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Arizona Coyotes NHL Lockout Throwback: 2012-2013

By William Grigsby

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The NHL Lockout affected the Coyotes as much as anyone.

Yes… I was much like any other hockey fan who wanted to see NHL action by my favorite team only to be denied by a labor dispute– I was angry, feeling like I’d have to head up to Prescott to see the Arizona Sundogs play just for the chance to see some hockey.

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    • The level of play wasn’t anywhere near the NHL level, though, and of course the NHL knows that. To me it was similar to taking your child’s favorite toy away from them, and watching them throw a temper tantrum — but knowing that you held all the power. The league took what many fans considered to be a comically long period of time to come to an agreement on the reworked CBA, and not many have fully forgiven them for it.

    Of course, even when the season restarted it just wasn’t the same.

    When you cancel 41.5% of scheduled games then begin play again, you’ve hurt so many businesses related to the NHL games that the wounds left behind were hard to ignore. I heard many a fan say they were not going to attend games, with good cause — and as such, not many remember even the half season with much fondness. The NHL was back, but it certainly wasn’t better than ever — things wouldn’t go back to normal until the following season.

    "Gary Bettman estimated that the league was losing between $18M and $20M a day (doing the math that’s a whopping $2,260,000,000 on the season ) and the players lost between $8M and $10M a day as a league (coming to $1,070,000,000). The average NHL fan can’t even imagine that much money, let alone be good with the fact that players/owners wanted more. The overall fan sentiment seemed to be that enough was enough — and when the players union refused the fifty/fifty split, fans became disillusioned with everyone involved in the holdout. The league office had to cut employees’ pay by 20%, and some teams laid off employees and cut their pay as well. Molson-Coors reported huge losses, since their beer was not being sold at games or bought by fans attending game parties. NHL related businesses in the U.S. felt the sting as well."

    How did this affect the then Phoenix Coyotes? Since they were again rumored to be sold to a group headed by Greg Jamison after the lockout ended, things looked promising — until once again, the same results were reported as with every other offer. Jamison missed the deadline, with rumors he could not raise the necessary financial backing to consummate the deal.

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    • To me, a shortened season is like watching every game end in a tie — it almost seems like it’s not worth the bother. To the average Joe hockey fan, it seemed like they were missing out on watching their favorite sport over multi-millionaires crying for more money — and to them, that was unacceptable. What bothered me the most personally was the lack of negotiations. The hockey season felt like a political game, and no one was amused.

    It’s like the old adage — if you don’t shoot, you can’t score. In this case, 16 hours of continuous negotiating was what got results, and a tentative deal.

    So, was the attendance affected by this lockout? Sure was…the Coyotes’ 24 home dates brought an average attendance of only 12,877 per game. For a team without an owner — and rumors of the franchise being re-located — the lockout was just about the worst thing a struggling NHL organization could have stumbled upon.

    To report the season statistics:

    "The team went 21 W, 18L, 9 OTL for 51 points and 4th place Pacific Division finish. Coming in at 10th place in the Western Conference meant the playoffs were not happening."

    Individual Stats:

    Leading the Pack in scoring this shortened season was Keith Yandle, with 30 points (10 G, 20 A) — and half of his goals coming on special teams.

    Radim Vrbata was next with 12 G and 16 A for 28 points in 34 games.

    Shane Doan pulled up third with 13 G, 14 A, for 27 points.

    Mike Smith brought in 15 W, 12 L, 5 OTL and a 2.58 GAA, posting a .910 SV%.

    Transactions:

    On 6-22-12:  Zbynek Michalek was re-acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins for Harrison Ruopp and Marc Cheverie and a 3rd round pick

    On 01-16-13: Matthew Lombardi was also reunited with the team for a conditional 4th round pick from the Toronto Maple Leafs

    On 03-29-13: The Yotes acquired Tobias Rieder from the Edmonton Oilers for Kale Kessey— arguably the most valuable of all the transactions made that season

    On 03-03-13: Raffi Torres was dealt to the San Jose Sharks for a 7th round pick

    On 03-3-13: Matthew Lombardi was sent to the Anaheim Ducks for Brandon McMillian

    Could next season bring a NEW OWNER ?

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