  NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly meet media in 2009. (REUTERS/Christinne Muschi)
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The NHL is refuting a report out of Toronto that says the city of Glendale, Ariz., has failed in its initial attempt to raise $100 million in bonds to keep the NHL’s Coyotes in Phoenix.
Sportsnet’s the Fan 590 radio says a source indicated Glendale’s public bond offering has failed, forcing the city to try a potentially more difficult private bond offering in order to generate the money promised to new Coyotes owner Matthew Hulsizer.
But NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly, in an e-mail to the Sun Wednesday, said the report “is not accurate.”
Hulsizer’s deal calls for Glendale to pay him $100 million up front, backstopping his purchase of the franchise from the NHL for an estimated $170 million.
Glendale would attempt to recoup the money by charging for parking at all Jobing.Com Arena events.
Meanwhile, Winnipeg’s True North Sports and Entertainment is refuting a report that suggests it is trying to influence the deal by steering it into court.
A report in the Phoenix Business Journal suggests True North has hired a consultant to pressure the Goldwater Institute, an Arizona taxpayer watchdog group, to file a lawsuit against the deal, with the hopes of returning the team to Manitoba.
“That is 100%, unequivocally, patently false,” True North spokesman Scott Brown said via e-mail. “True North Sports and Entertainment has NEVER had any contact whatsoever with the Goldwater Institute in any way, shape or form.”
The threat of a lawsuit by the Goldwater Institute could also throw a wrench into Hulsizer’s takeover plan.
