TEMPE, Ariz. — Charles Lutz stood at the top of the student section at Mullett Arena, the college hockey rink that will house the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes for at least the next three seasons. Below him were Arizona State University students dressed like a pineapple, a banana and a character from “Squid Game,” undulating to the beat of a drum line that provided the soundtrack for the Coyotes’ home opener against the Winnipeg Jets on Friday.
“People say there aren’t Coyotes fans. Well, yes, Virginia: There are Coyotes fans,” Lutz said, surveying the 4,600 fans in attendance.
He was a “day one” Coyotes supporter: a season-ticket holder at American West Arena in Phoenix and then in Glendale, where the team played 18 years. That was before the city refused to renew the Coyotes’ arena lease, necessitating the move to Arizona State University’s brand-new Mullett Arena. While perfectly monikered for hockey, the arena was named for a family that has financially backed Arizona State’s Division I men’s hockey program.
“The entire history of the Coyotes is ‘Where will we be next?’ or ‘Where will we play?'” Lutz said. “I think this is finally the turning point in the Coyotes’ history.”
For a franchise that has had more turning points than a cornfield maze, the move to an NCAA-sized rink is the latest twist. It has inspired reactions from around the NHL ranging from second-hand cringing to intense curiosity.
“It’s different for us, different for the away teams, but it’s great,” Arizona forward Christian Fischer said. “You hear all the stuff [that] teams probably don’t want to come here, for whatever reason. Well, that’d be great for us. Let’s use that as motivation to make it damn hard to play here.”
What’s it like to experience hockey at the Mullett? We asked fans and players as the Coyotes opened their temporary home in Tempe.
The student section experience
Jackson Dunn was an exasperated banana.
The Arizona State University student had purchased tickets to the Coyotes’ first game against the Jets along with some friends. The team is selling between 250 and 400 student-section tickets each game for $25 apiece — an incredible bargain, given there isn’t another seat in Mullett that sells for less than $100.
One friend was dressed like a penguin. Another like a pineapple. Dunn wore a sleeveless banana costume. All of them were rocking the commemorative mullets the Coyotes provided to each fan on opening night, with blonde hair cascading down the back, and “GO COYOTES GO!” and “YOU DO YOU” on the headband.
“First of all, I love the Minions. Their favorite food, in general, is a banana,” Dunn said, standing among fans who were wearing more jerseys than fruit. “Also, it’s Halloween [weekend] and we thought there would be more people in costume. But I guess not!”
Dunn is exactly the kind of fan the Coyotes find appealing at ASU: This was his first NHL game.
“I’m a Seattle Kraken fan. I’m brand-new to hockey. I’m not a Coyotes fan,” he said. “I went to the ASU game last week and it was a great atmosphere. The tickets are $25, so might as well.”
Coyotes president and CEO Xavier A. Gutierrez said the team expects to foster new fandom on campus.
“We have actually created something called Coyotes U, which has a specific student fan club in which they will have special-price tickets to be there,” he said. “We’ve wanted to expose hockey and our organization to the great students here. This is the largest public university in the country. We thought it was an incredible opportunity for us to bring them here, to have them be exposed and to make lifelong fans.”
In turn, the Coyotes get an infusion of youthful exuberance at each home game. Against the Jets, the student section started the game’s first “Let’s go Coyotes!” (pronounced “Kai-yotes”) chant and kept the energy going. The students imported some NCAA hockey game standards, chanting “You can’t do that!” on the game’s first penalty and “It’s all your fault” after Winnipeg goalie David Rittich surrendered the game’s first goal. They were whipped into a frenzy during T-shirt tosses.
Dunn and friends weren’t the only ones in costume in the student section. One of the drum line’s drummers watched a group of men dressed in matching checkered jumpsuits walk into the student section.
“That’s the dance team,” the drummer said.
“What’s the dance team?” I inquired.
“They’re a team and they have to dance. They have the music in them. Like how I have to play this drum,” he said, giving it a gentle wallop with his stick.
It turns out this was not, in fact, the dance team. It was a bachelor party from Boston, taking advantage of the low ticket prices to attend an NHL game while in Tempe.
Which is to say that not every fan seated in the student section was a student.
Mark Brezden, dressed in a suit jacket festooned with Jets logos, was seated with several Winnipeg fans. He didn’t know the fans giving him grief all game were mostly ASU students.
“Oh s—, is that what this is? The student section? I didn’t realize it until now,” he said, laughing.
