Game 7

As I sit and stare in the face of tonight's game 7, it is hard for me to put into words the emtions I am experiencing. Almost a year has passed since the bankruptcy saga began. Did anyone think we'd find ourselves here just one year ago? Could anyone have scripted a better way for this season to play out for us? This team is one of sports greatest stories. A team everyone called the "NHL's orphans", now with home ice advantage in the playoffs and 7 consecutive home sell-outs. 

Sleep escaped me last night and as I tossed and turned, my mind started to sort through the events that have transpired over the past year. From May 5th 2009 on, it was a whirlwind of information & activity. Sitting in a courtroom watching the legal minds tearing my beloved team apart was almost more than I could bare. All the while we as fans of this team dealt with endless hatred and bashing in the media and from other fans both near and far. Somehow everyone wanted to put the blame on the fan base. Oh how mis-informed they all were... 

Then I find my team coach-less as training camp vastly approaches. When the puck dropped on the preseason, I sat in an empty arena with merely a few hundred fans. The horrible sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach I experienced at the site of each & every empty seat is a feeling I won't ever forget. As the season that was supposed to be a "lame duck" progressed, I saw Jobing.com arena slowly begin to fill up with fans. First with fans of the opposing team. Now with Coyotes fans. Now here we are, with 7 consecutive sold-out home games. 

What I concluded from all of this rehashing of events last night is that I can honestly say I have never before been as proud of my team, the Coyotes organization or my fellow fans as I am at this very moment. Today's game 7 is a celebration. We went from a low that no team in the history of sports had experienced before to a record breaking season filled with highlights. So yes, tonight is a celebration. A celebration of proving everyone wrong, a celebration of team work, dedication, "pack mentality". A celebration of hockey in the desert. 

Regardless of Game 7's outcome tonight, this season has already been a huge success. Our team proved themselves to be the amazing & talented group of athletes we've always known them to be. They have pushed the "Mighty Red Wings" to a game 7 & beaten them twice this series in the impossible to win in Joe Louis Arena. Those "non-existent" desert hockey fans are filling up the empty seats at Jobing.com Arena that haunted me at the beginning of the season. We've got a smart & business savvy ownership group poised to come in and take this organization to the top, where it belongs. 

So enjoy Game 7 tonight Coyotes fans, we've all earned it. 

And the Fan Photo of the Year Award Goes to....

Q!

Winnipeg Counseling: Session 2

I didn't expect a positive response from you on yesterday's post, Winnipeg. When you first confront someone on their issues they rarely respond positively to it. Therefore, I have taken it upon myself to counsel you, Dear Jets fans, and help you get past this. Reading through your comments on my previous blog, some of them made little sense. Some of you even contradicted yourselves. You say you don't hate us then spew more hatred in the same comment? This does not follow a logical train of thought.

Let me clarify something: we as Coyotes fans want you to see that we don't hate you, despite the fact that we've received little, if nothing but hatred from Winnipeg in the past. We want to help you. We hope that one day you get an NHL team back, we support you getting an NHL team back. Just not the Coyotes. We're sorry that it happened in the first place but seeing as many are now new hockey fans because it did happen (myself included) it is a bitter sweet emotion for us. I personally hope that when that day comes, the Coyotes organization is still classy enough to give you back your WhiteOut. Some of my fellow Coyotes fans wouldn't agree with me on that but bottom line is that it's your's, not our's. You started it, the least we could do is give it back to you so that you can enjoy it with the new Jets. The team isn't our's either, you say? Well, I'll let a simple geography and economic lesson address that issue: the team is in Phoenix. Someone bought it and moved it here, wanting it to be a part of Phoenix. When you pay for something, its your's. So at least for the time being, they were given to us as a gift and now belong to this city. 

I also want to use this as an example to you - that type of response is what you must get past. That isn't healthy for you. Take a lesson from the great hockey fans in Quebec - they are at peace with the loss of their beloved team. They have grieved and now moved on. Are they less passionate than you? Certainly not! They are Canadian, are they not? You say all in Canada live and breathe hockey and are better than us Phoenicians. Quebec should qualify then. They even have the online Quebec Nordiques Preservation Society, who's theme is "A tribute to the late, great Quebec Nordiques". I tried to find something honoring the Jets on the internet that didn't focus on bringing them back. But all I found was this. Where is the Winnipeg Jets Preservation Society? Please, point me to it if I've missed it... 

