The "New Club" to invade the league (NHL 10 Dynasty)

[HeroWorship]

Team Hires General Manager, to reveal location and coach tomorrow

1 Hour Ago

NEW YORK (AP)- The saga of the team formally known as the Phoenix Coyotes will find its fate tomorrow, but today we find out another piece that will make up the club’s new identity.

New Jersey Devils Assistant General Manager Gary Valentine will succeed Don Maloney as the newest General Manager of the club, which means Owner Donald Bellows will not have a Coach/General Manager as advertised.

The 29-Year old Valentine is a native of Chicago, Illinois, and becomes the youngest General Manager in the National Hockey League. He has no professional hockey experience, only playing club hockey at the University of Illinois during his tenure there.

“We are pleased to announce the addition of Gary Valentine as our General Manager” says Bellows. “We already have the man who will lead behind the bench, and we’ll reveal that tomorrow.”

Despite the addition of Valentine, the information that grabbed the most attention was Bellows revealing the place the Coyotes will move to will be announced tomorrow. After news broke that a member of Bellows staff leaked the names of the cities in contention, Bellows elected to handle the negotiations privately with the city along with the NHL Board of Governors.

“I do not know who revealed the cities, but I was bitterly disappointed” said Bellows/ “Rather then decide whether or not who did it, I decided to punish the entire staff and do the talks on my own. If people can’t keep secrets to themselves, then no one will know.”

“I also want people to be surprised. You hear about stories leaking all the time across the internet. I can assure that the city who did win that a lease has been agreed upon, and the NHL has passed it. I want to keep people on the edge of their seats, and a way to do that is by making everyone stand up, and focus their attention to our hockey club.”

After Bellows completed the statement, he walked off the podium, turned off his blackberry, and refused to answer any questions. He walked out the door, into his limo, and drove away with reporters chasing him outside. The media asked Valentine about the ordeal, where he said a simple “no comment” to the issue.

The club will reveal the location in a Press Conference tomorrow in New York City. The team will also reveal the nickname for the club, and the new beginning of the organization.

It's game time- sign up for Fantasy Football '09 today!

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Comments

Same here, with a slight nod to Winnipeg.

That'd be really ironic, wouldn't it?

[onlybygrace]

Nice...looking forward to it.

[HeroWorship]

Boughner Hired as Head Coach; location to be announced later today
Saturday May 30th, 2009

BY IAN MENDES
Sportsnet.ca

Well, before the announcement of a potential new location for the club, the Head Coach was announced today.

Bob Boughner, who played in 630 NHL games with the Buffalo Sabres, Nashville Predators, Pittsburgh Penguins, Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, and Colorado Avalanche, was named the new Head Coach of the club. Boughner succeeds Wayne Gretzky, who was let go when Owner Donald Bellows bought the club in April.

Boughner, 38, coached the last three seasons with the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League, leading the team to the Memorial Cup this season. He also spilt the Captain duties with Craig Conroy in Calgary during the 2002-2003 season.

“It’s a honor to join the club, and be given the opportunity to coach in the National Hockey League” Boughner said in a telephone interview to Rogers Sportsnet. “To be given the chance to coach in the professional ranks is a chance I simply couldn’t pass up”.

Boughner will also bring in former Sabres and Islanders Head Coach Ted Nolan as an assistant, along with former Sabres Teammates Jason Dawe and Steve Shields. Shields will be the goaltender coach for the team.

The decision to go with Boughner was based on his results as the Head Coach of the Spitfires, where he went from winning 18 games in 2006-07, to 51 wins in 2008-09 and winning the Matt Leyden Trophy as OHL coach of the year, along with winning the Brian Kilrea coach of the year award as the top coach in Juniors.

“He’s a very good coach, and for someone who knows the journey to make the NHL, will bring a good influence to the team and players he coaches this season” said General Manager Gary Valentine. “We were excited when Boughner accepted the job. He was our first choice the entire time.”

