Talk about a hellofa ride! We have been in the upper middle of the chase all season. The highs have been great but damn if it don’t make the lows that much more painful. We started off seriously hot. If you didn’t enjoy shuttin the haters up with our jumpstart out of the gate, you just don’t have a heartbeat.

Consistency is really going to be an issue for us no matter who is in the lineup. Getting hit with the injury bug right where it hurt us most is par for the Coyotes course. We turn into defensive juggernauts and of course lose our 3 best blueliners just as we’re gettin the hang of it. But the noobs have been valiant in handling their bizness. (Both Schlemshady and Hushpuppy have scored their NHL goals) … umm where are the other big guns? When Keith Yandle is your best player on the ice besides Bryzzie…something is very wrong with your veterans.

So we still got cojones to spare most nights. When we’re playin Tippett’s system we are a force to be reckoned with… When we fall back on the dump n chase, scared of our own shadow crap, we give the haters so much joy. (No one said it was gonna be a cakewalk to turn this barge around) I’m not expecting miracles here buckos but I am expecting the 09 Yotes (u know..those guys who are battling against the world for their very survival?) to win games against the teams they ’should’ beat and to at least make a good showing against the rest. And wtf? is up with this piss poor home thang? Performance anxiety my ass. We’re your extra man advantage dudes… but not if you can’t be bothered to show up.

Anyway… we play the Stars at 7pm it should be interesting again. The boys showed the Dallas bigwigs what a good coach can pull out of his butt. We need to do it again. If we can keep our conference rivals from getting points we just might be able to pull this season into focus for the remaining fence sitters. With Z and Jovo back we should be in good shape for this one. JV didn’t look 100% against Calgary but he and Z were both loggin decent minutes.

Keys to the game?

Stay out of the damn box as always. Giving Dallas a power play is tantamount to poking yourself in the eye with a sharp stick. Stupid and senseless way to lose an eye a game.

Remember where the best goals are scored… in the middle of the slot (Don’t get all dependent on Yandle to pull your asses out of the fire with a suprise cannonball at the blue). Ummm especially remember the opponent scores best from there too and don’t let ratty Riberio in yours.

Keep a lid on Modano, that old dog still has plenty of teeth. Dallas has just as many dangerous no name players as we do, Brad Richards cough* cough*… and watch that damn Neal too. (Sorry Jimmy, I know I have you on like 12 fantasy rosters but I’d rather lose a few points than this game)

Don’t play Jason Labarbra even if Bryz has the Hinny Flu. Call up Monty and let him deal. (Sorry AZBarbie, the way you been floppin around swingin yer stick and break dancin like a headless chicken on crack makes me ill)

Come on out! Can’t be a cheaper entertainment package in all of Arizona… speaking of cheap…

Operation Sandstorm kicked off today. “Phoenix Coyotes President & Chief Operating Officer Douglas Moss announced today that the Coyotes will hold a “Sandstorm Sale,” offering select lower level tickets for just $25. The sale will begin at 10 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 27 and will end on Monday, Nov. 30 at 10 p.m.

This offer includes all of the available lower level seats in sections 102, 103, 109, 110, 113, 114, 120 and 121 at Jobing.com Arena. During this brief four-day sale, fans will be able to purchase tickets in any of these sections for any remaining Coyotes home game during the 2009-10 regular season (December-April) for just $25 while supplies last. The tickets for the Sandstorm Sale can only be purchased at ticketmaster.com.

While the Sandstorm Sale pertains to all Coyotes regular season home games from December through April, there are several notable games during the upcoming holiday season.

Holiday Season Highlights:

• Black Friday: Friday, Nov. 27 @ 7 p.m. – Dallas Stars at Phoenix Coyotes
• Calgary Flames: Thursday, Dec. 3 @ 7 p.m. – Calgary Flames at Phoenix Coyotes
• We Win, You Win: Saturday, Dec. 5 @ 8 p.m. – Ottawa Senators at Phoenix Coyotes (If the Coyotes win, redeem your voucher – received upon entry – and game ticket for a free ticket to a future game)
• Christmas Weekend: Wednesday, Dec. 23 @ 7 p.m. – Anaheim Ducks at Phoenix Coyotes
• Blanket Giveaway: Saturday, Dec. 26 @ 7 p.m. – Los Angeles Kings at Phoenix Coyotes (First 10,000 fans in attendance receive a Coyotes blanket courtesy of AT&T)
• New Year’s Eve: Thursday, Dec. 31 @ 5 p.m. – San Jose at Phoenix Coyotes”

** we said we’d be behind anything that got butts in the seats (and I know this feels like a slap in the face with a dead fish) I wish they’d make it a little more palatable by offering the STHs a lil somethin somethin (if not now… maybe next season all STHs get a discount? ummm assuming we are around for next year). But it is what it is and I hope it works to galvanize some ticket sales. Its only a few days firesale but again… I hope a lot of people buy a lot of games. We are going to take soo much flak over it so it better work. Soo speaking of sticking around for 2010…

New suitors challenging the Ice Edge group for the team… am I the only one thinkin the NHL is gonna HAVE to figure out a compromise with the CoG to really get the team sold? Getting the lease revamped would raise the value of the team more than any 10 other actions the league could take. But I think over the next month we will see the serious local groups throw their hats on the ice. Bettman says there are 6 suitors for the team (in one form or another) hopefully by season’s end a local bidder prevails.

