Coyotes Throwback History, Vol X: 2006-2007 Season

GREAT PLAYER, NOT SO GREAT COACH… THE COYOTES STRUGGLE YET AGAIN

The second Gretzky-coached Phoenix Coyotes team tried to bring back some veterans to beef up their roster, but in the end their record fell short.

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The Coyotes finished off the 2006-2007 season 31-46-5, for a paltry 67 points and a fifth place Pacific Division placing. It, once again, wasn’t enough to compete in the playoffs — and their last place finish in the tough Western Conference was dismal, at best.

In fact, this team was 29th in the entire NHL final standings. All this, after bringing in Ed Jovanowski, Jeremy Roenick (for his second stint), and Owen Nolan; they even signed Georges Laraque to add some toughness.

I brought up this point in my last article analyzing Wayne Gretzky’s coaching abilities, or lack thereof;  just because he was the greatest hockey player in NHL history doesn’t qualify him to be even an average coach.

The qualities that make people good at what they do don’t always translate into successful qualities for teachers, coaches, and mentors — and while no one can argue that Gretzky doesn’t have a phenomenal grasp on the game, it started to become clear in Phoenix that he just didn’t possess the skills it took to pass that knowledge on successfully to other players.

Gretzky was absolutely magical to watch during his time in the league, but he fell short of glory as the Coyotes’ coach. I think the fact that he partially owned the team got in the way of him coaching, and he was probably hurt by his circumvention of the job ladder — unlike many NHL coaches, he didn’t work his way up to the NHL level by coaching in the minor league first.

It also could have affected the Coyotes having The Great One as a coach. It began to reach the point where you have to wonder if the Coyotes players had trouble relating to him; as a skater, would I ever expect to meet his demands as a player? How could I play anywhere close to the level that HE played? It would mess my mind up for sure… am I alone on that?

To recap the Coyotes’ season, here’s the numbers:

• When you give up 284 goals, which was 4th worst in the NHL, you know it’s going to be a LONG season
• Shane Doan led all scorers on the Coyotes with another decent season (27 G, 28 A / 11 PPG, 7 GW)
• Ladislav Nagy came in second on the Coyotes overall, with only (8 G, 33 A)… which should tell you something.
• Newly acquired Owen Nolan finished in the top three with (16 G, 24A)
• Jeremy Roenick, attempting a Coyotes comeback, finished a distant 8th in scoring with just (11 G, 17 A)
• The goaltending was once again less than world-class; Curtis Joseph had a poor year with (18 W, 31 L / 3.19 GAA, .893 SV%)

The defense seemed strong, though, with players like Jovo, Michalek, Keith Ballard (one of the best hip checking defensemen), Derek Morris, and Nick Boynton leading the way. Add in a couple youngsters in Matt Jones and Keith Yandle, and the blue line emerged as the team’s biggest asset. Things starting to sound familiar?

With defense like that, how did the team finish off so poorly? Thank a late-season tank; the Coyotes had accumulated 40 points in the first 41 games, but then the bottom fell out (as seems to be a team trait) when they only earned 27 points (12-26-3) in the last 41 games. Losing streaks of 6 games, 5 games twice, and 4 games displays how poorly they finished.

Gretzky might be the only person who truly knows why this particular Coyotes roster fell so short of expectations. The talent was there — they arguably had more talent than the current Coyotes team — they just didn’t produce. It happens quite a bit in professional sports.

UP NEXT: THE 2007-2008 SEASON.. WILL THINGS IMPROVE? WILL GRETZKY’S TEAM MAKE THE PLAYOFFS?

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