How can you not be impressed with what they are doing this year. With last nights win, they matched their total for all of last year, which is amazing given the turmoil off the ice at the start of the season. There are only 3 other teams that have scored more points and they currently sit as the 4th seed going into the Olympic break. Attendence has been rising and Arizona could be seeing playoff hockey again for the first time in more than a decade. Now one word of caution, is that they were in a playoff spot leading up to the allstar break last year, albeit the 8th seed and stunk up the joint in the second half.

Now how bad does this make the great one look, with his 8 million dollar coaching salary and zero playoff appearence during his time in Glendale. I seriously doubt we will ever see Gretzky coach in the NHL again.

PHX has been playing well this year. Hopefully there are enough fans interested to at least jump on the playoff bandwagon. Come playoff time it will come down to goaltending and how well the younger players can take the pressure.

As for Gretzky, maybe he's just not a very good coach. The Hawks tried Denis Savard and it didn't work out either. I loved the guy as a player but as a coach, not so much.

I am not a huge hockey fan but I think I heard some talk when
I had the Hawks game on radio the other night that the NHL took over the Phoenix team,
got rid of most of the young players and is having great success with a bunch of veteran players
in hopes of finding a buyer for the team. Is that accurate?

Not quite. The NHL did purchase the team and has an agreement in place with a company called "Ice Edge Holdings" to purchase the team. IEH and the NHL are working with the city of Glendale to rework the arena lease, something they were not willing to do for the old owner Jerry Moyes. The city of Glendale has a lot of money tied into the arena and the surrounding area which is called the Westgate Center, which is just across the parking lot from the University of Phoenix stadium where the Cardinals play.

The team isn't that different to the one Gretzky had to coach with a steady mix of younger players and a sprinkling of older talent. They didn't really have the money to make that many changes in the off season.

They're running all kinds of promotions trying to get asses in the seats--most prevalent is an all you can eat ticket for $30.

Never been to the venue--but I'm thinking I couldn't eat that much crap.

It really is junk in those seats, same with the ones at D'backs games. Hot dogs, nachos etc but if you go to games with 2 or 3 kids, I am sure it makes sense.

I bought 8 seats for the March 20th game when the Blackhawks are there. Should be a good game, I bet there will be near 50% Hawks fans there as its spring break. I think Phoenix finishes somewhere between #4 and #7 seed. Now if Detoilet misses the playoffs that would be great

Kudoes to the Coyotes though; especially with all the drama around them.

Jim Ballsillie tried to buy them in the off season but the NHL didn't like him so they wouldn't sell the team (he was offering some insane amount of money).. $225 million I think which is way over what the franchise is worth. Wanted to move the team to Hamilton Ontario where it actually has a chance of being successful.

If you don't recognize the name, he owns and founded Research in Motion (blackberry's etc.).

Of course Hamilton was smack dab in between two other NHL frachises in Toronto and Buffalo, so the NHL and those two owners were concerned that another team in the area would affect their fan base and revenue.

Now I know the Canucks have played less games, but how on earth are they the 3rd seed currently when the Coyotes have scored more points?

Gary Buttman is all about having teams in America, not Canada. If he had it totally his way I think all the teams would be in America. I think if they Coyotes moved back to Winnipeg it would be cool and a good idea(but I couldnt see the Blackhawks when they are in Phoenix). The Coyotes are looking good as the season progresses and could make some noise this postseason which is a remarkable story.

Because each divsion winner is guaranteed a top 3 seed. I think it sucks, last season the Blackhawks had 104 points while Vancouver had 100 points, yet Vancouver was given the higher seed and thus home ice when they met in the 2nd round last year.

This is a good point, about why Hamilton has zero chance. I think it was awhile back that Backspin I believe posted something about how NHL teams couldnt be a certain distance from eachother, which is why a city like Milwaukee has no NHL team being close to an original 6 team.

It's why Seattle has no team, despite a long hockey history. It's a shame Paul Allen has no interest in buying that team and putting it in Portland OR with the Jailblazers..

sm

The L.A. Kings have existed since 1967, and then the league allowed the expansion Mighty Ducks (now simply Ducks) to take root in Anaheim, about 50 miles south of L.A.

I think thats ok because the Kings arent an original six team.