Shane Doan

Shane Doan committed to the Phoenix Coyotes last summer and now it’s time for him to be rewarded.  One off-season removed from his UFA experience, Phoenix Coyotes Captain Shane Doan must be wondering what he got himself into?  Last summer, Doan’s biggest concern was whether the Coyotes would be able to find an owner that was going to keep the team in Arizona.  If you remember, he postponed his self-imposed signing deadlines more than once to give prospective buyer Greg Jamison time to dot the i’s and cross the t’s on his purchase of the team.  Well, it’s almost one year later and he will probably have to make a new list of concerns.  Let’s have some fun and see if we can guess what would be on that list.

The Captains Concerns:

1. Ownership? 

Huh? Wasn’t that addressed last summer? Answer — No!!  He though it was. By now, everybody has heard over and over and over, about the on again, off again, on again bid to buy the Phoenix Coyotes.  I am not going to dwell on this topic for too long because everybody in the “Free World” is sick of it.

I truly believe that this deal will get done sooner rather than later by one of the following:

A. Renaissance Sports and Entertainment (RSE)

B. Darin Pastor

C. Greg Jamison

D. ???? ?????

2. General Manager?

Coyotes GM, Don Maloney, has a contract that will be expiring at the end of June.  It’s pretty hard for the GM to plan for the future when he doesn’t know where he will be working.   Now in saying this, I’m sure that the first things on Don Maloney’s wish list would be a new owner, to sign a nice long-term contract and to start getting ready for the 2013-14 season.  He has a lot of work to do.

3. Coach?

Coyotes Head Coach, Dave Tippett, also has a contract that expires at the end of June.  Much like his GM, I’m sure his wish list is very similar.  Tippett would love to see the Coyotes get a  new owner, sign a nice long-term contract and start getting ready for the 2013-14 season.  He has a lot of work to do also.  If Tippett does hit the open market, he will be candidate #1 for teams looking for a Head Coach.

4. Starting Goalie?

Mike Smith (Ric Tapia/Icon SMI)

Phoenix Coyotes goaltender, Mike Smith, will become an Unrestricted Free Agent this summer on July 5th.  Smith is the prized UFA in this summers free agent market.  He is coming off a solid performance in the World Championships playing for Team Canada and now is being mentioned as a candidate for Canada’s Olympic Hockey Team.  Not bad negotiating leverage!  Now in saying this, I’m sure that Mike Smith also has a similar wish list as his GM and Head Coach.  I’m sure he would love to see a new owner, sign a nice long-term contract and to start getting ready for the 2013-14 season.  He has a lot to prove.

Recurring Theme Here?

Of course, there is a recurring theme here.  Everything about this organisation is at the mercy of Gary Bettman and the NHL getting a deal done with one of the above mentioned ownership groups and this team staying put.  Phoenix is a terrific place to play hockey.  If it wasn’t, it would be an easy decision for the above mentioned personnel  to play out their contracts and move on to greener pastures.  Why do you think Shane Doan decided to re-signed with the Coyotes?  Is it too simplistic to put all the blame on the ownership saga?  Not at all !!

My Final Word

As captain of the Phoenix Coyotes, I’m sure Shane Doan would love to play out his contract in Arizona with the knowledge that the franchise is in good hands and all he has to do is concentrate on playing hockey.  I believe he deserves it.  I’m sure his team-mates would also share that sentiment.

I think that the fans that have remained loyal to this team deserve this too.  As a fan myself, I enjoy going to the games. I enjoy writing about the Coyotes and I hope to continue doing so for a long time.

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Mitch Kasprick

My name is Mitch and like most Canadian kids I was introduced to hockey at a very young age and fell in love with the game. I have played, I have coached, I even scouted in WHL for 15 years. I spend half my time in Winnipeg, MB and the other half in San Tan Valley, AZ. I am a season ticket holder for The Winnipeg Jets and my wife and I attend the Phoenix Coyotes games. I am involved in 3 or 4 fantasy leagues, I enjoy hockey shows on radio or TV, TSN or Sportsnet, ESPN or NBC Sports and Fox Sports Arizona. You get the picture, hockey is a big part of my life. Admin/Writer at http://phoenixhockeytalk.com

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This article was originally published at: The Hockey Writers.

