👋 GOOD MORNING

Happy Wednesday! In case you missed it, the Suns and Mercury will have a new name for their home court after the signage was removed from America West Arena U.S. Airways Center Talking Stick Resort Arena Footprint Center the now-unnamed venue. Multiple outlets have since reported it will temporarily be named PHX Arena, which begs the question … why not PHNX Arena?! That has a nice ring to it.

We had a little fun with naming rights below the main story, scroll down to check it out, and while you’re at it, I’d love to hear your most creative naming ideas. Respond to this email with what you think it should be called, and I’ll call a few of those out on Friday.

On to the show!

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Roadrunners & Sun Devils Entering Critical Stretch

Competition on the ice is starting to heat up, both at the collegiate and professional levels.

Both the Tucson Roadrunners and the ASU men’s hockey team are kicking off a critical stretch, as the former is trying to work their way into the playoff picture, while the latter hosts the top team in the juggernaut NCHC conference. The Sun Devils are far better positioned given the success they have experienced this season, but don’t count Tucson coach Steve Potvin and his staff out, either, because they have some of the league’s top young talent that’s still learning how to compete at the professional level.

Wins Critical as Tucson Tries to Make Up Ground: The Roadrunners are seventh in the 10-team Pacific Division, just a year removed from a second-place finish.The top seven teams in the division ultimately qualify for the playoffs, so there’s not much room for error the rest of the way. To make matters more challenging, talented forward Josh Doan and goalie Jaxson Stauber were just recalled by Utah — ah, the life of an AHL franchise.

• Tucson has struggled mightily in closing out games, and almost blew a 5-2 third period lead in a 7-4 win over Henderson on Sunday.
• The Roadrunners are just 3-5-0-2 in their last 10 games.
• They wrap up their seven-game road trip tonight at fourth place Coachella Valley before returning home for a four-game set (5th place Abbotsford on Feb 22 and 23, and 5th place Rockford on Feb. 28 and March 1).

Sun Devils Host Conference Leaders This Weekend: What a season this has been for ASU hockey. In just its first season of NCHC play the Sun Devils rank second with 40 points, ahead of blue blood programs like North Dakota (31 points) and Denver (30 points), among others. As luck would have it, first-place Western Michigan visits Mullett Arena this weekend, offering a huge opportunity for a program on the rise. ASU also checks in at 15th in the Pairwise rankings, a critical metric in qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.

• The NCHC Tournament winner receives an automatic berth, along with the winners of Hockey East, ECAC, Big Ten, CCHA and Atlantic Hockey (AHA). The remaining 10 spots are awarded on an at-large basis.
• At-large teams likely need to be positioned within the top 14-16 of the Pairwise rankings, depending on how the conference tourneys play out.
• Western Michigan checks in at No. 5 in Pairwise, offering a huge opportunity this weekend.
• ASU has just one weekend series remaining after this weekend, Feb. 28 and March 1 at Omaha.

My Take: Get to The Mullett this weekend!!! The Sun Devils could sure use the support in one of their biggest matchups of the season, and ASU has the coaching and the personnel to make some noise this spring. Coach Greg Powers has cultivated a culture of winning hockey in the desert, and when you look at the team’s humble beginnings at Oceanside Arena to its current home at Mullett (now in its third year), it’s hard NOT to cheer for them! Plus, Saturday is Senior Day, so let’s send those student athletes out right!

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Mercury, Suns’ Home to be Renamed After Dropping Footprint Center Moniker

The Footprint Center labeling mysteriously disappeared from the Suns’ home court, and the powers that be are searching for a new sponsor. Of course, that didn’t stop us from having a little fun. Here are a few suggestions from our PHNX crew, with no explanation.

• In-n-Out of the Playoffs Arena
• $2 Hot Dog Center
• Gila River Arena 2.0
• Desert Cubic Zirconium Arena
• Circle K Coliseum
• Monroe’s Hot Chicken Bowl

I want to hear your ideas! Send them to daily@gophnx.com and we’ll print the most clever ideas on Friday!

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Musings From Around (and Sometimes Beyond) The Valley

Houston, We Have a Problem: ASU dropped its sixth straight game in an 80-65 loss to Houston last night, and it’s safe to say the NCAA Tournament is out of the picture unless the Sun Devils can run the table at the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City. They’re now 12-14 overall, and just 3-12 in the Big 12.

Shine Bright on the Diamond: ASU’s Brandon Compton was named the Big 12 baseball Player of the Week after a nine-RBI weekend, while Arizona’s Miranda Stoddard was named softball’s NFCA and Big 12 Player of the Week after hitting .833 with six home runs, a triple and 12 RBI.

It’s On the House: The D-Backs are awaiting a vote from the Arizona House of Representatives around a Chase Field renovation plan, which would allow them to use sales and income tax to retool the aging ballpark. The vote is expected to occur sometime over the next couple of weeks, and it seems far more likely to success than the now-infamous failed vote the Arizona Coyotes put forth in Tempe. The D-Backs said they need roughly $500 million for renovations, in addition to the $300 million the team is chipping in.

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🧢 Tip of the Hat

Definitely like where Gerald’s head is at.

I’m not a superstitious man, but I will never forget the time the Suns were tied 2-2 in the NBA Finals, changed the name to Footprint Center before G5, and dropped the next 2 (they hadn’t lost 4 straight all season).

Suns are 13-19 in the playoffs in the Foot era (9-8 at home) https://t.co/XCoBLOAHV6

— Gerald Bourguet (@GeraldBourguet) February 18, 2025