OTTAWA | Christian Dvorak, who played his first five seasons in the NHL with the Arizona Coyotes, is well placed to talk about the situation there.
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So, with a move to Salt Lake City seemingly imminent even if it has not yet been confirmed, he is in a position to declare failure.
“It’s a little disappointing. When I was there, I loved playing there and so did the other players. But it was a situation that had become unsustainable and things had to change. I hope they have a team back soon.”
“There were rumors of relocation or a new arena every year so we didn’t pay too much attention to that. We didn’t know what was true or false.”
Bad situation
The Coyotes have had two major problems since moving from Winnipeg to the southwest United States: ownership changes and a poor geographic location.
The Desert Diamond Arena where the team played until two years ago is located more than 15 miles from downtown Phoenix and is even further from the more populous eastern suburbs.
“They have good supporters. When I was there, we played in Glendale, which is a little far for a lot of people, which made it difficult to attract fans every night.
“If the team was closer to Tempe, Scottsdale or Phoenix, but obviously not in a college arena, I think there would be more fans.”
When he talks about a university arena, he is obviously referring to Mullett Arena at Arizona State University, a 5,000-seat building (4,600 for NHL games) where the team has played for two years.
Prepare
On the ice, Christian Dvorak has played two games since he returned. He had missed three months of activities due to an upper body injury. He has missed a total of 52 games this season, sitting out early in the season because he was still fully recovered from a knee injury that ended his season in March 2022.
It is therefore valuable for him to be able to play the last matches of the season even if there are only three left.
“I’m going to try to find some momentum in these last three games to get ready for the summer. That was my goal in coming back before the end of the season.”
The 28-year-old American, who has averaged more than 30 points per season since he was in the NHL, intends to continue working on his offensive production.
“I think I can do more offensively and that’s my goal to work on over the summer. But I also want to be a good 200-foot player.”