The Western Hockey Exchange

Don Maloney's Encore Performance

2010-06-27T13:59:00.000-07:00

Last year, Don Maloney was voted General Manager of the year in the National Hockey League. This year he may have an even tougher job holding together the Phoenix Coyotes.

Maloney built the Coyotes hugely successful 2009-10 team primarily through deft trading and smart shopping in the free agent bargain aisle. While a few pre Maloney draft picks are impacting the team at the NHL level, the club hasn’t gotten a lot of help from more recent drafts. Hopefully that help is on the way because the budget constraints of league ownership will likely force the Yotes’ into more than desired roster turnover for the 2010-11 season.

Only a handful of people – Don Maloney, Gary Bettman, Bill Daly and a handful of NHL Governors know what the Coyotes actual player budget is for 2010-11. Since Maloney said it was an increase over last year (and we are pretty sure it was in the $44MM neighborhood last time around) I’m thinking it is in the neighborhood of $47.4. That’s midway between the cap floor ($43.4) and the cap midpoint ($51.4) And if it’s not that high, owners in waiting Anthony LeBlanc and Daryl Jones may be chewing on the NHL to loosen up the budget pocketbook a little so the Coyotes can try to keep one or two of their highly valued UFAs.

It’s not the end of the world. Even with new owners, it is likely the Coyotes will have a self imposed budget until revenue streams improve. And with a number of young players seemingly ready to challenge for NHL jobs, the budget should be manageable. Unfortunately the margin for error is not great.

Maloney is doing everything he can to stretch his checkbook. He’s already signed four restricted free agents – Adrian Aucoin, Scottie Upshall, Taylor Pyatt and Woltek Wolski. Wolski got a big contract (2 years at $3.8MM) worthy of his status as the team’s most skilled forward. Pyatt and Aucoin both accepted backloaded two year deals to help the payroll logjam and Upshall is in on a one year contract. In a perfect world the Coyotes would have liked to lock Upshall up for a longer tern but with the uncertainty of ownership and Upshall coming back from ACL surgery, it was the best deal for all concerned. The downside is that he will be an unrestricted free agent next June and may be in line for a much larger contract.

Think of it as Maloney’s version of “buy now, pay later”.

That good news has somewhat obscured the pressing issues facing the Yotes. The team has four unrestricted free agents – Matthew Lombardi, Zbynek Michalek, Lee Stempniak and Derek Morris – and all are free to sign with any team in the league on July 1st.

Michalek was always the least likely to return to Phoenix. The 27 year old defenseman has been one of the Coyotes strongest players and best values since joining the team in a trade with the Minnesota Wild. He’s in line for a whopping raise from his current $1.25MM wage to something in the $3.5 – 4MM neighborhood and will command a 4-5 year term. That’s a lot of money for a defensive defenseman. With the Coyotes depth on defense and the need to open spots for younger players, it’s unlikely he can be fit into the budget going forward. It has been widely speculated that Z will join his kid brother in Ottawa. Don’t be surprised to see his rights swapped to another NHL team in advance of the July 1 UFA marketplace.

I’ve always felt Lee Stempniak would not stay in Phoenix. A playoff rental, he took Upshall’s place on the forward lines. Stempniak has been a streaky player throughout his career, best illustrated by his 14 goals in 18 regular season games after joining the team and then being zipped in the 7 game playoff series. Thanks for your service Lee, but unless the price drops to bargain levels, he won’t be back.

If Michalek does leave, it increases the chances Derek Morris will return. I thought there was only room for one of Morris or Aucoin on the backline but Derek is a favorite of team management and a permanent Valley resident. The hard reality of the market place is that he will have to accept less money for the privilege but I don’t think there will be much of a market for his services. He may end up with a team friendly contract similar to Aucoin.

And finally, Matt Lombardi is the fourth unrestricted free agent of note. Lombardi, who came from Calgary in Maloney’s signature trade (along with the pick that turned into Brandon Gormely), is the free agent who seemed most likely to resign with the team. Losing him will hurt.

While Lombardi is a not to be confused with a number one center, he’s an excellent player who brings great speed, versatility and energy to the team. He’s a good penalty killer and scored a number of key goals last year. And he's also a part of the young veteran core that really carried the team last year.

Players with similar skills and results have gotten free agent contracts in the $3.25MM range for 3-4 years. It would seem that kind of deal could fit under the current constraints. Unless the bidding becomes prohibitive I expect Maloney will be in on Lombardi.

The Coyotes have in house replacements available but organization depth will clearly be affected. Kyle Turris, who showed signs of fulfilling his immense promise in the second half of last season, could step in for Lombardi. Don Maloney commented on NHL radio during the draft that he thought Turris would be in the NHL this year. Last year’s first draft pick, Oliver Ekman-Larsson is likely to secure a position on defense. Upshall’s return will mitigate the loss of Stempniak. If Kurt Sauer can return from post concussion syndrome, he could step in nicely for Michalek.

Free agent additions? Don’t expect much. Unless a goalscorer becomes available at bargain prices, the Coyotes seem pretty set. They have a ton of role players and need to work some younger blood into the lineup.

Trades? Not likely. Jim Vandermeer’s contract eats up an inordinate amount of cap space and he could be moved in a deal similar to the David Hale/Todd Fedoruk/Radim Vrbata trade last year. One possibility is the Coyotes regular trading partner the New York Rangers. The Rangers need a team to take Donald Brashear off their hands. Brashear is heading to the KHL but still carries a $1.4MM cap hit because he signed his contract over the age of 35. The Coyotes can accommodate the cap hit as long as no cash goes out. Vandermeer would fill a need as a 6th/7th defenseman in New York and the Rangers have plenty of money to buy him out or bury the contract in the minors. That additional wiggle room could make the difference between the Yotes’ keeping a few of their UFAs.

It will be an interesting few days but most of the Coyotes business will probably be outbound this week. It’s a shame because some very big contributors may not be here next year. But in a salary cap world, especially one muddled even more by the team’s ongoing financial uncertainty, you get the feeling that the reigning GM of the year has one or two big time performances up his sleeve. Hope he saved his greatest hits for the encore.

Sometimes, "The Check is in the Mail", Doesn't Quite Cut It.

2010-06-01T16:47:00.000-07:00

It went something like this. The City if Glendale took a deep breath and voted to meet the National Hockey League’s demand for $25MM in guarantees to cover any losses the Coyotes incur in 2010-11. The City, expecting to make a deal with either the Jerry Reinsdorf group or Ice Edge Holdings, nodded and smiled, saying it was likely the money would never be needed.

And so they lived happily ever after, right?

Not quite. The NHL had a slightly different view of the proceedings. Partly because of the large number of NHL teams opening in Europe (including the Coyotes) this year and partly because other teams (desperately) need a schedule in hand to sell tickets; the NHL wants to publish the 2010-11 schedule in late June, three weeks earlier than usual. And if the Coyotes were to be slotted in Arizona and not some other far away city, the league wanted to see the money. Now.

As others have reported, the league was ready to pull the plug on the Coyotes. Ready as in a 5PM deadline or we’re going to Winnipeg…or Kansas City…or somewhere, anywhere else. NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly was in town to collect and he wasn’t leaving without a check. The alternative? There wasn’t one. Daly was here to foreclose. The patience of the NHL has clearly been stretched by the Coyotes predicament.

And for once, the Canadian media wasn’t engaging in sensationalism. It was dead nuts serious. I heard the story as it was happening but was waiting to learn more from the Brahm Resnick’s of the world. After all, they have better sources than I do, don’t they?

But once again, Glendale produced. As in $25MM borrowed from a very large ($400MM+) capital expenditures fund held by the city. And you thought all local governments were broke.

So what got us to this latest crisis?

One can reasonably assume that there is some friction between the Jerry Reinsdorf group and Glendale. After all, they have a Memorandum of Understanding, with The City. That usually is the precursor to a formal lease. But for whatever reason, we’re not getting from station to station very easily here. Our guess is that the City is doing everything possible to build a lease that insulates themselves against legal action from the Goldwater Institute. And we’re also guessing that Team Reinsdorf is driving a very hard bargain. After all, this ain’t a blue sky sale. So both sides continue to negotiate, posture and talk. Hopefully.

And by calling Ice Edge Holdings and asking if they would still like to talk about the Coyotes, Glendale City manager Ed Beasley clearly wasn’t above putting some pressure on the Reinsdorf group. The good folks at Ice Edge said sure (well maybe) we’ll get back in this thing. With of course a guarantee of exclusivity. When you’ve been ditched once, a fairly firm pre nuptial is usually recommended.

But alas, there’s no exclusivity for Ice Edge and the assumption is that Team Reinsdorf is still in play. John Kaites was joined at the hip to Daly at the recent Glendale Council meeting and we’ve heard he’s been involved not only in negotiations but also staying close to the Coyotes decision making process. So that would indicate it’s a when, not if for the Reinsdorf Group to take control of the franchise.

Meanwhile, Ice Edge quietly remains on the sidelines. We say quietly because the very glib (at least on Twitter) Daryl Jones has been quiet lately. That may be a good thing. If the Ice Edge talks with Glendale are “taking a nap” (not my words, those of that well known unnamed source) then I expect they will either fade from the scene or get a wakeup call soon. Perhaps they already have. Apparently though, and to the chagrin of many local hockey fans, they are the fallback plan.

What we do know is that the Coyotes will play in Glendale next year. They may or may not be the Arizona Coyotes (they certainly would be by 2011) but there will be hockey here next year. Season ticket invoices have been mailed, the NHL schedule is going to be released in three weeks (and did someone say that the Coyotes are going to open at home Saturday October 16th against a certain despised Western Conference team?) and we can turn our attention to hockey again.

Aside from the risky nature of the investment, it’s been asked of me and others how any deal for the Coyotes can work right now. Here are four important things to consider.

Bank financing is starting to thaw. The money spigot isn’t exactly running wide open yet but business conditions are improving. Banks are lending. And that’s a good thing. Heck, even Basha’s has lined up $210MM to try and turn that battleship around. Sports teams used to be able to get money easily. A return to the go-go days is unlikely but a liquid money supply is important to making this deal work.

Secondly, for any group trying to buy a team, this is a clean slate and a fresh start. No old bills, no lose financial ends and no legal fights with past and former owners. It’s a clean deal. Unlike say, the Atlanta Thrashers, where the team owners have spent most of the franchises existence in court suing each other. In business, clean deals are good. Don’t underestimate the importance of a fresh start.

Next, there’s the Coyotes organization. On the playing side, it’s in pretty good shape. A roster loaded with value, a farm system with significant assets and a great management and coaching team in place. And on the business side, it’s basically a shell that new owners can staff as they see fit.

And finally, there’s the small matter of what happened at the end of the season. 8 straight sellouts including all four playoff games. New sponsors coming on for the playoffs. A point in time where the Coyotes actually dominated sports talk radio. OK, nobody dominates KTAR other than the house teams but there even were days (hours?) when they actually sounded more like their worthy competitors. Heck, even Dave Byrnes talked about hockey a few times. Anyone who was watching closely knows this isn’t a doomed team that plays 50 miles out of town. Quite the contrary, I’d say.

All good things and all essential for the success of new ownership.

Of course, all of these things mean little if the new owners cannot build an organization that wins on and off the ice. There’s not a large margin of error for the new owners, whoever they turn out to be. And for the City of Glendale, there’s really no margin of error left. They have to, no make that need to, get new owners in here right now to rebuild the front office, make sure Don Maloney has a competitive budget to retain key players and get a staff on the streets selling tickets and advertising.

Interesting sidebar – I had friends from Toronto visit during the playoffs. They couldn’t believe the arena location was an issue and loved the entire experience. “Feels like a hockey town to me”, said my friend.

Yeah, it did feel like a hockey town, even if it was just a month. But what a glorious thought it is that this could be a hockey town for a long, long time. And what a feeling it would be.

I Wish I Knew...

2010-05-10T21:00:00.000-07:00

...what was going in with the City of Glendale. It seems like there are a lot of normally talkative people who are very quiet right now.

After strong indications that Ice Edge Holdings would get an exclusive negotiating window to close the Coyotes deal, talks between the City and IEH broke off today. Among the nuggets that have floated out was that the City had spoken to Ice Edge's bank to confirm that they had the financing available to close the deal. That certainly sounds serious. Monitoring Daryl Jones' tweets today, there are apparently multiple reasons that led to the latest twist in the road.

Tomorrow night, the Glendale City Council meets. They pretty much have to accept the resolution to cover the team's losses next year or the NHL will start making noise about moving the team. A logical man senses that the Council must accept that and already have a tacit agreement in place to do exactly that. If they are simply going to throw in the towel, it makes no sense to send away the one buyer who really seems to want the team.

Glendale's managers and councilors must know something we don't know. Tomorrow night, they will have to show their cards. A wise poker player knows what everyone has in ther hands before they make their move. Let's hope we are not looking at a full house being trumped by four aces.

Making Sense of This Nonsense

2010-05-09T14:19:00.000-07:00

A lot can happen in a week.

On Monday night, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman addressed the media in Chicago prior to the Hawks game with the Canucks. Most important nugget to Arizona hockey fans? A quote from his holiness that a deal to sell the Phoenix Coyotes to a group headed by Jerry Reinsdorf would be beneficial to the franchise and the league.

"It will be great for this league and that franchise if Jerry is able, with his partners, to consummate that transaction," Bettman said Monday night before Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals between the Vancouver Canucks and Blackhawks.

And we all lived happily ever after. Right?

Not quite.

Like many sound bites, it faded quickly. The seemingly never ending ownership saga took some new and quite unexpected turns in the past 72 hours. First we heard from the well connected Darren Dreger that Ice Edge, the enthusiastic group of young businessmen, had gotten a call from the City of Glendale inviting them back to the dance. And then we learned that the NHL had asked (told may be more like it) Glendale to guarantee any losses the team might suffer in 2010-11 if new ownership could not be completed by the start of the league season (July 1st).

So what to make of all of this?

Well, we’ve done a little digging and will try to add some context to what is going on.

The NHL is running out of patience with the City of Glendale. The league is facing a June 30th deadline on which they will void the Jobing.Com Arena lease and send it back the Moyes estate if new owners are in place. They are also in the process of drawing the 2010-11 schedule and need to start firming up where this team will be playing next year. Typically the schedule is completed by the first week of July.

The NHL has been extremely patient with Glendale, the bidders and the process but now they are bringing the issue to a head. They have asked the City to guarantee any losses the team has if new owners are not in place by July 1. In effect, they will commit the team here for at least another year but they will not fund the losses.

The message to Glendale is clear – agree to fund the losses if they can’t make a deal with an owner or get a deal done with a buyer the league will approve. And fast. Even though both groups have been vetted by the NHL, there’s still a little matter of finalizing financing and getting the other team owners to approve the sale. Nothing is certain until the Board of Governors approves the transaction.

Let's clarify one important point. The league’s objective is not to have Glendale become the owner or the bankroll the team for an entire season. No one expects a government entity to cover the teams losses from city funds. Even in good times, that dog doesn’t hunt. What the league does want is assurances that Glendale won’t drag this dance on and the best way to do that is to apply significant economic pressure on the city.

And Glendale seems to have gotten the message. The proposal the Council will vote on funds any losses from the special district that will accompany the sale of the team. It’s the same mechanism that will generate more income from ticket surcharges, parking fees and some incremental taxes on the Westgate development to help new owners. And I’m guessing that the City fathers and mothers have already worked out what this means behind closed doors.

Now, about those new owners. At some point, the Team Reinsdorf and/or someone at the City of Glendale realized that the sweetheart deal cut to save the team might be very difficult to pull off. I don’t know who got cool feet first but it’s clear that someone flinched enough that the City decided to call Ice Edge and see if they had made other prom plans. Right now no one is confirming or denying the Reinsdorf deal is officially off but it’s seems shaky enough that Elaine Scruggs and Ed Beasley will likely be getting their ring back this week.

This of course, now brings Ice Edge back into the picture. For those of us who have communicated with the Ice Edge group formally or informally and the many Coyotes fans who have hung on every word of this soap opera, that’s good news. The perception is that these are good guys, they love hockey and as I have told you on several occasions, they have money. These are not the Little Sisters of the Poor trying to buy a hockey team.

And to Ice Edge’s credit, they are also applying some pretty big pressure to Glendale. You want a deal? Then we want to be your exclusive dance partner. When someone jilts you, paybacks can be a bear. Sometime in the next day or two (or perhaps already) it appears they will be getting an exclusive agreement that effectively means the Reinsdorf bid is off the table. And all of Glendale’s chips will now be squarely on their shoulders.

While the Reinsdorf brand may have the bigger reputation and the unabashed support of the Commissioner, I’m an Ice Edge guy. I just think these guys have the energy, acumen and enthusiasm to pull it off. They want to make money but they don’t seem to be in it just for the money. I like their style.

The drama resume on Tuesday. The Glendale Council will vote on the short term proposal to mollify the NHL. Once that proposal is passed, the negotiations with Ice Edge and the NHL will likely be at warp speed.

And if all this fails, we’ll all have a lot to talk about on Wednesday. Much of which won’t be good.

On a separate note I want to thank all of you who have called, written tweeted or texted me supporting the Western Hockey Exchange. I haven’t been able to write as much as I would like lately but I’ll try to stay on top of things in the next few days.

Glendale's Got (Skin In The) Game

2010-04-01T17:46:00.000-07:00

The ball, or shall we say the puck, is in Glendale’s end of the ice. And time is running out.

From day one, we have contended both here and on our frequent calls to sports talk radio that sooner or later, Glendale will have to come forward with lease accommodations or the Coyotes will leave town. Now it’s not only playoff talk that’s heating up. The negotiations to sell the Coyotes have reached a critical stage. Expect news, perhaps big news, in the next few days.

There is a lot of pressure on the Glendale City Council. The Coyotes have become the hot team in town in recent weeks, with their tremendous regular season culminating in a playoff spot. What’s more, as long predicted, the city is responding to the team. Crowds are building. It seems like Coyotes players are everywhere on radio and television. Even chronically disinterested sportscasters like Dave Byrnes and Bob Kemp are starting to pay attention.

The Glendale City Council heard proposals from both groups on Tuesday. No action was taken. There’s been talk that the City is stalling to let Jerry Reinsdorf’s group further their negotiations but little solid proof that is the case. Reinsdorf’s insistence on some kind of an out clause could be a deal breaker for the city.

And while the Coyotes future is the most time sensitive issue, there are a lot of moving parts in Glendale right now. And most of them are moving in the wrong direction. The city continues to fight the Tohono O'odham Indian Nation over their plans to build a casino a mile north of Westgate. Construction has not yet started on the USA basketball development center. And the city’s Main Street development, which is intended to pay for much of the City’s Camelback Ranch debt, has been delayed by financing issues.

Now it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that a) the fate of the Coyotes, b) the construction of the basketball center and c) the lack of the Main Street development to pay for Camelback Ranch all have the potential to be revenue drains on the city. Big revenue drains. At a time where cities are scrambling to keep police and firemen on the street, it’s a litany of issues that Glendale doesn’t need.

The financial issues of car wash entrepreneur Danny Hendon haven’t helped either. Hendon had signed on to the Ice Edge group as an investor and was one of the lead players in financing the Main Street development. He and his money are occupied right now reorganizing his core businesses in bankruptcy court.

Of all of Glendale’s issues, only one, the proposed Tohono O'odham casino, is a potential revenue generator.

I believe the ultimate solution to all of these problems may in some way include revenue from the proposed Indian casino in Glendale. That's how Pittsburgh solved their arena problem. I could never understand why Glendale would not embrace a project that would create jobs and add excitement to the 101 corridor but I do know that money is the mother’s milk of politics. A revenue stream from a proposed casino could be the key to getting all of these disparate projects off the ground. I don’t know what form that may take but I do know the Tribe would certainly like to get building and be good local citizens. This may be their ticket to play in Glendale.

The relative quiet about the casino issue plus the clandestine nature of the Coyote negotiations suggest to me something big is going on. I wouldn’t be surprised if the NHL was briefed about negotiations when Gary Bettman and Bill Daly met with Glendale City officials two weeks ago. Glendale knows they must act to keep the team. They may in fact have already settled on a backup plan (i.e. the favored Coyotes offer) if a bigger deal cannot be struck. Remember, we are talking about politicians. They know that voters are in a firing mood right now. They want to settle this issue quickly and with the greatest possible benefit to Glendale.

The NHL has a lot of clout to wield. The “news” that the NHL can void the Glendale lease at the end of June is not a surprise to anyone who read the court filings last year. The league can’t (and won’t) carry the team forever. But here’s another one you may not have heard – the concert business at Jobing.com Arena is controlled by AEG, a major player in the NHL. AEG owns the Los Angeles Kings and Staples Center. Healthy concert revenue is the one bright spot in the arena’s business plan. Pull the plug on that relationship and Glendale has a building on their hands destined to become a very large warehouse. AEG has a nice fallback in the US Air Center if they ever decided to move their concert business.

Perhaps the most interesting morsel over the last few days came with Ice Edge hiring former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods to finalize a new lease agreement with the city of Glendale. Woods is a skilled and experienced politician. He’s also highly respected around town. His presence on the Ice Edge team may neutralize any advantage that lobbyist John Kaites provided to the Reinsdorf group. Remember one thing about Ice Edge -- they are very serious.

And remember what we have previously told you. An NHL team executive told me that Ice Edge has the money to do the deal. “Plenty of money” was the exact quote. And from what we’ve read, they apparently have financing lined up from international powerhouse Deutsch Bank to finance the ongoing operation.

Winnipeg? I love the enthusiasm of hockey fans and I truly regret their loss but Winnipeg isn’t the NHL’s first choice to gain a new team. People seem to forget that the Jets were not particularly profitable either. Exactly three years out of 17 in the NHL. They left Winnipeg for a reason. The NHL has serious concerns about the ability of Winnipeg and Quebec City to return to the NHL because both cities do not have enough industry to produce the corporate support and sponsorships necessary for profitability. A second Toronto area team is far more likely to be added.

So as the off-ice issues continue to play out, we finally get to experience a playoff hockey game at the Job. That will be an extraordinary sight. We do know that the upper levels of the arena are essentially sold out for the first round of the playoffs and total ticket sales are around 12,000 per game. Once the dates are finalized and an opponent is known, I expect the demand for tickets will explode. We’ll be back with more insight on the playoffs once we know who the Coyotes will be playing.

And we’ll be watching the off-ice battles with the same tense anticipation.

The Olympics, The Coyotes, The Trade Deadline, Ice Edge Holdings and a "No-Show Joe" Update

2010-02-28T21:30:00.000-08:00

Today was a glorious day for hockey.

Much like 1980, there are dynamics that can never be duplicated. Canada on home ice. The upstart, overachieving US team. A one game winner take all. Sudden death overtime. And the backdrop of a glorious Olympic tournament. What a game. What a moment for hockey.

And for once NBC did the right thing by going live in all time zones with Olympic coverage. The US ratings will be huge, perhaps the best ever for a hockey game. And the resulting interest will help every level of the sport.

The winner today was hockey. For those of us who have loved the game for so many years, it was great to see our sport honored. And for those just joining us, there’s plenty of room (and beer) on the bandwagon. Hang on, it’s a great ride.

Now about those amazing Coyotes...

How can you not be impressed with this team? With 19 games left in the regular season, the Yotes have 79 points. That’s about 20 points better than you could have gotten odds on last October.

No one thing better illustrates the turnaround than the playoff ticket packages that were mailed to season tickets holders last week. Boy did they look good.

In late December we suggested that the Coyotes needed to be around 70 points by the end of January to be in position to reach the playoffs. That observation was based on an unfavorable home schedule beginning January 31st (just a small part of the mismanagement of the team) of 17 road games against 10 home games.

In January, the Coyotes experienced their most difficult stretch of the season. The Yotes went 4-5-1 and it started to look like the clock may have struck midnight.

Well, there’s nothing like a good road trip to end that conversation. After a late January win in Detroit, the Coyotes left Phoenix on January 30 with 69 points and went back on the road and won in Dallas, Nashville and Chicago. The first two teams are fighting for playoff spots and the Hawks have been among the elite in the NHL this year. It was a glorious trip that vaulted the Yotes into 4th place in the Western Conference and solidified their playoff standing.

Ilya Bryzgalov has been the team’s MVP and after a little rough stretch in January, he has snapped back to form. The Coyotes will need him down the stretch. With 79 points in the bank and 19 games remaining a .500 record will get the team into the playoffs. But now, with a playoff spot squarely in the crosshairs, the team is thinking bigger. Home ice in a 4-5 series against either Los Angeles or Colorado is a real possibility. With a sharp Bryzgalov, the team has a chance to gain home ice in the first round of the playoffs and gain a favorable first round matchup.

The NHL trade deadline approaches...

The Olympics have ended and at midnight the NHL reopens for trading. There will be 63hours until the deadline for deals at 3PM Eastern on Wednesday.

Now the spotlight will shift towards Don Maloney to see what he does to strengthen the team for a playoff run. Maloney had two commodities that most general managers don't have -- salary cap space and excess assets in the form of players not currently in the NHL and additional draft choices obtained in prior trades. For the first time in recent memory, the Coyotes will be buyers at the deadline. Maloney's shopping list will likely include a scoring forward and a depth defenseman.

Maloney was interviewed on a New York Rangers television broadcast before the break and he said that any moves the Coyotes make the balance of the year will be dollar for dollar moves. It will require some creative bookkeeping and ingenuity from GMDM to add the scoring he desperately needs as well as the 7th defenseman he craves.
Looking up and down the Coyotes roster, there’s really not many veterans the team would be willing to move. Kevin Porter is still a borderline prospect who might interest some teams. And we’ve heard that that former first draft choice Chris Summers hasn’t developed at Michigan as much as the Coyotes had hoped and might be available. There is plenty of additional salary in the Coyotes farm system that could be packaged with valuable assets to bring back reinforcements for the playoff push.

I don’t put much stock in Peter Mueller trade rumors. Mules has played much better in the last month and filled in capably when Scottie Upshall went down for the season with a torn ACL. The window for trading Mueller is probably past.

So what does all this mean? The Coyotes will probably have to package some useful assets (draft picks and unsigned players) with some dead wood salary to bring back a scorer. It would also be helpful if they were dealing with a team that has some financial flexibility. And Maloney doesn’t want to offer too many assets for a pure rental who has no interest in resigning in Phoenix.

All of which points to Toronto. The Leafs are in the middle of a full scale housecleaning and have made it clear that pretty much everyone is available. One player who might interest the Coyotes is Alexei Ponikarovsky. He’s a 29 year old center with a big body who is headed to a career best season with 19 goals and 40 points in 57 games. He has a $2.1MM cap hit and will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

Toronto needs draft picks to replenish the ones they traded to Boston for Phil Kessel as well as young players. It also helps that Don Maloney and Brian Burke are close friends. Toronto is the leagues richest franchise and can also bury money in the minor leagues to balance a deal. Porter, a salary and a draft pick (probably a 2nd) could bring Alexei to Phoenix. It makes sense because the Coyotes could use another center. In this scenario, Matt Lombardi might permanently swing outside, where he has played well.

And there’s a bonus with Ponikarovsky. While he’ll be an unrestricted free agent this summer, he could be a candidate to stay with the Coyotes. He will likely command a contract that will be in the Coyotes price range. If he likes it in Phoenix, he may be here longer than the average tenure of a rental.

There’s another target that would make even more sense – Keith Tkachuk. With history in Phoenix, not only could he help the team on the ice, he could also sell some tickets. That’s a nice bonus for a team still struggling at the gate. Tkachuk’s base salary is $2.1MM and he has $400K in bonuses available. The same package might interest St. Louis, which a team that is still wavering between being buyer and seller. If the Blues decide to be sellers, Tkachuk will almost certainly be moved somewhere. Tkachuk might not be available to play for a week due to a broken finger but he would add size, versatility and some pizzazz to the Coyotes. He is also a local name brand who could help sell a few tickets.

If Maloney can’t land a big fish, he’ll probably opt for a veteran player with playoff experience. Preferably one who can score a few goals and add depth to a veteran team. Two names to keep in mind are Carolina defenseman Aaron Ward and Atlanta Thrashers forward Colby Armstrong.

And finally…whatever happened to Ice Edge Holdings?

You remember Ice Edge? They signed a 30 day letter of intent to purchase the Coyotes 75 days ago.

I can’t often say I’ve spoken directly to Gary Bettman about an issue, but I can on this one. You see, I called his XM radio show a couple of weeks ago and asked what was going on with Ice Edge.

Bettman’s (very cool) reply? “These deals take time”. He went on to say that even though it was a 30 day letter of intent, “we have not set a deadline for closing the deal.” I tried to ask a follow up question but was cut off mid-question. Bettman and E.J. Hradek sounded a little sheepish about cutting me off however there was no additional discussion or clarification. It seemed to me that Bettman was not very interested in talking about Ice Edge.

His tone didn’t leave me with a warm fuzzy feeling.

There are three compelling reasons that a deal needs to be done soon. The first is that once the playoffs arrive, the Coyotes front office be starting work on next season. That can’t happen soon enough. The playoffs offer a tremendous opportunity to sell season tickets and sponsorships. Another lost summer would doom the franchise. The new ownership needs to be in place to allow fans and sponsors to buy with confidence.

The second and third reasons are Matthew Lombardi and Zbynek Michalek. Both are unrestricted free agents and both are vital parts of the Coyotes. Both will require a minimum three year commitment at least $3MM per year. That will need to come from new ownership.

Possible deal hang ups? There are 3 – long term financing of the group, the arena lease and the whole Saskatoon deal.

Ice Edge has the upfront money to close the purchase. The perspective owners have committed 90% of the purchase price in cash. I was told by an executive of another team that they have plenty of cash. What they may not have is the wherewithal to sustain large losses over a long period of time.

