Goals finally coming for Coyotes

For a team that has scored an average of less than two goals per game since the start of the season, the 5-2 win over Vancouver this past weekend was a welcome change of pace. But, what is interesting is who the goal scorers were.

Often-hurt Sergei Berezin, making his debut with the Coyotes after spending most of October injured, seems the likely compliment to Daymond Langkow, often touted as the "replacement" for Jeremy Roenick before the season began. However, with Berezin hurt once again, it might take some time for this line to jell, let alone produce the kind of scoring punch the Coyotes fans are used to seeing from ex-Yotes Keith Tkachuk and the departed JR.

It is nice, however, after eight games of standing on his head to keep the Coyotes in the game, for the boys to produce some goal scoring support for our goalie Sean Burke. He's only human, and can't be expected to pull every game out of the fire night after night when our lines are not producing as they should. But the goals on Saturday came even from the defensemen, an area we haven't seen goal scoring from since February of 2001.

Ellman Construction Project Delayed Again

Steve Ellman, Phoenix Coyotes owner, reported yet another delay in groundbreaking for the new arena project slated for Glendale, Arizona. Financial agreements with the west side suburb of Phoenix were supposed to have been completed this month. Groundbreaking on the arena project has now been postponed until after the first of the year, although Mr. Ellman has assured all who will listen that the project will still be completed in time for the 2003-2003 season.

Another wrinkle in the project is the proposed parking surcharge that the City of Glendale plans to add to each Coyotes ticket sold. Glendale plans to impose a parking surcharge of up to $4 on each ticket, rather than a flat per-car fee. This will cost a family of four an additional $16 to park their car.

Assistant City Manager Ed Beasley theorizes that hitting up the Coyotes fans with the tack-on price for each ticket will prevent shoppers from being reluctant to visit the mall and restaurants that are supposedly going to be built adjacent to the arena, with free parking for those not attending hockey games. Apparently having a specific area for game parking is too difficult a concept for Glendale city officials to comprehend, and this fan, currently paying $5 for structure parking even in downtown Phoenix, wonders about the logic of charging me triple the price to park my little red car (still proudly displaying Roenick personalized plates) simply because I choose to bring my children along with me to a hockey game.

Must Have Been Something In The Phoenix Air

For much of his career as a Phoenix Coyote, Jeremy Roenick had to listen to both fans and media-types complain and criticize his "selfish play," his "puck-hog tendencies," his straying from the game plan. They, apparently, knew what the game plan was, even though that plan was a mystery to most everyone but the defensive minded Coyote coaching staff.

But, now that Roenick spends his winters in Philadelphia, where his free-wheeling style can once again be appreciated rather than criticized, where fans can be treated to the style of play that thrilled Blackhawks fans in Chicago Stadium for so long, the numbers he is putting up show that it must have been the "bad air" of Phoenix that caused such criticisms to be made.

As of October 22, JR ranks first in the NHL in assists, is tied for second in the NHL in points, and is tied for first in plus/minus with a rating of +11. Puck hog? Hardly.

How long before the fair weather fans of Phoenix, those who praised JR to his face but have been dissing him since he left, admit that he will be missed on the ice at AWA, that they were apparently wrong about him and his linemate Keith Tkachuk, and that they are obviously acting out their frustrations, knowing that their play-off chances are several seasons away. But, I'm only a psyche major disguised as a hockey hack, what do I know? I have to depend on ESPN, The Sporting News and The Hockey News to tell me the Coyotes won't make the play-offs for three more years; the local media sure won't admit to it. Then again, I got NHL Center Ice for my birthday, with 35 hockey games a week (and all those Flyers games), so maybe I'm just a bit light-headed from hockey overdose.

For more information on Jeremy Roenick, go to Jeremy-Roenick.com.