Hockey – The most valuable piece in the Coyotes ownership saga

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As the proverbial clock ticks down for a final decision on where the Phoenix Coyotes will be playing next season, numerous stories, accounts, and other news makes this subject a hot button topic around the league even after two years. However, there’s still one aspect about the whole Phoenix Coyotes ownership matter that has been missed by….well…everyone.

Hockey.

I’m not talking about the Phoenix Coyotes and what they’re doing this season or in years past. I’m talking about the game of hockey in Arizona. If there’s one major negative aspect of the potential relocation of the Phoenix Coyotes it would be the permanent damage on the game and growth of hockey in Arizona.

For nearly 120 years, the game of hockey has been a part of the Canadian culture growing deep roots across their country and the world. Some call the Canadians love for the game of hockey a national identity while others call it a religion. Whatever you want to call it, the game of hockey is deeply embedded in the everyday lives of Canadians in many ways and on many levels.

I have seen the passion and love for the game of hockey, both positive and negative, over the years (in Canadian and US arenas) and it is an amazing experience not only to watch a great game but also fun to watch with other fans.

Now what does this have to do with hockey in Arizona?

The game of hockey in Arizona is just fifteen years old and is but a babe in the woods compared to the storied history of hockey in Canada. In just fifteen years, the game of hockey has grown from literally nothing in Arizona into a way of life that is just now producing serious professional talent. This year, major United States colleges along with Canadian junior hockey leagues are recruiting some of this Arizona based talent.

Take a look at some examples of the talent that the State of Arizona is producing now:

http://www.jrcoyoteselite.com/news.php

….and a list of Alumni from the Phoenix Jr. Coyotes Elite AAA (formerly Called PF Chang’s Tier 1 Hockey) program:

http://www.jrcoyoteselite.com/alumni.php

Now add to that Arizona High School hockey growing by leaps and bounds, every major college in Arizona (Arizona State University, University of Arizona, and Northern Arizona University) fielding a club hockey team, as well as programs designed at kids learning to play hockey at practically no charge. In another five or so years, the odds are great that you’ll see consistent Arizona talent in the NHL Entry draft.

Not bad for just 15 years now, is it?

If the Phoenix Coyotes do in fact leave Arizona, the roots of a tradition and culture of hockey that is just beginning to sprout roots will wither and die. All the time and effort spent to teach the people of Arizona the game of hockey and all the development of potential hockey talent, now and for years to come, will be wasted. That is guaranteed.

Even if you are not a fan of this deal going through, do you really want to take away the game of hockey from a part of North America that people are just now starting to love? No one in Canada or in other NHL markets can probably fathom what it would be like to have something that has been a part of their lives for so long just disappear. That is what the game of hockey in Arizona is facing right now.

Sure, the Phoenix Coyotes are the main inspiration for people not only wanting to learn the game of hockey but loving the game as well. However, don’t pass judgment on the people of Arizona over the lack of attendance at Coyotes games simply because the team was mismanaged for a long period of time. Hockey does work in Arizona. Just take a closer look sometime and see for yourselves.

Rich

Um…Excuse me? The game has only been around for 15 years in Arizona? So… I guess the WHA Phoenix Roadrunners in the 70′s didn’t count then???

Give me a damn break. You have had over 30 years for the game to catch on, this is a horrible flawed article.
Anonymous

You sure about that?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Roadrunners

The Roadrunners and hockey have not been in town for 30 years.

