One thing I wanted to note from that. The Coyotes rent the ice den? How much does it cost to do that? As I understand it, that is the basis of hockey in the desert. Whenever I hear about hockey, I hear about the Ice Den. Point it out if I'm wrong. But why don't the Coyotes just use the facilities at Jobing?
And on another note, if they were to use Jobing, why wouldn't they be able to allow the public in to watch practices?
One thing I wanted to note from that. The Coyotes rent the ice den? How much does it cost to do that? As I understand it, that is the basis of hockey in the desert. Whenever I hear about hockey, I hear about the Ice Den. Point it out if I'm wrong. But why don't the Coyotes just use the facilities at Jobing?
And on another note, if they were to use Jobing, why wouldn't they be able to allow the public in to watch practices?
Renting a rink at the Ice Den runs you about $350 an hour, and Coyotes practice for 2-3 hours, don't they?
It's cheaper at other rinks (Arcadia, all three Polar ice, Oceanside) but the Ice Den was built for the Coyotes, with a locker room for them and everything, while the other rinks wouldn't provide that.
They practice here I think because all the players live in Scottsdale, and it is easy to get there. If they had to drive to Glendale every single day, that might get annoying. Plus, if they practiced at the Job, they would need to get the Zamboni guy out there, and someone to open the doors and such.
Renting a rink at the Ice Den runs you about $350 an hour, and Coyotes practice for 2-3 hours, don't they?
It's cheaper at other rinks (Arcadia, all three Polar ice, Oceanside) but the Ice Den was built for the Coyotes, with a locker room for them and everything, while the other rinks wouldn't provide that.
They practice here I think because all the players live in Scottsdale, and it is easy to get there. If they had to drive to Glendale every single day, that might get annoying. Plus, if they practiced at the Job, they would need to get the Zamboni guy out there, and someone to open the doors and such.
I'm not sure how long they practice. Is that normal for teams to rent out a rink to practice on?
It makes sense for travel purposes, don't get me wrong. But it's just a sunk cost if that's the case, but it is what it is. I think I remember the Ice Den adding a new rink, so obviously it's a good thing there. I've never been there, but I've always told myself I would visit if I moved to the valley. ESPECIALLY if my plans to move to Gilbert worked out.
One thing I wanted to note from that. The Coyotes rent the ice den? How much does it cost to do that? As I understand it, that is the basis of hockey in the desert. Whenever I hear about hockey, I hear about the Ice Den. Point it out if I'm wrong. But why don't the Coyotes just use the facilities at Jobing?
Have you never set foot in the Phoenix metro area? What player would want to live near the arena? No one does. The Ice Den is really nice and has, for the most part, always been where they've practiced. I think they briefly tried another rink but that didn't last long. The cost of 'renting' the place out is next to nothing. It's also advantageous to not require ice in your arena just for practices, as that opens it up for events.
I felt the article was well-written and pretty fair. Of course if you're a fan that can't handle any negative remarks about them team or our situation, warranted or not, you're not going to like it.
Well that was quite the dramatic rendition of the Coyotes situation.
We all know Tippett deserves a lot of credit for what he has done, as does the rest of his staff, the players and upper management. I just think it's fair to point out that the "poor boy" description of the clubs current status is grossly overstated in the article and while it makes for great drama, it's simply an exaggeration.
This team really lacks for nothing as far as locker room amenities, video analysis, training & equipment management, first class travel for road games etc.. While the situation at the Ice Den makes for dramatic prose, it could be corrected (should they choose). They could demand better and get it, or start looking at other locations..... if they wanted to.
Coach strikes me as the type of guy that could really care less about some of the minor inconveniences that the author tried to report as substandard. In fact he may be just fine with the humbling reminder that this is indeed a game that men get paid well to play.
Tippett is a star. I have tremendous respect for what he's managed to accomplish here in the past three years. We were a team without a work ethic, a style of play, or any degree of discipline and he and Maloney have finally put together a franchise that has become hard to play against. We're not elite. We don't have the talent to be elite just yet. But the framework is there and the pieces are coming. Tippett deserves huge credit. I'm a big fan.
Have you never set foot in the Phoenix metro area? What player would want to live near the arena? No one does. The Ice Den is really nice and has, for the most part, always been where they've practiced. I think they briefly tried another rink but that didn't last long. The cost of 'renting' the place out is next to nothing. It's also advantageous to not require ice in your arena just for practices, as that opens it up for events.
