32 NHL Cities in 32 Days: Arizona Coyotes

Alexis Bazydola
May 2, 2020
4 min read

Updated: May 4, 2020

The Location: Phoenix, Arizona

Currently located in Phoenix, Arizona, the Arizona Coyotes call the Gila River Arena home. The arena opened in December 2003 and has also hosted numerous artists including Prince, Rod Stewart, and Britney Spears. In 2014, the Coyotes and the Gila River Indian Community reached a nine-year partnership agreement. This was the first federally recognized Tribal naming rights deal with a sports venue with one of the four major sports leagues in the country. The arena is owned by the city of Glendale and managed by ASM Global.

The Gila River arena was not the first place the Coyotes called home. They originally played at the America West Arena which was not optimal for hockey. The floor did not adequately provide for a 200-foot rink thus forcing the seating capacity to be lowered to just over 16,000. The team eventually moved to the Gila River Arena (then the Glendale Arena) during the 2003-04 season.

Team History

The Arizona Coyotes have had a very interesting history. They began as the Winnipeg Jets in the World Hockey Association (WHA) in 1972. They were the most successful team winning the championship trophy three times and making the finals five out of the seven seasons of the WHA. In 1979 the league collapsed and they became part of the four teams absorbed by the NHL. Due to this merger, the NHL was allowed to claim players from the team and the Jets lost many of their top players. The first two years in the NHL they finished last in the league including their nine-win season in 1980-81 which was the worst in the franchise’s history.

While the team was able to make the playoffs on and off throughout the late 80s, the 90s brought financial trouble to the Jets due to players’ salaries. Although there were many attempts to keep the team in Winnipeg, it did not stick. In December 1995, the owner of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, Jerry Colangelo, along with Steven Gluckstern, Richard Burke and a local investment group purchased the team with the plans to move it to Phoenix for the 96-97 season. They also rebranded the team to become the Coyotes by a fan vote.

During the summer before they began play in Arizona, the Coyotes added Jeremy Roenick to their roster establishing a power line with Keith Tkachuk and Rick Tocchet. Young Shane Doan also was part of the roster. The team did very well the first years in Phoenix making the playoffs in every year but one of the first six seasons.

In 2001, the team was sold to Phoenix developer Steve Ellman and Wayne Gretzky (who would also serve as the head of hockey operations). Until the 2007-08 season, the Coyotes struggled competitively. They only broke the 80-point barrier once and attendance levels dropped during this time which worried many NHL executives. Also due to their lease with the America West Arena, the team was facing major financial instabilities. After the move to Glendale Arena, the team changed its logo and uniforms to create a more streamlined look. In 2005, the team was sold once again to the part-owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Jerry Moyes.

Gretzky named himself head coach in 2005. During his tenure as coach, there were many changes to the team and the hockey operations staff. The 2007-08 season was one of resurgence for the Coyotes. They looked to newcomers Peter Mueller and Martin Hanzal to lead the charge. Although they remained competitive due to many acquisitions during the season, they were unable to claim a playoff spot that year.

In 2009 a mere hours after Gretzky stepped down as head coach, Dave Tippet took over coaching duties. Tippet led the team to clinch a playoff spot for the first time since the 01-02 season and reached the 100-point mark for the first time as an NHL franchise. It would take until 2012, however, for the Coyotes to win a playoff series. They defeated the Chicago Blackhawks in six games for the first playoff series win since 1987. While they defeated the Nashville Predators in the second round, they ultimately fell to the LA Kings in the Western Conference finals.

The Coyotes were still facing financial troubles. In 2008, the media released that the NHL was paying the team’s bills. Moyes had secretly given over control of the team to the league. In May 2009, he put the team in to bankruptcy. While Gary Betteman, NHL Commissioner, wanted Moyes to sell the team to Jerry Reinsdorft, Chicago Bulls and White Sox owner, Moyes did not agree. He planned to sell the team to Jim Balsillie who wanted to move the team to Hamilton, Ontario. The NHL stripped Moyes of his ownership authority in order to prevent the move and purchase. After going through bankruptcy court hearings, the NHL purchased the team and all remaining debt. Finally, after years of bids the team was sold to Renaissance Sports and Entertainment in the summer of 2013. In January 2014, the team announced its new name would be changed from the Phoenix Coyotes to the Arizona Coyotes.

In October 2014, majority ownership (51%) was sold to Andrew Barroway. In 2016, John Chayka was named General Manager, the youngest GM in the NHL. That same year the Coyotes also hired Dawn Braid as a skating coach making her the first full time female coach in the league. At the end of the 2016-17 season, Barroway became the sole owner of the Coyotes. During this offseason, Tippet would also leave his coaching duties to be replaced by Rick Tocchet.

Currently, the team is owned by Alex Meruelo with Barroway still remaining as minority owner. While the team has not qualified for the playoffs since the 2011-12 season, they are currently 22nd in the league with 74 points at the pause.

Fanbase

While the story of the Arizona Coyotes is one filled with lots of turmoil, the team still tries to inspire their fanbase. Their mascot, Howler, is known to motivate the fans by beating a drum during the games to entice chants and cheers. They also play Howlin’ for You by the Black Keys each time the team scores a goal.