No one expects the Coyotes and the arena to start making money next year. There will be losses. The anticipated magnitude of the losses and the funding necessary to cover them greatly concerns the league. Having the dough in place to cover those losses is part of the greens fees for any purchase to be approved. The league has a number in mind and Ice Edge will have to satisfy the league they can absorb losses over a long enough period to outlive the recession and turn the profitability of the entity around.

One of the things that will help is a new lease arrangement with the City of Glendale. There has been a lot of rustling that indicates conversations are ongoing but secrecy has been the order of the day. You would like to think that something will be done soon here but until a deal is announced one has to withhold judgment.
And about Saskatoon, most people around the NHL agree that a five game package is not going to be approved by the league. We’ve suggested a more modest three game package might gain favor as a trial but there’s not a great appetite to split the schedule. That’s too bad because a few other NHL teams could benefit from a sister city program. If Saskatoon is off the table, you are looking at an additional $5MM in loss projections. Ice Edge is almost certainly looking to line up additional financing.

One way or another, this deal needs to be put to bed soon. Best case, done deal. Worst case, the team goes back on the market in time to entice new owners when the very exciting playoffs are going on.

Oh…and in case you were interested about how No-Show Joe did at the Olympics?

1 Goal in 7 games and a -1 for Thornton as a member of the gold medal winning Canadian team. The only Canadian forward who produced less was the lightly used Patrice Bergeron. As predicted here. Typical of his big game record.

He should package up his gold medal and send it to Shane Doan.

What Were They Thinking?

2010-01-01T11:25:00.001-08:00

The Canadian Olympic team was announced on Wednesday. Picking the 23 hockey players to represent Canada is not an easy job. In fact you could make a good case that you could take players 24-46 from Canada and battle the Canadians for the Gold Medal.

But there were two surprises on the roster for me...the inclusion of Joe Thornton and the exclusion of Shane Doan.

Now naturally I am prejudiced about Doaner. I get to watch him play almost every night and he is relentless on the ice. I have never seen a 33-year-old player who works as hard on every shift. He is a polished humble presence that reflects the soul of Canadian hockey. And he's known as "Captain Canada" because of his many contributions to the national team in the annual world championships.

Shane Doan deserved to be on the Olympic team on merit. I've heard he was devastated by his exclusion. He should be.

But his absence is especially glaring given an analysis of the Team Canada roster. The two flaws I see in the Canadian team are a troubling leadership structure and a lack of sandpaper on the wings. There's no question that these are great players. And there's no question that they have great skills. But in a short tournament it's urgent for the team to come together quickly and establish a work ethic that produces victories. There's little room for error in a 10 day tournament.

Doan's leadership ability will be sorely missed. Scott Niedemeyer is the Canadian captain but he is a quiet leader who, while still very skilled, is clearly on the downside of his career. He has admitted to as much this year. Mike Richards and Chris Pronger are vocal leaders who seem to be at odds in Philadelphia. That's not the dynamic that the Olympic team needs.

Brendan Morrow and Richards will be counted on to provide grit to the Team Canada but you get the feeling that they are a little short in this area. Canadian players will be under a tremendous microscope and all are counted on to play hard. But some players are more equipped to play hard than others. Doan fits that bill.

One player who doesn't is Joe Thornton. Now I know Thornton's stats and there's little question that he is the preeminent regular season player in the National Hockey League. If that sounds a little sarcastic, then I've made my point.

No player in the NHL has choked in the playoffs with the regularity of Thornton. The Boston Bruins got sick of No-Joe after a series on no-shows in the playoffs. They shipped him to San Jose where his disappearing act has continued. You've got to give the guy credit -- he's consistent. Every year Thornton is teeing it up by the middle of May. There were many better options at center -- one that comes to mind is the surprising exclusion of Dallas Star Brad Richards.

A lot of times hockey fans are accused of picking players by statistics only. It's called the fantasy or rotisserie effect. Well that's exactly what seems to have happened here. What evidence is there that Thornton will be any better on hockey's biggest stage than he is every April?

The Canadian team has players for every eventuality. Right and left handed centers for defensive zone faceoffs. A shutdown defensive pair. Great power play specialists. But at the end of the day, they seem shortest on the two qualities that make Canadian hockey great -- grit and leadership. It would be a shame if the team wasn't successful because in their haste to fill every conceivable on-ice need, that Team Canada brass missed having the essence of their sport on the most important Olympic team in history.

Half Way Home

2009-12-30T09:17:00.000-08:00

The Coyotes concluded the first half of the 2009-10 season last night by beating the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 in a shootout. It's the continuation of a wonderful story that is quickly becoming the talk of hockey.

Since the disaster of this summer, the franchise has far exceeded expectations on the ice, been sold to a new investment group and has seen attendance start to grow after a disastrous start. It's the kind of Christmas story that warms the heart. You can almost hear Jimmy Stewart saying “It ranks right up there at the top”.

For starters, the Yotes now have 53 points in 41 games. Only San Jose, Chicago, New Jersey and Washington have more. Unthinkable for a team that most pundits picked to finish 30th this year. And frankly surprising to those of us who thought the team would do well to battle for a playoff spot.

Right now, Dave Tippett is a lock as NHL coach of the year, Don Maloney likewise as GM and Ilya Brzygalov, he of the inconsistent game, a leading contender for both the Jennings and Vezina Trophies. And the team, which badly lacks star power, finds a way to win every night. Young kids have stepped up, different players have contributed every night and no team in the league outworks the Coyotes. In fact, I've been watching hockey for a long, long time and I have to go back years to think of a team that works as hard as the Coyotes.

The current 10 game home winning streak is a franchise record. Not just for the Phoenix franchise, but the entire 30 year Jets-Coyotes NHL history. As we told you earlier this month the Coyotes need to win their home games now to build a cushion when the schedule turns against them in February and March. Since we wrote that piece, the team hasn't lost at home.

Consider this, if the Coyotes play .500 hockey over the last 41 games of the season it would give them 94 points, which would very likely be enough to make the playoffs.

Point totals aside, the Coyotes look like a playoff team. Monday night, they played San Jose even for 65 minutes in the Shark tank before losing the shootout. The next night, they did the same against a red hot Canuck team that had been sitting in Phoenix waiting for them. Both games had a playoff look and feel. And in both cases they were playing elite teams with a distinct advantage.

Better yet, there's still room to improve the product. GMDM has available budget (the Coyotes are still barely above the salary cap floor) and tradeable assets to strengthen the team. The team still needs scoring help and as the trade deadline approaches, many useful players will be available. Maloney has been a shrewd trader with a tight budget and many pressing needs. With fewer needs and some financial room to move, he could be on the prowl for an difference making acquisition at the deadline.

Also reaching the halfway point this week is the time fuse on the letter of intent signed by Ice Edge Holdings to purchase the team.

While news has been sparse since the agreement was signed, there are several important facts that have leaked out.

Ice Edge and The City of Glendale appear to have an agreement in place that will generate additional revenue for the franchise in some way shape or form. Importantly, the lease will not contain any type of out clause that might dampen fan interest. As soon as Ice Edge and the NHL have a sales contract in place, it will be time for Glendale to show their hand.

Negotiations with the league appear to be centered around the group proving their wherewithal to absorb losses over the next few years. With 90% of the purchase price committed in cash, there's reason to believe that additional money is available to cover losses as well as the credit line all franchises are required to have. As I told you earlier this month, I've been told by people within the hockey universe that these guys have money. That's good because they won't be turning a profit on day one, but the recent performance of the team has to be heartening given the size of the project and the scope of the investment. A contract should be signed with the NHL in the next 15 days.

And as for the Saskatoon option, that idea has not been well received by NHL Governors. We suspect a compromise is in order here -- a lighter schedule (say 3 games for a two year test period)at a neutral (still likely Saskatoon) site. Ice Edge can schedule those games in the first half of the year when weekday crowds are light in Phoenix. That move as well as a shift in the home schedule to include more March games (to coincide with spring training and sport oriented tourists) should address much of the schedule concern. It gives Ice Edge additional revenue and helps the NHL move the team off their books.

Perhaps best of all, attendance is growing. Yes the crowds are certainly being bumped by cut rate and free tickets but the building is getting fuller and more enthusiastic every night. Saturday's game against Detroit is almost certain to be the teams first non-promotional sell out crowd in a long time.

The stocking are full for Coyote fans this year. The team is vastly improved, new owners are on the horizon and as anticipated fans are turning out to watch the much improved product. Here's a scoop -- hockey may, may yet work in Phoenix. How great is that?

Coyotes To Open in Europe?

2009-12-17T23:38:00.000-08:00

The Coyotes may be headed to Europe to open the 2010-11 season. I've heard that Phoenix is on the short list of teams slated to open in Europe next year. The Euro tour is becoming a staple for the NHL and the Coyotes would play two games overseas. Likely opponents for the home and home far away from home are the San Jose Sharks.

One likely destination for the Coyotes? Prague. With 5 Czechs in their current lineup, Phoenix could be a nice attraction in that historic venue. The New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning played two games in Prague in October 2008 before large, enthusiastic crowds.

The Road Ahead Part 2

2009-12-17T01:00:00.000-08:00

There's relief in the air in Coyoteland. The NHL and Ice Edge Holdings have signed a letter of intent for the purchase of the troubled franchise. It's far from a done deal, but it's a great sign that the Coyotes will be staying in Arizona, hopefully for many years to come.

For several months the league seemed to be cool on the Ice Edge proposal. We know that Ice Edge kicked the tires on the Florida Panthers prior to developing an interest in the Coyotes. The Saskatoon option (and why isn't it the Winnipeg option?) was a head scratcher when it first was reported and some Canadian media dismissed the group as less than stout financially. The NHL seemed far more interested in promoting the Jerry Reinsdorf solution for the Coyotes. When that option evaporated, the persistent Ice Edge group was able to cut a deal with the NHL.

We're not exactly sure why the NHL was slow to embrace Ice Edge but it may have to do with financing plans that are unorthodox or unusual. And there's sure to be some concern about the Saskatoon deal. We'll find out more as the vetting process goes on.

That process will also tell us about how deep the Ice Edge pockets are. While IE is saying all the right things about not even thinking about losses, it's going to take a while to turn this battleship around. The concern if the league likely centers around how much money the group is prepared to lose to sustain losses through what will be a tough transition.

There are some facts emerging about Ice Edge Holdings that will be great comfort to Arizona hockey fans.

For starters, the letter of intent has a 30 day expiration. That puts pressure on the group, the City of Glendale and the NHL to get a deal done quickly. The NHL desperately wants/needs to get the Coyotes off the books as soon as possible. The City needs to put this ugly story to bed and the sooner a definitive sale agreement is signed, the league can conduct their due diligence and move towards approving the sale.

Ice Edge is apparently putting up 90% of the purchase price of the team in cash. While the team will most certainly have a line of credit and likely will be looking at significant short term losses, they will be spared the crushing debt service that handcuffed the Moyes ownership.

And perhaps most importantly, these guys have apparently have money. Lots of it. It was a question early on but apparently it is in the process of being answered. In fact an official from another NHL team told me this week they are better equipped financially than many other teams in the league. After the early concern about the wherewithal of the group, this comes as a pleasant and welcome surprise.

Ice Edge takes over an organization that a Phoenix sports executive from another team told me was bloated. By ways of comparison, the healthier Suns have a much leaner team and arena organization than the Coyotes. That will likely change under new management.

And that cost savings, along with the elimination of debt service and whatever concessions Glendale brings to the table will put this franchise on the road to financial respectability. No it won't solve all the financial problems but it's a big start.

The whole Saskatoon thing remains a mystery. Apparently the City is willing to let a few games go as part of the Ice Edge plan to ease cash concerns. Whether the league and the players association will agree is another matter. There's some skepticism on both sides that could derail the plan. Our guess? Perhaps a scaled back plan (say 3 games vs. the Western Canada teams) would be tolerable at least as a test. And hopefully in a couple of years, the Arizona franchise will be healthy enough to make this a non-factor.

There's much good to be found here. Introducing a new ownership team will give doubting local fans confidence to begin supporting the team. And they will come back to find a team that is in the thick of playoff contention and vastly improved over previous seasons. There is nothing that will turn this area on to hockey quicker than playoff hockey.

I was in the stands a few years ago when the Anaheim Ducks won their first ever playoff series. It was an extraordinary experience. Fans were crying, because not only had the team made the playoffs come back to Orange County but because the team found a way to win a series. The excitement translated into season ticket sales -- 4,000 new tickets in one season.

It could happen here. It would be an extraordinary conclusion to a bizarre year. And it would be enough to leave more than a few people crying in the stands.

The Road Ahead Part 1

2009-12-01T13:24:00.000-08:00

As the Coyotes are battling the Kings tonight in LA, it’s a good time for us to take a look at the season to date and peek ahead at the balance of the year.

The Coyotes are exceeding expectations. The team just completed a three game home stand with three wins, extending their current winning streak to 5 games. At 18-11-1 after 30 games, the Yotes are on pace for 101 points. History would say that's more than enough to make the playoffs and in fact it would be the best season of the 13 the team has had in Arizona.

And the team has demonstrated tremendous resilience this year. Just when you think the team is going to go upside down, they pull off a gutty win over the Philadelphia Flyers and steal a road game at Anaheim.

While improvement was expected (and crucial) this year, a more realistic expectation was that the team would scrap for a playoff spot. Vastly improved coaching and goaltending have been the keys for the rapid improvement of the team.

One cannot underestimate the body of work done by Dave Tippett and his assistant coaches during the first two months of the season. For most of the past four years, the Coyotes looked disorganized and were easily panicked when things weren’t going well. Not anymore. Tippett is everything you would want in a coach. Firm, organized, intelligent and confident. He’s in any conversation about the best bench coaches in the NHL and the unquestioned half-season NHL coach of the year.

And credit is also due to assistant coaches Ulf Samuelsson and Dave King. The teams tight defensive play is the product of great checking, sound defensive play and attention to detail. That takes a lot of work from all of the coaches. It’s paying off this year.

All summer, we mused that the team would rise and fall largely on the play of Ilya Bryzgalov. Well no one could have seen this season coming. The historically inconsistent Bryzgalov has been money all year with a league leading 4 shutouts, a 1.99 goals allowed average and a sparkling .925 save percentage. The Coyotes are third in the NHL in team defense and contenders for both the Vezina (outstanding goaltender) and Jennings (team defense) Trophies.

And the play on defense has been very good. The Coyotes have had a strong defensive core over the last few years and team veterans Ed Jovanoski, Zbynek Michalek and Keith Yandle have all been excellent. Jovanoski is having his best season in years and Yandle has blossomed into one of the best young defensemen in the NHL.

General Manager Don Maloney has made his best acquisitions in supplementing this group. Veteran Adrian Aucoin has added offense as well as a steadying influence on the backline. Jim Vandermeer is slow but brings a nice physical presence. Rookie Sami Lepisto has been a pleasant surprise, and lately, Dave Schlemko has given the team good minutes in relief of injured players. With Kurt Sauer due back soon from concussion symptoms, the Coyotes have a surplus on the backline that could figure into a trade for scoring help.

And there is a definite need for scoring help. The Coyotes are 28th in the NHL with 2.43 goals per game. Somehow, the team needs to find more scoring. When you look at the current roster there is little reason to believe that improvement will come from within and the development of young players in San Antonio doesn’t give much hope that a Kyle Turris or Mikkel Boedker will return to fortify the offense.

There is room for GM Don Maloney to find a scorer. The Coyotes are barely above the NHL salary cap floor and we’re pretty sure they have available budget dollars to make an acquisition. The team also has assets – Calgary’s 1st this year, Philadelphia’s 2nd next year plus their own draft choices and several top end defensemen who are not playing in the NHL. A deal to add scoring is imminent. The only question is where it will come from and what will be the price.

Now for the Coyotes comes the big question – can this success last?

It all starts in Glendale. The Coyotes need to defend home ice and pile up points in December and January. The Coyotes are in the middle of having 9 of 15 games at home in December (6 of 12 remaining) and then 9 of 14 at Jobing.com arena. Overall, of the team's next 25 games, 15 are at home. While that kind of schedule skew is very curious (why only 6 home games in tourist rich March?) it's created a mid season opportunity for the team. With the swagger that comes from winning and a very favorable home schedule, the Coyotes should be around 70 points at the end of January.

And it continues on the ice. Bryzgalov needs to stay on top of his game. A big concern comes after the February Olympics where he will likely start in goal for the Russian Olympic team. A heavy workload in Phoenix and the same in Vancouver could raise fatigue concerns. With wildly inconsistent backup Jason LaBarbera, every game is an adventure. The ability of Bryz to shoulder a heavy workload as well as excel along the way will determine the fate of the team.

No one is looking at Phoenix like they’re a Stanley Cup contender, but this team desperately needs to make the playoffs and show the desert that there is hockey life after April 1st. For the first time, Maloney will be a buyer and not a seller at the trade deadline. It could be an advantageous spot because Phoenix not only has assets to trade but is one of the few teams that has salary cap room available.

And it will be fun because for the first time, Jobing.com Arena can look forward to hosting a playoff game.

Hopefully several.

It's Black Friday...And Everything's On Sale!

2009-11-27T09:43:00.000-08:00

Let's Start with the Franchise...

According to Gary Bettman, at least 6 groups have expressed interest in buying the Coyotes. Of course, Canadian media gadfly Davis Shoalts has already suggested that "six" groups exist only in Bettman's imagination.

We know three -- The Ice Edge group that has been working on the purchase for several months, Howard Sokolowski and David Cynamon (the owners of the Canadian Football League Toronto Argonauts) and a group of largely local investors headed up by Canadian businessman Steve Stotland. We think the others might include the Jerry Reinsdorf/John Kaites group that bid on the team this summer and Calgary billionaire Brett Wilson, who has kicked the tires on a number of NHL teams.

Stotland is the latest to go high profile and he's made some news along the way. His "group" which is yet to be publicly identified, is said to include a large number of Arizona investors. He also slipped that his group is the only group that has significant Arizona interests. That's good news if he has the wherewithal to pull this off but not the best news for Coyote fans. Apparently this summer's bloodbath has turned off any potential investors as well as fans.

Stotland reportedly bid for the Montreal Canadians both in 2000 and 2009 when they were sold to and by George Gillett. He was a player in the 2000 bidding before Gillett swooped in and bought the team but was not considered a finalist in 2009 when the Habs were sold back to the Molson family.

The Ice Edge group has been deep in discussions with the City of Glendale about a lease but you get the feeling that the league is looking past them for other alternatives. The Saskatoon option as well as questions about the depth of their pockets seem to have slow tracked their offer.

The Kaites/Reinsdorf group has been quiet but there's a sense that John Kaites is still looking to be a part of the solution here. He's well connected with Glendale and could end being a facilitator for any of the groups looking at the team. And current Coyote minority owner John Breslow, who is part of the Ice Edge group, could also end up as a piece of another group.

A new lease is necessary for any group that buys the team. Glendale is going to have to give ground in some way, shape and form. One would assume that whatever lease changes that are being discussed would be made available to all groups. Of course, nothing in this entire episode has gone to script so you can't be so sure.

At the rate the Coyotes are burning through cash. it's incumbent for the NHL to get the team off their books as soon as possible. Gary Bettman had the support of the Governors to make sure the league controlled their own destiny. At a couple of million a month, that support is perishable. If he can't find a viable solution to sell the team soon, the league members could start pressuring him to look elsewhere.

Tickets? We Got Lower Bowl Tickets for $25...

Stack 'em deep and sell 'em cheap. Good marketing move. And perhaps a little overdue.
Get people into the seats to sample the product. Stop treating this as a business as usual situation.

The Coyotes need to do this and much more to bring back fans. We're surprised that the team hasn't hosted an open house this fall with a team practice, autograph sessions and ticket availability. And much more to excite and activate the base.

In this day and age, marketing needn't be an expensive proposition. Social media tools like facebook and twitter allow organizations to communicate offers and incentives quickly. The Coyotes need to pull out all the stops to get butts in seats, even if it's at a severe discount.

And Finally Some Roster Moves In The Works?...

As we get to the quarter pole of the season, the team is easy to grade; Goaltending -- A-. Defense -- B. Offense -- meh.

Nothing has changed. The Coyotes need scoring. It will be very, very hard for them to hang tough in the ultra competitive Western Conference unless scoring deficiencies are addressed. The Coyotes are 24th in the league in goals and on pace to score 197 goals. That's not going to be good enough.

Of course, there are 25 teams in the NHL looking for scoring. The key is finding the right players at the right price.

But the Coyotes have two very valuable assets -- cap space (they are barely above the salary cap floor right now) and future assets including Calgary's 1st round draft pick.

Numerous sources including ESPN's highly regarded hockey blogger Pierre LeBrun have indicated that Coyote Peter Mueller is available in the right deal. There may also be a glut on defense when Kurt Sauer is cleared to return to the ice. Good showings by rookies Sami Lepisto and Dave Schlemko may have given the team the confidence to move a veteran defenseman.

We're not so sure that the time is right to move Mueller but keep in mind he'll be an RFA this summer and in line for a larger second NHL contract. And he's been a shell of his productive 2007-08 player since the end of his rookie year.

Here are two possible targets for GMDM;

Jonathan Cheechoo (Ottawa)has been awful after his off season move in the Dany Heatley trade. He can score, not the 56 goals he got three years ago as Joe Thornton's side car, but he's a skilled 20-30 goal player. The price may be discounted as he struggles to regain his scoring touch.

Niklas Hagman (Toronto) could be an intriguing possibility. He's signed for the next two years at a reasonable $3MM and he's already got 11 goals this year. Hagman is coming off 27 and 22 goal seasons and he's got history (hopefully good history) with Dave Tippett in Dallas. He's available and the rebuilding Leafs would be a good trading partner for the Coyotes. Word from TO is that the Leafs would move Hagman in the right deal, perhaps for a player and a draft pick.

There will be more possibilities as the season progresses. Carolina has pretty much dropped out of sight and veteran scorer Ray Whitney might be available. And if the New York Islanders slide, Doug Weight might be available. The trick for Don Maloney will be moving sooner rather than later because the Coyotes need is not going to be solved by tweaking. There's always hope for internal improvement but reinforcements are still necessary. And soon.

The Coyotes at 10 & 7

2009-11-09T19:16:00.000-08:00

After 17 games, the Coyotes are 10-7 and rank seventh in the Western Conference. If they could maintain that pace, it would project out to 96 points and based on history, that would be enough to make the playoffs.

It won't however be that easy.

It's been a better than expected start for the Coyotes that includes impressive wins over a number of power teams. And comes at the same time as two other Western Conference teams have kicked off the year with vastly improved fortunes. Los Angeles and Colorado are much improved. The uptick in Los Angeles was expected. The improvement in Colorado was not. If those two teams continue their improved play, the horse race for Western Conference playoff spots will be intense.

The Coyotes may well be in the best 5 team division in the NHL. San Jose once again looks to be the terror of the regular season. The Stars are solid and the Kings are vastly improved. Anaheim is off to a slow start but they may have the most talented roster outside of San Jose in the West.

Looking at the bigger Western Conference picture, no one expects Detroit to be on the outside looking in, even though they are not the same team they were in the past. An educated case is that the Coyotes will be competing with Dallas, Columbus & St. Louis for the last couple of playoff spots in the West. It will make every game interesting and important. No other professional sports league has such a compelling regular season.

To make the playoffs, it's essential for the Coyotes to win games they are capable of winning. Missed opportunities could well be the difference in making or missing the playoffs. The upcoming stretch of games against the Canadiens, Stars, Lightning, Wild, Blues represent 5 winnable games for the home team. Anything less than 7 points over this stretch would be a disappointment.

The Coyotes come to play every night. The work hard, play a disciplined 1-4 checking system (that's a trap for those of you who don't worship at the house of Jacques Lemaire) and they have generally gotten very good goaltending. And they still suffer from a lack of firepower that is a serious long term concern for the franchise.

So what should we expect?

More of the same. Lots of low scoring tight checking games. A continued emphasis on defensive play. And something novel and interesting -- a trade deadline where the Coyotes will likely be buyers rather than sellers.

As we've discussed here many times, the most crucial element for the team will be the goaltending of Ilya Bryzgalov. Bryz has been awfully good for the first five weeks of the season. The Coyotes are 3rd in the league in goals allowed average. Bryzgalov has been steady almost every night and sensational on several. If you have followed his career, you know that he tends to run hot and cold. So far, mostly hot. That's a good thing.

He's getting a lot of help from a mobile and deep defense. Ed Jovanoski, currently "day to day" with a lower body injury has been the team's best skater. His absence for any length of time could be devastating. The motivation of playing for a spot on the Canadian Olympic team and the Coyotes new management have rejuvenated the 33-year-old defenseman. He's playing like the player that Phoenix expected when former GM Mike Barnett gave him a $32.5MM contract 4 summers ago.

Jovo has had plenty of help. Keith Yandle is having a breakout season. Sami Lepisto has been a nice rookie surprise. Veterans Adrian Aucioin and Jim Vandermeer have come as advertised and Zbynek Michalek has been his usually sturdy self.

In fact the biggest problem the defense has had is staying on the ice. In addition to Jovanoski, Kurt Sauer has been out since the opener with concussion symptoms, Michalek is currently week to week with that dreaded lower body injury. In fact there's enough injury concern that GMDM is kicking the tires on 47 year old Chris Chelios who is currently playing in the American League.

With the back end playing well, the issue for the team was and will continue to be the lack of reliable scoring.

The Coyotes are 21st in the league in goals per game. Considering the roster on hand, that's not bad. Only Shane Doan and Robert Lang have ever had as much a s two 20 goal seasons and several regular forwards have never broken 20.

The Coyotes knew going in that goals would be at a premium this year. They are. Scott Upshall and Matt Lombardi have helped the offense and there's hope that one or more of the young guns sent to San Antonio might show enough promise to be back by the second half of the season.

But don't rule out the possibility of a trade for a goalscorer, should the right one become available. With players like Kyle Turris and Mikkel Boedker in the American League, the Coyotes are less than $300K above the salary cap floor. Unless Don Maloney is working under a burn the furniture budget (and he swears he is not) there is money to add a goalscorer. And there are future assets to deal including several young players who have not yet turned pro and future draft choices including the first acquired from Calgary for Olli Jokinen.

Depending what teams are and are not in playoff consideration will dictate what players are available but you may want to look east where the haves and have nots are quickly being sorted out and some veteran scorers (i.e. Ray Whitney & Jason Blake) may become available. In the past few years, now for later trades were unthinkable for the Coyotes. If the current scenario holds, they will be essential.

And as we complete the first quarter of the season, it's good to keep in mind that teams often over and under achieve in the first few weeks of the season. Part of that can be a carryover (both good and bad) from prior years, new coaching or the relative health of a team. History is littered with teams that don't finish the season the way that they start the year.

For the sake of the future of the Coyotes, let's hope they don't get caught up in that pattern this year.

50 Years Ago Tonight

2009-10-31T23:30:00.000-07:00

November 1, 1959 is the date of my first and grandest hockey memory.

I was all of 7 years old and on this Sunday school night I was in bed with my radio tuned to a New York Rangers hockey game. The Rangers were playing the Stanley Cup Champion Montreal Canadians and I had recently discovered hockey on radio. It was my bed time but I’m sure I intended to listen for at least a period. Jim Gordon, who became all-time favorite hockey announcer, was calling the game.

Then the unthinkable happened.

Andy Bathgate, the star of the New York Rangers lifted a backhand shot into the unprotected face of Montreal goaltender Jacques Plante. Plante was badly cut and left the ice for repairs. In this era, National League teams only carried one goaltender. If a netminder was injured, the game was stopped until the player could be stitched up. If the goaltender could not continue, a house goaltender (usually an amateur player) or a team trainer would be pressed into action.

Plante was hockey’s premier goaltender of the 1950s. He was coming off his 4th straight Stanley Cup championship (heading towards his 5th) and his play had revolutionized the game. He was also eccentric and moody. And he was about to change the game in a way he could never imagine.

Plante had been practicing with a mask and had vowed to start wearing it in games. Montreal coach Toe Blake was adamantly opposed to Plante’s mask. On this night though, Plante said he would not return to the game without his protective mask. Blake objected, but eventually relented. Jacques Plante was about to become the first goaltender to wear a full face mask in a National Hockey League game.

Back in my bedroom, I was listening intently as Gordon was talking about the historical significance of what was happening. I didn’t know that much about hockey or masks but I did know enough to realize that the first goaltender ever to wear a mask in a game was a big deal. Big enough to yell to my dad that he need to come upstairs right away.

My father loved hockey. He grew up in Brooklyn and played high school hockey. He was also a short track speed skater and had won a number of medals in Sliver Skates competition at Madison Square Garden. His love of hockey is how I was exposed to the game at such a young age and came to be such a passionate fan.

Dad came up and sat on the end of my bed as we listened to history being made. My father was a big talker and what I remember is that on this night is how quiet he was. Reflecting back, I know that it surely was important.

Plante, repaired with 7 stitches and still wearing his bloody jersey came back and played. And he played well. The Canadians built a 3-0 lead and long after I fell asleep; they gave up a meaningless goal to Camille Henry. Hockey had been changed forever.

Simple flat face protectors soon gave away to oversized masks that protected much more of the head and throat area. Ultimately, the form fitting mask was phased out in favor of today’s helmet mask that covers the goaltenders entire head and allows them excellent vision through a caged eye opening.

Over the next 15 years, every goaltender in the league began to wear a mask. On April 7, 1974, Andy Brown was the last NHL goaltender to appear in a game without a mask. Now the thought of playing goal without a mask is incomprehensible.

At the time, I didn’t know enough about hockey to understand what this all meant or how it would change the game forever. But what I do remember is what I said to my father when Plante came back wearing the mask. “The Rangers (who were a very bad team in the late 1950s) are going to win for sure” or something close to that, I told my father. He replied, “I wouldn’t be so sure”.

Moyes Throws In The Towel

2009-10-27T15:56:00.000-07:00

When Judge Tom tossed Jim Balsilie's bid for the Coyotes, the die was cast. If a potential suitor was not going to be allowed to buy and move the Coyotes, then the NHL would end up with the team. No one was about to bid against the league since the NHL would ultimately have to bless the new owners of the team.