The City of G has its collective ass in a sling. They can’t just sit on the lease as is and they can’t be seen handing out any money in this economy and with every watchdog group and its brother locked on their every thought. When it comes right down to it, they are going to have to modify or lose it all. Better to make lemonade with the lemons Moyes left them and fight any legal challenges later than to be left with a very empty and pitiful arena and legal battles anyway.

Rampage coach Greg Ireland was shown the door. No reason was given for the sudden dump. But taking a look at their record (with all the freakin firepower they’ve got) might be a clue. 6 – 10 – 2 is not pretty. But then again their goal tending has taken a turn for the worse it seems since Burkie moved up in the world. Monty seems unable to slow his game down for the minors and Tater is always a slow starter. This is not good… the main reason for the high end kids to go to the AHL was to get some exerience and learn to win? Treliving had a little to say about the change HERE

Its time for a win! We lost 2 biggies in the great frozen north… lets not make it an official slide with a third one.

As always … GO COYOTES!

Phoenix Coyotes may have a new owner… in principal?

Not only are the Phoenix Coyotes coming home from the road with 4 of 6 possible points, they may be coming home to meet their new owners. According to Daryl Jones of Ice Edge Holdings “Ice Edge recently met with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman about a potential deal. The group has also reached an agreement in principle with the city on a new arena lease and it has held almost daily discussions with city officials to work out details.”

We may be on the road to recovery off the ice as well as on the ice! Keep your fingers crossed, the future is seriously looking up in the desert.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/prospective-owners-to-take-first-hand-look-at-the-coyotes/article1318030/

As always… Go Coyotes!

Statement From Wayne Gretzky
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Phoenix, Ariz.)–Wayne Gretzky announced today that he is stepping down as Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations of the Phoenix Coyotes Hockey Club, effective immediately.  “This was a difficult decision that I’ve thought long and hard about,” said Gretzky. “We all hoped there would be a resolution earlier this month to the Coyotes ownership situation, but the decision is taking longer than expected.  Since both remaining bidders have made it clear that I don’t fit into their future plans, I approached General Manger Don Maloney and suggested he begin looking for someone to replace me as coach.  Don has worked hard and explored many options.  I think he has made an excellent choice, and so now it’s time for me to step aside.

“The Coyotes scouting staff has put together a great group of young and talented players who are going to improve tremendously over the next few years,” continued Gretzky.  “I’m proud of the team we’ve assembled, the organization with which I’ve been associated and the thousands of dedicated fans who have never wavered in their support of this young team.  I’m confident that the best is yet to come for hockey in Phoenix.

“I want to thank every staff member of the Phoenix Coyotes, past and present.  It was a real pleasure to work with each and every one of you.  I’ve always said that Phoenix is a great sports city and deserves nothing but the best.  I still believe that. As a young boy, I learned to play hockey in Southern Ontario, and I know what great fans they have there.  It’s my hope they too will have an NHL franchise in the not too distant future.

“I often said it was the greatest honor and privilege I could imagine to be able to play in the National Hockey League.  I feel the same way about being an NHL coach.  I’ve loved the four years I spent coaching the Coyotes.  Not a day went by when I took it for granted, and I will miss the competition of the NHL dearly.  It was an honor to hold the position, and I will always consider myself especially fortunate to have had this opportunity.” From No 99s site

Thank you Wayne, for trying. Hockey isn’t done with you yet though big guy. Looking forward to seeing how your love of the game draws you back next. Good luck and Godspeed.

Now we can all move forward with confidence, GMDM has his own staff in place (possibly with more to come… might we be seeing Tippett who has ties to the asst coaching staff? *played with Samuelsson in Hartford, played under King with Olympic team and has intimate knowledge of the western conference* ) the Judge will eventually get off his writing pad and show us the owner and then maybe we can finally get down to the business of winning hockey in Arizona.

 As Always… Go Coyotes!

JeezusMerry and Jehostphat! I leave for a couple of hours and all hell breaks loose?

