Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Gretzky heads for the cross hairs

With his reputation the thing of legend, many are finding it hard to understand why Wayne Gretzky is willing to put himself on the line for possible disaster as coach of the Phoenix Coyotes.

With yesterday's annoucnement of Gretzky's decision to add Head coach to his CV, the jury pool seems split as to whether he is wise or foolhardy in his deliberations. Many feel that he is making terrible error in judgment, taking a vanity play for a chance to be close to the action. Others feel that he has a genuine feel for the game and will be able to translate that love and knowledge of the game to young and older players alike to cobble together a winner in the desert. The concept of a star player turning to coaching is a path littered with attempt and failure, some successes, but just as many participants soured forever from their experience, the test for Gretzky will be to stay the course long enough to see if it's truly what he wants now.

Regardless, somewhere along the way somebody is going to get to say I told you so. The current line up of Dogs of the the Desert does not guarantee a stellar season in a tough part of the league. Even with all of Gretzky's magical skills the road from Phoenix to Stanley is a narrow, cluttered and winding one with many pitfalls to come along the way.

While there are many that feel he's making a mistake, some pretty credible hockey people suggest we not underestimate ole 99, perhaps he might just make the difference in Phoenix. That of course will be determined as the season progresses, but if nothing else the Coyotes are going to be the most watched team of the year and once again the main attraction will be a guy named Gretzky!

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