10/26/2009
Phoenix Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes has agreed to sell the bankrupt franchise to the NHL.
The agreement, which still must be approved by Judge Redfield T. Baum, was announced in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Monday after lawyers met for more than an hour during a recess in a status hearing on the case.
Former coach Wayne Gretzky, who has a $22.5 million claim in the case, has not agreed to the deal.
Moyes's lawyer says the decision to make a deal came largely because the costs of running the team in bankruptcy were coming out of the league's $140 million offer.
AM640 News has learned the offer will be split up as follows:
$80 million will go to the teams largest creditor, $35 million will go to the NHL, $12 million to the unsecured creditors, while the remaining $13 million will be split between Jerry Moyes, Wayne Gretzky, possibly the city of Glendale and any remaining creditors.
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly says the NHL plans to sell the team, preferably to an owner who will keep the club in Arizona.
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