Phoenix Native Matthew Knies Addresses Coyotes Leaving Arizona

It was revealed yesterday that the Arizona Coyotes will be relocating to Salt Lake City Utah. Today, Toronto Maple Leafs rookie and Phoenix, Arizona native Matthew Knies made a statement about the team being moved.

The Coyotes have dominated the NHL newscycle over the past 24 hours with news that their relocation could be imminent. As such, players around the league have chipped in with their thoughts on the situation. However, this move means more to some players, including Leafs rookie Matthew Knies, who grew up in the Phoenix area and was a Coyotes fan. Today he shared some of his thoughts on the move.


His comments go much further than that as well. He talked about how he grew up rooting for the team and attending their home games, crediting them for why he got into hockey himself. Players like Knies and fellow Leaf Auston Matthews are proof that bringing the game to places like Arizona can improve the quality of the league overall as new talent is found in unlikely places.





The Coyotes may not have worked out the way the NHL hoped they would, but at the very least we got to see Auston Matthews play because of them. Like Knies, he likely would never have played hockey had the team not existed. For that, hockey fans should be eternally grateful.



Source: HockeyFeed
Leafs rookie Matthew Knies gives a heartbreaking statement on Coyotes' situation