On Friday, now ex-Coyotes proprietor Alex Meruelo held his first public press convention because the franchise’s sale and relocation to Utah, showcasing why the way forward for hockey in Arizona is in such peril.
Sitting alongside NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, Meruelo answered reporters’ questions, typically showing flustered or irritated. Throughout one significantly awkward second, Bettman needed to step in after Meruelo tried to clarify his absence through the franchise’s collapse by saying he “did not just like the media.”
“Let me translate that just a little bit,” Bettman interrupted. “I do not assume anyone ought to take that personally. I feel he would not like being a public individual.”
