Ringing in the New Season

First of all - and with no disrespect toward the Coyotes Organization or Jobing.com Arena staff - that Pacific Division Championship Banner "unveiling" was just... pathetic.

I know we still don't have an owner and thus have no money for pomp & circumstance - but we couldn't at least dim the house lights and RAISE the banner up to the roof? The NHL couldn't at least do that for us all? I was so terribly disappointed with it all...

And it was cooked. Our own players were laughing when it was "unveiled"... come on!

But the take home replicas they gave us were fantastic.

That aside - the most important thing is: hockey is back!!!!

Bonus: They now sell gluten free beer & hot dogs at Jobing.com Arena. It is outside of section 111 at the "Lighter Fare" stand. Please go patronize it. I need beer and hot dogs at hockey games people...

And last - but the farthest thing on EARTH from least - I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of our Hockey Family - Izzy - who made an appearance at her first tailgate yesterday. 

She's practicing her intimidation techniques - we think she might have some enforcer in her. 

Parting is such sweet sorrow...

I think Ray Whitney probably put it best - what you witnessed this season was the definition of the word "team". All the way up to when they cleaned out their lockers at Jobing.com Arena this week.

There is so much that I could say about how our season ended. I could choose to bitch about the officials right now... or I could lay out a huge conspiracy theory...  but I'm not going to be bother doing either - because I have a lot more to celebrate than bitch about right now...

Hockey came alive in the desert this summer.

Airport Tower at Sky Harbor Airport, image via..

 There proved to be some hockey fans here after all.

Or at least, some more of them moved here... :)

And my team had another record breaking season, further helping to make hockey a part of the culture in Phoenix. The entire town was left aching for more Phoenix Coyotes hockey...

And they're going to get it.

Thank you, our Phoenix Coyotes for an amazing season and one helluva Cup run.

 

This one's for you...

I remember sitting in a mostly empty Jobing.com arena my first Coyotes game several years ago and thinking to myself... "I can't believe no one is here... Why is no one here? This is AWESOME!!! I better go get season tickets now. Pretty soon they will be hard to come by!"

That was the innocent, uninformed rookie Heather. The Heather that had no idea what was coming a few years down the road. The Heather that was shocked when people laughed and looked at me crazy when I said I was a Phoenix Coyotes fan.

Those next few years brought many wonderful people into my life. The people I now refer to as my Hockey Family. You'll see some of them in the first video. Those were also the people I sat surrounded by as my team made history and advanced to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history last night. They were the people I cried with as the final buzzer sounded. We'd cried together before - but not for happy reasons.

Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion...

Please excuse the shakiness you see when that final buzzer went off. It's hard to scream, clap, cry, high 5 and cheer all while attempting to capture the moment on video. 

Now the below song may seem strange - but it's an accurate representation and proper salute to those Coyotes fans who have stuck through it with this franchise through the good times we're now having - and the mostly bad times the team went through since they moved here.

To Monique & Heather S. who never made me sit in the back of bankruptcy court alone - you'll get why I chose this song. We sat there huddled together all alone sometimes - the only Coyotes fans there - as the talking heads ripped our team apart. It wasn't fun. It wasn't easy. It wasn't convenient. But we were there.

To those of you who follow my twitter feed and offered me support and convinced me not to throw a shoe at Jim Balsillie and his lawyers... You'll get why I chose this song.

To my hockey family, who sat with me year after year as we watched our seasons end long before the Stanley Cup was awarded. You'll get why I chose this song. 

Because we didn't give up - even when the skies got rough. We gave 'em all we had - because we knew they were worth it. And they are... they always have been.

If this is as good as it gets this season - I'm ok with that. We're going to the Western Conference Finals!

But I have a feeling these boys are not giving up either... And just like the injured soldier in the video below...

I don't wanna be someone who walks away so easily 

I'm here to stay and make the difference that I can make 

Our differences they do a lot to teach us how to use 

The tools and gifts we got yeah, we got a lot at stake... 

Coyotes Pep Rally

I just wanted to share this with ya'll - Howler spent the day Tuesday doing pep rallies at the local schools in Glendale. I'm happy to see Fox Phoenix going out and helping to grow the excitement of the Phoenix Coyotes playoff run. This is where we start folks - get the kids hooked on hockey first!

 

Coyotes pep rally: MyFoxPHOENIX.com

The wait is over!

My boys have finally advanced to the second round of the playoffs - and with a 4-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks! I know - there is still a long road ahead of them, but tonight I'm going to enjoy this moment.

Tomorrow I'm going to go greet them at airport when they come home (if you'd like to join me, here's the info on when and where). We are going to celebrate the first time our Captain and many of our players have made it to round 2 of the playoffs. And if we lose in the 2nd round, we at least have a Pacific division title and a round one victory. Neither of which we've had in Phoenix before. That's huge. Certainly I hope we go further - and believe them capable of making it all the way to the finals - but I'm happy to celebrate how far we've come.

The entire town is buzzing about this hockey team - they even reported about the ownership situation and the Coyotes win during the 9pm news tonight. That NEVER happens! So whatever the future brings for us, win or lose - I'm proud. I'm happy for the Coyotes fans who have been through 3 years of hell. The fans who have been behind them from day 1. I'm ecstatic that we have something to really celebrate this year. I'm going to allow the ownership situation to take care of itself - because I have faith that it will - and I am going to simply enjoy the ride.

Congratulations Phoenix Coyotes - I couldn't be prouder.