Jobing.com Arena

UPDATE April 7, 2013: Meetings postponed, no further explanation provided.

It went public recently via a post from Fox Sports Arizona’s Craig Morgan (click here) that NHL brass and the Renaissance Sports and Entertainment (RSE) group will be meeting with the City of Glendale to begin the process of developing a mutually beneficial arena management agreement for the city owned Jobing.com Arena. Even the HNIC guys finally discovered the story!

If one is actually interested in weeding out fact from fantasy in stories about the Phoenix Coyotes, there are only a few sources to trust. Craig is one of them

The RSE group is made up of Avik Dey, George Gosbee, Daryl Jones and Anthony LeBlanc. Two of the men, LeBlanc and Jones, were formerly part of the Ice Edge group and have been pursuing the purchase of the Phoenix Coyotes for four years. Yes, the fourth anniversary of Jerry Moyes’ march to bankruptcy court is May 5. Give those two guys points for persistence if not yet success in this pursuit. They may yet get this thing done.

Glendale Meetings

People watching FlightTracker (they DO exist, no kidding) for the movements of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and/or NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly will note both men winging their way to Glendale for a bunch of meetings scheduled for Tuesday, May 7. Joining them in the air will be Anthony LeBlanc and George Gosbee and maybe the other two partners. They’re all coming en masse to chat with the leadership of the City of Glendale about a proposed arena management agreement.

Bettman has stated the NHL would be relieving the City of Glendale from the responsibility of vetting a buyer for the Coyotes and that the league would approach the City once they had found a buyer for the team. Honestly I’m not convinced, at this point, that this is entirely the case YET. For example, Darin Pastor texted Craig Morgan:

“Aggressively fighting to win,” was all Pastor texted while taking in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. “No joke!”

Regardless of my uncertainty, that is serious negotiation horsepower being put to the ground in Glendale. Top Fuel level horsepower.

Ignore The RFP

Glendale hired Beacon Sports Capital to manage their arena management plan for 400 bucks an hour, providing them a retainer to begin their work. Beacon finally published a Request For Proposals (RFP) document some time ago. In that document were the criteria for prospective arena managers and some rules for submitting legitimate bids.

Both the NHL and Glendale are completely ignoring the RFP and bidding process. A statement in the RFP is:

INQUIRIES OR OTHER CONTACT WITH ANY OFFICER, AGENT, OR EMPLOYEE OF THE CITY OF GLENDALE REGARDING THE ARENA AND/OR THIS REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL, INCLUDING CONTACT BY PROPOSER’S CONTRACTORS, AGENTS, REPRESENTATIVES AND CONSULTANTS, COULD RESULT IN A PROPOSAL BEING DISQUALIFIED.

So the NHL and RSE could be disqualified? Um, okay.

Meeting Schedule

Yeah, I Know How To Negotiate
(Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE)

Meetings will begin in the morning and continue throughout the day. The schedule, as best as I have been able to determine, is mayor Weiers and Acting City Manager Dick Bowers kicking it off, most likely in the trophy animal festooned mayoral chambers. Pro tip? Watch the elk antlers (it IS a gigantic elk), they’ll put your eye out, man.

The council members will also meet with the group, three at a time so as not to run afoul of open meeting regulations. After those two meetings, I believe there’s an additional “staff” meeting.

The City Council has a workshop scheduled at 1:30 pm, so we should expect the bulk of the work to be done prior to then. The Council also has an executive session scheduled for after the workshop, and the arena management is (as usual) and agenda item for the closed door meeting. Anything discussed in executive session is privileged and is NOT for public consumption, continuing the non-transparent nature of the current council.

That means anything discussed in the private meetings all morning AND in the executive session may not become public depending on the attitude of the people involved.