Papa Reinsdorf finally got tired of all the bullshit and pulled his bid. I guess the City was right eh? There really was a chilling of the bidders and it wasn’t the NHL doing it as alledged by PSE. Did anyone not see this coming? I know I hoped not but was concerned. How many leaks, screwing w/ the ticket holders and 3rd party scrutinies does it take to drive an interested party away from a procedure? Apparently 3, with Moyes/PSE breaking confidentiality, siccing the GWI on the City and sending out fanbase eroding messages, GH,LLC has had enough… for now.

Balsillie might not need as much patience as people think, apparently underhanded tactics played out in quick succession is a valid business strategy (seeing Glendale Hockey walk away may just be proof of that), can’t wait til Baum gets back from vaca to this piece of work. PSEs finalized APA.

The NHL has put in their own bid in order to keep the Coyotes franchise under their own control. Like they had a choice? The NHL franchise is facing an outright war on their way of life. If anyone didn’t think they would/will pull out all the stops to prevent a franchise from cutting the lead reins they are completely insane. This isn’t about the Coyotes any more. This is all about how a professional sports league can do business. After the NFL’s Davis fiasco, the other leagues are all in a tizzy. Moyes/PSE cannot be allowed to prevail, no matter what the cost. part 1  part2

Ice Edge Holdings has submitted their APA to purchase the Coyotes finally. Don’t believe the crap about playoffs in Saskatoon. *although they do ask for the right to consider that alternative at a later date… like an ace-in-the-hole for xtra cash* These guys have some really innovative ideas for the team. We may not like giving up 5 games (even though we won’t be paying for those games) but if the alternative is no games at all, we better get over that pretty quickly. Remember … better to be Ice Edge than ice dead in Arizona.

The city of El Mirage is trying to come to the Coyotes rescue. Cuz thats what we do in here in Arizona, help each other out.

Mirtle weighs in on possible scenarios. My take is that Glendale Hockey LLC doesn’t dissolve, just sits back and lets someone else (the NHL) do all the expensive dirty work (rengotiating the lease, setting up an acceptable plan for creditor pay off *including itself*). Once all the hue and cry is over and all the debts are either paid off or at least down, GH,LLC calmly steps in and purchases the team as a 3rd party owner. Et Voila! Problems solved. But wait! what about Ice Edge? If the NHL wins the auction, IEH could also step back into the picture as a 3rd party. Their offer is now complete so why not? They can reapply for NHL approval and become part of the good ol’ boys club too.

The NHL has one huuuge ace-in-the-hole for the game w/ the City…. we need a lease adjustment or we can contract the team. Not just resell it to another location…kill it.. dead. Then they can  issue an expansion team somewhere else for triple the money. The City either plays or folds at that point because there would no longer be a Phoenix Coyotes to have an agreement with and the litigation of the lease is kaput. Sound far fetched? Believe the hype on this one, it could very well be the last stand doomsday line in the sand from the NHL.

As always… Go Coyotes!

Or would that be ‘wades’ in? Seems like every man and his dog has an opinion on our situtation doesn’t it. From the misguided and misinformed Balsillie backing putzes to the misguided and misinformed Coyotes haterz (insert any G&M article you can find here) to our own  few well informed local media. And then there is of course the die hard faithful trying to provide a positive point of view in this tornado of muck. (umm that would probably be us and the Coalition for the most part, but hey! gotta start somewhere right?)

In less than 20 days this will all be over and life as we know it can return to some semblance of normalcy right? Well … maybe. The City of G has called for an emergency court session to decide if Moyes is a creditor or not and if TGO can get less than the full payment that Moyes promised him. (there seems to be a little problem of Moyes’ personal promise to Gretzky being tagged onto the team’s dime). There is also the anti trust craziness that will ensue when we win or the injunctions and appeals that would ensue if we lose. Either way there will be more to come, but as long as there are Coyotes rockin the Jobarena I can live through the rest.

PSE took potshots at current and past NHL owners. Called them criminals and worse and said the NHL should let him in their club despite the fact that he has been doing everything he can to screw them over. Melnyk wasn’t pleased about being dragged into the mess. Way to make friends and influence people Jimmy.

The NHL is actively pursuing their efforts to remove Moyes from the front line operations again. Can you blame them after reading some of the exhibits in these motions? Cahoots, collusion and plain old greed seem to permeate the Moyes/PSE dealings from start to finish. The Goldwater Institute must think we’re all stupid… they never heard of Rodier? puhleze! Then they must not have been following the Coyotes BK very closely before filing their crapfest against the City of G. Rodier really needs to be taken out of these equations… c’mon Judge, take a good look at where most of the ugly originates…

This guy gets it. Even though I haven’t been a great fan of Cox in past years, occasionally he gets it right. It IS a mess, it HAS gotten tawdry and truly there are no clear cut winners in all this. Everyone has taken a hit here. But at least the fans of Phoenix could still come out of this as victors (worn, torn and battle fatigued) but if the team stays, I’ll take that as a win.

