Come on, enough is enough, already. How embarrassing. Fans in attendance saw it with their own eyes, another loss in front of a bunch of very vocal Kings fans! Many Coyotes fans are so disgusted, so disappointed with the overall performance of the team that watching the final three games of another dismal season will be like pouring salt into open wounds. You would think that knowing that you needed to win a game to remain playoff relevant would trigger some internal mechanism, individually and collectively, to play your best for 60 minutes and beyond, if necessary. Not so with this group, and that’s sad.
Fans’ opinions have run the gamut throughout this season about this soon-to-be-altered iteration of the roster, and what happened that resulted in a painful-to-watch 53-plus games. Some say the Coyotes have overachieved because no one expected them to do so “well” (ending the season again with a sub “.500” winning percentage), while others fully expected them to compete with the Minnesota Wild for the 4th playoff spot. Others have blamed the woeful and inconsistent, almost conspiratorial refereeing for the Desert Dogs’ troubles. Many have directed their ire at one man in particular as being the problem all along: Coach Rick Tocchet.
Many who have never coached and many who have believe that they know better than the person actually in the position, and that’s fine. But even among that group there are differences of opinion as to how they would deploy the players on the Coyotes roster. Many believe that the talent and skill already exist and that the current coaching staff is not using them properly. Other “coaches” believe that the talent was never there in the first place and that Coach Tocchet should have stocked his roster with better players! You’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.
Almost everyone can agree that the roster was chock full of substandard performers that were basically never NHL-caliber players in the first place. When your team is not that formidable from the get go and you keep it together during a truncated campaign with duct tape, baling wire, and hugs, you’re doomed as far as being competitive within the Honda West Division.
We fans, however, are a demanding and fickle bunch, and choose to believe that our teams are “in it” until the very, bitter end. Those fans that have the means (and probably some who don’t) will “re-up” for season tickets with faith and renewed hope that the next season will be different. Others will attend games if/when they can, because they love their team. But whether fans attend games or not, they’re still worthy fans and deserve to watch and support a viable on-ice product. In the Arizona Coyotes case, fans are still waiting. Let’s go Coyotes!