Chelios a Coyote (?)

The Phoenix Coyotes’ Defensive Squad has been depleted by injuries. There is no secret there. Three defensive starters are out. Kurt Sauer has missed 16 straight games with what is only being described as an upper-body injury and “headaches”. Zbynek Michalek is dealing with a lower body injury that he suffered last Wednesday against Colorado, his status is week-to-week and this week isn’t one of the good ones. Ed Jovanovski put a screeching halt on his fast start when he injured his leg and/or knee. Your guess on his status right now is as good as mine. Keith Yandle has been a pretty big non-factor all year long. Rookies Shaun Heska and David Schlemko were called up to fill the voids but haven’t had remarkable results. Heska has failed to see any ice time yet and Schlemko’s line reads 0 G, 1 A, 3 +/-, 2 PIM, 0 PPP and only 4 SOG.
As November continues to be a down month for the ‘Yotes, it was only a matter of time before the rumors and trades would start to surface. TheStar.com is reporting that our GM Don Maloney plans to visit with Chris Chelios this Friday in San Antonio. While Chelios is 47 years young, he’s actually still playing hockey with the AHL Chicago Wolves. Cheli has appeared in 7 games now for the Wolves and has tallied one goal, six assists, six points and a plus/minus of 6.

Granted, Chelios is a hockey phenom especially up north in Chi-town. Sorry, was a hockey phenom. To repeat myself, Chelios is 47 years of age. In order to fix an oft-injured defensive corps, it doesn’t seem like the ideal situation to hire Father Time. I mean, isn’t that what old people are best at? Getting hurt?

To me, this seems like nothing much more than signing a “name” to help put butts in the seats (i.e. The Memphis Grizzlies and Allen Iverson). To give this a better perspective, here you go:

• Brett Favre is 40.
• When Chelios made his NHL debut in 1984, What’s Love Got To Do With It by Tina Turner topped the musical charts.
• When Cheli debuted with the Habs that year, Avril Lavigne, Prince Henry, Marc-Andre Fleury, Eric Staal, Rick Nash and Lebron James were born.

More 1984 stats:

• Gas cost a mere $1.21.
• Beverly Hills Cop was the top money-making movie.
• Dynasty was cool.
• I had my first birthday. I must’ve had a blast because I don’t remember it.

Anyway, will he be a Coyote? Who knows? We shall know more by Friday night. Details of a deal have yet to be released. Would I like to see Chelios on the team? Yes, but only in the same vein as me wanting to see Howler the Coyote suit up in one game this year. Sure, Chelios’ leadership abilities are unquestionable and if we can get him on the low, then hecks ya let’s do this! But, I hate the idea of selling the farm (as if we haven’t literally done enough of that this year) for a rent-a-player. Also, there is absolutely nothing sexy about “2008-2009’s oldest active hockey player”.

He’s no Ray Moon.

Tags: Chris Chelios, David Schlemko, Ed Jovanovski, Keith Yandle, Kurt Sauer, Shaun Heska, Zbynek Michalek