I found this video clip from KPNX-TV in Phoenix pretty interesting.

Veronica Sanchez put together a feature story two days ago in which she interviewed Arizonans and asked them their thoughts on an idea of hosting a Winter Olympics in the state.

Honestly, do we really think that could ever happen? I very highly doubt it is possible in this Sun Belt state. Maybe in Flagstaff where it snows during the winter season, but Phoenix? Unless there are hockey games played at Jobing.com Arena in neighboring Glendale and/or the Alltel Ice Den (the Phoenix Coyotes' practice facility) in nearby Scottsdale as Sanchez suggested, no chance.

Either way, it's always nice to wonder what it would be like for the state of Arizona to host the Winter Olympics. It would be a monumental challenge compared to the next host in 2014. That would be Sochi, Russia.

The best possible script through the first half of the 2009-2010 National Hockey League season seems to have been written for the Phoenix Coyotes.

On Tuesday night, Phoenix bounced back from a gut-wrenching 3-2 shootout loss in San Jose with a huge 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks at Jobing.com Arena.

"The party's on, eh?" Coyotes head coach Dave Tippett chuckled with a smile. "That's the way it goes."

Most importantly, with the win, the Coyotes set a new franchise record by winning their 10th straight home game. It would surpass the previous mark of 9 in a row between December 27, 1992 to January 23, 1993 when the team was the Winnipeg Jets.

Lauri Korpikoski scored the deciding shootout goal and backup goaltender Jason LaBarbera made 28 saves to propel Phoenix to victory. LaBarbera kept the puck out of his net on all three Vancouver shootout attempts to improve his season record to 3-3 in 7 starts with a .924 save percentage and 2.25 goals-against-average. It was his first career home win in a Coyotes uniform after his previous two were both in Columbus earlier this season.

LaBarbera may not play much as was the case last season when he was with the Canucks, but he doesn't seem to mind with this group of Phoenix Coyotes.

"It's not easy, but to be honest, it's just fun to come to the rink," LaBarbera told Jim Gintonio of the Arizona Republic. "It's easy to come and be prepared and be focused. If you're losing, it's miserable coming to the rink, and it's easy to lose your focus."

He added, "We have such a great group here, such a close bunch. I like to come to the rink. We like to be around each other. It makes it much easier, doesn't matter if I'm playing or not."

Ed Jovanovski and Petr Prucha also scored for Phoenix, a team that has won 12 of their last 16 games overall since November 27th. Mikael Samuelsson and Kyle Wellwood tallied goals for visiting Vancouver.

There is no doubt under Tippett in his first season behind the bench, the team has bought into his coaching system and as a result, he appears to have a hard-working and fundamentally sound hockey club that is building more confidence from each game.

"I'm just proud of how hard the guys competed," Tippett said during the postgame press conference. "I mean you've got Vancouver on a winning streak, sitting here last night watching our game on TV. We played a hard, hard game in San Jose and we come back here and the guys muster up that kind of effort, it makes our whole coaching staff very proud."

Note the word PROUD in that last quote. When you hear your bench boss say that, you know that not only are you getting your job done, but you're performing well at a high level where you believe you can win every single game you play.

That is something you rarely if ever heard from any head coach over the last several years during this playoff drought in the desert.

Following a tumultuous summer and autumn of uncertainty over the immediate future of the franchise, we observers can say that the Coyotes are undoubtedly off to an outstanding start to their season.

Fans across central Arizona and the hockey world are finally starting to take notice in the hockey team.

"It is so awesome. They have been through so much. And they are showing what a strong team they really are. I love our COYOTES!!!" - Cathy Jean Turley

"They just keep shocking the doubters! And will continue to do so... playoffs baby... They're special alright, in very good way. These folks better wake up! This team's for real." - Brian Hart

"The 'Yotes and their fans deserve this record breaking event. It's wonderful to get tangible reinforcement that all their hard work is paying off. We're so proud of them and so proud to be fans." - Monique Reaux

"If I had to sum up how I feel about the record breaking feat (Tuesday) night at Jobing.com Arena, I would have to say that, as a Coyote fan since day one of this organization, there's no better feeling than to have the organization begin to write their own history and records so that the fans of the Jets who seem to have a deep-seeded loathing for the Desert Dogs can stop saying that 'we' have stolen 'their' history." - Jim Appenauer

"After a 'perfect storm' of horrible problems over the summer, Coyotes fans finally have something wonderful to look forward to! We have an awesome home record this season, the crowds are getting better and the Coyotes organization is doing everything they can to bring the fans back to the arena.

