With all the negativity that's been put out in the press lately regarding the state of the sale and the process that the Ice Edge Group is going through to get the team. IEH released today an Open letter to all Coyotes fans. Here's the text of the letter from Anthony LeBlanc, CEO of Ice Edge Holdings presented without comment for the time being.

These are exciting times to be fans of the Phoenix Coyotes. Our team sits in the top four of the very competitive western conference, and with less than a month remaining in the regular season, the team is well positioned to bring playoff hockey to the valley for the first time in over half a decade.

We are happy to report that regardless of reports to the contrary, there have been no material changes in the process to date. As we stated from the outset, we fully expected the transaction to take upwards of six months, similar to other recent transactions for other NHL franchises. Ice Edge Holdings continues to work very closely with the City of Glendale and the NHL towards finalizing a lease that will be appropriate for all parties.
The execution of a revised lease is the key outstanding issue, and once completed will allow the transaction to move towards closing. We are neither behind nor ahead of our expected timelines.

Ice Edge Holdings remain committed as ever to the Phoenix Coyotes and to the long term success of the NHL in Arizona. We look forward to joining all of our fellow fans as the Coyotes march towards the playoffs, and participating in white outs when playoff hockey is played for the first time in Glendale.

The fans of the Coyotes have been through more than any sports fan should have to endure. We have said in the past that to be a sports fan is to make a commitment to a team, both emotionally and financially. To do so requires a two way street between the fans and those that own the franchise. Ice Edge Holdings looks forward to showing the great hockey fans of Arizona and the Southwest that commitment for many years to come. We thank you for being the strongest fans in the National Hockey League.

Go 'Yotes!

Anthony LeBlanc
Chief Executive Officer
Ice Edge Holdings, LLC

Tyler Boldt, the Western Hockey League's Manager of Player Development & Recruitment via www.whl.ca

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Part of the benefit of being in a network like SBNation is that we get some opportunities that a lot of other bloggers and writers might not get. One of those is that sometimes we can get interviews with players and prospects of your team. Some of those opportunities have started to come my way lately, but as with many things you have to start small. That's why we've just started breaking into some of the Major Junior leagues to get player interviews. I realized something though when I started seeing these chances come in, and that's the fact that I know nothing about junior hockey. I know that they play hockey. That's really about it. Here in Arizona we don't get a whole lot of exposure to that area of the game. I also figured I wasn't the only one that had no idea what Junior Hockey was all about.

In an effort to educate all of us Junior deprived fans, I got an interview (with help from Derek Zona of Copper & Blue) with the Western Hockey League's (WHL) Manager of Player Development and Recruitment, Tyler Boldt,  to talk anything and everything Junior Hockey. It's a pretty long interview, but I learned a ton about how juniors work and hopefully you will too. The quick highlights are that the WHL provides an astounding 21% of all the NHL's players (See complete list here) including our own Shane Doan who played for, and now owns part of, the Kamloops Blazers. Another important thing to read about is the amazing education opportunities that many don't realize these kids get.  So read on for the entire interview.

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More photos » Jay LaPrete - AP

2 months ago: Phoenix Coyotes' Sami Lepisto, left, of Finland, and teammate Keith Yandle celebrate a goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets during the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

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We've heard the stat more than a few times now about how the Coyotes lead the league in goals from the blueline. Now with an impressive 36 goals, the defense has really made an impact on how the Coyotes have fared this season. It's impressive all on it's own to have your defense score as much as ours is, but they also have a habit of making those goals count for something. After doing some painstaking defense tracking, since I couldn't find the numbers elsewhere, when any defensive player scores the Coyotes are 21-6-1. When they don't? 16-16-5. That "Wins with Defender Scoring" mark doesn't even include the two games that Adrian Aucoin recently won in the shootout since he officially didn't get credit for the goals. Let's say we do include them. That puts the record with DGoals scored to 23-6-1 and without DGoals scored to 14-16-5.

Now there are plenty of reasons why those numbers are true. When the team in general plays better the defense is able to get involved more in the play and can therefore get more chances. Also with the team playing more confidently, the defense isn't scrambling to get back to the line every time. The defensive system Dave Tippet has employed makes it so that a forward can rotate out to cover the point on the pinches.But I think that we can all agree that the team and their record looks significantly different when the defense gets involved. If the Coyotes are going to be serious players this off season, they'll need to continue this impressive output.

The two players largely responsible have been Keith Yandle and Ed Jovanovski. Both have 10 goals a piece and have really been much improved from last season. While both have made defensive mistakes this season it's been far less than in previous years. Yandle now looks confident with the puck and will charge into the offensive zone all on his own if the forwards can't get open. He'll also pinch at just the right time to get behind opposing defensemen without them even realizing it for a goal. Jovanovski has been more willing to blast shots from the point and lately has been rotated to more of a winger spot on the power play to park himself in front. It's too soon to know if that will pay dividends yet though.

Charts after the break!

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More photos » Ross D. Franklin - AP

4 months ago: Phoenix Coyotes' Robert Lang, of the Czech Republic, left, celebrates a goal by teammate Keith Yandle as Boston Bruins' David Krejci (46), of the Czech Republic, skates past during the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009, in Glendale, Ariz. The Coyotes defeated the Bruins 4-1. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

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While most of the internet and Coyotes fans had heard about this some time ago, the NHL announced today that the Phoenix Coyotes will be one of the six teams to kick off the 2010-2011 season in Europe as part of the Compuware NHL Premiere. The Coyotes will face the Boston Bruins in two meetings at the O2 arena in Prague on October 9th and 10th.

If the rosters stay anything like they currently are heading into next season, the Coyotes would likely get the hometeam treatment with how many Czech players they have on the roster. Petr Prucha, Radim Vrbata, Martin Hanzal, Zbynek Michalek and Robert Lang are all native to the Czech Republic. The Bruins currently only have two Czech players on their roster in David Krejci and Vladimir Sobotka.

While it'll suck to not have a Coyotes vs. Bruins game in Glendale, the potential for exposure in an event like this is huge and can only help a team that's trying to get some publicity about them out there. Especially if the Coyotes can make some noise in the playoffs this could be another big piece of marketing for the team.

The other two NHL Premire matchups will be Carolina and Minnesota playing in Helsinki, Finland and the Blue Jackets and Sharks playing in Stockholm, Sweden.