Insider reveals the real reason Gary Bettman is so committed to the Coyotes and it makes no sense

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Joshua Deeds
November 30, 2022 (8:43 PM)

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The Arizona Coyotes have had a rough history, in 26 years they've won no Stanley Cups and have lacked an identity as a team, even with a Hall-Of-Fame head coach, like Wayne Gretzky.

Despite all history pointing to trouble, Gary Bettman has once again doubled down on hockey in the desert.

Citing the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken as successful teams as a reason to continue the Arizona experiment, feels like hubris.

Vegas is an outlier in all cases of expansion, as they were contending until recently when many key pieces were injured or traded.

The Coyotes have had star players come through the organization, but they've never built competitive teams which were sustainable throughout their tenure in Phoenix.

Even now Bill Armstrong is in sell everything mode, but he can't even sell Jakob Chychrun.

"The Tempe Entertainment District will be a huge win for this community, and we have no doubt that Tempe voters will agree," Coyotes CEO Xavier A. Gutierrez said. "Our project not only provides a wonderful home for the Coyotes but also serves as a vibrant town square for Tempe, generating thousands of sustainable jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue for the city. We are grateful and excited."

This is quite a coup for the team and it comes with a gambling element in the Arena as well.

But is it a win for the NHL? We've gone over how the Coyotes are the least valuable franchise in the NHL.

Only someone like Gary Bettman has wild ideas of Arizona becoming a bigger market in the game.