The Phoenix Coyotes
On Saturday, April 24th, 1999, I went to a Phoneix Coyotes playoff game. They hosted the St. Louis Blues in game 2 of the 1st round of the playoffs. The home team won in overtime at the America West Arena. 4-3. The atmosphere was electric. The people of the desert were happy with this foreign sport of hockey, and they showed it.
10 years later, the team is in trouble. They are bankrupt. They have the most recognizable name in hockey, Wayne Gretzky, as their head coach. They have a fairly new arena north of Phoenix in Glendale. But they don’t draw.
Blackberry CEO Jim Balsillie wants to move them to Hamilton, Ontario, not far from Toronto, but the NHL won’t allow that.
Sure, there are people who say that Toronto could support 2 NHL team, and they’re probably right. However, it would be at the expense of the NBA’s Raptors (who are owned by Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment) and the Blue Jays. No wonder they tried to get Jerry Reinsdorf, who owns NBA and MLB teams in Chicago to buy the Coyotes.
This is not fun. But for 1 game in 1999, it was amazing.