So at the end of the day, Moyes cut his substantial losses and went home. If he had good legal counsel and got frank advice, he knew back in May that the bankruptcy and sale to Balsillie was a longshot. When you are looking at a $100MM haircut (on top of $100MM already sunk) and you have a certain Canadian gadfly ready to foot the legal bills, why not give it a shot?

He shot, and he missed. Hey, that's hockey.

There's a very pragmatic part of how the NHL has been funding the franchise. Technically, it's a secured loan to the "estate". The NHL has been fronting the cash but protected their interests by being a secured creditor. Translation? The costs of running the Coyotes until the sale is complete are being absorbed by the "estate". The money the league is spending for the franchise is partly to pay off the secured loans the league has been making to the team to keep the franchise operating. With the dollars available to Moyes dropping with each payroll, he finally decided to cut bait and close the deal.

So now, once a few more legal loose ends are cleaned up, the NHL will be the new owners of the Coyotes. And paying the bills with their money. Then the real sale process will take shape.

The anticipation is that the league wants to flip the franchise quickly. Most observers believe that the team will not have much of a chance of reversing attendance losses until new committed owners are in place.

But there are two issues yet to emerge. One is the asking price for the franchise. $140-150MM was a nice bankruptcy price. It was also the approximate price that Team Reinsdorf was willing to pay for the team in May. It may not be the league's asking price. And that could present a problem locating new owners. There's also a question about what the league's timeline for selling the team will look like.

I'd like to think that Gary Bettman and Bill Daly have been honest and forthright in their declarations that they intend to sell the team to owners who will keep the team in Phoenix. And they know full well that new owners will be looking at a minimum loss of $50MM before they can even think about righting the ship.

The last two warm weather teams to change hands were Nashville for $193MM and Tampa Bay at $200MM. Owners like to keep the price of teams inflated. A rising tide raises all ships, you know. We'll be curious to see if the league expects that kind of money for the troubled Coyotes or will be happy to recoup their $14o investment in the team..

Ice Edge Holdings continues to be a visible and aggressive suitor for the franchise. TV cameras were quick to pick up the ownership group sitting with Gary Bettman at Monday's Coyote-Ranger game. Ice Edge executives have an agreement in principal in place with the City of Glendale and seem to be trying to do things the right way. Unlike you know who.

The concern and caution is a) the asking price and b) the wherewithal of the group. If the NHL is content recouping their $140MM investment and Ice Edge has another $50-100MM ready for operating costs, they will be a strong contender to get the team. They could also be the only contender. It's expected that Jerry Reinsdorf and friends will reappear at some point and get in the bidding but that's not a sure thing. And while there may be others who will appreciate that the team can be purchased directly from the league without legal encumberments, there are no guarantees.

"Ice Edge isn't the only horse in the race," Daly wrote in an email yesterday to Sean Fitz-Gerald of The (Canadian) National Post. But Daly didn't name any other potential buyers.

It's also been reported that Wayne Gretzky isn't pleased that his interests haven't been addressed. That's unfortunate. While money is important, hockey's living legend deserves better treatment. Gretzky's approval is not required for the sale of the team to close but his interests go far beyond the dollars at stake. This is a fence that the league needs to mend and mend quicklky. With all other secured and unsecured creditors on board, his objections may not be enough to stop the deal.

So let the bankruptcy sale be closed and let the bidding begin. Soon.

The quicker something happens, and the sooner committed new owners are in place, the faster the NHL can look for a real turnaround for our home team.

And that can't happen soon enough.

Big Performances, Small Crowds

2009-10-18T00:22:00.001-07:00

Under the best of circumstances, October hockey in Phoenix is a tough sell. The weather is still warmer here than it is in the dead of summer in most places. There's plenty of sports competition from the NFL Cardinals, two state universities and the coming NBA season. Not to mention the State Fair. And there's little hockey coverage or culture to generate incremental interest in the game.

So poor attendance at the Coyotes two home games this week was not surprising. But the crowds of 6,900 and 9,100 this week were lousy even by Arizona standards.

It's already brought out the vultures in the hockey press. Bloggers and journalists in established hockey markets and across Canada are already writing the obituary for the franchise. "A ruined market"..."dead team walking"...and "only a matter of time until the Coyotes move" are some of the headlines I've read in the last few days.

Well, not so fast.

Unless someone lives in Arizona, they cannot understand the damage that was done to the franchise this summer. There was no promotion of the team. There was no corporate sales season. Most of the ticket reps have quit and many professionals have left the organization. Their positions for the most part have gone unfilled.

Since the ownership of the team has not been settled, there has been little in the way of advertising or marketing. And what there has been is off target and not creating a ripple in the market. Publicity for the team has been OK but not extraordinary.

There are still a lot of loose ends here. Some things need to happen in short order for attendance to improve.

Winning can cover a lot of problems and the Coyotes continue to perform well on the ice. Last night they beat down the defending Eastern Conference Champion Boston Bruins 4-1 in a game that wasn't as close as the score indicates. That gives the team wins over San Jose, Pittsburgh and Boston in the first two weeks of the season. Those were three of the four best teams in the NHL last year. Phoenix gets a crack at the 4th, Detroit, on Thursday night. By any measure, a great start to the season and one that has the Coyotes on top of the Pacific Division.

And the Coyotes need to continue winning. It is non negotiable if the franchise's fortunes are going to turn. The team lacks star power. In many respects they are reminiscent of the 1996 Florida Panthers, a team of journeymen who played far better than the individual parts. Coach for a month Dave Tippett and his staff have done an outstanding job putting in a tight checking system and maximizing the assets on hand. Tippett and Don Maloney are the early leaders in any discussion for coach and manager of the year in the NHL.

The next thing that needs to happen is that the ownership situation needs to be settled. There is a perceived uncertainty in the community that is not going to go away until new owners are firmly in place.

The Ice Edge group continues to make their presence known. People inside and outside of the organization are whispering that what once seemed to be long shot bid to buy the team may be closer to reality than anticipated. Much closer than has been reported in the local press. Ice Edge already has a lease agreement in place with the City of Glendale.

There's also chatter that the Jerry Reinsdorf group may resurface once the NHL gains control of the situation. They have been keeping a low profile but that has been their modus operandi since first bidding for the team. They have access to the money and the connections necessary to purchase and manage the team.

The NHL is due back in Judge Tom's court next week for a hearing on many of the loose ends still hanging from the bankruptcy. It's expected the league will shortly file an amended bid that meets the court's criteria for purchasing the team. Then it's up to the NHL to flip the team as quickly as possible to new owners. Unless the league has gotten cold feet about the Phoenix market (and wants to take on the City of Glendale in court) a quick sale is anticipated. That will allow new owners to take over and make a strong statement that the team is staying in Arizona. This is a necessary component in rebuilding the fan base. Until the door is closed on potential relocation, questions will remain and business will suffer.

The optimist in me says that both will happen. The coaching staff is using the talent on hand as well as any team in the league. The defense is mobile and active. Adrian Aucoin is living up to his billing as a minutes-eater and is a solid confident player. Keith Yandle is showing big improvement over his rookie season. And Sami Lepisto, acquired from Washington for a 5th round draft choice, has been a pleasant surprise. Combined with tight checking, it's made life relatively easy for Ilya Bryzgalov. And Ilya has been up to the challenge, backstopping the Coyotes to the best goals allowed in the league.

It all seems so simple. Ice a winning team, install new owners and management and a renewed optimism, all in place in time for the Christmas selling season. And enough progress on and off the ice to make the turnstile count a footnote rather than the story. It can happen.

And yet, just a few weeks ago it seemed so far away.

0.984

2009-10-13T23:05:00.000-07:00

If that's your body temperature, you are feeling perfectly normal.

If it’s your score on the big test, you feel pretty good.

And if it happens to be your goals allowed average, you’re on top of the world. That's just filthy. And right now, that’s Ilya Brzygalov’s goals allowed average

Very glossy stuff. The kind of goaltending that the franchise desperately needs to be successful this year. And make no mistake; Bryz is the most important member of the Phoenix Coyotes. That's due in large part to him being the most variable part of the Coyotes equation.

Ilya is a lot like the little girl with the curl. When he's good, he can be very, very good. And when he's bad, he can be just brutal.

And so far this year he has been very, very good. 4 goals allowed in 4+ games including shutouts at Pittsburgh and San Jose. That is an impressive body of work. Ilya is working behind the tight checking system that Dave Tippett and Ulf Samuelsson have instituted. He also has the benefit of a deep and experienced defense in front of him. But he’s also been on top of his game with smart and consistent positioning complimenting his always great athleticism.

That’s the way it will need to be in Phoenix this year. Fire wagon hockey is a recipe for failure for this team. While there is much hope that young players will improve as the year goes on, there’s not much chance the Coyotes will score a lot of goals this year. 8-4 games are not in the best interests of the franchise.

When Bryz first arrived in Phoenix in 2007, he went on a tear that propelled the Coyotes into playoff contention. His first two months in the desert was some of the best goaltending this franchise has seen. It was enough to earn him a 3 year $12MM contract. And it gave the franchise a backbone it had lacked since Nik Khabibulin had walked three years earlier.

It was a streak reminiscent of the 2006 playoffs, when he carried the Mighty Ducks through a couple of rounds after replacing JS Giguere in the nets.

Much like the clock striking midnight in 2006, Bryz faltered down the stretch in 2008. And last year he had a real up and down season. More down than up. He was so bad that hockey's nicest man, Wayne Gretzky, pulled him from one game after just two shots (and two goals) and several times called him out in public. On a team with a small margin for error, Bryzgalov did not look like a franchise goaltender on way too many nights.

Long before I started the WHX, I was talking about the team's goaltending situation on talk radio and other message boards. I've never been comfortable with Bryz. Some nights he looks like a million bucks. Other nights, you were lucky to get change for your dollar. That kind of goaltending usually means the only action you will be seeing in April is a tee time.

Don Maloney also wavered in his faith. Last year at the trade deadline, a deal that would have sent Bryz to Philadelphia was seriously discussed. In fact, one NHL team official told me that the only thing that kept it from happening was the Flyers perennial salary cap problems. That may or may not be true but the fact is that the Coyotes surely had second thoughts about their franchise goaltender.

So for better or worse, Bryz is back in Phoenix this year. And so far, it’s for the better. Way better. No one expects his goals allowed average to stay so low. Or his save percentage so high. But what would be reasonable to expect is that he keep the Coyotes in the majority of the 65 or so games he will play this year. That’s what a $4MM goaltender should be able to deliver.

And if he does, he’ll keep the Coyotes in a playoff race that they desperately need to be a part of.

Number 5 With A Bullett!

2009-10-13T14:27:00.000-07:00

TSN, The Canadian ESPN, has the Coyotes ranked as 5th in the NHL in their current power rankings. Wow!

(OK, a little high but reflective of the good press the Coyotres are getting around hockey)

Click on the headline above for a direct link to the story.

After the Whiteout

2009-10-12T19:50:00.000-07:00

Give credit to the organization. Somehow, some way, the Coyotes figured out not only a way to fill the building on Saturday but they also created a compelling story that grabbed a great deal of fan and media attention. For one night, the Job was an exciting and electric place.

Unfortunately, there was no happy ending.

The Coyotes outshot the BJs 36-19 but the volume of shots is a little misleading. The Yotes' didn't have that many good scoring opportunities and Columbus goaltender Mattheu Garon only had to make a handful of quality saves.

A far more telling number was the team's 0-7 on the power play, including two failed 5 on 3s. The home team simply could not break through against a very good Columbus team. Ed Jovanoski was indecisive all night and the Blue Jackets defense did a good job clearing the front of the net.I know the words "very good team" and Columbus are relatively new when used together but the BJs are well coached, very responsible defensively and a very formidable opponent. In some ways, they are what the Coyotes will have to become this year to be successful.

And Columbus has Rick Nash, he of the game winning goal and a commensurate offensive star. Something the Coyotes desperately lack.

To paraphrase Dennis Green, the Coyotes are what we thought they are. Goals will be tough to come by. The team will rely on tight checking and defense and hope that the goaltending continues to come up big. So far so good in the nets.

Now comes the hard part.

Thursday night games in October haven't been very good draws. St. Louis is a good young team but doesn't have the cache of the next two home opponents; Boston and Detroit. It will be quiet at the arena on Thursday.

And the schedule doesn't get any easier. San Jose tonight, St. Louis Thursday, the big, bad Bruins on Saturday and Detroit next Thursday. It's a tough stretch. But it also gives the Coyotes a chance to catch some teams on their first long trip of the season.

The Coyotes need to stay true to Coach Dave Tippett's game plan. The team has allowed 7 goals in 4 games (and are pitching a shutout tonight vs. the Sharks as we write this piece) That kind of defense will win a lot of games. As much as we enjoyed the opening game in Los Angeles (and the Coyotes are the only team to beat the Kings so far this year) the hard truth is that there aren't going to be a lot of 6-3 games involving Phoenix this year.

Get used to low scoring games with tight checking, lots of discipline and (one hopes) outstanding goaltending. That's this year's formula for success. And there is no other options available.

Stupid Newspaper Tricks

According to today's Repulsive, defenseman Kurt Sauer (upper body) remains day to day.

Of course, the same paper reported last week that he was undergoing tests on Friday for headaches.

I guess that's an upper body injury but it certainly was disclosed. The Coyotes reporters would do well to read the paper. Their own.

Hockey In The Desert?

2009-10-09T17:49:00.000-07:00

As the rinkside reporter for Fox Sports Arizona, Todd Walsh brings great imagination and thoughtfulness to his work. On opening night, he filed a great piece about hockey in Phoenix. If you haven't seen it, you should watch. If you have friends, bloggers or other contacts around who doubt whether the Coyotes can succeed and thrive in the desert, be sure to forward this link to them.

If you haven't seen "Hockey In The Desert", click on the headline above and go to the Coyotes TV page. On the right hand column, look for 10/06/09 - The Coyotes A Look Back. It's a well done piece that speaks volumes about the viability of hockey in Phoenix.

"There's Something Happening Here..."

2009-10-07T19:23:00.000-07:00

"...what it is ain't exactly clear."

One of the anthems of my youth. And so appropriate for the undefeated, untied Phoenix Coyotes.

Who just shut out the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins tonight.

Not bad for dead men walking.

The 3-0 score is not indicative of how one-sided the game was. Ilya Bryzgalov will never have an easier shutout. The Coyotes defense completely shut down the Penguins and the offense converted two power plays and hit an empty net for all the goals necessary. The novice fan looking at tonight's game would wonder exactly who the Stanley Cup champions were. And on top of everything else, Petr Prucha's goal will be a highlight reel staple for this hockey season.

Well, let's not get too carried away. The Coyotes are off to a great start. A few weeks ago we suggested the homecoming would really be enhanced if the team could get 3 or 4 points in the three season opening road games. Well as of tonight, they have 4 in the bank and a chance to grab two more tomorrow night in Buffalo.

No matter what happens tomorrow, Saturday night is shaping up as an electric event. A win in Buffalo? It would be an incredible start to the season. And no matter what, the Job will be rocking on Saturday

"Stop children, what's that sound, everybody look what's going down".

It will be so cool for the entire hockey world to be looking squarely at Phoenix. Not for the "shenanigans" in court. But for the excitement on the ice. I can see (hear) it now...

"A thousand people in the street, singing songs and carrying signs, mostly say, hooray for our side..."

See you at the rink.

Coyotes Crown Kings 6-3 (I always wanted to write that headline)

2009-10-03T21:34:00.001-07:00

In many ways, Saturday night's 6-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings was a statement game for the Coyotes.

For starters, it was a statement that the focus of the franchise is now back where it belongs, on the ice.

It was also a statement that there has been a lot of changes on this team, from a revamped coaching staff to a reworked lineup.

Perhaps most importantly, it turned into a statement that we've got a pretty good hockey team here. Hopefully, that will get some people to sit up and take notice.

A graphic flashed up at the start of the game reminded how much the team had changed (and improved) since the end of last season. 7 skaters gone (Rupprecht, Lisin, Dawes, Hale, Fedoruk, Prust, Kalinin) and 6 new additions (Aucoin, Vandermeer, Lang, Fiddler, Korpikoski, Vrbata) not to mention the players who joined the team at the trade deadline last year. Think about it, would you make this 7 for 6 if it was a trade? I sure would. Anyone in hockey would.

You can't watch without looking behind the Coyotes bench and seeing the steady, composed hand of Dave Tippett already influencing the team. He's been here for all of 11 days and already it's starting to look like a Dave Tippett team. That's a good thing. And a very positive change.

As for the game, the Coyotes played clean, well organized and highly competitive hockey. They won battles for the puck. The power play produced one goal and could easily have had a couple of more. The Yotes won 59% of their faceoffs led by a glossy 8 of 13 for Matthew Lombardi. The only blemish was tepid penalty killing that allowed the Kings to score 3 times on 4 power play opportunities.

The Kings, on the other hand, did not. Jonathan Quick let in a couple of soft goals. The Kings defensive zone coverage was poor for much of the game and their compete level at equal strength was mediocre. Scott Upshall scored the 5th goal after an egregious giveaway by Drew Doughty. For all the hype over Doughty's play (and he is a gifted offensive player), he made at last a half dozen glaring errors and constantly put his team in a defensive hole.

Last year Radim Vrbata scored three goals in 18 games for Tampa Bay after leaving the Coyotes and signing a big free agent contract. He's already two thirds of the way to matching that with a nice two goal effort. Newcomer Robert Lang chipped in with a goal and was strong on the puck all night. The Vandermeer-Aucoin backline duo each ended up the night +3. Nice work all around.

Starting on the road may turn out to be a huge blessing for the team. The next two games -- Pittsburgh and Buffalo -- promise to be stiff tests but if the Coyotes can grab a point or two back east it will set up a nice homecoming next Saturday night. It will also give the team a chance to get away, bond and continue to absorb Tippet's
system. It will also give the team's fans reason to get worked up in anticipation of next Saturday's soon to be sold out game.

Let's also tip our hat to Todd Walsh for an emotional and factual feature about the history of hockey in Phoenix. It would be smart marketing for the Coyotes management to post the feature on their website and YouTube and make sure that every blogger in sight gets the link to this outstanding piece of work. It answered many of the arguments and pseudo-arguments that have been lodged against hockey in the desert. It was eloquent and accurate, typical of the high quality work that Walsh contributes to every broadcast.

While the off-ice "shenanigans" (thanks Dave Strater for putting it all into perspective) will continue for the next several weeks, the better the team does on the ice and the more buzz that hockey, not business, creates, the better off this franchise will be.

You know what, this could turn out to be a lot of fun this year.

Our Long National Nightmare Is Over (Sort of...)

2009-10-01T13:08:00.000-07:00

Well, at least one big issue is off the table.

Adios Mr. Balsillie. Seems like we hardly knew yee. Of course, we really had no desire to know yee. Please pack your moneybags and go back to Canada. (But you are welcome to visit anytime, our tourism industry needs your help)

Perhaps the best part of this decision is that we will no longer be treated to Jimberry's smiling picture framed by the Canadian flag every time we open a north of the border website reporting on the Coyotes. That had just gotten bleeping painful.

I won't rehash the entire judgement here but one simple sentence from page 25 pretty much summed it up..."This conclusion effectively is the end of the efforts of PSE, Balsillie, Moyes and The Coyotes to force a sale and relocation of the hockey team."

Thank you Judge Tom.

OK, so now the Balsillie option is off the table. What next?

We know that the Coyotes will play this year in Glendale, the NHL is in charge of revising their bid or finding a new owner and that if a favorable financial deal can be cut, hockey will be assured in Arizona for years to come.

Balsillie has already said he will not appeal. And through his lawyers, Moyes said they are considering next steps but trying to wage an appeal on bankruptcy and franchise law seems to be a longshot. There is no expedient path for an appeal. If Mr. Moyes decides to appeal, he will get on the end of the line and wait his turn in court. It will be a very long time before he will get a hearing, much less any satisfaction.

Of course, if he had competent legal counsel they would tell him that any appeal is a longshot. As I assume they told him when he first tried this whole bankruptcy/side door gambit.

But after watching his efforts as a team owner, I don't know if he would listen to sound legal advice if he got it.

So now the NHL has a clear shot at taking undisputed ownership of the Coyotes. They could continue as debtors in possession, revise their bid (as directed by Judge Baum) and become the interim owners or line up an alternate bidder (did someone say Jerry Reinsdorf?) to complete the purchase through bankruptcy.

And despite what you might have read, the NHL or other owners need not sweeten the pot by adding money to their bid. They could actually lower their offer. The only reason their bid was not accepted was that they tried to exclude claims by Moyes and Wayne Gretzky so that all other unsecured creditors would be paid. That won't happen without another hearing...before Judge Baum. Of course this could mean that some unsecured creditors don't get paid. That won't be good for the credibility of the team around town.

How the NHL chooses to handle this is probably under heavy discussion. The owners of the other teams would certainly prefer to minimize their losses. Lawyers are getting rich and the team continues to bleed cash. No one ever imagined that the league would have to fight to maintain their rights and constitution. That wasn't in the budget this year.

One would also theorize that new owners would prefer to get the team sooner rather than later to start rebuilding the fan base. If the Reinsdorf-Kaites-Tavares-Reinsdorf Jr. group or our friends from Ice Edge are still interested in the team, they now have a window to act.

One can also conclude that The City of Glendale would like to get this mess put away as soon as possible. Of course, that will come with a price for the City. The new owners, whoever they are, will require a new revised lease and the city either needs to pony up now or face more lawsuits and a possible departure of the team.

It would seem like all the elements are in place for quick action. Legal barriers have been removed. The NHL is back in charge, where they should have been all along. And its' in everyone's best interests to get a deal done as soon as possible.

Which would be a refreshing change from the tedious pace we've moved at over the last 5 months.

Breaking News -- CBC Reporting Both Bids For The Coyotes Rejected

2009-09-30T13:31:00.001-07:00

Updated 1:146 PM

Read more here -- http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/judge-rejects-both-bids-for-coyotes/article1307436/

And here -- http://www.thestar.com/sports/article/703440

From page 25 of the ruling -- This conclusion effectively is the end of the efforts of PSE, Balsillie, Moyes and The Coyotes to force a sale and relocation of the hockey team.

The good news? NHL is in control of what happens next and Balsillie bid is for all intents and pruposes dead.

The bad news? More indecision.

The Team, The Team -- A 2009-10 Coyotes Preview

2009-09-29T09:04:00.000-07:00

While much of the news surrounding the Coyotes has been about off-ice happenings this year, there is still a roster to assemble and a season to play.

GMDM has worked under extraordinary circumstances this summer. Give Maloney much credit for getting ANYONE to agree to come to Phoenix with all the uncertainty surrounding the team. In fact, he's managed to bring in some nice pieces.

And the Coyotes need all the nice pieces they can get. A playoff contending team is a necessity to get the town thinking about hockey again. It's tough to be a win-now team with a (close to) minimum budget.

The Coyotes success this season will start (and hopefully not stop) with their goaltending. Specifically Ilya Bryzgalov, the team's top goaltender must, must have a good season for the Coyotes to compete for a playoff spot. It's an imperative -- there's really no viable fallback position.

Last year, Ilya's play was wildly inconsistent. Catch him on a good night and the team had a chance to win. But on what turned out to be way too many bad nights, he was just awful. So awful that hockey's nicest man, Wayne Gretzky, publicly called out his goaltender. The Coyotes simply can't afford awful this year; their margin for error is too small.

I've never been sold on Bryz and in fact suggested last spring that the Coyotes might consider moving him and looking for a replacement. So far, his career has been built on two very good hot streaks -- through the end of the regular season and the playoffs for the 2006 Almighty Ducks (why did they ever drop that great name?) and a great run when he first joined the Coyotes in 2007. One of those streaks would be nice right now. What would be even nicer is a consistent season that delivers very good play over the long haul.

The alternatives in goal are not compelling. Jason LaBarbera was a curious free agent signing who has had a checkered career. Al Montoya's regular season in San Antonio was spotty last year but he was impressive in a late-season call up and training camp. His reward was a trip to San Antonio but if he plays well and others falter, he could be back in Phoenix quickly.

What will help is a more mobile and talented defense. Arguably, the team's two best off season acquisitions were backliners Adrian Aucoin and Jim Vandermeer. Aucoin is a minutes eater who will give the team excellent puck movement and an offensive threat to go with Ed Jovanoski. Vandemeer is oh, so slow but he plays with an edge and makes the backliner tougher. Sami Lepisto, a draft day acquisition from Washington, is another mobile player. Combined with returnees Jovanoski, Zbynek Michalek, Keith Yandle and Kurt Sauer, it's a deep and talented group.

It will need to be because the Coyotes will having trouble scoring goals. Shane Doan, who has scored 20+ goals 9 straight years, will continue to be the linchpin of the offense. But other than Doaner, no player has sever scored 20 or more twice in their carrer and only 4 (Vrbata, Lombardi, Mueller, Prucha) have even done it once.

Much of the hope for improved scoring will come from a return to rookie season form by Mueller and rapid improvement from last years first draft pick, Mikkel Boedker. The Coyotes also hope that late season acquisitions Matthew Lombardi and Scottie Upshall continue to benefit from increased ice time and raise their offensive production. They are also hoping that Radim Vrbata can repeat his lighting in a bottle season from 2007-08. About the only thing that is certain is that there's a lot of hope going on here.

Update 11:45 AM -- The Coyotes have helped their offense today. Pending a physical, the Coyotes have signed veteran NHL center (and 7 time 20 goal scorer) Robert Lang. Details forthcoming. Interesting move. Lang, 38, was 18-21-39 in 50 games for Montreal last year before suffering a torn Achilles tendon. Assuming he's healthy, it will be interesting to see what he has left in the tank. Could be an excellent signing.

Dave Tippett has a good group of accomplished checkers and defensive players available to form quality checking and penalty killing units. Newcomers Vernon Fiddler and Lauri Korpikoski are accomplished penalty killers and both have some offensive upside. They will join Marty Hanzal to give the team good defensive options. Tippett's work is cut out for him, the Coyotes were 29th in the league in penalty killing last year. Improvement here and on the power play are absolutely necessary for the team to be more competitive this year.

Perhaps what's as important are players who are no longer here. Derek Morris was listless and disinterested in his last Phoenix season. Olli Jokinen was disappointing on the ice and an apparent problem in the locker room. And David Hale and Todd Fedoruk were little more than bottom of the roster players. None will be missed.

The Coyotes should be sturdier on defense, better on special teams and faster than last years edition. They also have a well stocked farm team in San Antonio with numerous players motivated to get back to Phoenix. It should help keep roster players motivated knowing that reinforcements are only a phone call away.

For the 2009-10 Coyotes, it's all going to come down to goaltending and the ability to score goals. There are going to be a lot of tight games this year. There's not a lot of margin for error.

Oh, and some off ice clarity wouldn't hurt. It would allow the team to keep their focus where it most definitely needs to be -- on the ice.

While (Judge) Tom Slept...

2009-09-28T13:03:00.001-07:00

It's been 17 days since bids were tendered in the Coyotes bankruptcy and 5 days since an "emergency" hearing was held to hear the Moyes/Balsillie plea for mediation. A lot has happened in those 17 days.

The Coyotes have cut their training camp to 23 skaters. Surprises? Turris, MacLean, Tikhonov all head to San Antonio while Porter, Lepisto and Winnik make the big club. Management was sending out signals all summer that Turris needed AHL seasoning but it was surprising seeing Tikhonov go down. Turris doesn't have an NHL body right now and there's got to be concern within the organization that he may never become the impact player the team envisioned with the third overall pick. While Tikhonov was clearly rushed last year, his responsible defensive play and NHL size made this reassignment a surprise.

On the plus side, Porter has been noticeable at almost every practice and game I've seen. His play has clearly improved from a year ago. Lepisto is a mobile option on defense who has a nice feel for the game. He also is benefiting from 2 years of AHL seasoning (not a bad idea, eh?)in the Washington system. Vandemeer is oh so slow but he adds grit and experience and Vernon Fiddler is a carbon copy of the player he replaced, Steven Rupprecht.

The downside? Goals are going to be at a premium. It's hard to see this team scoring much more than last year. Unless the offense finds new life, this team will need every ounce of Dave Tippett's coaching skill to keep the goals allowed down and keep the team in games.

Tippett is the Coyotes new head coach. If you haven't heard already, this is the best news the franchise has had all year. Tippett is an accomplished coach who knows how to mold a responsible team. In 6 seasons in Dallas, his teams made the playoffs 5times and the 6th season was wrecked by injuries. His special teams are typically among the best in the league and his attention to team defense is exemplary. And he'll need every ounce of that coaching acumen to bring this team into the playoffs.

The Coyotes also came up with an inventive way of filling the arena on opening night by slashing ticket prices and calling for a the first white-out ever at Jobing.com arena. It appears to be working -- late word from Glendale is that under 2,000 tickets remain for the opener.

While much has happened over the last 17 days, what has not happened is any movement in the team's bankruptcy case.

While The Judge mulls over the case, much still remains unresolved. Opening night notwithstanding, ticket sales still have much ground to make up. A quick check of the dasher boards at an exhibition game showed at least 8 primary sponsor slots still available. Understandably but unfortunately, front office staffers have been jumping ship at an alarming rate.

If Judge Tom was truly committed to enhancing the value of the asset, he would have made the call on this case long ago. Every day that passes is a ticket that goes unsold, a marketing opportunity lost and a further degradation of the value of the asset. While the law needs to be adjudicated properly, this delay isn't helping the asset survive.

The Judge must understand by now that the two sides are not going to work this out. Meditation isn't going to solve the problem. You need two parties that want to settle for mediation to work. The NHL won't settle this case without anything less than a total and complete victory. They not only want to beat Jim Balsillie, they want to crush him. He's cost the league millions of dollars, plenty of bad publicity and much time and energy that could have been better spent elsewhere. Those transgressions will not be dismissed lightly. Or mediated away.