 

Christmas Vacation in LA

Meet "TheYotesDiva Jr"

Hello all! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year (just a tad bit late...) 

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. I had the opportunity to travel to Los Angeles for the first time to visit the Staples Center and watch the Coyotes play the Kings the day after Christmas. Regardless of the loss - I still had a blast! I took my niece - who is an avid Coyotes fan - and my mother, who had never been to a live NHL game before. She LOVED it! The Kings fans were fantastic - and didn't even complain about my niece's constant "GO YANDLE GO!" chant through-out the ENTIRE game. I love that kid... 

We stayed at the LA Live Marriott - on Coyotes TV Color Analyst Tyson Nash's recommendation - and it did not disappoint! Fantastic accommodations and within walking distance of Staples Center. Perfect! 

My niece and I waiting for the Staples Center doors to open...

Posing by the famous Gretzy statue...

Waiting for warm-ups...

Trying to get Yandle's attention...

Mission accomplished! Commemorative puck from warm-ups obtained!

The Diva's 1st Annual Coyotes Christmas Card Awards

Each year the Phoenix Coyotes draw holiday cards to be sold by Coyotes Charities. Opening up those cards each year and seeing what each player drew has become a fun tradition holiday in my house. So in honor of this Coyotes tradition, I've decided that I will start my own tradition here on the blog and give out awards to the players who make the best holiday cards each Christmas. Maybe if I ever purchase and learn how to use Photoshop, I'll actually make up awesome little trophies for each award or something. For now - we'll have to go with what we've got...

Welcome to The Diva's 1st Annual Coyotes Charities Christmas Card Awards! 

We're here tonight to honor those Coyotes players who really take the time to put some thought into their Christmas cards - or the ones who blatantly just don't give a crap... Because that makes for awesome Christmas cards too. So here we go! 

The award for the Best Desert Themed Card goes to:

#16 Rostislov Klesla!!!

Rusty's card got MAJOR props for the Christmas Cactus and PHX patch. 

The WTF Award goes to:

#3 Keith Yandle!!!

Uhhh... WTF Yandle...? 

This is why my boy is a hockey player and not an artist. Mcy? What does that mean? Is that supposed to be a stocking? You put rope on your Christmas tree? Is that a Smurf Snowman? *pats Yandle's head* you just keep teachin' how to dougie pumpkin. 

The "Hey, That's Actually Good" Award goes to:

#11 Martin Hanzal!!!

That's actually a really good snowman! Nice use of colors, great hat. Nice work Marty!

The "Huh?" Award goes to:

#41 Mike Smith!!!

I'm not entirely sure what his message is here - but he's a goalie. And the beauty of being a goalie is that no one has to understand your logic, because your a goalie. As long as you stop the puck you can do whatever you want. I am a bit disturbed by the "Candy of Cane" part though, I can't lie. But uh... Keep on Truckin'! 

The Best Christmas Tree Award goes to:

#33 Adrian Aucoin!

Is his wife taller than him? Cuz I... well... Why is the pink one the tallest? Um... yeah... that's a really good tree though! 

Last but certainly not least we have... 

The Best Overall Award, it goes to:

#13 Ray Whitney!!!

Where's Whitney strikes again! This time apparently, as Todd Walsh's creepy 2nd head. The absolute epicness of this card is immeasurable. From Shane Doan's nose to Walshie's shoes - it's a WIN all around.

If you'd like your own set so you can see what the rest of the team drew - you can order them here. You won't be disappointed. 

And with that - I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Hockey New Year! 

A picture is worth a thousand words...

The Phoenix Coyotes return to Winnipeg... 

With sense of humor - and Coyotes game night giveaway winter hats - in tact. 

Give 'em hell boys... 

I sincerely hope they went to dinner in their hats tonight.   

Image Via

Coyotes Home Opener!

The Coyotes organization outdid themselves yet again this year - with a spectacular home opener:

Here's some of my crappy iPhone pictures from the evening.

Player intros - complete with fire!

GOAL!

And we howled...

And that was all I managed to capture via photo before I got some bad news on a personal level and it consumed the remainder of the game for me. 

But we won - and that was amazing and wonderful and made me happy. 

The "Old Jets" are still far superior to the "New Jets". 

Why? Because... 

WE WON! 

I'm officially taking advantage of those bragging rights now. 

WE WIN, WE WIN, WE WIN!!! 

Fly home little Jets!

 

Ready. Set... HOCKEY!!!

It's here! 

My ticket card to every home Coyotes game for the next two seasons. 

That makes it official - it's HOCKEY SEASON!!! 

I'd like to propose a toast - to another season for the Phoenix Coyotes in Glendale, to (hopefully) getting an owner who will keep our team here, and to my boys continued success...

To the season! 

{image via}

{image via}

There's really nothing quite like the smell of fresh ice...

I love that first trip to the arena as the preseason is getting ready to kick off. There's really nothing quite like the smell of fresh ice after a long, hot summer.

The rookies looked great - and the place was packed! Which is unusual for the first day of rookie camp. There was an air of enthusiasm at Jobing.com Arena - the fans are optimistic and excited about the season - even if the outlook at the moment isn't the brightest. Hockey is taking a turn in the desert - a turn for the better.

This sound is my favorite. The sound of their skates as skid to turn around when they participate in this drill. Coincidentally - my hockey playing friends tell me it is the most hated of the drills - because it is rather difficult. But I still love that sound...

Bring on the season!!!

P.S. Don't mind my horrid camera skillz - and the commentary in the background.... :D