So so confused…

I think there is a compliment to Odie in there somewhere, so I will second that wholeheartedly. Odie has done a fine job with the site and getting information out there…he even helps me sell tickets or takes them off of my hands when I can’t make it to a game…

And yes, Phoenix and the local sports scene needs to get their act together in covering the Coyotes. Hopefully once the Cardinals season ends, they will really have no choice. I don’t know why they don’t want to do it, or do a better job of it, but whatever.

As for the team not doing enough, I’m not sure what you are looking for. The Coyotes bombard us with pleas to buy tickets…is that not what you are pleading with people to do? I expect the team to beg people to attend games…and I think that they have been doing a good job of getting creative with it (Coyotes Ambassadors Club; discounts; general advertising for once). And the attendance has been picking up steadily since the beginning of the season.

I also don’t think that the items you mentioned above (in-house “host”; Pierre; pack dancers; commemorative jerseys) really are that bad. The Suns have employed an in-house host for years (Cedric Ceballos?) and it generally works. Since the Suns are the only truly successful Phoenix sports team, why not emulate them. Personally, although Pierre was definitely racist (although no more offensive than Keanu Reaves in Youngblood), I thought he was hysterical….certainly I’ve seen far worse advertising through the years. As for the pack dancers – eh, whatever. They didn’t really add to the experience, but Phoenix certainly isn’t the only market that has tried this tact in the past. And the commemorative jerseys are a throwaway….they wear them in practice and auction them off to raise money for charity. They are all signed by the players…they did the same thing a few years ago with St. Patrick’s Day jerseys and it was successful…if you don’t want one, don’t go to the auction.

It seems as if you have a lot of anger over the recent “youth movement” from the past few years, which certainly was a cause of plenty of anger. But it seems as if the incompetent management and coaching have gone by the wayside. The team is competitive and fun to watch. The players are exceedingly likeable and quite friendly to the fans when they meet them (at least this has been my experience). I guess I just don’t understand where all the vitriol is coming from here or why you’re directing it at the folks here at FfH, who tend to be the diehards that you say you are not directing it to (I don’t think Gintonio, Bickley or the general Scottsdale sports-apathy riddled idiots are coming here).

Finally, while I am perfectly happy to see more folks in the stands, I’ll happily pass on the drunken idiots screaming idiotically for no reason throughout the entire game. As a Philly transplant, I’ve seen passionate fans and drunken idiots in scores – give me more of the former, but let’s leave the latter at home…I’d rather not have to share an arena with them…

Just my thoughts from my size 10 Pumas…

And to the out of towners who DO look here, they should realize that there are people who give two shits about the ’Yotes. They do need to realize that as paying customers for their product, our trust has been violated, for years.

  I’m not advocating a mess of drunks invade the arena, either. But sitting through the perfumed snobbery of your typical Coyotes bandwagon fans makes me sick. You don’t have to be drunk to be loud. And yes, attendance is abundantly better due to the team’s success. I think Tippett has done a bang-up job, but people who have left spending money on the ‘Yotes because of their so-called ’youth movement’ need to realize that the team has done a complete 180.

As for Doan pleading to bring more fans out , during his ceremony? It shouldn’t happen. And if you ask any out of town fan, they’ll tell you it never would. Being from Philly, you should know that.

Excuses. You may have your reasons, but let the people who used to regulalry pack the house speak for themselves. better yet, let the organization do what they’re supposed to do, and market new fans.

It doesn’t have to be overnight, sure. But it sure as hell be sooner than later, or we’re looking like the Balsillie bait we swore we’d never be. Period.

If you want hockey without the golf clapping, drive north to Prescott Valley and come to a Sundogs game. The team may not be doing so great this year, but even when there’s less than half a stadium full we are yelling, banging, and everything else to make sure the boys know we support them. Four times last game we got to voice the lovely ‘he shoots, he scores, hey goalie – you suck’ chant at the opposing goalie. Tomorrow’s game should be a good one, the last time we played Amarillo we broke their shutout with four minutes left in the game and their goalie lost his freakin mind. It was spectacular.

