Member of Phoenix government fires shots at the Arizona Coyotes and Alex Meruelo

The Arizona Coyotes and Alex Meruelo recently lost their franchise after not being able to find a place to build an arena. This forced the NHL to find other plans for the franchise. Eventually, it was sold to Ryan Smith who relocated the team to Utah.

The sale was unique in this case due to the speed and one condition added to it. Arizona Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo can receive and expansion franchise if he is able to secure land for and build a new state-of-the-art stadium. This is something that the Arizona Coyotes were committed to and had plans to bid on a plot of land until the auction was canceled yesterday.

After having the land auction canceled things dipped into chaos. The Arizona Coyotes released a statement blaming the State Land Department for unjustly canceling the auction of the land.

Shortly after a member of the Arizona government gave a shot of reality right back to the organization and Alex Meruelo.

Today on X a staffer for Kevin Robinson named Jack Keeney clapped back at Alex Meruelo and the Coyotes organization for the way they handle business. He confirms no one in the state trusts or wants to do business with the ownership group.

This statement from a government official in Arizona makes the NHL's decision to allow this even more puzzling. The ownership group clearly was not good for the NHL or the state. Gary Bettman and the NHL setting a precedent to let someone like this get a franchise back is mind-boggling.

It remains to be seen exactly what is going to happen in this situation but the NHL and Alex Meruelo are still committed to bringing hockey back to the desert. Hopefully they'll get their act together and improve so hockey fans in Arizona can get their team back.