Follow @james_tanner123 The Coyotes are a frustrating team to cover, I'm not going to lie.
The coverage of the team has always bordered on sycophantic and people who are critical of the team are pretty much told to shut up by the online portion of the fan base.
The mainstream coverage is basically non-existent, outside of a couple of beat writers who are understandably (and at times uncomfortably) close to the team. Other than this one, all the blogs I know about are basically fan-boy, cheerleader types.
All this is understandable, as just having a team is often seen as enough for fans of the Coyotes, due to the fact it's always seemingly on the verge of being taken away.
Since I live in Toronto, have no team access and don't care to try and advance my career, I just sling ___ from the sidelines, with no consequences. What I'm saying here is that I don't blame the Coyotes coverage for how it is, but I'm just trying to lay out the reality as I see it.
That said, an interesting thing is occurring: people are kind of mad at the Coyotes. They're being unusually critical.
It all started when ownership changed. Despite their sketchy acquisition of the team, and probably because they were fans and not billionaires, the Ice Arizona guys were really popular, despite their incompetence and inability to properly run a team like a real pro sports franchise.
Unfortunately for the Coyotes diehards, he seemed to be following the blue print of..................the one Coyotes blog the diehards don't like - this one!
As much as I'd love to sit here and brag, that's not my intention. In reality, he's not reading my work - he's just doing what any normal thinking GM would have done two years ago. Namely get rid of Tippett and all his cronies (Michalek, Doan, Smith, Hanzal, Vrbata) and make some trades to get better right now.
But the irony is that while following my plan, he's alienated most of his fan base and the media that bothers to cover the Coyotes - the very people who would get upset at me for being critical.
When Tippett - who made the poorest lineup decisions and player deployments imaginable - was fired, Darren Dreger warned that no real coach wanted near this mess.
That was exposed for the overwrought, axe-grinding B.S it was, when it was revealed that Chayka fielded calls from 25 or so applicants.
People also complained about Doan leaving, even though he's bad at hockey now that he's ancient. And they complained about the Smith trade, etc. Basically anything smart the team has done in order to get better, people don't like because they're more interested in the only guys who've ever shown loyalty to the franchise.
And I respect that. The Coyotes fans who are mad are the most hardcore of all NHL fans - they cheer for a team no one likes or respects or gives credit to, and they are fierce and loyal.
It's understandable why they are mad about the changes, but honestly, those changes are for the best because they're going to lead to winning.
Whatever.
This brings me to Tocchet. Tocchet isn't anyone's first choice because they all wanted Tippett, and they would have complained about anyone. But because he was here with Gretzky (a time not looked upon fondly) and has the gambling thing in his past, people are weary.
They shouldn't be. A coach needs to be a good communicator above everything, and that's the one thing we know Tocchet is. He said he wants to coach an opposite style than Tippett and that's good enough for me.
And the gambling? The President is one of the biggest crooks and scam artists in the world - he's been a hilarious joke of a celebrity for almost 30 years because of it - and people are upset because of a past association with gambling?
Gambling shouldn't even be illegal. This is no worse than if Tocchet had been caught with a prostitute or using marijuana. I mean, if you're going to break a law, might as well do something that no one other than your gramma even thinks should be illegal.
The idea that anyone should care about this is about as dumb as the Phil Kessel stuff being touted as his great triumph (no one's claim to fame should be motivating a border line hall of famer, it's like taking credit for a sunny day).
So anyways, the Coyotes are on the right track, the gambling stuff is in the past and that's where it should stay. Tocchet might be a great coach, and there's only one way to find out: give him a job.
At least we didn't recycle some ten time loser like Ken Hitchcock. (Note that I am aware that Ken Hithcock is a good coach, I just don't think hiring one of the ten or so guys who gets fired and re-hired every three or four years is a good idea).
The end/