NHL: Don't Tease Us, Just Give Us The Truth

On the eve of the proposed closure on the sale of the Phoenix Coyotes to Ellman Companies and Wayne Gretzky, local NBC affiliate Channel 12 reported this week that Steve Ellman has contributed $40 million to the cause, and Wayne Gretzky has chipped in $10 million in order to complete the purchase of the team.

Of course, as these things go, there are no identifiable names given as sources for this story, and even the sports announcer at Channel 12 used those infamous words "sources tell us" when reporting that paperwork has been sent to the NHL and that the deal will be done by mid November.

It's funny (well, after all we've been through, maybe it's not), this is exactly what we were told two weeks ago. Except without the amount of money tossed in the pot by Ellman and by Gretzky. Word has it that investors that Ellman and Gretzky were courting were hesitant to fork out any cash when neither Ellman nor Gretzky had forked out any of their own.

Steve Ellman was quoted this week in the newspaper, saying, "I want people to know we are committed to acquire the Coyotes as soon as possible," said Steve Ellman in a recent Tribune article. "We are doing everything we can to make that process happen as quickly as possible. We're shooting for Halloween but if we miss it, we'll miss it by a week or two." And the Great One himself was quoted as saying the sale is taking "longer than anticipated ... but it will happen, and sooner or later this thing will close and we will move forward."

The City of Scottsdale, after trying to play hardball with Ellman Company attorneys, is now working with the developers in a newfound spirit of cooperation and negotiating their financial agreement. Let's get real, people, even the morons in "Snotsdale" realize that if Ellman does not put his proposed arena complex on the corner of Scottsdale Road and McKellips, they will be left with a big ugly eyesore in the middle of south Scottsdale, and having an expensive piece of property looking like a war zone isn't best for anyone's interests.

Game Notes

For the first time in recent memory, the long Western Canada road trip has NOT been the trip from hell, with the Coyotes unbeaten in the last six games. Granted, they skated to tie games twice on this trip, but a point is a point, dammit, and we'll take them any way we can get them.

Bull$%^& officiating has once again raised its homely head, with JR taking 17 minutes in the box in Calgary, 10 minutes of it being a very questionable misconduct call. After Calgary's Robyn Regehr took a run at Tkachuk and no penalty was called, Roenick took exception, engaging Regehr in a fight, ending up with 2 minutes instigating, 5 minutes fighting, and the infamous 10 minute misconduct. The only question now is whether My Boy (Jeremy's new nickname) will get be fined as well, for the things he said about referees Blaine Augus and Don Van Massenhoven after the game.

"In my opinion," said J.R., "it was a poor performance by the referees. They can say different, but it's true." And maybe Roenick is right, maybe his constant jawing at the referees put them over the edge and they WERE really picking on him and putting him in the box to get them out of their hair. And the worst part of it all was, the damned game wasn't televised and no one in Phoenix even got to see any of it. A scoring milestone was reached on the Canadian trip, with Roenick scoring his 500th NHL assist October 22nd in Edmonton. Congratulations, JR! Roenick is currently leading the team with 13 points, helping the Yotes off to their best start in franchise history. Now I just have to speak to the man about getting another hat trick this year for my birthday.

And a related note: Jeremy Roenick has been named as Honorary Captain for the Arizona State University Sun Devils Ice Hockey Club. The ASU team plays in the American Collegiate Hockey Association against other Division I teams such as Penn State, Iowa State, Utah State, and University of Arizona. The Sun Devils were invited to the national tournaments last year, and finished the season as one of the top ten in the country in their division. The ASU Hockey team extends its thanks to JR, and welcomes him to the ASU hockey family.