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After years of wondering in the desert, the Phoenix Coyotes ownership saga appears to be over. An arena lease out clause could bring into question where theyre playing five years from now, but on Monday the NHL finalized the sale of the Coyotes to the IceArizona group led by Renaissance Sports & Entertainments George Gosbee and Anthony LeBlanc. Approval of the US$170-million sale came from the board of governors, which ended the leagues ownership of the beleaguered franchise. "This was an incredibly complicated deal that didnt get wrapped up quite literally until 8 oclock this morning after pretty much a full weekend of working on it going through the night," LeBlanc said on a conference call. "No rest for the weary, as they say, and were jumping right in now." LeBlanc, Gosbee and nine other owners - the vast majority of whom are Canadian businessmen with connections to Arizona - are jumping in to a long process that includes adding staff on the business side and trying to sell tickets to grow the Coyotes reach. Part of the effort includes a name change to the Arizona Coyotes, likely effective for the 2014-15 season. The NHL had owned the Coyotes for the past four years, shortly after Jerry Moyes put the team into bankruptcy and through failed attempts by Ice Edge Holdings led by White Sox and Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf and then Chicago investor Matt Hulsizer to buy it. With IceArizona now officially in charge, the next step is strengthening the fan base. "What this franchise has not had over the past 12 years is theyve never had that combination that I think you need to be successful in the majority of sports markets," LeBlanc said. "That is strong, stable ownership combined with at least the understanding that you have the potential of your franchise winning." The Coyotes missed the playoffs during the lockout-shortened 2013 season but made it the three previous years under coach Dave Tippett. Before bankruptcy, the team most recently made the playoffs in 2001-02. LeBlanc had tried to purchase the team before as part of IceEdge. He teamed up with Gosbee last year, bringing in Daryl Jones, Avik Dey and others before securing NHL approval and financing. "I think its every Canadian boys dream to own a hockey team," Gosbee said. "Ive always wanted to. But it had to be the right deal. When I started talking with Anthony and Daryl over the years, I think the right deal was in the making here in January. I wanted to own the team because I thought, at the end of the day, its a sound investment." Negotiating a five-year out clause as part of a 15-year lease deal with the city of Glendale for Jobing.com Arena was made for business reasons, but it also raised skepticism, especially for a group of men with Canadian roots. "Im a good, solid Canadian like a good number of people in this ownership group and unfortunately its very difficult for people to accept that hockey can be successful in a non-traditional market," LeBlanc said. "But we like to point to markets like San Jose and Dallas, even in the Carolinas, where hockey has really thrived. We feel that the same will happen here. But the reality is its an investment and we have to protect ourselves, and hence the reason for the out clause." LeBlanc told the board of governors that the out clause was the most "negative" part of the Coyotes long and winding sale process, which included contentious Glendale city council meetings that cast doubt on the final resolution. "I think the onus is on us to put the product out there and to sell the suites and the tickets so that this is no longer a conversation piece," LeBlanc said. Even with that conversation piece, Gosbee was "ecstatic" about getting the deal finalized. His Calgary home was damaged in Junes flooding, but Monday brought some good news on the Coyotes front. "The home can be built up again," he said. "Ill start working on that project in the fall. Its a great day for me with the announcement that weve got this team." For general manager Don Maloney, Monday brought even stronger emotions than the arena lease deal that gave the Coyotes at least five years of security. "It feels like Christmas morning around here," Maloney said in an interview from his office in Glendale. "Were just very, very happy, relieved, grateful." The ownership group will be led by Gosbee and LeBlanc and include Dey, Jones, Gary J. Drummond, W. David Duckett, W.R. Dutton, Robert Gwin, Scott Saxberg, Craig Stewart and Richard Walter. Asked about the Edmonton Oilers large ownership group that existed before Daryl Katz took over, Gosbee likened the Coyotes structure more to that of the Calgary Flames after their move from Atlanta. "Theres a strong, tight-knit ownership group here," Gosbee said. "Everybody really knows of each other. If we werent doing this deal, theres a good chance a lot of us would be out for dinner next week or watching a football game." Instead, theyre working together to own a hockey team. "The National Hockey League believes in Arizona as an NHL market and that these new owners can provide the Coyotes the opportunity to secure a stable, long-term future in Glendale," commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. Giving the Coyotes a stable, long-term future has a lot to do with business, which LeBlanc and Gosbee will be heavily involved with. As far as hockey operations, not much is expected to change, with the exception of some more money being available. "Our involvement will be almost exclusively on the business side and let Don continue to work his magic," LeBlanc said. Magic off the ice involves trying to sell out the arena and building more of a following in Arizona. If IceArizona is successful at doing that and the franchise does not lose $50 million in the next five years, the out clause will be moot. "This is obviously a franchise that has historically lost money," LeBlanc said. "You look at the track records of the individuals: Nobody in this group gets into anything with the expectation of failing. Our view is this is a franchise that has not had the opportunity to really show its potential." The potential is there, finally, and LeBlanc and Gosbee hope winning and financial success follow. "This is an exciting franchise," LeBlanc said. "Now that were the owners we think weve got the Stanley Cup contender for the next 10 years, but we truly feel that fans are going to look at this club and say, This has a real strong potential of winning. And what do you know? For the first time in years this franchise, there is no question it is tied to Arizona, and we have good, strong local ownership." Air Jordan Online From China . The nimble-footed quarterback got his wish, dashing through the snow and a weary defence all the way into the NCAA record book. Cheap Real Air Jordan .ca! Hi Kerry, Its another day and here we are looking at another dubious hit to the head. In this case Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky elbowed Saku Koivu in the head about a second after he dished off the puck to a teammate, knocking him unconscious. http://www.cheapairjordanonline.com/ . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two. Wholesale Air Jordan Authentic . Its 1987 and a Brazilian playmaker, known as Mirandinha, is being paraded around St James Park to the passionate Newcastle fans. Wholesale Air Jordan Online . On Saturday night, the normally free throw-challenged centre did just that. Howard scored 18 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, including 13 of 19 free throws in a 2 1/2-minute stretch, and the Houston Rockets beat the Denver Nuggets 122-111. The winter of 1969 was a time of great excitement in Indian cricket, especially when viewed through the eyes of a nine-year-old schoolboy in Bangalore. India were locked in a competitive and often contentious Test series against Bill Lawrys visiting Australians and were trailing 1-2 at the end of four Tests, with a chance to draw level in the final Test, in Madras.Two Bangalore boys - Erapalli Prasanna and G Viswanath - had starred in the series. Prasanna was collecting wickets by the bucketful and was instrumental in India winning the Delhi Test. Meanwhile Viswanaths dazzling century on debut in Kanpur (25 boundaries in an innings of 137) marked the moment I became a lifelong cricket fan. Adding to the buzz was the upcoming wedding of Indias captain, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, to the glamorous movie star Sharmila Tagore.In those days, cricket tours were fairly lengthy affairs and Tests were sandwiched between three-day matches against various zonal teams. South Zone were to battle the Aussies just before Christmas in Bangalore, and my excitement mounted as I realised I was about to see the likes of Pataudi, ML Jaisimha (the captain), Prasanna, Viswanath, Syed Abid Ali and S Venkatraghavan, not to mention Lawry, Ian Chappell, Keith Stackpole, Ian Redpath and Doug Walters in real life.As in many a middle-class household at the time, various family members took turns watching the match, and I ended up at the Central College grounds with my dad for the third and final day. It would prove to be quite an initiation into the world of international cricket. Nothing but a rope and a ring of uninterested policemen separated us from the players on the field. The earliest memory I have is of the Australian fast bowler Laurie Maynes giant frame as he fielded a few yards away from me. His off-white cricket sweater hung loosely on him and looked as big as a blanket.I dont remember much at all about the first half of the days play but when the Australians began the fourth innings, things began to heat up rather rapidly. It seemed that just about every other over the crowd would unleash a deafening roar as Prasanna, with huge sideburns, upturned collar and shirt buttons left rakishly open, sent yet another Aussie batsman back to the pavilion. (When I checked the scorecard to write this piece, I realised I was not imagining the figures at all. At one point, the Australians were an incredible eight wickets down for 53 runs, chasing 200. Prasanna took six wickets for 11 runs off his 14 overs, ten of which were maidens.)I remember the excitement mounting to a frenzy as a South Zone victory neared. And then the mood began to turn ugly. From what I could see, two lanky batsmen in their green felt caps - Lawry and John Gleeson, one left-handed and the other right-handed - were sticking out their front pads and blocking most balls. Every time they did this, there would be a loud appeal from the fielders and, with far greater ferocity, from the crowd. For reasons that escaped me theen and now, the umpires turned down every one of the appeals.dddddddddddd.South Zones bowling attack that day had two offies (Prasanna and Venkat) and two leggies (Bhagwath Chandrasekhar and VV Kumar) who between them bowled 39 overs. Even granting that lbws were a bit harder to get for spinners in that era, the fact that it was this combination of bowlers on show makes the events of that day quite inexplicable, especially as the batsmen were rarely trying to play the ball.As the sun began to go down, and as Lawry and Gleeson dug firmly in, the crowd around me became more and more angry. Boos were mixed in with choice Kannada and English abuses directed at the batsmen and the umpires. The genial gentlemen of the morning, who had been joking around and happily sharing lunches and drinks with one another, were now apoplectic with rage and frustration. I huddled a bit closer to my dad (who himself was quite calm and unruffled) and was baffled by the swing in the mood. Knowing as little about the intricacies of the game as the average nine-year-old, it was all confusing and scary.Lawry and Gleeson seemed to be in some sort of sensory-deprivation chamber as they shut out the crowd and dead-batted and dead-padded over after over. (The final scorecard shows that Australia ended with 90 runs for eight wickets off 52 overs. Lawry remained unbeaten on 10 after coming to bat at No. 6, which makes Sunil Gavaskars infamous 36 not out from 60 overs in the inaugural World Cup look like an absolute gallop.)And then the first projectiles came hurtling in from the crowd. Lawry immediately walked over to the umpire to complain, which, of course, triggered a further volley of projectiles. Soon after that, the batsmen, fielders and umpires walked off - to a hail of verbal abuse and sundry rubbish thrown onto the field. I dont know if the required number of overs had been bowled or if the match was called off prematurely. In either event, Lawry and Gleeson had held out for a draw, when, at one stage, it had looked as if defeat was inevitable for the Australians.We dispiritedly trooped out of the ground and made our way to the car park to return home. Everyone looked tired, angry, hot and sweaty. It was hard to believe that it was still the same day that had dawned so cool and been filled with joyous anticipation. A few days later Australia would win the final Test, at Chepauk, and depart with a 3-1 scoreline in the bag.Looking back, my initiation into international cricket featured a few themes that would become depressingly familiar over the decades. Indias bowlers could often run through the top order but find it difficult to finish the task. Our crowds were mercurial in the speed with which they shifted from cheerful gang to scary mob. And you could never, ever, count the Aussies out until you had scored that final run or taken that last wicket. ' ' '