It is great to honor the history of the Jets organization, but breaking the home winning streak is some new Coyotes history I am extremely proud to be a part of! The town is buzzing with talk of the Coyotes - in a GOOD way - for the first time in years!" - Heather Schroeder, President of the Phoenix Coyotes Booster Club

"This is a huge accomplishment for the Coyotes and their fans. The Valley is starting to wake up and take notice of our team. I feel this is just the beginning of an era of good things to come for the Phoenix Coyotes!" - Heather McWhorter, President of the Save The Coyotes Coalition

It may be evident in the number of fans in the seats at the Coyotes' home rink in Glendale, Arizona, just 13 miles northwest of downtown Phoenix. Since 10,030 showed up last Wednesday night to see starting goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov blank the Anaheim Ducks for a 4-0 victory, the team hosted 16,131 patrons on Saturday night to see a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings. Wednesday night's game drew 13,976 fans into the building despite a noticeable contingent rooting for the Canucks.

"Please tell your friends," Coyotes television and radio host Todd Walsh said at the conclusion of last Saturday's pregame ceremony honoring team captain Shane Doan's 1,000th NHL game. "There is something happening out here. And to quote a certain coach in these parts, sorry Dave Tippett. As you said on opening night in Los Angeles, it's something special. These men have proven that thus far this season."

But the biggest question of all as the new calendar year being almost here would be, can Phoenix learn from last season's second half collapse and remain a consistent winning hockey team for the remainder of this campaign?

After he was stopped by LaBarbera in the shootout to end the game, Samuelsson expressed his belief that the Coyotes are a much more competitive team than years past.

"If you think you're coming to Phoenix for an easy two points, that's not the case now," he said.

"You see it time and again, especially since the lockout, you have these teams that people don't expect to play well," Coyotes defenseman Adrian Aucoin said five days ago. "You don't need superstars, you just need everyone to play really well. You don't need anybody to be great, but you need everybody to be good. So I don't think it's that surprising."

Now exactly halfway through the regular season schedule, the Coyotes are 25-16 with 53 points in 41 games. That includes three losses in either overtime or after a shootout. They're one of only eight teams that have reached the 50-point plateau and sit just two points behind the Western Conference-leading San Jose Sharks and overall league lead.

Now 10 straight home wins and counting, Coyotes general manager Don Maloney likes the team's chances of duplicating the first half success in the second half of the season.

"What pleases me is that we played so many tight games in the first half, so playing in 3-2, 2-1, 1-0 games is not going to faze us in the second half," Maloney said. "I think we're built for the long haul."

In an Arizona Republic poll, 96% of nearly 3,700 votes feel the Coyotes will make the playoffs. It certainly is remarkable how a few extra wins can suddenly boost the confidence of a team and the fans. Only time will tell if that comes true.

This might be an age-old debate. It might not. But with the future of the Phoenix Coyotes at stake, it has been a question that has been constantly weighing on my mind for a minimum of six years now.

Many Phoenix sports fans know the location of major league sports facilities across the region. Throw in the major college venues if you like, too. My question is... Had the Coyotes still been playing in downtown Phoenix, would it have made a difference? Would that have had an effect in possibly avoiding Chapter 11 bankruptcy?

I don't hear this discussed much if at all by the media and the fans these days. So I bring up some background to this.

I live in the New York City metropolitan area and some might wonder how I know about this stuff. It does help I have family connections to Phoenix and it is the out-of-town place I have been to the most in my life. Therefore, I began rooting for the Phoenix Suns and later of course the Phoenix Coyotes as out-of-town teams of mine.

