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GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Phoenix Coyotes general manager Don Maloney stood at a podium deep inside Jobing.com Arena and talked about his contract extension, his priorities over the next few months and the future of the organization. Just five miles down Glendale Avenue at City Hall, the NHLs hierarchy and a potential new ownership group met with members of the Glendale City Council to discuss a new arena lease agreement, the final hurdle in a four-year quest to keep the franchise in Arizona. Yes, both are encouraging steps toward finally giving the Coyotes some long-awaited stability. But with as many times as this saga has offered false hope in the past, it might be better to wait until all the papers have been officially signed before getting too excited. "The positive is that the NHL is meeting Glendale and there is going to be some sort of resolution in the weeks ahead," Maloney said during a news conference on Tuesday. "Whatever that means, we dont know, but we know were moving forward in that area." Maloney has been at the franchises helm for six seasons, the past four working with the financial and operational restraints of being run by the NHL. He was successful at pulling just the right strings, putting together a team that made the playoffs three of the past four seasons, including having the best year in franchise history. Despite having one of the most unenviable front-office positions in all of sports, Maloney wanted to stay with the Coyotes and took a leap of faith that the ownership issue would be resolved, agreeing to a long-term contract extension last week. The Coyotes added more stability on Tuesday, exercising contract extensions on associate coach Jim Playfair and goalie coach Sean Burke. Head coach Dave Tippett, who attended Tuesdays news conference, is expected to sign a deal to stay with the organization in the next few weeks and Maloney is hoping to work out deals to keep the rest of the support and scouting staffs. There are also numerous players to re-sign, including No. 1 goalie Mike Smith and forward Boyd Gordon, who both become free agents on July 1. What happens with all those deals will likely hinge on what happens with the ownership situation. Last week, the NHL agreed to sell the team to Renaissance Sports & Entertainment, a group headed by Canadian investors George Gosbee, Anthony LeBlanc and Daryl Jones. Their deal is contingent upon reaching a lease agreement for Jobing.com Arena with the city of Glendale. The potential owners joined NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly in Glendale on Tuesday, meeting first with Glendale Mayor Jerry Weier, then with City Council members to begin lease-agreement talks. "We had a number of constructive meetings today with the Mayor, various members of the City Council and the acting City Manager," Daly said in a statement. "Everyone involved in todays discussions shares the desire and ultimate objective of transitioning the ownership of the Coyotes and safeguarding the franchises long-term future in Glendale. We expect that representatives from the Renaissance group will begin meeting with the City to see if a mutually agreeable lease arrangement can be forged expeditiously. We will have no further comment pending completion of that process." Its an encouraging step, but the organization and its fans have been close before, only to be disappointed. The Coyotes have been operated by the NHL since they were purchased out of U.S. Bankruptcy Court in 2009 following former owner Jerry Moyes attempt to sell the team to Blackberry founder Jim Balsillie, who wanted to move the franchise to Hamilton, Ontario. Since then, the franchise has had numerous suitors, most recently former San Jose Sharks CEO Greg Jamison. His bid fell through in January, when he was unable to pull the necessary funds and investors together to meet a lease agreement deadline with Glendale. Numerous potential owners cropped up after that, but the NHL went with RSE, which has several partners who were part of a previous effort to buy the team under the name Ice Edge Inc. RSE and the NHL moved toward finalizing the deal with Tuesdays initial meeting with Glendale officials. "The City Council will not be making a decision regarding the Coyotes until all pertinent information has been collected and reviewed and all the available options have been thoroughly studied," the city said in a statement. "This includes several bids the city is expected to receive this Friday (May 31) from qualified venue managers interested in operating the city owned Jobing.com Arena. Glendale is committed to moving forward on a plan that is in the best interests of our city and our citizens." While RSE and the NHL work on a deal with Glendale, Maloney will continue running the team as he has the past four years without an owner. Hell do it, though, with an eye on the future, knowing an owner could be in place and finally loosen the purse strings. "Weve been going kind of sideways the last two or three years in regards of really building something lasting," Maloney said. "Weve sort of been in survival mode here for quite some time and we know with the right, stable group, the hockey side is in very good position." Maloneys first priority will be to sign Tippett. A master technician and one of the games best defensive minds, he came to the desert in the midst of the ownership chaos in 2009. Playing with a roster low on front-line talent, he moulded the Coyotes into his grinding style, leading them to the playoffs three straight seasons and the franchises first NHL division title and trip to the Western Conference finals in 2011-12. Tippett would have no trouble finding a job elsewhere, but has maintained all along that he likes the group in Phoenix and hopes to stay with the Coyotes. "Were just going to see how it plays out over the next few weeks," Tippett said. "I came here on a leap of faith and Im not going to jump off that. We just want to make sure that all the pieces are in place here so ultimately you have a chance to win." Finally landing an owner would be the biggest piece toward that. Adidas Shoes Clearance Sale . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. Cheap Wholesale Adidas Shoes .1 million pounds ($61.2 million) on Saturday, giving the beleaguered English Premier League champions a major lift. http://www.cheapadidassale.com/ .ca. Hey Kerry, big fan of yours, just finished reading your book. I think that we all saw the Canucks/Flames line brawl just after puck drop. It was obvious that something was about to happen, even to the referees because the fourth lines were on to start. Cheap Adidas Shoes Online . Clarke was injured while practicing on the Doha Golf Club range after the pro-am on Tuesday. The Northern Irishman arrived at the course on Wednesday hoping to start, but after hitting a few balls on the practice putting green Clarke advised officials he was not fit to play. Adidas Shoes Discount Sale . Brandon Morrow allowed five runs on six hits over three innings. He struck out two, walked one and hit a batter. Edwin Encarnacion had a two-out, bases loaded two-RBI double in the third inning. HONOLULU -- Arizona coach Sean Miller came up with perfect ending for his Wildcats.Kadeem Allen took the ball the length of the court and scored with 1.3 seconds left and the 10th-ranked Wildcats beat No. 12 Michigan State 65-63 on Friday night in the Armed Forces Classic.Putting the ball in (Allens) hands in that situation was I think the smart move, and he did a great job finishing, Miller said.The Wildcats fell behind by double figures early.We just got off to a terrible start, but a lot of times when youre not at home and you get off to a slow start, Miller said. You dont necessarily put it behind you, but we did and I credit our team for being able to do that.Kobi Simmons led the Wildcats in the season opener for both teams with 18 points while Lauri Markkanen scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds. Allen finished with 10 points.Simmons stepped up big time, first half he really carried the team on his back. Allen said. We fed off his energy and just played basketball.I feel like you have to have confidence when you step on the floor, Simmons said. My teammates know what we need to do, and I came in and just sparked the movement.The Wildcats won despite playing without guard Allonzo Trier, who is out for unspecified reasons. Trier was Arizonas third-leading scorer last season at 14.8 points per game.Michigan State freshman Miles Bridges wowed the crowd with some impressive dunks and he finished with 21 points and seven rebounds.The turnovers were ridiculous, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. We competed on the boards. We actually did a hell of a job on the boards considering we couldnt give anybody a rest because of the foul trouble we were in. That really hurt us in the first half when we were playing exceptionally well. I thought they turned up the heat, they did a pretty good job, but the mistakes we made were freshman errors and the layups we missed, you cant do that against good teams and win.Izzo took some of the blame for the opening loss.If I look at it big picture, I thought we outplayed them morre than they outplayed us and I love their team.dddddddddddd I think they have a good team, he said. To compete like we did, theres a positive in that but weve got a long way to go at executing down the stretch. And thats my fault. Just trouble adjusting to the lineups, I have to do a better job.The Wildcats are also missing redshirt freshman Ray Smith, who tore his right ACL for the second straight year during an exhibition game against College of Idaho. The torn ACL was Smiths third in three years, leading him to end his basketball career.Michigan State announced last month that forward Ben Carter, a graduate transfer from UNLV, needed knee surgery that will keep him out an extended period, after he was hurt while defending a shot.BIG PICTUREARIZONA: Michigan State was the Wildcats highest-ranked season-opening opponent since 2001-02 when they opened against No. 2 Maryland. Expect the Wildcats to compete for the Pac-12 title and a potential deep run in the NCAA Tournament. How long Trier is out will play a big role early in the season.MICHIGAN STATE: This was the first of several big tests in November. The Spartans will face second-ranked Kentucky, No. 1 Duke and potentially, No. 13 Louisville later this month. They have never faced three top 15 opponents in November and have never played four top 15 opponents in any month during the regular season.TURNAROUNDSimmons came into the game after the Spartans took the early lead.Kobi Simmons, for a freshman, showed a lot of confidence, a lot of ability. We went into halftime and I think he had 15 of our 34 points, and thats a big reason we got back in the game. Miller said. He has a lot of talent. We watch him every day and I think the best is yet to come for him, too.UP NEXTARIZONA: Arizona faces Cal State Bakersfield on Tuesday in Tucson.MICHIGAN STATE: The Spartans will play No. 2 Kentucky at the Champions Classic in New York on Tuesday. ' ' '