12
May

Thank You!

By theyotesdiva 0 Comments
Categories: Bankruptcy, Coyotes fans, Phoenix Coyotes, opinion and the business of sports

I want to say a HUGE thank you to all the Coyotes fans and supporters in attendance last night at the Glendale City Council meeting. The atmosphere was amazing, the “Pack Mentality” was in full force.  I thank all of you who stood and expressed your thoughts, feelings and encouraging words to the city council and also to those who sent in emails. It was a wonderful feeling to be united in effort and see results. I wish that more of you had been able to attend to experience it.

After sitting through the meeting, I believe whole heartedly that the Coyotes will remain in Arizona, not just for next season but for many, many seasons to come. Mayor Scruggs called out the media for their reports of late and reiterated the point that things were on schedule and proceeding as expected. She also asked for us as fans to demand complete, accurate coverage of our team in the media. The Coyotes deserve the same coverage as all other sports teams in the Valley. Be vocal Coyotes fans, it’s working!

The City of Glendale made it apparent last night that their loyalties lie in keeping the team in Glendale and making the team a source of pride for the residents of Arizona. It was also made clear last night that the city is still in talks with both bidders, Glendale Hockey LLC and Ice Edge Holdings, and that a deal would be in place by the NHL’s June 30th deadline.

Last night was not just a victory for the Coyotes, it was a victory for the NHL and its fans, as a whole. NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly stood and addressed the council and fans last night. He thanked the Coyotes fans for stepping up to support the team and said that the season we just had was a testament to the ability for us to support this team and hockey to be viable in the desert.  There are some who will vehemently disagree with that statement, but I believe that if we stay the course, the NHL will only get stronger.

We now have reason to celebrate and look forward to next season. Now is the time to invest whole-heartedly in this team. It’s time to make this team our own. Let’s not leave the City of Glendale hanging. You can expect the negotiations with the bidders to continue and for something concrete to be in place by the start of the season.  As we head into next season, let’s be vocal and united in our efforts to make this the Valley’s most loved and respected sports team. The elements are in place, we have many, many reasons to be proud of our team. Let’s be the fans who go down in history as the ones to weave this team into the fabric of our desert society. Plant the roots, nurture them to fruition and prove to the world that Arizona is one of the best hockey markets. Let’s ensure that when our children’s children are cheering on their Coyotes, they can laugh at the silly notion some once had that hockey couldn’t work in the desert.

Heather McWhorter

President, Coyotes Coalition

08
May

Another City Council Meeting 5/11/2010

By theyotesdiva 0 Comments
Categories: Bankruptcy, Coyotes fans, Phoenix Coyotes, Uncategorized, nhl and the business of sports

When: Tuesday 5/11/2010 7:00pm

Where: Glendale City Council Chambers- 5850 W. Glendale Ave, Glendale, AZ.

Attire: Coyotes gear

The agenda item to be discussed regarding the Coyotes is item #14. It is in regard to granting the city permission to fund the losses for the Coyotes next season, as required by the NHL in order to keep the team here an additional season without secure ownership in place by their June 2010 deadline. If the city will not agree to fund the losses for next season and should a new owner not be secured by June 2010, the NHL was given the right to relocate the team for next season through the bankruptcy court proceedings. The agenda for Tuesday’s city council meeting can be found here.

The Coalition will be meeting for dinner prior to the start of the city council meeting, at La Perla Mexican Restaurant at 5:00 pm. Please feel free to join us! La Perla is located at 5919 W. Glendale Ave in Glendale, AZ. Their menu can be found on the website here.

We hope to see you there!

08
Apr

City Council Meeting

By theyotesdiva 0 Comments
Categories: Bankruptcy, Coyotes fans, Phoenix Coyotes, Rally, nhl and the business of sports
I hope that you’ve all seen today’s article in the Arizona Republic that states Glendale City Council will be voting on the two lease proposals next week from potential Coyotes buyers Ice Edge Holdings LLC and Glendale Hockey LLC (Reinsdorf Group). The article states that “Glendale plans to release (a) memoranda of understanding… late Friday as part of the regularly scheduled council meeting agenda…” What this means is that the public will get a 4 day window to review and comment on the agreements prior to the city council vote.