Coming from Southern California though, I can attest to the fact that the fan attitude you spoke of is not localized to Phoenix. Fans show up half way through the games and it is far more about socializing with people and hopefully getting your picture on tv than it is about the games.

But in all seriousness, the ’Yotes problems stem mainly from their shoddy PR and marketing department, in my opinion. If you do the math, the Sharks have only been around 5 more years than the ’Yotes. And, the Sharks started from scratch with leftovers from other teams.

    In their second season,still playing in the 10,000+ seat Cow Palace ( an hour away from San Jose, located in South San Francisco..and no, they didn’t lose one fan because of an hour drive south), the Sharks had the second worst record in NHL history. That year, they went 11-71-2. Yet San Jose’s marketing department pushed full force into cultivating fans, using pre-game and post-game shows for full on explainations of rules, and etiquette of hockey fans. The ‘Yotes kinda do a piddly segment with Tyson Nash ( “Hockey 202”, I believe), but ti’s maybe 3 minutes of Nash expalining a snap shot, or something basic. I’d suggest more pregame or postgame shows with entertaining segments, even getting to know the players better. To me, it seems like everyone knows what a great guy Shane Doan is. But tell me something about Bissonette. Ask him about fighting, and not be afraid of being PC in the process. Take me to lunch with Jovanovski, and ask him what it feels like to decimate someone with their head down.

       What I’m saying is, they need the fans to WANT to connect with the players, aside from the 40 year old rink rats who want to bone Mueller. And if that doesn’t work, put the players in the commercials like San Jose. More exposure to the fans, make a little fun of themselves, and give us something to talk about on off days. I frequent the San Jose SBnation board, and references to Joe Thornton and bean burritos are almost a daily occurrance.

Kind of stupid, but at least it gives you something to connect with, instead of a stereotyped snowman that’s more annoying than humorous.

  Even in San Jose, they went above and beyond to teach hockey to anyone who tuned in. Drew Remenda ( former assistant, current TV broadcaster for SJ ) had a segment called ‘The Suit Doctor". Always the dapper fellow, Drew would explain the tiniest details that make hockey so special, like why players ’straddle the line’ to maintain speed without going offsides. Telestrators and overhead views of the rink made even first-time fans get interested in why the players do things a certain way. And if that didn’t work, he’d always pick one of the young kids out of the locker room and make fun of their wardrobes. Weird, maybe. But versatile and entertaining, for sure.

  As I said earlier, The ‘Yotes organization treats their fans as if they were born under a rock. Two years ago, my family had to move out of our Center Ice handicap seats (30 rows back, by the cameras) as prices in those two sections skyrocketed due to the team calling it their ’Red Zone". Meanwhile, five feet to my right , 3 rows from the glass, ticket prices DROPPED. It was an insult to anyone’s intelligence, and a dickhead move overall by the organization. We moved across the ice, behind the benches. THOSE prices went up as well, so now we’re relegated to corner handicap seats in 119. At least I have a bartender who loves me, 15 feet away.

But wait, there’s more great news from the marketing and PR department ! As a season ticket holder, you’re assigned a ‘season ticket holder rep’. I think they should have lapel pins that say either ‘Yes Man’ or “Damage Control”. All reps, while decent about returning calls, never have any answers if you need them. It’s always “I’ll have to get back to you”. And when they do, the process usually involves them talking to their higher-ups, then relaying the excuse of the day as to why they can’t accomodate you. And it’s not like you’re twisting their arms with the most ridiculous requests, either.

— My father needs a handicapped parking spot, and we have a parking pass. As recent as the last game, the lot guy charged us ten bucks and refused to let us into a handicap spot as they were “all full”. My father angrily paid the man, and after some choice words, drove right to where we would have parked……..into a wide open spot, one row from the handicapped spots. When he angrily called our rep to get the runaround, the story was " Well you can park across the street from the arena, and we have a shuttle to take you to the front door". In 5 years of having season tickets, I have not seen ONE F(&^%ING SHUTTLE. Ever. The excuses are made, and there is no way to hold these people accountable.

