The Mac Attack: Coyotes should call Glendale's contract bluff or leave Arizona

So the city of Glendale is threatening to drop the gloves and go toe to toe with the Coyotes.

Do it, Glendale. I dare you.

Here's what happens if the City Council follows up its special meeting Wednesday with an actual vote that decides to end the city's arena contract with the Valley's NHL team:

You'll end up with an embarrassing black eye and be left with a white elephant that is Gila River Arena sitting empty and making absolutely no money for you at all.

If the Coyotes want to win this fight once and for all, they need to pull Glendale's stuffy sweater over its sweaty head, and deliver the ultimate punch to the face – and leave Arizona.

That's right. Bolt. Pack up your pucks, hop on your Zamboni and skate. Otherwise, this maddening here today, gone tomorrow tug-of-war game with our hockey team is never, ever going to end.

Frankly, we've all been through enough.

The Coyotes finally seem to have a solid ownership group in place after years of uncertainty under Richard Burke, Steve Ellman, Jerry Moyes, bankruptcy court and foster care by Commissioner Gary Bettman and the NHL. But now cash-starved Glendale wants to start a scrum by slashing and spearing the Coyotes for a better arena deal that serves the city's own needs.

That's what this is all about, after all.

They're using a loophole in the language of the 15-year, $225 million deal they signed with the Coyotes in an attempt to tear up the contract and negotiate a better deal for Glendale.

That's Glendale for you. It's wishy-washy and cheap. That's why Cardinals President Michael Bidwill and his football team never have anything nice to say about the place. Trust me, If Bidwill could pick up University of Phoenix Stadium and drop it into the nearest Phoenix zip code, he would.

But Bidwill can ignore Glendale. The Coyotes can't. That's why they have to take matters into their own hands and fight back. They can do this by fighting the city in court if Glendale follows through on its threat to tear up the arena contract. Or they can call Glendale's bluff.

The latter would be the smartest move. Nobody wants to sit through an exhausting court battle that could drag on for months and gives our media friends up in the Great White North a daily reason to keep speculating about the future of our hockey team.

So if Glendale really intends to rock the boat, the Coyotes should just scuttle it completely and announce they are seeking a new home elsewhere.

Do that and watch how quickly the red carpet will roll out from places like Seattle, Las Vegas, Kansas City and the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario. They can't wait to score an NHL franchise.

We might not have the team anymore, but at least the team will finally be saved. And really, isn't that what's best for the franchise? A real future? A real home?

It could happen any hour now and as we wait and watch and listen, remember this:

If the Coyotes leave, Glendale gets nothing. That's not what the city wants, of course, but that's what it will get if really wants to drop the gloves on Wednesday.

Do it, Glendale. I dare you. And I bet you flinch, too.

(Reach The Heat Index at bob.mcmanaman@arizonarepublic.com . Follow him on Twitter @azbobbymac and listen to him live every Monday at 5:30 p.m. on NBC Sports Radio with Roc and Manuch on AZ Sports Talk and every Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. on Fox Sports 910 on The Freaks with Kenny and Crash.)