The "News" surrounding the Coyotes since the season ended has been relatively minor. There really isn't that much happening, but there are a few things that I haven't really commented on or mentioned that are probably worth mentioning.
Brad Treliving
Assistant GM Brad Treliving has been hired by Brian Burke and the Flames to be their new GM. Treliving has apparently long been considered an up and coming NHL executive and supposedly he has done some good work as the Coyotes assistant GM and I think they were resigned to the fact that he was going to get hired somewhere eventually, so it's not like it's a huge blow to the team.
I guess this is a bit of a negative, but really, how could we know? It's not exactly clearly laid out to fans just what the assistant GM does in comparison to the regular GM, but he is well respected and I guess it always sucks to lose quality people in your organization.
Still, I have a hard time getting too worked up about this (which is why I didn't really mention it for three weeks) because, well, I think the Coyotes are a conservative organization that could use a younger, riskier, perhaps more energetic and creative GM than Don Maloney, so since I am not a huge fan of his, what do I care about his assistants?
Certainly people have said Treleving is a hugely important member of the Coyotes team and that he will be missed and that the Flames got a great new GM, but from a personal perspective, I have a hard time caring about things I don't know anything about.
How much can you ever know about an assistant GM? If you're honest, how much can you ever know about a full GM? I don't know. I just base my thoughts on what I see, and until he got signed by the Flames, I didn't even know what Treleving looked like.
If the Coyotes need a new assistant GM, they should call me: I will work for half the salary of rumoured to be hired Darcy Reiger, former GM of the Sabres and I know the Coyotes are a cost conscious bunch.
Darcy Reiger ran the Sabres for a hundred years, and they never won anything and were not a contender on a regular basis, and I assume if they hire him it is with an eye to eventually having him replace Maloney. Oh he ran a team on a limited budget so he is the perfect guy to run the Coyotes.
Screw that kind of reductionist thinking: The team needs to hire someone who is good at running a hockey team, not a hockey team on a budget because if they aren't going to be spending to the cap then they should just give the team back to the NHL.
License Plates
You know it's a slow news day when I get around to mentioning this: The Arizona Senate shot down a bill that would have allowed people to get Coyotes license plates.
Now, full disclosure: I think anyone who gets a sports team license plate is ridiculous, maybe just a step or two less of a dud than someone with a personalized plate.
Still, this was the epitome of stupid bureaucracy: The team was going to front the money for production costs, and after the state takes $8 from the money people pay to get the plates, the rest of the money was going to go to charities associated with the team.
Keep in mind that Suns, Diamondbacks and Cardinals license plates are all currently available and it makes no sense why this would get voted down.
Now, who cares - there are obviously more pressing concerns, but this ruling is really indefensible and weird.
Dave Tippett
Dave Tippett is coaching Team Canada at the World Championships. This is a tournament that runs concurrently with the NHL playoffs and the rosters are filled out with guys whose teams are eliminated and who for whatever reason do not want some off time after playing in 82 games and making over a million dollars.
Since I don't even care about International Hockey when it's the Olympics, I certainly don't care about this. I like hockey, but I don't care too much about what the coach of the Coyotes does in his spare time. You would think after spending eight months on the road traveling North America, he'd want to go home, but maybe his wife is kind of mean or something. Who knows?
I tell you one thing, I hope this is the last time I ever mention the World Championships in this column.
Portland Pirates
The Coyotes have extended their affiliation with the Portland Pirates. Nice. I guess.
That's all I got.
Hopefully the draft and free agency spice things up a bit. Stay tuned though, there is always something to talk about. Thanks for reading and give me some tweets: @james_tanner123