Coyote Deal Agreed To?

Multiple sources reported last night that a deal had been reached with city officials that would keep the Phoenix Coyotes in Glendale. Those reports later clarified that the agreement would have to be voted upon by the Glendale city council which is considered to have fairly hard line opposition to substantial subsidy.

Fox Sports goes on to report that the city council will be voting on this plan on Tuesday.

"Councilmember Gary Sherwood said the council will review the proposal on Tuesday and possibly suggest some alterations, and then it is expected to be added to the agenda for the City Council meeting on June 25, possibly for a vote.

If the council can’t sift through all of the information it has in time for a vote on June 25, it’s possible the process could be delayed until July. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly recently told Sherwood that if the NHL were confident a deal was forthcoming, it would be amenable to waiting until early July. However, Sherwood noted that a special city council voting meeting has been added on June 28, at which time a vote could also take place.

The next step, and likely the last major hurdle in the process, is the council vote, which will require four "yes" votes out of seven. Sherwood has been preparing a report that examines the financial implications for the city with and without the Coyotes that he will present to council members on Tuesday. Based on his task force’s findings, the Coyotes remaining in Arizona would mean about $1.5 million more annually for the city. "

At this point it is clear that the potential for the Coyotes to come to Seattle is contingent on an outcome in Phoenix that is out of anyone else's control. That process, spanning 4 years has had more false starts and supposed agreements fall apart than just about anything I have seen. On multiple occasions headlines have indicated that the Coyotes were saved and a new agreement reached only to have the deal prove impossible to consummate.

Because of this people in Seattle seem to be holding back on getting emotionally invested in the issue and are instead just watching curiously until some type of binding announcement is made.