2005–06 Phoenix Coyotes season

2005–06 Phoenix Coyotes
Division	5th Pacific
Conference	12th Western
2005–06 record	38–39–5
Goals for	246
Goals against	271
Team information
General manager	Mike Barnett
Coach	Wayne Gretzky
Captain	Shane Doan
Alternate captains	Mike Ricci Unknown
Arena	Jobing.com Arena
Team leaders
Goals	Mike Comrie and Shane Doan (30)
Assists	Shane Doan (36)
Points	Shane Doan (66)
Penalty minutes	Shane Doan (123)
Wins	Curtis Joseph (32)
Goals against average	Curtis Joseph (2.91)

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)	Czech Republic	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

Pacific Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	2	Dallas Stars	82	53	23	6	265	218	112
2	5	San Jose Sharks	82	44	27	11	266	242	99
3	6	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	82	43	27	12	254	229	98
4	10	Los Angeles Kings	82	42	35	5	249	270	89
5	12	Phoenix Coyotes	82	38	39	5	246	271	81

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
Doan, ShaneShane Doan	RW	82	30	36	66	123	-9	17	0	7
Comrie, MikeMike Comrie	C	80	30	30	60	55	2	10	0	4
Nagy, LadislavLadislav Nagy	LW	51	15	41	56	74	8	7	1	4
Johnson, MikeMike Johnson	RW	80	16	38	54	50	7	6	1	3
Mara, PaulPaul Mara	D	78	15	32	47	70	-12	8	0	0
Sanderson, GeoffGeoff Sanderson	LW	75	25	21	46	58	-14	11	1	1
Ballard, KeithKeith Ballard	D	82	8	31	39	99	-18	1	3	1
Morris, DerekDerek Morris	D	53	6	21	27	54	-7	4	1	2
Saprykin, OlegOleg Saprykin	LW	67	11	14	25	50	-16	3	0	1
Michalek, ZbynekZbynek Michalek	D	82	9	15	24	62	4	5	0	2
Reinprecht, SteveSteve Reinprecht	C	28	12	11	23	8	1	4	1	2
Scatchard, DaveDave Scatchard	C	47	11	12	23	84	-11	4	0	3
Sjostrom, FredrikFredrik Sjostrom	RW	75	6	17	23	42	1	1	0	1
Devereaux, BoydBoyd Devereaux	C	78	8	14	22	44	-13	1	0	1
Leclerc, MikeMike Leclerc	LW	35	9	12	21	29	0	4	0	0
Lundmark, JamieJamie Lundmark	C	38	5	13	18	36	-1	1	0	0
Ricci, MikeMike Ricci	C	78	10	6	16	69	-22	5	1	1
Kvasha, OlegOleg Kvasha	LW/C	15	4	7	11	6	5	0	0	0
Gauthier, DenisDenis Gauthier	D	45	2	9	11	61	-4	0	0	0
Nedved, PetrPetr Nedved	C	25	2	9	11	34	-6	1	0	1
Seidenberg, DennisDennis Seidenberg	D	34	1	10	11	14	-9	1	0	0
O'Donnell, SeanSean O'Donnell	D	57	1	7	8	121	3	0	0	0
Nash, TysonTyson Nash	LW	50	0	6	6	84	-7	0	0	0
Rivers, JamieJamie Rivers	D	18	0	5	5	26	2	0	0	0
Tanabe, DavidDavid Tanabe	D	21	0	4	4	8	-5	0	0	0
Kolanos, KrysKrys Kolanos	C	9	2	1	3	2	2	1	0	0
Thomas, BillBill Thomas	RW	9	1	2	3	8	-2	1	0	0
Perrault, JoelJoel Perrault	C	5	1	1	2	2	0	0	0	0
Jones, MattMatt Jones	D	16	0	2	2	14	-2	0	0	0
Gratton, JoshJosh Gratton	LW	11	1	0	1	30	-3	0	0	0
Lehoux, YanickYanick Lehoux	C	3	1	0	1	2	1	0	0	0
Gainey, SteveSteve Gainey	LW	20	0	1	1	20	-3	0	0	0
Hull, BrettBrett Hull	RW	5	0	1	1	0	-3	0	0	0
Joseph, CurtisCurtis Joseph	G	60	0	1	1	18	0	0	0	0
Spiller, MatthewMatthew Spiller	D	8	0	1	1	13	-1	0	0	0
Boucher, BrianBrian Boucher	G	11	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Brendl, PavelPavel Brendl	RW	2	0	0	0	0	-3	0	0	0
Jackman, TimTim Jackman	RW	8	0	0	0	21	1	0	0	0
LeNeveu, DavidDavid LeNeveu	G	15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Rheaume, PascalPascal Rheaume	C	1	0	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Rupp, MikeMike Rupp	C	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sauve, PhilippePhilippe Sauve	G	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Taffe, JeffJeff Taffe	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T/OT	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Joseph, CurtisCurtis Joseph	3424	60	32	21	3	166	2.91	4	1690	1524	.902
Boucher, BrianBrian Boucher	512	11	3	6	0	33	3.87	0	268	235	.877
LeNeveu, DavidDavid LeNeveu	814	15	3	8	2	44	3.24	0	386	342	.886
Sauve, PhilippePhilippe Sauve	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.

Free agents Acquired/Lost

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

Player New team

Roster

Goaltenders 31 Curtis Joseph  35 Philippe Sauve		Defensemen 4 Zbynek Michalek  23 Paul Mara  53 Derek Morris		Wingers 9 Brett Hull  15 Boyd Devereaux  17 Ladislav Nagy  18 Tyson Nash  20 Fredrik Sjostrom  38 Dave Scatchard  40 Mike Ricci  - A 89 Mike Comrie		Centers 8 Geoff Sanderson  12 Mike Johnson  19 Shane Doan  - C 29 Steven Reinprecht  91 Oleg Saprykin  GM: Mike Barnett Coach: Wayne Gretzky

Awards and records

Milestones

     Player is still active or individual record

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 League

References

• Coyotes on Hockey Database