JR warming up with the crowd and teams
With Friday being the first official day of Autumn, it means that hockey season starts in a couple weeks! The Phoenix Coyotes got everyone in San Antonio (and nearby) fired up by bringing the Great One (Wayne Gretzky) to the Alamo City with the team he will be coaching this season for some training-camp action. Works out pretty well because the best players go back to Phoenix to be with the Coyotes and the ones who were close will remain in San Antonio with the Rampage. There’s hope for them since they’re the first picks to be sent to Phoenix when someone on the Coyotes is moved to the injured reserve list or his play stinks. As for the remaining players it’s either back to Phoenix with the Roadrunners or Laredo with the Bucks.
It was an exciting time for me. I had been looking forward to this event weeks in advance, especially when Roenick signed with the Coyotes this Summer (a one year contract at the bargain price of $1.2 million, trying to pull off what Selane did with the Ducks). It’s also more expensive and a longer drive to see the Dallas Stars play up north. Besides Roenick, Phoenix also has a short list of players I like yet I’ll spare my readers from spouting off their names, it results in a puzzled look from most Texans too. My friend Jeremy tagged along because he’s the only other hockey fan I knew who’d enjoy this game, even if it isn’t his team.
JR in the Box so his team can practice 5-on-3 defense
As for the game, it turned into a scrimmage by the second period. Now I didn’t expect a real, hard-hitting, full-blown NHL or AHL-level match. The players and coaches are still in pre-season camp so the last thing anybody wants are injuries. What I was bummed about was how they stopped playing an actual game and shifted over to doing practice exercises: power-play situations, being short-handed two players and four-on-four until someone scored. Disappointment aside, the tickets were only $24 for awesome seats: two rows behind the penalty box. The positive easily outweighed my nitpicking too: the majority of the big-name players were declared being on the San Antonio Rampage (wearing the white jerseys) while the obvious, AHL-level guys were labeled the Coyotes (wearing the reddish jerseys). There were also several NHL’ers amongst the Coyotes to keep it from being a lopsided match so the AHL guys were ahead by two goals at the end of the first period. I wouldn’t read much into such play though, it’s only camp. When the puck drops on October 4, every game will matter until April 2007.
Gretzky with the yellow tie talking to Ulf Samuelsson
Personally, I think Phoenix stands a solid chance of returning to the playoffs for the first time in seven years. Can they go all the way to the Stanley Cup? Probably not. Smart money in the West is still San Jose or Detroit these days plus Nashville and Anaheim as the true spoilers. How does the Rampage look? They have some names I recognize. Sadly, several of them are players who couldn’t hack it for the Flyers which fuels my doubts of an AHL playoff appearance next Spring. I’ll still try to make a game or two to support them. The owner seems more sincere about making a serious go with professional hockey in San Antonio.