"The latest bidder for the Phoenix Coyotes has backed out of the deal, the National Hockey League said Monday, leaving Glendale and the league to start over yet again in the search for a new owner for the hockey team.

Bill Daly, deputy commissioner of the NHL, said Monday that he understood Matthew Hulsizer had pulled his bid and that Glendale, which owns the Coyotes' home arena and depends on the team to lease it, would pursue another deal "with one or more other potential purchasers."

Brad Goldberg, a spokesman for the Hulsizer group, would not comment. A Glendale spokeswoman said only that the city is negotiating and exploring its options.

In May 2009, the Coyotes' former owner put the team into bankruptcy, saying he couldn't keep losing money, and the NHL subsequently took over ownership. Since then, some have speculated the team could return to Canada, but the league and the city have sought a new buyer willing to keep the team in Arizona.

The city in May pledged another $25 million to the NHL to keep the team in Glendale through next season. The city had paid that same amount in 2010.

Any deal with a new buyer will depend on an agreement with Glendale. A new owner would likely want a better arena lease to help right the team's finances. The city needs the revenue to continue making bond payments on its $180 million cost to open the arena in 2003.

Glendale and Hulsizer thought they had struck a deal six months ago, when the city agreed to pay the Chicago businessman $197 million over five years. That would have helped Hulsizer pay the NHL's $170 million asking price.

But the Goldwater Institute threatened a lawsuit, saying the deal amounted to an illegal subsidy."