# 2008–09 Phoenix Coyotes season

The 2008–09 Phoenix Coyotes season was the team's 37th season, 30th season in the National Hockey League and 13th season as the Phoenix Coyotes. It saw the Coyotes attempt to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2002. However, during the month of March, they were eliminated from the playoffs, and ended up 13th in the NHL's Western Conference.

## Preseason

The Phoenix Coyotes played eight preseason exhibition games to prepare for the regular season. Three games were at home, and the other five were on the road, including the franchise's first game back in Winnipeg, Manitoba, since the team moved from there to Phoenix in 1996. The Coyotes finished the preseason with a 2–5–1 record.

## Regular season

On December 23, the Toronto-based The Globe and Mail newspaper reported that the Phoenix Coyotes team was receiving financial assistance from the NHL in the form of advances on League revenues. The Coyotes have pledged all of their assets to New York company SOF Investments LP to cover an estimated debt of $80 million. The team has lost an estimated $200 million since 2001 and may lose $30 million this season. One of the team's owners, Jerry Moyes' principal source of revenue, Swift Transportation, is also in financial difficulty. ESPN reported that the League has become involved with the operations of the Coyotes and their revenues. The NHL apparently wants to work with the City of Glendale, which owns Jobing.com Arena and receives revenues from the team. If no investors are interested in keeping the team in Phoenix, Kansas City, Winnipeg or Hamilton will likely be healthier destinations for the franchise to relocate. ESPN also reported that Moyes wants to sell his share of the team and that Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer is a possible interested purchaser.

### Divisional standings

Pacific Division :
| | | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | p – San Jose Sharks | 82 | 53 | 18 | 11 | 257 | 204 | 117 |
| 2 | Anaheim Ducks | 82 | 42 | 33 | 7 | 245 | 238 | 91 |
| 3 | Dallas Stars | 82 | 36 | 35 | 11 | 230 | 257 | 83 |
| 4 | Phoenix Coyotes | 82 | 36 | 39 | 7 | 208 | 252 | 79 |
| 5 | Los Angeles Kings | 82 | 34 | 37 | 11 | 207 | 234 | 79 |
Note: No. = Division rank, CR = Conference rank, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
 Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

### Conference standings

Western Conference :
| R | | Div | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | p – San Jose Sharks | PA | 82 | 53 | 18 | 11 | 257 | 204 | 117 |
| 2 | y – Detroit Red Wings | CE | 82 | 51 | 21 | 10 | 295 | 244 | 112 |
| 3 | y – Vancouver Canucks | NW | 82 | 45 | 27 | 10 | 246 | 220 | 100 |
| 4 | Chicago Blackhawks | CE | 82 | 46 | 24 | 12 | 264 | 216 | 104 |
| 5 | Calgary Flames | NW | 82 | 46 | 30 | 6 | 254 | 248 | 98 |
| 6 | St. Louis Blues | CE | 82 | 41 | 31 | 10 | 233 | 233 | 92 |
| 7 | Columbus Blue Jackets | CE | 82 | 41 | 31 | 10 | 226 | 230 | 92 |
| 8 | Anaheim Ducks | PA | 82 | 42 | 33 | 7 | 245 | 238 | 91 |
| 8.5 ||||||||||
| 9 | Minnesota Wild | NW | 82 | 40 | 33 | 9 | 219 | 200 | 89 |
| 10 | Nashville Predators | CE | 82 | 40 | 34 | 8 | 213 | 233 | 88 |
| 11 | Edmonton Oilers | NW | 82 | 38 | 35 | 9 | 234 | 248 | 85 |
| 12 | Dallas Stars | PA | 82 | 36 | 35 | 11 | 230 | 257 | 83 |
| 13 | Phoenix Coyotes | PA | 82 | 36 | 39 | 7 | 208 | 252 | 79 |
| 14 | Los Angeles Kings | PA | 82 | 34 | 37 | 11 | 207 | 234 | 79 |
| 15 | Colorado Avalanche | NW | 82 | 32 | 45 | 5 | 199 | 257 | 69 |
bold – qualified for playoffs, y – division winner, p – Presidents' Trophy winner CE – Central Division, NW – Northwest Division, PA – Pacific Division

## Schedule and results

2008–09 Game Log :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

## Playoffs

The Coyotes failed to make the playoffs for the sixth straight season. They last made the playoffs in 2002. This season, they were officially eliminated from playoff contention in mid-March.