Someone please offer the Bidwills a piece of the special taxing district pie so they can STF! Seriously, the Cards have dined off the City’s dime just as much as any other AZ sports team and now they wanna piss and moan? Gimmee a break here.

Ice Edge Holdings continues to fly under the radar. (They do feature in a few of Richard the Rat’s emails though.)They are still working furiously to get all their poop in a group. Could it be that when all the dust clears, none of the expected parties own the team? People with passion are dangerous folks. Entire revolutions have been started with passion. .. just sayin.

There is much more to come in the next week. Don’t believe the hype, its not over by a long shot. More depositions are being taken this week and if the Judge grants some of these emergency requests, there will be more hair pulling, eye goudging and back biting over at the Federal Courthouse soon. You can always follow along with Larry and C13 on Twitter. As well as reading summaries from the Boster Club and right here at the Hipcheck.

**********************OTHER STUFF**********************

You gotta love that Coyotes Coalition. Taking a page from other team’s fans, theYotesDiva has started a line of apparel and paraphanalia that will support the Yotes charity ticket buying efforts and help with Coalition sponsored activities for the upcoming season. Got a slogan or design or piece of merchandise you think would look good on the Yotes fanbase? Send her your ideas. Visit the Coalition store and buy something cool and funky to show your support of hockey in the desert.

Unoffical training camp is still going. If you haven’t gotten out there you really should. Apparently the boys are looking real good. More NHL faces have started appearing. Doan, DMo and Mueller to name a couple of our favorites. Take a look at the schedule, I am going to try for Monday and Wednesday Thursday (if court doesn’t screw up my plans).

Aaron Downey has been invited to camp for a looksee. GMDM is definitely still on the prowl for a tough guy it seems. Downey won’t be potting a lot of offense but he can skate some shifts and has some experience. He’s not up against a lot of competition for the job so far, it just may be his to lose at this point… (if you are one of those looking at our Francis Lessard  from the Rampage… that dude is crazy!)

ROOKIE GAMES! Road trip? Kings have announced officially (since you already heard it from GMDM here) the dates n times for the our rookies VS their rookies, pre season games. The first game is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 6 p.m. The second game is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 10 at 2 p.m.

The success of SBNation.com  has apparently spawned a few more fan driven sports sites. Be sure to stop by Hendrickshockey.com , the goalieguild.com , theNHLarena.com , the hfboards.com and the hockeywriters.com sites. Some of these have been around a long time and some are newbies, I just wanted to spread the love.

The season is right around the corner. Grab your tickets, its going to be a hell of a ride. The NHL has guaranteed your ticket money is safe from the bad guys if things go south.. or sour, take your pick. We’ll be doing a mini analysis of the West and a preview of the team soon, if you need more reasons to come check out the boys in action. You know I’ll be hangin about in section 104 so please come join me, Teal, C13, AZMiss and Brother Q for some Coyotes hockey in the best seats in da house!

As always… Go Coyotes!

Instead of an auction we had what basically amounted to a scheduling hearing. Judge Baum kept asking people what dog they had in this fight. By the time court was over I felt like I had been to a dog show.

Reese, City of G was all Chocolate Lab…on the scent and pointing to the downed target.

Maida, NHL represented the Doberman group in fine form… intense and watchful and totally protecting the league’s interests.

Boshes (sp?),  Jennings Strouss firm reminds one of a wire haired terrier with tufts of untamed hair, energetic movements and prone to yapping.

Kroop, Moyes legal was all enraged miniature bulldog with his affronted attitude about the STH letters.

Freeman, PSE I am tempted to say Chinese Crested with attitude but actually more like a chihuahua having a really bad day, exhaustive barking tendencies.

Ms. Reese led the proceedings for the City of G, detailing the incidences and outlining the City’s position. She also asked for a rescheduling of the proceedings so that Jennings Strouss firm could reply to the City’s requests and filings. The City is waiting to present their methods of cure based on the harm done by the release of confidential information on the local bid process.

Mr. Rhodes – general counsel for Jennings Strouss firm stated that the requested response will be filed late today and no later than tomoroow 8/6/09. He also reiterate that the City of G would be responsible for proving damages and proving that those damages could be directly linked to the charges.

The Court will set the contempt hearing dates after the City of G schedules the depositions they feel neccessary to their case. All of this appears to be headed into next week for the depos and 2 weeks for the hearing. Rhodes reserved the right to object to some depositions, citing possible witness availability issues.

