Excerpt from:
Gretzky, Coyotes hit town for respite from Super show
By Andrew Miller (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Wayne Gretzky and the Phoenix Coyotes were looking for a quiet place to get away from hockey for a couple of days.
They found the "perfect" getaway in Charleston.
Gretzky, Phoenix's head coach since 2005, and the Coyotes spent Thursday and Friday in the Lowcountry opting to get away from the madhouse that would have been Super Bowl XLII in nearby Glendale, Ariz.
The Coyotes held an hour-long practice at the North Charleston Coliseum on Friday afternoon before leaving for their game with Nashville today.
"We needed a little bit of a break for the guys to get together," Gretzky said. "We wanted to have an opportunity for the guys to hang out and get some down time. It's hard to find the perfect place to go for that.
"We looked at a lot of different places, but this seemed to be a great little town to come to. It had everything we wanted. Guys had a chance to play some tennis and golf. They have a nice hockey facility here and this is a nice little hockey town. It's been a great experience for us."
After losing to Detroit, 3-2, Wednesday night, the Coyotes flew to the Lowcountry and spent Thursday playing golf at Wild Dunes on the Isle of Palms and tennis at the Family Circle Cup tennis center on Daniel Island.
"The people at Wild Dunes were phenomenal to us," said Coyotes team captain Shane Doan. "It's a tough course, I probably didn't shoot as well as I would have liked, but I think everyone had a great time out there."
The Coyotes had a light workout on Friday before a couple of hundred Stingrays season ticket holders.
"We had a good practice today," Gretzky said. "It was a nice break, and I know the players really enjoyed it. It's good to get away from the game for 24 hours and get a break, so for our guys, it's a chance to be together as a group, play some golf, and hang out as a team. We were trying recharge our batteries."
Gretzky said he got the idea of coming to Charleston from talking with the New York Knicks and the time they spent in the Lowcountry during training camp over the years.
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Tim Hammond
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Zbynek Michalek
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