With all the chatter surrounding the Arizona Coyotes and their contentious relationship with the City of Glendale, someone who knows the situation has weighed in on it, and if you're truly interested in the Coyotes' future, Arizona Sports' Craig Morgan breaks down the situation in an even-handed manner:

Nobody is blameless in the latest war of words between the NHL, the Coyotes and the city of Glendale — a conflict at least eight years old that has drawn state lawmakers into the fray.

The hard truth for the team is that it has produced four winning seasons, three playoffs berths and two playoff series wins in 13 seasons in the West Valley location that welcomed it when nobody else would. Winning sells in any market, but it’s especially important in one as fickle as Phoenix. Repetitive losing is an unwise investment of fans’ dollars and emotions.

In 13 seasons in Glendale, the Coyotes have endured poor ownership from Steve Ellman and Jerry Moyes, coaching from Wayne Gretzky, poor drafts, poor development of those draft picks, poor management from general manager Mike Barnett, an attempt by Moyes to put the team into bankruptcy in 2009, four years of frugal league ownership. There’s also been an endless and sometimes comical carousel of ownership suitors from Jim Balsillie, Matthew Hulsizer and Jerry Reinsdorf, to Greg Jamison and Darin Pastor (remember him?).

There was a protracted sale to IceArizona, some missteps by the new and inexperienced ownership group, and now a long-needed rebuild whose architects are suffering in the shadows cast by their predecessors. The past is haunting the Coyotes, even if none of its current actors is responsible for it.

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