Judge Baum's decision will be appealed by either the NHL or Moyes or Glendale (or all three depending on what he comes back with) so it makes sense that it needs to be legally sound. That said, much of what he decides and writes will come directly out of his June 15th decision. So we'll wait, not very patiently, for the Judge to come in.

But we'll continue to caution him as well as anyone else who is listening that each day lost works directly against what he is supposed to prevent from happening.

Wayne's World Officially Closes

2009-09-22T09:15:00.000-07:00

The announcement was not unexpected when it came today. Wayne Gretzky has resigned as the coach of the Phoenix Coyotes.

While it was inevitable and in the eyes of most fans, a desired outcome, it's a terrible tragedy that the game's living legend gets hauled out to the curb like yesterday's trash. The shabby treatment that Gretzky has received throughout this bankruptcy procedure is simply inappropriate given his contributions to the game and standing in the sport. It will take some time for these scars to heal. Living legends deserve better.

And today Dave Tippett was named as the Coyotes new coach.

That's amazing news. Amazing good in that Tippett is a highly qualified and respected bench boss. One of the best in the NHL. A coach who can positively impact the fortunes of this team. Once Tom Renney was off the board, Tippett was my first and only choice for the job. Amazing in another way -- hard to believe that Tippett is taking the Phoenix job when other plum positions in the NHL (did someone say Philadelphia?) may be open in the next few weeks. Will be very interesting to see what kind of contract length he gets.

Let's not sell short our good fortune here. This is a great move for the Coyotes. Tippett's presence should make this team a playoff contender. He's that good.

Tippett also played with Ulf Samuelsson, Doug Sulliman and Don Maloney in Hartford. That familiarity will certainly help bring the staff together and probably went a long way towards bringing him here.

And given the swiftness in how today's news is developing it's obvious that this move has been under discussion for several weeks.

Ulf Samuelsson has been the acting coach of the Coyotes. By most accounts he's done a good job preparing the team for the season. He has a future as an NHL coach, just not right now.

Earlier this week, the Coyotes made a couple of other very positive coaching moves. In light of today's news, one can assume these changes were all coordinated by GMDM.

Sean Burke takes over as the goaltender coach for the NHL club. Incumbent Grant Fuhr has been kicked upstairs and will work with the team's prospects as well as scout goaltenders for the franchise. We speculated earlier that Burke would and should join the coaching staff if Samuelsson took over as head coach. Didn't quite work out that way but we're sure Burke will add a lot to the team. It's a good and necessary move.

Improved goaltending is the number one priority for the Coyotes this year., Ilya Bryzgalov has been horribly inconsistent since he joined the team two years ago. In 2007-08 he came to Phoenix mid-season and authored a tremendous hot streak before tailing off at the end of the year. Last year he was good some nights and awful on others. While the Coyotes have a lot of holes to address on their roster, it all starts with goaltending. If Bryz doesn't play consistently well this year, nothing else will really matter.

Fuhr, a Hall of Fame goaltender and by most accounts a great guy, didn't seem to be impacting Bryzgalov's play either mentally or otherwise. Burke is a strong personality and is physically similar to Bryzgalov.

And Dave King has joined the team as an assistant coach. King is an experienced NHL bench boss (at Calgary and Columbus) and has a long reputation as one of the great teaching coaches in hockey. He was in charge of the Canadian national program for many years and has coached at all levels of hockey. While King is not a big name or high profile coach, he is deeply respected within the hockey world and admired as a coach and leader. He's seasoned, a renowned technician and has a great reputation for developing young players. He may turn out to be the biggest addition to the team this off-season.

With all that has gone on this summer, the Coyotes have been at the lowest point this or any franchise can experience. Making a smart and impactful move like this is the first step on what could be a very nice climb back to respectability.

Tick, Tick, Tick

2009-09-17T12:06:00.001-07:00

The clock is ticking on the Phoenix Coyotes.

23 days until opening night and we still need to learn much about this team.

For starters, who will own the team and where will they play this season?

I am still certain opening night will be in Glendale, the team will play here all season and the NHL will control the franchise either as the (congratulations, it's a mess!) new owner, debtors in possession or interim managers while any award to Jim Balsillie is appealed.

The first two scenarios will give a measure of stability to the team. It will also give fans reason to start investing emotionally in the team. Right now both are absent and both are necessary. The third option? Don't ask.

I can't imagine a bankruptcy court handing over the team to Balsillie knowing that the ensuing legal turmoil will run the asset into the ground. It would also create significant new legal precedent and start years of continuing court cases. Just doesn't seem like Judge Tom's (yawn) style. But as I have been warned by my legal experts, surprises do happen in court. Until the ruling is published, we'll just have to be patient.

And then there is the question of who will coach the team.

Wayne Gretzky is still (officially) the coach of the Coyotes. At least in name. Once Judge Tom wakes up from his nap and makes his ruling, the NHL will control the franchise either by outright purchase through bankruptcy, no sale (debtor in possession) or staying any award of the team to Jim Balsillie. If the NHL wants to make a deal with Gretzky, they need to do so within 24 hours. No more time to ponder. Its now or never.

And if The Great One is not going to coach the team, Ulf Samuelsson immediately needs to be named head coach. He's running the team right now. He's the voice of authority players have been listening to through camp. And frankly, there's little available in the way of alternatives given the time and the tenuous state of the franchise. Let's hope that Ulf doesn't get the dreaded "interim" label. Everything with the Coyotes is day to day right now. There's no need for further reinforcement. Ulf is competent and the best choice under very difficult circumstances.

Who will be on the team?

Mostly the usual suspects. Very few roster spots are up for grabs. We'll have more on this after Friday's game.

And finally will anyone come to the games?

An opening week road trip to Los Angeles, Buffalo and Pittsburgh is not exactly the recipe to get the season off to a fast start. This year, it is fortunate for the Coyotes. A nice trip (3 points?) some exposure (at a minimum, the Penguin game will be on NHL Network)could help take the focus off this summer of turmoil and put it back where it needs to be, on the ice. It is far preferable to a first game at home with no build up in advance of the game.

So how can this mess be fixed?

Fixing will take time. Short and long term decisions need to be made that look at the situation frankly and decisively.

I've lived in Phoenix for almost two years now and followed the Coyotes for the last four. As a hockey fan, I've never been excited by the promotion of the team. As a career marketing executive, I've been appalled by the lack of imagination and clarity in the team's message. Some of the team's marketing messages are just not appropriate for an emerging hockey market. How we got to "Pierre the Fanatical Snowman" and "Be Coyotes Cool" (running concurrently) is beyond me.

No single marketing campaign or program is going to fix the Coyotes. Good marketing can create awareness and interest. Winning teams create desire and action.

But let's be frank here -- there is not a lot of interest after what has happened this summer. There's a lot of work to do.

Here are a couple of random ideas. In coming days I'll have a few more suggestions.

There's an exhibition game on Saturday September 26th vs. San Jose. Unless Judge Tom has passed away and I missed it, his decision will have come down by then. And as such, we'll begin to have some clarity for the teams and fans. I'd suggest that whoever is in charge throw the doors open for $5 a head to get some people in the building, expose the players to the fans and generate some energy. Pre-season games aren't going to draw big crowds under the best of circumstances. This isn't the best of circumstances. Sacrifice the gate (ahem) and get some people in the building.

Something similar, albeit not as dramatic might be in order for opening night. Buy everyone a hot dog and a beer to thank them for bearing with what went on this summer.

The Coyotes need to build a message that speaks directly to what has happened this summer. "We Play For You", the contemplated 2009-10 advertising theme is cliched and uninspiring. A slogan like this might work in an established market but it does not communicate what needs to be said here.

Hockey fans in Arizona, casual or hard core, need a pointed message that builds on what happened this summer. The Coyotes got more publicity than ever this summer, although most of it was not positive. Nevertheless, publicity of any kind can be good. I'm not the first person to say that, P.T. Barnum was.

When the NHL sent a lettered to the fans this summer, it was pointed. We know the NHL can succeed in Arizona, but we need your support now. There are ways to tie the urgency of the situation into the promotion of the hockey team without belaboring the points. If done in a clever and imaginative way, it can set up the market for success. Of course, a winning team is a necessary ingredient in this equation but you got to start somewhere. The key is developing a message and a theme that incorporates the issues with the team but builds on them rather than belaboring them.

And finally, the Coyotes need to ask for help. The advertising business sucks right now. Radio and TV stations have more time than ever available to do cross promotions. In fact, this is pretty close to a once in a lifetime opportunity in the Phoenix market. Why not ask each media outlet in town to take one night, make it their own and build a promotion to create publicity and enthusiasm? The Coyotes have plenty of inventory they can offer for now. So do TV and radio stations. There's a deal to be made here. Misery does love comnpany, you know.

More on the team, promotion and Gretzky coming this weekend.

Tomorrow, I'll get my first look at the 2009-10 Yotes. Stop by and say Hi. I'll be the guy wearing the New York Don Maloney jersey. I'm afraid I'll be easy to find.

Second Hand Coyote Chatter

2009-09-14T13:01:00.000-07:00

Jim Cerny is the NHL.com reporter for the New York Rangers and also has a fine blog named "Rink Rap". Jim recently published this piece about the Coyotes, through Ranger broadcaster Dave Maloney (brother of GMDM)

In a posting here on Rink Rap a couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the difficult position Don Maloney is in as GM of the Phoenix Coyotes. Of course, things only got worse on the hockey front when training camp started and head coach Wayne Gretzky was a no-show.

I saw Don's brother Dave---the Rangers former captain and current radio analyst---at Rangers camp the other day and asked him how his younger brother is holding up. Dave told me that that Don is doing his best, but that the situation "is just brutal".

And that is just on the hockey operations side of the business. As for selling tickets, forget about it. Not shockingly, it has been nearly impossible to sell any form of season tickets this season in Phoenix, since the fans have no confidence in the future viability of their team.

No matter the outcome of the bankruptcy court ruling, the business is dead in Phoenix. It was dying already---hence the bankruptcy in the first place. But this whole dance between the league and Jim Balsillie, and perhaps the club moving to Hamilton during the season, or being sold and moved next year, has driven a final stake into the Coyotes' survival in Phoenix---er, Glendale.

While I don't agree with Jim's conclusion, I do agree with all of the other points. we can only imagine how hard it has been on Maloney this summer.

So I Guess I've Got To Write Something

2009-09-12T22:13:00.000-07:00

The court hearings are over. Mercifully. We now wait for Judge Tom to return his decision.

I am sorry but I am past the point of being worked up about this process. It sucks. It sucks for the fans, it sucks for the players, it sucks for the Coyotes staff members that have not yet bailed out and it sucks for anyone remotely connected with the Coyotes.

As I remember it, only one person (Jerry Moyes) had any interest in having Jim Balsillie stick his ample nose and bald head into our mess. Nothing would make me happier than to see Mr. Balsillie get run out of town by Judge Tom, followed closely by the moving van carrying Jerry Moyes' furniture. And nothing will make me happier than not seeing one more stock photo of Balsillie wrapped up in a Canadian flag.

Most of the people who attended the hearing this week have reported that Judge Baum has dropped several hints that he sees no precedent in bankruptcy law anything close to what Jim Balsillie is proposing.

As I pointed out earlier this week, reading his June 15th decision make it clear he understands and respects legal precedent. His prior judgement quoted a number of legal decisions relating not only to bankruptcy code but also to franchise law. The Judge, if not quick to pull the trigger, does seem to be thorough before making any call.

Let me expound a little on the bankruptcy code. Bankruptcy laws were overhauled in 1978 and the bankruptcy code is the same across the country. There is no different treatment from one state to another. Accordingly, there is a 31 year history of bankruptcy rulings that form the precedent that Judge Tom will lean on to make his decision. Something you may not know is that the legal community that handles bankruptcies is relatively small. It is a legal specialty. While even ambulance chasers like Lerner and Rowe will do a bankruptcy filing for you, most people who go this route rely on the lawyers who practice bankruptcy law extensively. And with a relatively small number of judges and attorneys, it is a close knit community that knows what is and is not good bankruptcy law.

There's also another large body of law at work here called franchise law. While franchise law does vary from state to state, there is much common ground in the franchisee/franchisor relationship and the legal covenants and commitments that come with this process. Having spent much of my professional career in franchising, I saw very clear indications from Baum's June 15th ruling that he understands franchise law and how that works to protects all franchisees of a company or association. He understands that you just can pull up the McDonald's in El Dorado and move it to Times Square.

There are 5MM people in the Toronto metropolitan area. For the uneducated, Hamilton is part of that market. This is not Phoenix and Tucson. If a business considers an area to be under served, their first step is to talk to the existing franchisee about expanding their service or modifying their agreements to allow additional franchisees. There is no law or precedent that allows another franchisee to buy a bankrupt business and drop it into a protected territory.

As a Phoenix hockey fan, I really could care less whether Southern Ontario is over or under served by the NHL. That is not my problem. What I do care about is that if the Coyotes moved to Hamilton, Kansas City or anywhere else, Phoenix and the surrounding area would become the second largest television market in the United States without professional hockey. Oh and did I mention that Phoenix, even during tough times, is still the fastest growing major market in the US and projected to be the 4th largest metropolitan area int he country in the next 25 years.

So given all of the precedent, hundreds of pages of filings and what seems like weeks of testimony and posturing, where do we end up?

There seem to be three possible scenarios;

First is the award of the team to Balsillie, direction to the NHL to approve Jimberry as an owner and the move to Hamilton and an all purpose screwing of the City of Glendale, hockey fans in Arizona and the National Hockey League. Chances of happening? Highly unlikely. My bankruptcy expert tells me that there is simply not enough precedent nor latitude within existing laws for this to happen. That also seems to be the consensus of many who have covered the recent hearings.

The backside of this ruling would be that Glendale and the NHL will both be in the 9th District Court immediately to get stays. Then the long drawn lawsuits will commence. How long could this drag on? I know of one complicated bankruptcy that is in its' 6th year of court action. No kidding. And once a decision gets stayed, payments to creditors get frozen. That's another complication that Judge Tom wants to avoid.

The second option is to send Balsillie on his way and award the team to the NHL. Certainly the cleanest outcome for the franchise and Phoenix hockey fans. If there is any hope of hockey pulling a dramatic revival in Arizona, a clear path to new ownership is necessary as quickly as possible. NHL control, which by no means makes everything perfect, will help move the focus back on the ice and give the league the latitude to make the necessary deals with new owners the City of Glendale and other creditors. All of which need to happen quickly.

And finally, there a chance that Judge Tom will rule no sale to any party. That of course leaves the NHL in control of the franchise as debtor in possession and likely sets off another legal battle as the league officially repossesses the franchise from Moyes. Not sure of all the ramifications here but it is essentially NHL ownership without clarity. That doesn't sound too promising to me.

No matter what happens, grievous damage has been done to the short term prospects of the Coyotes. We don't know who the coach is, players face uncertainty over what is really important -- their families -- and ticket sales are so far behind, there's no telling when they may catch up. One can only pray that the team has a good road trip before the home opener. A lousy start by the Suns (who by the way have season ticket renewal problems of their own) wouldn't hurt either.

Oh, I can add one additional thing. If Jim Balsillie doesn't win this legal battle, he is dead forever as a potential NHL owner. After the costs the NHL has incurred over this mess and the resulting damage to the Coyotes franchise, he'll never get into the league. Ever.

Of course, that may prove to be a pyhrric victory for those of us following this mess.

No Sale???

2009-09-10T14:40:00.001-07:00

I couldn't add much to everything that has been written about the hearings and eventual auction that is going on today in Federal Court. I am sure that many of you are following the tweets from brahmresnick, TheYotesDiva, HKYFN, cbctom, kmcgran and others.

The biggest news this morning came from Judge Tom, who raised the possibility that he may not accept any of the bids. I spoke to my bankruptcy expert and he told me that he is not exactly sure what the Judge is trying to accomplish. He suggested that Baum likely wouldn't kick the case out of bankruptcy completely or force a Chapter 7 dissolution of the franchise. Perhaps this is consistent with Baum's strategy of forcing more negotiation and a possible compromise. Of course, Judge Tom hasn't gotten to know Gary Bettman very well.

I'll speculate that if the Judge does not accept any of the bids, it effectively takes Balsillie out of the game. The NHL will then begin legal manuevering to reposess the franchise, operate it as debtor in possession and find a new owner.

Or so we hope.

The Coyote Saga Drags On

2009-09-07T20:03:00.000-07:00

As much as things change in Coyotes Ugly, they really stay remarkably the same. Here are my takes on the last few days developments...

What are we to make of Judge Tom's court?

Not a lot new here.

When a bankruptcy is contentious, a judge will often send the competing interests a signal that they should negotiate among themselves by dragging his/her feet. This one is a mess. And Judge Tom is making it uncomfortable for everyone by reserving judgement, reading and researching and generally taking his sweet old time before issuing any judgements in the Coyotes case.

This type of behavior is common by judges in major bankruptcy proceedings. The Judge wants the sides to work things out. By keeping all options on the table, he increases pressure on all sides to make a deal.

Sooner or later, the Judge is going to have to make a decision. Someone will lose leverage and all hell is going to break loose. If Judge Tom allows Balsillie to bid in the auction, the NHL will immediately ask for a stay in the 9th District Court of Appeals to stop the auction. I spoke with a bankruptcy attorney yesterday who told me there is no mechanism for an accelerated hearing under these circumstances so any stay could delay the auction for a long time. And if Balsillie is booted from the auction, he doesn't have much of a legal leg to stand on but Moyes does. How aggressive and quickly he would act is certainly something to watch. Keep in mind he has lost a lot of money and stands to lose a lot more.

Brahm Resnick reported that Gary Bettman and Earl Scudder (Moyes Attorney) had a hallway conversation outside of Judge Tom's court. It would also make sense that there have been other back channel conversations. The prolonged bankruptcy action has sucked an awful lot of air out of the franchise and it is in everyone's best interests to end this circus soon.

Looking back on Judge Tom's ruling from June, it's clear to me he has a healthy respect for franchise law. I just can't imagine he is going to throw the rules of franchising and all professional sports leagues out on their collective ear. And I think that judgement is probably being waived in Earl Scudder's face by the NHL right now as an incentive to negotiate with the league.

The NHL is standing on principle. The Moyes/Balsillie bid is based on money. In these cases money is often more easily compromised than principle.

Meanwhile Balsillie sweetens the pot.

Late yesterday we learned that Balsillie is trying to negotiate a release with the City of Glendale that would give the COG (up to) a $50MM payment to release the Coyotes from any lease obligations. Breaking the offer down, it's an increase of $30MM to his base $212.5MM offer -- with the additional $20MM coming directly out of and money that would be paid to Jerry Moyes. And $10MM of the offer is contingent on the NHL relocation fee (if we ever got that far)being below $15MM -- something that is never going to happen.

So the real offer is $232.5MM with the likelihood of $40MM going to COG.

This was inevitable. Balsillie wants to negotiate everything. By putting a price on the offer, he is trying to goad Glendale into a negotiation. Let's say that they come back to him and say, "OK, we'll release you from the lease for $120MM". His next step? Offer a compromise at $95MM.

This is how the guy operates.

The real risk with Balsillie is that once you agree to put a price on something, he will pay it. He has (close to) unlimited funds. That is why the NHL has been so slow to talk about a relocation or indemnification fee. Give him a firm price and it is game over.

Unless the Glendale City Council wants to take the money and fold their hand, this dog won't hunt.

So?

Consider this. Under Balsillie's new offer, Moyes is down to a possible $60MM recovery. Perhaps the NHL will strengthen their offer by $5-10MM. See the gap narrowing?

See the negotiation ongoing.

How About Some Hockey Stuff? The Coyotes Sign Taylor Pyatt.

Nice role player who has never played to his size or potential. Another GMDM value signing. Given the Coyotes internal budget, probably the last addition to the team unless there's a trade that sends salary back the other way.

Pyatt suffered a horrific personal tragedy last spring when his fiance was killed in an automobile accident. He came back and played for the 'Nucks in the playoffs but was not signed to a new contract.

He'll give the team experience and stability on the left side.

Oh, and by the way, who is going to coach the Coyotes this year?

This question hasn't changed since I left town. It's either Wayne of Ulf.

One of my spies told me that the team website briefly posted a story that announced Ulf Samuelsson as the team's new coach. It was quickly pulled.

Now this could have been a web site party crasher at work or a just in case story (sort of like an obituary) that is prepared in anticipation of an event happening. On the other hand, it may be fact.

If it ain't Wayne, it's almost certainly going to be Ulf. Be prepared. The Coyotes PR team certainly is. And if Samuelsson is named as the team's coach, the biggest intrigue will be whether it is an interim or permanent appointment.

Some Random Notes Before A Short Vacation

2009-09-01T09:24:00.001-07:00

Time for me to disappear for a few days. Need to recharge the batteries before training camp starts. So here's some of the things I am going to miss this week...

The cage match in Judge Tom's court tomorrow

Lots of juicy items to be decided but the big one is whether Jim Balsillie will be allowed to bid in the bankruptcy auction on September 10th. The NHL says "no", he's already been rejected as a potential owner. Jerry Moyes will counter that Balsillie's bid is his best (and only) chance to recover any money on this deal.

Prediction? I think the court will not disqualify Balsillie at this time. Money talks in bankruptcy court. Balsillie has money. I think the Judge is perfectly willing to let other courts sort out this mess. I believe he will follow the money trail and keep the auction open to Balsillie.

And then what? I expect the NHL will immediately appeal his decision to the 9th District Court of Appeals and seek injunctive relief to stop the September 10th auction. This is a strike issue for the NHL. They will not stand by idly and tolerate any process that could deliver the team to Balsillie. This will almost certainly push the auction back past Balsillie's September 14th deadline to complete the purchase. He won't be going away but it will then take the court battle in a new, different and very expensive direction.

And if I'm wrong? And Balsillie gets thrown out on his ear? Then it will be Moyes suing the NHL. Unfortunately he has far less legal grounds than the league does to pull off an appeal and without Balsillie's checkbook and bank of lawyers it may be time for him to fold his hand.

Don Maloney's (rescheduled) press availability

Maloney is almost always available, by e-mail, phone or other means to answer questions. He's been quiet lately and with the pot boiling on so many fronts, it makes sense for him to be keeping a low media profile.

Suspicion? The league told him it would be better to keep his mouth shut rather than deal with tough questions. Like how is this mess affecting the team and who exactly is going to be the coach when training camp opens.

Which leads to another question...

Who is going to coach the Coyotes this year

Rookie camp opens on Saturday. Veterans are due in next Thursday. Sooner or later someone has got to take the reins of the Coyotes.

Prediction? Wayne Gretzky.

Really? Yes. Gretzky has been in an awful position this summer. His contract has been outed and there's no way he will be working for the $8.5MM this year.

But...The NHL doesn't kick icons to the curb. Ice Edge is still a player in the auction process and they want Wayne's World to stay open. I don't see any way Balsillie could ever get control of the team before this season so I anticipate the Coyotes will stay and Wayne will work on a one year contract at a greatly reduced rate. No matter what you think of Wayne as a coach, he's got a lot of sweat invested in this team and he desperately wants to finish the rebuilding job here. This may not be the most popular move with the hard core fan base but it's likely to be perceived positively by the casual hockey fan.

And if I'm wrong? No highly credentialed coach is going to take over this team without some job security. Forget Dave Tippett or Peter Laviolette coming here. If it isn't Wayne, I expect that Ulf Samuelsson (or perhaps someone else within the organization) will be promoted and Sean Burke will slide in as an assistant to help behind the bench.

Have a good week. We'll check in when we can and we'll be actively staying in touch to see how things start to shake out.

A Rock > Glendale < A Hard Place

2009-08-29T00:09:00.000-07:00

You can't blame the Glendale City Council for talking tough. An article last week in The Repulsive featured numerous quotes from Glendale officials...

"We have a contract and we want our contract fulfilled", Councilwoman Yvonne Knaack said. "We're going to hold hard on those issues."

"We're willing to work with whoever's there" said Vice Mayor Manny Martinez who added; "We want to do what's best for the city. We don't want to give any money away"

Councilman Phil Lieberman also chimed in; "How in the world can we come up with millions, no matter who wants it?" he said.

And so it goes.

Well yes, Glendale officials wants the arena contract fulfilled. And no, the City is not in a position to bail out the Coyotes and Jobing.com arena. We understand. Municipalities everywhere are having a pretty rough time balancing their checkbooks right now. And above all else, we're taxpayers first here at the X.

But this is sounding more and more like a football game. Talk is cheap. Very cheap. And much like on the gridiron, who talks the best game may not necessarily be the winning side.

Glendale leaders are desperately looking for bankruptcy Judge Tom Baum to uphold the lease as if it was a secured debt. The walkaway cost to any buyer breaking the lease without bankruptcy relief is north of $500,000,000. In the eyes of The City, that would be a fair pay off to cover the mortgage and replace the anticipated lost tax revenue.

But there's trouble on all fronts. The Moyes/Balsillie axis wants the court to throw out the lease and stiff The City. The low key folks at Ice Edge are talking to Glendale but there's no report whether they have made any progress. The Reinsdorf's have already taken their puck and stick and gone home. And now the NHL has bid for the bankrupt team and they have also made it clear that no team can continue to operate under the current lease. In fact their offer to purchase the Coyotes specifically excludes assumption of the current lease.

The bottom line is that no group is willing to take on the building and the lease as it stands now. And eventually Glendale is going to have to come to grips with that reality or face the prospect of an empty building anchoring their crown jewel development.

As incredible as it seems, Glendale's best short term hope right now may be for Jim Balsillie to win the right to bid on the team. If Balsillie survives on Wednesday, the NHL will immediately appeal Baum's decision and almost certainly delay the September 10th auction. That will push off the day of reckoning and once and for all kill any chance of the team moving this year.

If Judge Tom throws out the Balsillie bid, then it's the NHL and Ice Edge still standing, both of whom want the original lease reworked. And if The Ice Edge group doesn't have concessions agreed to by September 10th, then the NHL may win the auction by default.

Best case, Glendale's got time. Worst case, they've got one year. The NHL isn't taking over this team to operate it indefinitely. It will be sold again quickly. With or without help from Glendale. And without help from The City, it is headed out of town.

Ultimately, The City will have to come to grips with making financial concessions to the new owners in the form of a reworked business arrangement.

Now financial concessions can come in a lot of different sizes and shapes.

During the Reinsdorf negotiation with Glendale (ever think that would be remembered as the Golden Era of this mess) a document was leaked by the Moyes legal team that included some of the demands the Reinsdorf group wanted Glendale to consider. Very few people ever saw the complete document and what made the newspaper was the sexy stuff -- an 11.5% tax on the surrounding retail area, parking charges and penalty payments if the team was still losing money in 5 years. We suspect there was much more than that discussed. But at the end of the day, there was no deal made.

And to hear Glendale officials talk, there is no deal on the table. Yes, we will talk but no we can't give you a whole lot right now. We're a little short ourselves. But that is going to have to change if the Coyotes are going to stay. Glendale is going to have to figure out a way to channel more money to team and the arena. And they probably have to assume some risk that after a period of time if it doesn't work, The Coyotes are going to go away.

Want a bizarre suggestion? Perhaps the Indian Casino that is proposed for the Glendale area might like to pick up some of the tab in return for having the City welcome them rather than suing the group and forcing them to find another west side location. Far-fetched? Not really. In Pittsburgh, casinos that won the license to operate in the area are paying the majority of costs for the Penguins' new arena.

Glendale officials would be smart to cut their losses and make a deal sooner rather than later. If the NHL takes possession of the team under their bid, the team will be on a death watch until a lease concession is granted. No one is going to buy the team without a new lease. And the NHL has made it clear that bailing out the team is now a limited time offer.

Smart business people know when to cut their losses. The city fathers and mothers have a pretty clear picture of the economic impact of the Coyotes staying or going. They can only count on the bankruptcy court to hold off judgement day for so long. They are going to have to make a deal or face the consequences.

Experience tell us that the sooner you make the deal the better off you will be. Glendale's got a lot of skin in this game. They need to swallow hard, cut a deal and start this franchise towards a recovery. The alternatives are not tasteful. Not tasteful at all.

A Hidden Nugget

2009-08-28T16:26:00.000-07:00

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly made the rounds of the local media yesterday and while there was the usual bravado and rhetoric one comment strikes me as not only important but very essential to the ongoing debate over the future of the Coyotes.

Daly stated in several places that if Judge Tom rules in favor of Jim Balsillie on September 2nd, the NHL will immediately go to court to appeal the decision. It would be the first time in this tangled process that one of the Judge's decisions would be appealed to another court (in this case the US 9th District Court of Appeals) and it would surely slow down the auction process.

As we have said all along, the NHL will do anything to preserve its' constitution and by-laws and their rights to select owners and determine where teams play. This is a strike issue for the league. Having a bidder who has already been voted off the island by the NHL qualifies in their eyes as a strike issue.

If Judge Tom rules in favor of the NHL and excludes Balsillie from the bankruptcy process, my legal friends tell me he doesn't create an antitrust case for Balsillie because there are no damages. He may create one with Moyes though because that finding would limit Jerry's potential recovery. The Moyes camp (funded by Balsillie) may or may not choose to mount their own legal challenge.

And while all this goes on, the clock ticks on Balsillie's September 14th deadline. The NHL would like nothing more to run out the clock here, even if it means pushing the auction process back a couple of months.

Next time at the computer, I'll address the rock and hard place that Glendale now finds it self between.

A While Back...

2009-08-27T10:10:00.000-07:00

The NHL offered to operate the Coyotes' franchise as a "debtor in possession" for the 2009-10 season. Judge Tom was impressed with that offer.

