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After seven months of turbulence and holding patterns, the Winnipeg Jets flew out of Minnesota arena space Monday, pushed by more-certain revenue streams and diverted by more-certain landing space to Phoenix, Ariz.
Richard Burke, the former health-care magnate from Medina, decided that an offer from St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman to move the team to the St. Paul Civic Center was filled with too many unknowns at too late of a date.
"Time simply wasn't on our side," said Coleman, whose last-ditch effort to bring the Jets to Minnesota scored the mayor major points with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.
"We had simply reached a point where we have to put an end to the uncertainty," said Burke, who told Coleman on Monday morning that the concept of refurbishing Civic Center arena and turning over its management to the Jets just couldn't work right now.
Coleman had talked about a $20 million improvement of the arena.
Architectural consultants to Burke suggested the 23-year-old facility needed at least twice that much. The length of time construction would take was also a question mark.
"How much renovation? What's the cost? What's the time line?" Coleman said at a late afternoon news conference, describing some of the unanswered Civic Center questions. "Is it a year? Is it two years?"
Burke, at the mayor's side, said the lengthy Jets roller coaster - which started in the spring with an on-again, off-again sale - "reached the point where it's an embarrassment to the league."
Burke said serious discussions would begin today to complete a deal to take the $65 million team to Phoenix's America West Arena. He said he was "very optimistic" that he and partner Steven Gluckstern would have terms in place within the week.
He...