Commissioner Gary Bettman addresses the future of NHL hockey in Arizona

SALT LAKE CITY — Before the puck dropped on the Utah Hockey Club's first NHL game on Tuesday, Gary Bettman had a message for Arizona Coyotes fans in mourning.
"We wish we didn't have to leave," the NHL commissioner said. "I think everybody knows that nobody could have stood behind the franchise or community under difficult circumstances as long as we did."
For the better part of a quarter century, Bettman ran neck-and-neck with former captain Shane Doan as the man most responsible for keeping the Coyotes in Arizona. He was roundly criticized and ridiculed for his steadfast devotion to the Valley, but amid constant ownership instability, decades-long arena uncertainty, and annual financial st...