That in effect is what the NHL bid would create. But with the NHL now talking about the potential of relocation, I wouldn't be surprised if the compromise to this situation is that the NHL operates the team and the bankruptcy auction is delayed till the end of the season. It may be the best deal Balsillie can get and if The Judge is in anyway positive about getting money for Jerry Moyes as a creditor, he may see it as the best and fairest solution. It would also allow the City of Glendale time to take stock in what they are dealing with and come to the realization that half a loaf may be better than no loaf at all.

Stay tuned.

The NHL vs. Glendale -- It Could Happen

2009-08-26T17:32:00.000-07:00

I'll leave all of the gory details from the last two days for those with deeper resources to report. But one thought leaps to mind that is a little scary and seemingly unthinkable a few months ago.

With the NHL now bidding on the team and the very good chance that Judge Tom will finally have to make a decision and toss Balsillie out on September 2nd, an incredible scenario is looming.

The NHL said in its' filing that it wants to break the lease at Jobing.com arena after one year and move the team if new local ownership cannot be located.

Which would mean that the good folks at the City of Glendale and the league that seemingly has gone out of their way to help the team stay in place, will be at legal odds. Glendale really has no choice but to oppose any offer that even hints at relocation. Especially if our new best friends at Ice Edge commit to stay in Glendale.

And let's remember that Ice Edge now officially has skin in the game. $10 Million was deposited as a condition of their bid. Hmmmm....

It gets more interesting every day.

Twists & Turns

2009-08-25T17:33:00.000-07:00

Today, the Coyotes bankruptcy proceedings took an interesting and unexpected turn; The Jerry Reinsdorf group has (for now) pulled out of their bid to buy the team. The NHL has announced they will bid on the franchise with the intention of taking control and then reselling the team to a committed local buyer.

Coming one day after a closed door meeting of the Glendale City Council, one can assume that something other than lunch did not sit well. The Reinsdorf's, were clearly trying to play hardball with the Glendale City Council, seeking major lease concessions. They could not make a deal.

For now, the Reinsdorf-Kaites-Tavares-Reinsdorf Jr. group is on the sidelines. Of course, stay tuned. That may change in coming weeks.

The NHL is a stable, secure and responsible bidder. The league has extensive financial resources and is also united in its' efforts to preserve the league constitution and keep a certain Mr. James Balsillie out of their ranks. On the surface, this is a good thing for Phoenix hockey fans.

And if the NHL is to buy the team, they could then proceed in an orderly manner to sell it to an owner of their choosing.

But there is a troubling undercurrent here.

The NHL really had no intention of bidding but they weren't about to let Balsillie be the only bidder to show up. Difficult times call for drastic action.

Starting way back in May, the Reinsdorf group seemed to be the best chance for hockey in Phoenix. They made it clear that they had invested significant time and money negotiating with creditors, developing a business plan and working to build an organization that could make hockey a success in the desert. Now, for at least the moment, they have decided to call off the jam.

Oh and they made it clear on the way out the door that the reason for their withdrawal. The Reinsdorf's complained of an "unwilling seller" and "an organized publicity effort designed to provide negative and misleading information to interested parties." Ouch. This will no doubt add much fuel to the NHL's claim that Moyes should be removed from the bankruptcy process. It may prove to be a very compelling argument.

While NHL ownership would certainly represent stability, at least in the short term, it also represents prolonged uncertainty about who is going to own the team and how will it be operated for the long haul.

Meanwhile our potential new best friends at Ice Edge quietly filed a bid for the team with the bankruptcy court. Until now, they have seemed to be more of a curiosity than leading men. Now with the Reinsdorf group pulling out, they might, might just end up with the team. We'll be watching with interest to see how this somewhat oddball bid plays out. And over the next few days, we expect to learn more about their business plan.

So for now, the uncertainty drags on. And no matter who ends up with the team, much damage has been done. Numerous people in the know have told me that ticket sales are "awful". One would assume sponsorship sales are not much better. And while Don Maloney has done his best to cobble together a representative team, there are still more questions than answers on the roster.

We've had high hopes that new owners would make a blazing entrance and give the franchise a shot of juice to excite the market. A star player, a great marketing campaign or some major organization changes are urgently needed to refocus hockey fans on the game. Now it appears that none of the cures that new vibrant ownership would bring will be in place at the start of this season.

And the band plays on.

The (Still Flawed) Coyotes Look To Be Staying...

2009-08-14T22:02:00.000-07:00

The news from Judge Tom's court this week have given everyone renewed optimism that the Coyotes will have new owners, a new arena lease and a new outlook within the next few weeks.

They need all of the above because preparations are underway for the opening of training camp. In Phoenix. Rookies and selected younger players will be due in Arizona on September 5th and veterans will report on September 12th.

Which leads to two important questions; Is this the team we are going to war with and who is the coach going to be?

Over the next few days, I'll look at the team, options to improve the team and the coaching situation.

General Manager Don Maloney has a done a good job shopping the bargain aisle with the free agent signings of Vernon Fiddler, Jason Labarbera and Adrian Aucoin. We love the Aucoin and Fiddler moves but are concerned about Labarbera. That could become a moot point if Al Montoya expands on the promise he displayed late last year and wins the backup goaltending job.

Maloney has also been busy at the trade desk. He swapped two players with no future in Phoenix (Todd Fedoruk and David Hale) to Tampa for Radim Vrbata. GMDM will light a candle hoping that Vrbata can regain his goalscoring magic from the first half of the 2007-08 season. Lauri Korpikoski comes in from New York for the enigmatic Enver Lisin and gritty defenseman Jim Vandermeer comes over from Calgary for Brandon Prust. Vandermeer's contract is a little rich ($2.3MM) for a bottom pair defenseman and Vrbata has to live up to the $3MM contract he got from Tampa but on merit both trades make sense. We'll trust that Maloney couldn't find a better place to spend the money.

But this still leaves Phoenix with a flawed team. Right now, Shane Doan is the only player on the roster who scored more than 15 goals last season. In fact, Lombardi (1), Vrbata (1), Prucha (2) and Mueller (1) are the only Coyotes who have ever scored 20 goals in an NHL season. No matter how you add it up, this team still needs to add goalscoring. Lots of it.

There will be much hope for internal improvement. Mikkel Boedker may be the Yotes' best young forward and he should grow into a constant 25-35 goal scorer. Peter Mueller slid backwards in his sophomore season from 22 to 13 goals. A return to form would be very helpful. Scottie Upshall has long been buried on checking lines but in Phoenix he will get a chance to play top 6 minutes. After scoring 14 and 15 goals the last two years, he could upgrade his production. And there's Kyle Turris, who may not ever become a top goalscorer but hopefully will develop playmaking skills that enhance his teammates.

At the end of the day, that's a lot of hope. But, it's also a lot of "if's". Other teams in the Western Conference have beefed up too. The Coyotes desperately need to make the playoffs and the roster as currently constituted would do well to fight for a playoff spot.

There are still intriguing scorers available. According to many reports, Boston may have to move young forwards Phil Kessel or Chuck Kobasew. Free agents Alex Tanguay and well traveled veterans Miro Satan and Petr Sykora are still on the market.

I spoke to a Coyote official about Kessel and in a polite way, he indicated that Kessel probably wasn't what the team was looking for. His less than pristine attitude is well known and with best friend Blake Wheeler thumbing his nose at the Coyotes and joining him in Boston, it doesn't seem likely he would be thrilled about coming to Arizona.

Tanguay certainly is an option. It's been rumored that he's been close to signing with the Coyotes on multiple occasions. In fact, one popular rumor site went as far as to say he had signed with the Coyotes but his contract was rejected by the NHL because of budget concerns. In any event there's no deal in place but he is still available.

And then there's Dany Heatley. Heatley has made it clear he wants out of Ottawa. I never even though about Heatley and the Coyotes until I looked around the league at teams that might be able to digest his contract. There aren't many.

And it's a contract with some interesting angles. Heatley carries a salary cap hit of $7.5MM. That would seemingly disqualify the Coyotes under normal circumstances, but he has already collected $4MM this year, with an additional $4MM to be paid. Over the next four years, the Coyotes would take a $7.5MM cap hit but pay out an average of $6.75MM. If the Coyotes were looking at $3MM for Tanguay, bringing in Heatley for $4MM this year (with much more in the out years) would seem to make sense under the budget Don Maloney is managing.

That's a lot of money but Heatley is a lot of hockey player. He's connected for 260 goals in 7 NHL seasons and twice has passed the 50 mark. He is a special player unlike anyone who has worn a Coyote uniform in recent years.

And if the ownership situation is settled soon, new management could weigh in here. If and when the Reinsdorf-Kaites-Tavares-Reinsdorf Jr. group gets control of the team it would make sense that they would consider loosening the purse strings a little bit. And as experienced sports promoters and managers they understand that the best way to boost lagging ticket sales is to make some big news.

The Coyotes desperately need some juice to excite the fan base. Vern Fiddler and Adrian Aucoin are nice hockey players but they are not going to sell a lot of tickets. Heatley may not even want to come to Phoenix (and he would have to waive his no-trade clause) but it's sure worth a try. He would give the franchise a marquis name that is badly lacking, great offensive production on the ice and a generous helping of sizzle to help turn the page from this summer's debacle.

What would it take to make a deal? An educated guess would be Peter Mueller, one of the team's prize young defensemen (Goncharov, Summers or Ross) and probably a 1st draft choice. (This is similar to a deal the New York Rangers supposedly had in place with Ottawa earlier this summer) Expensive, yes. Well worth the price? You bet! Ottawa wants to get younger and has a real salary cap problem. If Maloney could get all the stars aligned on this one, he would have solved the team's biggest problem with a bold and imaginative move. And he would probably carry those guys on his back to Ottawa to make the deal.

The legal and ownership issues can't be solved soon enough. Rookie camp starts in less than three weeks. Our first exhibition game is on September 15th. And opening night is less than two months away. And there's still work to be done on this roster.

We'll all feel better when the focus is back on the game and the team rather than the circus.

A Different Kind of Punch

2009-08-12T08:36:00.000-07:00

OK, I was looking for a home run right cross. Instead Team Balsillie got nailed by a straight left jab.

The NHL never got a hearing on having Jimberry excluded from further participation in the process. Even though Gary Bettman was in the courtroom and poised to testify, the league's motion to exclude Balsillie was never fully vetted. Instead it will be dealt with at a September 2nd hearing.

The blow that staggered Balsillie's bid came instead from lawyers for MSD Capital, the Coyotes largest (and one of only two) secured creditors. MSD announced they had reached an agreement with the Reinsdorf-Kaites-Tavares-Reinsdorf Jr. group on a restructure and repayment of MDS' substantial and secured loan to the Coyotes.

Don't underestimate the importance of this agreement. As one of two secured creditors (the NHL is the other) Judge Tom has looked to MSD for their position and agreement. One of the reasons he has been loathe to excuse Balsillie from the proceedings is that his first duty is to the creditors of the Coyotes with secured creditors receiving the highest priority. Without a viable alternative to Balsillie, the Court had to keep that option open. It put pressure on the Reinsdorf group to make a deal.

That void has now been filled. And now as Reinsdorf+ looks to bring negotiations with the City of Glendale to completion, their bid is gaining more legitimacy in the eyes of the court. Once a Glendale deal is struck, it will be much easier for The Judge to excuse Mr. Balsillie from further participation.

That's exactly what the NHL wants. They will be back in full force on September 2nd. They would like nothing better than to drive a stake through Mr. Balsillie's heart.

Judge Tom gets what he wants too. He would simply prefer that people and the situation work itself out rather than have him rule on lofty matters like ownership approval and franchise relocation. Bankruptcy courts (and judges) seldom stray beyond their corner of the law. He has sent plenty of signals to their participants. It's their job to pick up those signals and act accordingly.

So on September 2nd, we'll be back for more fun with the expectation that the Reinsdorf's will have their dealings with Glendale in order and the full support of the creditors committee. That will make it easy for the courts to excuse Mr. Balsillie. And to those who asked, Balsillie really has no anti-trust grounds to sue on because he hasn't incurred any damages. Another reason the NHL wants him out and out now.

The longer this spitting contest goes on it's looking a lot like a 7-5 hockey game. Not exactly an artistic success but we'll take the two points. And after the game, we'll all be talking about how we can build on a very ugly win.

The Knockout Punch

2009-08-11T09:21:00.000-07:00

It's devastating when it happens in hockey. In 1997, I saw Nick Kypreos' career ended by one punch from Ryan Vandenbussche. A few years later, I watched Stu Grissom cold cock two St. Louis Blues in one night. And, on numerous occasions, I've watched Todd Fedoruk...well you know. In his career, Todd has beat up a lot of hands with his face.

And today in Judge Tom's court, the NHL goes for the knockout punch on Jim Balsillie. Officially, today's court date is intended to set the ground rules and schedules for the auction. But there will be much intrigue layered into the ground rule conversation.

There are pages and pages of motions that have been filed but one in particular stands out. The NHL wants to have Balsillie's quixotic bid terminated since he has been voted down as a potential NHL owner by the Board of Governors.

When it comes to Team Balsillie, The NHL has buzzard's luck. They can't kill it and it won't die.

Today they will show up in court with howitzers.

If the 26-0-3 vote from The Governors wasn't damning enough, the rhetoric that emerged from the owners meeting was certainly intense. Craig Leopold, the current Minnesota Wild and former Nashville Predator owner tried to sell the Nashville team to Balsillie. At the Governors meeting, he painted a damning picture of Jimberry's dealings with the Predators. Before Balsillie initiated contact with the Predators owner, he called the city of Nashville to question whether the Predators were in compliance with their lease. His strategy all along was to undercut the Predators ownership and move the team to Hamilton.

Leopold's speech at the Governors meeting was so moving that a transcript is part of the NHL motion to summarily dismiss Balsillie.

Canadians owner George Gillett, who is in the process of selling the team once was considered a potential Balsillie ally. That all ended when Balsillie breached an NDA and told the world that the Canadians were for sale. Gillett is immensely popular with other NHL owners and his opinion still carries great weight.

And the NHL will also tell the Judge that Balsillie was approved to buy the Penguins, but then ducked out at the last minute when he realized he could not easily move the team.

The league wants to accomplish two important things here. First of all, they want to remind Judge Tom that we're playing with their puck and their stick. The Judge previously said that he had no intention of wading into the NHL constitution and by-laws as part of this proceeding. The league voted Balsillie down. In the league's eyes, that should disqualify him from any further participation in the process. The conversation about league rules keeps coming up over and over for a reason. It is the basis for the existence of the league. It is why other sports leagues lined up in support of the NHL. It would also be the basis for an appeal if the NHL ever lost this case.

Secondly, they would like to put to rest any questions about where the team is playing this year. The league has gone so far as to file an emergency motion asking permission to contract with US Air for travel this year. Ticket sales need a kick in the pants. One can only imagine how bad things are for the guys trying to sell sponsorships. It's August 12th and training camps open in 4 weeks.

The NHL has previously said they would operate the team until local ownership is secured. Hopefully that will come on September 10th at the currently scheduled auction date.

The NHL is also joining with the City of Glendale in a motion to have Jerry Moyes removed from the process, largely because of the leak in a recent bankruptcy filing. The embarrassing and incomplete leak that exposed some of the negotiations (and sexy proposals) taking place between Glendale and the Reinsdorf-Kaites-Tavares-Reinsdorf Jr. group was a nightmare for those trying to keep the team in Glendale. The leak came from Moyes' legal team. Although Moyes was not personally responsible for the leak, he could be sanctioned as well as his attorneys.

At the end of the day, or shortly thereafter, we should have a schedule of the upcoming events as well as a lineup of participants. And once we have a scorecard we can get back to the ugly business of negotiating leases, capital agreements and trying to figure out how to make this team an ongoing concern.

Wayne Gretzky Deserves Better

2009-08-09T13:28:00.000-07:00

Click on the headline above to read a nice blog by Howard Berger about The Great One.

After posting this article earlier today I was reminded that 21 years ago the trade of the century occurred -- Wayne Gretzky was sent by the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings for $15MM, two players and three first draft choices.

And it was also the biggest scoop I ever missed out on. My dear friend Chris Matthews was working for an advertising agency that handled Emory Air Freight. That long gone company was an official NHL sponsor and Chris had picked up chatter that Gretzky was headed to LA. He had validated the rumor with a friend who worked for the Kings. I told him that there was absolutely, positively no way that anyone would even think of trading Wayne Gretzky. I think he told him he was smoking his underwear.

And as it turns out he wasn't. And from that day forward no professional athlete can ever say they won't be traded because Wayne Gretzky was traded.

As The Puck Spins...

2009-08-06T21:50:00.001-07:00

We've tried to take a little time to digest the events of the last few days. I don't know if time helps or hurts perspective, but here goes.

The one size fits all auction on September 10th is probably an OK idea.

Judge Tom's job is to do the best possible work on behalf of the team's creditors. The franchise has two secured creditors -- MSD Capital and the NHL. To date, MSD has not reached an agreement with the Reinsdorf-Kaites-Tavares-Reinsdorf Jr. group on the status of the teams $80MM secured loan.

While all that is concerning, the truth is that these types of negotiations are often hard and dirty. MSD wants their money or a new secured loan and understanding on how it will be repaid. They are an investment company, not a traditional lender. It makes sense they would like to understand who their new partners are and how they are going to operate. Jerry's Kids want great terms, perhaps even more money to operate the franchise and a new toaster when the papers are signed. It's no different than when you or I go for a loan. (Well, it is a "little" different) At the end of the day, there will be a deal. If MSD doesn't take the deal then Team Reinsdorf will shop the loan to another investor/lender. They knows that secured creditors need to be paid. That is one of the few non-negotiables in this entire mess.

Financial markets are not easy to navigate right now but operatives like Reinsdorf Sr. and Tavares know their way around. And remember, negotiations by definition are often very contentious.

From the prospective of mollifying the largest secured creditor, Judge Tom did the right thing by pushing back and combining the auctions. He gave the largest secured creditor leverage. If he ruled Balsillie out at this point, MSD would have no leverage. And Judge Tom wouldn't have done his job properly.

The backdrop of this scrum has not changed. The NHL will fight to the death to make certain the league is run by their rules. That means we decide who can own a team and we decide where the team will play. If anything happens in bankruptcy court that tries to circumvent those rules, the NHL will immediately appeal and seek injunctive relief to prevent the rules from being discarded. It will set up a long string of lawsuits, counter lawsuits and rhetoric that will make your head spin.

The NHL also has to take care of its' civic responsibility. Getting a city to build an arena is not an easy undertaking. When that happens in a city where that was really beyond their means it's an even greater risk. The NHL not only has a moral obligation to Glendale but they also have to consider their relationship with every other city that has built or is considering a new arena through public funds. You would like to think that your partner is honorable.

Judge Tom has tried very hard not to get into these messy legal areas. He knows that a Balsillie bid may never be consummated even if he decides it is the best bid. That's a big anchor that will weigh heavily in his decisions.

The Reinsdorf-Kaites-Tavares-Reinsdorf Jr. group is not likely to pull their bid. They have a chance to buy a major league team with little or no money down. They will need money to operate but we are talking about a franchise that's worth a lot of money. The chance for a financial windfall is incredible.

Ice Edge still remains a wild card. Until their bid is filed and made public, their potential ownership remains a mystery. They seem to be doing the right things -- like reaching out to Save The Coyotes Chair Heather McWhorter -- but until their financing is fully vetted and their plan disclosed, they will remain a mystery.

And as for the infamous Glendale document detailing the concessions being sought by the Reinsdorf, I would caution is that the reports of what was proposed, was was being discussed etc. were in a filing that was only visible for 90 minutes. If the good folks at the Arizona Republic captured the entire document, I'd like to see it. I would imagine that like any political proposal there were nuances, trial balloons and other parts that are simply not being reported, either because they were not captured, not sexy enough to make the paper or they represent the Moyes' attorneys synopsis of the key points and little more. I can't imagine that the city council is voting on a one sheeter that has two points -- an 11% tax district and a $15MM yearly payment if the team is still losing $ in 5 years. There's got to be more. A lot more.

And so it goes. Every time this sad episode seems to be winding down, someone pops up and says "but wait, there's more". And there will no doubt be much more. with the next round schedule to go off on Tuesday AM.

Bill Daly Talks About The Coyotes

2009-08-06T09:55:00.000-07:00

Click on the headline above to be linked to his XM interview this morning. The first 12 minutes talks about the Coyotes quandry.

Ed And John

2009-08-05T11:48:00.000-07:00

An article in the Phoenix New Times has raised questions about the cozy relationship between Glendale City Manager Ed Beasley and potential Coyotes investor John Kaites.

The article notes that Beasley's calendar reveals he held "repeated meetings with both Kaites and (Jerry) Reinsdorf over the past year." Kaites and Beasley had "no fewer than four scheduled meetings or conference calls in August and September 2008, which is right about the time the Coyotes' ownership began asking City Hall for help."

While there is no reason to dispute the facts here, there is a context that appears to be missing. No matter when Jerry Moyes and Jeff Shumway started asking Glendale for help with the team, there is no question that long before August of 2008 the team was being quietly shopped. Ed Beasley would certainly have been aware of this. And as the Manager of a city with a lot of skin in the game, it makes all of the sense in the world that Beasley would be tapping into his client base to find possible ownership solutions for the team.

Bankruptcy Court Judge Redfield T. "Tom" Baum yesterday allowed Coyotes Owner Jerry Moyes to "have his lawyer question" Bulls and White Sox Chair Jerry Reinsdorf and Arizona attorney John Kaites about "possible collusion with Glendale officials or the NHL" in their bid to acquire the Coyotes, according to David Shoalts of the Tornoto Globe & Mail.

Is it collusion or collaboration? I think the latter.

Later today or tomorrow we will learn whether Judge Tom will allow Jim Balsillie to participate in any auction for the Coyotes. Balsillie, you may remember, was unanimously voted down by the NHL Governors as a potential owner last week. While there probably won't be any lawsuits over the initial judgement, down the line there will be legal ramifications. And they won't be pretty.

I spoke to a bankruptcy attorney this weekend about the way that bids for the Coyotes are being constructed. In both the Reinsdorf-Kaites-Tavares and Ice Edge bids, the great majority of the bid is the assumption of existing debt. I was told that this is not unusual and in fact it is the way most bankruptcies are adjudicated. Both organizations need to demonstrate the wherewithal to pay back the debt (and in this case that starts with the inherent value of the franchise) and will need operating capital going forward. But no cash assumptions are hardly a novelty.

More later today as the dogfight in the desert rolls on.

I'm Mad as...Jerry, Glendale & Jerry

2009-08-03T19:55:00.000-07:00

First, the important stuff...the auction for the Coyotes will be moved to September 10th at 9AM. Judge Tom will rule later this week if it's a local auction only or whether out of town interests will be welcome. Everyone will be back in court Wednesday. And hopefully, a few days will allow everyone to cool off a little.

Jerry Reinsdorf is livid because some of the details of the agreement he is negotiating with Glendale were inadvertently leaked to the media. The document described several proposals that the Reinsdorf-Kaites-Tavares group has made during negotiations with Glendale on how to raise millions in team revenue. Jerry is reportedly mad enough to walk away. We'll see. If he gets anything close to the deal that was leaked to local media outlets, he would be crazy to walk away.

The City of Glendale is mad too. When proposals like this are released only the goriest details make the newspapers. The Glendale representatives are livid because it "undermines the ability to get a deal negotiated with any bidder", according to their court brief. And of course, they lay the blame for the leak squarely at the feet of Jerry Moyes.

Jerry Moyes is mad too. Of course, he hasn't been very happy for a long time now. Maybe he should pay more attention to what he is buying in the future. He knows he won't see another dime if the team is sold to local interests and he is trying to salvage any money he can from this wreck. He may be a lifelong resident and supporter of Glendale but he is doing everything in his power to see the Coyotes leave Arizona. He watched last week as the NHL voted 29-0 to deny approval of Jim Balsillie as a potential owner. He knows that if a vote was ever held on moving the team to Hamilton, it would be an even longer shot. Dan Bickley had a great line today; "Moyes has a puncher's chance" of winning any type of favorable judgement. Yep, just like Oscar Bonavita had against Muhammed Ali.

No word whether Balsillie is mad but after being scorched by the NHL Governors, he can't be too thrilled. Aside from the unanimous vote, some of the quotes that have made their way into print have been pointed and nasty. Balsillie's chance of owning an NHL team depend strictly on Judge Tom's willingness to cram a sale down the leagues throat and force a move to Hamilton. Good luck Jim. If that ever did happen, the only happy people would be the lawyers who would get rich litigating this case for the next several years.

Meanwhile, no on has heard whether the folks at Ice Edge are mad too. It wouldn't surprise me though.

The leaked filings contained two controversial provisions; a special taxing district that would provide as much as $23 million next fiscal year through a "voluntary" surcharge on retail sales and a $15 million payment to the Coyotes against losses for each year of losses after 5 years. It's impossible to judge those ideas without understanding the full context of the plan. Neither sounds very plausible but keep in mind they are pieces pulled out of a document, not the entire plan. We'll wait until a more complete agreement between Glendale and the local bidders surfaces before passing judgement. And keep in mind, any deal would require approval by the elected members of the Glendale City Council.

Also remember that what sounds incredible may still be the best possible result for Glendale. The team is in bankruptcy and the City needs to make some accommodations to help the franchise. Doing nothing is not an alternative. The downside is an empty building that would be a aesthetic and financial disaster. This may be a place where half a loaf is better than crumbs and table scraps.

A couple of other points to share...

I can dispel one rumor that surfaced in a local publication today. The Coyotes didn't just go up for sale after the start of the 2008-09 season. The team was quietly shopped for at least 15 months prior to the bankruptcy. In March of 2008, I was introduced to the owner of a junior hockey franchise who knew I had a background in hockey and was moving to Phoenix. During the course of the conversation I was asked a number of questions about the Coyotes and my perception of their marketing and business practices. The individual in question told me that he could only share certain information because he had signed a non-disclosure agreement pertaining to the possible purchase and sale of a National Hockey League team. His clear inference (and the only reason he would have called me) was that it was the Coyotes.

And for people who wonder why does Jerry Reinsdorf want the Coyotes, the answer is almost certainly his son Michael. Michael has spent the last few years as the owner and operator of the wildly successful Stockton Thunder of the ECHL. We all would do anything for our kids. Why not set him up with a National Hockey League team?

This is all getting to be very old. Rather than wondering who will be playing on the second line or pondering another free agent signing, legal talk continues to hover over the team. The September 10th auction will come right as training camp is starting. I wonder who will be coaching the team that day.

And I wonder if anyone will be buying a ticket or a sponsorship until this is settled.

Coyote Auction Delay?

2009-07-30T22:45:00.000-07:00

Just when things seemed to be sailing smoothly towards a definitive auction of the Coyotes next Wednesday, there's a turd in the punch bowl. The Toronto Star is reporting in their Friday editions that attorneys for Glendale and the NHL have asked the court to postpone next Wednesday's local bid auction, saying Reinsdorf and another potential bidder, Ice Edge Holdings of Canada, needed additional time to finalize their offers for the team.

The league's brief to the court also said that the Ice Edge group would make their bid public on Friday.

The report went on to say that the City of Glendale is "very close to a definitive agreement...that would allow the team, under new ownership, to continue to play at the Jobing.com Arena."

This news came hours after attorneys for Jerry Moyes ridiculed the Reinsdorf-Kaites-Tavares group offer of $148MM saying that the offer was not a legal offer under bankruptcy law. well, what did you expect them to do?

Update Friday 8:30 AM .. More complete reports of the NHL motions are now coming out. It appears that the NHL is taking the position that since the Balsillie has been denied as a potential owner, he is not eligible to bid in the second auction and as the only bidder interested in moving the team there is no need for a second auction. Of course, Moyes will continue to argue that Balsillie is the only person who has made a bona fide offer. And The Judge may still not look kindly on this bit of last minute chicanery.

Oh Captain, My Captain...

2009-07-30T13:10:00.000-07:00

Great article about Shane Doan from NHL.com. Read it here:
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=457901&cmpid=rss-mcgourty>

Scottie Upshall Signs

2009-07-30T09:13:00.000-07:00

One year at $1.5MM.

A fair compromise. Upshall and his agents pointed to his 8 goals in 19 games as a taste of what will happen with the player getting top 6 ice time and opportunities. GMDM obviously took the position that Upshall's larger body of work (46 goals in 230 games over parts of 6 seasons) is more reflective of where his compensation should fall.

The sides agreed on a one year contract which still leaves Upshall one year short of unrestricted free agency. If he produces big this year, the Yotes will have a window to sign him to a longer term contract or trade him before he becomes a UFA.

We'll be interested to see how this works. Upshall was envisioned as a potential 30 goal scorer when he was drafted 6th by Nashville in 2002. He's not developed as a scorer but he is an honest two way player who is also valued as a team leader and locker room presence. Our sources in Philadelphia told us that when he was traded this spring, all of the air came out of the Flyers locker room.

Worst case, he's a valuable third line banger. Best case he's a late bloomer who finds his goalscoring touch and becomes a bona fide power forward. In either case, he's a Coyote for at least one more year.

The Yotes also signed organization goaltender Josh Tordjman to a one year contract.

Reinsdorf Bid Approved, Balsillie Shut Out

2009-07-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

The National Hockey League Governors made it clear that the Reinsdorf-Kaites-Tavares group is welcome in their fraternity and approved to purchase the Coyotes. Similarly, they bounced Silly Jim out of the room. The Ice Edge Group got an incomplete (but favorable comments) on their presentation.

CHICAGO – National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman issued the following statement following today’s Board of Governors meeting:

“The National Hockey League’s Board of Governors met this afternoon to review the ownership applications of three prospective ownership groups for the Phoenix Coyotes. The Board’s process today represents the League’s best efforts to comply with the League’s review procedures pursuant to NHL Constitution Article 3.5 and NHL By-Law 35 within the timetable imposed by the ongoing court process.

