Paul Bissonnette pours his heart out talking about the Coyotes
The renowned Paul Bissonnette poured his hear out talking about his former team, the Arizona Coyotes, as the franchise played its last game in Arizona last night.
Bissonnette, who played 187 games with the Coyotes, showed emotions while talking about his former team's relocation in an intervention on live T.V.
Here's his heartfelt statement:
"I was a borderline NHLer. I was fortunate enough to get picked up on waivers by the Arizona Coyotes. I thought maybe I was going to be there a month or two, but got to spend five of the best years of my life living out my dream in the National Hockey League.
And there, I met so many incredible people, whether it was players on the team like Shane Doane, Keith Yandle, guys on the staff like Stan Wilson, who was our trainer, who came over from Winnipeg and had already been through this before, the, coaching staff, even the people who worked at the rink, the ushers, so many amazing people.
And when I retired, ended up having the fortunate ability to go there and start my media career where I was offered my first job at a hockey and got to work with incredible people on the media side.
It just sucks at the way that this was drawn out and the way that people were treated there. Not crazy about the way that ownership handled things and the way that people that I care about were treated.
And, including the fans, the people through all the tumultuous times with ownership and kind of getting dragged through it, they stuck by us and supported us. And, they were still there for the whiteouts as they were at Mullett arena tonight. And you could see tears in their eyes as we can still see them there supporting the team.
So to every single person that I came across in my time with the Arizona coyotes and I had the pleasure of working with, I just, I want to let you know I wouldn't be sitting here if it wasn't for you guys. And I know that hockey belongs in the desert. I know that it will be back there. I don't want the former owners who were there to be the ones to bring it back. I hope that people who appreciate the people that are there and who made the organization what it is.
So I know it's hard to talk about all this and summarize it all, but I love you guys in Coyotes land. I'm so grateful for you and you gave me some of the best years of my life, so I'm forever grateful and I really don't know what else to say."
And there, I met so many incredible people, whether it was players on the team like Shane Doane, Keith Yandle, guys on the staff like Stan Wilson, who was our trainer, who came over from Winnipeg and had already been through this before, the, coaching staff, even the people who worked at the rink, the ushers, so many amazing people.
And when I retired, ended up having the fortunate ability to go there and start my media career where I was offered my first job at a hockey and got to work with incredible people on the media side.
It just sucks at the way that this was drawn out and the way that people were treated there. Not crazy about the way that ownership handled things and the way that people that I care about were treated.
And, including the fans, the people through all the tumultuous times with ownership and kind of getting dragged through it, they stuck by us and supported us. And, they were still there for the whiteouts as they were at Mullett arena tonight. And you could see tears in their eyes as we can still see them there supporting the team.
So to every single person that I came across in my time with the Arizona coyotes and I had the pleasure of working with, I just, I want to let you know I wouldn't be sitting here if it wasn't for you guys. And I know that hockey belongs in the desert. I know that it will be back there. I don't want the former owners who were there to be the ones to bring it back. I hope that people who appreciate the people that are there and who made the organization what it is.
So I know it's hard to talk about all this and summarize it all, but I love you guys in Coyotes land. I'm so grateful for you and you gave me some of the best years of my life, so I'm forever grateful and I really don't know what else to say."
He added on X:
"I wish I could have been there tonight at the Mullet. Thank you to every single amazing person I came across while being involved with the Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes organization. You made the engine run. You helped me live out my dream and I'll never forget you. I'm forever grateful. Hockey will be back in the desert."
Do you think Arizona will get a NHL team in the next five years?
| POLL | ||
Do you think Arizona will get a NHL team in the next five years? | ||
| Yes | 188 | 21.6 % |
| No | 681 | 78.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
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