Brezden explained that he has used the same Arizona ticket rep for the past 10 years when he and his friends would travel down from Winnipeg for games. “They’ve been good for us,” he said.
Fans of Canadian NHL teams would always populate the stands at Coyotes games in Glendale. Some fans in attendance at Mullett Arena wondered what the crowds would look like when teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs visit Tempe — how many of those 5,000 seats would contain visiting jerseys?
“The reality is Canadians love hockey,” Gutierrez said with a laugh, “and this is the second-largest Canadian snowbird market in the country. As a result, we have a lot of Canadian fans here and we welcome them — as long as they cheer for the Coyotes.”
When asked what they thought of the arena, Brezden exchanged an awkward glance with his friend and fellow Jets fans Ron Burley.
“I mean, it’s a means to an end, right?” Burley said. “There’s something bigger coming.”
The die-hard experience
Before the game, Lutz joined around 100 Coyotes fans outside Mullet Arena for a fanfest that included a DJ, a face painter and a “red carpet” arrival for players.
He was wearing a Robert Esche jersey, a goalie who last played for the then-Phoenix Coyotes in 2002. The front of his sweater was a sea of commemorative pins. He pointed to two of them that identify him as a “day one” Coyotes fan in their inaugural season. They were located near a red heart with the words “I’m special” in Braille that he wears in honor of his daughter, who is blind.
“I love this [arena], because it’s going to keep us in Arizona until the new arena gets built,” he said.
Like many of the fans outside the student section, Lutz was a season-ticket holder in Glendale whose seats were transferred to ASU.
“It was easy. They did the best they could to find your seats,” he said. “We were upper level, and as you can see, there really is no upper level here.”
The average ticket price at Mullett Arena is $170, $16 above the league average. It was about $90 for an average ticket in Glendale.
“We’re paying a few shekels extra. I had to sell my spleen and kidney, but I made it happen,” Lutz said with a laugh.
The longtime Coyotes fans with whom we spoke expressed concerns about ticket prices and the lack of accoutrements one finds in larger arenas. But uniformly, they all praised one thing: the geographical advantages of playing in Tempe.
The Coyotes’ first season in Tempe marks the first time Tim McKinstry will be a season-ticket holder. He has been a fan of the team for years but cited the same issue many have cited for the Coyotes’ failure to attract big crowds in Glendale: For 18 years, they played in an arena located a significant distance from their fan base.
“It would take me an hour to get to Glendale. I rode my bike here,” McKinstry said.
He said he’s “excited but a little bit nervous” about the team’s plans for a new arena in Tempe.
After Glendale opted not to renew the Coyotes’ lease at what’s now known as Desert Diamond Arena, they needed a new home. They entered into negotiations with Arizona State University to potentially share the Sun Devils’ men’s hockey team’s new arena while seeking to build their own building and entertainment complex in Tempe.
A vote from the city council will come on Nov. 29. Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports reports that the Tempe City Council is likely to refer the Coyotes’ arena and entertainment district proposal to referendum, leaving a vote in citizens’ hands.
“Sometimes the city makes deals and it ends up costing the taxpayers a little bit of money,” McKinstry said. “Overall, it’s promising. I guess we’ll see what happens.”
The Shane Doan experience
No one played more games (1,540), scored more goals (402) or tallied more points (972) as a Coyote than Shane Doan. The 21-year NHL veteran, who last played in 2017, was the Coyotes’ chief hockey development officer before taking a step back from the role before the season.
What would Shane Doan, the player, think about calling Mullett Arena home?
“You know what? It’s cool. It’s a unique experience that you don’t get very often,” he said. “It takes you back a little bit to where you played junior and where you played in college. And this is a great college or junior rink.”
Doan’s favorite aspect of the Mullett experience: Having fans right on top of the players.
“It’s going to be something that the fans won’t normally get to experience [at an NHL game],” he said. “They’re going to get to see some of the great players on the ice that are a level that you never get to see. And then you get to see all of our fans up close and personal.”
“It’s going to be a little more intimate. Everyone is going to see the reactions on the bench. You might even hear some people’s reactions. That’ll be fun,” Doan added. “We’ll see how it all works out. It’s going to be something that people talk about.”
As a player and an executive, he has seen some … let’s call it “stuff” through the years with this organization.
“What?” he said, laughing. “Nah, what are you talking about?”
Hypothetically, had someone told Doan several years ago that the Coyotes would be kicked out of Glendale and playing in a college hockey arena in Tempe, how would he have reacted?
