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Arizona Coyotes Throwback, Volume XIV: 2010-2011 Season

By William Grigsby |

Staying Focused Without Being Distracted By Off-Ice Issues Is NOT Easy..

The ‘2010-’11 Phoenix Coyotes continued to attempt to play hockey again this season with the uncertainty looming over their heads- if they were to remain in Phoenix.

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Looking back at the Blackhawks' trades involving Andrew Ladd
Looking back at the Blackhawks' trades involving Andrew Ladd /

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    • After the sale of the team to the league, the NHL negotiated a temporary lease with the City of Glendale, Arizona, owner of Jobing.com Arena (now known as Gila River Arena). The NHL then went on to work with the two potential bidders, Jerry Reinsdorf and Ice Edge, to culminate a deal with Glendale. Ice Edge signed a letter of intent to buy the team from the NHL, while Reinsdorf had won the approval of the City of Glendale. By the end of summer 2010, both bidders had failed to complete a purchase and dropped out.

    A new investor group led by Chicago investor Matt Hulsizer, would reach an agreement with the NHL to purchase the Coyotes. The lease agreement was what didn’t pan out for the deal to culminate. A large factor was the bonds sale he proposed-which got the Goldwater Institute riled, and that was that. It was so on again off again, that many fans, myself included- began to wonder if we’d have a NHL team or not. I frankly would have had a personal meltdown without any NHL hockey locally. Defenseman Adrian Acquion summed it up succinctly by saying:

    “I’ve never been part of anything like this,” Aucoin said. “You try to block it out, but this is your life and your family. How do you do that? We’re human. It’s been a miserable year for this organization. I think the players did a great job under the circumstance while people are driving it through our brains that we might be moving out of here.”

    Moving on to the action on the ice..

    One of the key additions to this year’s team was the signing of free agent Ray Whitney. Whitney finished third in scoring with 17 G, 40 A, and 23 power play assists. The “WIZARD” could really pass the puck, and having his playmaking skill added a special dimension to the offense. His career stats display that: .29 Goals a game, compared to .51 Assists per game.

    Here’s a surprise: Shane Doan led the team in scoring AGAIN ! Get this: From ’03-’04 season to ’10-’11 season he was the Yotes leading scorer, and over his entire career he has been in the top three an amazing 14 times.

    Keith Yandle finished second just one point behind Doan with 11 G, 48 A, and a +12. Yandle has since then pushed his way to the top of the scoring charts time and time again; this blue-liner really started the shift towards secondary scoring coming primarily from the blue line.

    The team came away with a 43 W, 26 L, 13 OTL, record earning them 99 points. That put them in third place in the Pacific Division, and sixth place in the Western Conference. They went on to face the Detroit Red Wings once more — and were left empty-handed for yet another year. After taking the Wings to seven games the previous year, the Coyotes were hopeful of a better result this time around. It wasn’t meant to be, and against a more experienced and playoff veteran team, they were swept. Losing game four at home by the score of 6-3 was a real disappointment.

    Transactions for this season:

    6/28/10: Daniel Winnick to Colorado Avalanche for a 4th round pick in 2012

    1/10/11:  Wojtek Wolski to the N.Y. Rangers for Michal Rozsival

    2/28/11: Scottie Upshall and Sami Lepisto to Columbus for Rostislav Klesla and Dane Byers

     Coach Tippett shared:

    “The team might have gone as far as it can without the backbone of stable ownership. There needs to be a solution to the situation. It is a competitive disadvantage”, Tippett said. “Everyone recognizes that. That’s what’s frustrating. We’ve scratched and clawed and I give these players a lot of credit, but this is two years now. I think we can win more if we have stable ownership that’s able to move forward. We lost to a team that’s been to the playoffs 20 straight years. I want this organization to take the next step, to get better and not come into a series when you feel like you’re behind the eight-ball before you start.”

    UP NEXT: Could Coach Tippett take this team to the next level?

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