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Owners examined making pitch to purchase the Coyotes http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...rticle1272820/

The mother of the family that owns the Vancouver Canucks made a pitch to buy the Phoenix Coyotes for her husband this year, U.S. court filings reveal.

Elisa Aquilini offered to buy the Coyotes a couple of months before the club filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors so that her husband, Luigi, could own an NHL team, according to documents filed in an Arizona bankruptcy court.

The couple met with Earl Scudder, a Phoenix lawyer who represents Coyotes majority owner Jerry Moyes. In the filing, Scudder said the Aquilinis were interested in buying the Coyotes because the Canucks had “done so well that Luigi wanted to have a team that he could own.”

The Aquilini family took control of the Canucks in 2006 and the ownership is divided between Elisa and the couple’s three sons, Roberto, Francesco, and Paolo. Luigi is not an owner of the Canucks.

In the filing, Scudder said the NHL would not have approved Elisa owning a stake in two clubs, so the couple discussed putting the Coyotes ownership into the hands of another family member. In the end, no offer was made.

Francesco confirmed his parents’ interest but “it didn’t work out.” He added that “there was some concern [about] a husband and wife owning two different teams.”

The Aquilinis were among more than a dozen potential buyers of the Coyotes, Scudder added. Others included movie mogul Jerry Bruckheimer, who backed out at the $200-million (all currency U.S.) asking price for the Coyotes; oil tycoon Max Chambers, who Scudder said was more interested in buying an NFL team; the Maloof family, which owns the Sacramento Kings of the NBA; and former Montreal Canadiens owner George Gillett, who offered to help find a Canadian buyer for the Coyotes.