The National Hockey League ownership group has a problem with Ellman securing $60 million in insured financing from a Japanese bank and wants him to find as much as $20 million in funding from another source. Ellman has said that getting the financing is possible, but not by the Dec. 31 deadline that had been set for closing the deal. Ellman and Wayne Gretzky have agreed to purchase the team for $87 million.

The former owner of the team, Richard Burke, has extended the deadline, but the city of Scottsdale has yet to follow suit. Just last week, the board voted to hold Ellman to several conditions regarding locating a new 17,000-seat ice hockey arena on site of the former Los Arcos Mall.

One of those conditions calls for Ellman to complete the deal by Dec. 31. The city has stipulated that he meet all conditions before city officials agree to extend the life of the Los Arcos Stadium District, which would provide Ellman with as much as $100 million in public funding for the project.

The city council may meet Tuesday to modify the conditions and extend the district.

The ice hockey arena is the cornerstone of the redevelopment of the southeast corner of McDowell and Scottsdale roads in south Scottsdale. The $550-million project also will include hundreds of sf feet of retail shops and restaurants, a movie theater, a hotel, condominiums and office space.