What’s On The Agenda?

Up for discussion will be everything related to the city owned arena and what mutually beneficial arrangements can be made with the new owner of the Coyotes. Glendale has stated a July 1 deadline for everything to be complete. That deadline coincides with the new fiscal year and a LOT of important things for the Coyotes. In other words, there remain less than 60 days to complete the resolution of the Coyotes four year bankruptcy fiasco.

Capital Expenditures

Upcoming capital costs, including a new $2M high tech membrane roof, will be borne by the city for their building. Inspections and discussions are, to the best of my knowledge, complete and published and provided to prospective managers. The city has identified $5.6M worth of improvements they will be eating in order to keep Jobing.com the premiere facility that it currently is. Perhaps their killer sound system (best in the Phoenix area) is why they need $350k worth of ”Power factor correction capacitor bank installation”?

Show Me The Money

It seems clear that the agreement painstakingly negotiated and re-negotiated between Glendale and the Jamison group will be the starting point for discussions. In order for an agreement to be considered mutually beneficial to the two parties, it’s clear that revenue directed toward the arena manager should come from the arena area as much as possible or it won’t be palatable to Glendale.

I have not seen the business plan the Renaissance crew have worked up, but I can make a few educated guesses what they will have included as revenue streams to be shared with or borne by the City of Glendale.

• Ticket surcharges – Current per ticket fees for both hockey and non-hockey events are likely to be raised to share revenue with the City.
• Parking fees – Free parking will be dead, fans won’t care and additional revenue. Because Westgate parking can’t be effectively separated from arena parking, some compromise from Westgate merchants will be necessary.
• Stadium/Entertainment district – There are likely to be some modifications to special district fees and taxation to be shared between the manager and the City.
• Bed tax/Lodging fees – The Renaissance Hotel adjacent to the arena (purportedly the source of the RSE name) could be the source of additional fees to be shared between the city and arena manager.
• Naming rights – Renegotiated naming rights for the arena will be shared with the City.

The Elephant In The Room

The elephant in the room is the annual arena management fee.

Hockey Partners (the Jamison group) had an agreement with Glendale to manage the city owned arena for an average $15M per year for 20 years. That ship has sailed, although I wouldn’t be surprised if that is the starting figure for negotiations.

The Glendale budget has had a $6M figure for arena costs in their budget discussions for a long time now. Very few people actually believe this is a realistic number, considering the utility costs alone run over $1.2M. Regardless, this is politics and reason isn’t necessarily a driving force in any decision when seven people with seven agendas need to agree.

The $6M number isn’t going to work for a legitimate professional arena manager, regardless of Coyotes ownership.Expect a compromise somewhere between six and fifteen. At the last home game this season, the mayor told ex Council Member Clark that a $10M figure could work. A $12M number (for a 12 year agreement) has been mentioned multiple times and is, I think, acceptable to at least two of the remaining groups interested in the Coyotes.

I really do NOT know where some of the Council stands on an agreeable amount, partly because of the current scramble from public safety to increase their budgets for the next fiscal year.

The 600 Pound Gorilla

The 600 pound gorilla is the term of the agreement and the dreaded “out clause”.

The City of Glendale will want a minimum ten year agreement, despite specifying a renewable five year agreement in their own RFP.

Depending on the arena management fee, the ownership groups may also want a long term agreement, perhaps as long as 20 years being requested again. The caveat is the “out clause”.

Since this fiasco began four years and one day ago, groups have come and gone with various escape clause requests. My objections to the former Ice Edge group’s initial proposal was the apparent intent to move the club north at the first opportunity. The reasoning behind my uncertainty, which to some extent remains with the new iteration, was the proposed plan to play some Coyotes “home” games in Saskatoon and an ill-advised statement from Ice Edge principal Keith McCullough about people in Phoenix not wanting to come to hockey games.

I would expect an agreement to have a seven year relocation clause per the NHL requirements.

Will It Work?