That depends on what your idea of "near the arena" is. There are a multitude of places that I would consider worthy of NHL players habitation, that are closer to the arena than N. Scottsdale. I would ask you: Have you ever been to Paradise Vallley, the Biltmore area, the N. Central Corridor of Phoenix, N. Peoria, Estrella Mountain area, or (for guys like Shane Doan) the far west near the White Tank Mountains? I've lived in N. Scottsdale and despite the traffic stupidity, it's a great place to live, but to smugly state that no one wants to live in the countless other wonderful areas that happen to be closer to the job implies either ignorance or bias.
They did practice at the Peoria Polar Ice for a while and I believe it was the proximity to players homes that ended that. Also, they do use the arena some, but as you mentioned, it does need to be available for the multitude of events (dripping sarcasm) that are held there.
Well-written? Really? Because it looked to me like the opposite of that. For example:
Quote:
Now 50, with bushy eyebrows, a deep voice that's muffled by a mouth of false teeth, a chin that juts out like a bumper, and white scars winding down his nose like ski trails from having broken it "more than six times but less than 12" during his 11-year NHL career, Tippett is largely unknown outside of hockey.
Quote:
So he instructs from the trenches, inhabiting the world of his charges -- "one of the pack," as video coach Steve "Petey" Peters says.
My favorite, though? (Well, apart from the "resigned blow" I quoted earlier.)
Quote:
Tippett, his coffee refilled in a to-go cup, walks around the corner of the cafe, through double doors and into a chilly, tiny room. The smell: mildew. Tippett and his assistants sit in folding chairs and huddle near two space heaters. The coach rubs his hands together, then opens his laptop, which rests on a tray table. This is Tippett's office. "Not ideal," he says.
"Not ideal?!" They're using space heaters for Christ's sake! In a chilly, tiny room! It smells like mildew in there! Where are these poor men practicing? The Ice Den sounds like a cross between a Soviet-vintage KHL hellhole and Chuck E. Cheese!
And to illustrate the indignities suffered daily by the coaches and players, the article includes... this! Their anguish is palpable, is it not?
Now, maybe that photo was actually taken at Jobing.Com, because it appears to contain neither tray tables, nor space heaters, nor mildew. But the caption refers to the Ice Den. Either the writer is a drama queen, or the editor is lazy when it comes to matching photos with appropriate captions. Or both. But who cares? We're on ESPN!...
A nice, long article about the coach of the Coyotes on ESPN - the sports network that doesn't really give a hoot about the sport. That should be a great read, right?
It's actually quite a pot shot at the Coyotes. Maybe the writer was trying to amplify Coach Tipp's contributions by portraying the organization and market as complete duds...?!
Not to give the article more attention than it rightfully deserves, but there are some inaccuracies;
Quote:
And center Martin Hanzal, one of the few players who's fast enough to hang with the speedy Oilers, is questionable with a bruised hip.
The big Czech is a quality two-way centre with excellent size, reach and energy. He *is* important to the Yotes' game but not because of his speed. One could probably argue that he is speedy for a big man, but with Players like Boedker, Korpikoski, Vrbata, Yandle, Ekman-Larsson, Schlemko (at the time he wasn't injured) and Pyatt, just to name a few, Hanzal is not one of the few players fast enough to hang with the speedy Oilers. Rubbish.
Quote:
But nobody wants to touch the Coyotes. Stars leave for better money. Crowds are down 20 percent from three years ago.
Who has left for better money? I can only remember Bryzgalov. 'Z' signed with Pittsburgh but it was rumored to have been at the same rate, not for better money.
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Many sports fans don't even know that Phoenix has a hockey team.
Uhm. Really? Apparently, many Americans think the Canadian Prime Minister is Jean Poutine. What does either mean?
Quote:
Tippett has even fewer chances than most because he can't rely on his team's talent;
It sounds like he has a team of scrubs to work with. There is a lack of star power on this club but the talent level has likely not been higher in well over a decade. The defense is stacked. The goal is mostly being tended by a guy whose SV% has been top five among starters for most of this season. It is only on offense where a true game breaker could elevate the club to another level. Far from a troupe of misfits in my humble opinion.
Quote:
No player is allowed to turn down an interview, whether it's for an all-sports station or a country morning show. Anything to sell the sport -- since winning doesn't.