Mr. Meda was up next and replied to the Judge’s question of what dog the NHL had in this fight by bringing up the who is in charge of the sale process question. The Judge said the NHL had an agreement w/ Mr. Moyes and that agreement was still in affect. Meda disagreed, he brought up the letters to the STHs. (the City of G and the NHL were not apprised of Dewey ranch’s decision to send out information to the STHs, instead an intrepid group of loyal and concerned fans informed them of the breach) The continuing uncertainty of the 09 season being in Phoenix. He alledged that Moyes is deliberately creating the perception of a lame duck season to further devalue the team. The Judge waived Meda’s concern about the relocation cleaver hanging over the team’s immediate future by declaring that he will absolutely make a decision about who can bid on September 10th. His decision will be published by tomorrow 8/6/09. Mr. Meda countered with the arguement that Balsillie was already rejected by the NHL-BoG and would prove problematic for September and the Judge reiterated that his decision would address Mr. Balsillie’s status. Judge Baum also admonished Mr. Meda that the BoG’s decision was just hanging about in the ether and was no good to anyone until filed with the court. (if it aint filed I can’t rule on it is basically the point)

Given the nature of all the rest of the issues, the Judge has decided to schedule some additional dates to work them out before the Sept auction. (The Judge is still a wee bit miffed by the hundreds of pages filed on the eves of nearly every subject so far)

Susan Freeman from PSE was next to step forward. The Judge told her “You don’t have a dog in this fight.” She replied that they do. The NHL wants to deny us our chance to bid on Sept 10th. The Judge reiterated that he will make his decision today and THAT would determine whether or not PSE can or cannot bid. The Judge also commented that a limited bid should be fairly quick but either way this whole thing will be over on September 11th… period.

Mr. Gaffney of SOF requested that confidentiality status be reiterated, with so many filings and so many parties, it would be benificial to the proceedings to revisit who has already consented to confidentiality and what information IS covered and how it should be marked.

Ms. Reese, City of G addressed the SOF statements by saying the City would send letters to all parties to re-designate the types/levels of confidentiality. Some items no longer appear to be confidential and some appear to be even ore so. She would like the Judge to underscore to ALL parties just exactly what confidentiality means. The Judge said he found it hard to believe that any of the legal counsel present didn’t understand the meaning of confidentiality. (hmmm in light of the Jennings fiasco.. maybe that isn’t true your Honor)

The US Trustee rep agreed with the court that the City of G needs to have statute or case law backing their case for contempt.

Jordan Kroop was at pretty high level of pisstivity about the allegations on the STH letters. He stated that the accusations that the letters went to all STHs for nefarious purposes was absolutely untrue. The lettersonly went out to the STH on the Master Mailing Matrix who were in effect, creditors before the BK (by virtue of funds deposited for their tickets) and that Dewey Ranch was only keeping them informed.

The NHL conceded that Mr. Kroop was indeed correct, not ALL STHs received the information but questioned why all of a sudden Dewey Ranch was including the people on the mailing matix when they never had before. (only two such contacts have been made through out the proceedings… *desperate much Mr. Moyes?*) That Mr. Nomo might have been playing the part of the junkyard mutt in this dogfight… circling the fight and nipping the legs of the Moyes camp’s dogs with small tidbits of innuendo that held a ring of inglorious truth… why now indeed, if not to damage the value of the team with the core fans?

Soooo, look for Judge Baum’s ruling on whether or not PSE can bid on September 10th in any capacity by tomorrow. And for further court appearances in the City of G VS Jerry Moyes contempt or not contempt pissing match in the coming weeks. For those of you interested in the depositions… here is Dalys. will post them as I get them.

Remember, we ain’t done yet. Grab a ticket or two for the 2009 season. Shout it loud and proud! We’re the Phoenix Coyotes and we play at Jobing.com Arena. Tell everyone you can about the team and the fun and the adventure that can be had as a fan.  GAME ON ARIZONA! Bring it!

As always… Go Coyotes!

Its finally all over the news but I got it first hand sorta,  from Brahm Resnik on his Twitter account! Yay! for technology.

Glendale Hockey LLC put basically confirmed their 148M dollar bid, no surprises there so far.

Ice Edge Holdings LLC  is where the surprise came from with their 150M partial cash bid. East Coast investor Daryl Jones filed $150M “letter of intent” – cash/debt offer w/contingencies according to BRez.

In other news… all you Winnie fans can take a deep breath of release because DWin got a one year deal.

I’ll get you links and stuff as I find them….

AZCentral finally gets the story up

Okay Odie and theYotesDiva are asking… if you were GMDM, what would you do with the team next year? Pick your roster, trade or buy players and keep your budget realistic. The NHL should be putting their money where their mouths are. They say they will do what it takes to get this team on its feet. Well, this team needs to be competitive and GMDM needs an operating budget worth the name and as the DIP, put up or shut up time has arrived. (apparently GMDM submitted a couple of budgets to the NHL/Moyes and actually got 1 of them approved!)

