"ANAHEIM – The City Council on Tuesday approved the issuance of $75 million in bonds, a move that lays the groundwork for the Sacramento Kings basketball team to move to Anaheim's Honda Center next season.

In a vote that Mayor Tom Tait called "historic," the council voted unanimously for the bonds: $25 million for upgrades to the city-owned Honda Center, and $50 million in working capital, money that could help pay for the Kings' relocation fees."

Continue reading this post »

I am confused how the  Coyotes can call up certain players and send them down repeatedly, but with Prucha, he has to pass reentry waivers in order to get back to the team... Does everyone have to pass these waivers or are some players exempt? Is it based on the amount of games from the previous year? I tried looking it up but couldnt find any info on the process. I believe I remember hearing that some players are protected and others are not, but I'm not sure if that had to do with an expansion draft or something. It just seems that they planned on Prucha being away the remainder of the year, and it seems most likely for good the way things have played out, why else would they send him down knowing he had very little shot of being called up and playing again for the Coyotes? Are they simply holding onto him down there for an inevitable trade, knowing he would probably increase his value by showing up lesser talent?

The team has been frustrating to watch much of the year, not unlike the Suns and Cardinals.  All three had exceeded expectations the past few years. However, unlike the other two teams in the desert, the Coyotes were major buyers at the deadline last year and continued their "retooling" after the losses of Z and Lombo into the offseason, knowing that they were just a few pieces shy of something very special. The end result of these acquisitions on paper looked like a solid team with as much if not more firepower than the year before. They have shown glimpses of being a dominant team, and this is where the frustration begins. They have no consistency and many of the things that made them so successful last year have disappeared.

In contrast, the Suns started a "rebuilding" process that includes the strategy of "staying fun and competitive (term must be used loosely) while retooling the roster", that hasn't exactly panned out thus far. The team has lost to 3 of the 5 worst teams in the league (record wise) in its past 4 games, and has looked more like a team that has given up on the year than a team coming off an unexpected Western Conference Finals appearance the previous year. The loss of Amare Stoudemire has clearly impacted the team more than they could have ever imagined, which lead to the largest in-season trade thus far of the year. The new-look Suns have pretty much indicated that more changes are looming. The team has yet to gel, and new acquisitions typically take time to adjust to their new teams, as well as the teams adjusting to their new personnel. The Suns are currently out of the playoff hunt, but have time to turn it around, much like the Coyotes. Should they wait and let the new personnel develop chemistry just in time to blow it all up again at the deadline? Seems like they have no choice but to do so unless they suddenly turn into a dominant team, which seems unlikely.

The main issue at hand is when do the Coyotes start shopping for new personnel if the current group is not getting it done? Do you wait until its closer to the trade deadline, which could possibly be too late? If you start looking now, do you look desperate and get lower offers than you might at the deadline? It seems that changes are inevitable, but at the same time, everything seems to be fixable with the current group. The offensive struggles have seemed to disappear in some games and reappear in others, but giving up 4-6 goals in the last several games (excluding Dallas) is not acceptable for any team. Especially one that has had trouble finding the back of the net much of the year. 

Its obviously not too late for this team to get it together, but clearly they are lacking something. Last year they held leads when they got them, they won shootouts for that important extra point, and they were stingy on D. Something has changed, and none of those things are occurring this year.  Whether its simply a matter of Tip finding the right lineups (which seem to be constantly shuffled), or a few moves to insert some "fire" back into this team is yet to be known. But one thing is certain, change is brewing. I felt inserting Maclean into the lineup had more of an effect on the team than many of us realized. One goal, in his first game is impressive, however its not necessarily his production that impressed me. It was the the team as a collective whole. He seemed to gel immediately with Boedker and Turris, and the line created fits for every line they went up against. The rest of the lines looked competent and efficient as well. Obviously, the constant shuffling (due in part to injury) is not helping, but to me its not the forwards that are necessarily the problem. It would help if the guys that are expected to produce started (I'm looking at you Wolski), but what concerns me more than anything else is the defense.