— Our ‘thanks for being a season ticket holder ’ christmas package came in the mail…after New Years….. And in it, we got two coupon books… And, we also got….. get this…. LAST YEARS season ticket holder pins. What, like we’re blind or something? Give me a fucking break. Just another example of cutting corners and looking the other way.

— Not sure if you were at the game when this happened, but the girls with the T-shirt gun came by our section and were shooting off shirts, people were hollering for them and whatnot as usual. And when they open the shirts, NOT ONE COYOTES LOGO TO BE SEEN ON THEM. The people were so pissed, they started throwing the shirts back at the girls. Kinda comedy, kinda horror. But alas, neither were the good kind.

   Look, I know it sounds like I’m picking on the ‘Yotes, but the stuff they do is so intolerable, it’s as if they’re going out of their way to not try.

   They could fix things by working with the local news channels, if they didn’t suck so hard as well. I have been blasted on here before by someone who swears up and down that the ‘Yotes do exceptional work in the community ( I’d debate that too), but even if they do….

— When’s the last time you saw Howler and some ‘Yotes at an elementary school on the news? Would sending a camera crew for some exposure be too much to ask? And how far would anyone in the ’Yotes organization be willing to travel for that? Mesa? Scottsdale? Chandler? Buckeye? My guess is, if it’s not Phoenix/Glendale/Peoria, then they’re probably too lazy to do it.

— We have high school hockey in Phoenix, believe it or not. I sure as hell wish I had that when I was in San Jose, but we didn’t. The news channels out here cover the football season like it was going out of style, why not hockey? Sure, the level of play isn’t up to par at some of the schools, but doesn’t anyone think that might make the teenager demographic more inspired to attend games?

— ASU has a hockey team. And from what I hear, they’re not so bad. I wouldn’t know though, as I have only seen a small blip about them on FSN Arizona. The college demographic might be able to shell out a few bucks as well, right?

— What about an insightful, yet humorous column on page two of the AZ tribune about hockey? I get to hear about Amare Stoudemire listening to rap music half the time, then the other half is about what Ken Whisenhunt ate for breakfast,. Times I’ve seen a piece on anyone on the ’Yotes that can appeal to even non-hockey fans in the AZ Trib? Goose egg.

— Merchandise. Plain and simple, it’s awful. To me, it looks like they didn’t buy anything new before the season, as they thought they were going to be in Hamilton by now. And the Coyotes brick red color scheme? I know some people like it, but booooooooring. The jumboptron at the games has a segment asking which jerseys the players like the best, and the Black Roadkill jersey is by far the favorite. And if you look in the stands, that seems to be the case as well. The brick reds were Wayne’s idea, something that strangely makes me think it has something to do with his days with the Sault ( pronounced “SOO” ) Ste. Marie Greyhounds.

Pretty familiar, methinks.

Would changing the color scheme up be better? Some artist on a website has been doing mock-ups for all teams, and while they may not be fantastic, these sure catch my eye a lot faster than the boring brick reds:

Sand colored home jerseys?! Talk about the possibility of actually CARVING YOUR OWN NICHE. God forbid anyone in the ’Yotes corporation has an ounce of creativity.

— In San Jose, the plaza level bar is open to everyone, I wouldn’t condone that for the ’Yotes, only because Glendale police are downright scary with their DUI laws. And in San Jose, they have a light rail, CalTrain, and assloads of busses that actually take care of their customers who like to have a cocktail or two. Designated drivers aside, the possibility of going down to a luxury-like bar with your buddy while the wife watches the kids might appeal to some. Leave the Toyota Club-thing alone. That can be reserved for the people who bought seats up there for their own private bar.

I am trying to like the Coyotes. Really, I swear I am. But they have done absolutley nothing to rinse the bad taste out of my mouth from being screwed over by Balsillie and Gretzky. Are my ideas the greatest in the world? Probably not. But they are ideas that are aimed to better their off-ice product. Would that be such a bad thing?

They can still afford to put up those lame ‘Drooler for Mueller’ commercials. Them ain’t free. And if the old ,allegedly dismantled staff can’t hack it….. I’m sure the NHL has enough people in their marketing department they could afford to fly out here and do something. ANYTHING.

