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Friday, October 1, 1999
Coyotes future up in the air
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (CP) -- Winnipeg fans rejoice.The future of the Phoenix Coyotes is up in the air.
Owner Richard Burke needs a city vote to go into his favour next month for a new arena. He's tired of losing up to $10 million a year on the franchise. Or playing in an arena where a quarter of the seats have obstructed sight lines. And he doesn't want to face an escalating payroll next season when the contracts of the team's top two stars, Keith Tkachuk and Jeremy Roenick, will soar to $8.3 million and $5 million, respectively.
"Once we get the arena vote passed, everything will be fine," Burke said, referring to the team's Los Arcos project, which will go before the voters again on Nov. 2, this time to approve the financing package for the 20,000-seat facility.
A Yes vote means Burke can line up and secure his investment partners to help shoulder the costs of the franchise. It means Tkachuk and Roenick, and any of a half-dozen other key players won't have to be sacrificed in a salary slice.
But a No vote? What happens then?
"If we fall on the vote, a lot will fall," says Tkachuk. "Where would we stand? Where would ownership stand? Do we start having a fire sale? I don't know. But next year I'm going to make $8.3 million, and that's a tough salary to move. I could probably only be traded to a handful of teams. It definitely weighs on your mind. I love it here. I don't want to leave."
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