PHOENIX COYOTES

The 'Phoenix Coyotes' are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Contents

Franchise history

The early Phoenix years (1996-2005)

The Gretzky Era (2005 - present)

Season-by-season record

Notable players

Current roster

Team captains

Retired numbers

First-round draft picks

Franchise scoring leaders

NHL awards and trophies

Franchise records

References

See also

External links

Franchise history

===Winnipeg Years — WHA and NHL===
The team began play as the 'Winnipeg Jets', one of the founding franchises in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Jets were the most successful team in the short-lived WHA, winning three Avco World Trophies, the league's championship trophy, and making the finals five out of the WHA's seven seasons. It then became one of the four teams admitted to the NHL when the rival leagues merged in 1979.
However, the club was never able to translate that success into the NHL after the merger, in part because they played in the same division as the powerful Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames. While they made the playoffs 11 times in 16 seasons, they only won two playoff series. Due to the way the playoffs were structured for much of their Winnipeg run, the Jets were all but assured of having to defeat either the Oilers or the Flames to make it to the conference finals.
Despite strong fan support, the money simply was not around for the team, especially after player salaries began spiraling up in the early 1990s. The team was sold to Phoenix businessmen Steven Gluckstern and Richard Burke, and in 1996, the club moved to Arizona and became the 'Phoenix Coyotes'.

The early Phoenix years (1996-2005)

In the summer that the move took place, the franchise saw the exit of Jets stars like Teemu Selanne and Alexei Zhamnov, while the team added established superstar Jeremy Roenick who teamed up with power wings Keith Tkachuk and Rick Tocchet to form a dynamic 1-2-3 offensive punch that led the Coyotes through their first years in Arizona. Also impressive were young players like Shane Doan (the last remaining original Jet), Oleg Tverdovsky and goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin, arguably the most popular player in Coyotes history, whom the fans nicknamed the "Bulin Wall".
Another key addition to the squad was fleet sniper Mike Gartner, who had come over from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Despite his speed, and scoring his 700th career goal on December 15, 1997, Gartner battled injuries as 1997 became 1998, and the Coyotes did not renew his contract. He retired at the end of the season.
After arriving in Phoenix, the team posted six consecutive .500 or better seasons, making the playoffs in every year but one. They were tremendously popular, in part due to the large number of Northern expatriates in the Phoenix area. The one year they missed the playoffs, the Coyotes became the first team in NHL history to post 90 points — long the standard of excellence in the NHL — and yet still miss the playoffs.
Phoenix-area developer Steve Ellman bought the team from Burke (who had bought out Gluckstern in 1998) in 2001, with Wayne Gretzky as a part-owner and head of hockey operations.
To this day, the Coyotes have never made it out of the first round of the playoffs. The franchise has not won a playoff series since 1987, when it was still in Winnipeg. The closest that they came to advancing past the first round was during the 1999 playoffs, when they lost a heartbreaking Game 7 to the St. Louis Blues. In 2002, the Coyotes posted 95 points, one point behind their best total as an NHL team, but made a rather meek first-round exit from the playoffs, being eliminated in five games by the San Jose Sharks.
However, several poor personnel decisions sent the Coyotes to the lower echelon of the NHL for two years. Attendance levels dropped considerably, worrying many league executives. In addition, an unfavorable lease with America West Arena, where the team played for its first eight years in Phoenix, had the team bleeding red ink.
In addition to the Coyotes' unfavorable lease with America West Arena, the building itself was inadequate as a venue for hockey. Several seats were obstructed because the arena's floor was not designed with a hockey rink in mind, unlike most modern arenas. Seating capacity had to be cut down to 16,000 — the second-smallest in the league at the time — after the first season. Even then, a stretch of the upper deck actually hung over the boards, obstructing the views of around 3,000 spectators. Some fans even claimed that they saw places where the original concrete had been sheared off to create retractable seats for hockey. After attempts failed either to renovate America West or build an arena in Scottsdale, the Coyotes built Glendale Arena (now known as Jobing.com Arena), and moved there in 2003. Simultaneously, the team changed its logo and uniforms, moving from the previous multi-colored kit to a more streamlined look.

