“Salt Lake Sucks” Chants Break Out as Coyotes Play Last Game in Arizona
Picture this.
A High School relationship at its finest.
Its true love.
You text, you snapchat, sometimes you hold hands on the bus, you give each other quick hugs in the hallway and you tell your friends how cute they are.
It was true, it was tangible. It was real.
But then the parents step in.
They take the person you love, move them away, and that person finds another relationship with way more laughing emoji's than you ever used.
Now do you
- Blame your Ex?
- Blame your Exes new love?
- Blame the parents?
Most people would likely select option C. That is unless you’re a select handful of Arizona Coyotes fans.
The Coyotes being uprooted and relocated to Salt Lake City is going down as soon as today:
And as you could imagine fans were bitter about seeing a franchise they had cheered on for nearly 30 years just up and leave.
Despite the hardships, failures, disappointments and overall lack of success:
Coyote fans would have stayed, they loved this team regardless of what abuse they had suffered in the past and weren’t quite ready to say goodbye.
So, during the action in Arizona’s final sendoff, a 5-2 win over Edmonton, Coyote fans directed their hurt and anger elsewhere.
Right onto their ex’s new lover.
Losing a team, seeing the fans hurt, seeing the broadcasters mourn is never a fun experience for anyone, even less so for the actual people losing what they love.
It was a somber feeling at Mullett Arena, despite the win, despite the memories, there was an air of eeriness.
Even so, Salt Lake City didn’t cause this.
Salt Lake City, Moreso Ryan Smith, took advantage of an open opportunity that had presented itself.
Smith wanted a professional hockey team in Utah, Arizona ownership couldn’t figure out their future, and Smith rose up to solve Arizona’s and ultimately the NHL’s little problem of “what the hell do we do with the coyotes.”
Despite the strays reigning down, fans chanting ‘Salt Lake Sucks” isn’t something to be offended about.
Fans are a passionate group and right now that passion is mixed with pain, a dangerous combo no doubt.
I don’t blame the fans for taking shots at anyone or everyone who seems to be involved with the removal of the Coyotes, but Utah didn’t hurt you.
In fact, Utah may treat your ex better than you ever did, we can only wait and see.
If you have any negative feelings about the relocation of a team that hit bankruptcy in 2009, was playing in college arena, and has had 4 winning seasons and one playoff appearance in the last 12 years, don’t blame Salt Lake City, Ryan Smith, or Utah as a whole.
Utah’s wanted another professional sports team for as long as I can remember, and the good people of the beehive state seem primed to support an exciting core of guys who have their best hockey ahead of them.
No one wants to see fans hurt or deal with the grief of losing a team, and hopefully Arizona hockey reemerges as the next expansion team.
Hockey does belong in the desert, Coyote fans deserve a team, but no one in Utah did this to you. (Technically, Ryan Smith, but you know what I mean.)
Any ill will towards your former team and its new fans is misguided if the disgust is spewed in the direction of the Wasatch mountains.
Its not the new lover, it’s the parents.
And as the cool new lover, just know, we are totally chill with you checking in on your ex every so often.
Y’all can still be friends, you can text, you can like social media post’s, we are even ok with you stopping into visit.
Stay involved, stay with us, because like you once did, we only want to see them succeed too.