Earlier today Ratto covered the only reason for the Arizona Coyotes' existence, prompted by Katie Strang's in-depth investigation for The Athletic on the NHL franchise's dysfunction. The team initially declined to comment but released a lengthy statement after Strang published her report, and it's worth recognizing on its own, because it's going to accomplish the opposite of its desired effect.
The @ArizonaCoyotes release a statement on @KatieJStrang's piece today, claiming that The Athletic has "for several months, has condoned a harassment campaign against Mr. Alex Meruelo, the Arizona Coyotes, the Meruelo Group and dozens of current employees and former employees." pic.twitter.com/Lw934U4TOo
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) February 16, 2021
In her article, Strang laid out many examples of how the Coyotes have gone wrong, including unpaid bills, toxic office politics, and the process behind the decision to draft a prospect who had been convicted of bullying a developmentally disabled, black classmate. The team's statement, which doesn't dispute any actual facts in the story, claims that the sources used are all "disgruntled ex-employees who have proven to be untrustworthy and lacking in candor." Again, the Athletic spoke with "more than 50 people, including current and former employees that span multiple departments as well as people who have business relationships with the club." If all of those sources are disgruntled and untrustworthy, what does that say about the Coyotes' hiring process and treatment of their workers?
The Coyotes' statement mainly defends the honor of team owner Alex Meruelo, claiming he is no deadbeat, but that he is the target of a "harassment campaign" by Strang and her publication. Somehow the team fails to mention that Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong is also featured in the article, threatening to blackball Strang while she was reporting:
In November, agitated that organizational information had been obtained by The Athletic, Armstrong contacted this reporter, offering a theory that his daily schedule and other files had been stolen from his computer. He warned that the person who he surmised was responsible would be going to jail. After delivering a lecture on journalism ethics, Armstrong asked this reporter what she thought would happen if he were to tell general managers around the league how she did her job.
The Athletic
Surely the Coyotes' pissbaby statement will keep anyone else from reading about how mismanaged and broken they are as a professional sports team. They might as well have included a direct link to Strang's story.
