Report: Arizona Coyotes Hockey Team Might Be Headed for Portland

The team with the league's third-worst attendance rates could be moving to the Moda.

Portland could be getting its first National Hockey League team, and a batch of Arizona transplants.

The Arizona Coyotes, who play professional hockey in the desert suburb of Glendale, are considering a move to the Pacific Northwest, as reported by Deadspin. 

The team was possibly going to move to Tempe, but late last week, Arizona state officials backed out the deal. In addition to having the third-worst attendance rates in the NHL, apparently taxpayers still owe $150 million on the team's 14-year-old stadium.

Portland has the Winterhawks, which are a junior ice hockey team. And from 1914 to 1918, we had the Rosebuds, whose roster was used to build the NHL expansion the Chicago Blackhawks. But we've never had an NHL team.

Related: How 100 Years Ago the Portland Rosebuds Became the First American Team Engraved on the Stanley Cup

And there's no word yet on whether or not we will.

According to the Glendale Star, reps from the team have visited both Portland's Moda Center and Seattle's KeyArena, but the Coyotes spokesperson denied it.

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