Without question a cooperative effort between the City of Glendale and a real owner for the Coyotes running Jobing.com arena could be profitable for both. While there is some buzz in City Hall that the mayor is holding out hope for his harebrained four-way arena management scheme, that’s clearly not going to work for this process.

The Coyotes have not had a legitimate owner for years, even the doubters would have to admit that if they chose to view the facts. The success of the Coyotes in this shortened season with poor on-ice performance has been remarkable. Season ticket sales are at their highest for years, attendance increased significantly despite severely reduced promotional tickets, and viewership for Coyotes games MORE THAN DOUBLED.

For example, Look at this list of non-hockey events at Jobing.com arena for FY 2012. It’s an absolute embarrassment and not likely to be tolerated by an aggressive marketing group once ownership is transferred from the absentee NHL. Other than the over 600k people (with attendance that obviously needs improvement), a little fewer than 148k people attended events at Jobing.com arena.

The facility is superb for concerts. Live Nation has US Airways Center locked up, but there are other large scale promoters (including AEG) out there that are, for some reason, not booking shows at the arena. Expect that to change with a vengeance.

Never count the Coyotes out.

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George Fallar

Owner at Mojo Development, LLC

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This article was originally published at: The Hockey Writers.

The Phoenix Coyotes ownership situation could finally succeed thanks to the NHL lockout this season.   The lockout was probably a necessary evil that had to happen for the NHL to be a healthier thirty team league.  I’m not going to quote all the pros and cons of the new CBA but I will say that for the Phoenix Coyotes it is better than the previous deal for small market teams.  The new CBA should give a new ownership group a fighting chance to make a go of it in Arizona.

New Phoenix Coyotes Ownership Group On The Horizon?

There is not a new owner at the time of this article but there has been a buzz about a hybrid group called Renaissance Sports and Entertainment.  This is the company formed by George Gosbee, Anthony LeBlanc and their two partners, Daryl Jones and Avik Dey.  The Renaissance groups long-term plan is purchasing the team with the intent of  keeping the team in Arizona.  On Saturday night, CBC’s HNIC was confirming Fox Sports Arizona’s report about this group along with Gary Bettman and Bill Daly meeting with City of Glendale officials on Tuesday.  The Renaissance group has been reported to have  a business plan that focuses on getting the organization back on solid financial ground in the short-term and hopefully this stability can transfer to success on and off the ice.  The Phoenix Coyotes ownership situation could  be a little clearer by Tuesday.

The Unfortunate Ramifications Of The Lockout

The unfortunate thing about the lockout was that the Phoenix Coyotes did not have much of a chance to capitalize on their long playoff run last spring.  The 2011-12 playoff run was the most successful showing in franchise history and should have been a marketing dream.  If they would have had new ownership last summer, they could have really used that run to the Western Conference Finals as a major marketing tool.

Revenue Increased

Even though fan apathy was at an all-time high during the lockout,  the Coyotes attendance was up this year even with increased ticket prices.  It has also been reported the Fox Sports Arizona’s Phoenix Coyotes broadcasts had a 127% increase.  Not bad for a lockout year!  Hopefully, this is a trend that continues to go upwards making the Coyotes a viable franchise for many years.

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Mitch Kasprick

My name is Mitch and like most Canadian kids I was introduced to hockey at a very young age and fell in love with the game. I have played, I have coached, I even scouted in WHL for 15 years. I spend half my time in Winnipeg, MB and the other half in San Tan Valley, AZ. I am a season ticket holder for The Winnipeg Jets and my wife and I attend the Phoenix Coyotes games. I am involved in 3 or 4 fantasy leagues, I enjoy hockey shows on radio or TV, TSN or Sportsnet, ESPN or NBC Sports and Fox Sports Arizona. You get the picture, hockey is a big part of my life. Admin/Writer at http://phoenixhockeytalk.com

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This article was originally published at: The Hockey Writers.

