Gretzky quits as Coyotes coach
With ownership issues still unsolved, Wayne Gretzky has resigned as head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes after four seasons.
"We all hoped there would be a resolution earlier this month to the Coyotes ownership situation, but the decision is taking longer than expected,” Gretzky said Thursday in a statement. “Since both remaining bidders have made it clear that I don't fit into their future plans, I approached general manger Don Maloney and suggested he begin looking for someone to replace me as coach.”
Gretzky coached the Coyotes since 2005 and had a 143-161-24 record.
Meanwhile, a judge in Arizona continues to mull over a decision on the fate of the financially troubled team.
Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie said this week he would keep the Coyotes in Arizona for 2009-10 should he win an auction for the club but still planned to move it eventually to Hamilton, Ontario.
Ulf Samuelsson is serving as the Coyotes’ interim coach.
Chicago is a great city, one of the greatest in the world, but that doesn't mean the world revolves around Chicago...or that everyone & his brother wants to work for the rejuvenated blackhawks. I live near Toronto, which also imagines itself as the "Center of the Universe" & such a view certainly doesn't reflect well on Laff fans.
as for Gretzky, he is lost - the only thing he could do was play hockey & play it he did - one of, if not the greatest player of all time.
but that is where it ends - he isn't a good coach & despite his 2002 Olympic Gold medal won as a "manager", he was more fortunate than good (thankful that the Swedes, who had whipped Gretzky's boys 5-1 in the preliminary round, were upset by Belarus thanks to a long shot where the puck bounced in off Tommy Salo's head for the game winner). The Olympic team he selected in 2006 didn't even make it into the medal round.
he is going to end up in a place where he is most comfortable - one that is familiar to him in terms of people & organizations. he was most comfortable on or close to the ice - not so much in the office or owner's box or the board room, so I expect he'll look to stay as close to the ice as possible - perhaps become an assistant to an experienced proven head coach to learn the craft, if he has aspirations of returning behind the bench as a legitimate head coach & is prepared to take the cut in pay & prestige that entails.
he is still technically an owner in Phoenix until the Ballsille case is resolved & if the NHL wins that case as many expect, they have said they'll attempt to get him back in some capacity if he cares to be an "ambassador".
I think he'll end up working for Hockey Canada until the Olympics. he relinquished his "managing director" job to Yzerman not so long ago & now that he's unemployed, he'll have more time to devote to "helping" Canada win Olympic Gold on home ice...
that will help him repair his image in Canada which took a major hit when he first sat on the fence between Ballsillie & the NHL (not publicly supporting Ballsillie's bid to acquire Phoenix & move them to Canada & within a slapshot of where he grew up) and then for not attending training camp for "contractual" reasons & essentially abandoning his team... Even Don Cherry ripped into him for that.
I agree with you, x-99 is not a great coach or even a good one. The world does not revolve around the windy city, or Toronto for that matter. Everyone does not want to work for the new administration here, they don't want everyone around either, and folks dont want to be around them for that matter. I was just having fun with some of the local and national media folks. You might be right about x's future and thanks for passing along Don Cherry's point of view. That's good to hear.
With John Mac and the rookie GM Stanley Jr. still trying to put their stamp on the team, don't be surprised if before long, the usual non-trustworthy sources have ex-99 coming here. King of the tabloids the Ottawa Sun, will have ex-99 spotted at the UC before the weekend is out. Hockeybuzz.com will report that ex-99 was spotted at O'hare. Barry Rozner will report that he, along with Rocky Wirtz and Johnny Mac dinned with ex-99 at Champs in Schaumburg for over 4 hours.
Jesse Rodgers will blog, that a truck filled with supplies from Wirtz beverages was seen unloading in ex-99's driveway. Judd Sirott will report, that while being in San Francisco with the Cubs this weekend, he spotted ex-99 dining at a seafood place with current Hawks Asst. GM and former Wolves GM kevin Cheveldayoff. Somewhere out there Al Cimaglia is loading up a story too, may God help us when TSN.com starts their crap....
BEEP BEEP BEEP..this just in..Chef Hans has left for Tampa, he is preparing a 7 course meal at the home of REAL HAWKS GM Scotty Bowman for Scotty and ex-99..hang on to your hats folks..the fun is just starting. This also now in..they are praying in Ohio for ex-99 to come to Chicago at SJ.com