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Arizona Coyotes Throwback, Vol XII: 2008-2009 Season

By William Grigsby |

With Distractions Off the Ice, the Coyotes find it difficult to play hockey

On May 5, 2009, the Arizona Coyotes (then Phoenix Coyotes) owner, Jerry Moyes filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In a statement, Moyes said that he had agreed in principal to sell the team to PSE Sports & Entertainment, (Blackberry cell phone fame) headed by Research in Motion co-CEO, Jim Balsillie (pictured above) for $212.5 million. As part of the deal, Basillie wanted to move the team to Hamilton, Ontario.  LET THE OWNERSHIP SOAP OPERA BEGIN…

The 2008-2009 Phoenix Coyotes had plenty working in favor of them failing beyond simply playing poorly.

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Looking back at the Blackhawks' trades involving Andrew Ladd /

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    • The Coyotes missed the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season — the fourth since Wayne Gretzky started coaching the team. It went beyond just the on-ice struggles, though:

    In December 2008, it was revealed that the team was losing money at an astronomical pace and were being funded by the NHL directly. The NHL Commissioner, Gary Bettman, and Deputy Commissioner, Bill Daly of course denied it — but the NHL had secretly taken over operations of the team. Five months later, team owner Jerry Moyes put the team into bankruptcy just prior to Bettman arriving in Glendale to submit a potential offer. I’m sure that didn’t please him too much… and we all know not to make Gary upset!

    Did all this ownership mess disturb the way the Coyotes team played? There’s little doubt that it did. The team had no idea whether it would remain in Arizona — and if it didn’t, no one knew where they could head. How would you feel if you didn’t know if your job was secure, or if you would be moving to a new city?

    I’ve experienced cutbacks (or the politically correct phrase would be ‘workplace reduction’) and it is very stressful to say the least. I know Shane Doan went through it once, when he was involuntarily relocated from Winnipeg to Phoenix — he surely didn’t want to disrupt his family and move again. I believe that’s why he’s been so loyal to stay with this franchise.

    Speaking of Shane Doan, this season he became a 31 goal scorer, leading the team again with 73 points, 10 PPG, 4 GW, 2 SH goals to cap off a great on-ice year in spite of all the drama the team underwent off it. I mean that is why the players, play — right?

    Once again, though, the scoring trailed off dramatically after Doan. Newly acquired Oli Jokinen (traded on 6-20-08 from Florida to Phoenix for Nick Boyton and Keith (hip check artist) Ballard, and a 2nd round pick in ’08 Draft) contributed 21 G, 21 A in 57 games. Steve Reinprecht rounded out the top three with 14 G, 27 A.

    Other transactions made this season:

    The team’s final record was 36-39-7 for 79 points and a 4th place Pacific Division standing, and 12th in the Western Conference. With all the distractions, I’m surprised they did that well.

    This would be Wayne Gretzky’s last season coaching, and I have some final thoughts on that..

    I find it fascinating that while Gretzky was coach from the 2005-2006 season to the 2008-2009 season, the average attendance capacity was: 88%. While Dave Tippett has been coaching since 2009-2010 thru last season the average attendance capacity was: 75.1%. If you digest those numbers it strikes home my point that Gretsky’s coaching tenure was merely a stunt to get fans thru the turnstiles. Use a conservative number like $80 average per ticket and that amounts to about $200,000 a season more in revenue when Gretzky was here compared to afterwards.

    NEXT UP: 2009-2010 SEASON- A NEW COACH, AND SOME IMPROVEMENT EVEN WITH THE OWNERSHIP MERRY-GO-ROUND?

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