from Dan Bickley of the Arizona Republic,

The entire community might even wear party hats if we could convince the new owners to make one final gesture:

Ditch the out clause that could reignite relocation fears within the next five years, one that keeps a clock hanging over this hockey team.

“I don’t understand all the attention it is getting,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “The fact of the matter is, every contract has a term. And this term, for it to be invoked, requires the ownership group to lose $50 million, which I assure you they have no intention of doing.”

Two of the new owners — George Gosbee and Anthony LeBlanc — also have bemoaned how the out clause has become a source of negativity spoiling an otherwise festive transaction. But they negotiated the clause. If it’s such a non-factor, why was it so important to begin with?

Truth is, the Coyotes must still be a risky proposition, or they would have attracted other big-money investors. Without a spike in business, it couldn’t be that hard to show $50 million in losses.

Besides, smart accountants can perform magic tricks, if they really want to leave.

“Nobody’s playing any games with that,” Bettman said. “When you have this type of clause, you can’t play accounting games. The fact of the matter is it would require them to lose a real $50 million, and as I said, they have no intention of doing that whatsoever.

“And frankly, they’re not incentivized to do that. The best outcome is for the community and fans, the business community, to support the franchise and have this be the huge success we all believe it can be.”

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