Gretzky's Gone, What Now?

Thursday saw what could be Wayne Gretzky's last flirt with professional hockey come to an end. While this is sad news, one must look to the silver lining: could this also finally mean an end to the Phoenix Coyotes?

It has been stated over the bidding process that should the team be sold to Jim Balsillie and his group, the Great One would be cut loose. He didn't show up to training camp when it began, and now he has resigned. Without speculating too much and getting the hopes of hockey fans of Southern Ontario too high, some experts have said that this is a foreshadowing that Balsillie may actually get his deal.

On the other hand, should Balisillie still be shut-out, things could now get much, much messier in the desert. Gretzky is, quite obviously, the face of hockey. He played a major portion of his career in Los Angeles, thereby allowing the NHL to move into markets in the southwest, such as Phoenix. Having him behind the bench not only acted to draw the real hockey fans out to the arena, but also helped to try to persuade the non-hockey fans to come and give it a try by having such a large name on the bill.

Now with Gretzky out and the Coyotes putting forward a very young team, many fans will be left scratching their heads asking: "Who's on this team?". With no big draw, I expect the dwindling attendance figures to continue dropping, and really put pressure on commissioner Gary Bettman to try to make it look like there is still hope for this franchise. While new coach Dave Tippett does have a lot of experience and has led his former team, the Dallas Stars, deep in the playoffs in the past, I just don't think there's enough true hockey fans in Phoenix to respect what he's done.

The move may not have even been a bad one for Phoenix either, as if the team was based in Hamilton many would be happy to see him leave as he makes the most money out of any coach ($8 million a year), and as noted skipped out on training camp. The problem again comes to the lack of hockey intelligence and awareness in Phoenix, as it will just be seen as a tragic loss to the club.

With the Balsillie bid still going on, this should just continue to add to the argument to bring the team to Canada. We will have to wait and see what the fans think by seeing how many of them actually make it to the opening night game.

Articles Used:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/nhl-bungles-its-handling-of-gretzky-affair/article1302586/

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/hockey/2009938566_nhl25.html

http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/article/700780