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Wednesday, November 8, 2000
Success will be judged in playoffs
By George Johnson
Special to ESPN.com
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Once the WWF tag-team death match between Richard "Show Me The Money" Burke and Bobby "Out of a Job" Smith and Steve "Show Me The Team" Ellman and Wayne "Barred From The Dressing Room" Gretzky finally ends, the Coyotes can get on with the business of trying to accomplish what hasn't been done since the dawn of time:
Win a lousy playoff round.
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Wed., Sept. 27
The biggest priority for Phoenix is to sign goalie Nikolai Khabibulin. He established himself as a top-level goalie before sitting out last year. And teams don't go anywhere in the league without a quality goalie. They had good goaltending last year, but there was always some doubt about the goaltending from night to night.
Signing Khabibulin isn't their only problem; the Coyotes need more scoring depth up front to go with Jeremy Roenick and Keith Tkachuk. But it all starts with the goalie situation. |
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Yes, it's been 13 long years and 10 agonizing disappointments since the Jets/Coyotes franchise last made any cursory inroads into the NHL's postseason party. Last year, it appeared they might just end the agony, given their 90-point regular season, near-career year from emotional catalyst Jeremy Roenick and the skating and puck-handling abilities of their top two defensemen.
Yeah. Right. Didn't happen. And the curse continues unabated.
Oh well, at least in Phoenix there are a ton of great golf courses on which to while away the sorrows of another season gone awry.
Still, if the sale goes through and all the outside distractions are removed – including those continuing Keith Tkachuk trade rumor and the absence of goalie Nikolai Khabibulin because of a contract impasse – perhaps that relentless Arizona sun won't seem quite so hot this year. Maybe, this is finally the winter to exorcise the demon, end the hex. Perhaps. Could be. Who knows?
One thing's for sure: Don't expect Smith, who fatally aligned himself right beside departing owner Burke, or coach Bobby Francis, to survive much past the official nanosecond Ellman and Gretzky – who has a reported 20 percent stake in the club – assume control of things, again assuming it's a go. Mike Barnett, Gretzky's good buddy and agent, is rumored to be the front-runner for the GM job, while don't bet against No. 99 recycling another cohort from years gone by, John Muckler, to be his coach.
Gretzky will doubtless want people he knows and trusts involved in his investment, and Ellman will doubtless bow to his wishes.
And while the Coyotes don't have Dallas- or Detroit-like talent to draw from, the top two lines and upper three defensemen – Teppo Numminen, Jyrki Lumme and Keith Carney – are relatively solid. If Tkachuk is healthy and happy and Khabibulin has, as expected, remained reasonably sharp during his year with Long Beach of the IHL, the Coyotes could at least keep within firing distance of the Stars during the regular season.
But as always, the season doesn't begin for the Coyotes until Game No. 83 and won't be considered a success if they aren't still playing in Game No. 91.
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Bottom Line on the Coyotes
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Strengths
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Weaknesses
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Keith Tkachuk
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Toughness on defense
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Return of Khabibulin
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Loss of Dallas Drake
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Lame-duck front office
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SEASON OUTLOOK: Pretty much same as last year. A good regular season will be appreciated by those who shelled out for season tickets to America West Arena, but only by advancing past the first round of postseason, will anyone be remotely satisfied. |
George Johnson covers the NHL for the Calgary Herald. His NHL National column appears every week during the season on ESPN.com.
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ALSO SEE
Anaheim Mighty Ducks preview
Los Angeles Kings preview
San Jose Sharks preview
Dallas Stars preview
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