Maybe ownership certainty would help?
Quote:
Neither man can wait to leave.
Kind of like I couldn't wait for this article to end?!
I've lived in N. Scottsdale and despite the traffic stupidity, it's a great place to live, but to smugly state that no one wants to live in the countless other wonderful areas that happen to be closer to the job implies either ignorance or bias.
There are other bright spots, like PV, but none quite like Scottsdale. I don't have a problem with it. Having an area that is desirable like that works in our favor. The main point is that most of those areas are still closer to the Ice Den then they are other rinks. This happens in most major NHL cities.
There are other bright spots, like PV, but none quite like Scottsdale. I don't have a problem with it. Having an area that is desirable like that works in our favor. The main point is that most of those areas are still closer to the Ice Den then they are other rinks. This happens in most major NHL cities.
P.V. is slightly closer to the Ice Den, N. Central Corridor and Biltmore are nearly identical to both locations and N. Peoria, Estrella and the White Tanks are closer to the arena. Scottsdale is unique, but then so are the other areas I mentioned.
The main point is that ignorance is spread through misinformation.
"Not ideal?!" They're using space heaters for Christ's sake! In a chilly, tiny room! It smells like mildew in there! Where are these poor men practicing? The Ice Den sounds like a cross between a Soviet-vintage KHL hellhole and Chuck E. Cheese!
And to illustrate the indignities suffered daily by the coaches and players, the article includes... this! Their anguish is palpable, is it not?
Now, maybe that photo was actually taken at Jobing.Com, because it appears to contain neither tray tables, nor space heaters, nor mildew. But the caption refers to the Ice Den. Either the writer is a drama queen, or the editor is lazy when it comes to matching photos with appropriate captions. Or both. But who cares? We're on ESPN!...
I had similar thoughts as I read. Was not privy to the picture..... hilarious!
If I'm not mistaken the photo is taken from Petey's office at the arena.
Maybe I'm just misremembering...but I don't recall that the Ice Den is horrible at all! It's been a while since I went there, but the facility was nice and clean, and the people were friendly. The ice was good, no complaints there either.
I know I was there at least once on a weekend, and it wasn't any worse than any other ice rink in America on the weekends - overrun with small children having birthday parties, lots of parents counting down the minutes until it was over, etc.
I've skated at the Ice Den, Arcadia, Oceanside (is it still around?) and Polar Ice Peoria. The Ice den was probably the nicest of the bunch.
I was at Polar Ice yesterday, the place was empty. Physically empty - all of the game machines are gone, the equipment store was gone, etc. Just two big sheets of ice, some picnic tables, and some figure skaters doing public session with a bunch of moms sitting around using the free wifi. They did have a few Coyotes posters and a jersey in the office. The ice was nice, that's really all that matters. I was really surprised at how much it had changed in the last couple of years (I was skating there 3-4 times a week from 2002-2004 and had only been back once since then, around 2006 or so).
Re: players living in Scottsdale, that's the case in every city I know about. The Flyers all live in south Jersey, near the training facility in Voorhees. Capitals live mostly in northern Virginia. Rangers and Islanders live some in Manhattan, some in North Jersey, and probably some in Connecticut. These guys are millionaires, after all.
Maybe I'm just misremembering...but I don't recall that the Ice Den is horrible at all! It's been a while since I went there, but the facility was nice and clean, and the people were friendly. The ice was good, no complaints there either.
I know I was there at least once on a weekend, and it wasn't any worse than any other ice rink in America on the weekends - overrun with small children having birthday parties, lots of parents counting down the minutes until it was over, etc.
I've skated at the Ice Den, Arcadia, Oceanside (is it still around?) and Polar Ice Peoria. The Ice den was probably the nicest of the bunch.
I was at Polar Ice yesterday, the place was empty. Physically empty - all of the game machines are gone, the equipment store was gone, etc. Just two big sheets of ice, some picnic tables, and some figure skaters doing public session with a bunch of moms sitting around using the free wifi. They did have a few Coyotes posters and a jersey in the office. The ice was nice, that's really all that matters. I was really surprised at how much it had changed in the last couple of years (I was skating there 3-4 times a week from 2002-2004 and had only been back once since then, around 2006 or so).
All those game machines were a staffing nightmare.
Perhaps they could use that space for a suitable office for coach?