Ouch a lot of this hurts but some is out of date and some of the new stuff isn’t being represented. Its early and the java hasn’t kicked in yet but here goes…

Even without ‘real’ ownership the Yotes are spending a wee bit of cash. No one reasonably expects the NHL to spend any sizable cash during their tenure as owners of the Coyotes do they? This is a stop gap measure and they are only assuring that the team has a budget to ‘operate’ until real ownership steps in.

I have seen commercials on primetime TV lately (specifically during the plethora of CSIs, biggest loser..*hows that for irony? and on billboards (the new rotating kind) all over the valley’s freeway system.

While Pierre wasn’t the world’s best idea, he was funny and attention catching. Too bad those Addison award winning commercials were rarely shown outside of a Yotes game.

The players are all over the valley, hospitals and schools and community events and charitable events and well, what more can they go to that would make a bigger splash for their involvement?

The Yotes send a dvd of crap (highlights and interview pieces) to the local media weekly. Because most of the local media can’t be bothered to show up or care, the Yotes provide some content and then the media doesn’t bother to use it anyway. Can they force them to? The local media needs to pick up the puck on this issue no doubt about it. The bastards don’t bother most times unless its negative and that won’t change unless we make it to the post season. But to give credit where its due, there have been more Yotes-centric stories in the media lately than ever, sometimes as many as 4 in one day (too bad the morons of the valley desecrate the comment sections on those good articles with their inane drivel).

My last 2 ticket reps were fantastic but alas like anything good with this team in the past, they have been forced by economics to move on. I am sure my new rep is a decent human being but as a rep, I don’t love her. She’s got too much on her plate. The reps barely know their jobs, don’t have time to get a relationship going with their people and don’t know the game that well in most cases. Is it sad? hell yeah. Is it fixable? When more reps are hired and the 5 or 6 people aren’t trying to cover 2k fans at a time. When the Yotes can afford to hire pros instead of putting whomever will work for cheap in those spots.

Those poor women you make fun of spend beaucoup money. They may drool for Muells but their money spends just as well as the knowledgeable fan’s does… maybe better because they are willing to part with it for anything that involves Petey (or whomever they are drooling for on a given day). Most knowledgeable fans are more discriminating with their dollars and won’t pay hard earned cash for multiple jerseys of their favorite players. These player driven fanatics probably account for 1/4 of the new merchandise revenue.

I would LOVE to have sand colored jerseys. Hell I would love to have a Sandstorm instead of a whiteout. Will that happen before new ownership steps in? Nope, there’s no money for that kinda of radical change yet. Is the organization being smart by using up all the previously paid for logos and brand stuff? Yes and no. This of all years should be when they get new stuff out. The Decade in the Desert is over, the Gretzky era is over. Should they be trumpeting that from the heavens to new ears/eyes and old? You betcha! Can they? Not so much.

There are many Yotes blogs springing up. Once upon a time there was only One Fan’s Perspective, then there were 2 with Coyoteshipcheck making its debut about 5 years ago. Now we have Coyotes Rising, Western Hockey Exchange, AZVibe has a section devoted to the Yotes and Larry Halliday at Hockeybuzz representin. Its coming along slowly and they all have a unique voice on the team. One Physco B*tch who only follows her nether parts does not comprise all the Yotes news.

The fanbase bitched long enough to finally get a couple of shuttles. The Coyotes Express hauls people from over by ASU and points East for quite a few games. If people actually use them, this could definitely be an expandable program.

The Yotes sponsor youth hockey all over the valley. Just 2 weeks ago the Coyotes cup was played and youth from states as far away as Alaska came to play. They are doing their part in the grassroots movement (too bad the media dropped the ball…again on covering that)

Too groggy to go further but I guess my point is… we’ve been a sh*tty team, with sh*tty ownership for too long. We’re starting to get it together but like anything worth doing, it will take money, effort and heart to get it done. This bandwagon town has to be won over, one segment at a time and to expect anything more is unrealistic. We’ve started by getting rid of anchors like bad ownership and coaching. We’re putting a team worth watching on the ice. We’re making progress… slow but steady progress. Getting to the post season is the biggest noise we can make in this market, if we do that, even the POS media in this town will have to take up our banner. (ummm hopefully more so than those poor championship women of the beleagured Mercury)

Ok get outta my pumps, you look ridiculous LOL going for the java now… see y’all tonight? wanna talk Yotes? Tailgate in lot J from 2 – 5pm, game at 6pm… wanna spit in my eye? Patio6 between periods.

