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Phoenix Coyotes

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The Phoenix Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale. They play in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Contents

Facts

Founded: 1972 in the World Hockey Association (as the Winnipeg Jets)
Joined the NHL: 1979-80
Home Arena: Glendale Arena
:Former Home Arena: America West Arena (1996-2004)
Uniform: Home - Brick red with white striping and numbers and lace-up neck. Away - White with brick red striping and numbers and modified V-neck.
Mascot: Howler the Coyote.
Rivals: Anaheim Ducks, Dallas Stars, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks.
Game broadcasters: FSN Arizona, KAZT-TV (beginning fall 2006), KASW (1996 to spring 2006) (Tucson broadcasters unknown, KAZT has Yuma translator but none in Tucson)

Franchise history

Phoenix's first logo (1996-2003).
Enlarge
Phoenix's first logo (1996-2003).

The team began play as the Winnipeg Jets, one of the founding franchises in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Jets were the most successful team in the short-lived WHA, winning three Avco Cups, the league's championship trophy, and making the finals five out of the WHA's seven seasons. It then became one of the four team admitted to the NHL when the rival leagues merged in 1979

However, the club was never able to translate that success into the NHL after the merger. Whenever they made the playoffs, the Jets either got beaten in the first round, or eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers in the second round. And despite strong fan support, the money simply was not there, with operating costs and player salaries growing so rapidly. The team was sold to out-of-town interests, and in 1996, the club moved to Arizona and became the Phoenix Coyotes.

In the summer that the move took place, the franchise saw the exit of Jets stars like Teemu Selänne and Alexei Zhamnov, while the team added established superstar Jeremy Roenick who teamed up with power wings Keith Tkachuk and Rick Tocchet to form a dynamic 1-2-3 offensive punch that led the Coyotes through their first years in Arizona. Also impressive were young players like Shane Doan (the last remaining original Coyote), Oleg Tverdovsky and goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin, arguably the most popular player in Coyotes history, whom the fans nicknamed the "Bulin Wall".

After arriving in Phoenix, the team posted six consecutive .500 or better seasons, though they have never made it out of the first round of the playoffs, a streak which dates back to 1988, while they were still in Winnipeg. The closest they came to advancing was the 1999 Playoffs where they lost a heatbreaking Game 7 to the St. Louis Blues. The Jets/Coyotes franchise is currently the oldest NHL team to have never appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals. Since 2002, the Coyotes, due to lack of ownership stability and poor personnel strategies, have fallen to the lower echelon of the NHL and attendance levels have dropped, worrying many NHL executives. In addition, an unfavorable lease with America West Arena, where the team played for its first eight years in Phoenix, had the team bleeding red ink.

The Coyotes were a hot ticket in Phoenix in the late '90s, and had superb attendance. However, America West Arena soon proved to be an inadequate location for an NHL team. Several seats were obstructed because the arena's floor was not designed with a hockey rink in mind, unlike most modern arenas. Seating capacity had to be cut down to 16,000--the second-smallest in the league at the time--after the first season. Even then, a stretch of the upper deck that actually hung over the ice, obstructing the views of around 3,000 spectators. Some fans even claimed that they saw where the concrete had been sheared off to create retractable seats for hockey. After attempts failed either to renovate America West or build an arena in Scottsdale, the Coyotes built Glendale Arena, which they moved into in 2003. Simultaneously, the Coyotes changed their logo and uniforms, heeding to hockey purists, but disappointing many Coyotes fans.

The Coyotes' alternate logo
Enlarge
The Coyotes' alternate logo

In August 2005, two months before the start of the new hockey season, the Coyotes announced that Wayne Gretzky would be the new coach of the team, replacing interim coach Rick Bowness. That month, the team signed aging superstar Brett Hull, son of former Jets great Bobby Hull, and unretired the elder Hull's number for the younger to wear. Hull only lasted a few games before finding that the increased speed of the NHL under the new rule set was too late for him. In another rather unusual move, the Coyotes re-honoured another Jets great, Thomas Steen, in 2006, despite the fact that his number had been retired by the Jets some years earlier.

As of around 11:00 P.M. EDT on June 19, 2006, when the Carolina Hurricanes, formerly the Hartford Whalers, won the Stanley Cup, the Phoenix Coyotes became the only NHL team from the WHA era to have not yet won a Stanley Cup (going back to the Winnipeg years).

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Records as of July 13, 2006 Hockeydb.com, [Phoenix Coyotes season statistics and records.]

