City of Glendale manager fires back at Gary Bettman!

The Arizona Coyotes are truly in a miserable state right now. 

They are already having to look for a new venue to play in beyond this season, and this week a bombshell report was released that they could be leaving Gila River Arena sooner than expected. 

Thanks to unpaid arena charges and delinquent tax bills, the city of Glendale may lock out arena employees and the team later this month.

The City of Glendale, home of Gila River Arena where the Coyotes have played since the 2003-04 season, officially announced that it not be renewing its lease agreement with the Coyotes beyond the current season. Both the city and team had been operating on a year-to-year basis with an annual December 31 deadline for either party to choose not to continue the arrangement.

However, while speaking media after the second day of Board of Governors meetings in Florida, National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman put to rest any thoughts of the Coyotes relocating to a city like Houston or even to Quebec. 

"The Coyotes aren't going anywhere," Bettman said.

Bettman had also stated his belief that the city of Glendale has an agenda against the Coyotes. And now, a key city employee is firing back.

City of Glendale manager Kevin Phelps responded in a big way to Bettman's allegations. Per The Athletic's Katie Strang: 

"If Mr. Bettman and others want to believe that not filing 17 monthly tax returns was due to human error, then so be it. As a reminder this was the same excuse the team used when they failed to pay some of their employees in a timely manner. Glendale does not have an agenda. We just want assurances that the team pay all of their obligations to the city in a timely manner." 

"Our approach is based on our actual experiences with the team. Perhaps the League will be willing to guarantee that the city is fully paid by June 30th, 2022."

This situation is all kinds of messed up, and you truly have to feel for the fans that have stuck with the Coyotes through thick and thin.