Not since the early 1980s when rumours swirled that the St. Louis Blues were considering a move to Saskatoon has the prairie city been so close to landing NHL regular-season hockey.

One of the suitors for the bankrupt Phoenix Coyotes unveiled a plan that would see Saskatoon or Halifax play host to five regular season home games, plus one playoff game every other series. Daryl Jones, one of the investors behind Ice Edge Holdings, said the idea is to bring the game back to its grassroots.

“You have 6,000 kilometres of Canadian soil that (doesn’t) currently have regular access to NHL hockey. It’s Calgary to_Toronto and Montreal to Halifax,” Jones said.
“We think both (Saskatoon and Halifax) are interesting options in terms of giving Canadian people who really love and enjoy the game of hockey access to professional hockey.”

The Coyotes will go up for auction in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Phoenix on Aug. 5. The bidding is limited to groups planning to keep the team in Arizona over the long term — including Ice Edge Holdings.

“This isn’t a test for new markets,” Jones said, adding his group’s business plan foresees the team remaining the desert for a long time. “This is an ability to take a business model and add more cash flow to it.”

If no bid satisfies the court at the first auction, a second one will be held in September for potential owners looking to relocate the team.

Jones admits that the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association could put up some hurdles to the plan, especially as it relates to scheduling, travel and fewer home games for fans in Phoenix.

But he also believes it makes business sense to move five games a season out of Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Ariz.

The Halifax Metro Centre currently hosts the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Halifax Mooseheads and seats a little less than 11,000. The Credit Union Centre — the home of the Western Hockey League’s Saskatoon Blades — will be upgraded to more than 14,000 seats for the upcoming IIHF world junior hockey championships. Jones believes the venues could sell out for regular season NHL hockey.

“Fifteen thousand is more than the average attendance in Phoenix, there’s no doubt you could probably charge a higher ticket price point, since Phoenix is at the lower end of the ticket scale,” Jones said.

If Ice Edge Holdings is successful in buying the Coyotes and then able to convince the NHL’s board of governors and the NHLPA the merits of its plan, Jones said his group would then try to sign a three-to-five-year deal with either Halifax or Saskatoon.

Winnipeg was also considered, but Jones said negotiations did not pan out with local interests in that city.

Saskatoon Mayor Don Atchison is cautious about the potential of NHL games in his city.

“It’s a long ways to anything happening,” he said. “They don’t own the hockey club yet. . . . They need to talk to (the NHL) and (the NHL Players’ Association). We’re a long ways away at this time.

Jones admits the process is daunting and is unsure of his group’s chances once the auction begins.

“The time frame is very tight. I think we’d like more time,” he said. “We got into this game late. We’re a few steps behind other bidders. But we’re hoping to be there at the finish line.”

With files from the Saskatoon StarPhoenix