yotes!
Anthony LeBlanc
Chief Executive Officer
Ice Edge Holdings, LLC
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Ok...
How long before Shoalts, Cox and the rest of the Canadian MSM begins to rip this apart and declare that the Coyotes are moving to Moose Jaw for next season?
Over-under at 1 hour…I’ll take the under.
Support Coyotes Hockey - Five For Howling
(Oh, and go Philly teams as well!)
Nah.
They’re off for a bit. In the morning after they’re in from a night of being blood-sucking vampires :P
Support Your Local Coyotes Blog - Five For Howling
JaredFromLondon: ...Odin, he's cool.
You’ll appreciate this, Odie:
Some HF posters are questioning the validity of this letter, and accusing you of possibly making it up.
http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?p=24463310#post24463310
I emailed them.
About how Coyotes fans were freaking out a bit. They said they’d have a release later in the day and they’d email me with it. I got it and I posted it. I have no idea who else they sent it to, but I just put it up right away.
Support Your Local Coyotes Blog - Five For Howling
JaredFromLondon: ...Odin, he's cool.
So not only are we now breaking news – we are the only people breaking news. That is all sorts of awesome! Great work Travis! Hopefully it will get people coming back…I wonder if the Ice Edge folks are at one of the last four games, they’d be willing to do a quick sit-down interview for the site?
Support Coyotes Hockey - Five For Howling
(Oh, and go Philly teams as well!)
by Jordan Ellel on Mar 12, 2010 7:11 PM MST up reply actions
Good question...
I’ll shoot them an email and find out.
Support Your Local Coyotes Blog - Five For Howling
JaredFromLondon: ...Odin, he's cool.
Thank you...
I’ve been hearing things left and right, although we all knew it would take upward to around 6-8 months. Just tired of all these people saying stupid ignorant things about OUR team moving when they themselves have no clue. Thanks Travis your my boy blue.
There are two coyotes inside every fan, a good one and a bad one, so which coyote do you feed?
Haha.
No problem.
Support Your Local Coyotes Blog - Five For Howling
JaredFromLondon: ...Odin, he's cool.
by Travis Hair on Mar 12, 2010 10:06 PM MST up reply actions
NHL in AZ
Just like the Blackhawks of yesteryear, the Coyotes are demonstrating that WINNING will bring in fans. Its a slow process, but this team will be profitable with their play and commitment to competing with the best. I’ll admit, maybe we lack a large population of “die hard” hockey fans here in the Valley that many cities have, but I have noticed a fairly steady increase in attendance, and the fan support has been better at the games. Youth hockey has been on the rise every year since I moved here 12 years ago, which has a lot to do with the Coyotes and their involvement here in the community.
The Blackhawks, one of the original 7, had horrible attendance the past few years, but bringing in exciting stars with a commitment to win by the owners has them back as one of the premier franchises, and in a matter of a season and half. Hopefully Ice Edge sees this as I do, we have a great arena, great fans, and have gone through many trials and tribulations with this team over the years. Having that “commitment” from the owners to win (which I felt was addressed in the letter) will bring the excitement back. Suns games are electric, Cardinals games are amazing, and I feel the Coyotes have made great strides to achieve that… and thus far I like what they’ve done. I personally only go to about 10 games per year, but envision that going up over the next few months and the following season, as this team is special and plays with heart. We don’t have an Ovie or Sid the Kid, but we have a solid foundation and guys that play hard day in and day out, without even knowing the future of their team. What we do know is the Whiteout is coming baby! And to GMDM: Wow, thank you for the commitment to winning, our new roster has really meshed well and you have done a great job finding complementary players for this squad… I think the change of scenery for Mueller and Wolski will provide that spark that both of them needed to produce the way we know they can (Mueller seems to have his step back from what we saw his rookie year). Lastly, what an offensive gem big Lee has turned out to be!
Welcome...thanks for joining!
I can’t speak for Travis, but I did see that (don’t want the “traditional market” folks to blast our hockey knowledge)…but it was kinda like the scene in Animal House…he was on a roll, so I just let him keep going ;-)
Support Coyotes Hockey - Five For Howling
(Oh, and go Philly teams as well!)
by Jordan Ellel on Mar 15, 2010 3:32 PM MST up reply actions
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