Phoenix Town Hall

[www.phoenixcoyotes.com]


no mention of Lenny/JMP, but some over all discussion of the young recruts, prospects and the dissplesure the Coyotes seem to have with their current NHL goalies. oppertunities in the (near) future for Lenny and JMP?

I don't think this A is what the person wanted in response to his Q (frankly it seems like he intentionally ducked the question):

QUESTION: Where is the team going with goaltending?

MIKE BARNETT: Burke knew when we sent him to Philadelphia that it would be a person who has been very involved in this community. He and his wife Leslie are great people and they do a lot I wouldn’t be surprised if they lived there when Sean retires but the opportunity was there not unlike Teppo Numminen to go onto a team that was veteran leaded and a chance to compete for a cup. We told him the team we acquired about and he was positive to the opportunity. There weren’t a whole lot of situation elsewhere and the opportunity to get back what we got back for Sean only manifested when we added a young player like Branko Radivojevic to the group and Mike Comrie is someone needless to say when he came into the NHL his rookie year had 30 goals and 60 points for a 21 year old is indicative of what he is capable of and we think we have a great young player who will play for us the next 10-12 years if all goes well so we hope the best of Sean Burke, he is a quality person, we are very happy to have Mike Comrie in the organization.

But then there is also this:

QUESTION: Is there any possibility of NCAA Frozen Four or World Junior Championship at the Glendale Arena?

MIKE BARNETT: We have had discussions with Ty Halpen of the NCAA in the east about applying for the regionals, which is the first step to getting the NCAA Frozen Four in the Glendale Arena. I can tell you they were very positive. They have seen the arena. We have taken some other steps that I won’t mention tonight in terms of collegiate hockey that could be very positive in what the product might be on the ice. We are looking at all kind of hockey events, the idea of trying to create an event that would be an annual that would be ours as oppose to a once off regional or Frozen Four that you get every decade or two. So we are looking at all kinds of situations that might present themselves whether it be the junior level, senior hockey level, or something in between the collegiate level. The more we feel we have a fan base that will support it we will try and bring it forward at an affordable price.

also in goaltending:

Question – Are the rumors true that Brian Boucher will be traded?

Wayne Gretzky – There are rumors? When the season ends, you take some time to step back and analyze your team and look at some of things we did during the year. At this time, nobody is sitting and talking about moving players and at this point in time we are just sitting back and analyzing our team and looking at each player throughout the organization. To say players will not be traded is untrue, but to say we are actively seeking to trade anybody is not true.

QUESTION: What is the future of Zac Bierk? Is he going to be able to play with the Coyotes or have injuries cancelled him as a player?

CLIFF FLETCHER: Zac Bierk is a very talented goaltender without a doubt but he has had a very unfortunate career. He has been a professional now for six years and he has not been able to play a full season because of injuries and he missed quite frankly 85% of this past season. I know he is working out diligently this offseason and he hopes to resume his career and get it on track. Obviously if you are sitting in our position in management, we would like to see him come back, we would like to see him stay healthy and be able to play but we can go to the bank with that right now because of his past. We hope he is going to be able to get over the injury jinx but on the other hand we are going to have to plan the season with other goaltenders.