What they said: Coyotes players reflect on final Arizona season, move to Utah

It seems that the Arizona Coyotes have met the final hours of the franchise's stay in Arizona after the team wrapped up their season in Tempe Wednesday night.

All week, rumors have been swirling about the move, ever since it was reported that Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith would buy the Coyotes from owner Alex Meruelo. This came weeks after the hockey team announced it would bid on state land in north Phoenix to build an arena and surrounding entertainment district. That auction is set for June 27.

The Coyotes (36-41-5) missed the playoffs, but showed a promising end to the season. However, the ending got swept up in the team's impending relocation and caused a sobering feeling as the Coyotes players will have to pack up their lives in Arizona for the foreseeable future.

More: With the Coyotes gone, what will it take for the NHL to bring hockey back to Arizona?

Here are what some of the players had to say at they gathered up things Thursday morning at the Scottsdale Ice Den practice facility and prepared for an offseason move to Salt Lake City.

Goaltender Connor Ingram

“It’s all new. I think you guys got as much information as we do. It’s little things for players like us, like I don’t know where to live, where the practice facility will be, or how it’s going to work. I think these next couple of days, we’ll get some answers and figure things out. I think right now, I can’t speak for everyone, but most of us are soaking this in. It’s a different thing that’s going on here. How many guys can say they moved with an NHL franchise. It’s uncharted water for a lot of us and we’re trying to figure it out as we go."

Ingram added: "I don't handle change well, I'll be the first one to admit it. For guys like me, it's exciting, not to leave Arizona, but to go somewhere new and see it. It's easy, I don't have a house here, I don't have children. Guys like me are used to it. It's the people with families, guys changing schools for kids, the staff that need to buy houses. This isn't about hockey, these are people's lives. I think people need to remember that and there's a lot that goes on. A lot of these people that don't get the credit they deserve are going to do a lot to make this work."

Forward Clayton Keller

"(Arizona) means everything. I grew up here, I played my whole career here. There's so many great people that are in this organization, great teammates, I could go down the list of all the people who made sacrifices for us to perform. It's definitely tough and hopefully the NHL will be back here in a couple years."

Keller added: "It's just a special place in my heart and there's a lot of emotions for sure. Just thinking about the future and it's the last one in Arizona at least for a little bit. ... Seeing all the signs of the memories over the last couple of years and seeing the fan support means so much to us. It's definitely great to see that and it put a smile on our face."

Forward Logan Cooley

"It all came pretty fast. I was planning on leaving all my clothes and stuff here, thinking I was going to come back and have another year in the desert. It's obviously not the way it went, so just packing up everything. Everything all happened at once and it's kind of unfortunate and it is what it is. We're excited to have the next chapter here."

Cooley added: "We've been through probably everything you could possibly have been through. I think we're just an exciting team and we have a lot of young guys with bright futures. We have guys on the team like Keller, (Nick) Schmaltz, (Sean) Durzi, (Lawson) Crouse, guys that have been in the league for a while and have proved themselves in this league. We're an exciting team, we bring a lot of energy. We're definitely on the rise here."

Forward Josh Doan

"Getting a chance to start my career with the Coyotes is something exciting and to start in Tucson and climb the ranks of Arizona hockey, it's been really fun. You can see the game across the Valley and to wear the Coyotes logo and play a real game with that jersey is something I'll take with me forever. It's a long way to go now with everything now."

Doan added: "There's a lot of it where we got to take a positive outlook on things. I grew up and was raised here, I've followed Arizona sports my whole life. If I wasn't going to have a positive outlook, then it would be pointless to be doing any of this. I'm looking forward to whatever comes my way and (Salt Lake City wants) to do something big there and there's a plan already set up and the people there are excited. I've talked to my dad about that and how his life ended up being flipped upside down and Arizona ended up being the place he calls home and still does."

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: What the Coyotes players had to say after the final season in Arizona