Desert Ice

Photo courtesy Coyotes fan blog Five for Howling/AP.

I usually don't watch hockey. It's not that the sport itself is bad, but for whatever reason it hasn't kept my appeal. But recently at my internship, we've been swept up in LA Kings playoff hockey, and it was as suspenseful and intense a sports game I've ever seen. Unfortunately for the Kings, I ended up watching what would turn out to be the game they were eliminated from the playoffs (beaten by the Vancouver Canucks in 6). But the story of the season has to be the Phoenix Coyotes.

Two years ago, the Coyotes were losing money...and fast, despite having a new arena and being in the fairly large Phoenix market. The owner at the time, Jerry Moyes, put the team into bankruptcy then wanted to sell the team to Jim Balsillie, a Canadian businessman who wanted to move the team to Hamilton Ontario, between Buffalo and Toronto, both of which already have teams (Sabres and Maple Leafs, respectively). The NHL blocked the sale in court until Moyes sold the team to the NHL, with the league assuming all debts. For the fans in Phoenix, their team was on the brink of getting uprooted from their new arena and shipped off to Canada. With the court ruling that the team could not be sold to Basillie and subsequent takeover by the NHL in September 2009, the Coyotes had a surprising 50-25-7 record with a team record 107 points this season. Despite losing to the Detroit Red Wings in 7 games during the playoffs, the Coyotes season is one of success, especially since the coach was hired just days before the regular season and the team recovered from the off-ice legal drama. Coach Dave Tippett is a finalist for the Jack Adams Award, given to the coach that has "contributed most to their teams' success". Meanwhile, Jerry Reinsdorf, owner of the Chicago Bulls and White Sox, has been named as a potential buyer of the Coyotes, alng with investment group Ice Edge Holdings. Reinsdorf's White Sox spring training complex is nearby the Coyotes' arena in Glendale. So while the Stanley Cup won't be on desert ice this season, the Phoenix Coyotes' future is looking much better than it did a year ago.

Showdown Weekend...Sort Of

Photo courtesy of fellow Blogger blog "Blithe & Blonde."

What looked like a great weekend of baseball turned out to be a so-so one. In the American League, the Yankees took 2 out of 3 from the Red Sox, who are still barely on top of the AL Wild Card standings. Tampa Bay has climbed back into the AL Wild Card race by nearly sweeping the Rangers.

As for the National League, the Chicago Cubs have just about kissed their playoff hopes goodbye, after nearly getting swept by the LA Dodgers. A seven game deficit is hard to make up when you have four other teams ahead of you. Another lost year for Cubs fans.

Elsewhere in the NL, the Atlanta Braves and Florida Marlins were at a stalemate heading into the weekend, and things are still pretty much knotted up. As for the San Francisco Giants-Colorado Rockies series, the Rockies have given themselves more cushion and may very well start to pull away with the NL Wild Card (the series finale is tonight). They're also 3.5 games back of the Dodgers for the NL West division race and are 7-3 in their last 10 games. After the Giants finale tonight, the Rox host the Dodgers for 3 games, then travel to San Fran for another weekend series against the Giants. In other words, the NL West division and/or NL Wild Card could be close to decided by next Monday.

The six division leaders are pretty much set, except for two. The AL Central is a two-horse race between the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox, with Chicago 2.5 games back as of this morning. The other is the aforementioned NL West race between LA, Colorado, and San Francisco.