NHL: Rumors, Rumors, Everywhere

When one writes a column about the Phoenix Coyotes, one can spend an inordinate amount of time chasing down rumors, most of which have no resolution. This week has been one of those times.

RUMOR #1: You've seen it on ESPN, on CBS Sportsline, on Fox Sports.... Glen Sather reportedly contacting Phoenix to orchestrate a blockbuster trade involving the Coyotes Captain Keith Tkachuk, Nikolai Khabibulin and the Rangers Theo Fleury. Originating out of Toronto, of course, where all such wild rumors come from. It's cold up there already, after all.

The most interesting thing about this rumor is the fact that Sather is involved in this supposed deal, close friend of Wayne Gretzky, who is due to take over Hockey Operations of the Coyotes within the week (or so they say). Why would Sather agree to a deal with well-known worm GM Bobby Smith for the very two players that Gretzky has stated he wants to build the team around?

RUMOR #2: Rumor #1 leads us right into Rumor #2, which, as reported by Sports Illustrated but unverified anywhere else, says that current owner Richard "Whiney" Burke contacted the NHL and wanted to forbid Wayne Gretzky and Steve Ellman, soon to be owners of the Coyotes, from further contact with the media. Agreeing to this demand in principle, Ellman and Gretzky supposedly told the NHL that in return for their agreement to a media "gag order" they wanted full control over any deals that Smith and Burke may try to make in the closing days of the Burke regime.

And, according to SI, the NHL agreed as long as an extra payment was made by Ellman Companies. Payment made, they say, within the hour.

Part Two of this particular part of the Coyotes 2000 saga was promoted on hockey talk radio this past weekend, stating that the NEW (and improved) date for closure of the sale of the Yotes was October 13th. And yes, we are ALL aware that this is indeed FRIDAY the 13th. Appropriate, somehow.

RUMOR #3: Did I not tell you it was strange around here? Did you think that the start of the regular season, that time when we should be thinking about on ice performance and standings and points, would change the on-going soap opera surrounding our Yotes? Rumor #3 swirls around My Boy (and yes, I wanted that capitalized) Jeremy Roenick. He, of course, refuses to discuss it, but the newspapers are discussing it for him. His contract extension, or lack of one, if you were curious.

Before the season started, there were a few words in the media about JR's concern about not having any discussions about his contract extension, and while he realized the team was in the middle of an ownership change, he wanted to get it done and over with. And that was fine. But god forbid, the evil agent, Neil Abbott, couldn't let it lie there, he had to go off yapping to the Boston media (he wouldn't dare have done it here in Phoenix) about how they would test the free market, making all kinds of snide comments that this author wanted to slap him for.

Ah, and the saga continues. This week, local media, bored with no Coyote scandals after a fruitful summer, offers us an article about how we should enjoy the fast start that JR has had so far this season, since this will be his last in Phoenix. "Bullshit," says Jeremy. And ditto for me.

RUMOR #4: The fourth rumor seems one fueled by Mr. Richard Burke himself, who is spreading the word, or attempting to, that the deal for the sale of the Coyotes to Ellman Companies (and Wayne Gretzky) is dead, that everything has fallen through, that the Scottsdale City Council will kill the development proposal, and that he, Richard Burke, will then be free to sell the team to some Microsoft fat cat in Portland after all. Sounds juicy, but the juice is definitely sour.

Last word was that the Scottsdale City Council and Mr. Ellman had agreed to a closed meeting in which the City Council will be able to review financial records that the Ellman Companies were refusing to display to the entire council and make public record.

The City Council for Scottsdale was elected after the original votes were taken on the development for the hockey arena, and a new City Manager has arrived from California to stir up the mix in this development deal. These newbies might want to stay in office for longer than one term, and the city manager is certainly not making any friends in the Scottsdale business community trying to kill a deal that is going to make them millions.