Heading in to the playoffs, I know that the last thing anyone wants is to think about the ownership situation. But Coyotes fans I need your help, our team needs our help! We need to bring the White Out to Tuesday’s Glendale City Council meeting! We need as many people as possible at that meeting in Coyotes gear and we also need fans who are willing to get up and tell the city council why they should approve the lease agreements, how it will help the city of Glendale and how badly it will damage them if they don’t approve the agreements. If you do not wish to address the council you certainly don’t have to, but having a sea of Coyotes jerseys in the room will make a HUGE impact!

If you would like to address the council, please be sure to stop and fill out a speaker card as you enter into the room prior to the start of the meeting. You will then give your card to the clerk whom will call you up when its time for the public to voice their concerns and opinions. To read more about the speaking process, please visit the Glendale, AZ website. Glendale citizens and non-citizens alike will be permitted to voice their opinions. There will likely be people there opposed to the lease agreements who will voice their opinions as well. We need to be there to show our support for the Coyotes, the lease agreements and to let our voices be heard! YOU can be a part of Coyotes history!

Bring your families, your friends, if you have to wear Coyotes red instead of white because that’s all you have, wear it! This is our chance to make an impact, let’s do it Coyotes fans! Let’s bring the White Out to the Glendale city council meeting!

WHEN: TUESDAY APRIL 13, 2010 @ 7:00 pm

WHERE: Glendale City Council Chambers
5850 WEST GLENDALE AVENUE.
GLENDALE, ARIZONA 85301

ATTIRE: WHITE OUT COYOTES GEAR!!!

If you have any questions regarding the City Council meeting or the procedure for public comment or if you cannot attend and would like to call in to comment, please call the city manager’s office for more information at: (623)930-2870 Monday-Friday from 8-5. You can also visit the above find the contact information at SaveTheCoyotes.com for the city council members if you’d like to email then your thoughts.

Thank you Coyotes fans, I know I can always count on you!

Sincerely,
Heather McWhorter
President, Save the Coyotes Coalition
www.CoyotesCoalition.com

“Preserving Our Desert Oasis”


23
Mar

Power Lunch with Doug Moss & Don Maloney

By theyotesdiva 0 Comments
Categories: Don Maloney, Phoenix Coyotes and nhl

Attention Coalition Members:

The Glendale Chamber of Commerce is hosting a power lunch presention with Doug Moss and Don Maloney on April 6th from 11AM to 1PM at Fleming’s Steak House - 9712 W. Northern Ave. The cost is $30 per person or tables of six for $180. If you are interested in attending, call the Chamber at 623-937-4754. The registration deadline is April 1, 2010

25
Dec

Coyotes Fan Survey

By theyotesdiva 0 Comments
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags:

Merry Christmas Coyotes fans!

I hope you all got exactly what you wanted for Christmas and are enjoying your time with loved ones today.

I received an email from Arizona Sports and Lifestyle magazine asking for my help in getting Coyotes fans to take a survey for an article they are writing. The article is based on the premise that professional hockey can be successful in Arizona. Please take a few moments to take this quiz so that we can provide them with some information for their article.

Here’s the link to the survey:

http://pythagorian.info/wp/surveys/phx-coyotes-survey/

 Thanks Coyotes fans!

Happy Howl-idays,
Heather McWhorter
President, Coyotes Coalition

CoyotesCoalition@yahoo.com

19
Dec

The Coyotes Coalition Salutes You, Mr. Shane Doan!

By theyotesdiva 0 Comments
Categories: Uncategorized

The Coyotes organization has been through a ot of hardship during its existence, both in the Valley and in Winnipeg. One sure thing this organization got right is Shane Doan.

doan6

Drafted 7th overall by the Winnipeg Jets in 1995, Shane has been with this organization for the entire 12 years of his NHL career. Shane exemplifies leadership, dedication and courage. He is the ultimate athlete, the ultimate captain and the ultimate overall person. Our team is lucky to have him as a leader. We the fans are honored to watch him play.

In honor of his 1000th game played in the NHL, the Coyotes Coalition would like to dedicate this post to him in pictures. All pictures were taken by Coalition photographer Andrea Hasbrouck through out the years.

Here’s to you, Captain Doan!





13
Dec

Ice Edge

By theyotesdiva 0 Comments
Categories: Uncategorized

With the signing of the letter of intent to purchase the Coyotes by the Ice Edge investment group and the NHL, a lot of you have been asking questions regarding the Ice Edge group and their intentions for our team. I thought I’d repost this entry of an interview I did with Ice Edge CFO Todd Jordan over the summer. It might help to answer some of your questions!

