Glendale votes to cancel lease deal with Coyotes

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- The Glendale City Council has voted to end an arena lease agreement with the Arizona Coyotes, thrusting the franchise's future further into doubt.

The council voted 4-3 Wednesday night to end a 15-year, $225 million lease agreement signed by Glendale and IceArizona shortly after the team was purchased from the NHL in 2013.

Members who voted in favor of dissolving the deal cited a state statute that allows an agency to cancel a contract if an employee directly involved with the agreement becomes an employee or agent to the other party. At issue was the Coyotes' hiring of former city attorney Craig Tindall as general counsel in 2013.

"We've all taken a beating tonight here, and I think it's all unjust because most of the fans don't understand the complexity of this issue," Glendale mayor Jerry Weiers said before being interrupted by several Coyotes fans in attendance. "The complexity of this issue is the fact that you don't have all the information. When you have more information, I think you will have a better understanding."

The city of Glendale issued a statement before the meeting that it would be open to renegotiating the arena deal, a proposal the Coyotes flatly refused.

Nick Wood, the Coyotes' outside counsel, said the team will file for injunctive relief, a temporary restraining order, and file a $200 million lawsuit against the city.

"At this point the damage has been done," Wood said. "How do we negotiate our way out of being shot in the head by the city?"

Tindall stepped down from his duties at Glendale in April 2013, three months before IceArizona signed its lease agreement deal for the Glendale Arena, then known as Jobing.com Arena. Tindall was paid through September as part of his severance agreement, but was hired by the Coyotes a month earlier.

Wood, Coyotes co-owner Anthony LeBlanc, and many of the citizens who spoke during the public forum portion of the session derided the council for trying to use a loophole to renegotiate two years into a 15-year deal.

The Coyotes also said that just calling for the vote has had a detrimental effect on local businesses and the team, from spooking sponsors, chasing away potential free agents and a possible bid for the 2017 Junior World Hockey Championships.

LeBlanc and Andrew Barroway, who owns 51 percent of the team, met with Glendale officials on Monday, when LeBlanc said the issue of renegotiating the deal first arose.

"What we have witnessed here tonight is possibly the most shameful exhibition of government I have ever witnessed," LeBlanc said. "The citizens of Glendale should be very concerned about the government that they have leading them right now, because this was not appropriate."