Anyway, so before the Coyotes ever arrived in Arizona, US Airways Center (originally America West Arena) was built in downtown Phoenix to be the Suns' new home. It replaced the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum (which still stands, by the way) in 1992. Here was the biggest mistake of all when the plans were drawn up. Hockey was never figured into the design plans. It was just built for the Suns as a basketball venue. Four years later, that's when the Winnipeg Jets were relocated to Phoenix and the only major league facility that could financially host them was US Airways Center.

But the problem was as many Coyotes fans know, about 2,000 to 3,000 obstructed seats in the upper levels of the north end of the arena. The highest level seating sections only could see the opposite end of the ice.

At the same time, another problem for the Coyotes was a reason for why they wanted to build their own home. They were a tenant for then-Suns owner Jerry Colangelo and didn't make money on the luxury suites and I believe the parking fees surrounding the arena. In other words, the Coyotes were treated like a second class citizen.

So the team looked for a new place in the Greater Phoenix Area to play. First it was the Los Arcos Mall site in Scottsdale, about 10 miles east of downtown Phoenix. Nearly all the major hurdles to get approval for the arena project where cleared, but in the end, Scottsdale residents did pass the final referendum to give it the green light. So then it turned to Glendale and the rest is history leading to today.

Another question I have is... Had the city of Phoenix, the Suns and the Coyotes come together to either do extensive renovations to US Airways Center to retrofit it properly for NHL hockey or rebuild a new arena altogether on the site, would this have made a serious impact on the viability of the present-day Coyotes?

The problem is, it's all a moot point about arena location because the Coyotes play at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale and that won't change anytime soon should the team get to stay put.

Just over a month ago, Phoenix Coyotes fans held a rally at the Native New Yorker restaurant in Glendale, Arizona on just five days notice to voice their desire to keep their team right where it is.

Fast forward to yesterday. The Make It Seven campaign held a rally of its own called "Make It Seven Day" in downtown Hamilton, Ontario. Here, hockey fans gathered at Jackson Square, located behind Copps Coliseum to deliver their own message that they want a National Hockey League team as the seventh in Canada.

Led by BlackBerry billionaire Jim Balsillie's efforts to bring a team to the southwestern Ontario region, Make It Seven put together a rally with more time to prepare than their Save The Coyotes counterparts did.

Prior to the recent Make It Seven launch, another such organization has been doing its part to rally fans together to support the same cause. Some in attendance at yesterday's rally brought printed signs for the Bring the NHL to Hamilton campaign.

"At this point in the campaign, we need those men in the NHL Board (of Governors) to know that we're are not going to be denied that it's time to sit down and talk with Mr. Balsillie because we want an NHL team here and we want to bring it home where it belongs," Bring the NHL to Hamilton rally co-chairperson Michelle Febers told CBC News: Today host Nancy Wilson.

The Bring the NHL to Hamilton campaign launched its web site on October 1, 2008 and has grown into an online destination where you can learn about the history of hockey in Hamilton as well as find news items in relation to the cause. While it is not directly linked to Make It Seven that is backed by Balsillie, they have the same message for league headquarters in New York City.

Outgoing Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 5th and in turn agreed to sell the franchise to Balsillie on the condition he is able to move it to Hamilton. The NHL has contested that Moyes was not in the authority to make such a transaction since they have been providing financial assistance to keep the Coyotes in operation. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and Moyes immediately went to United States Bankruptcy Court to find a resolution to the matter. However, after a ruling by District of Arizona judge Redfield T. Baum stated that there was not enough time to resolve all issues in this case before an aggressively imposed Balsillie deadline of June 29th to close the sale, it would not be allowed to go through. Balsillie's offer had resembled the current franchise debt of $212.5 million, obviously what Moyes needs to pay off creditors in full what is owed.

As a result, this bides more time for the league to find a buyer who is committed to keeping the team in Phoenix's neighboring city of Glendale. The Coyotes will for at the very least be playing their 2009-2010 season home games at Jobing.com Arena with or without the NHL's financial backing. At this point, they're aiming to hold an auction in September and Balsillie will still be allowed to place a bid. If no buyer is found, at a later time relocation would be explored.

"Definitely we still want the Coyotes," Febers also said in her interview. "That's not gonna change. The basic line of the story is, we want the NHL to come home."