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Shane Doan | 82 | 31 | 42 | 73 | +5 | 72 |
| Olli Jokinen$^‡$ | 57 | 21 | 21 | 42 | -5 | 49 |
| Steven Reinprecht | 73 | 14 | 27 | 41 | 0 | 20 |
| Ed Jovanovski | 82 | 9 | 27 | 36 | -15 | 106 |
| Peter Mueller | 72 | 13 | 23 | 36 | -7 | 24 |
| Martin Hanzal | 74 | 11 | 20 | 31 | -4 | 40 |
| Keith Yandle | 69 | 4 | 26 | 30 | -4 | 37 |
| Mikkel Boedker | 78 | 11 | 17 | 28 | -6 | 18 |
| Zbynek Michalek | 82 | 6 | 21 | 27 | -13 | 28 |
| Enver Lisin | 48 | 13 | 8 | 21 | -13 | 24 |
| Joakim Lindstrom | 44 | 9 | 11 | 20 | -6 | 28 |
| Kyle Turris | 63 | 8 | 12 | 20 | -15 | 21 |
| Matthew Lombardi$^†$ | 19 | 5 | 11 | 16 | +2 | 14 |
| Viktor Tikhonov | 61 | 8 | 8 | 16 | -3 | 20 |
| Todd Fedoruk | 72 | 6 | 7 | 13 | -9 | 72 |
| Scottie Upshall$^†$ | 19 | 8 | 5 | 13 | +2 | 26 |
| Derek Morris$^‡$ | 57 | 5 | 7 | 12 | -13 | 24 |
| Ken Klee$^†$ | 68 | 1 | 10 | 11 | +9 | 24 |
| Petr Prucha$^†$ | 19 | 2 | 8 | 10 | +1 | 6 |
| Daniel Carcillo$^‡$ | 54 | 3 | 7 | 10 | -13 | 174 |
| Kevin Porter | 34 | 5 | 5 | 10 | -2 | 4 |
| David Hale | 48 | 3 | 6 | 9 | -11 | 36 |
| Kurt Sauer | 68 | 1 | 6 | 7 | -1 | 36 |
| Daniel Winnik | 49 | 3 | 4 | 7 | +1 | 63 |
| Dmitri Kalinin$^†$ | 15 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -2 | 6 |
| Steven Goertzen | 16 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 24 |
| Joel Perrault | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | +2 | 4 |
| Nigel Dawes$^†$ | 12 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -4 | 0 |
| Brandon Prust$^†$ | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -4 | 29 |
| Jeff Hoggan | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 7 |
| David Schlemko | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 0 |
| Brian McGrattan | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 22 |
| Garth Murray | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 12 |
| Alexander Nikulin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | Min | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV | Sv% | SO |
| Ilya Bryzgalov | 65 | 3759 | 26 | 31 | 6 | 187 | 2.98 | 1994 | 1807 | .906 | 3 |
| Mikael Tellqvist$^‡$ | 15 | 797 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 38 | 2.86 | 408 | 370 | .907 | 0 |
| Al Montoya | 5 | 259 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2.08 | 120 | 111 | .925 | 1 |
| Josh Tordjman | 2 | 117 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 4.08 | 62 | 54 | .871 | 0 |
$^†$Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Coyotes. Stats reflect time with the Coyotes only. $^‡$Traded mid-season. Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

## Awards and records
### Milestones

Regular season :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |

## Transactions
### Trades

| June 20, 2008 | To Phoenix Coyotes Olli Jokinen | To Florida Panthers Nick Boynton Keith Ballard 2nd-round pick in 2008 – Jared Staal |
| June 20, 2008 | To Phoenix Coyotes 1st-round pick in 2008 – Viktor Tikhonov | To Anaheim Ducks 2nd-round pick in 2008 – Nicolas Deschamps 2nd-round pick in 2008 – Eric O'Dell |
| October 9, 2008 | To Phoenix Coyotes Future considerations | To Pittsburgh Penguins Michael Zigomanis |
| November 3, 2008 | To Phoenix Coyotes Alexander Nikulin | To Ottawa Senators Drew Fata |
| November 25, 2008 | To Phoenix Coyotes Wyatt Smith | To Tampa Bay Lightning Future considerations |
| December 3, 2008 | To Phoenix Coyotes Joakim Lindstrom | To Dallas Stars Logan Stephenson |
| March 4, 2009 | To Phoenix Coyotes Matthew Lombardi Brandon Prust 1st-round pick in 2009 or 2010$^1$ – Brandon Gormley | To Calgary Flames Olli Jokinen 3rd-round pick in 2009$^2$ – Josh Birkholz |
| March 4, 2009 | To Phoenix Coyotes 4th-round pick in 2010$^3$ – Mark Macmillan | To Buffalo Sabres Mikael Tellqvist |
| March 4, 2009 | To Phoenix Coyotes Scottie Upshall 2nd-round pick in 2011 – Lucas Lessio | To Philadelphia Flyers Daniel Carcillo |
| March 4, 2009 | To Phoenix Coyotes Nigel Dawes Petr Prucha Dmitri Kalinin | To New York Rangers Derek Morris |
* Phoenix Coyotes elected to use the pick in the latter.
* Pick later traded to Calgary Flames.
* Pick later traded to Montreal Canadiens

### Free agents

| Player | Former team | Contract terms |
| Player | New team |
| Radim Vrbata | Tampa Bay Lightning |
| Craig Weller | Minnesota Wild |

### Claimed from waivers

| Player | Former team | Date claimed off waivers |

## Draft picks

Phoenix's picks at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa, Ontario.
| Round | # | Player | Position | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 8 | Mikkel Boedker | (LW) | Denmark | Kitchener Rangers (OHL) |
| 1 | 28 (from Dallas via Los Angeles via Anaheim) | Viktor Tikhonov | (RW) | Russia | Severstal Cherepovets (RSL) |
| 2 | 49 (from Ottawa via Phoenix and Florida) | Jared Staal | (RW) | Canada | Sudbury Wolves (OHL) |
| 3 | 69 | Michael Stone | (D) | Canada | Calgary Hitmen (WHL) |
| 3 | 76 (from Nashville) | Mathieu Brodeur | (D) | Canada | Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL) |
| 4 | 99 | Colin Long | (C) | United States | Kelowna Rockets (WHL) |
| 6 | 159 | Brett Hextall | (C) | United States | Penticton Vees (BCHL) |
| 7 | 189 | Tim Billingsley | (D) | Canada | Mississauga St. Michael's Majors (OHL) |