Ice Edge to Sign Letter of Intent to Purchase the Coyotes

From Darren Dredger of TSN.com

Sources say Ice Edge, the group negotiating to buy the Phoenix Coyotes, is expected to sign a letter of intent to purchase the team from the league within days. Likely, prior to the start of next week's board of governors meeting in California.

An update on that process is one of the headline agenda items for the board, which is also expected to consider contingency cities for relocation in the event the NHL can't find a suitable buyer for the Coyotes.

Quebec City, Winnipeg and Southern Ontario will be identified as Canadian targets, if the subject of "where" is addressed during the meetings next Tuesday and Wednesday.

Stay tuned, hopefully I'll know more soon...


-Heather

A quick update on Tikhonov

Thanks to our friends over at RussianHockeyFans.com, we are able to keep track of Tiki as he plays his year in the KHL.

First of all, the official website of the KHL did an interview with him  in which he clarifies his reasons for leaving a bit. His contract with the Coyotes states that should he be sent down to the AHL during the first two season of his contract, he would be allowed to go back to Russia for a year, but must return to the US after that year.

As for him playing, he scored two goals in his debut with Severstal of the KHL. Both of those goals, he dedicated to his grandfather who was in the audience. Such a good kid, that Teeks :)

HM

Come on in, the hockey's fine!

Oh the weather outside was frightful, but the hockey inside of Jobing.com Arena last night was positively delightful! (Just a note on the weather - people in Arizona can't drive when there's a speck of water on the road. They just can't do it. It blows my mind. It flips their entire world upside down. Heaven forbid it rain... anyway...)

The first period was iffy. The boys came out flat and playing what I like to call their Lackadaisical Hockey style. Lazy, sloppy, disinterested. Lucky for us, the Wild played worse. Then about midway through the 2nd period, the boys came alive. Scottie Upshall and Taylor Pyatt scored about 44 seconds apart to give the Coyotes a 2-0 lead and the fire they needed to wake up and play some good hockey!

Ilya Bryzgalov was the Man of the Night however, stopping all 28 shots he faced. I really have to give Bryz some credit. I've given him a hard time in the past but when we needed him the most, and we've needed him more this season than ever; he's come through. He's becoming that elite NHL goaltender everyone said he had in him. He's making quite a case for himself and has finally won me over. That's huge, for those of you who know me well you know that I expect a lot out of my number 1 goaltender and Bryz just wasn't doing it for me until this season. But I don't mind admitting when I'm wrong and thank goodness I was wrong about Bryz. I certainly hope this continues and he finally realizes his dream of becoming a Stanley Cup Champion as a starter, and as a starter in Phoenix. I've got to give props to Sean Burke, apparently he knows how to Coach Bryz. Bryz is a different goalie this year. I don't know how long he'll last carrying the team on his back like that, but he's not showing any signs of slowing just yet.

The Coyotes are now 18-11-1 and can boast that they are having their first 5 game winning streak since the last one that lasted from 12/31/07-1/8/08. A few more interesting things of note from the game last night: Bryzgalov posted his personal career high 4th shutout of the season and is now one point behind the League leader in Wins, New Jersey's Martin Broduer. So our goalie is #2 in the League in wins!

Man, it sure is sweet to be a Coyotes fan today!

I'll leave you with some Good Morning Reads: If you haven't yet seen the article about Bryz in the Republic, what's stopping you??? It's spectacular. I am loving the new reporter, she's a keeper guys!

I'm a huge fan of Luke Lapinski's and thoroughly enjoyed his new "Off The Post" segment over at PhoenixCoyotes.com.

I think that's it for now... have a great day everyone!

Cheers,
Heather

Monday Morning Thoughts...

Good Monday morning to you all! I've been in a bit of a fog the past couple of days. I had an allergic reaction to the antibiotics my doctor put me on and I had no idea allergic reactions to medications could be so horrible! I felt just plain awful! But its good to be feeling back to normal and headed back to watch my boys play tonight. Some thoughts for Monday morning...... 


We never heard anything else about the meeting Ice Edge was supposed to have with the NHL last Monday. Not sure if that's a good or bad sign, but I suppose we'll just wait and see. The NHL will do all within their power now to keep their negotiations and meetings secret until they are ready to announce a deal is done, so we won't have the wealth of information we were privy to over the summer. It'd be nice to know what's going on but I realize that's not going to happen so I'll just do what I can do... Which is go to games and continue to keep the faith and be a fan of my team. There's not much I can do now anyway, other than those things! 


We've got Boedker back up here from the AHL making a go for it and I wish him well. He's a good kid with a big heart and fast feet! He's an asset to our team, now & in the future. I hope he is able to stick around.


Some goings-on this week: Tonight of course, the Coyotes will take on the Christmas Elves at Jobing.com Arena. The puck drops at 7:00pm and will be broadcast on FS-A in HD. I hope Dave Strader's voice is better now! 


Tomorrow, Matt Lombardi & Scottie Upshall will be at Polar Ice in Chandler to meet fans and sign autographs from 6-7pm. You'll have a chance to meet two of our newer players who are really making an impact on our team, if you're in the area I'd definitely stop by and shake their hands. They are hard workers and doing great as Coyotes. Lombardi and Upshall are two guys I think are an important piece of the playoff puzzle we've been trying to solve for 7 years. Polar Ice in Chandler is located at 7225 West Harrison Street in Chandler, AZ. 


On Thursday the 10th, the Coyotes will host a viewing party at Oggi's in Glendale from 8-10pm as the Coyotes take on the LA Kings. Oggi's is located at 6681 West Beardsley Road in Glendale, AZ. Bring the family or friends out for great food, great fun, and great HOCKEY watching with other Coyotes fans! Oggi's will be offer $1 draft beers during the viewing party!


Then on Saturday before the game the Coyotes will be holding a "Dollar Drive". Player's  wives and girlfriends will be collecting dollar bills for the United Food Bank outside Jobing.com Arena. Proceeds will go to Sanderson Ford’s Operation Santa Claus, which donates funds to St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance, Tim & Willy’s Kid’s FUN-dation, the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center, and Choose to Help. The game against the Sharks starts 6:00pm.


And while I'm at it, I'll throw out a link for the Coyotes Howlidays packs  www.phoenixcoyotes.com/howliday because everyone loves the HOWLIDAYS!!!  In addition to the great ticket prices they are offering, anyone purchasing a Howliday Pack will receive an autographed puck signed by the Coyotes player of their choice (based on availability) and would have priority on playoff tickets over the general public. 


The first meeting of the Phoenix Coyotes Ambassador's Club will also be held before the game on Saturday and if you are a part of that, you got the details of the meeting from your ticket rep in your email. So I hope I see all my season ticket holder friends there!


Busy hockey week ahead of us folks, have a good one!


-Heather

I'd like to invite you all....

To travel on over and visit our friends at Five For Howling and give your opinion on their 'Should new owners "rebrand" Coyotes?' post. I'd really like to hear everyone's opinion on this.You can vote at the end of the post and write your comments below it.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and are ready for to cheer our boys as they take on the Calgary Flames Thursday night at Jobing.com Arena. Get ready to HOWL!!!

-Heather