Each spring 16 NHL teams play for Lord Stanley's Cup. At the end one team is left holding the cup while the other 15 teams can only think of what could of been.
This is about one of the 15 teams who wasn't so lucky.
Phoenix Coyotes:
How they got here: Finished 43-26-13 99 points.
3rd in Pacific Division, 6th in the Western Conference.
What went wrong:
For starters they drew the Detroit Red Wings in the 1st round. Now I know the Red wings aren't as dominant as they have been in years past but it is a veteran hockey club that knows what it takes to win in the post-season. That was the case again this year.
Phoenix started strong against Detroit in game one taking an early 1-0 lead. Unfortunately the Coyotes went 0-6 on the Power Play and couldn't take advantage of numerous Red Wings penalties. Detroit would score three goals in the 2nd period & never look back en route to a 4-2 win.
In game two, Detroit came out strong scoring the 1st four goals of the game before Phoenix knew what hit them. The Coyotes were able to get within one goal but ran out of time as the Red Wings won 4-3.
In game three the Coyotes were back home & hoping with the crowd behind them they could get an early jump on the Red Wings. Instead Detroit scored two goals 44 seconds apart in the 1st period to give them a lead they would never relinquish as they won 4-2.
Phoenix fell behind 1-0 in game four before answering with two quick goals to give them their first lead since game one of the series. The two clubs would trade goals back & forth until Dan Cleary scored from a difficult angle to give Detroit a 4-3 lead. Todd Bertuzzi would add an insurance goal to give the Red Wings a 5-3 win & a series sweep.
For the Coyotes to be able to win this series Ilya Bryzgalov needed to be the best player in the series. Bryzgalov finished 0-4 with a 4.36 GAA & a save percentage of .879. Not a good series for the soon-to-be free agent.
Another thing that hurt Phoenix was recent history. Last season they pushed Detroit to the brink losing to them in seven games. Watching this series it looked like Detroit remembered that and was determined to end this series as soon as possible. The Coyotes missed their opportunity and were playing catch up for the rest of the series.
Where do they go from here:
That is the question everyone is wondering. The Coyotes filed for bankruptcy two years ago & have been owned by the NHL since then.
Potential owners have been linked to buying the franchise & keeping them in the desert only to have the deal fall through.
The latest saga involves Chicago businessman Matthew Hulsizer attempt to purchase the franchise which is being held up by the Goldwater Institute. The Goldwater Institute is challenging the sale based the proposed sale of bonds to finance the Hulsizer purchase on the grounds that the deal between the city of Glendale and Hulsizer would violate the Arizona Constitution.
With no deal in place & the NHL losing money trying to keep the Coyotes in the desert other ownership options are being considered & their is a group in Winnipeg that is standing by ready to purchase the team & move them back to Manitoba.
Reports of a potential move & sale surfaced right before game one & I'm guessing that had to be on the players mind as they took to the ice. It's not the reason Phoenix lost the series but the off ice drama didn't help.
Will the Coyotes be in Phoenix next season or will they return to Winnipeg? At this point we don't know.
What we do know is that one way or another the ownership situation should be resolved in the next couple of months. Once it is resolved there will be a solid nucleus in place for ownership to build around & keep the Coyotes competitive. Until then all we can do is wait & see what happens.
Just like they are doing in Phoenix & Winnipeg.
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