Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 4.37

www.afootinthecrease.com

Just three years ago on the program, we featured a weekly segment called March Of The Penguins, discussing their uncertain financial situation and moreover, their future in the city of Pittsburgh. Well how fast things can change sometimes. Fast forward three seasons and we are focused on an entirely different march of the Penguins, their march to participation in a second consecutive Stanley Cup Finals. Instead the March Of The Penguins has been replaced with the Howl Of The Coyotes as the Phoenix Coyotes face an equally uncertain future and may have played their last game in Phoenix if Mr. Balsillie gets his way.

For the Penguins, getting their hands on two of the best players in the league in two consecutive drafts has certainly helped to facilitate the renaissance in Pittsburgh. The way Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are playing these days, putting them in the same breath as Gretzky and Messier or Lemieux and Jagr is not a stretch. Good ownership, good management and good coaching has put the organization in a position to continue to be successful year after year. Dare I say just three years removed from what was nearly their apocalypse, the Penguins are one of the model franchises in the NHL.

While the Coyotes are indeed in a very undesirable situation, once the suits and ties finish all their work in the courtroom, better days may not be too far off for this team, wherever they end up. Already rich in quality young talent with the likes of Peter Mueller, Martin Hanzel, Mikkel Boedker, Kyle Turris and Victor Tikhonov, the Coyotes will add another key building block with the sixth overall pick in the 2009 Entry Draft. The foundation of youth is present and if those names develop and reach the potential they are thought to have, the Coyotes could be a playoff team in the next couple of years. If anything, at least there is light at the end of the tunnel. But hey, all that was just rigamarole.