The hatred that is fostered needs to stop. For so long the hatred toward Phoenix went unchecked, so I'm glad that there are fans on message boards who are sticking up for our fair city and giving it back to you, to be quite honest. When I started watching hockey, I was proud of our history. I was proud of the Winnipeg Jets being a part of it. I wanted to meet fans from Winnipeg so that I could discuss our team's time in their city with them and learn more about their history. So I went online, and instead of meeting kind people who wanted to chat about hockey, I met bitter people who wanted to bash me for being a Coyotes fan. Instead of making friends I ran into bitter "ex-girlfriends" intent upon making my life miserable for no reason. Even though I certainly wasn't the one who bought the team and moved them to Phoenix. In fact, I didn't even live in Phoenix back then! 

You say it's not all fans in Winnipeg who are like this? I am one of the most visible Coyotes fans and so far I have met ONE who had something nice to say to me. ONE Jets fan who said "I have always been a Jets fan and I'll always be a fan of the franchise, regardless of the city they reside in." THAT my friends, is true passion. 

The bottom line is, saying that you are "just so passionate" does not give you the right to act like an ass. Nor does it give you the right to attempt to belittle me or any other fan because we would not choose to immerse ourselves in trying to bring the Coyotes back if they were to leave Phoenix. 

Now for your homework Winnipeg: I want you to list 5 things, not related to the Jets, in your beloved city that are a sense of pride for you. 

<3- The Diva

Playoffs!

Aren't they beautiful???

Now that the Coyotes have clinched their spot in the post-season, we can safely discuss the "P-word". Playoffs. 

WE'RE GOING TO THE FRIGGIN' PLAYOFFS! 

Though I think we should have something other than a WhiteOut in the desert, I'm going to enjoy it anyway. Why? Because my entire Coyotes Fandom career has been in the bad years. We've been losers the whole time. Now we're winners. Yes, I'm going to enjoy this immensely. 

See those tickets pictured above? Had it not been for my amazing hockey family, I wouldn't have those tickets. They got the money together and bought them for me. So why do we want to save hockey in the desert, people? Because not only is it an amazing sport, the people I've met while attending said sport are nothing short of amazing themselves. I have no idea where I'd be without them. 

<3- The Diva

I Didn't Want it to Come to This, Winnipeg.

Dear Winnipeg,

I really didn’t want it to come to this, but in light of the latest round of Coyotes-back-to-Winnipeg rumors, I’m afraid there are some things that must be said. Let me start this off by saying that I am a counselor by profession and you need to know that this obsession you still possess for your long lost team simply isn’t healthy. I can certainly sympathize with you, having almost lost and still may lose; that very same team you are still mourning the loss of. However, here’s the difference between you and I: If the NHL feels the need to again move this team, regardless of whether it goes to Hamilton, back to Winnipeg, Kansas City, Vegas or Timbuktu, I won’t start a “Bring Back the Coyotes” campaign. Nor will I spend the remainder of my days harassing the team’s new fans on the internet. I will move on, adopt a new team and hope that the Phoenix area is able to get another NHL team some time in the future. But in no way will I make it my whole life to get a team back. That doesn’t make me less passionate about the game or my team than you are, that makes me sensible. I understand how businesses are run and I realize that it sometimes isn’t about me. It’s about the business; the leases, arena sizes, corporate sponsorships, television markets, etc. It's now been well over 10 years. It's past time to move on.

There’s another issue I’d like to address with you as well. It’s the issue that has come up from some who think the players want to go back to Winnipeg because the fans are better there. No hockey fan is any better than another. This is a strange thing to me. Perhaps it is because I am fairly new to the world of sports fandom but I simply cannot grasp the fan on fan hatred. Really, no fan is better than any other. In fact, no person is any better than another. Have you listened to any of the player interviews lately? Shane Doan will tell you that the team has been playing hard to prove that they want to be in this city and they want to remain in this city. Besides, no one wants poor Alex Burrows to have to eat at anything less than a five-star restaurant when he’s playing in an opposing team’s city… right…? Or any other player for that matter. It would be far too brutal for them.. Heh… (that's sarcasm there people, in case you couldn't tell.)

So as a fellow hockey fan Dear Winnipeg, I sympathize with your plight. I know you worked hard to keep the team in the first place but it simply was not meant to be. That doesn’t make it any easier on you, I know that as well. Having said all this, I think it would be healthier for you if you’d move on now. Stop resurrecting the Jets with the latest rumors. Stop harassing the fans in Phoenix. Move on. Go watch the Moose; they need your support too. If life in Winnipeg is so horrible without NHL hockey, then my advice to you would be to move. You’ve got 6 other Canadian cities that have NHL teams you can support. And if you’re really up for a change, there are 24 in America and we’ve got plenty of room down here for you.
 
<3 - The Diva