Game-less and aimless in Seattle: Coyotes return home wondering what’s next

SEATTLE – The good news is that the Coyotes went unbeaten on this road trip. The bad news is that it lasted five days and they only earned two points.

“This was for sure the longest road trip I’ve ever been on for one game,” forward Christian Fischer quipped. “It’s a glamorous life.”

When the Coyotes departed Phoenix on Thursday, they did so for games in Anaheim, Vancouver and Seattle. They played the first one, but they wisely avoided traveling to Canada after beating the Ducks on Friday. Eventually, the Vancouver game was postponed, as were all cross-border games due to COVID-19 concerns.

Arizona took a day off in Anaheim on Saturday, practiced Sunday, and then flew to Seattle where it practiced on Monday. Just as the players and coaches were coming off the ice at Climate Pledge Arena, word came down from the league that the Coyotes’ game against the Kraken on Tuesday had also been postponed due to multiple positive tests on Seattle’s roster.

That left director of team operations Dave Griffiths scrambling to get the team a charter flight out of Seattle – he did – and back home. Later on Monday, multiple reports surfaced that the league would pause the season through Christmas. 

The constant changes were a source of frustration.

“I think the biggest thing is just getting answers,” goalie Scott Wedgewood said. “Everyone just wants to know what we’re doing. Are we off? Are we on? Obviously, there’s league protocols to obey, but I saw (Detroit GM) Steve Yzerman come out and say we should only test guys if they have symptoms. Some guys agree with it, some don’t. It’s the way of the world. Not everyone is going to think the same.

“I’m not going to throw my hands in the air and make a stink. I don’t think that’s gonna go very far, but I do agree that at some point things need to change or we need to switch things around so that instead of everything being up in the air, we have some guidelines. That’s why we have the (NHL)PA guys on different teams. Whatever they decide, I’m part of the herd that will follow.”

Aside from the chaos that multiple postponements have created for scheduling and players, they have also created chaos for coaching. When Coyotes coach André Tourigny was asked how he planned his practices and weeks without knowing what was around the corner he shrugged. 

“You don’t,” he said. “You just roll with it. We had a plan but we’ll see what the new rules are. It’s the world we’re living in. It’s not just weird as a coach, it’s weird as a human being. 

“They’re talking about different scenarios but I want to let them do their thing. I will just say I like what the NFL did. I think it makes sense but I am no doctor and I am not a professional and I’m not getting in their kitchen, thinking I know better than them. I don’t. I’ll trust that the pros, the league, and the doctors will make the right decision, and when they tell us the lay of the land we will make the most of it.”

That’s all the Coyotes could do with the extra time on their hands the past few days. They couldn’t play cards together due to new protocols and they couldn’t go out to dinner. Instead, Fischer said players watched NFL games and Tiger Woods competing with his son at the PNC Championship. 

Wedgewood brought his Xbox and has been playing Apex Legends with friends.

“(Goalie Alex) Nedeljkovic in Detroit tested positive so he’s been texting me, like, ‘Hey, I have nothing to do. Wanna play some games?’” Wedgewood said, laughing. “You’ve got to roll with the punches sometimes. Obviously, health comes first for most people. Luckily, there haven’t been many symptoms for people who have tested positive. We want to keep everyone healthy.”

The hope is that COVID-19 won’t turn back the clock to March 2020 when the league shut down its season.

“You worry about that,” Fischer said. “You hope it’s not like last time. Then you worry from the health standpoint about guys taking it home to their kids and then people who have grandmas and grandpas coming over for the holidays. 

“But hockey-wise, no player wants to have a full-on stoppage that’s going to affect our scheduling and push the games later into May and June. That’s going to mess up money things, the Olympics…. A league-wide stoppage is going to affect a lot of things.”

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