Coyotes finally enjoying time in the Arizona sun
ByJerry Brown Friday, 05.11.2012
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Arizona Diamondbacks have five division titles and a World Series championship banner hanging in their rafters. The Arizona Cardinals went to the Super Bowl after the 2008 season, ending a long draught of futility, while the Phoenix Suns have been to the NBA Finals twice and the Western Conference Finals as recently as 2010.
As for the Phoenix
Coyotes? Just trying to survive has been hard enough. A distant
fourth in a pro sports market that also includes a major university (Arizona
State) and a gaggle of fringe sports options, just reaching the playoffs has
been a struggle, while making postseason noise has been a dream.
Until now.
Suddenly, NHL hockey is the sports
flavor of the month in Arizona. While the Suns missed the playoffs and might be
losing Steve Nash and the Diamondbacks have stumbled out of the gate, the
Coyotes are on the first extended postseason run in franchise history and have
captured the imagination of Valley sports fans.
Television ratings are at record
levels. Jobing.com Arena, previously only full when fans from opposing teams
bought half the tickets, is now packed for the home team. And with the news
this week that former San Jose Sharks owner Greg Jamison is closing in
on a deal to buy the team and assure its long-term future in Arizona, the
Coyotes finally have something to howl about in the desert.
"People are excited. I was
taking my daughter to the airport (Wednesday night) and there was a bus at the
airport that had a sign flashing its route, and then flashing 'Go
Coyotes,'" Phoenix coach Dave
Tippett said. "So there you go. Somebody knows."
Captain Shane
Doan suddenly found himself the center of attention at the same bank
branch where has gone for more than a decade. "I mean, people have talked
to me before there," Doan said. "But there were a lot more people
coming up to me this time."
Doan, goalie Mike
Smith and playoff hero Mikkel
Boedker were invited to the Diamondbacks game, given personalized
jerseys and introduced to the crowd this week. The Diamondbacks have been
showing goal replays and the final minutes of victories on the Jumbotron, while
television analyst and Coyotes fan Make Grace was writing down score updates on
a whiteboard in the broadcast booth.
"It's a fun thing to see,"
said defenseman Derek Morris, who has the second-longest tenure
in Phoenix behind Doan's 15 years. "We've had great fans all along. This
has always been a great place to play. But we're giving people something to
cheer about these last few years, and the excitement is rising."
Of course, there was nowhere to go
but up. It's not like being a Maple Leaf in Toronto or a Bruin in Boston -- not
quite yet. Even with two All-Star appearances and a playoff beard that should
draw attention all on its own, defenseman Keith
Yandle still moves around the Valley in anonymity.
"I went to Best Buy, Home Depot
and the grocery store," Yandle said, running down his itinerary the day
after the Coyotes eliminated Nashville in the Western Conference Semifinals on
Monday "I was in each of them for probably a half hour to 45 minutes, and
I didn't get recognized once."
Not that he's complaining.
"It's fine for me flying under
the radar," Yandle said with a shrug. "It's nice to be able to do my
thing."
NHL.com
