Coyotes announcer near tears opening final game before relocation

PUBLICATION

Liam McCormick
April 17, 2024 (8:49 PM)

SHARE THIS STORY

Tonight, the Arizona Coyotes will play the final game in their team's history before relocation to Salt Lake City, Utah. It was an emotional night, and to open the game, announcers were near tears.

This is awful. This is everywhere. This is absolutely gut-wrenching, heartbreaking. Best city in the world, I can't say it enough, I'm absolutely in shock that possibly we have lost our hockey team. That was a gift. The NHL gave us a gift here in Arizona and we possibly just lost it. I'm on the brink of tears.

For the true hockey fans in Arizona and of the Coyotes, there's nothing worse than losing your team to poor ownership and relocation. Hockey has had success in other non-traditional markets, but owner Alex Meruelo's decisions leading to a subpar team playing in a subpar building forced the NHL to make a change. Despite the clear mistakes that led to the failure of the Coyotes, fans still showed out tonight to show their passion for the team. Fans organized dressing in white to honour a playoff tradition one more time, and they chanted that for tonight, they are �still there' during the national anthem.

Outside of true Coyotes fans however, the decision to give up on this owner and this market was clearly the only option. Playing for two years in an arena with a capacity under 5,000 with no plans in the immediate future to build an arena was a joke of a situation. Coyotes announcer Tyson Nash mentioned Auston Matthews being heartbroken by the loss of the Coyotes, but while he was saddened he recognized the need to move on from the epic arena failure. The team is simply hemorrhaging money.

It's not often teams are lost and relocated in the modern NHL, so it's definitely interesting to keep track of. For many hockey fans however, it's Gary Bettman and the league finally solving a glaring issue the league has had for years. In the relocation deal, Alex Meruelo will retain the right to bring the Coyotes back to the NHL via expansion within five years - but it feels impossible he'll be able to deliver on that goal.