Well I just couldn’t decide on some of the players to help get the Yotes moving forward again so I asked for professional help and it was Carson to the rescue. Your guest blogger extraordinaire is 11 years old.

This is our guy, Carson, with Bryz at the 07-08 Game Night with the Coyotes.  He first played hockey when he was 6 and then he really became a fan of the game.  Carson became a fan of the Yotes because he got season tix in the 06-07 season after his family moved back to Arizona from Maine.  Carson is also a HUGE University of Maine fan.  He doesn’t have a favorite player, but likes them all.  ICarson hopes the Yotes stay.  He hopes we have a great season. He wants his intro to end with… GO YOTES AND BLACK BEARS!!!!

Goalies:

Ilya Bryzgalov: Under contract for the 09 season for 4.250 Million. I agree that he’s still our starter, with the caveat that after what he showed in the World Cup, he better bring it here at home or he won’t be our starter for too much of the season. GMDM is already looking around if I’m reading recent comments correctly.

Al Montoya: .750 Million for the kid. He showed that he has some serious chops at the end of last season. On one hand, I love this idea, on the other hand, with Bryz often goin schizoid, can we afford to only have 1 rookie option in our net? I think bringing in another goal keeper to camp and ‘may the best goalie win’ is a better strategy.

Goalie I’d like to see push Bryz:

35 yr old Legace (does anyone think Manny has anything left in the tank and deserves another shot? What could it hurt to give him a try out offer? We can always just-say-no if Monty turns on the after burners) *Legace is perfect to bring to camp for free test run*

Wish list goalies -

28 yr old Andersen (For long stretches, Craig has proven he can be THE man. He could push the hell outta Bryz. Raise from .575 to 1M)

31 yr old Clemmensen (has already shown promise beyond expectation and at 1.5 *raise from .500* he could be a steal, although a longshot that he’ll be available)

6M max in net

Carson adds -

Forward Lines:

Doan – Mueller – 3 choices (IF Mueller isn’t going back to center I’d like to see one of the following on their line.) approx 8.500M

Pahlsson: 31 year old former Selke candidate (mentor to our own possible Selke candidate Hanzal?). He made 1.4M a raise to 2.5M for 2 years might be enough to sway him (we only need him to give Porter time to come up).

Malhotra: 29 yr old seasoned but not worn out. Was making 1.5M could be had on another 2 yr 2M contract

Antropov: 29 yr old looking to make a difference and prove TOR wrong about him. Was 2.05 could be had for maybe 3 years @ 3M

(IF Mules is really going back to center then I’d like to see a very fast RW on this line… maybe Lisin?)

Lombardi – Prucha – Upshall: If it ain’t broke, pleeeze don’t try to fix it. We’ve already got Prucha locked down for around 2M, and Upshall is an RFA and should be signable for about the same 2+ million. Combined Salary: just under 6M

Hanzal – Tikhonov – fill in any of the LWs (all mean summabitches who can TCB and actually play the game, cuz let’s face it, no one is scared of Fridge) at: Combined Salary: 4M

28 yr old Winchester/STL – L .600

27 yr old Moen/SJS – L .925

Or my dream man…. 29 yr old Tanguay/ MTL – L 5.375 which would take this lines total up to about 7.750M (since we’d have to seriously overpay Tanguay) We have plenty of room.

I had added 37 yr old Brashear/ Was – L 1.200 (even though Carson disagreed vehemtly) But now that GMDM has picked up Vandemeer, we really don’t need Brashear anymore anyway.

Carson adds a pretty good choice:

Lisin – Winnik – Boedker: This line would be fast and productive. I wouldn’t mind giving Winnik another shot at the brass ring. We have shit for size right now and Dwin would have no problem stepping up for his smaller line mates. Winnie can also skate and hang onto a puck long enough for these two speedsters to run circles around the opposition and get open. He has decent hands too, he just needs a finisher and both of these kids certainly can do that. Combined Salary: 3.15 million

Fedoruk: already signed for 1 more year, meh 1.05 million

Turris, go ahead and give me shit in advance for putting KT in the AHL. We should all be able to admit errors and Kyle was brought up too early. We should be ALL about putting these kids into situations to succeed and grow. A year with Ireland, proper strength training and building his confidence by shredding the AHL would make a monster out of KT for the 2010 season.