“There were three applicant groups that were interviewed by the Executive Committee and considered by the Board. One was Jim Balsillie’s. The second was a group headed by Anthony LeBlanc, involving Mr. LeBlanc, Keith McCullough, Todd Jordan and Daryl Jones. And the third group, headed by Jerry Reinsdorf, included as well Tony Tavares and John Kaites.

“After interviewing all of the applications, the Executive Committee brought forward recommendations to the full Board of Governors.

“Mr. Reinsdorf’s application was unanimously approved by all those Board members present and voting, subject to the League’s completion of its due diligence and review of the final transaction. In Mr. Balsillie’s case, it was the unanimous vote of all members present and voting that his application not be approved. With respect to the LeBlanc group, it was determined that, at this stage, since they’ve only recently begun the process, the application was incomplete and could not yet be acted on by the Board. However, the Executive Committee reported favorably on the LeBlanc group’s interview and endorsed the group’s continued efforts to complete a bid to purchase the franchise.

“We will so advise the Bankruptcy Court and we will move this process forward.”

So.....The Reinsdorf Group is cleared to bid in the auction knowing that they will be approved by the league. The Balsillie's have no real leverage because no matter how good their bid is they have been unanimously denied membership in the NHL lodge. And the Ice Edge group has another 10 days to come up with a lot of money and a plan to put in front of Judge Tom next Friday.

Updates 4:55PM: "All that was considered was the suitability of owners", according to NHL Comissioner Gary Bettman. "This has nothing to do with the relocation issues", Bettman continued. So let's be very clear -- the NHL has rejected Jim Balsillie as a potential owner. While he was approved by the NHL five years ago as the perspective owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins the league Governors have now voted against him. Amazing what backing out of a purchase deal in Pittsburgh and trying to circumvent league rules can do for one's standing. Even though the Balsillie group is trying to put a positive spin on this, facts are facts. Jim Balsillie will not be approved as an owner in the National Hockey League. There may be more motions but the fact is that Judge Tom made it very clear that NHL owners had the right to approve perspective owners. It also means his bid to take over the Coyotes is worthless.

Today In Chicago

2009-07-29T08:38:00.000-07:00

The NHL Board of Governors is meeting in Chicago. Among the special guests are Jim Balsillie, he of the Hamilton Coyotes and the perspective Ice Edge ownership. Although it has not been publicized, it's also expected that some representatives of the Reinsdorf-Kaites-Tavares ownership group will be in attendance. Presumably the NHL Governors will be vetting all three bids for the Coyotes.

And even though there are three groups in the running the decision should be easy. Ice Edge still hasn't submitted a formal bid and one of the owners admitted on XTRA Sports that he still didn't have all of the necessary financing lined up. Balsillie will be grilled like he's never been grilled before. Why did you try to circumvent the league constitution? Why did you back out of the Penguins purchase? Why did you even bother coming today? The Governors may add a little juice to the proceedings by formally torpedoing any franchise move to Hamilton. No need to vote up or down on Balsillie because that would only add fuel to the legal fire.

Thanks for playing fellas and drive home safely.

For Jerry, John & Tony, this is a layup. They already have Gary Bettman's papal blessing. Show up, make nice to the other Governors -- many of whom you already know from the NBA and MLB, confirm your business plan and let everyone know how honored you are to be a part of saving hockey in Phoenix.

Hopefully we'll be hearing positive news leaking out of Chicago as soon as the first Governor has to run for a plane.

Tanguay To Phoenix?

2009-07-28T08:57:00.000-07:00

A number of Internet sites are reporting that Alex Tanguay has signed with the Coyotes although there is no official confirmation. Tanguay, who will be 30 in November, has had several productive seasons with the Colorado Avalanche and Calgary Flames. He earned $5.375 last year on the last year of a 3 year contract and almost certainly would be accepting less time and money to come to the desert.

Tanguay would add a desperately needed top line presence on the left side. He has scored 193 goals and 580 total points in 653 NHL games. Alex is best known for scoring the tying and winning goal in the 7th game of the 2001 Stanley Cup championship as the Avs rallied to beat the New Jersey Devils.

He slumped in 2007-08 and was traded to Montreal, where he missed two months in the middle of the season with a separated shoulder. He also missed two playoff games with what was believed to be a recurrence of the shoulder injury. His long stay on the free agent shelf may have been directly correlated to his injury problems this year. Other than the shoulder problem, the carfax report on Tanguay is pretty good. He averaged 76 games played during his first 8 NHL seasons.

We'll be back with more once the signing is confirmed or denied.

Catching Up

2009-07-27T10:52:00.000-07:00

Been away for a few days at a family wedding so it's time to catch up on the headlines...

The Reinsdorf-Kaites-Tavares Bid is in and among other things it details the assumption of 170 contracts of player and hockey management (as well as sponsorships and suite holders) but not Wayne Gretzky. Given that the bankruptcy bid does not give Gretzky a dime of the money he is owed, it's not like they are trying to make nice with hockey's living legend. Discussion boards and forums like this will be rife with "who will coach the Coyotes" posts shortly. It's sad to see Wayne go under such uncomfortable circumstances but he's not been a success as a coach or marketing ambassador for the franchise. You just think that legends who happen to be nice people deserve better.

It also looks like the management side of the organization will be completely gutted. Our great friend Doug Moss, CFO Mike Nealy and Arena Manager Jim Foss all have contracts that will not be assumed by the new owners. Broadcasters Dave Strader, Bob Heethuis and Tyson Nash are also on the "no thanks" list although new contracts could be arranged with some or all. And keep in mind that several executives who do not have contracts were probably working the old fashioned way; on handshakes. There are going to be a lot of employment at will conversations going on in Glendale if the R-K-T bid is accepted.

There are some good people losing out here. Doug Moss is a great guy and experienced leader, Strader is the best television announcer in the game and Heethuis is an excellent and under appreciated radio announcer.

That, my friends, is the dark side of bankruptcy.

Much of this speaks to the Glendale report that says the organization could be streamlined and run at a significantly lower cost. We agree. Our friends at the Suns have told us that even before the NBA team and the US Airways Arena started contracting their organization, they were still staffed leaner than the Coyotes/Jobing.com Arena group. This was an accident waiting to happen. Now the Reinsdorf-Kaites-Tavaers group can come in, start with a fresh slate and put toggether a lean, effective organization.

On the other hand. The potential bid from Ice Edge raises a bunch of questions. To quote Brahm Resnick, it is "very edgy" to say the least. Two big ahas; they want to give Gretzky a contract to coach and be a franchise ambassador. with a lucrative playoff bonus and play at least 5 home games in a Canadian city. Oh, and right now it's a letter of intent, not a real bid. That supposedly is coming in the next few days.

The Ice Edge group includes Coyotes minority owner John Breslow among its investors. One of the key figures is Anthony LeBlanc, a former Research in Motion executive.

This bid is good news in many ways for the NHL. It is a weaker presentation that dimensionalizes the R-K-T bid as much better for Glendale. It answers the question of what happened to the John Breslow group that was bidding on the team. And it creates at least the impression of competition that the judge was hoping to encourage.

It is also dead on arrival. Neither the NHL nor the NHLPA is likely to approve of a split city concept. Saskatoon, one of the cities mentioned as a possible occasional home for the Yotes, was laughed away by the NHL when St. Louis tried to move there 20 years ago. It hasn't exactly boomed since then.

The Ice Edge group is meeting with the NHL executive board on Wednesday. It could be the beginning or the end of the bid process for that group.

Derek Morris to Boston...The Bruins needed a puck moving defenseman in the worst way. In Morris, they get a player who last year was a puck moving defenseman in the worst way. Terrible enough in Phoenix that Don Maloney opted instead to go with Adrian Aucoin as his right handed defensive signing rather than bringing Morris back. A little better in New York but still relegated to third pair status during the playoffs. We're happy for Derek who by all accounts is a good guy but this seems like an ill advised move for the Bruins. It's a one year contract which means Morris steps right back into a contract year.

And finally a couple of new contracts -- Dan Winnik gets $600K in arbitration with the Yotes and Enver Lisin signs a one year deal with the New York Rangers for $790,000.

More to come later today...

Coyotes Get Radim Vrbata Back

2009-07-21T15:33:00.000-07:00

Hoping to catch lightning in a bottle (pun intended) the Yotes today picked up journeyman winger Radim Vrbata from Tampa Bay in an deal for spare parts Todd Fedoruk and David Hale.

Two years ago, Vrbata had a career year in his only Phoenix season. He scored 27 goals and 56 points in 76 games. Radim cashed in with a 3 year, $9MM contract in Tampa and his sudden goalscoring prowess cashed out. Vrbata went home to the Czech Republic after he managed only 3 goals in 18 games during the Barry Melrose era. Barry didn't fair much better.

The real question for the Coyotes is what Vrbata are you getting? Radim never scored more than 18 goals in his 5 NHL seasons prior to joining the Coyotes, bouncing from Colorado to Carolina to Chicago. He'll come back to the desert to an offense that desperately needs goalscorers.

Other than some cash out, there's not a lot of downside to this trade. Fedoruk used to be a lower-tier heavyweight in the NHL but beatings from Derek Boogaard and Colton Orr pretty much ended his fighting career. Todd and I were probably the only two people who were both in the same arena on those nights. I fared better than he did. Fedoruk has a history of being a good team guy but he's really not capable of producing either as an offensive player or full time checker. Hale, well he was just awful in Phoenix. Neither figured in the Coyotes plans this year.

And there's probably some positive local buzz that will come off of this move. I wasn't living fulltime in Phoenix two years ago so I don't know how popular Vrbata is but the return of a 27 goalscorer never hurts. He's probably not the last addition to the team but he will add to the forward mix. That means more competition for the top nine forward positions.

And it also means that Don Maloney's work is not done. Yet.

Life After Wayne -- Who Will Coach The Coyotes?

2009-07-17T18:12:00.000-07:00

It seems to be an accepted fact that Wayne Gretzky will not be the coach of the Coyotes next season.

On one hand, that's sad. Gretzky has put in a lot of time and work learning the coaching ropes. It hasn't been easy but even the most casual observers believe he has improved in his approach and performance. His teams have been short on talent but never seemed to lack for effort. He wants to stay and has made it clear he'll take a lot less money from the new ownership to keep his job.

Conversely, few can argue that a change is not in the cards. Wayne's had four kicks at the can and hasn't been able to get the Coyotes into the playoffs. In each of the last two seasons, the team faded badly in the last third of the season. Coyote special teams are annually among the worst in the league. And while the personnel hasn't been the best, the results have been underwhelming. There's nothing harder than watching an icon lose a part of their identity.

So if new ownership decides to make a change, then what?

The biggest issue the Coyotes may face is not who is available but who will take the job. There's still a lot of uncertainty going into the new season. We assume Don Maloney will be the key player in making that decision. But Maloney is entering the third year of a five year contract and he too will be under the scrutiny of new owners. Perhaps, not today, but soon enough. Any coach Maloney tries to hire may think twice that a new GM might want his own coach. How much and how many years will also be a problem. And there's also the little matter of the talent on hand -- this ain't exactly a team people will be picking to win the Stanley Cup.

If you are a Dave Tippett or Peter Laviolette do you jump into this job or wait to see if someone like John Stevens gets tuned in Philadelphia? 7 NHL coaches were whacked during the past NHL season. Among the replacements, three (Joel Quenville, Dan Bylsma and Paul Maurice) got their teams to the conference finals and Blysma ended up winning the Stanley Cup. That's a good argument to wait and see what happens once the puck drops. There's a good chance a better job may eventually come open. And keep in mind that Tippett and Laviolette are still being paid by their previous employers.

Tippett would be an excellent choice. He is highly thought of around the league by both executives and players. Trained by current St. Louis Blues coach Andy Murray, he is known to be even handed and well respected. His special teams are always among the best in the league. And he has history with Maloney, Ulf Samuelson and Doug Sulliman as a teammate in Hartford. On top of everything else, he has gotten the most out of modestly talented teams.

Laviolette has a Cup on his resume but he's also missed the playoffs in his four other full NHL seasons. A coach who loves to attack, Laviolette is known as a players coach who has trouble holding players accountable and may not be enough of a change from Gretzky.

There are plenty of talented and aspiring minor league coaches. The success of Bylsma in Pittsburgh and Bruce Boudreau in Washington has given new life to hiring minor league coaches. The best of the current bunch are AHL bosses Scott Arniel of Manitoba and Portland's Kevin Dineen.

And if just taking an assistant's job in Edmonton doesn't close the door, former New York Ranger bench boss Tom Renney might still be the odds on favorite for the position.

Don't know which way this one will fall. I think Tippett is head and shoulders above the other candidates but I'm not sure He'll jump into this job. The odds are good he will have a chance to get a prime position when another coach bites the dust this season. Arneil has a lot of buzz and he would work cheap. And I wouldn't discount others like Randy Cunneyworth (currently an assistant in Atlanta) and Kevin Constantine (currently coaching junior in Everett, WA, formerly San Jose Sharks)

And one wild card to consider. If and when Tony Tavares takes over as either a part owner or major player in the Coyotes organization, expect that he will have a large say in what happens. Unlike Jerry Reinsdorf and John Kaites, Tavares has a background in hockey and plenty of contacts in the game. That changes the selection dynamic and it means that others will have a voice in the process. Don't be surprised if new ownership decides to make a mini splash by spending some money and possibly hiring someone none of us have suspected.

Dawes No More

2009-07-16T10:17:00.000-07:00

The Coyotes decided that taking Nigel Dawes to arbitration just wasn't worth the effort. Dawes was claimed by the Calgary Flames today on waivers. The Flames can now work out a contract with Dawes or keep the arbitration hearing scheduled for next Wednesday.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=284809

Thumbs Down On Coyote Off-Season

2009-07-15T21:17:00.000-07:00

Adam Proteau of the Hockey News isn't impressed with the Coyotes off season moves

http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/27216-THNcom-Blog-Calamitous-Coyotes-in-for-a-long-200910.html

And we're not either.

But...

The off-season is not over yet. And we suspect that Don Maloney still has a few tricks up his sleeve. He'll need to because the Yotes are still a ways off from having a team that can compete in the ultra competitive NHL Western Conference.

There's probably enough money to add one very desperately needed scorer to the team. The Coyotes could use a winger, preferably someone who plays the left side and another center wouldn't hurt either.

It's likely though that the next Coyote to hit town won't be a free agent. Aside from Alex Tanguay, there aren't any front line offensive players available. Tanguay would be a nice signing but it appears that there is lots of competition for his services. There are a number of roll of the dice type forwards still left on the shelves including Petr Sykora, Maxim Afinogenov and Miro Satan. These are guys could give you 25 goals or an Excedrin headache. The problem is that many of these players will have options to go to Europe or Russia for a better than bargain rate contracts.

The best chances to find a scoring froward is going to be through trades.

There are several teams (Ottawa, San Jose, Philadelphia, New York Rangers, Boston, Chicago) who have real cap problems. Many are facing even bigger problems with restricted free agents looking for big paydays. Maloney may be able to pick up a serviceable player on the cheap or perhaps a premium player (Phil Kessel comes to mind) albeit at the cost of future assets. Given the Coyotes urgency to ice a playoff contending team this year, I would not be opposed (in fact I would strongly support) moving draft picks and players already in the system if premium players (uhhhh, did I mention Phil Kessel) become available.

And finally, there's a chance that Maloney may be able to move his one bad contract -- Ed Jovanoski -- in exchange for help at multiple positions. The Coyotes look OK on defense and if 1--2 youngsters blossom this year they might even be considered deep. There are also capable free agent defensemen that could still be signed. Moving Jovo would not only free up a bundle of salary cap space but could bring back significant talent up front.

No matter which way GMDM turns, the Coyotes still have time to upgrade the team. The job is not done here yet. And the real job, selling tickets, is just getting underway. This franchise desperately needs some juice to excite the fan base and sell tickets. Lauri Korpikoski and Adrian Aucoin are nice acquisitions but they are not going to inspire the fans. There's no question that the Coyotes off season to date has been a yawner but we're only midway through the second period. There's plenty of time to left turn things around.

And putting a winning product on the ice in Phoenix is the biggest off season job any NHL GM is facing this year.

Coyotes Schedule Released -- Saturday Games Now At 6PM

2009-07-15T12:05:00.000-07:00

As we suspected yesterday, the Coyotes will open their 2009-10 schedule with a game on Saturday October 10 against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The bad news is that the home opener comes after a three game road trip to open the season. The Yotes open on October 3rd in Los Angeles and then go east for back to back games against the Pittsburgh Penguins (October 7) and Buffalo (October 8)

Here are some of the most interesting home games.

Saturday October 17 vs Boston
Thursday October 22 vs. Detroit
Saturday November 21 vs. Philadelphia
Saturday January 2 vs. Detroit
Saturday January 30 vs. New York Rangers

The Coyotes will be happy that the big eastern draws and Detroit are mostly scheduled on Saturday nights. That will certainly help attendance. Unfortunately they will be less happy that Pittsburgh and Washington will not be visiting Glendale this year.

The home schedule includes 18 Saturday nights, 11 Thursdays, 1 Friday (Thanksgiving weekend) and 11 assorted early week nights when we won't be seeing many people from Scottsdale.

Updated: Doug Moss has confirmed that the Coyotes will be moving to 6:00 PM starts on Saturday night in Phoenix. According to Doug, the fans like the earlier start. So do we. This should help alleviate concerns that a 7PM game keeps the kids out too late. And the Diamondbacks have proved that fans in the Valley respond to earlier starting times.

Coyotes Schedule Due Tomorrow

2009-07-14T20:14:00.000-07:00

The 2009-10 National Hockey League schedule will be released tomorrow. We've been snooping around and have learned that the Coyotes first home game will be Saturday October 10th. We've not been able to confirm the opening night opponent from any of our friends but have picked up chatter that it may once again be the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Jackets were the favored opponent of the Coyotes this year with Phoenix winning all four games between the tgeams. We'll take a look at the schedule tomorrow.

One thing to watch for is when the big draws -- Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Boston, New York Rangers etc. -- are scheduled into Phoenix. Last year the league did the Yotes absolutely no favors by sending potential big draws Washington and Pittsburgh into Phoenix on weekday nights in October. If you see bigger draws scheduled on Saturdays early in the season, that would indicate the league has taken some care to help out the gate in Phoenix. One can hope. I know Doug Moss certainly does.

A Little Dealing Between Friends

2009-07-13T21:48:00.000-07:00

I have to make a confession. Long before I moved to Phoenix and long before the Coyotes were even a thought, I was a New York Ranger fan. Born and bred since I was 7 years old. At that’s a long time ago. Official hint: Dwight Eisenhower was President. Of the United States.

The Coyotes are my (Western Division) team. The Rangers are my team. With season tickets for both teams and the NHL TV package I get to see 50-60 of each team’s games every year.

So to say I’m a little torn with tonight’s trade of Enver Lisin for Lauri Korpikoski would be an understatement.

You see, these are two of my favorite players.

Enver Lisin is an exciting player. He’s the best skater in the league and he has a chance to be an outstanding offensive player. How good? 35-40 goals is a realistic ceiling. What impressed me the most this year was how many battles he won in the offensive end. He’s more than just fast; he has great instincts and a wonderful shot. He has a chance to be special. He was one of the few players on the Coyotes who could lift you out of your seat.

Enver’s downside is that like many Russian players, he’s been a liability at the other end of the rink. A real big liability. In 2006-07, he turned in a -18 in 17 games. That my friends, takes some work. This year he was a -13 in 48 games. Numbers can be misleading but in this case they are not.

And you clearly got the impression that once the Coyotes backed up the truck at the trade deadline, he was pushed further down the lineup by the glut of forwards. The coaching staff seemed to be a little sour on him. Truth be told, more than a little sour.

Lisin is going to be either a very good player in the league or another guy who takes a pass at North American hockey and then goes back to Russia. We’ll be watching the Rangers closely to see how it plays out.

If Lisin is the prototypical risk/reward player, Korpikoski is anything but. An excellent skater, The Korpedo is going to play in the league for 10 years. He’s an excellent penalty killer (something the Yotes’ desperately need) and a very responsible defensive player. What is he is not is an offensive force. He has a nice shot and has shown some offensive flashes. You may have been watching on NBC last year when he scored a goal in his first NHL game, a second round playoff game vs. the Penguins.

At 22, there’s lot of room for growth. Worse case, he’ll ride shotgun with Marty Hanzel on the checking line. Best case, he’ll chip in enough goals to battle for a top six spot.

Although they are very different, both seem like good kids. As Korpikoski is cool and professional, Lisin is charged with emotion. The Finnish born Korpikoski speaks excellent English. Lisin has struggled to learn the language and was homesick when he first came to North America. Last year it was reported that he had made a real attempt to better acclimate himself. For some players it comes easier than others.

Check back in a few years and we’ll tell you who won this trade. Don Maloney wanted the reliability of a player he once drafted who does all of the little things well and has room to grow. The Rangers wanted a high risk/high reward player. Both got what they wanted at a modest price.

And I get to continue to follow the progress of two players whom I immensely like.

Coyotes Acquire Lauri Korpikoski

2009-07-13T17:10:00.000-07:00

It's confirmed, the Coyotes have acquired forward Lauri Korpikoski from the New York Rangers in a straight player trade for Enver Lisin.

Korpikoski is a lightning quick winger who just completed his rookie season with the Rangers with 6goals and 14 points in 68 games.

Korpikoski was drafted by Coyotes GM Don Maloney and was one of New York's 2 first round draft picks in 2004. The other? Current Coyote goaltender Al Montoya.

Lisin had 13 goals in 48 games for the Coyotes this season.

Analysis coming later.

Dead Legend Walking

2009-07-07T17:05:00.000-07:00

This is a real difficult blog to write. Because, I feel like I am writing Wayne Gretzky’s obituary as the coach of the Phoenix Coyotes.

Watching the game’s living legend be knocked around over the past few weeks has been a painful experience. He’s clearly a Canadian first and with the swirling controversy over Jim Balsillie and Hamilton, he doesn’t want to say or do anything that is not reverent to his birthplace. He is the living icon of the National Hockey League. No athlete, great or otherwise has ever shown the game more respect than Gretzky. He’s also the coach – and ostensibly the head of hockey operations for the Coyotes – and it’s a job he desperately wants to keep.

Each day that passes that seems less likely.

For starters Gretzky stayed away from the NHL draft and meetings last month in Montreal. He has been conspicuously absent in the discussion of the Coyotes off season player moves. His compensation (rightly so) was ripped in a study of Coyote team expenses. Rumors have been circulating that he won’t be welcome in the Reinsdorf-Kaites-Tavares organization. And Glendale has called into question his standing as a creditor in the Coyotes bankruptcy.

You can read more about Glendale and Gretzky here:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/glendale-takes-aim-at-great-one/article1204887/

It’s a sad turn of events. At first he was clearly out of his element behind the bench. In the last two years, he’s grown in the job and seemed to enjoy it more than in prior years. His teams played hard even if they were not particularly well schooled. Now the vibe seems to be that he really wants to keep the job, is willing to take a substantial pay cut to keep it but may not get the chance.

New ownership is keeping their mouths shut until the bankruptcy purchase is completed but you get the sense that a late summer coaching change is imminent. While there is hockey and business justification for a coaching change, there is still an emotional tug that says he’s the greatest player who ever played the game and someone who has always honored the game. He deserves better.

Wayne Gretzky won’t get fired. If the decision is made to end his association with the Coyotes, he will resign gracefully. Because that is his style. And while he has not been the great one as a coach, he has handled a difficult situation with grace and composure. Wayne Gretzky has never demanded the spotlight – it always found him. Now he lurks in the background as a creditor, a financial albatross and a supporting actor in a play that has gone horribly wrong. It is so uncomfortable.

I’m reminded of a comment that was made about Wayne when he played and lived in LA. “He’s a great, hockey player” a business associate once told me, “but he’s an even better human being”. Good people deserve better.

If Wayne’s World is indeed closing, we’ll be watching a chapter of his remarkable career without a happy ending. And we all will be watching an opportunity slip away that started with so much promise but now is eclipsed by an economic struggle for survival.

Somehow, we’ll all be a little poorer for the experience.

Coyotes This & That…

2009-07-05T21:00:00.000-07:00

Two Coyotes -- Nigel Dawes and Dan Winnik have filed for salary arbitration. This means that if the team and the layers do not reach agreement on a contract, a hearing will be held on a hearing in Toronto between July 20th and August 4th. The players and the team will argue their respective cases and an arbitrator will decide their 2009-10 salary.

The two players cannot sign offer sheets and are bound to play for the Coyotes by the amount decided by the arbitrator. The team has walk away rights from offers if they choose. This could be an issue if Dawes is rewarded with a higher offer than the Coyotes are comfortable paying based on his modest goal scoring over the past two years. On Monday we’ll learn if the Coyotes are invoking team elected salary arbitration on any of their other RFAs. This could happen if negotiations with any of the qualified RFAs are not going well. Watch to see if Keith Yandle or Scott Upshall are taken to arbitration.

Elsewhere, there are still lots of quality players available in free agency. I count 32 players who made more than $2MM last year and another 31 who made between $1-2MM looking for work.

Unfortunately for the Yotes, the number one need on their shopping list is goal scorers and there are not a lot of marksmen still unsigned. And the ones left are generally in the back half of their careers and looking for landing places with contenders. Players like Alex Kovalev, Alex Tanguay, Saku Koivu, Petr Sykora and Robert Lang are all likely to head to teams looking to win now.

Don Maloney has a few choices. He can break the bank for one of the bigger names. Of those available, Tanguay may be the best price/value option. Or he can roll the dice on a reclamation project. Maxim Afinogenov anyone? Or perhaps he may be to find a trading partner.

If Maloney decides to go the trade route, he has plenty of assets available, mostly on the back end. The Coyotes have 7 NHL defensemen signed for next year (OK, 6 + David Hale) and 4 1st round draft choices coming along. He could also further fortify the backline with any of the several workmanlike defensemen still available. And perhaps that would open up the possibility of trading a defenseman for a scoring forward.

And the ability to move a defenseman could also address the payroll situation. While GMDM still has some money available (The Coyotes are flirting with the cap floor with their current roster) there’s little doubt he would be open to moving the two bad contracts on the team – defensemen Ed Jovanoski and Jim Vandermeer. If he could move either or both contracts, it could open up many possibilities. He would certainly have to take salary back but right now there are more quality defensemen available than scorers.

Several rumor mills are talking about Jovo being in play. There’s little doubt that Maloney has already talked to the player and his agent about possible destinations (likely before the draft) and a deal could happen. The Coyotes would no doubt have been in the Ryan Smyth trade talks but without moving a big contract, they couldn’t take that kind of salary back. It’s almost impossible to guess what players might be available but a big salary for big salary trade could be the next Coyotes move.

And on a somewhat unrelated subject, you may have heard that the Chicago Blackhawks may have missed the deadline for tendering their restricted free agents. If that’s the case as many as 14 Hawks could be declared free agents. It’s a complex case that is being investigated by the NHL and being closely watched by the NHLPA. Cam Barker and Kris Versteeg are the biggest names available and if both became free agents, they would get tremendous interest around the league. Probably too rich for the Coyotes system.

There’s another lesser known player who might interest the Coyotes – goaltender Corey Crawford. He’s projected as the backup in Chicago next year and as a prospect on the rise, he could be a very appealing free agent. Front office fiascos of this nature are not unprecedented – it happened to the New Jersey Devils several years ago. The difference this time around is the salary cap restraints. It would clearly cramp the Hawks going forward.

Day Two of Free Agency...Give The Coyotes an "A"

2009-07-02T22:31:00.000-07:00

Give the Coyotes an “A” for their latest free agent signing.

A as in Adrian Aucoin. This is more like what I had in mind for this off season. This is a good, potentially great signing.

Aucoin is a horse. He played 22 minutes a game this year for a very good Calgary team. He scored 10 goals in each of the last two seasons totaling 34 and 35 points. And even though he’s slowed down a little at age 35, he still is a strong skater and a steadying influence.

All of this on a very flexible one year contract for $2.25MM. Or said another way, $50,000 less than Jim Vandermeer. Still think that wasn’t part of the Jokinen deal and was made in March?

So what is going on as NHL free agency completes its’ second full day? Well for starters, star players still got star money. Gaborik for $7.5MM in New York. Havlat for $5MM in Minnesota. And Hossa for ever in Chicago.
But the second wave of free agent signings seems to be coming much more slowly. Only about half as many players signed on the second day this year compared to last year. And by my count, there are still over 30 players who made $2MM or more last year who have not yet signed new contracts.

Aucoin was squarely in that group. He made $4MM last year finishing off a 4 year contract he signed after the lockout with the Chicago Blackhawks. He took a big pay cut and a one year contract to get a seat at the table. Others will likely be in the same position.

It’s unlikely that a Robert Lang or Alex Kovalev will drop far enough to be in Don Maloney’s price bracket but some good offensive players who might are Ales Kotalik ($2.5MM last year), Maxim Afinogenov ($3.5MM), Mikael Samuelsson ($1.2MM) and Petr Sykora ($2.5MM). There’s also the possibility of a trade that brings a contracted player to the Coyotes.

Even with the signings of Aucoin, Vernon Fiddler, Jason LaBarbera and the acquisition of Jim Vandermeer, the Coyotes are still hovering around the salary cap floor. It appears there’s room for one more contract and that will almost certainly be a scorer.

Like much of the television advertising we see these days, prices have never been better. And better yet, operators are standing by. That’s great news when dollars are tight and your needs are great.

GMDM, Shop till they tell you to stop!

Yawn...

2009-07-02T09:19:00.000-07:00

The NHL draft and free agency have not been the buzz builders that the Phoenix Coyotes had hoped for.

Aside from dealing for a couple of minor league prospects, the only NHL player acquired at the draft was defenseman Jim Vandermeer who came over from the Calgary Flames. Now one day into free agency the Yotes’ have added journeyman (don’t you just love that word) goaltender Jason LaBarbera and utility (another cool adjective) forward Vernon Fiddler as free agents.

