NHL: It's Not Over Yet

Hang on to those party balloons and noisemakers for two more weeks. Sound familiar? It's a phrase we've been hearing since pre-season. Ellman will make a payment in two weeks. The sale will be done in two weeks. The papers will be signed in two weeks. Although the NHL Board of Governors approved Steve Ellman and Wayne Gretzky as owners of the Phoenix Coyotes on Monday, December 11th, it will be at last a week to 10 days (two more weeks, two more weeks) for the paperwork to be signed and the actual financial closing to take place.

Both parties to the deal, Steve Ellman and Richard Burke, are making nice in the press now, after acrimony had reached high levels in the past few weeks and rumors of lawsuits and money syphoning were rampant. This week, however, we have Burke telling fanciful stories about what buddies he and Ellman are. No wonder Coyote fans are borderline crazy; what was true on Monday is not true on Tuesday. What is true on Tuesday at 9:00 is not true at 10:00. And what we were all believed to be the final hurdle in the transfer of our team from Burke to Ellman/Gretzky on Monday wasn't true either.

Of course, other rumors surfaced immediately Monday afternoon, bubbling to the surface like garbage rising from the floor of the ocean. And of course, the pundits and reporters ran with it, taking enough out of context to have all of Phoenix buzzing that Ellman/Gretzky had to immediately cut the budget by $10 million, that trading JR and Tkachuk was a done deal, that the team would be gutted, that the team would still move to Portland. Any of which could be supported taking a sentence here and there out of the context of interviews given by Ellman, Gretzky or Burke, but not if any of the three interviews are read in their entirety.

As a Coyote fan, and as a journalist, I don't think any of us benefit from yet another column which describes the current rumors in detail. Those rumors can be found elsewhere on the internet, not here. I don't believe it is in our best interests to dwell upon who is going where, who is doing what, and what Gretzky and Ellman may or may not do. If we are so inclined, there are message boards galore out there for all of us, including this Roenick Chick, to debate the merits of our favorite player and why he should remain a Coyote until he retires (and those of you who know me know that I have been and will continue to do just that). Passing the rumors along not only upsets me personally, but fuels fires that need beating out, not stoking. This hockey fan refuses to fan the flames.

Nous Aimons Lemieux

Claude Lemieux notched his first goal as a Coyote against the Tampa Bay Lightning on December 14th, a point that was the 700th of his career. "He was awesome," said Coyotes center Jeremy Roenick. "I know Claude wanted to get off to a good start and show the fans that he's happy to be here and can do a lot for this team. I think we're all proud of his performance."

It was the combination, though, of Tkachuk, Roenick and Lemieux that for moments lit up the ice with their play. With more playing time together, it almost boggles the mind as to what these three men could accomplish. ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION, MR. GRETZKY?

Ever humble, Lemieux noted that he was not aware he was anywhere close to the 700 point total, but added that it wasn't about individual points, but being able to contribute and get points for the team.

Signs dotted the sparsely populated arena reading "I believe in Santa Claude," which were also out in force for his first game earlier this month. In addition to the "Welcome to the team, Claude," sign, in French, of course, from yours truly.

Speaking of French, I wonder, did anyone translate the sign I brought for Jeremy? I guess I'll just have to ask.