phoenix – The newly elected chairman is Maricopa County The Board of Supervisors is working to bring professional hockey back to Arizona.

Thomas Galvin Chairman, Representative district 2announced the formation of an “advisory committee of local leaders to explore ways to bring NHL hockey back to the Valley.”

In 1996, the Phoenix Coyotes became Arizona’s first NHL team; arizona coyotes In 2024, The league announced the team would leave Arizona and head to Utah. After ownership issues by Alex Meruelo.

The Coyotes played at the old Gila River Arena in Glendale, but his annual contract ended after the 2021-22 season. The team played The next two seasons will be at ASU’s Mallett Arena..

Tempe residents voted against the red-light district. In 2023, it was slated to include a brand new hockey arena, housing, dining, and shopping. In 2024, the team had another option. Buy land and build an arena Located near the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, near Scottsdale, the idea never came to fruition.

“Losing to the NHL Coyotes sucked, and it disgusted me when local politicians gleefully watched the hockey team disappear. As Wayne Gretzky once said, “100% of the shots you don’t take will miss.” “That’s why I’m creating an advisory board of visionary leaders dedicated to bringing NHL hockey back to the Valley,” Galvin said. speech January 6th.

He said he had several meetings with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.

“He looks forward to working with us to identify the best location with the owner of a world-class building,” Galvin said of his conversation with Bettman.

FOX 10 has reached out to the NHL for comment and is awaiting a response.

You can watch Galvin talk about this here: click here Fast forward to the 10:20 timestamp.