With Phoenix’ woes, the first Canadian city expected to get a team back would be Winnipeg (especially with David Thomson backing that ticket).  But as Gary Bettman’s Excellent Nightmare gets set to boost into overdrive in years to come, it’s not totally crazy for Quebec City to get back its beloved Nordiques, especially with both Guy Laliberte and Pierre Karl Peladeau throwing their weight - and financial heft - behind the movement. The Nordiques left Quebec and headed to Denver where they were renamed the Colorado Avalanche and won the Stanley Cup in their first year of existence… continue reading...

I still don’t understand why Wayne wanted to jump headfirst into the pressure cooker that is a head coaching job in the NHL.  Especially with a team as underachieving as the Coyotes? Why not take some other head office job, even starting as a GM would have been a smarter move?  Anyways, it should be interesting to see where he ends up now that he’s done the Team Canada thing and done the head coaching thing.  Read more on his exit below from TheSportingNews.com:

 Wayne Gretzky has stepped down as head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes, he announced Thursday. continue reading...