2005–06 Phoenix Coyotes season

The Phoenix Coyotes season involved Wayne Gretzky becoming the head coach.
Key dates prior to the start of the season:
*The 2005 NHL Entry Draft took place in Ottawa, Ontario on July 30, 2005.
*The free agency period began on July 1.
==Offseason==
* On 6 August 2005, Brett Hull, son of former Jet Bobby Hull, was signed and assigned the elder Hull's retired # 9. 
* August 8, 2005 – Two days later, the Coyotes introduced Gretzky as its new head coach, replacing Rick Bowness, despite the fact that he had never coached at any level of hockey. The Coyotes Ring of Honor was unveiled on 8 October, inducting Gretzky and Bobby Hull. One week later, Brett Hull announced his retirement. On 21 January 2006, Jets great Thomas Steen was the third inductee to the Ring of Honor. On 13 April, Steve Ellman announced an agreement for Jerry Moyes to assume majority ownership control of the Coyotes, Glendale Arena and the National Lacrosse League's Arizona Sting.
===NHL Draft===
# 	Player 	Nationality	NHL Team 	College/Junior/Club Team
17	Martin Hanzal (C)	 	Phoenix Coyotes	Budejovice Jr. (Czech)
==Wayne Gretzky==
Despite previous denials that Wayne Gretzky would not assume coaching duties, on August 8, 2005 Gretzky agreed to become the new coach of the Coyotes. 
In the time leading up to Gretzky's announcement, several prominent free agents signed with Phoenix citing the chance to play for Gretzky, including Brett Hull. Hull, who was briefly Gretzky's right winger, only lasted five games and only scored one assist before retiring. Ironically, "The Golden Brett" would have had the record for the most goals over any given three seasons — he scored 228 goals between 1989–90 and 1991–92 — if it weren't for The Great One. From 1981–82 to 1983–84, Gretzky scored 254 goals.
Gretzky made his coaching debut on October 5, 2005, the opening night of the 2005–06 NHL season, losing 3–2 to the Vancouver Canucks. His first coaching victory was October 8, 2005, beating the Minnesota Wild 2–1. Gretzky took an indefinite leave of absence as coach on December 17, 2005 to care for his ill mother in Brantford, Ontario. His mother lost her battle to lung cancer two days later, passing away on December 19, 2005. Assistant coach Rick Tocchet assumed the position until Gretzky's return on December 28. Coyotes' CEO Jeff Shumway announced on June 5, 2006 that Gretzky has agreed to a new five-year contract to remain as head coach.
==Regular season==
Also in the 2005–06 season, the Coyotes were planning to host the NHL all-star game. Due to the XX Winter Olympic Games, the game was canceled. 
===Final standings===
===Game log===
No.	R	Date 	Score 	Opponent 	Record
1 	L	October 5, 2005 	2–3 	@ Vancouver Canucks (2005–06) 	0–1–0
2 	L	October 6, 2005 	2–3 	@ Los Angeles Kings (2005–06) 	0–2–0
3 	W	October 8, 2005 	2–1 	Minnesota Wild (2005–06) 	1–2–0