Boughner, who was called “The Boogieman” by Sabres announcer Rick Jeanneret, played 10 seasons in the NHL, amassing 1382 penalty minutes while providing veteran leadership and also serving as Executive Vice President of the NHLPA. At 6’0 and 206 pounds, Boughner was small for his role as a enforcer, but was a fan favorite everywhere he played.

The announcement for the relocation will happen later today.

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Comments (1)

onlybygrace: Nice...looking forward to it.

Me too. I'm still debating the decision.

[HeroWorship]

The biggest story in hockey, with the exception of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins, has been the saga and mystery of the team known as the Phoenix Coyotes. The club, once co-owned by Jerry Moyes and The Great One himself, were sold to the younger brother of former National Hockey League star Brian Bellows, setting up the transition of moving the team from the desert to a place where maybe the club would be more appreciated.

The Coyotes finished 28th in average attendance last season, only behind the lowly Atlanta Thrashers and New York Islanders, and the team also lost thirty million dollars during the 2008-2009 campaign. Donald Bellows, a real-estate developer whom never cashed in on his brother fame, made billions of dollars developing land in the greater Missouri and the Northeast, always loved the game of hockey. Himself and Brian would play hockey for hours on end during their days growing up in St. Catharines, Ontario.

Brian was a hot-shot prospect while Donald was average, if not unspectacular. While Brian grew up a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Donald was a Buffalo Sabres fan. His dad often took him down to Buffalo to watch the club at the Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo.

“I remember going to Buffalo, and just sitting their with my dad and watching the game. The thing I loved about my father was the fact he never favored us. He knew we both loved the game, and he allowed us to share it equally” said Donald. “Sometimes, we’d go down to watch Brian play. Brian was always a good brother. He never let success get to his head. I credit my humble upbringing to him and my father.”

His fanhood is seen in his purchase of the club. He hired former Sabres color commentary Jim Lorentz to help with the commentary. He hired former Sabre Bob Boughner as the team’s head coach. So today, he stood at the podium and was ready to announce the agreement he made. The five cities are Burnaby, Hartford, Kansas City, Las Vegas, and Winnipeg. What decision did Donald make?

Here is the transcript from the Press Conference:

Bellows: Thank you to everyone who came to the introduction. This was a decision that took some thinking, and some tough negotiations to get done. Obviously, the reason none of you ever heard a word about it was because I personally handled the talks, and wanted the shock value. Word goes around quickly, speculation goes around, and everyone is clamoring to find out. There palms are sweating, they take the sports world by storm, and we ensure the team will be healthy and viable.

Of course, this will be the second time this organization has moved. That may be a troubled sign, but to gain some perspective. The New Jersey Devils came into the league as the Scouts, then the Rockies, before coming to the Devils. The club has won three Stanley Cups, and we recently hired one of their assistants, Mr. Valentine, as our newest General Manager.

All the cities we considered we did for good reasons. It was truly a decision that made me lose some hairs and turn a little gray. However, I feel that today we have made the right decision. When I informed Mr. Bettman and the other twenty nine owners on my decision, I was given a seal of approval from the owners of the league, which in turn gave me the confidence that allowed this decision to be extremely simple.
I know I should stop talking and announce the city, which I will. Obviously, the team will be exciting in a new Arena, and this, in turn will create a positive atmosphere. So today, I have the pleasure of announcing the team formally known as the Phoenix Coyotes will be moving operations to the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba and we are returning to our roots, we are the WINNIPEG JETS!

[Whitesox]

Missed a ]

Is it certain that you can choose to create a team and replace the cyotes? Because that would suck if you couldn't.

[onlybygrace]

Awesome man. The Jets is a great idea...

Is it possible in NHL 10 to create the Jets jersey???

[onlybygrace]

Quote: Originally Posted by whitesox

Missed a ] Is it certain that you can choose to create a team and replace the cyotes? Because that would suck if you couldn't.

You could last year...so...

[thrashman]

Quote: Originally Posted by onlybygrace

Awesome man. The Jets is a great idea... Is it possible in NHL 10 to create the Jets jersey???

Hopefully since the jersey is in the game as a Coyotes' retro.

Great choice on Winnipeg.