Wednesday evening marks the final game of the Arizona Coyotes‘ season, and likely its last in Arizona amongst rumblings of the NHL franchise moving to Salt Lake City.
Amidst reports of the blockbuster move, ahead of puck drop against the Edmonton Oilers, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman revealed there will be a Board of Governors meeting at 3 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 18 to approve the sale of the Coyotes to Utah.
Earlier on Wednesday, reported soon-to-be owner Ryan Smith shared that even though the NHL has not officially confirmed the move, it’s basically as good as done.
“There’s no secret,” said Smith, speaking at a sports business conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday. “Not everything on the internet is true but in this case it’s true.”
Smith, who also owns the NBA’s Utah Jazz, is reportedly purchasing the team from the NHL for $1.2 billion.
“I have incredible faith in the people of Utah,” Smith said. “We show up. It’ll be packed. I’m excited about that and showing that. There’s so much work to do from the practice facility on down to everything else but we’ll get it done.”
Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo and general manager Bill Armstrong have not publicly commented on the relocation or sale.