22 min and 25 max on the front end

Defensive Pairings:

Michalek – Sauer: A lock. Incomparable shut down pairing. Expect Z to break out more offensively, now that he knows he can absolutely trust this partner to cover him. 3.250 M

Jovanovski – Ahnelov : The big Swede was deemed ready for a shot but derailed by injuries. Stays at home, plays very safe, has a nasty edge that might inspire the return of JovoCop. 2 big guys with a history of nasty streaks,could become monumental deterrents to comin to deep into our zone and IF Jovo can get as confident w/ Jlov as he was with Z, we could also see a return of his points production. Salary: 6.575M

Yandle – Morris: Yandle will get a raise. Morris probably has the inside track since he is already on GMDM’s return radar, gets a raise but a 2 year term because even he must realize he hasn’t exactly earned the giant contract. This pairing gives us a great 2^nd power play unit option. The risk is, we could see more of the not-so-great Morris but the upside is DMo is a known quantity who knows he’d have to get better or risk never seeing the big payday. Salary: 6M

• Komisarek – testing FA market
• Bergeron
• Leopold – Part of the Bouwmeester deal

** (all at around 2.500 – 3M for a total w/ Yands of 4.500 – 6M)

Hale: Could still improve with the right coaching. Salary : .725

*** We have to keep these filler defensemen to short contracts since we’ll have Goncherov, Ross, Summers and possibly Stone looking for spots within 2 – 3 years if everything goes well. (Hale, Jovo and Morris would be vacating within that period allowing the youngsters to step into their spots)

16M maximum on the blueline

Carson would like to give a shot to:

We spent about 43M minimum and 50M on the maximum on 21 players… leaving 2 more spots available for rookies to move up and down as needed, that’s sweetly over the cap floor and not too much over a reasonable budget expectation, is it?

We can’t make the same mistakes as last year with too many rookies, not enough vets. We need to improve but have to be realistic. Use what we have, tweak the roster enough to be competitive. Implement serious cost containment (save money on housing operations staff, maximize use of the fanbase and their contacts to further marketing efforts w/out extra costs, get rid of at least 6M in coaching staff costs) we have to maximize arena revenue (get more bookings), in other words spend less every where we can except the roster.

That’s what I’d do if I were GMDM… prolly a good thing I had help from Carson. Also probably a good thing I’m not the GM LOL

In other news… QOs went out to 12 Coyotes players…

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Well me n YotesDiva (aka C13) and HT went to the hearing. We were also joined in the back row by Heather and Sabrina from the Coyotes Booster club. There were a couple of other fans from section 104 there too. We represented well.

So nothing supremely important regarding the disposition of the team was decided today. If you followed YotesDiva on Twitter you got our blow by blow account which we will do again when the next hearing begins.

Here are copies of the documents that we received in the court room.

It was very interesting to watch as the various legal eagles strutted their stuff. But the Judge was the coolest by far as he held them all in check and laid down his rules. It was informative and at times funny. But waaay calmer than I expected from such a hot topic.

The various case filings were rolled into one big case. Most of the motions were approved as interim measures, resulting in business as usual for the next 2 & 1/2 weeks although it was a bit telling to me that the NHL will be fufilling those payouts (instead of them using Balsillie’s 17 million). The DIP or debtor in possession financial functions are being covered by the NHL.

The City of Glendale has some badass law dogs who protected their ass ets with vigor, including the per seat charges handled in trust for them. They were also pretty vocal in citing Judge Markowitz decision from the Penguins case as precendence regarding Glendale’s 30 year ‘rights of performance’ that the Coyotes owe. Saying essentially that the proceedings shouldn’t negate those rights. But that will be handled on the 19th along with the bigger questions of who is the boss (the NHL or Jerry Moyes).

The NHL has filed a motion to dismiss the bankruptcy (they contend that the paperwork Moyes signed to get his loans contained specific wording that he would not file bankruptcy) while the Balsillie team is apparently leaning on anti trust laws to get their case made. I tell you this is gonna be a hellstorm people. It is no longer only about the Phoenix Coyotes… it has become a legal challenge to the rights of the NHL to govern its franchises.

I won’t bore you with all the legalese but but unless the motion to dismiss is granted, the coming weeks will hold some doozies as the various factions prepare to go to war. On May 13th all motions and objections are expected to be filed, on May 15th all responses to those filings need to be made and on May 19th at 1:30 the cases will be made as to who is in control of the team and what recources the various creditors can expect to be handled.

Off the top of my head, lawyers for the NHLPA, SOF (Dell’s reps), the City of Glendale, Drawbridge Opportunity Fund, Squire, Sanders and Dempsey(Mr. Moyes’ reps) and Ms. Freeman (Mr. Balsillie’s rep), Mr. Ashford (NHL ’s rep) were all present and totally on the ball. Our very own Dave Scathard was there as was Brad Treliving and some of the Coyotes staff members. The Globe’s Shoaltz, AZRepublic’s Carrie Watters and Channel 12’s Reznik were a few of the media types we recognized on sight.

