Darin Pastor, CEO of Irvine, Calif.-based Capstone Affluent Strategies, is forming an exploratory committee in an effort to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes, an NHL franchise, and keep the team in Glendale, Ariz.

The Coyotes went bankrupt in 2009 and have been run by the NHL for the past three seasons. Other potential buyers reportedly have considered moving the franchise. Despite financial woes, the Coyotes have managed to reach the Stanley Cup playoffs each of the last three years and made it to the Western Conference finals in 2012.

In a prepared statement, Pastor indicated he had reached out to Mike Nealy, chief operating officer and alternate governor of the Coyotes. Pastor grew up in Buffalo, N.Y., where his family had bought the Buffalo Bisons hockey team in 1956. In 1971, they sold the Bisons shortly after they joined the NHL and became the Buffalo Sabres.

Pastor is CEO and principal with Capstone, a wealth management firm with offices in Irvine, Phoenix and 10 other cities. It is affiliated with LPL Financial.