Arizona Coyotes Fans About to Experience Bumpy Ride
Arizona Coyotes are in the thick of a nerve-wracking, nail-biting playoff race, and its loyal fans are loving it.
Anyone who has been a Phoenix or an Arizona Coyotes fan for any length of time knows full well not to get too excited about any Yotes’ short-term success, as things don’t take long to change. Just like the saying attributed by some to Mark Twain about New England weather changing every few minutes (I can vouch for its applicability in Ohio too), the fortunes of the Coyotes can and do change rapidly.
After the Yotes beat the L.A. Kings pretty impressively on Monday night, Coyotes fans may have thought that an early 2 to 0 lead in the first period of Wednesday’s game was a precursor of better things to come. In my case, I’ll admit it – I was wrong again, but remain cautiously optimistic!
Wednesday night’s result was just the latest of the crash landings that Coyotes faithful experience on a regular basis. Truth be told, we know that the Coyotes can only achieve so much with the talent they can put on the ice on any given day. Over the years, Arizona Coyotes rosters have been chock full of underwhelming players with forgettable names. Initially, many fans familiar with ice hockey from parts unknown spread throughout the U.S. and Canada came to see their favorite teams and players play that were NOT part of the local franchise.
The Coyotes had their share of marketable names, of course, but they never stayed very long nor were they necessarily considered top-line stars, with a few exceptions. Captain Shane Doan will always be one of the fan favorites due to his franchise longevity and dedication to the Arizona hockey community.
As things evolved and that nervy, abhorrent “hockey in the desert” experiment interestingly became a couple of decades old, more and more Arizona-born and raised Coyotes fans blossomed in the southwest desert. Transplanted adults and parents often stayed true to their childhood teams, but also raised Coyotes’ supporters that didn’t give a glazed donut about any other team, thank you very much. Yep, things continue to look up from a fan base perspective.
Something that did not change, however, except for a few memorable seasons in these 25 years, were the on-ice fortunes of the hockey team. It’s certainly not the fans’ fault. You can only put so many varieties or colors of lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.
Desert Dogs fans have been eternally optimistic, when they really haven’t necessarily had a reason to be. After years of futility regarding ownership ineptitude and substandard hockey on the ice, Yotes fans continue to think that the light at the end of the tunnel are rays of hope and prosperity, not a runaway train. Like sports fans everywhere, they are dedicated to their teams, when it hurts and when it doesn’t, win or lose.
I respect and admire Arizona Coyotes fans wherever they are for staying the course and “just keepin’ on keepin’ on.” They’ve been tremendously patient with the various ownership groups and the innumerable team rosters and lineups throughout these 25 years.
Hopefully loyal fans will enjoy and appreciate the final 16 games of this season, win or lose. Personally, I prefer win, as you probably do too – copycats! Let’s go Coyotes!