NHLPA’s Marty Walsh ‘extremely concerned’ with Coyotes ownership over arena situation

Marty Walsh, the executive director of the National Hockey League Players’ Association, said he is “extremely concerned” and “disappointed” with the Arizona Coyotes’ ownership over their arena situation.

“I have serious concerns about Arizona,” Walsh said to reporters at the NHL All-Star media availability on Friday. “I’m extremely disappointed with the ownership of Arizona, with the president of Arizona (Xavier Gutierrez). They have not reached out to the NHLPA and talk to us about what the situation in Arizona is.

Walsh said since he took over as executive director in March 2023, he and the NHLPA have worked to grow the game in markets like Arizona, but that the franchise “doesn’t seem interested in having conversations with the union that represents the players that play on their team.”

“You can buy a piece of land. How long will it take you to permit the land? Do you need a referendum? Is there hazardous waste, do you need to remediate the land?” Walsh said. “So you can talk about buying land in Arizona and it can be 10 years before a shovel goes in the ground.

“How long do you wait to get a home? They’re playing in a college arena and they’re the second tenant in that arena,” Walsh continued. “This is not the way to run a business.”

Since 2022, the Coyotes have played at Mullett Arena in Tempe, Ariz., a multipurpose arena owned by Arizona State University and the home of its men and women’s hockey teams, women’s volleyball and men’s wrestling. The Coyotes signed a three-year agreement to play their home games at Mullett Arena through the end of 2024-25, in hopes of the team finding a permanent home afterwards.

New Tempe Arena was a proposed facility that would have a capacity of 16,000, but the Tempe citizens voted no on the new arena and entertainment district in May 2023.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said he’s “reasonably confident” that Coyotes’ owner Alex Meruelo will deliver on his promise to secure a new NHL-quality arena in Arizona, according to TSN and The Athletic’s Chris Johnston.

The Coyotes themselves shared a post on social media after both Walsh and Bettman’s comments were shared by reporters.

“We are fully committed to Arizona & hope to share exciting news with all of you soon. Arizona is home & the future is incredibly bright here,” the Coyotes said.

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