NHL COMMENTARY
By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Saturday, January 3, 2015

GLENDALE, Arizona – There’s nothing like a badly needed win to impress the new boss.

Andrew Barroway, who, as of Dec. 31, owns 51 percent of the Arizona Coyotes, was on hand to drop the ceremonial first puck prior to the Coyotes’ impressive 6-3 triumph over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets before 13,159 at Gila River Arena.

For control of the franchise, Barroway paid a reported $152.5 million for the privilege. Barroway, who made his personal fortune as a hedge fund manager, has the hammer on all final decisions, and insists he’s here to make major league hockey work in the Valley of the Sun over the long haul.

“It’s not going to be like ‘Top Chef.’ I’m not going to be running around screaming,” Barroway said at his introductory press conference. “But ultimately, the buck stops with me.

“I put a lot of my own economic resources into this. I believe in this team and I believe in the NHL.”

Another point Barroway made was that short-term improvements would not be a part of the plan for rebuilding the Coyotes. Instead, more resources will initially go toward improvements in scouting, drafting and player development – an area that was sorely neglected while the Coyotes spent four seasons as wards of the NHL.

While an agreement is still intact with the city of Glendale that stipulates the team can be relocated if it loses $50 million over the first five years of IceArizona ownership, Barroway insists he has no intention of moving or selling the Coyotes.

Coyotes General Manager Don Maloney told the media, “What I’m encouraged about with my discussions with Andy is the long-term view of the team, the game, where the game is going and what we have to do to have success. Any knee-jerk, quick fix that might give us another point in the standings, that’s not going to happen. We’re going to think things through and analyze what we have in this organization.”

Coyotes playing better
Last Saturday, a fluke overtime shootout goal (with a busted stick) by Shane Doan gave Arizona a tough win over the Anaheim Ducks. Since then, the Coyotes have beat Philadelphia but suffered a 6-0 drubbing from Dallas.

Columbus came to the desert on the heels of back-to-back wins at home over Boston and Minnesota, and for the Blue Jackets this was the first of a five-game road swing. Yet it was the Jackets who looked like they were playing their fifth road game in a row, not the first.

The teams swapped goals in the first period, and Columbus surged ahead 2-1 on a power play goal from James Wisniewski. Then, a Coyotes power play that has struggled most of the season came alive with goals by Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Sam Gagner to regain the lead for good at 3-2. Gagner’s second tally of the night also came with a man advantage, giving goaltender Mike Smith more than ample offensive support.

Smith had been in a slump and was benched of late (seven of the Coyotes’ last eight games) in favor of backup Devan Dubnyk. Except for an unassisted goal by Ryan Johansen with one minute left in the third period, Smith looked much like his old self, stopping 23 of 26 shots.
“By far, this was one of our best games of the year,” Smith said. “We were swarming all over the ice and we played as well as we could.

“I felt pretty good out there,” Smith said. “I felt I was prepared and mentally, I was ready to get back in there. A couple of goals were pretty jumpy, but that’s just from not playing.”

San Jose visits Arizona on Jan. 13 – the fifth of a six-game homestand. There should be plenty on the line by then, as the Sharks are trying to emerge from a logjam in the Pacific Division along with Los Angeles, Vancouver and Calgary, and the Coyotes are trying to build up steam for a possible push for the eighth playoff seed in the West.

Daniel Dullum covers the NHL, MLB and Stanford for Sports Radio Service.