from Andrew Gilstrap of ArizonaSports,

One of the Coyotes' new owners described opening day as the culmination of all his work in successfully purchasing the team from the NHL.

"It feels like Christmas morning over here," Anthony LeBlanc told Arizona Sports 620's Doug & Wolf on Thursday. "It's euphoria. We've worked on this (ownership deal) for so long. I've been in and out of this for four years."

LeBlanc, as president, CEO and co-owner of the Coyotes, is responsible for all the hiring within the organization as well as finding sponsorship and media deals for the club. However, the Canada native said he leaves all "hockey decisions" to general manager Don Maloney.

"We look at (Maloney) and we look at (head coach) Dave Tippett as, quite frankly, hockey geniuses," LeBlanc said. "We were very direct in our conversations with the league as we were negotiating that those two gentlemen need to be a part of it. And the league agreed that they are such an important part of the business.

"The good news is (Maloney) has got a little bit more financial leeway than he's had in the past."

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