The Gretzky Era (2005 - present)

On 6 August 2005, Brett Hull, son of former Jet Bobby Hull, was signed and assigned the elder Hull's retired # 9. Two days later, the Coyotes introduced Gretzky as its new head coach, replacing Rick Bowness, despite the fact that he had never coached at any level of hockey. The Coyotes Ring of Honor was unveiled on 8 October, inducting Gretzky and Bobby Hull. One week later, Brett Hull announced his retirement. On 21 January 2006, Jets great Thomas Steen was the third inductee to the Ring of Honor. On 13 April, Steve Ellman announced an agreement for Jerry Moyes to assume majority ownership control of the Coyotes, Glendale Arena and the National Lacrosse League's Arizona Sting.
Also in the 2005-06 season, the Coyotes were planning to host the NHL all-star game. Due to the Olympics, that was canceled.
The team returned to Winnipeg on 17 September, 2006 to play a pre-season game against the Edmonton Oilers, but were shut-out 5-0 before a sellout crowd of 15,015.
On 11 April 2007, CEO Jeff Shumway announced that general manager Michael Barnett (Gretzky's agent for over 20 years), senior executive vice president of hockey operations Cliff Fletcher, and San Antonio Rampage's general manager and Coyotes' assistant general manager Laurence Gilman "have been relieved of their duties." The Coyotes finished the 2006-2007 season 31-46-5, its worst record since relocating to Phoenix. The Jets/Coyotes are the only former WHA team to have not appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals, and the oldest NHL franchise to not do so.^[1]
On May 29 2007, Jeff Shumway announced that Don Maloney had agreed to a multi-year contract to become General Manager of the Coyotes. As per club policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed. ^[2]

Season-by-season record

''This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Coyotes. For the full season-by-season history, see Phoenix Coyotes seasons''
'''Note:' GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes''
Records as of April 8, 2007. ^[3]

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	GF	GA	PIM	Finish	Playoffs
2001-02	82	40	27	9	6	95	228	210	1154	2nd, Pacific	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 1-4 (Sharks)
2002-03	82	31	35	11	5	78	204	230	1433	4th, Pacific	Did not qualify
2003-04	82	22	36	18	6	68	188	245	1300	5th, Pacific	Did not qualify
2004-05	''Season cancelled due to 2004-05 NHL Lockout''
2005-061	82	38	39	—	5	81	246	271	1493	5th, Pacific	Did not qualify
2006-07	82	31	46	—	5	67	216	284	1038	5th, Pacific	Did not qualify

:¹ As of the 2005-06 NHL season, all games will have a winner; the OTL column includes SOL (Shootout losses).

Notable players

Current roster

As of August 13, 2007. [1]

Goaltenders
#		'Player'	Catches	Acquired	Place of Birth
'1'		David Aebischer	L	2007	Fribourg, Switzerland
'32'		Mikael Tellqvist	L	2006	Sundbyberg, Sweden
'35'		Alex Auld	L	2007	Cold Lake, Alberta

Defensemen
#		'Player'	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
'2'		Keith Ballard	L	2004	Baudette, Minnesota
'4'		Zbynek Michalek	R	2005	Jindrichuv Hradec, Czechoslovakia
'6'		Brendan Bell	L	2007	Ottawa, Ontario
'44'		Nick Boynton	R	2006	Nobleton, Ontario
'53'		Derek Morris – 'A'	R	2004	Edmonton, Alberta
'55'		Ed Jovanovski – 'A'	L	2006	Windsor, Ontario
'77'		Travis Roche	R	2006	Grande Cache, Alberta

Forwards
#		'Player'	Position	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
'8'		Niko Kapanen	C	L	2007	Hameenlinna, Finland
'12'		Patrick Fischer	C	L	2006	Zug, Switzerland
'13'		Daniel Carcillo	LW	L	2007	King City, Ontario
'14'		Tomas Surovy	LW	L	2007	Banská Bystrica, Czechoslovakia
'15'		Mike Zigomanis	C	R	2006	North York, Ontario
'17'		Radim Vrbata	RW	R	2007	Mladá Boleslav, Czechoslovakia
'19'		Shane Doan – 'C'	RW	R	1995	Halkirk, Alberta
'20'		Fredrik Sjostrom	RW	L	2001	Färgelanda, Sweden
'21'		Bill Thomas	RW	R	2006	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
'22'		Mathias Tjarnqvist	LW	L	2007	Umeå, Sweden
'28'		Steven Reinprecht – 'A'	C	L	2006	Edmonton, Alberta

Team captains

''Note: This list does not include captains from the Winnipeg Jets (NHL & WHA).''