I didn’t even write a free agent preview because I wasn’t expecting much out of the Coyotes. Everyone assumed GM Don Maloney would be shopping in the bargain aisle this summer. So far, it feels like the clearance bin at the dollar store.

Fiddler is a nice 3rd/4th line player. He works hard, kills penalties, wins face-offs and was a crowd favorite in Nashville. He will fill the Steve Reinprecht role on the team.

LaBarbera is an enigma. Like most goaltenders he is streaky. But boy is he ever streaky. He can be very good one night and very bad the next. In parts of 5 NHL seasons, it’s been more bad (2.97 GAA) than good.

Maloney has history with the lanky goaltender. When GMDM was in New York, LaBarbera was a Ranger draftee and farmhand.

Here’s a great story about Jason’s roller coaster career…

http://crashingthegoalie.com/2009/02/15/the-ups-and-downs-of-jason-labarbera/

LaBarbera was signed to push Ilya Bryzgalov but in reality he won’t be doing that. He’ll battle another form Ranger, Al Montoya, for the backup position.

But there is still hope for a shot of electricity that the franchise desperately needs. The silver lining here is that even with the three acquisitions made to date, the Coyotes are still below the NHL salary cap floor. I’ll do the math later today but it looks that even with reasonable qualifying offer allowances for players like Keith Yandle and Scott Upshall, the team still has enough money to buy another player or two.

So now what? The team still needs help on defense. Preferably a right hand shot. Derek Morris is still out there but there’s a certain ‘been there, done that’ quality to any potential resigning. And let’s not forget that Morris was awful for much of 2008-09.

And there’s a real need for a proven goal scorer to take some pressure off the young guns. The Coyotes were 29th in the NHL in scoring last year. While there is a lot of hope for internal improvement, there’s still a long way to go. There will be a lot of pressure on the kids to produce if this is the team we go to war with.

As other teams sign shiny new free agents, there may be some salary dumps available. And there’s always the player who won’t have a seat when the music stops playing who may just decide Phoenix in January sounds pretty damn good.

Until there is new ownership in place, Phoenix will simply not have the money or will to compete for premium free agents. There’s no money to take on big contracts from other teams. There is however a need to create news and excitement around the team and the next few days will go a long way to seeing what rabbits GMDM might be able to pull out of the hat.

Yes Nigel. And Keith. And Scott...

2009-06-30T15:38:00.000-07:00

The Coyotes have qualified 12 RFAs including most of those expected including Scott Upshall and Keith Yandle. Bubble players Nigel Dawes and Dan Winnik were qualified as well as Enver Lisin, who has been tendered an offer from a Russian KHL team.

By issuing a qualifying offer, the team essentially keeps the players rights. Players can sign the QO or negotiate for a longer, larger contract. 4 players -- Dawes, Upshall, Winnik and Lepisto have the right to file for arbitration.

Joakim Lindstrom was the only player who spent the majority of his time with the big club last year who was not qualified. He is now a unrestricted free agent.

Here's the official announcement...

http://coyotes.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=432288

No Nigel?

2009-06-29T14:24:00.000-07:00

The 5PM Eastern deadline for qualifying restricted free agents has passed. we'll likely get an update from the Coyotes later today on what players they have qualified and perhaps a couple of contract signings.

Seven players who finished the 2008-09 season on the Coyotes roster are RFAs and must be qualified by today. They are Nigel Dawes, Keith Yandle, Scott Upshall, Daniel Winnik, Joakim Lindstron, Enver Lisin and Brian McGrattan. Petr Prucha was also in this group but he signed a two year contract last week. In addition to players from the NHL roster, Josh Tordjman heads a group of 11 players from the San Antonio Rampage who are also RFAs. Defensemen Sami Lepisto and Shawn Heshka, obtained during the draft weekend and forward Stefan Myers who came over in the Steven Rupprecht trade are also RFAs.

So what does this mean?

Well we expect Yandle and Upshall will be qualified without exception. Both of these players are strong NHL assets and will be looking for long term contracts and big raises. Don Maloney has said he would like to get a fair two way contract in place for Enver Lisin. They would mean making a deal before he is qualified. Lepisto, Heshka and Torjdman are probably in the same boat as Lisin. The Coyotes have already announced that McGrattan is not coming back and Winnik may get an AHL contract.

That leaves Nigel Dawes and Joakim Lindstrom as question marks. Both are depth players who a) have flashed some scoring ability and b) are relatively cheap. Lindstrom had 9 goals in 44 games after coming over in a trade with Anaheim and he made $500,000 last year. Dawes made $587,500 and he potted 10 goals, splitting the season between the Yotes and the New York Rangers.

It's hard to see room for both of them in Phoenix. And in what may or may not be a predictor of what is happening, Dawes has been removed from the Coyotes roster on the team web site. Maloney was disappointed in his play after joining the Coyotes and signals seem to point to Nigel moving on next year.

Once the Coyotes publish their qualifying offers and contract signings, it will give a good picture of what roster moves to expect in the next few days.

The Draft, 3 Trades and Where Next?

2009-06-28T18:26:00.000-07:00

Draft weekend is a fun time in the NHL. It’s the official start of off-season player movement and one of the key events in building a team for the coming season.

When it comes to the amateur draft, I always take the position of trusting the scouts. Keith Gretzky and his team has done a good job identifying players to draft in the last few years. The Coyotes have lots of good talent already in the NHL, more players on the way and a few unsigned draft choices who could end up being impact players. I get a kick out of the message board experts who really want this player or think that guy can turn around a franchise after watching a few YouTube highlights and reading what so-called draft experts say.

I always appreciate how TSN hockey analyst Bob McKenzie positions himself. McKenzie, who seems to have an direct pipeline to many teams, predicts the draft based on what he hears and what he is told, not what he thinks of the players. A few years ago he predicted the Coyotes were going to go “off the grid” with the 5^th pick and they proceeded to pick the much lower rated Blake Wheeler. Think he has sources?

That said, the selection of Ekman-Larsson over Cowen was a bit of a surprise to me. Cowen is a physical, shutdown defensive type unlike anyone the Coyotes have in their organization. Ekman-Larsson shot up draft boards in the last few months and those type of players always scare me a little. Nevertheless, I’ll trust the scouts here and hope they have pegged a very good young player.

General Manager Don Maloney took an innovative route to improving the team by trading a couple of late round draft choices for players who finished last season in the American Hockey League. I did suspect that Maloney would consider trading draft picks for restricted free agents, but frankly I expected the action to be at the top of the Coyotes draft board and not at the bottom.

The Coyotes traded their 5^th round pick to the Washington Capitals for the rights to RFA defenseman Sami Lepisto. The Finnish defenseman was stuck behind a number of young defensemen in the Caps system. Lepisto was a 3rd round draft choice in 2004 and has scored 45 and 42 points in his two full AHL seasons. Lepisto has also played 14 NHL games with the Caps. He missed Hershey’s AHL championship run after injuring his spleen in the last week of the regular season.

Maloney then shipped the Yotes’ 7^th round pick to the Vancouver Canucks for defenseman Shaun Heshka. A junior teammate of Peter Mueller, Heshka has spent the last three years with the AHL Manitoba Moose, scoring 14 goals and 62 total points in 211 games. The Moose lost to the Bears in the AHL championship series this year.

Both Lepisto and Heshka have completed his entry level contracts. They will need to be qualified by 5 PM Monday or else they will become an unrestricted free agents. Much like Enver Lisin, Maloney is likely to want a fair two-way contract in place for both players. They may or may not agree leaving the possibility that they will have to be qualified (with a one way contract) or become free agents. One can assume the latter option is unlikely either by prior agreement or qualification.

While trading for restricted free agents is a solid strategy, Maloney is clearly shopping in the bargain aisle. He decided not get in on the action for high profile RFAs like Phil Kessel. One assumes the Coyotes have scouted these players extensively and had enough confidence to swap low draft choices for a shot at these players.

More curious was the trade of Brandon Prust to the Calgary Flames for veteran defenseman Jim Vandermeer.

Prust projected as little more than a 4^th line energy player for the Yotes but he was cheap -- $500K. Vandermeer has a bigger price tag. Much bigger. He has two years left on his contract at an annual hit of $2.3MM.

The trade is curious in two ways. Vandemeer is a defensive minded player who lacks mobility. He is a 5^th or 6^th defenseman on a good team. He is not the offensive minded defenseman that the Coyotes desperately need. And at $2.3MM he takes a big bite out of the $5-6MM that we know Maloney has to spend to get to the salary cap floor. Maloney wants to add veteran leadership and Vandermeer will help in that area but he is at best a modest talent.

One wonders if this trade might have been a second act to the Jokinen trade. It just seems to be very out of character for GMDM.

What is missing right now is the element of excitement to the Coyotes off-season. So far, the biggest fireworks have come in the courtroom. . Taken alone, each of these moves can be explained as reasonable hockey judgement. Collectively, they will not excite the fan base. This franchise badly needs some juice. The Coyotes need to sell tickets, They need to win now. As flawed as the Olli Jokinen trade turned out last year, it did give the franchise a shot of energy. Unfortunately that energy didn’t pay off in a productive season or a playoff berth.

There will be more changes in the next few days and hopefully there will be some exciting hockey news for Coyote fans. As we approach the Monday 5PM deadline for qualifying restricted free agents, more players may become available. And on Wednesday over 100 unrestricted free agents hit the market. The Coyotes will not be players for the available big names but I expect GMDM to be shopping the bargain aisle for useful players. The frenzy of free agent activity will also put shake some players loose in trades and that’s where I expect the Coyotes to have their best chance and giving the franchise a real energy boost.

And a shot of excitement, along with investment by the new owners and lots of hard work are all parts of pumping new life into the franchise. I’m getting sick of the Coyotes being the butt of hockey jokes. (Did you hear Montreal fans chanting “Hamilton” when the Coyotes drafted?) It’s time for this franchise to show up, make a few bold moves and show the community that getting to the playoffs is not only a good talking point, but a real possibility. Bold moves can come in business at any time but if you are building a hockey roster, this is the week to be bold.

Coyotes Reading Room

2009-06-24T12:26:00.001-07:00

Some interesting stuff from around the Internet on the eve of the NHL draft

Gretzky would consider a pay cut to stay in his position. Hmmm...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/gretzky-would-consider-salary-cut/article1194684/

Why would Jerry Reinsdorf want to buy the Coyotes?

http://espn.go.com/chicago/columns/blog?post=4281827&name=cimaglia

sounds a lot like our assessment originally posted on May 22nd.

And colorful Leafs GM Brian Burke thinks hockey can be a success in Phoenix...

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/postedsports/archive/2009/06/23/brian-burke-has-faith-in-phoenix.aspx

a position that no doubt most of us will agree with.

What To Watch For On Draft Day(s)

2009-06-23T21:38:00.000-07:00

If you’re taking in the NHL draft on Friday afternoon (4PM, Versus) there are several things to be watching for as the Coyotes are scheduled to pick at #6 and #36. Here are some things keys to look for as the draft develops.

The Bombshell Trade – There’s only one available player out there worthy of the Yotes’ #6 draft pick and that’s Boston Bruin Left Wing Phil Kessel. If there is going to be a major trade at the top of the draft, it will almost certainly include Kessel. The Coyotes have interest in trading for the 21-year-old and if the Bruins are inclined to move him, a package of #6 plus Chris Summers could get it done. Kessel might not last this long because Atlanta at #4 and Los Angeles at #5 could also be interested. If he’s going to be moved, it will almost certainly be to a team with a high draft pick as the salary cap constrained Bruins will be looking for non-NHL assets in return. This could be where Don Maloney drops his second annual draft bombshell (see Olli Jokinen) Of course, this could depend on…

The First 5 Players Picked – Most NHL observers think that John Tavares (no relation to Tony), Victor Hedman, Matt Duchesne, Brayden Schenn and Evander Kane are the top five players available in the draft. If all 5 go before the Coyotes pick at # 6 a trade down becomes more likely. Don Maloney would love to see one of these players slide to #6 so he can select that player or extract a high price from another team to trade down. And that team might be…

The Toronto Maple Leafs – Colorful Leafs GM Brian Burke wants to make his team tougher and more North American. He also wants to move up in the draft to select John Tavares or Brayden Schenn. If Burke cannot get into the top 2 and Schenn falls to 6, he and Maloney could do business. If not the Leafs, the Coyotes are unlikely to trade down below the #9 pick owned by Ottawa because players they value highly will still be available…

And The Coyotes Select – Either Defenseman Jared Cowen of the Spokane Chiefs or Forward Nazim Kadri of the London Knights. Listening to Don Maloney speak earlier this spring, he talked about the top players in the draft as “Tavares, Hedman, Duchene, Kane, Cowen and possibly Kadri”. When it became clear that the Coyotes were drafting at six and that five players were getting the most press (Tavares, Hedman, Duchesne, Kane, Schenn) he changed his tune to list those 5 players. June is liar’s month in the NHL. Players do move up and down the draft board. But it makes sense that Maloney took the easy way out by saying there are 5 great players and we get the next best. Maloney is always thinking.

What unites Cowen and Kadri is the 2008 Memorial Cup. Cowen’s Spokane Chiefs bested Kadri’s (and Mikkel Boedker) Kitchener Rangers in a terrific series. Maloney scouted that tournament heavily, went on to draft Boedker and brought along high opinions of both players. Cowen missed the second half of the 2008-09 season with a knee injury. Kadri was traded to the London Knights where his game really took off in the second half of the season.

Maloney has also alluded to cutbacks in scouting expenses this year. That could mean a less than thorough vetting of the two Euros (Oliver Ekman-Larson and Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson ) ranked in the next group of the top 10 available players. That translates to a higher comfort level with players the team is more familiar with.

Cowen is rated higher in most mocks and by NHL Central Scouting. If the Coyotes pick at 6 or 7 he could be the pick. If they go lower or if Cowen is gone, Kadri will likely be the choice. And then on Saturday morning…

The Coyotes Pick at #36 – Or at least they are scheduled to. The early second round choice could go in a number of directions. Maloney has talked about possibly trading down in the 2nd to pick up an additional third round choice. The Coyotes sent their third round choice to Calgary in the Jokinen/Lombardi trade. It could also be packaged, perhaps with Calgary’s #1 in 2010 to move into the second half of the first round. If a player Maloney really likes starts to drop, he could try to trade back into the latter part of the first round.

And don’t discount the possibility of this pick being packaged with other assets to bring back immediate help. This pick won’t realistically help the big club for 2 or 3 years. For a win now team, that may not be good enough. Our guess is that whatever the course, Maloney won’t be picking at #36. He’ll either add assets by trading down or pursue a win now strategy by trading for a younger roster player or a late first round draft choice.

It will be an interesting draft. With uncertainty about how aggressive the Coyotes will (or can) be in the free agent market, trading and drafting are the keys to improving the team. With the pressure of new ownership and the urgency to win sooner rather than later, the Coyotes will be active this weekend. It will be interesting to see how active they are.

Gretzky Waits...

2009-06-23T17:01:00.000-07:00

Coyotes incumbent coach Wayne Gretzky is watching and waiting as the Yotes ownership is sorted out in bankruptcy court.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=282651

It's been rumored that the Reinsdorf-Kaites-(Tavares?) ownership group may sever ties with The Great One or offer him to a non-coaching role in the organization. Certainly can't be too comfortable watching as the action unfolds.

Even though Tom Renney has accepted a position as assistant coach in Edmonton, we believe that he would be the leading candidate to replace Gretzky if a coaching change is mandated by the new owners.

Coyotes Auction August 5th. Only Local Owners Need Apply

2009-06-22T20:30:00.000-07:00

The news is good for Coyotes fans tonight.

For starters, the NHL announced in a court filing and later confirmed in court that the Jerry Reinsdorf-John Kaites (-Tony Tavares?) group would be filing a bid to buy the team by the Friday deadline.

Then Judge Tom dropped a Baum-shell on Jim Balsillie’s bid to move the team to Canada by setting an August 5th auction date for owners who want to operate the team in Arizona. The Judge indicated that he likes the ease of selling the team locally, noting that there would be multiple legal complications to any offer that would move the team, especially if it was against the will of the NHL. Should no local owner be selected or qualified on the August 5th, a second auction would be held on September 10th that could potentially open the team to relocation. Think of this date as “if necessary” and hope that the game is never played.

The NHL has long held that a bid to purchase the team and keep it in Arizona was forthcoming and the news that the bid is imminent is good. Additionally, minority owner John Breslow has talked of offering a bid and there are still others who may be lurking. It remains to be seen if Breslow will enter the bidding by Friday’s deadline but one possibility is that he may join the Reinsdorf- Kaites (-Tavares?) group.

Negotiations with the City of Glendale will be following. The City expressed concern that August 5th was an aggressive deadline. After looking at the alternatives, that will seem like an eternity for them to close a deal.

Still to be revealed are the other members of the bidding group. There has been speculation that Hollywood producer (and aspiring NHL owner) Jerry Bruckheimer may be part of the action. We believe that Arte Moreno, the owner of baseball’s Los Angeles Angels and a Phoenix resident may also be a potential investor.

So now that the Reinsdorf- Kaites (-Tavares?) group is officially out of the water, many questions emerge. There was much speculation early on that Wayne Gretzky would not be retained in his current role if the ownership went in this direction. We’ll find out soon if that is the case. It’s unlikely that the iconic and ever-gracious Gretzky would simply be dismissed but he may be asked to take a lesser and lower paying role in the management of the team.

The player budget floor 2009-10 is also on the table. If Gary Bettman is directing Don Maloney with the understanding that NHL money was paying the bills, you can bet the Coyotes would be close to the floor minimum. With new money and ownership was coming to the table, that could mean a bigger player budget for next year. And with shopping season right around the corner, it’s fair to assume that this issue has already been vetted with the R-K-(T?) group.

And finally, changes in the off-ice management of the team may be on the table. If Tony Tavares is an active participant, that will likely signal some realignment of the front office. One can assume that based on the reports of high administrative expenses, Tony would be a tiger in holding down costs. Tavares has a reputation for being a hardnosed operator but his experience and marketing background could be a large asset to the franchise.

We’ll know a lot more later this week. For now, we’ll take solace in knowing that the cavalry is on the way, they are bringing a checkbook and they seem willing to dig in a make this franchise a success. And they are doing all of these things without dragging the team off to Hamilton.

Local Bid For Coyotes Coming (Very) Soon

2009-06-22T12:10:00.000-07:00

In a briefing for today's hearing in bankruptcy court, the NHL has informed the court that a local bid for the team will be forthcoming, perhaps as soon as the end of this week. It's believed that the bid is coming from the John Kaites-Jerry Reinsdorf group, which earlier this month formed Glendale Hockey LLC according to an Arizona Corporation Commission filing.

Read about it here...

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/2009/06/22/sp-coyotes-nhl.html

Prucha Re-ups for 2 Years

2009-06-19T10:40:00.001-07:00

The Coyotes have signed left wing Petr Prucha to a 2 year contract. Prucha played for $1..6 million last year and likely would not have been qualified at that amount. It's expected he will receive less money in exchange for a two year commitment.

Prucha, who will turn 27 in September, had 2 goals and 8 assists in 19 games after joining the Coyotes at the trade deadline in the Derek Morris trade. In his four year NHL career, he has scored 65 goals including 30 in his rookie season in New York. Prucha is a quick energetic player who could be an nice asset for the Yotes if he can regain his goal scoring touch.

Importantly, this signing shows that GM Don Maloney has some latitude to sign players for more than one season. That's a promising sign.

Update: According to TSN, Prucha's contract is for $1.1 miilion per year.

Reinprecht Traded to Florida

2009-06-19T10:35:00.000-07:00

Steve Reinprecht will not be back with the Coyotes next year. Facing a situation where the team felt they could not resign the player, the Yotes have swapped his rights to the Florida Panthers in exchange for 23-year-old left wing Stefan Myers. We’re checking with our AHL contracts and will have a scouting report on Myers shortly.

Myers was drafted in the second round (#55 overall) by the Panthers in 2003. He has spent the last four seasons with the American League Rochester Americans scoring 64 goals and 130 points in 266 games. He made his NHL debut with the Panthers last year going scoreless in 4 games. Meyer stands 6’ 2” and weighs 194. He is a restricted free agent.

Upon completion of the trade, Reinprecht signed a three year contract with the Panthers averaging just a little over $2 million per season. Since coming to Phoenix in a deadline deal with Calgary in 2005, he had been a useful player who provided leadership and versatility. The 33-year-old went 14-27-41 last year despite missing a month with a shoulder injury. It’s worth noting that his absence from the lineup coincided with the Coyotes February swoon that cost the team any chance at a playoff spot.

Update: Our AHL correspondent (who happens to be in Rochester) tells us that Myers is a good team guy, but only a little above average player for the AHL level. He questions whether Myers can ever be a full time NHLer. Myers has been in Rochester a long time and might've gotten a little stale. Even so, he's still young and maybe with a change of scene and another year older, he might be ready to take another step up.

Win. Now.

2009-06-18T21:58:00.000-07:00

Yes, the Coyotes have committed to youth. Yes, they have traded veteran chips for younger assets in each of the last two seasons. And yes, they have not only loaded up on youngsters, they’ve played the kids and allowed them to get valuable NHL experience.

In fact, last year the Coyotes routinely played a minimum of 10 players with 2 or less years experience in the league. Phoenix iced the second youngest team in the league last season.

But now the team is in a quandary. Like it or not, this is a win now team. New owners, old owners or for that matter any owners cannot stand another $30 million dollar bloodbath. The only way to fix the financial condition of the team is to win. Now. Until the team on the ice turns the corner, the turnout in the stands will not materialize. No uptick in fan support and we’ll see more summers of wondering whether this team is here for the long haul.

Oh and by the way Don Maloney, you can spend to the salary cap floor. And be sure and get league approval before you make any long term contract commitments.

Gee, thanks.

If you read yesterday’s entry, you know that Maloney has somewhere in the neighborhood of $5-6million to get the two things the Coyotes really need – a high end goal scorer and a top 4 defenseman.

Oy.

So how do they do it?

Well, for starters this is not business as usual. It’s great that the Coyotes have the #6 and #36 pick in this draft. It’s great that they have Calgary’s #1 next year. And Philadelphia’s #2 the year after. Because they will need every one of those assets.

And free agency may or may not help. The uncertainty surrounding the team and the questions about whether there will be long term commitments available may make this a tougher sell. Derek Morris is the most obvious candidate but whether or not he will be affordable is a question.

The Coyotes brain trust needs to think outside of the box. Way outside of the box. Picking the best player available is a nice, safe strategy. It may set the next management team up for success.

So how do the Coyotes stay true to their (current) principles and win now?

Here are a few suggestions…

1. Trade assets, including draft picks for restricted free agents. There’s an interesting dynamic at play in the NHL right now. With so many teams bumping up against the cap, some very good young players may not be affordable to their current teams. Two very capable assets that are rumored to be available are 21 year-old (and 36 goal scorer) Phil Kessel of the Boston Bruins and 23-year-old defenseman Cam Barker of the Chicago Blackhawks.

Both players would fill glaring needs for the Yotes. Kessel is a dynamic goal scorer. Barker hasn’t been all that was hoped for when he was picked 3rd in the draft a few years ago but he contributes on offense (49 points) can run a power play and still has plenty of development time to round out his game.

Both of these players will come with a big ticket. Kessel will want a contract close to $4 million and Barker likely will be in the $2-2.5 million range. Their current teams will also extract a heavy cost in assets, likely draft choices and possibly some current roster players. Prospects like Maxim Goncharov and Chris Summers could also be in play.

Normally trading draft choices is verboten for a rebuilding team. But this is a win now team. Let's say you trade your 1st round pick for Kessel. You’ve added a proven young asset. You can only hope the draft pick turns out as good. That’s one way to be on strategy by continuing to build with youth but it would also dramatically help your chances of winning now.

There’s a lucky strike extra here too. The off-ice buzz this kind of dramatic move would generate could only help the franchise sell tickets.

2. Move Ed Jovanoski. Well, not so fast. Even though he’s doesn’t play up to his paycheck ($6.5 million) he’s still a quality top pair defenseman in the league. He would have to be replaced with a similar caliber player that carries a lower ticket. He could potentially be packaged in one of two ways.

Let’s say that a team below the Coyotes covets a certain player in the draft. Oh, for instance the Toronto Maple Leafs. Picking at 7th, the Leafs could swap picks and defensemen with the Yotes. Jovo goes to Toronto and Tomas Kaberle comes to the desert. It’s pretty much a talent wash but the Coyotes would get about $2 million in salary relief.

Or a team like the Philadelphia Flyers could come into play here. The Flyers desperately need a top pair defenseman and they want to move salary. They may target Florida’s UFA Jay Bouwmeester. If that fails perhaps they would be interested in moving some salary (the oft rumored Joffrey Lupul) and a talented defenseman (Matt Carle?) for Jovo. The Flyers get the top pair defenseman they want and move salary in the process. The Coyotes get two quality players for the cost of one and a half.

Of course, Jovo has a no-trade agreement that will have to be waived. Considering he is really the only bad contract the Coyotes own, I wouldn’t be surprised if Don Maloney hasn’t already visited with him and his representation about this possibility.

3. Take salary AND get assets in a trade. Give is your contracted, your rich, your huddled masses…

A few years ago, the San Jose Sharks obtained a 1st draft choice from the New Jersey Devils to take players off their hands so that the Devils could get under the cap. That could happen again this year. It’s possible that teams may approach the Coyotes and offer players and sweeten the pot with “future considerations” if they would take a bad contract. The problem with this route is that the contracts offered may be really long and really bad. This will be an option but don’t get too excited. There won’t be much value here.

4. And finally, there’s good old fashioned trading. Assert for asset. Most likely the reverse of last year’s Keith Ballard-Olli Jokinen trade with the Coyotes seeking help on defense in exchange for a forward.

Maloney's former employer, the New York Rangers, have long been one of Maloney's favorite trading partners. That pattern could continue this off season. One of the Coyotes biggest needs is are right handed shooting defensemen. The Rangers have 6 on their NHL roster and could be interested in moving one to fill some of their glaring holes on the wing.

If we are talking a talent for talent swap here, something along the lines of a Viktor Tikhonov for Bobby Sanguinetti trade could be possible. The Rangers need good young forwards. Sanguinetti was a former first round choice of Maloney's in New York, who is considered to be NHL ready after an impressive rookie season in the American Hockey League. Both teams fill a real need with players drafted in similar positions and each one year into their entry level contract.

It’s a real challenging problem. Stay true to youth. Build a franchise foundation. And, oh yes, win now! It will challenge Don Maloney in ways he never imagined when he took this job. And as the Coyotes face the most important summer ever, his work will go a long way to determining whether the team will succeed next year on and off the ice.

I'd Rather Be Talking About Hockey

2009-06-17T20:27:00.000-07:00

Isn’t it a pleasure to spend some time talking about hockey?

As the Coyotes get ready for the NHL draft and free agency, I thought a good place to start would be a review of the Coyotes salary cap situation and the internal decisions they will need to make over the next few weeks. Since the Coyotes are still technically bankrupt, they are controlled by agreement between the NHL and the Moyes camp. Of course, the NHL is footing the bills but a player budget will have to be agreed upon by both sides. One can probably assume that until a new owner is in place, the team will be spending at or near the salary cap floor. While the NHL has stood firm for Phoenix, there is a definite limit to their largesse.

The NHL salary structure capped all teams at a $56.7 Million payroll in 2008-09. The amount is unlikely to change in 2009-10 and it will likely slide backwards in 2010-11. The cap structure also requires teams to spend to a salary cap floor, which was $40.7 million in 2008-09.

At the trading deadline, Coyote GM Don Maloney made a number of moves that changed the makeup, culture and payroll of the Coyotes. Maloney’s efforts did not go unnoticed. Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke called Maloney “the first star” of the trading deadline. According to Burke, Maloney gave himself “tremendous salary cap flexibility” that could turn out to be an asset in the trading activity that surrounds the draft.

The Coyotes have 16 players who played all or most of the season in the NHL under contract for 2009-2010. That group accounts for a base salary cap hit of $29.4 Million Dollars. In addition, the Yotes are still carrying a $700K annual buyout payment to former player Dave Scatchard.
Here are the players under contract… 6 players have the potential to earn an additional $3.9 million in entry level contract bonuses. This money includes signing, games played and performance bonuses. For the purposes of the salary cap, only signing bonuses and games played bonuses (when reached) can be counted against the cap. So if you are building an annual budget, it makes sense to start at the base cap salaries.

The Yotes have 8 restricted free agents on their roster – Keith Yandle, Scott Upshall, Enver Lisin, Nigel Dawes, Petr Prucha, Josh Tordjman, Dan Winnik, Joakim Lindstrom and Brian McGrattan.

Yandle and Upshall will definitely be qualified and should expect contracts in the $1.6-1.7 range. Don Maloney has stated he wants to sign Lisin to a 2-way contract but he is also expected to have an offer from a Russian KHL team. Best case – about an $800K NHL salary. Prucha won’t be qualified but he may be willing to sign for less than the $1.6MM he made last year. He could also end up in the KHL with fellow Czech and former New York Ranger teammate Jaromir Jagr. Dawes and Lindstrom may or may not be qualified. They are inexpensive assets but both are little more than depth players. McGrattan won’t be back and Winnik will at best get a 2-way contract.

So with Yandle and Upshall in for $3.5MM total and either Prucha or Lisin at $800K-$1 Million, that brings the payout for 19 players to about $33.8 million. That leaves about $7 million for free agents.

Steven Reinprecht was a team leader last year and a reliable player. $2 million is probably too pricey for a return engagement but he may be willing to sign for less money. Let’s say $1.5MM. Ken Klee was an excellent pickup and mentor on defense for $625K. He could be back at the same money. Dimitri Kalinin is unlikely to return.

Soooo…if you agree to this point, the Coyotes would have spent approx. $36 million on 21 players. That leaves approx $5.7 million and some large holes to fill. Tomorrow, I’ll look at some of the Coyotes options to fill out their roster with free agents, trades and draft day maneuvering.

