New group plans offer for bankrupt NHL Coyotes

* Group of Canadians, Americans weighing offer for Coyotes

* New potential bidder would keep team in Arizona

By Ben Klayman

CHICAGO, July 11 (Reuters) - A third group that could potentially bid for the Phoenix Coyotes is a group of Canadians and Americans who plan to keep the bankrupt National Hockey League team in Arizona, representatives for the group said on Saturday.

"We're looking at it as a potential investment," Daryl Jones, a managing partner with New Haven, Connecticut-based research firm Research Edge, said in a phone interview. "The scenario itself is enticing. You have a company in bankruptcy and one bidder."

Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes, a trucking magnate, put the team into bankruptcy in May with the plan to sell it for $212.5 million to Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie, the co-chief executive of BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM.TO) who wants to move the team to Hamilton, Ontario.

The NHL opposes relocation of the team and has backed a bid of up to $148 million by Jerry Reinsdorf, owner of the Chicago Bulls basketball team and Chicago White Sox baseball club and a part-time Arizona resident.

Reinsdorf was the only bidder to submit an offer by the court's June 26 deadline for parties wanting to keep the team in Arizona, but definitive bids are not due until July 24.

An auction for the team will be held Aug. 5, limited to bidders planning to keep the team in Arizona. If bids by Reinsdorf or others are deemed inadequate, a second auction would be held on Sept. 10 and open to bidders who have the option to move the team.

The Coyotes are considered one of the less valuable NHL teams. By contrast, a deal was recently reached to sell the storied Montreal Canadiens for almost $575 million.

Jones said his group is a mix of Canadian and U.S. business people with experience in finance, entertainment and marketing, but would not reveal who they are other than to say Research

Edge may invest as well. The plan would be to keep the Coyotes in Arizona.

"We have every intention to move forward if the cards fall as we expect them to," Research Edge CEO Keith McCullough said.

McCullough and Jones would not confirm whether their group was the one the NHL referred to in court documents Thursday.

The NHL said it had been approached by another potential bidder for the Coyotes, which is coached and partly owned by hockey's all-time leading scorer, Wayne Gretzky.

The sports league said the new group was interested in keeping the team in Arizona. The NHL said the group plans to submit an application for transfer of ownership but it is not clear if it will submit a definitive bid by July 24.