A group seeking to buy the Phoenix Coyotes has not complied with terms that Glendale officials believe are required to pursue the purchase, city leaders confirm.

But Ice Edge Holdings and the National Hockey League say the deal is moving forward.

The dust-up is the latest in a series of negotiations between Glendale and at least two team bidders that have collapsed and resurfaced over a tortuous year for local hockey fans.

The group of Canadian and American investors was required to show Glendale proof of its financing last month in order to negotiate exclusively with the city and work on a detailed lease for the Coyotes to play at city-owned Jobing.com Arena.

At the deadline, Glendale said Ice Edge had submitted "some of the required financial information." City officials declined public records requests for more detail.

But on Monday, city spokeswoman Julie Frisoni revealed that Ice Edge has failed to submit some of the required documents, five weeks past the deadline. She would not elaborate on the missing files.

Though the deadline for exclusivity is gone, Frisoni said, the city can still negotiate with Ice Edge.

But the clock is ticking. The tentative agreement between Glendale and Ice Edge aimed to conclude negotiations Aug. 6.

"We have a very tight timeline to make the deal," Frisoni said.

Ice Edge spokesman Robert Johnson acknowledged the group has not begun arena lease talks with Glendale because it would be "putting the cart before the horse," since the group has not yet bought the team from the NHL.

But last month, when Ice Edge said it had submitted proof of financing, Johnson said the group "now will begin its work with the city of Glendale to achieve expeditious completion of" the finalized arena lease.

Johnson also disputes the city's claim that financing records are missing.

"We have submitted the documents we believe meet the requirements regarding the state of our financing," he said. "We remain confident of our ability to buy the team from the NHL."

Johnson declined to say whether Ice Edge had secured financial backing.

Ice Edge CEO Anthony LeBlanc told The Arizona Republic in June that about half of the team purchase price would come from several of the group's partners and bank loans would cover the remainder.

Johnson said the exclusivity agreement is "nice to have" but not necessary.

"Whether it exists or not has no impact on whether we can complete the purchase of the team," Johnson said.

But the businessmen of Ice Edge previously hailed the exclusivity agreement as a victory in the quest to own their first professional hockey franchise.

They gained an advantage when Ice Edge's rival bidder, a group led by Chicago sports mogul Jerry Reinsdorf, announced it would drop out the day before the exclusivity agreement was signed.

With exclusivity dead according to the city, Reinsdorf or any other interested party could potentially be in the midst of, or start, talks with Glendale and the NHL.

The league's Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly dismissed online rumors Friday that the Ice Edge deal was in trouble.

"I know nothing about it. It would be new news to me," he wrote in an e-mail.