My opinions are based on my 50 plus years of viewing the game as a Coach (15 years), a WHL Scout (15 years), a Player (15 years), a Fan (50 years) and even a Fantasy GM (35 years).  My evaluations are made by looking at the game wearing many different hats.  Listed below are some of the criteria I used in grading this report card.

1. The players position and his role in the line-up for each game.  Example: top 6 forward and PP.

2. The amount of ice time and hard minutes.  Example: playing against other teams top lines and PK.

3. Expectations from coaches, media and fans.

4. Salary and the return on investment (ROI).  This is the one that may seem unfair and not very popular in the “Main Stream Media” but  I believe it’s one the most important factors in grading a hockey player.  Are you getting fair value for the money being spent?  In 1990, the NHLPA decided to introduce salary disclosure.  This gave the players negotiating leverage because they now have the ability to negotiate their salaries based on comparables around the league.  This info has now exposed the players to public scrutiny from fans and media alike.  This information is easily attained by simply going to a web-site like CapGeek.com.

The Coyotes finished their season with a 21-18-9 record and I feel these grades are fair for the current Phoenix Coyote roster.

I think that most of these grades are fair and if every player improved their grade from a C to a C+ or a C+ to a B and so on  the Phoenix Coyotes will be a playoff team again.

(Jason O. Watson-US PRESSWIRE)

 Making The Grade

RFA’s  that need to be re-signed:

Mikkel Boedker — Boedker had his best offensive season as a Phoenix Coyote and it  looks like he is on his way to being a solid top 6 forward.  After a solid start, his play did tail off a bit in the second half of the season and now consistency is his next goal.

Laurie Korpikoski — Korpikoski is a hard player to figure out for me.  Coach Tippett uses him in many ways but he seems to take on the role of  his line-mates.  At times he looks like he has top 6 forward skill but he can be used in shut-down situations also.  Whatever his role is, he also has to work on consistency.

Michael Stone — Michael Stone made huge strides in becoming a full-time NHL defenceman.  Stone,  like all defencemen his age, is prone to errors but it’s how you respond and how fast you learn from your mistakes.  Obviously, he is learning and he has one important thing going for him and that is his coaches trust.  He has good size, a big right-handed shot and a good hockey IQ.  Michael Stone is far from a finished product so his future looks bright.

Gordon is the NHL’s faceoff wizard (Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports)

 UFA’s that need to be re-signed:

Mike Smith — Mike Smith didn’t have the season he did last year but that doesn’t concern me at all.  The lock-out and not having access to Sean Burke,  his goalie coach, was a huge factor.  Goaltenders understand each other and the goalie/goaltender coach relationship is bigger than most fans realize.  Smith is looking to be paid as a true #1 which he is but until the Coyotes ownership situation is settled we’ll have to wait and see where this goes.

Boyd Gordon — Boyd Gordon is a coaches dream.  Gordon knows his role on this team and gives you all he has every night.  Character and commitment are words that come to mind.

Kyle Chipchura — Chipchura is much like Gordon as you know what you’re getting.  Kyle Chipchura is another player that can play on my team any day.

Rob Klinkhammer — Klinkhammer was a mid-season call-up that made the most of his time in the NHL.  He showed a bit of a scoring touch and he worked hard so I’d bring him back next season.

Dave Tippett — YES! YES! YES!  Dave Tippett has put his stamp on this team and he knows how to get the most from them and is an absolute must re-sign.

Don Maloney — Never has a GM done more with fewer resources and is an absolute must re-sign.

The Final Word

If the Phoenix Coyotes want to return to the playoffs next season, there are a few things that need to happen.

1. New Ownership — this team, coaching staff and management need some long awaited stability.

2. The team needs to upgrade and/or add to their top 6 forwards.  They will probably have to trade a player like Keith Yandle to get this accomplished but the Phoenix Coyotes also have a plethora of young defencemen with offensive up-side to use as trade-bait if needed.