I don't see any confidence in our defensive pairings and I think the loss of Z was much worse than meets the eye. I am not seeing the current pairing's chemistry that they all had last year, and which brought them to the playoffs and nearly their first playoff series victory. What if any changes do you see coming and do you think the Coyotes should start now? It seems unlikely Prucha will be back as a Coyote this year since he would most likely not pass re-entry waivers, so is he expendable along with some of the players that have fallen out of Tip's good graces? 

I'm so sick and tired of hearing about how the Coyotes are in a non-hockey market, and that "hockey doesn't work in the desert".  I'm excited by the news that has come out from the Hulsizer meetings, as maybe finally we will have some closure to this ongoing mess. Many people fail to understand how the news circulating about this team over the past two years has badly hurt the team. Basically, the only marketing that the team could get (and afford) were press releases (which are technically free) about how they were doomed. Not necessarily great for business. 

One of the largest expenditures for a business beyond payroll (player salaries) is marketing. The Coyotes have lacked sufficient marketing dollars for years. And yes, even Detroit and Toronto (two "hockey markets") spend a lot of money marketing their franchises. Essentially, a business can run without an owner, but only for so long before it starts to decline. Without proper management of the "inside" of the business/team, the "product" will start to fail. 

The Coyotes are kind of an anomaly of sorts. They are succeeding on the ice right now, with one of the smallest payrolls in the NHL (they are scratching the salary floor). They also have a GM and a head coach that have proven to be winners. What the Coyotes are lacking is attendance, and we all know it. Hell, we are told about it after almost every home game. Well what fixes that? Winning. And that fix doesn't correct the problem overnight. It seems that some journalists and bloggers expected the Coyotes attendance woes to be corrected after their exceeding-everyone's-expectations performance last year. Well, it didn't, however attendance is up this year slightly. This all with even less media support and marketing than ever. Do you see the late news covering Coyotes games? Are they ever showcased in the newspaper? This isn't a Phoenix market problem, more than a visibility issue. 

Yes, people are smart enough to find the Coyotes schedule online and purchase tickets without a commercial telling them how to do so, or a radio ad, or even seeing ads at other sporting events such as Suns or Cardinals games. However, even the Suns, the bread and butter of the Phoenix sports market, spend countless dollars "selling" their team. Sports franchises are a business, but without having the funds to create more visibility for your team, they will falter. 

The Coyotes for the foreseeable future will have a competent and entertaining on-ice product. New ownership will hopefully provide what the Coyotes have lacked since the Moyes days... visibility. Not every fan is a die-hard hockey fan in Chicago, or Detroit, or Toronto, but they enjoy being entertained. I for one would say that the Coyotes were not entertaining on a nightly basis for several years, and I love hockey. How can you expect "fair-weather" fans who make a large portion of attendance in ANY CITY, to root for seemingly last place teams year in and year out (see Cardinals attendance prior to move to Glendale)? 

This problem seems to be fixed. They are entertaining, even when they occasionally lose they are still competitive. The seemingly easy quote to use here is... "When you win, they will come". Now its the new owner's job to make sure it happens. Fans are out there... The Chicago Blackhawks averaged around 13,000 fans a game from 2002-2006, and that is an arena that can hold 20,000 plus. I didn't hear any word of that franchise moving during that time. Oh, and look at that, their attendance went up in 2007 to around 16,000, and again in 2008 to 20,000.  They got a franchise player, and they started playing competitive. The attendance gains were not overnight, but they happened. 

The point of this rant is simply that I wish journalists and bloggers would look at the bigger picture. The Coyotes are a business and by the looks of their on-ice product, it won't be long until business (in Phoenix) is a boomin... Sorry Winnipeg. 

I just wanted to throw out that I can't believe the way this bye week turned out... NFC West teams win out? The Chargers looked like an entirely different team than the one that came out and beat up on our Defense, racking up over 40 points. Sam Bradford looked like a guy that has been in the league for a lot longer than the 6 weeks he truly has been, and led his Ram's to a victory over this up and down Chargers team.

