Here we go again. The soap opera that is the Phoenix Coyotes situation takes another crazy turn. I can’t imagine what it must be like to be a hockey fan in the Phoenix area right now… oh, wait a minute… yes I can.
The clear manipulations happening on all sides in this mess is clear. I’ll be very interested to see what comes out after this situation is resolved. Will it be just like the Nashville situation, when parties outside of the city were pulling strings with weak-minded politicians and lazy, muck-raking “journalists?” I’d be willing to wager a fair amount that you will see some very familiar fingerprints all over this mess should the real story come out.
There is a critical city council meeting happening tonight in Glendale. If the city of Glendale decides to cover the team’s losses in the upcoming season, then the Ice Edge deal probably happens, if the council votes no, then the situation turns very precarious for Phoenix hockey fans, who came out in droves during the last two months of the season and the playoffs. It is a very difficult time to be trying to squeeze money out of local government.
An endgame is coming… and as much as I hate to say it... it doesn’t look good for the Coyotes remaining in Arizona.
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Team USA is really struggling at the IIHF Worlds, losing their second straight yesterday. They followed last Friday’s loss to Germany with a loss to Denmark. The Americans lost both games in overtime by a 2-1 score and they now find themselves in a win or go home situation. Beat Finland tomorrow and they go forward, lose and go home for a very disappointing showing.
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Playoff Notes
- Those pesky Flyers refuse to go down quietly, even after losing their starting goaltender… another gutsy win for the Fly-guys last night. Former Predator Michael Leighton was outstanding in preserving the dual shutout in Philly’s 4-0 game 5 win… the series now stands at 3-2 Bruins.
- The Montreal Canadiens are channeling 1993, a big win last night drives a game 7 on Wednesday at the Igloo. Pittsburgh has been there before but this feels a little different.
- Scott Harnell finally broke out on the scoreboard in last night’s Flyer win… his first goal in 22 games. The Flyers will need him if they hope to get to a game 7, let alone past it.
- Chicago / Vancouver plays game 6 tonight at GM Place. The home team has struggled this entire series, giving Chicago the clear edge with a 3-2 lead in the series. Puck drops at 8:30pm CDT.
- The NHL announced the start times for Wednesday’s games late last night. Montreal/Pittsburgh begins at 6pm CDT, Boston/Philadelphia starts at 7pm CDT.
Wed. 5/12 – Our playoff reports continued with insiders from across the NHL. We’ll be talking to Stu Hackel from the New York Times about his column on kicked pucks along with Scott Burnside talking about the Phoenix situation and Matthew Barnaby.… SlapShot Radio, Live every Wednesday at 6pm on SportsRadio 560 WNSR and online at www.slapshotradio.com.
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