Maricopa County Supervisor Thomas Galvin announced a new team of local and state leaders who will try to bring an NHL team back to Arizona.
In September, Galvin announced the creation of an advisory panel that will be charged with formulating a plan to identify potential ownership groups, stadium locations and other details key to returning professional hockey to the Valley after Arizona Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo sold the team to a Utah group last year.
Galvin already tapped Andrea Doan, wife of longtime Arizona Coyote Shane Doan, to lead the panel.
“Arizona is a major sports state,” Andrea Doan said in September. “People come across the country, across the world, to come here to watch our professional sports teams year round, and it is important to bring back the NHL to the fifth-largest metro in the nation.”
This week, Galvin announced the people who will round out the panel, including Arizona Chamber of Commerce CEO Danny Seiden and Arizona Commerce Authority Sandra Watson.
The panel will also include several current and former local elected officials from across the Valley, including Goodyear City Councilmember Trey Terry, former Mesa Mayor John Giles and former Paradise Valley Mayor Jerry Bien-Willner.
“So when I made the announcement that I'm forming an advisory panel, I had an image and a vision in mind that we needed political leadership, we needed business leadership, and we needed hockey experts to come together,” said Galvin, who is pursuing the effort in his personal capacity.
The panel also includes Jordan Rose, an attorney with experience working with professional sports organizations like the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Rising. Galvin is also a partner at Rose’s law firm, Rose Law Group.
Taylor Burke, who runs the company that owns the Ice Den ice rinks in Scottsdale and Chandler, rounds out the panel. Burke’s father was a co-owner when the Winnipeg Jets relocated to Phoenix in 1996, and he previously was an assistant general manager for the team.
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