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Tuesday, November 30, 1999
Many factors will decide Coyotes' future
DETROIT -- Ideally, sports writers like to find one indisputable, clear-cut reason for any development.
It would be nice, for instance, to say that the Phoenix Coyotes' ascension to first place in the National Hockey League is attributable totally to the impact of rookie coach Bobby Francis.
There are two problems with that. One is that it's not true. The second is that there is no single factor that has put the Coyotes where they are today.
Certainly, Francis is one of the reasons. The players feel that he runs good practices, rewards those who do well and, in general, acts the way a good NHL coach should act.
But there is also a widespread feeling on the team that Jim Schoenfeld, who was released after the Coyotes staged their latest in a long series of playoff collapses last spring, also was a good coach.
Schoenfeld had his disagreements with general manager Bobby Smith, which hardly put him in elite company, and when he mishandled the defencemen in the seventh game of the Coyotes' only playoff round, it was the final straw.
"But we were a good team last year, too," one of the Phoenix players said. "We just had some misfortune. Jyrki Lumme was out for half the season and he's a key player on our team. We had some other key injuries and then we lost to a good team."
The good team in question was the St. Louis Blues, who went on to give the Dallas Stars all they could handle on their way to the Stanley Cup. But the bottom line was that the Coyotes had staged another fold after building a 3-1 lead, and Smith had to find a scapegoat.
So Francis inherited a good team, picked up a fine assistant coach in Rick Bowness, and was the beneficiary of some extra help. When you ask the Phoenix players about their fast start, they always mention their depth.
The team acquired role players such as Trevor Letowski and Mika Alatalo. At the same time, Shane Doan is maturing and becoming a force.
The Coyotes also got some offensive help from Travis Green, who was acquired from Anaheim for Oleg Tverdovsky. Green was in the top five in league scoring but was then knocked out of action with an infected cut on his knee.
As for Letowski, he earned his spot at the expense of the kid who was supposed to be the Coyotes' star of the future, 1996 top draft pick Daniel Briere. The two youngsters are the same size and age, but were drafted six rounds apart. Letowski, however, showed in training camp that he could be effective in both ends of the rink, and when it came time to make the cuts, he got the nod over Briere.
So all those factors -- the coaching, the return of key players, the depth and the emergence of some youngsters have contributed to the Coyotes' fast start.
But now, the burning question is whether they can stay among the elite.
They're a hard-line, tight-budget organization and Smith still hasn't come to terms with the man whom many saw as the most important player on the roster, goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin.
Mikhail Shtalenkov filled in admirably for 15 games, but when Smith had a chance to get a true starter in Sean Burke, he jumped at it.
The Florida Panthers, interested in a salary dump, told the Coyotes they would take either Shtalenkov or his backup, Bob Essensa, in return. In order to save an extra $600,000, Smith opted to send Shtalenkov and his higher salary. But Burke tore up his thumb on Friday and is out for a month or two.
Now, the Coyotes must either make do with Essensa as a starter, which is not exactly a glorious prospect, or sign Khabibulin, which is highly unlikely.
The third possibility is that Robert Esche, who has risen rapidly through the minors but who has yet to play an NHL game, will prove that he can make the next step.
It's not a high-percentage option, but so far this season, every move the Coyotes have made has turned to gold. Maybe this will be another.
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