I had the opportunity to speak with Todd Jordan this week. Mr. Jordan is the Chief Financial Officerfor IceEdge Holdings, LLC. He patiently and thoroughly answered my questions as I fired them away at him. My first impression of Mr. Jordan was a good one; he reached out the arm of contact to me.Why? Should IceEdge gain control of the Phoenix Coyotes, they want to form a “partnership” with the fans in Arizona. They fully realize that in order for this franchise to be successful long term, we will all have to work together. They also realize that sometimes the most valuable input comes from the fans. They themselves are fans. Mr. Jordan, the American of the group; grew up in Conneticut. Having to endure the loss of the Hartford Whalers, he is certainly no stranger to the pain of losing a team to relocation.

I’d like to share with you what IceEdge feels are the critical elements of their plan for the Coyotes:

  1. Keeping the team in Phoenix: As we all know, our team is in a bad financial position. We can stand around and point the finger of blame all day long but it won’t help the situation. We may have to do something drastic in order to turn the situation around and achieve the long term goal of keeping our team in Arizona. Thus makes the next element necessary to the IceEdge plan…
  2. Playing non-core games in Canada to drive excess revenue until the team’s financial position is in better shape: Due to recent media reports, my first concern was for the loss of playoff games and I expressed this to Mr. Jordan. I was relieved to hear that taking playoff games away from us was not part of their plan. I was also relieved to hear that this would not be a permanent arrangement. This is just an arrangement intended to drive up revenue to help the team get back on its feet. It certainly isn’t an ideal plan for the players, for the fans, for the city who will lose the revenue from those five games. However, as far as options go for making this team financially better off now, this might not be such a terrible idea. There might even be some things we can do to make this temporary situation less painful. If our team must play games elsewhere, can we not call them “home games” played in a sister city? They are not home games, home is Glendale, AZ. Can we as a fan base come up with suggestions of an acceptable name we could call these games? Perhaps one with a desert theme such as the Coyotes Sand Storm Through Canada? I’d love to hear everyone’s feedback and ideas on this…
  3. Put a winning team on the ice - higher payroll: As we all know, the key to filling up the arena and attracting the casual fan is to put a competitive team on the ice and get everyone’s attention. We have the basic elements in place. But to truly ice a competitive team we need to add a few more “finishing touches”. Having a higher payroll will help us to attract the players we need to complete the equation. Let’s face the facts; there is a lot of work to be done here in Phoenix. We’ve got a scorned fan base to repair, financial issues to remedy and local sports fans that still need to be reached. And frankly folks, if we don’t start filling up seats now, the financial situation will only worsen, making eventual relocation inevitable regardless of who purchases the team. We need something to supplement the team’s income now while we work toward those goals.
  4. Work with the city of Glendale as a partner to drive more visitation and help the Coyotes cut costs.
  5. Implementation of core business principles to an organization that has displayed very little
  6. Utilizing the Gretzky brand more effectively

The deciding factor of whether our team stays or goes once a local bidder takes control will be dependent upon us. WE can insure that whomever takes over the ownership of the team will have no choice but to keep the Coyotes in Glendale. How? Fill the arena up with fans! That will remove any reason to take away our team. We have a nice new arena and there is no shortage of corporate sponsorship opportunities in Arizona. Attendance is our biggest issue; and its quite fixable. So get out there, talk to people, educate the desert on the joy of hockey.

Spread the love folks, let’s keep our team!

I welcome your feedback and concerns. I will do my best to get all your questions answered!

Heather McWhorter

President, Save the Coyotes Coalition

Coyotes Coalition@yahoo.com

www.SaveTheCoyotes.com

11
Dec

NHL SIGNS LETTER OF INTENT TO SELL COYOTES TO ICE EDGE HOLDINGS

By theyotesdiva 0 Comments
Categories: Uncategorized

From PhoenixCoyotes.com

Friday, 12.11.2009 / 6:15 PM / News
NHL.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DECEMBER 11, 2009

NEW YORK – National Hockey League Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly issued the following statement today regarding the proposed sale of the Phoenix Coyotes to Ice Edge Holdings:

“The NHL and Ice Edge Holdings announced today that they have entered into a Letter of Intent to proceed in attempting to document and close a proposed transaction pursuant to which Ice Edge would purchase the Phoenix Coyotes’ franchise. While much remains to be done, the NHL looks forward to working closely with Ice Edge to bring the sale to conclusion as expeditiously as possible. Ice Edge has committed to keep the Coyotes in Glendale, Arizona.”

