Fold This Franchise!

[ken_valyi]

Coyotes deny they're having debt problems

''We've not utilized the full amount,'' Ellman said. ''The NHL specifies the level of debt that each franchise is entitled to borrow on their team. They approved $60 million, so we have the capability to borrow $60 million, but we have not. So we have excess borrowing capacity available.''

Ellman also said the Coyotes' debt burden should be viewed as part of Coyote Holdings' consolidated debt. He declined to give that figure but said it was relatively low in relationship to the assets of the holding company.

Would someone show this charlatan the door and never allow him to even have minority ownership of a laundrymat?

Phoenix is a nice city, but it has never been nor will it ever be a hockey hotbed. Retract this team... start here and then we can rid the league of some of the other southern mistakes.

[cASe SenSiTive]

Move them back to Winnipeg.

Isn't Gretzky a part-owner in Phoenix?

[Richard Cabeza]

I'd love to see at least 6 teams retracted. Of all the expansion teams created in the mid-90's or later, the only ones that are justified are Minnesota and Columbus (both do very well with attendance, and Minny got screwed by Norm Greed back in the early 90's). I'd Fold-

Atlanta
Nashville
Florida
Carolina
Phoenix
Anaheim

All 6 are boring teams that nobody cares about. Atlanta is probably the best team on that list. I'd really hate to see ANY Canadian team fold. The Pens and Sabres both have history, I'd keep them around too. A 24 team league, I could live with that.