★ Keith Tkachuk, 1996-2001

★ Teppo Numminen, 2001-03

★ Shane Doan, 2003- ''present''
===Hall of Famers===

★ Bobby Hull, LW, 1972-79 (WHA) & 1979-80 (NHL), inducted 1983

★ Serge Savard, D, 1981-83, inducted 1986

★ Dale Hawerchuk, C, 1981-90, inducted 2001

★ Mike Gartner, RW, 1996-98, inducted 2001
''Note: Hawerchuk, Hull and Savard played for Winnipeg.''

Retired numbers

★ '9' Bobby Hull, LW, 1972-80, number retired by Winnipeg February 19, 1989; Hull's #9 was unretired briefly upon his request at the beginning of the 2005-06 season for his son, Brett, before he retired five games into the season.

★ '10' Dale Hawerchuk, C, 1981-90, number retired by Phoenix April 5, 2007

★ '25' Thomas Steen, RW, 1981-95, number retired by Winnipeg May 6, 1995

★ '99' Wayne Gretzky, number retired league-wide February 6, 2000
''The Coyotes continue to honor the retired numbers of the Winnipeg Jets franchise; the banners for Hull and Steen at Jobing.com Arena are in the Jets' blue, white and red.''

First-round draft picks

''Note: This list does not include selections of the Winnipeg Jets.''

★ 1996: Dan Focht (11th overall) & Danny Briere (24th overall)

★ 1997: None

★ 1998: Patrick DesRochers (14th overall)

★ 1999: Scott Kelman (15th overall) & Kirill Safronov (19th overall)

★ 2000: Krystofer Kolanos (19th overall)

★ 2001: Fredrik Sjostrom (11th overall)

★ 2002: Jakub Koreis (19th overall) & Ben Eager (23rd overall)

★ 2003: None

★ 2004: Blake Wheeler (5th overall)

★ 2005: Martin Hanzal (17th overall)

★ 2006: Peter Mueller (8th overall) & Chris Summers (29th overall)

★ 2007: Kyle Turris (3rd overall) & Nick Ross (30th overall)

Franchise scoring leaders

These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise (Winnipeg & Phoenix) history. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season.
'''Note:' Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game;
★ = current Coyotes player''

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	P/G
Dale Hawerchuk	C	713	379	550	'929'	1.30
Thomas Steen	RW	950	264	553	'817'	.86
Keith Tkachuk	LW	640	323	300	'623'	.97
Teppo Numminen	D	1098	108	426	'534'	.49
Paul MacLean	RW	527	248	270	'518'	.98
Shane Doan ★	RW	803	199	273	'472'	.59
Doug Smail	LW	691	189	208	'397'	.58
Laurie Boschman	LW	526	152	227	'379'	.72
Jeremy Roenick	C	384	141	210	'351'	.91
Morris Lukowich	LW	431	168	177	'345'	.80

NHL awards and trophies

'Jack Adams Award'

★ Bob Francis: 2001-02

Franchise records

★ Most Goals in a season: Teemu Selanne, 76 (1992-93)

★ Most Assists in a season: Phil Housley, 79 (1992-93)

★ Most Points in a season: Teemu Selanne, 132 (1992-93)

★ Most Penalty Minutes in a season: Tie Domi, 347 (1993-94)

★ Most Points in a season, defenseman: Phil Housley, 97 (1992-93)

★ Most Points in a season, rookie: Teemu Selanne, 132 (1992-93)

★ Most Wins in a season: Brian Hayward; Bob Essensa; Sean Burke, 33 (1984-85; 1992-93; 2001-02)

★ Fastest goal making his NHL debut: Yanick Lehoux ,1:05 (November 8, 2005)

References

1. GENERAL MANAGER MICHAEL BARNETT & STAFF RELIEVED OF DUTIES
2. Former Rangers’ Assistant GM Agrees To Multi-Year Contract
3. Hockeydb.com, Phoenix Coyotes season statistics and records.

See also

★ Winnipeg Jets

★ World Hockey Association

★ List of NHL players

★ List of NHL seasons

External links

★ Official website of the Phoenix Coyotes