There's a somewhat infamous story that just before Game 1 of last year's playoff series against the Detroit Red Wings, Phoenix Coyotes goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov strolled into head coach Dave Tippett's and asked whether it was true that the team was going to be moving. This season, Tippett made it clear to his team from day one that the ownership of the franchise will not be causing any distractions.
Hockey players are notorious for being easily distracted, like a magpie abruptly arresting its flight when spying a shiny object on the ground. So it's in the team's best interest that Tippett's first order of business during preseason was to sit his team down and discuss the ownership situation. Regardless of what that situation may be, the coach is confident that his team is all on the same page now.
His next order of business: getting Martin Hanzal to stop talking everyone's ear off about Beyonce's "baby bump" conspiracy theories.
(Via The Arizona Republic)