It's no secret that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has long supported keeping the Arizona Coyotes from relocating over the years.
In June, when the Tempe City Council first voted to move forward with the proposed $2.1 billion arena project, Bettman called in to voice his support during the meeting. For Tuesday's unanimous decision to move forward with the project and send the proposal to the voters, Bettman flew in to attend the meeting with NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly.
"It's incredible to have the commissioner," Coyotes CEO Xavier Gutierrez said. "He's been supportive from day one and when he first met (Coyotes owner) Alex (Meruelo) and Alex shared the vision of solving the arena challenge that this organization has had for awhile.