Whether the Coyotes stay in Arizona or if Hamilton gets a team remains to be seen. Either way, both locations have expressed their desire to have NHL hockey. One wants to keep it while the other wants to get it.

In the meantime, are you looking for some coverage on the rally? The Hamilton Spectator has a video clip while Hamilton radio station CMHL-AM provided interview audio soundbytes of key supporters plus the YouTube video below (courtesy of CMHL-AM).

Sports Business Daily gave people a heads up about a brand new "campaign song" released by The GMOs in support of a seventh National Hockey League team in Canada.

It is not officially affiliated with the Make It Seven campaign, however it is a clear message in full support of it. While the exact timing of this song's unveiling seems the least bit coincidental, apparently this was another medium used to rally the Make It Seven hardcore fan base as the bankruptcy hearings take place. This comes as BlackBerry founder Jim Balsillie attempts to uproot the Phoenix Coyotes to Hamilton, Ontario.

Some people that watch this video (courtesy of The GMOs) may react to this message as being very nationalistic, polarizing and bound to offend Phoenix hockey fans as well as American hockey fans as a whole. There's a point to saying it's great to see Canadians are proud of their pastime, but you swear you would think this was a political campaign and not something we'd see for professional sports.

For those that are against the way that Balsillie has went about accomplishing his goal, this has angered them. The lone exception would be his very loyalist supporters, including those that are very bitter with the current state of the league and where certain franchises are located. The Coyotes are one of the teams targeted.

There are American hockey fans completely in favor of more teams in Canada. Many would support the return of NHL teams to Winnipeg, Québec City and even Hamilton. It would be great for the game. But some fans have unfortunately been sucked into a United States vs. Canada debate in regards to the viability of hockey markets in the Sun Belt region. Will this campaign song effect the verdict to the Coyotes' future in Arizona? Very highly unlikely. Again, this is just another way to rally Balsillie's supporters.

[Editor's Note: Cityhockeyfever is a new contributing writer for us here at Five for Howling. He'll write when he feels like it or cover some events when I'm not availiable. For example, when your wife schedules vacation over Free Agency Day. *Note to Self: Put that in big red letters on the calendar for next year]

While at first glance when learning of where this possible purchase bid for the Phoenix Coyotes comes from, one might assume it is for the same or very similar intentions that BlackBerry billionaire Jim Balsillie has made undeniably clear.

Toronto Argonauts co-owners Howard Sokolowski and David Cynamon have been named in a list of four potential buyers for the Coyotes, according to Paul Waldie of The Globe and Mail in Toronto. But get this. Sokolowski and Cynamon want to keep the team in Phoenix should they be the winning bid.

That is right. They do want to do just that.

It is not what you expected, did you? When you think of any Canadian investors looking to acquire the Coyotes, they wouldn't want to keep the team where they are after the Coyotes reportedly have lost up to $316 million since they arrived in Arizona, right? Apparently, not these two men who own the most successful Canadian Football League franchise in history with 15 Grey Cup championships, most recently in 2004.

National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman said the league has received a "preliminary background application" from each bidder according to court papers filed with the United States Bankruptcy Court. The deadline District of Arizona judge Redfield T. Baum set for both the league and outgoing owner Jerry Moyes was yesterday.

According to Waldie's article, an offer from Sokolowski and Cynamon would compete with Balsillie's current $212.5 million offer for the club and move it to Hamilton, Ontario.

Moyes filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 5th before a reported letter of intent for the league to agree to a sale to Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf. As a part of his filing for bankruptcy, Moyes agreed to sell the team to Balsillie to recover some of the monetary losses he has suffered while he has been the Coyotes' majority owner. The NHL and Moyes have been in court for more than a month fighting for control of the struggling Phoenix franchise.

The next court hearing is set for June 9th at the United States Bankruptcy Courthouse in downtown Phoenix. The legality issue of relocation will be presented and heard. It is possible a ruling will be made to determine if either the NHL or Moyes went through the proper procedures in the sale of the club, who has the authority to do so and whether or not current NHL rules are enforcable in this case when it comes to the operation and sale of the club in its current location or if it can be moved to another city.