The Times podcast: Coyotes go urban; humans freak out; and more
The Coyotes aren’t your typical hockey club.
At least not the ones in the NHL, which have generally grown stale by relying on a few stars and a few big contracts. The Coyotes, on the other hand, are always making bold moves.
They’re putting their new $68.5-million arena in the desert, and they’ve added to their roster with young players, including 20-year-old center Matthew Barzal.
After the first two games of the season, the club’s season-ticket base is up by more than half, with more than 4,000 people showing up to watch the first-place Arizona Coyotes live in their first game at the new home of the Arizona Bighorns.
The Coyotes’ new arena is one of the most progressive projects in the American hockey world. It was built with a view to being a sustainable facility and features everything from solar panels to geothermal cooling to a system that uses heat-recovery steam to drive a central heating plant. It also has a skylight roof that allows for solar energy harvesting.
The Coyotes also broke ground Tuesday on a new practice facility on the new arena site. It’s expected to open in May. It will be used by members of the hockey team, including players, assistant coaches and front-office employees.
And now, back to the podcast about the team’s most recent move.
Why the Coyotes are going to the suburbs
It was a bold move. Phoenix is still a very small market, and the Coyotes have shown they can use that area to their advantage.
But, in the end, the Coyotes just seemed like the right fit.
“It’s not the biggest market in the world,” Coyotes general manager John Chayka said. “But we’ve shown that we were a team that was big enough to be viable in the Valley. I thought we had a real good plan of attack to give us that kind of place to live out in.”