4 	L	October 11, 2005 	2–3 	@ Dallas Stars (2005–06) 	1–3–0
5 	L	October 13, 2005 	4–5 SO	Nashville Predators (2005–06) 	1–3–1
6 	L	October 15, 2005 	0–2 	Detroit Red Wings (2005–06) 	1–4–1
7 	W	October 17, 2005 	2–0 	@ Calgary Flames (2005–06) 	2–4–1
8 	W	October 18, 2005 	4–3 OT	@ Edmonton Oilers (2005–06) 	3–4–1
9 	L	October 20, 2005 	2–3 	@ Vancouver Canucks (2005–06) 	3–5–1
10 	L	October 23, 2005 	3–5 	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2005–06)	3–6–1
11 	W	October 25, 2005 	5–4 OT	St. Louis Blues (2005–06) 	4–6–1
12 	W	October 27, 2005 	3–2 	Calgary Flames (2005–06) 	5–6–1
13 	L	October 29, 2005 	3–5 	Dallas Stars (2005–06) 	5–7–1
14 	L	October 30, 2005 	2–3 	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2005–06)	5–8–1
15 	W	November 3, 2005 	4–0 	Los Angeles Kings (2005–06) 	6–8–1
16 	W	November 5, 2005 	4–1 	@ Detroit Red Wings (2005–06) 	7–8–1
17 	L	November 6, 2005 	1–2 OT	@ Chicago Blackhawks (2005–06) 	7–8–2
18 	W	November 8, 2005 	4–2 	@ Minnesota Wild (2005–06) 	8–8–2
19 	L	November 10, 2005	3–4 	Calgary Flames (2005–06) 	8–9–2
20 	W	November 12, 2005	2–1 OT	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2005–06) 	9–9–2
21 	L	November 16, 2005	1–3 	Colorado Avalanche (2005–06) 	9–10–2
22 	W	November 19, 2005	4–3 SO	@ San Jose Sharks (2005–06) 	10–10–2
23 	W	November 20, 2005	5–1 	Columbus Blue Jackets (2005–06) 	11–10–2
24 	L	November 22, 2005	1–2 	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2005–06) 	11–11–2
25 	W	November 25, 2005	4–1 	@ Dallas Stars (2005–06) 	12–11–2
26 	W	November 26, 2005	2–1 	Vancouver Canucks (2005–06) 	13–11–2
27 	L	November 30, 2005	1–6 	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2005–06)	13–12–2
28 	W	December 3, 2005 	8–4 	Carolina Hurricanes (2005–06) 	14–12–2
29 	W	December 5, 2005 	5–2 	Atlanta Thrashers (2005–06) 	15–12–2
30 	W	December 11, 2005	2–1 OT	@ Boston Bruins (2005–06) 	16–12–2
31 	L	December 13, 2005	2–5 	@ Montreal Canadiens (2005–06) 	16–13–2
32 	L	December 15, 2005	1–3 	Tampa Bay Lightning (2005–06) 	16–14–2
33 	L	December 17, 2005	1–4 	@ Los Angeles Kings (2005–06) 	16–15–2
34 	L	December 20, 2005	4–5 	St. Louis Blues (2005–06) 	16–16–2
35 	W	December 22, 2005	2–1 	San Jose Sharks (2005–06) 	17–16–2
36 	W	December 23, 2005	3–2 	@ Dallas Stars (2005–06) 	18–16–2
37 	L	December 26, 2005	4–7 	@ Colorado Avalanche (2005–06) 	18–17–2
38 	W	December 28, 2005	5–4 	@ San Jose Sharks (2005–06) 	19–17–2
39 	W	December 29, 2005	6–5 OT	Los Angeles Kings (2005–06) 	20–17–2
40 	L	December 31, 2005	2–5 	Colorado Avalanche (2005–06) 	20–18–2
41 	L	January 5, 2006 	0–4 	@ Los Angeles Kings (2005–06) 	20–19–2
42 	L	January 8, 2006 	2–5 	Columbus Blue Jackets (2005–06) 	20–20–2
43 	L	January 10, 2006 	2–7 	@ Ottawa Senators (2005–06) 	20–21–2
44 	W	January 12, 2006 	2–1 SO	@ Buffalo Sabres (2005–06) 	21–21–2
45 	W	January 14, 2006 	4–3 	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (2005–06) 	22–21–2