Nothing had more influence on the growth and influence of the game of hockey in Arizona than the Phoenix Coyotes coming to town. As I’ve stated on my Twitter account look at other minor league hockey markets like say San Diego (Gulls in different incarnations) or Seattle (WHL Thunderbirds…and possibly the WHL Tacoma Rockets who are now in Kelowna BC), both cities have had hockey teams in town for many, many years. However, neither city (Seattle & San Diego) has had any measurable growth of the game of hockey in the years that they have had hockey there.
Ray W

There has been a consistant professional hockey presence in Arizona for 44 years (with the odd gap) and will continue to be after the Coyotes leave. The Roadrunners started in 1967 in the WHL, transferred to the WHA in 1974 and played until 1977. They were replaced by the CHL roadrunners, who were replced by the PHL Roadrunners, who were replaced by the IHL Roadrunners. Now there’s the Arizona Sundogs of the ECHL, who will remain even if the Coyotes depart. Professional hockey in one form or another has had a presence in Arizona for a very long time and will continue to. It may simply be a case that the area, while it can support the professional game at a lower level, simply cannot maintain it at the NHL level.

Also professional hockey is not a necessity for a strong grassroots hockey system. Wyoming, North Dakota, Montana, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Idaho and to a lesser extent Arkansas all have strong minor hocket systems without the presence of major professional teams.
Anonymous

I would disagree with you about Washington and Oregon based on personal experience. However, that’s a different argument for a different day.

Let me put it to you like this….

In the 30+ years hockey has been in Arizona, how many ice rinks were there in town? How many rinks were built after the Coyotes came to town? How many junior, college or pro prospects have been developed prior to the Coyotes coming to town? How long has high school hockey been in existence in Arizona? Do you see what I’m getting at here and what the influence that the Phoenix Coyotes have had on hockey here?
http://twitter.com/NHLWinnipeg Winnipeg Jets

Yawn. Who cares if hockey is popular or not in AZ. It’s not a necessity and it’s not like the fine folks there don’t have a lot of other sports options to stay fit and healthy. Why do you need an NHL team to participate in amateur hockey anyway? Lame
Ray W

I understand the concern for the growth of the game. Personally I want the game to expand anywhere and everywhere. I was recently in Morocco and had brought a few sticks with me. I ended up playing ball hockey with the neighbourhood kids every day after work. They’d never even seen the game before but loved it once they were exposed to it.But to really create a strong hockey movement in Morrocco, a desert environment, how much money would it take?I want the game to grow in Arizona, but I have questions as to whether the presence of an NHL team is the best way to go about that. The Coyotes have lost, according to the NHL, approximately $415 million dollars since moving to Arizona (the $350 million number disclosed by the NHL during the bankruptcy hearings, plus te $25 million in announced losses last year and the $40 million in projected losses this year).. How much losses per Arizonan child enrolled over the last 15 years in hockey does that equate to? $10,000 each? $100,000 each?I want the game to continue to grow in the Southwest United States, but surely there is a more economical way to do it. I will not argue that the Coyotes have benefitted youth hockey in Arizona. I will, however, argue that the benefit to the game counteracts the costs associated with the team. There surely must be a way to grow the game that does not cost private a private business an average of $28 million in losses each year.
Anonymous

First off, thanks for reading and replying to this thread. I’m enjoying this discussion.

Your points here are all valid ones.

However, your points about the Coyotes losses assume one thing:

That the team was run correctly during the time that they were in Arizona.

The fact is that the Coyotes weren’t run correctly. This is what has yielded the results of the financial losses up to today.

Let me put it to you like this.

Let’s say you became owner of a pro baseball team. You then put someone in charge that may be a great public face for baseball but doesn’t know the first thing about the management and business side of the team. This person then hires people that are his friends and not the best of the best in the baseball world. These people running the team then proceed to make bad decision after bad decision effecting not only the team on the field, potential prospects, but causes losing season after losing season. As a result, no one comes to games which effects the bottom line….millions of dollars in losses for many seasons. I should add that you didn’t bother to check in to the team either for many, many years even with all the losses.

That is the best way to describe the pre-Don Maloney Phoenix Coyotes.

How can you expect anyone to come to games under these conditions? How can any business expect to make money under these conditions as well?
anonymous

“No one in Canada or in other NHL markets can probably fathom what it would be like to have something that has been a part of their lives for so long just disappear” – WINNIPEG knows what it’s like to have something that was part of their lives for so long just disappear …. they were called the JETS
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