'Salt Lake Sucks' Chants Break Out At What Looks Like The Final Arizona Coyotes Game

It's not official yet, but it sure as hell looks like the Arizona Coyotes organization plans on moving one state due north and playing in Salt Lake City beginning next season.

And their fans are understandably not pumped about it.

All signs point to the Arizona Coyotes leaving Arizona where they've played since the then-Winnipeg Jets moved there in 1996. This is all thanks to a well-documented struggle to find an NHL-caliber arena to play in, which left the ‘Yotes playing out of Arizona State’s Mulett Arena.

So, Wednesday night's essentially meaningless game against Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers had more emotion to it than it normally would.

Fans paid a pretty penny to get into the arena and see their team one last time, as well as voice their displeasure with the franchise's assumed next city.

Man… that's hilarious, but you still feel for those folks. Getting the rug pulled out from underneath your team must be brutal.

At least if they're leaving, the Coyotes went out with a bang. Arizona topped the Oilers 5-2. Of course, the Oilers have the second spot in the Pacific Division and will either face the Vegas Golden Knights or Los Angeles Kings depending on how Thursday night's slate of games play out, so they're wasn't a whole lot for them to play for.

On the other hand, the Coyotes had a bit more of an incentive to leave it out on the ice before they spend the offseason house hunting in the greater Salt Lake City area.

The Arizona Coyotes salute the fans after the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 in what was likely the franchise's final game in Arizona.  (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

This Looked Like The End Of The NHL's Time In Arizona… For Now

There's a chance that the NHL will come back to Arizona in a few years. It's been widely reported that the deal with Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith could include a path for current Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo to get an expansion team if he can get an NHL-ready arena built over the next few years. 

However, this sure looked like the end of the NHL's first foray into Arizona. After the game, it looked like the entire Coyotes organization joined the team at center ice.

I sure hope the NHL goes back to Arizona. We've seen a few NHLers come out of that market (some guy named ‘Matthews’) and it's largely thanks to the Coyotes organization.

Hopefully, they can get the arena built and those fans will get a new iteration of the Coyotes to cheer for.

They've put up with too much over the years to lose a team for good.