NHL once again trying to make the Arizona Coyotes a thing again with latest update

It's been nearly eight months since the NHL forced the sale of the Arizona Coyotes to the owners of the NBA's Utah Jazz, Ryan and Ashley Smith. Since then the franchise rebranded as the Utah Hockey Club and began play in its new era in October.

However, the Phoenix area that was so abruptly abandoned by the league due to a myriad of mismanagement issues may not be without the pro sport for long.

According to local journalist Craig Morgan, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors announced it has begun the process of attempting to bring an NHL franchise back to the desert.

League commissioner Gary Bettman confirmed a pre-Christmas meeting with chairman Tom Galvin via Zoom but no information on how the meeting went was immediately available.

The Arizona Coyotes may be back sooner than fans think

When the Coyotes franchise was sold in April, the name and brand were allowed to stay in-state. Bettman revealed at the time that any revival of the team would have to happen within a five year reactivation period.

However, previous owner Alex Merulo relinquished his rights to the team in July after efforts to find a new arena fell through. Hence why Maricopa County now has revived the quest to bring the NHL back to the valley.

It's unclear if Bettman's five-year reactivation period is still in effect but he's not revealed any imminent desire by the league to introduce an expansion team in the immediate future. Either way, the county still has a long and arduous process to navigate before anything concrete in relation to a team revival can be announced.

For now, Arizona hockey fans will have to cling to hope and in the meantime find other ways of enjoying the sport locally. Arizona State has a nationally-ranked program that plays in nearby Mullett Arena in Tempe and is the closest thing to competitive hockey the valley has at the moment.