The Raiders looked awful, and conceded the first 9ers victory of the year.  I am hoping that the 49er's "winning the division" talk halts, I can't believe I am still hearing that "crap" after an 0-5 start. Ok, well they beat their Bay Area rival, whoopie. It wasn't a dominating performance by any means, both teams looked sub par.  I will give credit where it is due, the 49ers made some adjustments and took the game over after falling behind early in the first half. Alex Smith looked competent behind center, but I was really hoping for an 0-6 start, thanks Raiders.  

And lastly, the Bears are who we thought they were (I know, its over-used, but made sense to use it here).  They started off great, a quick TD from a rejuvenated Matt Forte and looked sharp on their opening drive. That was about it though, their line looked as porous as it did against the Giants and Cutler was rushed, hurried, hit, and sacked all game long. Forte's great start ended up with an abysmal 11 yards rushing on the game, and the Bears go down to the Seahawks. 

Continue reading this post »

this is surprising, didn't know we had money to spend, but all in all its a good pickup... could be a great second or third line center and has scoring capabilities.  you can never have enough of those types of players.  I think Vancouver made a mistake letting him walk, and I think GMDM did yet another marvelous jopb taking in the scraps.  Just wish we had enough money to have brought in Cheechoo... wishful thinking... Puck Daddy wrote a blog on him a bit a few weeks ago that you can view here. Thoughts? 

Maybe there's something I don't know about him, but he's an 8 year vet that could really help put back some depth at ILB, especially while Hayes is out with his back injury.  He is not a guy that is going to get you sacks (much like Hayes), but he will get you tackles.  Read the story here... It doesn't seem like there is any rhyme or reason for his release other than the Broncos needing to shift some guys around playing new positions with Dumervil out. I like what I have seen thus far from Daryl Washington, but it never hurts to have a guy like Ayodele on your squad... Thoughts? Are we set at ILB? Should we explore the possibility of picking up a proven vet to solidify our depth at ILB? I think so...

i doubt we could sign him for a bargain, but a guy that has sacking capabilities and is in his lower 30s could be a great fit right now. It doesn't sound like he has interest in playing away from his hometown of Houston (click here for story) but who knows? Would he be a good fit?  I don't know if he plays inside, or if he would be a good fit in our scheme, but just wanted everyone's thoughts since from all accounts we seem to be looking for someone with his talents (or even half his talents). This is a guy that has consistently put up 50+ tackles and averages around 8 sacks per season. And hey, maybe our TCU draftee could recruit some of his former alumni to come in and show him how its done at the position.... (doubt it:). Thoughts? Schobel analysis?

Did I just hear correctly on the radio that Steve Kerr has stepped down as GM?  Not something I expected to hear, and not something I'm happy about if its true.  Anyone know anything about this? Is it true? I am looking forward to what the FO has in store for us, but I do not think that a change in the FO is what this team needs right now, I feel we are so close and this would disrupt all of the progress the team made this year...  Hopefully we can keep this team together for the most part regardless of what happens behind the scenes... 

I stumbled across this on the SBnation homepage and thought it was really cool for J-Rich... Warriors fans paid for an ad in the AZ Republic to voice their support for J-Rich and congratulating him on the season... I think that fan support like this is really cool.  I was proud of the Suns fans last night giving Frye a standing O when he nailed his first 3... I think its what really got him going hearing all of the support. Let's keep it up Suns! Check out the J-Rich article at:

http://www.sbnation.com/2010/5/26/1488810/jason-richardson-suns-warriors-fans-2010-nba-playoffs

I know its too late now, we shored up our QB situation with St Pierre, but just wanted to hear everyone's thoughts on Bulger and where he may end up.  I think he could've been a great addition before the Anderson signing, but I doubt he would be happy coming in as a #2... Does he still have what it takes to be solid #1 and where could he end up?  I am unsure about the Rams decision on this one, wouldn't it be more logical to hold onto him for another year to give Bradford a vet to learn from?  Its not like they are going to win much next year anyways... Was this a money-saving move to be able to sign Bradford to a100 trillion dollar 6 year deal?