The Coyotes: The Embarrassment Of Pheonix

The future of the Phoenix Coyotes is up in the air, and now, so is their coaching position.   Wayne Gretzky announced today that he would be stepping down from his position as coach and director of hockey operations. Now what? For the past few months, the Coyotes have become the embarrassment of the National Hockey League. And it isn't because the the organization has been conducting itself poorly. The NHL, Gary Bettman, and Jim Balsillie are the root causes of this embarrassment. Why you ask?   Bettman's American experiment is working in some places while failing miserable in others. Phoenix, Tampa Bay, and Flordia are just a few places where the experiment has failed.   The NHL has not been able to latch hockey onto the sporting culture of Phoenix. People aren't watching. There are several causes for this: the weather, the age of the population, the lack of winter sporting history in the region, and the desire to spend more time doing other activities.&...