23
Nov

Volunteer Opportunities & Upcoming Events

By theyotesdiva 0 Comments
Categories: Uncategorized
Greetings Coyotes fans,
We have a few volunteer opportunities available during the month of December. If you have already sent me an email expressing interest in volunteering to help for December, I need you to send me an email and confirm that you are still planning to volunteer. If you do not email me, I will assume you no longer wish to volunteer.
Please read over the volunteer guidelines on our website BEFORE agreeing to volunteer. You are representing the Coalition and the Coyotes organization and therefore, must follow the guidelines set forth by the organization. Coyotes gear can be worn but please refrain from wearing your jerseys or other teams’ apparel while volunteering. Volunteers must report to Gate 3 thirty minutes prior to when the gates open for a briefing. Since there have been issues with people taking the tickets but not showing up to volunteer, you will now receive your ticket to get into the game when you check in at Gate 3 the night you have signed up to volunteer. You may be required to stay until the end of the 1st period to hand out the items to those who arrive late. Volunteers are asked not to leave their posts until relieved by someone with the organization. These are the dates we need volunteers. If you are able to volunteer please send me an email and let me know which date you’d like to volunteer for and whether or not you’ll be needing tickets.

Saturday 12/5/2009: help the Coyotes hand out We Win/You Win Vouchers

Saturday 12/26/2009: help the Coyotes hand out the blanket give-away
To volunteer please send an email to CoyotesCoalition@yahoo.com

The holiday season is upon us and the Coyotes are offering a fantastic “Sandstorm Sale” that starts on November 27th at 10:00am. What a great holiday gift Coyotes tickets would make!
Upcoming Events
The Coyotes take on the Dallas Stars this Friday at 7:00pm at Jobing.com Arena. One of my favorite things to do when I have family and friends in town is take them to see the Coyotes. I had the opportunity to take my visiting family and friends with me to the game against the Flyers this past weekend and they had an absolute blast! So if you have family in town thisThanksgiving, taking them to the game on Black Friday is a great way to spend some time together!
The Coyotes are hosting 2 viewing parties in December during away games. Here’s the information on those parties, I hope to see you there!
Thursday 12/10/2009 8:00-10:00pm vs LA Kings
This viewing party will be held at Oggi’s Pizza and Brewing Company in Glendale.
Oggi’s Pizza & Brewing Company

6681 W. Beardsley Road
Glendale, AZ 85308

623-556-8080
Saturday 12/19/2009 12:30-2:30pm vs Anaheim Ducks
This viewing party will be held at the new 18° Neighborhood Grill located inside of the Alltel Ice Den in Scottsdale.

Alltel Ice Den

9375 E. Bell Rd
Scottsdale AZ 85260

480-585-RINK
Heather McWhorter
President, Save the Coyotes Coalition
CoyotesCoalition@yahoo.com

18
Nov

Help out Phoenix Children’s Hospital while watching hockey!

By theyotesdiva 0 Comments
Categories: Uncategorized

A special offer for Coalition members from our friends over at Desert Eagle’s Nest…

flyers-coyotespic

To order your tickets, you can call Melanie Asay at 623-772-3309 Deadline to order: Friday November 20, 2009

*Subject to availability.

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Coyotes Fast Facts

Owner(s): National Hockey League
General Manager: Don Maloney
Coach: Dave Tippett
Founding Year: 1972 (moved to Phoenix in 1996)
Previous Cities/Names: Winnipeg Jets
Conference: Western
Division: Pacific
Division Opponents: Anaheim Ducks, Dallas Stars, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks
Championships: None
Conference Titles: None
Division Titles: None
Minor League Affiliate:

  • San Antonio Rampage (AHL)
  • Arizona Sundogs (CHL)

Mascot: Howler
Arena: Jobing.com Arena (Formerly Glendale Arena)
Arena History:America West Arena

Broadcast Affiliates: XTRA Sports 910, AZTV, FSN Arizona
Broadcasters:Dave Strader (TV), Bob Heethuis (radio), Tyson Nash (TV)
Official Website: PhoenixCoyotes.com

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