3. The teams core group will need to elevate their games a notch.  Players like Hanzal, Vrbata, Doan, Boedker, Vermette, Ekman-Larsson, Yandle and Morris have to be the teams best players consistently every night.  This group gets a bit of a pass from me because of the abnormalities of the “Lockout season” and should be better next season.  The schedule was brutal and practice time was at a premium.

This off-season will hopefully set the table for what should be a bounce-back season for your Phoenix Coyotes.

Author information

Mitch Kasprick

My name is Mitch and like most Canadian kids I was introduced to hockey at a very young age and fell in love with the game. I have played, I have coached, I even scouted in WHL for 15 years. I spend half my time in Winnipeg, MB and the other half in San Tan Valley, AZ. I am a season ticket holder for The Winnipeg Jets and my wife and I attend the Phoenix Coyotes games. I am involved in 3 or 4 fantasy leagues, I enjoy hockey shows on radio or TV, TSN or Sportsnet, ESPN or NBC Sports and Fox Sports Arizona. You get the picture, hockey is a big part of my life. Admin/Writer at http://phoenixhockeytalk.com

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This article was originally published at: The Hockey Writers.

Mike Smith (Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports)

The Phoenix Coyotes season is now officially over and the organization is going to  have to decide what to do with impending UFA goaltender Mike Smith.    This decision for both sides isn’t as cut and dried as it is for most UFA’s and reminds me of this past off-season with the tough decisions that Coyotes Captain Shane Doan had to make.  In Doan’s case, he wasn’t sure where the Coyotes future was as it pertained to ownership but at least he knew who the Coach and General Manager were going to be his next season.

Who’s the General Manager?   Who’s the Coach?

Making matters in this whole situation even more challenging is the fact the contracts of G.M. Don Maloney and Coach Dave Tippett expire on June 30th as well.  I’m sure this will all be settled in due time well before the end of June and all parties involved will know where they stand.  In the mean time, goalie Mike Smith will be a little busy as he has been asked to join Team Canada for the upcoming senior men’s World Hockey Championships.   He’ll be joining his current head coach, Dave Tippett, who has recently been added to the Team Canada coaching staff that will be participating in this years tournament in Stockholm, Sweden and Helsinki, Finland.   I’m sure on completion of his commitment to Team Canada  both will start looking their future’s with the Phoenix Coyotes franchise.

 Will Loyalty Play any Part in Decision?

I don’t know Mike Smith and have no inside information on what his thoughts are about his upcoming free agency.  I will say that there are things you notice over a period time when watching a player on the ice with his team-mates during and after the game.  Listening and watching Smith in a post-game interview on TV you will see a little glint in his eye and a smile that lets you know he loves what he’s doing and he loves doing it for the Phoenix Coyotes.  It’s not a coincidence that he ended up in Phoenix resurrecting his career after struggling with his earlier team the Tampa Lightning.  Coyotes Head Coach Dave Tippett had Smith as a back-up goaltender in Dallas and knew exactly what he could bring to the table.  It was an easy decision for Coach Tippett to convince G.M. Don Maloney to bring him aboard.

Dave Tippett (Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports

I am convinced Smith feels a great amount of loyalty to Tippett and Coyotes G.M. Don Maloney.  If both are back in the fold, I think that would be a major factor in his decision process.  This is his big chance at controlling his future and what every NHL player strives for: THE BIG PAYDAY!!!  Make no mistake about it, Mike Smith is the prize nugget in the goalie market this upcoming UFA season starting July 5.

A Brief Explanation of an Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA) 

Any player whose contract has expired (June 30) can declare himself an unrestricted free agent (UFA)  if he is at least 27 years old or has at least seven years of service as an NHL player.  The free agency period begins on July 5  (new for 2013).   At that point, an unrestricted free agent is free to negotiate and sign a contract with any NHL team.  Teams losing unrestricted free agents do not receive any compensation.