Season GP W L T OTL Pts GF GA PIM Finish Playoffs
1996-97 82 38 37 7 — 83 240 243 1582 3rd in Central Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 3-4 (Mighty Ducks)
1997-98 82 35 35 12 — 82 224 227 1602 4th in Central Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 2-4 (Red Wings)
1998-99 82 39 31 12 — 90 205 197 1412 2nd in Pacific Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 3-4 (Blues)
1999-00 82 39 31 8 4 90 232 228 940 3rd in Pacific Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 1-4 (Avalanche)
2000-01 82 35 27 17 3 90 214 212 1337 4th in Pacific Out of Playoffs
2001-02 82 40 27 9 6 95 228 210 1154 2nd in Pacific Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 1-4 (Sharks)
2002-03 82 31 35 11 5 78 204 230 1433 4th in Pacific Out of Playoffs
2003-04 82 22 36 18 6 68 188 245 1300 5th in Pacific Out of Playoffs
2004-051 — — — — — — — — — — —
2005-06 82 38 39 —2 5 81 246 271 1493 5th in Pacific Out of Playoffs
Total 738 317 298 94 29 757 1981 2063 10253 — —

1 Season was cancelled due to the 2004-05 NHL lockout.
2 As of the 2005-06 NHL Season, all games will have a winner and OTL includes SOL (Shootout losses).

Notable players

Current squad

As of July 4, 2006 [link]

Goaltenders
Number

Player Catches Acquired Place of Birth
30 Michael Morrison R 2006 Medford, Massachusetts

30 David LeNeveu L 2002 Fernie, British Columbia

31 Curtis Joseph L 2005 Keswick, Ontario

35 Philippe Sauve L 2006 Buffalo, New York

Defensemen
Number

Player Shoots Acquired Place of Birth
2 Keith Ballard L 2004 Baudette, Minnesota

4 Zbynek Michalek R 2005 Jindrichuv Hradec, Czechoslovakia

5 Jamie Rivers L 2006 Ottawa, Ontario

22 Dennis Seidenberg L 2006 Schwenningen, West Germany

44 Nick Boynton R 2006 Nobleton, Ontario

53 Derek Morris - A R 2004 Edmonton, Alberta

55 Ed Jovanovski L 2006 Windsor, Ontario

Forwards
Number

Player Shoots Position Acquired Place of Birth
8 Geoff Sanderson L LW 2005 Hay River, Northwest Territories

11 Oleg Kvasha R C/LW 2006 Moscow, U.S.S.R.

15 Boyd Devereaux L C 2004 Seaforth, Ontario

17 Ladislav Nagy L LW 2001 Saca, Czechoslovakia

18 Tyson Nash L LW 2003 Edmonton, Alberta

19 Shane Doan - C R RW 1995 Halkirk, Alberta

20 Fredrik Sjostrom L RW 2001 Färgelanda, Sweden

21 Bill Thomas R F 2006 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

24 Josh Gratton L LW 2006 Scarborough, Ontario

26 Joel Perrault R C 2006 Montreal, Quebec

28 Pavel Brendl R RW 2006 Opocno, Czechoslovakia

29 Steven Reinprecht L C 2006 Edmonton, Alberta

37 Georges Laraque R RW 2006 Montreal, Quebec

38 Dave Scatchard R C 2005 Hinton, Alberta

40 Mike Ricci - A L C 2004 Scarborough, Ontario

89 Mike Comrie L C 2004 Edmonton, Alberta

91 Oleg Saprykin L LW 2005 Moscow, U.S.S.R.

97 Jeremy Roenick R C 2006 Boston, Massachusetts

Only Gartner played for the franchise in Phoenix.

Team captains

Note: This list does not include the captains from the Winnipeg Jets (NHL & WHA)

Retired numbers

The Coyotes continue to honor the retired numbers of their predecessor Winnipeg Jets franchise; the banners for Hull and Steen at Glendale Arena are in the Jets' blue, white and red, while the Gretzky banner is Coyotes brick red and white. [link]

First round draft picks

Note: This list does not include selections as the Winnipeg Jets.

Franchise scoring leaders

These are the top-ten point-scorers in the history of the Coyotes and Winnipeg Jets in the NHL. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season. Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points
Player POS GP G A Pts
Dale Hawerchuk C 713 379 550 929
Thomas Steen C 950 264 553 817
Keith Tkachuk LW 640 323 300 623
Teppo Numminen D 1098 108 426 534
Paul MacLean RW 527 248 270 518
*Shane Doan RW 730 172 245 417
Doug Smail LW 691 189 208 397
Laurie Boschman LW 526 152 227 379
*Jeremy Roenick C 384 141 210 351
Morris Lukowich LW 431 168 177 345

NHL Awards and Trophies

Jack Adams Award

Phoenix Coyotes Individual Records

See also

References

National Hockey League 1917 to present
Current teams : Anaheim | Atlanta | Boston | Buffalo | Calgary | Carolina | Chicago | Colorado | Columbus | Dallas | Detroit | Edmonton | Florida | Los Angeles | Minnesota | Montreal | Nashville | New Jersey | NY Islanders | NY Rangers | Ottawa | Philadelphia | Phoenix | Pittsburgh | San Jose | St. Louis | Tampa Bay | Toronto | Vancouver | Washington
Trophies and awards: Stanley Cup | Prince of Wales | Clarence S. Campbell | Presidents' Trophy | Adams | Art Ross | Calder | Conn Smythe | Crozier | Hart | Jennings | King Clancy | Lady Byng | Masterton | Norris | Patrick | Pearson | Plus/Minus | Rocket Richard | Selke | Vezina

 

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