PHOENIX - The Arizona Coyotes' search for a new hockey home is focusing on an East Valley site that was once a popular drive-in movie theater, 12 News has learned.
The site is on privately-held tribal land northwest of the Loop 101 and 202 interchange, at McKellips and McClintock. It was home to the Scottsdale 6 Drive-In for more than 30 years.
Coyotes Chief Executive Officer Anthony LeBlanc said last month that he would be surprised if the team didn't have something to announce before the NHL draft, coming up on Friday.
An announcement connected to the site could come on Thursday, I've been told. The arena would be part of a larger project at the site.
LeBlanc has set these kind of target dates before, only to see them pass without anything new to report.
This week, however, LeBlanc has an incentive to answer the biggest question surrounding the team: Where will the Coyotes play after their lease at Glendale's Gila River Arena expires one year from now?
The Coyotes' current and future season-ticket holders' want to know the answer before sinking any money into the team.
LeBlanc and the Coyotes will have hockey fans' attention this week after a successful rollout of the team's new Tucson Roadrunners AHL franchise last weekend, and several top draft picks this weekend.
Planting a flag at a new arena site could make this one of the best off-ice weekends in team history.
Longtime Coyotes watchers (I've been following the saga for 15 years) will note the irony of the location: It is less than two miles from the site where an arena was going to be built before Glendale snatched it away.
Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton's desire to put the Coyotes and Phoenix Suns under one roof in a new downtown arena is on hold, if not in the deep freeze.
The most obvious problem is the timeline: The Coyotes need a new arena now, the Sun have a few years. And any arena project through the city would require a citywide vote, further delaying the process and adding a layer of uncertainty.
A Coyotes spokesman declined to comment on a possible arena announcement.