PHOENIX, June 15 (UPI) -- A bankruptcy judge has rejected the proposed sale of the Phoenix Coyotes to an investor who wanted to move the NHL team to Canada.
Billionaire Jim Balsillie wanted to take the club to Hamilton, Ontario. But Judge Redfield T. Baum said he didn't think unresolved issues would be presented and settled by a June 29 deadline. Baum also canceled a June 22 auction date for the bankrupt team.
Coyotes' owner Jerry Moyes filed for Chapter 11 reorganization last month with a proposed sale to PSE Sports & Entertainment LP for $212.5 million. That would have made Balsillie, co-chief executive of Research in Motion, makers of the BlackBerry wireless device, the new owner.
The franchise moved to Phoenix from Winnipeg in 1996. The Coyotes have only made the playoffs five times since and have never made it past the first round.
