Coyotes give fans win in final Arizona game
The Arizona Coyotes gave their fans one last win, and their fans gave them plenty of love in the final game of the franchise’s 28-year run in the state.
The Coyotes defeated the Edmonton Oilers, 5-2 Wednesday night, but the score really was secondary as the team stayed on the ice thanking fans, and fans, many dressed for a final “Whiteout,’’ gave the team a last standing ovation sendoff that filled Mullett Arena with emotion.
“I think I was more nervous for this game than the gold medal game at World Championships,” head coach André Tourigny said. “I did really want for our players to play a hell of a game for our fans and I think it was a place where we really enjoyed in the Valley. The fans were great and we enjoyed living here and everybody wanted to finish that on a positive note.”
It’s expected that within a few days, the NHL officially will announce the franchise, which moved to Phoenix from Winnipeg in 1996, will relocate to Salt Lake City.
The finality of the franchise that had survived multiple relocation threats was so apparent that former captain Shane Doan left Toronto where he had been preparing for the playoffs with the Maple Leafs as the special adviser to general manager Brad Treliving so he could see the final game. Doan’s impact on the franchise ran deep and his son, Josh, played the final 11 games with the team this season.
“I don’t think the plan was for him to come back. He said, ‘I’m being there (in Toronto) and I’m involved in the playoffs for the rest of the year,’” Josh said. “For him to come back and come out of his way, it shows how much it means to him. To my sisters and my mom, it’ll be emotional for them. It’s something that they’ve been a part of their whole lives and with it being up in the air is tough right now.”
The team’s future in Arizona began on rough footing this season after the organization’s arena proposal in Tempe failed last May. Even with the team committed to play at ASU’s Mullett Arena for the season, the deadline for finding a permanent home became tighter and tighter, even as ownership said it would bid on state land in northeast Phoenix as a site
for a future arena. Rumors of relocation started to swirl more in late January, which had contributed to the team’s 14game losing streak that was the death knell to a potential playoff race.
“It feels like a lot of it is like family,”
Josh said. “I was a fan growing up and I’ll always be a fan of the Coyotes, that’s how I was brought up. I chose to cheer the Coyotes because it was my team, it was Arizona, and not only because my dad played for them. To know what (the fans) have gone through, the ups and the downs, and to see them all here after everything they’ve been put through the last 20 years is really incredible.”
A night for history
Several prominent players in Coyotes history attended the final game, but one of the most important pieces of history was also there: Shane Doan’s retirement banner.
Doan’s banner hung in the rafters in Glendale from 2019 to the Coyotes final game there in 2022 after playing 20 years in Arizona. But when the team’s lease expired in Glendale, the Coyotes swiftly moved out of what was then Gila River Arena and didn’t take their belongings.
Doan’s banner was sitting in a box in a storage room at the arena and was recovered by longtime fan Matthew Jacobson, who delivered the banner to Doan before Wednesday’s game.
Fans start a ‘Salt Lake sucks’ chant
With the crowd covered in white shirts to bring back the better days of the Arizona Coyotes “White Out” in the playoffs, the atmosphere at Mullett Arena was bittersweet Wednesday night.
Signs lined up on the boards for warmups with thank you messages to players. Fans organized parties in the parking lot. Players like Clayton Keller made sure to give sticks and pucks to the fans in what is likely the team’s final game in Arizona, as the NHL is poised to announce this week the franchise will move to Salt Lake City.
The move created a flurry of emotions, including fans starting a “Salt Lake sucks” chant during the second period.
Overshadowed by the grim nature of the night, forward Aku Raty made his NHL debut for a team that will soon be a memory.
Going back to the roots, there was a smattering of “still there” chants during the national anthem, a tradition that was born from years of relocation rumors.
In turn, the Coyotes smothered the playoff-bound Edmonton Oilers after the puck dropped and gave the fans something to cheer for. The building hit a high when Liam O’Brien scored for the Coyotes in the first two minutes and carried over in big moments in the opening 20 minutes.