46 	L	January 16, 2006 	1–6 	Washington Capitals (2005–06) 	22–22–2
47 	W	January 19, 2006 	6–3 	Florida Panthers (2005–06) 	23–22–2
48 	W	January 21, 2006 	4–3 SO	Edmonton Oilers (2005–06) 	24–22–2
49 	L	January 23, 2006 	1–4 	@ Dallas Stars (2005–06) 	24–23–2
50 	L	January 24, 2006 	2–3 	@ Minnesota Wild (2005–06) 	24–24–2
51 	W	January 26, 2006 	5–3 	@ St. Louis Blues (2005–06) 	25–24–2
52 	W	January 28, 2006 	6–2 	San Jose Sharks (2005–06) 	26–24–2
53 	L	January 29, 2006 	3–4 SO	Edmonton Oilers (2005–06) 	26–24–3
54 	L	January 31, 2006 	4–7 	Vancouver Canucks (2005–06) 	26–25–3
55 	W	February 2, 2006 	2–1 SO	Los Angeles Kings (2005–06) 	27–25–3
56 	L	February 4, 2006 	4–6 	Minnesota Wild (2005–06) 	27–26–3
57 	L	February 7, 2006 	1–3 	Chicago Blackhawks (2005–06) 	27–27–3
58 	L	February 9, 2006 	1–5 	Dallas Stars (2005–06) 	27–28–3
59 	L	February 12, 2006	4–5 OT	San Jose Sharks (2005–06) 	27–28–4
60 	W	March 2, 2006 	6–2 	Dallas Stars (2005–06) 	28–28–4
61 	L	March 4, 2006 	3–7 	Detroit Red Wings (2005–06) 	28–29–4
62 	W	March 7, 2006 	5–2 	@ Detroit Red Wings (2005–06) 	29–29–4
63 	L	March 9, 2006 	4–5 	@ Columbus Blue Jackets (2005–06) 	29–30–4
64 	L	March 11, 2006 	3–5 	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2005–06) 	29–31–4
65 	L	March 12, 2006 	2–5 	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2005–06)	29–32–4
66 	W	March 14, 2006 	6–2 	@ Los Angeles Kings (2005–06) 	30–32–4
67 	L	March 16, 2006 	0–2 	@ Nashville Predators (2005–06) 	30–33–4
68 	W	March 19, 2006 	3–2 	@ Chicago Blackhawks (2005–06) 	31–33–4
69 	W	March 21, 2006 	5–2 	@ Columbus Blue Jackets (2005–06) 	32–33–4
70 	W	March 23, 2006 	4–3 	Chicago Blackhawks (2005–06) 	33–33–4
71 	L	March 25, 2006 	2–5 	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2005–06) 	33–34–4
72 	W	March 28, 2006 	5–3 	Nashville Predators (2005–06) 	34–34–4
73 	W	March 30, 2006 	5–2 	@ San Jose Sharks (2005–06) 	35–34–4
74 	W	April 1, 2006 	4–3 OT	@ San Jose Sharks (2005–06) 	36–34–4
75 	L	April 3, 2006 	1–7 	@ Edmonton Oilers (2005–06) 	36–35–4
76 	L	April 5, 2006 	2–5 	@ Calgary Flames (2005–06) 	36–36–4
77 	L	April 8, 2006 	2–3 SO	Dallas Stars (2005–06) 	36–36–5
78 	L	April 10, 2006 	2–3 	San Jose Sharks (2005–06) 	36–37–5
79 	L	April 11, 2006 	4–6 	@ Colorado Avalanche (2005–06) 	36–38–5
80 	W	April 13, 2006 	3–0 	Los Angeles Kings (2005–06) 	37–38–5
81 	L	April 15, 2006 	1–5 	@ Nashville Predators (2005–06) 	37–39–5
82 	W	April 16, 2006 	3–0 	@ St. Louis Blues (2005–06) 	38–39–5
*Green background indicates win.
*Red background indicates regulation loss.
*White background indicates overtime/shootout loss.
==Torino Olympics==
* Wayne Gretzky was the General Manager of the Canadian Olympic Hockey Team for the XX Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. Coyotes captain Shane Doan was selected for the Canadian team.
