Coyotes apologize for insecure marketing schemes, creating another one

The Arizona Coyotes have been searching for an identity for, what, 20 years?

There was the Peyote jersey and Gretzky thing and the Brett Hull thing and dropping “Phoenix” and few dozen other material changes. And, during all of it, about 3,000 different marketing initiatives that attempted to overshadow all the negative news off the ice for the franchise.

Many of those marketing taglines were, by the team’s own admission, rather insecure. Like calling Glendale “Hockey Headquarters” or saying the Coyotes were “Not Your Dad’s Original Six,” which basically assumes that everyone’s dad is just really, really old. (And stay quiet over in that corner, mom!)

Accepting this legacy of poor marketing – and in their defense, it’s not exactly easy to market a losing team that’s one court decision away from packing up a fleet of U-Hauls – the Coyotes released a letter to their fans on Monday that proclaimed they wouldn’t have any taglines this season, which is in itself a tagline.

From the Coyotes:

“Coyotes 2.0” would also be a tagline, but the bigger issue is that this is, what, Version 15-point-oh of the Coyotes?

Now, one could read into this and find a hint of insecurity in the fact that the Coyotes don’t really know what they’re selling this season, so they’re putting at least two dozen different marketing options in a letter saying they’re not having any taglines this season. If one wanted to.

Anyhoo, we’re actually excited to see what the Coyotes do this season under new general manager John Chayka. Which is why they should have just gone with “Arizona Coyotes: Boy, Genius!” and been done with it.

Please write your own Coyotes taglines in the comments.

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.