The Bigger Dilemma Facing Mike Smith

Last summer, Shane Doan turned down offers, postponed self-imposed deadlines and patiently waited for Greg Jamison’s purchase bid to run its course.  He ultimately considered an offer from the Vancouver Canucks but chose to re-sign with Phoenix, the only team he has really ever known.  At the time of his signing, the ownership situation was not resolved but he took a leap of faith that the Coyotes would end up staying in Arizona.  At the time of  the writing, the Phoenix Coyotes have still not resolved their ongoing ownership saga.

Shane Doan  (Andy Martin Jr.)

It’s probably a safe bet to say that Mike Smith would like to remain a Coyote but needs to see a resolution to the ownership situation.  If the Coyotes end up with a new owner that is committed to keeping the team in Phoenix before the free agent period starts on July 5th, I think he will probably end up re-signing with the team.  If the team ends up without new ownership, will the NHL  move the team before next season or run them as a lame duck franchise for one more year?   Would anybody blame Smith if he waited to hit the open market and then choose his own destination?  Does he roll the dice and end up having to move to Seattle, Quebec City, Houston, Kansas City or Markham?  These are the main factors at work that will make this a particularly interesting decision.  I don’t take the lack of contract talks as a bad sign but a sign that all parties are waiting patiently to see how these external factors pave the way for Mike Smith’s future.  I’m sure that he will know if this franchise is staying or leaving long  before the July 5th free agent frenzy begins.  Stay tuned !!

Mike Smith (Ric Tapia/Icon SMI)

Author information

Mitch Kasprick

My name is Mitch and like most Canadian kids I was introduced to hockey at a very young age and fell in love with the game. I have played, I have coached, I even scouted in WHL for 15 years. I spend half my time in Winnipeg, MB and the other half in San Tan Valley, AZ. I am a season ticket holder for The Winnipeg Jets and my wife and I attend the Phoenix Coyotes games. I am involved in 3 or 4 fantasy leagues, I enjoy hockey shows on radio or TV, TSN or Sportsnet, ESPN or NBC Sports and Fox Sports Arizona. You get the picture, hockey is a big part of my life. Admin/Writer at http://phoenixhockeytalk.com

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This article was originally published at: The Hockey Writers.

Current Standings

I have included Minnesota in the big picture but they really have the easiest schedule of the five teams listed and should make it so lets concentrate on the remaining four teams.  If you look at the standings along with the games remaining a couple of things really jump out at you.  The three teams Phoenix  has to leap over play in four games against each other so somebody is going to lose. The Coyotes get a chance to go home for two games while Detroit, Dallas and Columbus have to play each other in their remaining three to four games.  Dallas would seemingly have the advantage as they play head to head against Columbus and Detroit so they control their own destiny.

(Icon SMI)

Scoreboard Watching !!!

The Coyotes will be hoping that these games will be  clean regulation wins and not the dreaded 3 point games that would more than likely seal their fate.  The bottom line for Phoenix is to win their home games and see if the last game of the season in Anaheim still has meaning.  The past three seasons this team has shown that they are a resilient bunch and won’t go down without a fight.  Their job now is to take care of business and hope for a little help.  There is going to be a lot of scoreboard watching by all four of these teams and that’s what makes this time of the season fun.  Fighting to stay alive in the play-off race is almost as much fun as being in the play-offs.  Ask any player, this is what they play for.

Winning in Detroit on Monday night doesn’t guarantee anything but it will go a long way to keeping them in the hunt.

Author information

Mitch Kasprick

My name is Mitch and like most Canadian kids I was introduced to hockey at a very young age and fell in love with the game. I have played, I have coached, I even scouted in WHL for 15 years. I spend half my time in Winnipeg, MB and the other half in San Tan Valley, AZ. I am a season ticket holder for The Winnipeg Jets and my wife and I attend the Phoenix Coyotes games. I am involved in 3 or 4 fantasy leagues, I enjoy hockey shows on radio or TV, TSN or Sportsnet, ESPN or NBC Sports and Fox Sports Arizona. You get the picture, hockey is a big part of my life. Admin/Writer at http://phoenixhockeytalk.com

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This article was originally published at: The Hockey Writers.