About Arizona Coyotes
The franchise had come to life in 1972 as Winnipeg Jets when they joined the now non-existent World Hockey Association. The team was absorbed by the NHL in 1979 and carried on playing there until 1996 when the franchise moved to Phoenix due to increasing financial issues as Winnipeg was one of the smallest NHL markets.
The move to Phoenix was also met with rebranding and from that point the franchise was known as Phoenix Coyotes. Another financial difficulty that hit the franchise caused it to be bought out by another entity and from season 2014-15 the team became known as Arizona Coyotes to invite all people from the state to be fans and not linking it only to the city of Phoenix.
The franchise is yet to appear in Stanley Cup Finals and they appeared in Western Conference Finals once. The Coyotes are members of Pacific Division in Western Conference which they have won once. The division is the only one without any of the Original Six teams that made up the NHL from 1942 to 1967 expansion.
The team’s colours are brick red, desert sand, black and white and their mascot is Howler the coyote holder of few awards, including mascot speed skating record holder.
The Coyotes are coached by Dave Tippett who played as a left winger in the eighties and nineties period after which he pursued coaching career, he joined the franchise in 2009 and he was awarded Jack Adams Awards (NHL coach of the year) after the conclusion of his first season as the team coach by leading the coyotes to playoffs.
Mike Smith is the team’s first choice as a goalie, he is the 11th goalie in NHL history to score a goal, and he also won gold medal playing for Canada in 2014 Olympic Games. He can fuel the team’s confidence with his experience and great skills.
The team’s nominated captain is right winger Shane Down who was drafted by the franchise while they were still based in Winnipeg. He spent all his NHL career with the team and is considered the Coyotes heart and soul by many.
He provides support and veteran leadership to team’s alternative captain in person of Oliver Ekman-Larsson who plays on defence but who does a lot of damage offensively by breaking NHL record becoming the first Swedish defenceman in NHL history to score more than 20 goals in a single season.
Looking just at the captain’s the fans might enjoy the thought that there’s plenty of experience and leadership mixed with youth and explosiveness to hopefully bring the Coyotes back into playoffs contention.