That was cute.

thanks?

I’ll be there tonight. Winnipeg Jets hat and Doan Western Conf. All Star jersey from last year. And if nayone kicks me in the balls, at least warn me first.

and go back to the future, dropping the Coyotes imagery completely. Living in SD, I enjoyed the old IHL team and went to a number of games at the Veterans Coliseum during baseball spring training.

I attended one ECHL RoadRunners game, a few years back, and the revival and update of the logo looked pretty good.

“Roadrunners” is legacy hockey in the PHX market. I assume the Suns hold the logos and trademarks, since they ran the now-disbanded ECHL franchise. I doubt if they want to help the Coyotes, but that scowling bird with a stick in its’ hands was one of the best logos in minor league hockey.

But, according to ESPN, (http://espn.go.com/nhl/attendance) no team has ever had attendance this bad!

Although i found this article hilarious.. its so true. My sister and her husband moved down to tucson because he is in the air force… We are diehard wings fans (hockey fans in general really) However my sister dirves everytime the wings are in your neighborhood and she said it just isnt the same. The atmoshpere is just not what we are used too. We now live in north central il, so we go see games primarliy in detroit, chicago, nashville and st louis. Not to knock on any of the fans because i havent seen it for myself, she claims that joe louis arena 25% full is equivelant to a good night down there.

Though ticket prices were slashed,

I read an interesting article on ESPN.com today from Allan Muir, regaridng the Ice Edge group. They’re not idiots, which shows me signs of hope.

For outsider in the league, think about the NHL, post-lockout. EVERYONE dropped ticket prices. And since then, they’ve steadily climbed back up, recession or not.

After The last 9 months of being in Limbo, the Ice Edge group realizes that the fans here do love hockey, but they’ll be damned if they take their hard-earned money and slip it right back into the pockets of some douchebag like Ballsillie.

And if they want some opinions, obviously I have all the qualifications: 26 years of hockey, and I don’t know when to shut my mouth. Eheeh!

This article is dead right…and thats whats depressing.

I follow the ‘yotes from the other side of the freaking world and I think is show more passion than 90% of the arena sometimes. I was there at the tail end of last season (vs Preds) and it was like a funeral palor. Lets hope my next trip to Jobing.Com (April 3 vs Oilers) there will be some goddam passion in teh crowd. Cause you know what, if i’m the only one yelling then so be it.

But there are pluses…attendance is up. 16k+ for the rangers game if i remember right. This is a team and a crowd with some fight in it. Lets keep the winning ’Yotes and maybe this will keep going…when I can get 7th row seats for $55 each prices are slashed. Lets pack the arena. Lets get a goddam Howl going. We have a premade, intimidating and easy chant for crying out loud – compair that to teams like the Pens, ducks (do NOT tell me a bloody quack is intimidating) or the Oilers (what are they supposed to chant? Drip? Drip? Drip?).

Coyotes Fans make yourself heard!

I just read your blog although it’s been up for a month and let me say, you have got the hat trick with this. I am an army vet who drove 5 hours from my old duty station to dallas to watch the coyotes beat the stars into the ice 5-2. I was the only coyotes fan there with a coyotes jersey, coyotes tattoo, my 10yr old coyotes hat, and my voice completely gone from heckling the stars fans and the stars themselves. Phx fans don’t get it that it’s okay to be aggressive in the stands, thats how we show our love for the game. And I’d rather have 8000 die hard Coyotes fans out there, that sound like 16000, than 16000 fair weather fans who are snowbirds. You have said everything I ever could have and more about the situation in Phx. We as fans deserve more than to get “drooler over mueller” shoved down our throats. The hockey community, NHL, AZ republic, and all the az news channel need to give us fans more credit as well as the team credit to battle against the odds. We are here to stay.