A Sigh of Relief

2009-06-16T11:55:00.000-07:00

The news today is good. Judge Redfield “Tom” Baum ruled against the Moyes/Balsillie motion that would have forced the bankrupt team to auction next Monday. The team will remain in Phoenix for the near term and under the agreement between Moyes and the NHL, it will likely be auctioned sometime in September. An auction that the NHL hopes will bring new local ownership that will stabilize the franchise for years to come.

The ruling is a big win for the NHL and Phoenix hockey fans. The league argued that the bid was an attempt to circumvent the league rules on where teams play and franchise ownership. The court clearly sided with the NHL on franchise relocation. “Simply put, the court disagrees with the assertions by the Debtors and PSE that the relocation requirement can be excised from the contract”, said the Judge. It did not address the franchise ownership issue directly but implied that the league has the right to approve ownership groups.

So for now, Mr. Balsillie can consider the side door closed. Slammed in his face might be a better description.

And pardon us if we enjoy a laugh at some of the self serving spin coming out of Canada today. “A setback, not a defeat” according to Team Balsillie. As Shane Doan might say (in those annoying Desert School commercials) “Really”?

The entire decision goes into much richer detail. And it refutes the Moyes/Balsillie contentions at most every point. You can read it here...

http://multimedia.thestar.com/acrobat/58/ef/9fa676434959a4de525fe6a8a7c3.pdf

Judge Tom did throw Jim Balsillie a bone by saying that since he was already approved by the league as an owner in 2007 (and unless things had dramatically changed) it would be no less than good faith to assume that he would be approved today. “Absent… material changes in PSE’s conditions since 2006, it appears to the court that the NHL cannot object or withhold its’ consent to PSE becoming the controlling owner of the Phoenix Coyotes.”, he said. I wonder if challenging the league in court and trying to circumvent league rules might constitute a change in circumstances.

Woven through Judge Tom’s bankruptcy decision was plenty of homespun advice to all parties.

For Jerry Moyes, there was a very pointed message. You signed up to be a member of the NHL. You agreed to play by these rules. And your filings were late, in some cases incomplete and did not comply with league rules.

For the NHL, it was a message that while today’s ruling pretty much guaranteed that the Coyotes will stay this season in Phoenix, the future of the franchise is still murky. The team will be auctioned off in the future. And the Judge also made it clear that moving a franchise has not “wreaked havoc” on professional sports leagues. That argument won’t work here.

And Glendale, the big winner in yesterday’s ruling can take some solace in the judges’ words. “It is proper for the court to refuse to authorize rejection of an executor contract where the party whose contract is to be rejected would be damaged disproportionately to any benefit to be derived by the general creditors.” The judge, however, went on to chastise Glendale for a less than complete accounting of the general creditors. Nevertheless, he made his point loud and clear. Breaking this contract will take a lot. That’s probably the best news for the long term prospects of the franchise.

So today, the Coyotes live. It’s hardly a clean bill of health but for it sure beats the alternatives. Like most big wins in the hockey, the franchise needs to build on this win. Simply getting a stay of execution is not enough. The organization needs to make big changes in the on-ice product, off-ice marketing and slash organizational expenses to make certain that hockey grows its’ appeal in Phoenix. It’s good to get one win under your belt. Now the organization and the NHL need to think about closing out the series.

Always keeping in mind that the last win of any series is always the hardest.

Tick, Tick, Tick

2009-06-14T13:03:00.001-07:00

The earliest we will be hearing from Judge Tom is Monday June 15th. If he were to rule in favor of the Moyes-Balsillie arguments in the Coyotes bankruptcy hearing, the team would be auctioned off on Monday June 22nd.

Of course, that assumes nothing gets in the way of the bankruptcy decision and the auction. And "nothing" is not a likely outcome.

If Judge Tom (and we now have confirmed that's what he likes to be called) drops a Baumshell says the auction is on, then there will likely be two immediate appeals (the NHL and The City of Glendale) and the possibility of additional flanker lawsuits from involved parties like ARAMARK. In the cases of the NHL and Glendale, appeals to the 9th District Court of Appeals will almost surely ask for injunctions against the auction based on all of the the legal issues that have been catalogued here and elsewhere.

Which puts this entire debate squarely on the clock. The auction is scheduled in 7 days. The NHL draft is in 12 days. Free agency opens 5 days after the draft. And the NHL schedule is traditionally announced right after the 4th of July. (It is in fact completed) And Judge Tom is leaving on vacation a week from Tuesday.

So?

Well, I think that the good Judge has clearly helped the short term hand of the NHL by delaying the decision until at least Monday. He knows there will be appeals and injunctions. He knows that getting all issues cleared so that there can be an auction in 7 days is highly unlikely. And he knows that the Balsillie bid could expire, although no one really expects him to stop chasing the team. He also knows that the NHL has offered to fund the team until a September auction can be held.

And for all we know, he may have decided that the thought of having an auction on June 22nd simply isn't going to work.

Some Canadian reporters have speculated that the judge may be making time for the two sides to reach a negotiated settlement. That's highly unlikely. If there were talks underway, it would have been leaked to the Canadian press by now. And any negotiation that would move the team would still be subject to the full wrath of Glendale and their lawyers. No one is going to work a deal with them.

And he also knows that there are antitrust implications. The league would likely vote quickly to deny the franchise transfer. That would only set off more court battles and a less swift recovery for the creditors.

The logical explanation is that The Judge has decided to delay the auction to September. The Judge knows that the asset is not going to lose value. And he also knows the NHL will fund the team until a new owner is found. Whether or not he sides with Moyes/Balsillie or the NHL, he also knows that any decision to conduct the auction next Monday will be appealed and likely delayed by injunction.

Of course, any time a lay man (or in this case, a blogger) decides to interpret the law and predict what judges are going to do, it comes with no guarantee.

So for now, we wait. I would much rather be writing about the very interesting draft, free agent and trade market that will open later this week. Hopefully we can get on to that by the middle of the week.

Remember, Glendale's Got (Skin In The) Game

2009-06-11T19:08:00.001-07:00

Overshadowed by the discussion of a relocation fee was the arguments from the City of Glendale at Tuesday's hearing. From most available accounts, the attorneys representing the City made an impassioned and eloquent case why the arena lease should not be tossed out in bankruptcy.

Which leads us to an interesting place.

If Judge Baum (Tom to you and me) decides that the asset is mobile and he forces the parties to set a relocation fee, either by arbitration or negotiation, that in effect means that the franchise could be moved. And while it may or may not determine movement, it would indicate that the judge intends to set aside the Glendale lease. That set aside would come with some level of damages but the return to the city could be negligible.

So if the judge moves us to a "portable" phase, does that mean that Glendale has in effect lost their contention that the lease is ironclad and the franchise is not portable? And if that's the case. what's to keep the City from appealing the decision at that point?

I'm sure that the lawyers representing both the City and the NHL are working closely on this case. It would seem that Glendale may well use this decision as a jumping off point to start a legal appeal in the 9th District Court of Appeals. And probably seek an injunction to stop any sale that would move the asset out of Glendale.

Don't for a minute think Glendale is going to take this decision sitting down. They will independently and aggressively seek to have the lease enforced. The only question I see is timing. If Glendale sees the initial judgement as vacating the lease, I wonder why they would wait to start the appeals process.

Remember that Judge Tom is not available from June 23rd to July 5th. If the Coyotes auction is not settled by June 30th, the Balsillie offer expires. Running out the clock is more closely associated with basketball than hockey but hey, this is a game, isn't it?

And Tom, have a nice vacation. Be sure to write.

Everybody Has Their Price

2009-06-09T21:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I suggested that no one really knew what to expect at today’s bankruptcy hearing. You knew, just knew that there was something, somewhere buried in the legal avalanche that would spice up the proceedings.

Well that something came in the form of a “relocation fee” that the NHL indicated it would charge should the franchise be moved to a different market.

After losing their attempt to stop the Raiders 1985 move to Los Angeles the NFL got a pound of flesh from the Raiders by charging a relocation fee. The NHL followed their lead and included in their brief to Judge Baum their intention to charge this fee if the franchise were moved. The dollar figure was blacked out in the legal documents that were provided to the press but a Balsillie lawyer blurted it out while addressing the court.

$100 Million Dollars.

Oh, and that is apparently only an estimate. The Balsillie camp says that’s an estimate that can be negotiated down. I wouldn’t bet on that. Estimates can also be negotiated up.

The NHL put this in part to reduce the amount of money that would be returned to creditors if the Balsillie offer is accepted. Think of it this way – Balsillie offers an inflated price for the asset because he knows a Southern Ontario franchise is worth more than a Phoenix franchise. The NHL counters by saying we are going to add a relocation fee to flatten (or even tilt) the playing field. It takes away any advantage Balsillie had gained by offering to overpay for the asset.
Judge Tom Baum (his friends call him Tom and how many people do you know go by Redfield?) seemed fixated on the relocation fee. Put a number on it. Negotiate it. See if Jim Balsillie wants to open up his wallet for another $100 million or so. It was your idea, NHL, now let’s talk about it.

Put a number out in the stratosphere and even your garden variety billionaire might pick up his pucks and go home.

This could prove to be the turd in the punch bowl that spoils the Moyes-Balsillie party. The relocation fee would be charged by the NHL. As a secured creditor, they go to the front of the line. It would potentially reduce or even eliminate the amount of money that would be available to pay Jerry Moyes. All of a sudden that lowball offer from Jerry Reinsdorf may start looking pretty good.

Conversely, there’s a real risk when you put a price on something. A few years ago Microsoft wanted to license the song “Start Me Up” to introduce their Windows product. Yeah right, said Mick Jagger. How about $12 million dollars Mr. Gates? Well, sure…what’s $12 million when you’re worth $50 billion? It’s all relative, isn’t it?

The optimist in me says that the NHL , in addition to the relocation fee, will likely remind everyone that should not be confused with a territorial rights fee that will undoubtedly by demanded by the Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres. That will run the tab even higher.

Of course, there’s another darker way to view all of this. There seems to be just a little less steely resolve coming from the NHL right now. Maybe they are just a little less committed to keeping the Coyotes in Phoenix. Once there’s a price on relocating the team, it’s possible other potential owners and locales may surface, For instance, Jerry Bruckheimer in Las Vegas.

There used to be a wrestler who went around saying everyone has their price. Through his schemes and tricks he ultimately proved, everyone did have their price.

That’s an ominous thought right now. Because if the NHL has their price, someone may just, just be willing to pay it.

(Be back with more later including a POV on Glendale’s impassioned plea for the team)

Come Tuesday?

2009-06-08T14:07:00.001-07:00

No one is really sure what to expect in tomorrow's bankruptcy court hearing.

The courts always look to past court decisions to see what precedent has been set in a specific type of court case. I remember asking one of my college professors (a long time ago in a land far, far away) exactly what happens when their is precedent supporting both sides of a court case. "That's when it gets interesting" he replied.

But in this case, it's not that easy. The NHL will cite the California Seals bankruptcy hearings from the early 1970s that sided with the NHL and the league constitution. The Moyes-Balsillie rebut will be what about the 1970 Seattle Pilots decision? The Moyes team is sure to invoke the Oakland-Los Angeles-Oakland Raiders journey through the courts. The NHL will counter with the aborted moves of the Ottawa Senators and St. Louis Blues, both of which were thwarted in the courts. And of course, the low profile player (with the most to lose here) Glendale, AZ will no doubt bring up the 1998 Pittsburgh Penguins bankruptcy where the arena lease was preserved much in the manner of a secured creditor.

The truth is that there is no absolute precedent so Judge Redfield T. Baum will be breaking new legal ground as he rules on the bankruptcy, probably later in the week.

There are many things to consider in advance of tomorrow's hearing. US Bankruptcy laws have undergone two major overhauls since the 1970s and the changes are so profound that older legal arguments may not be appropriate. All sports leagues revised their constitutions after the initial Raiders/NFL decision to close loopholes that might allow a team to move without league permission..

There are two key points that I expect will emerge as the focus of the hearing tomorrow.

The NHL constitution has all kinds of safeguards and legal remedies that the Coyotes ownership agreed to uphold as a member team. The constitution protects territorial rights, allows the league to control where teams play, seizes a team once the franchise is breached (as when the Coyotes were placed in bankruptcy) and gives the commissioner absolute power as the arbitrator of any disputes between member teams. If Judge Baum rules in favor of Moyes & Balsillie, he will essentially have to throw out the entire NHL Constitution. That's a lot to ask of a bankruptcy court and it will certainly trigger an appeal by the NHL that would be accompanied by injunctions against moving the franchise and appeals that would go on for months and possibly years. As Gary Bettman has been saying, "it's all about the rules".

And the second, less discussed key is the great city of Glendale, AZ. The city has brought in their own legal heavyweights to argue their position. They have quietly laid out a case that having the major tenant leave town would be a disaster for the arena, the city and the taxpayers. Don't forget the last point. Someone is going to foot a very large bill here if the Coyotes leave town. Judge Baum will get an earful about how local residents, his fellow Arizonans, will suffer if the Coyotes leave Phoenix. And he will be in the uncomfortable position of telling a lot of people that they will be suffering for a long time if he decides to maximize the return for the creditors.

On one hand, Judge Baum has said that the Moyes-Balsille deal is asking a lot (to throw out the structure of professional sports as we know it) of a bankruptcy judge. But he has also has noted that Balsillie is the only guy here who has showed up with real money.

When I first learned about casino gambling, I picked up a very important lesson. When given a choice, bet with the house,. not against the house. I think that taxpayers constitute the house here and I would bet that the NHL, with a very strong assist from Glendale prevails.

But I would also not be surprised in the least if the decision goes in favor of Moyes-Balsillie and legal process rocks on. And if that happens we'll be back to speculate some more.

Of course, with the draft 19 days away, we would prefer to turn our attention back to the rink.

The Briefs Are In...

2009-06-06T13:33:00.000-07:00

And what fascinating reading they make...

The Toronto Star has a wealth of documentation on their site including the previously secret NHL Constitution and By-Laws, news of a second Canadian group bidding for the Coyotes (clearly one without Jim Balsillie's public relations skills) and news of 3 (that's three, no kidding) Phoenix groups bidding to keep the Coyotes in Phoenix. In addition to the Reinsdorf-Kaites and Breslow offers previously disclosed, there's also a third group fronted by an anonymous Phoenix businessman.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/article/646798

The article also quotes Gary Bettman as claiming in an NHL filing that the City of Glendale is willing to make "accommodations" to enhance the revenue possibilities for the Coyotes.

Lawyers for Jerry Moyes and Jim Balsillie have called numerous parts of the constitution into question as illegal and anti-competitive. Of course, they do not take notice that all league members enter into the constitution voluntarily and benefit from many of the common interest sections of the document. A quick read of the NHL Constitution would indicate that a) it is a thorough legal document, b) it is extremely detailed and nuanced and c) it will take a lot of moxey for a judge to throw out the document and allow an end run through bankruptcy court.

And as was previously reported yesterday, the other three major professional sports leagues have joined the fray, filing a friend of the court brief in support of the NHL.

Several Toronto newspapers have reported this week that the Toronto Maple Leafs have quietly but firmly made their NHL partners aware how vehemently they oppose the proposed move. The Leafs not only control the hockey universe in Southern Ontario, they also control the arena they play in which is a virtual monopoly on one of North America's largest metropolitan markets. While the Leafs franchise could likely withstand any second team in Southern Ontario, their is real concern that money from non hockey events would be diminished by a second NHL team in the area. And while most of the attention of the 50-mile territorial protection has been directed towards the Toronto Maple Leafs, keep in mind that the corporate city limits of Hamilton, Ontario are exactly 43 miles from the corporate city limits of Buffalo, New York.

Of course, we can assume that Glendale has also filed numerous briefs. None are public at this time but they will certainly do everything within the cities' power to tie the franchise to the existing lease.

It will be a fascinating week. The hearing is Tuesday, the judge's decision will likely come by the end of the week and the appeals and further courtroom drama will certainly elevate to a higher level once the initial legal judgement is in. Appeals are almost certain no matter who wins or loses. Much more as we have time to digest all of the documents.

Update 2:10 PM -- The Toronto Globe & Mail is reporting that the second Canadian group bidding for the Coyotes (the owners of the Toronto Argonauts Canadian Football League Team) want to operate the team in Phoenix, not Toronto. Wow.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/bettman-claims-argo-owners-interested-in-buying-coyotes/article1172250/

Eklund on Upshall

2009-06-03T20:47:00.000-07:00

I am sure most of you are aware of Eklund, the unknown hockey blogger. He loves to manufacture rumors and like a broken clock, he's usually right about twice a day. He did however have an interesting note about the Flyers and the trade of Scott Upshall that I thought would be interesting to Coyote fans...

The Flyers need to look a little more to their locker room right now. As much as I think Dan Carcillo can play the game, the trading of Scottie Upshall was more damaging to that team's balance than any has probably ever openly stated. He was one of the boys in the band. It was always Hartnell, Carter, Richards, Lupul, and Upshall. He was a dynamic and fun person that kept a lot of the other young stars somewhat honest. I was in the room after he got traded and it was like someone had died. The Flyers were destroyed the next game by Calgary.

Upshall will never be a big scorer and on a playoff team, he's a third line player. But he adds character and energy to his team. He's also the kind of force in the locker room that Don Maloney referenced when he talked about changing the chemistry of the Coyotes at the trade deadline. Some deals are evident by what you see on the ice; other require deeper study. Carcillo for Upshall was one of those deals that's easy to judge. And Upshall is a certainty to be qualified by Don Maloney and signed to a new contract.

As for Danny, I loved his pure energy but he really doesn't have a role on a good team. He's not skilled enough to be a top six forward and he doesn't check well enough to be on a shutdown line. This is one trade where just about everyone agrees that the Coyotes got the best of the bargain.

And in the next few days, we'll be talking about possible additions to the Coyotes roster this summer. One of the names in that conversation will be Joffrey Lupul.

Dimitri Kalinin

2009-06-03T08:33:00.000-07:00

Multiple sources are reporting that UFA defenseman Dimitri Kalinin is choosing between offers from several teams in the Russian KHL. This is not surprising. Kalinin, who came over from the New York Rangers in a deadline trade and played pretty well for the Coyotes, was unlikely to be offered a contract after making $2.1MM last season.

The Dance

2009-06-01T21:52:00.000-07:00

Gary Bettman and Jim Balsillie continue to posture. The Hockey Court of public opinion is open for business and the two primary protagonists in this battle for control of the Phoenix Coyotes (and the future of hockey in the desert) are using all of their public relation skills to build support for their positions.

Bettman has the bully pulpit of the commissioner to make sure that emotion and showmanship don't obscure the facts as he sees them. "From my standpoint, it's not personal," said Bettman in his state of the league speech before Saturday's Stanley Cup opener. "It's about league rules and it's about doing the right thing in terms of the stability of this game and this league."

"This is not just an NHL issue. This is not a Canada versus U.S. issue. This is not a Phoenix versus Hamilton issue."

The commissioner kept repeating that he had no personal problem with Jim Balsillie. It almost sound like that if he says it enough, even he might start believing it.

"The team was never in jeopardy," said Bettman. "It was literally 20 minutes away from being fixed in a way that we thought was going to work quite well. It's my view that the Coyotes should not be in bankruptcy."

Meanwhile, Balsillie continues his Obamaesque campaign to win the war of words. He's literally wrapped himself up in the Canadian flag as he touts the virtue of moving the Coyotes to Hamilton. Each day he has a new angle for the press to keep his name prominent in the news. From revamping the arena in Hamilton to filing a formal application to move the team to feeding the press more news about the issues in Phoenix, it's an impressive public relations campaign.

While Rim Jim has whipped up a lot of emotion in Canada, it's important to remember that the next decision in this case will be decided by an American judge in an Arizona courtroom. If the purpose of the Balsillie campaign is to pressure the NHL and its' member teams to soften their opposition, he's wasting his money. He may eventually get in the NHL door, but it is highly unlikely to be this door. A win for Jerry Moyes and Balsillie next week in bankruptcy court would only open the door for additional litigation that will drag on for years and years.

I'd love to see all of the energy and skilled manipulation of the press put to work in building hockey in Phoenix. If the team receives a reprise, then it's time for the city to show up and support the team. More than anything else, except perhaps a right handed defenseman, this team needs a cohesive and intelligent marketing and public relations campaign. You can fix problems. You cannot fix forever. Watching this dance is fun but after a while, it's going to get pretty old unless things start to change.

Extraordinary Play...Or Not?

2009-06-01T21:02:00.000-07:00

During Sunday's playoff game, Henrik Zetterberg made an extraordinary play to slide behind goaltender Chris Osgood and keep the puck out of the net. It did appear however that he covered the puck in the crease, which should have resulted in a penalty shot. What I find amazing is that no announcer at the game, during the post mortem or in today's print coverage pointed out that referee Bill McCreary correctly ruled no goal but completely blew the call in the crease. Did I miss something or have they changed the rule?

Stanley Gets A Sunday Night on NBC, And A New TV Home?

2009-05-31T20:13:00.000-07:00

There's been a ton of spin on why there are back to back games in the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 54 years. And the correct answer has nothing to do with the sudden popularity of hockey, the sad state of affairs at NBC or Gary Bettman's suggestion that we (the NHL) thought we would try something new.

The correct answer is Conan O'Brien.

NBC told the NHL last fall that they would not schedule a weeknight NHL playoff game during Conan O'Brien's premiere week on The Tonight Show. The network wants a killer rating this week to generate a ton of publicity for Conan. And the Peacocks want to do as few weeknight games as possible during O'Brien's debut month to let other programming drive sampling to The new Tonight Show. With all of the talk about the value of franchises around here, remember this...The Tonight Show, now in it's 55th year on NBC is the most profitable franchise in the history of broadcasting. It is the crown jewel of NBC. There is no room this week for a triple overtime hockey game that pushes the Tonight Show back to 1AM.

So that created a problem for the NHL. To gain momentum, the league didn't want to bounce back and forth between NBC and Versus too many times during the finals. While the NBC arrangement is a profit sharing that currently returns about $3MM a year to the NHL, it is still crucial in giving the league mass exposure that Versus can only dream about. And while the NHL could not have envisioned the huge increase in viewing and interest it is experiencing this year, the leagued always views these things in a glass half full way.

The league had a couple of options -- start the finals on or after June 6th, shuffle games between NBC and Versus or play a back to back if they wanted two games in a row on NBC.

Well OK. Putting the Finals off until June 6th would have worked if the Conference Finals were compelling and drawn out. This year, they weren't.

So given the choice of a momentum killing 10 day intermission, the NHL decided that playing back to back on the first weekend of The Finals wasn't such a bad thing. Saturday is the worst night of the week for television viewing and NBC has made a habit of burying as many NHL Finals games there as possible. That's the bad news. The good news is that the league was able to get NBC to schedule Game 2 on Sunday night. Sunday is the highest viewing night of the week. The total audience is usually more than twice as large as an average Saturday. It also marked the first NHL Finals game on a Sunday night in many, many years (I can't find the last one but 54 or 55 years would be a good guess) The NHL also got an extra break when the NBA Lakers eliminated Denver on Friday giving the NHL a clean shot at the sports audience.

Don't underestimate how important a Sunday night game will be to the NHL. On Saturday night, the Red Wings & Penguins game did a 1.7 rating (Adults 18-49) and won the night. If the Sunday game holds form and does something north of a 3.0 it will be a huge win for hockey. Now the league goes back into the witness protection program for games 3 and 4 but the resulting buzz for hockey will be very good this year. If the Penguins and Wings stretch to 6 or 7 games, this series could be a seminal event for the NHL.

Why a seminal event? Because the NHL is talking with ESPN about returning the sport to the big tent of cable TV. ESPN wants to take a big leap by having a professional sports championship won on its' network. Every year, ESPN handles all sorts of sports events but when it comes time for the big one, another network, usually a broadcast network, gets the honors. The NHL would benefit greatly from the added exposure that ESPN could provide and my broadcasting friends tell me that the network is more ready to talk then they have been in the last few years. A great Finals this year with a solid Sunday night rating could push the ESPN negotiations over the top.

NBC would like to keep their hands on hockey for at least another year to cross promote the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Beyond that, NBC can take or leave hockey. The NHL would be wise, incredibly wise, to walk out that door and bring the Finals as well as other hockey programming to ESPN. The income to the teams would be better and the exposure would be immeasurably better.

And they will look back at that Sunday night in 2009 as a night when the league proved it could drive a great rating, create interest in the sport and maybe, just maybe, start reestablishing itself as the fourth major sport in the US.

Update Monday 2:45 PM -- The Sunday night game did good but not great ratings. The game averaged a 3.5 Household rating and a 2.0 (Adults 18-49) The game won the night for NBC and won 4 of 6 half hours, only trailing repeats of The Simpsons and Family Guy.

Cut To The Chase!

2009-05-27T13:58:00.000-07:00

So what did we learn today? Well, we now know that Judge Redfield Baum can shake up the lines pretty well. By moving the hearing on the possible relocation of the team from June 22 to June 9, he surprised both sides, stripped away most of the other issues and set up a win or go home scenario for Jim Balsillie. Baum set earlier deadlines for the filing of briefs, moved the oral arguments up almost two weeks and promised that he would rule on the core issue of whether the team can be moved as part of the bankruptcy procedure shortly after the June 9th hearing.

For Balsillie to get control of the team and leave Phoenix behind, he'll need a favorable ruling from Judge Baum. If the judge rules that movement of the franchise cannot be considered as part of his bid to buy the team out of bankruptcy, it's game over for Balsillie. Thanks for playing Jim, drive home safely.

On the other hand, if he rules in favor of the Canadian, it will set off a series of court tests that could last for years and years. The NHL and the City of Glendale will appeal any ruling that does not give them what they want out of this deal. The NHL wants to preserve their constitution and bylaws that give the owners territorial protection and the right to pick their partners. The City of Glendale wants to keep their major tenant. Both the appeals and the injunctions that are certain to follow in rapid sequence would almost certainly keep the team in Arizona for at least the short term and would likely take years to resolve.

It's hard to get a line on Judge Baum. On one hand, he noted that Balsillie's offer is the only offer he's seen or heard of to this point. Conversely, he made it clear to Moyes' legal team that they will need some pretty strong arguments to overcome some of the bankruptcy issues that may not give Moyes a clear title to do what he pleases with the franchise. He would also be getting into an area -- franchise law -- where bankruptcy courts have long respected the contractual rights of the franchisor. That's why he makes semi-large judge bucks, I guess.

One of the issues settled today was the control of the team. Essentially the NHL and the Moyes group agreed to joint management of the asset and agreed to let the bankruptcy play out. With the team certain to be sold, there was less to gain by trying to establish control of the franchise. Interestingly, Toronto newspapers initially trumpeted this as a big win for Moyes and Balsillie but later pulled down those stories. The judge has made it clear that relocation, not control, is the primary issue. If anything, Balsillie lost a chance to be a part of the conversation because a mediator was not used and he was not invited to the control conversation.

Earlier today, the Arizona Republic broke major news that Sports Properties, a New York base investment firm was deep in negotiations with Glendale and the NHL to purchase the franchise when Moyes slipped the team into bankruptcy. Sports Properties has a blue chip leadership team that includes former Disney Sports CEO Tony Tavares, former New York Governor Mario Cuomo and baseball legend Hank Aaron. Sports Properties has been on the prowl to buy a major sport franchise after raising $215MM in a public offering last fall. Sports Properties will not be bidding Blackberry dollars for the franchise but assuming they are still interested, they offer the hope of stable, well financed ownership as well as manager (Tavares) with a strong arena management background.

June 9th will be a huge day for the future of hockey in Phoenix. The hearing, and the determination that follows will either help maintain a hockey presence in The Valley (hopefully for many years to come) or set off a legal war that will ultimately wind its' way to the United States Supreme Court. I'd love to bet on the good guys here but as I've often been told, there is no sure thing in the courts.

Breaking News From Arizona Republic

2009-05-27T07:17:00.000-07:00

The Arizona Republic is breaking an important piece of news concerning the sale of the Phoenix Coyotes this morning.

The Republic is reporting that Sports Properties Investment Corp., a New York investment firm put together for the express purpose of purchasing major league sports team(s) was working with Jerry Reinsdorf to buy the Coyotes prior to the team filing for bankruptcy protection.

Sports Properties has raised $215 million in capital markets to buy sports and leisure properties. Sports Properties had been rumored to be kicking the tires on the Coyotes prior to the Balsillie bid but had reportedly passed on the opportunity. The publicly traded firm was subsequently reported trying to acquire the NHL's Florida Panthers.

The Republic also reports that Tony Tavares, a former arena management and baseball executive who runs Sports Properties Acquisition Corp., signed an agreement May 4 with the city of Glendale, where the Coyotes play their home games at Jobing.com Arena.

The is great news for Coyotes fans. Tavares is a seasoned executive who served as the President and CEO of Disney Sports Enterprises, successfully launching and operating the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. He also served as the CEO and President of SMG, a company manages stadiums, arenas, theaters and convention facilities worldwide. He has served as president of several Major League Baseball franchises, most recently the Montreal Expos and Washington Nationals.

And Sports Properties has money. Real money. They are sitting on a war chest of over $200MM raised through their public offering. They bring much needed cash, expertise and experience to the table. They also have arena management experience that can help stop the bleeding on that side of the ledger.

Here's the complete AZ Republic story...

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/coyotes/articles/2009/05/26/20090526spt-coyotes.html

The NHL and the Moyes legal team return to court today to tell the judge how they have agreed to run the team until the sale of the franchise is consummated. The judge had instructed both parties into mediation to resolve the issue of who controls the team. The Toronto Star is reporting that the NHL and the Moyes team have agree to run the team together until a sale is completed. The Star is reporting that Don Maloney will continue to run the hockey business, the NHL will foot the bills and any disagreements will be brought to the court for resolution.

Here is the complete story from the Toronto Star

http://www.thestar.com/sports/article/641093