NHL must continue its commitment to Phoenix area

Kevin Allen, USA TODAY Sports | USATODAY

When Greg Jamison missed his city of Glendale-imposed deadline to complete the purchase of the Phoenix Coyotes Friday morning at midnight, it was like adding a comma, not even an exclamation point, to the script of this four-year-old docudrama.

There is nothing here to see, just move along. If the NHL was going to give up on trying to save desert hockey, league officials would have pulled the plug a long time ago.

This is simply another pause in the proceedings, time for everyone to reevaluate the plot line, and perhaps bring in new characters. Didn't it seem time for a new twist to this tale?

Although many fans around the country might be shaking their head in amusement over the fact that the save-the-Coyotes campaign seems to be a never-ending story, the continuation of the fight is the most reasonable approach for the league.

The NHL became embroiled in this battle mostly because owner-wannabe Jim Basillie was threatening its well-established franchising protocol and because league officials didn't want to surrender the 12th-largest television market without knowing whether the NHL could really work there.

The reason the continuation of the fight is the logical step is because we still don't know the answer to the last question. The NHL fought off Basillie challenge to its way of life, and in so doing ended up owning the franchise. But we still don't know whether the NHL will work long-term in Arizona.

Everyone seems to have an opinion on that issue, but no one truly knows because the franchise has never had all of the elements necessary to test a market. To know whether a market truly will embrace the sport, you need stable, marketing-savvy ownership, patient, well-reasoned management and success on the ice. In their 17 years in Arizona, the Coyotes have never had all three of those selling points at the same time. Most of the time, the franchise didn't even have two of the elements.

What has often been overlooked during the NHL's attempt to find stable ownership is that the Coyotes have a highly effective general manager-coach tandem in Don Maloney and Dave Tippett. Slow start this season notwithstanding, these two seem to have the ability to keep this franchise in contention regardless of the budgetary constraints.

These guys have the ability to compete in the big race with a machine they build out of spare parts. Imagine what they could do if they had ownership that wasn't worried about where the next nickel is coming from.

Critics say the NHL won't work in Arizona, but we all heard the same story about Raleigh and now it's considered one of the more interesting venues to watch a NHL game. Barbecuing and backchecking seem to go hand in hand in Carolina now. It's funny what winning a Stanley Cup does for raising awareness about hockey in non-traditional market. It's as if Lord Stanley's Cup has magical powers, the ability to transform casual fans into hardcore zealots.

That's why the NHL shouldn't bail on the Coyotes -- at least not now. Even though the league hasn't been able to find a buyer for the franchise, it's still not the right time to consider a move to Seattle or Quebec City or elsewhere. Maybe that's where we are eventually headed, but they have to let this play out all of the way. The City of Glendale had shown a desire to keep the team by offering a $300 million management deal to Jamison to manage the arena. Now that deal is now off the table. The City of Glendale now has to decide how important it is to keep the team in the city. The new deal clearly won't be as sweet, but the city can't go from $300 million to nothing.

Likewise, the NHL has to at least weigh its $170 million price tag versus its desire to keep the marketplace.

"I think since the deadline has passed, we will have to see what the deal looks like going forward," Jamison told USA TODAY Sports Friday. "We still have an interest in it, and it's something that we would like to continue to talk about and look it. But there probably needs to be an understanding with the NHL and the city of Glendale about what the understanding is since Jan. 31."

If the NHL abandons Arizona now, league officials would always wonder if Coyotes would have been a long-term success had they been able to secure a stable ownership group. Even though it seems preposterous that the league has controlled the team for four years, it truly is the logical move to let this show play a while longer.