Tuesday, February 19, 2008

100 and counting for 99

Wayne Gretzky reached the century mark in his coaching career on Monday night, as his Phoenix Coyotes secured win number one hundred in his days behind the bench.

Gretzky is in his third year as coach of the desert dogs and is finding that this season has been far more rewarding than the previous two, as his Coyotes begin to gel and make some noise in the NHL Western Conference.

Having missed the playoffs in his previous two seasons, the Coyotes are playing a much more confident game these days and have many observers suggesting that this may be their year to make an entry into the playoff round. With the 4-0 win, the Coyotes climbed into a tie with Calgary and Vancouver for any number of spots above the magic number eight location for playoff participation.

As always seems to be the case, Gretzky had perfect timing for win number 100, it came as his Coyotes were guests of the Los Angeles Kings providing Gretzky with one more memory from his California emigration.

While 100 is a nice momentous number, Gretzky no doubt is hoping that his team can add a few more victories to the ledger before this season is over and more importantly help him begin a new section of the Coyote record book, that for playoff victories by a head coach.

AZCentral.com--Coyotes get Gretzky's 100th win
National Post--Gretzky gets 100th win
Associated Press--Coyotes Shut Out Kings 4-0
CBC Sports--Vrbata vaults Coyotes over Kings
Los Angeles Times--Coyotes have Kings' number

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