==Player stats==
===Regular season===
;Scoring
Player	Pos 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	RW 	82	30	36	66 	123	-9 	17 	0 	7
 	C 	80	30	30	60 	55 	2 	10 	0 	4
 	LW 	51	15	41	56 	74 	8 	7 	1 	4
 	RW 	80	16	38	54 	50 	7 	6 	1 	3
 	D 	78	15	32	47 	70 	-12	8 	0 	0
 	LW 	75	25	21	46 	58 	-14	11 	1 	1
 	D 	82	8 	31	39 	99 	-18	1 	3 	1
 	D 	53	6 	21	27 	54 	-7 	4 	1 	2
 	LW 	67	11	14	25 	50 	-16	3 	0 	1
 	D 	82	9 	15	24 	62 	4 	5 	0 	2
 	C 	28	12	11	23 	8 	1 	4 	1 	2
 	C 	47	11	12	23 	84 	-11	4 	0 	3
 	RW 	75	6 	17	23 	42 	1 	1 	0 	1
 	C 	78	8 	14	22 	44 	-13	1 	0 	1
 	LW 	35	9 	12	21 	29 	0 	4 	0 	0
 	C 	38	5 	13	18 	36 	-1 	1 	0 	0
 	C 	78	10	6 	16 	69 	-22	5 	1 	1
 	LW/C	15	4 	7 	11 	6 	5 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	45	2 	9 	11 	61 	-4 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	25	2 	9 	11 	34 	-6 	1 	0 	1
 	D 	34	1 	10	11 	14 	-9 	1 	0 	0
 	D 	57	1 	7 	8 	121	3 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	50	0 	6 	6 	84 	-7 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	18	0 	5 	5 	26 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	21	0 	4 	4 	8 	-5 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	9 	2 	1 	3 	2 	2 	1 	0 	0
 	RW 	9 	1 	2 	3 	8 	-2 	1 	0 	0
 	C 	5 	1 	1 	2 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	16	0 	2 	2 	14 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	11	1 	0 	1 	30 	-3 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	3 	1 	0 	1 	2 	1 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	20	0 	1 	1 	20 	-3 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	5 	0 	1 	1 	0 	-3 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	60	0 	1 	1 	18 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	8 	0 	1 	1 	13 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	11	0 	0 	0 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0 	-3 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	8 	0 	0 	0 	21 	1 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	15	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	5 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN 	GP	W 	L 	T/OT	GA 	GAA 	SO	SA 	SV 	SV%
 	3424	60	32	21	3 	166	2.91	4 	1690	1524	.902
 	512 	11	3 	6 	0 	33 	3.87	0 	268 	235 	.877
 	814 	15	3 	8 	2 	44 	3.24	0 	386 	342 	.886
 	187 	5 	0 	4 	0 	17 	5.45	0 	128 	111 	.867
Team: 	4937	82	38	39	5 	260	3.16	4 	2472	2212	.895
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes; PPG=Power-play goals; SHG=Short-handed goals; GWG=Game-winning goals
      MIN=Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T/OT = Ties/Overtime Losses; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; SO = Shutouts; SA=Shots Against; SV=Shots saved; SV% = Save Percentage; 
==Transactions==
The Coyotes were involved in the following transactions during the 2005–06 season.
===Trades===
===Free agents Acquired/Lost===
{|class="wikitable"	
Player 	Former team
Boyd Devereaux 	Detroit Red Wings
Brett Hull 	Detroit Red Wings
Curtis Joseph 	Detroit Red Wings
Steven Reinprecht	Calgary Flames
Mike Ricci 	San Jose Sharks
Oleg Saprykin 	Calgary Flames
Geoff Sanderson 	Vancouver Canucks
Dave Scatchard 	New York Islanders
==Roster==
						
Goaltenders
*
*		
Defensemen
*
*
*		
Wingers
*
*
*
*
*
*
* - A
*		
Centers
*
*
* - C
*
*
*GM: Mike Barnett
*Coach: Wayne Gretzky
==Awards and records==
===Milestones===
Regular Season	Regular Season 	Regular Season 	Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season
Player 	Milestone 	Reached 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Wayne Gretzky 	1st NHL Game as Coach	October 5, 2005	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Wayne Gretzky 	1st NHL Win as Coach.	October 8, 2005	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Derek Morris 	250th NHL Point 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Oleg Saprykin 	100th NHL Point 	March 14, 2006 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Dave Scatchard	250th NHL Point 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
==Farm teams==
*San Antonio Rampage, American Hockey LeagueNational Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p.14, Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, ISBN 0-920445-98-5
==References==
* Coyotes on Hockey Database
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Category:Phoenix Coyotes seasons
Phoenix Coyotes seasons
Phoenix Coyotes seasons