The Grassroots Canadian Hockey Strategy

New details have emerged in Daryl Jones reported bid for the Phoenix Coyotes.Jones is representing a group of investors known as Ice Edge Holdings. They plan to submit a 150 million dollar offer to buy the Phoenix Coyotes but, the group may have a unique plan to help the bankrupt team make generate additional revenue. Their plan will be brought before the NHL’s Executive Board to determine its feasibility.

The plan, reportedly called the grassroots Canadian hockey strategy, would have the Coyotes stage five of their regular season games at Canadian venues. These games to be contended with Canadian based NHL franchises; Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, and American based team the New Jersey Devils, would be played either in Saskatoon, and/or Halifax.

Staging these games in Canadian cities seems to be a strategy to not only keep the Coyotes in Phoenix, but help the club generate some much needed revenue. Another part of this plan calls for the relocation of the Coyotes’ minor league hockey club from San Antonio, Texas to Thunder Bay, Ontario.

This actually seems to be a pretty solid plan, as the NHL and the City of Glendale both have a vested interest in keeping the Coyotes where they are, balanced against the need for the team to make additional income. Of course before this plan can go forward it would have to be approved by both the NHL’s Board of Governors and the Federal bankruptcy judge in charge of the proceedings.