The rest of the procedings will be held in Phoenix instead of Prescott where they normally would be held due to the amount of interested parties wishing to be present and in the interest of getting this done quickly and efficiently.

If you want the rulings on the individual motions you’ll have to email me as the notes were too involved to type them all up here but seriously all today did was insure that the employees (arena and Coyotes staff) would be paid, various legal staff for Mr. Moyes would be paid and everything else was set to be business as usual until the 19th. Of the 16 motions, 3 were withdrawn, the one on the utilities was moved to another date and the other 12 were rolled together for joint administration under 1 case.

In the meantime, the fans and various Coyotes bloggers have banded together to mobilize a save the Coyotes coalition. The official website is savethecoyotes.com and is hosted by Fanster. Drop by sign up and voice your opinions (no trolls, doomsdayers or naysayers need bother). The Facebook group Coyotes Forever is also mobilizing. If the NHL is to be successful in keeping the team here, we fans may need to step up and be counted for season ticket sales and rallies and benefits may ensue to show our support C13, OdinMercer, Jordan Low, Fanster staff and the Coyotes Booster Club, have all put away our various affiliations and personal agendas to spearhead these activites so watch your Twitter, the official site of the coalition, the Scrum Forum and Facebook alerts for further news and plans.

Thats all I have for now.

As always… Go Coyotes!

Enough with the gloom and doom already. Balsillie has made attempted team theft into an art form… notice the word ‘attempted’? The RIM founder is dedicated to getting a hockey team. It appears to be his new life’s calling. I don’t blame him, if I had more than my unemployment check coming in, I’d want to buy one too. The problem is that Jim doesn’t want to wait for the next expansion. He’s got a lil Veruca Salt complex goin on… he wants it all and he wants it right now.

Apparently for some reason the NHL doesn’t want Jim. He’s been thwarted so many times I’m starting to referr to him as the Spurned Suitor. Just when he thinks he’s got his grubby lil hands on a team, she ups and elopes with another owner… most times with her NHL papa’s direct interference or help.

Now he’s after my beloved Yotes. It sucks. We are much more vulnerable right now than most of his other almost victims. But if we keep cool headed and work the system like our Pops says, we may just elude the grabby Jimbo.

Sooo after all the crazy hoopla today are we any closer to the truth of the situation? Well no not really. Our management is laying low and the only official word out of them is the NHL announcement.

We know Jim Balsillie made a 212M dollar offer.

We’re pretty sure that Moyes filed a bankruptcy petition.

We know that the NHL does not and did not approve of the filing nor the deal between Jim and Jerry and has taken steps to prevent the two from proceeding without them again.

We’re pretty sure that there is someone out therebesides Jimmyboy who is interested in the team. How about that rich Russian,  Medved at least he wouldn’t be tryin to take the team to Russia… would he?

So basically we aren’t any further ahead than we were b4 all the shenanigans. So don’t panic yet… there are lots of things to consider. If the purchase goes through and Jimbo wants the team moved b4 next season:

• Will TOR and BUFF or MON (depending on where JB wants to put his stolen team) approve of another team cutting into their revenues?
• Will there be an arena available in 09 for this ‘new’ team to play in (or is Jimmy planning on playin in some practice facility or even sharing a rink with TOR/MON)? 
• Can a new arena even be up and running before the 2011 season?
• What happens to the 2011 ASG (you know…the one that is supposed to be held in Phoenix)?
• Should we even get into the whole new name, new unis, new branding, ticket  sales stuff that would also have to happen in less than 90 days if Jimmy succeeds in his skullduggery?
• Can anyone say scheduling and conference nightmare?

I’m sure there are a dozen other considerations that I am too tired to reiterate right now (my emotional state has hit a wall of exhaustion). Is crazy eh? Well not any crazier than some of the theories being bandied about as to what is really going on under all this smoke and mirror brouhaha.

The Yotes fans are rallying to save their team. You can find petitions and groups and even follow the latest on Twitter. Rumor has it that a certain zealous group is going to be starting a save the Coyotes web site within a few days. Can you help? Well of course you can. I am not going to advocate a Blackberry boycott (its not Balsillie’s fault we’re in trouble) nor am I going to advocate boycotting Swift (that would be too silly as most of us don’t use the services anyway) but what I am going to strongly suggest is that if you love having NHL hockey in the Valley of the sun, you make your presence known. Comment on the sites, sign up for the petitions, Tweet our plight, Facebook the issues, set your myspace page music to play Werewolves of London or the Coyotes goal horn and explain why. Let the world know we’re out there and we are not going quietly.

Between Odie, C13 , Brother Q and this humble space, we will try to keep up and keep you up to date. Stay strong, keep your heads up.

And as always… Go Coyotes!