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Greg Jamison has missed his deadline to buy the Phoenix Coyotes before a lease agreement with the City of Glendale expires.
The former CEO of the San Jose Sharks had until midnight Thursday to buy the team from the NHL under the terms of the lease agreement with Glendale, but was unable to get the money or investors he needed in time to hit the deadline.
"We will not be able to complete our purchase of the Phoenix Coyotes today in time to meet our deadline with the city of Glendale," Jamison said in a statement. "However, our journey to purchase the Coyotes will continue. We realize this will require additional conversations with the city of Glendale and the NHL. We still believe we can reach an agreement that satisfies everyone. We hope negotiations with the city proceed as smoothly as possible, as everyone involved wants the Coyotes to remain in Arizona."
Jamison had emerged as the latest and arguably best chance for the Coyotes to land an owner after more than three years of being run by the league. He reached a 20-year, $308 million lease agreement with Glendale for Jobing.com Arena in the fall, creating what was believed to be a clear path to ending the Coyotes' up-and-down ownership saga.
The latest twist leaves open the possibility that new bidders could give Jamison competition to buy the team.
Fights are up again in post-lockout season
A lockout-delayed and shortened season has created a spike in fights around the league, just as it did the last time labor woes led to a 48-game season.
There were 58 fights through the first 87 games this year, following play on Tuesday night, an increase from 39 after the same number of games last season, according to STATS. During the 1994-95 season, there were 83 fights over the first 87 games of that lockout-shortened slate, a jump from 58 during the same stretch previous season.
"Obviously, you have a situation where the players are being thrown into the immediate intensity of a shortened season and that certainly may play a role," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly wrote Thursday in an email to The Associated Press.