It is down two – Phoenix and Vancouver. Coyotes Captain Shane Doan will sign a contract deciding where he will play by 5 pm NY time Friday — John Gambadoro (@Gambo620) September 14, 2012

After a summer rife with breathless speculation and a seemingly endless procession of "false" deadlines, our long national nightmare appears to be over. According to a report from Arizona Sports Talk Radio host John Gambadoro, tomorrow by 5 PM EST, Coyotes captain (and mythical beast) Shane Doan will make a decision on where he’ll play whenever next season starts. And only two teams remain in the running.

Phoenix, of course, is still the frontrunner to retain their long-time captain. But the other team with a shot according to Gambadoro: the Vancouver Canucks.

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Read past the jump for more.

Because he’s a regional sports talk radio host, Gambadoro has no profile in Canada. But he’s a reliable source and has been out in front on Doan related news all summer long. On July 31st he was the first to report that Doan was meeting with the Canucks in Vancouver, and just last week he was the first to report Shane Doan had already agreed to a conditional four year, 21 million dollar contract with the Coyotes.

The "condition" of Doan’s agreement with the Coyotes, was that the sale of the team to former San Jose Sharks owner Greg Jamison needed to be completed by September 15th. As of this moment, that’s yet to happen.

But that could change on Friday, according to Mike Sunnucks of the Phoenix Business Journal. The most recent "snag" in the flustercuck that is Jamison’s attempt to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes, had been Glendale’s last minute demand to re-work the arena management deal that Jamison and the city had previously agreed on. Basically the city wants to restructure the deal so that they pay out 20 million less than they’d originally agreed to over the first five years of the agreement.

According to Sunnucks, Greg Jamison is "open to those changes," and the prospective owner and Glendale City Manager Horatio Skeete "are meeting and hashing out final details." Sunnucks goes on to describe everything that would need to fall into place for the sale to be completed tomorrow:

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The arena deal could then be presented to the Glendale City Council for a quick vote. A majority of the seven-member council backed the previous Coyotes deal. Jamison has the financing in place to buy the team, and sources say the money is actually in escrow. NHL owners could quickly approve the sale. The NHL has owned the team since 2009.

To recap: if Jamison and Skeete can "hash out" the "final details" early tomorrow morning, then the final deal can be presented to the Glendale City Council for a vote. Assuming it passes, then if Jamison has the financing in place – a pretty sizable if, I think- the NHL’s owners would vote and approve the sale.

If all of that can get done before 2 PM PST, then the Coyotes should be able to keep their captain. Good luck with that.

Needless to say, I find it difficult to imagine that the Glendale City Council, Greg Jamison, and the NHL can get their ducks in a row by end of day tomorrow. However, there’s still a chance that Doan could waive the "transfer of ownership condition" on the deal he’s already signed with the Coyotes, and stay in Phoenix even if Jamison doesn’t manage to assume control of the franchise this weekend.

Regardless of the final outcome, Friday promises to be a very interesting day.





