Arizona Coyotes seek restraining order against city of Glendale
The Arizona Coyotes officially filed a restraining order against the city of Glendale on Friday. Wednesday, the city essentially voided the team’s lease with Gila River Arena.
Per the Coyotes:
"The Arizona Coyotes have acted to defend their rights and reaffirm their continuing commitment to their great fans by seeking a restraining order to stop the City of Glendale's baseless attack on, and improper attempt to void, the Coyotes' lawful and proper lease to play at Gila River Arena. The suit was filed in Maricopa County Superior Court against the City of Glendale, the Glendale City Council and other City officials."
Coyotes legal action wasn’t exactly a surprise. After all they did say they were going to sue the city of Glendale for $200 million.
The restraining order was approved according to the Arizona Republic:
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge granted the Arizona Coyotes' request for a temporary injunction to keep the City of Glendale from voiding the team's arena deal during a hearing Friday afternoon in downtown Phoenix.
Attorneys for the Arizona Coyotes filed legal claims against Glendale over the team's lease agreement for Gila River Arena and lawyers appeared in court Friday afternoon for a hearing about a temporary restraining order..
Superior Court Judge Dawn Bergin granted the motion for a temporary injunction and set another hearing on the dispute for June 29.
And per the story, the City of Glendale has called a session next Tuesday to attempt to re-negotiate the lease. Fun!
Who knows at this point. Seems the polticians want a new lease and are willing to go do all sorts of means to make it happen.
Apparently the mayor of Phoenix is advocating the Coyotes moving downtown (S/t Pro Hockey Talk):
“It’s really important that this team, the Coyotes, stay in our valley,” Stanton told Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “We are lucky to have an NHL franchise in the Valley of the Sun.”
He did say he hoped Glendale and the Coyotes could work out. Talking Stick Resort Arena is not exactly a mixed-use facility, but the Coyotes did play there from 1996-2003.
But hey, at least the Coyotes aren't packing up and moving to Seattle. I hear their summers are much cooler.
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
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