“If you think that you can predict what’s going to happen, that’s usually when you’re a fool,” he said. “This has been an adventure. We’re trying to keep her going. The end goal is what we’re focused on. If we can get to that, then it’ll all have been worth it.”
Doan played a key role in the opening night festivities. He dropped the ceremonial first puck with his son Josh, an Arizona State player who was drafted in the third round last year by the Coyotes. Josh Doan actually flew from Las Vegas for the event before rejoining the Sun Devils on the road.
“He’s a huge fan of the Coyotes. Obviously getting drafted by them is crazy and unique,” the elder Doan said. “To have an opportunity to take part in something like this, in what’s sort of his building, it’s special.”
There’s no “sort of” about it: Mullett Arena is the home of the Sun Devils, and the Coyotes are temporary tenants. The ASU hockey logo is on every seat. There’s a giant “FEAR THE FORK” slogan on the wall behind one net.
“Personally, I never thought [this] would happen. The building was designed for Arizona State hockey and college hockey,” said Greg Powers, head coach of the ASU hockey team. “But I was selfishly excited about what this does for our program. You can’t walk into that arena and not know that it [belongs to] Arizona State. Our brand is going to get out there. That’s good for us.”
The relationship between the teams hasn’t been completely harmonious. The Coyotes are scheduled to play four home games, after six on the road to open the season, prior to the completion of an annex next to the arena. That building will house NHL-quality dressing rooms and other facilities. But for these first four games, the Coyotes are using the visiting locker rooms as their dressing area, while road teams are getting geared up in a temporary dressing room built on top of an adjoining ice rink in the building.
In other words, the Coyotes aren’t using the Sun Devils’ locker room.
“There are some NCAA compliance concerns with rubbing elbows with [NHL players], literally sharing a locker room,” Powers explained. “But for my standpoint, most importantly, you’re getting into this whole musical chairs thing, and that’s something I’m not interested in.
“They’re not going to take the building with them. When they leave, they’re going to leave behind a beautiful building with two pro dressing rooms and offices, a medical facility and some workout rooms.”
The visiting players’ experience
Winnipeg Jets defenseman Nate Schmidt was college roommates with Coyotes forward Nick Bjugstad and faced off against him in a college rink on Friday night as NHL players.
“I had a hell of a time in college. I’m a little too old to go back. Don’t have any eligibility left,” Schmidt joked. “You know, they’re making the best out of a tough situation here.”
While the annex is being completed, the visiting locker room at Mullett Arena consists of a few lines of weathered lockers contained within temporary walls, all of it atop an ice rink covered in black rubber mats. Some on social media likened it to a Nathan Fielder “rehearsal” of an NHL game, and it’s an apt comparison.
“It’s different. The ground is cold from being on top of the ice. When you take your shoes off, it’s a little chilly on the feet,” Winnipeg rookie Cole Perfetti said. “But we knew it was temporary. We knew what we were coming into. It’s unique. It’s pretty cool to be the first team to ever be a part of this. It’s weird. But it’s cool.”
From a game-play perspective, the visiting Jets echoed the comments made by Coyotes players leading up to the game: The boards were lively and the ice was tremendously fast.
“I think you go out there for pregame skate, and within your first 10 strides you know,” Arizona’s Fischer said. “When you go play in Edmonton you just step out for warm-ups and you’re flying out there for whatever reason. There’s also other places that’s not that case, and you notice that pretty quickly. I’d be curious to know how the Jets feel, but from our standpoint, we haven’t had the greatest ice here in the past couple of years, so that’s probably why you’re hearing that the most.”
How did the Jets feel?
“The ice was great. It was unbelievable. Even for warm-ups,” Perfetti said. “Coming from L.A. last night where the ice … well, it wasn’t the best. We were fighting the puck a little bit. But this ice was great. The boards were great. It was awesome.”
One interesting aspect of the Mullett Arena experience: Adjusting to the size of the rink.
“Everything felt tiny in the first period. Everything just felt congested and small,” Schmidt said. “Maybe because there’s no upper deck, I don’t know. It all felt very tight and then it settled down as the game went on.”
Blake Wheeler, who scored the winner in overtime, said the arena experience felt different.
“Five thousand people, man. It’s all right,” he said.
Did it remind Wheeler of his college days skating for Minnesota?
“I played in front of 10,000,” he said, smiling. “All in all, it was made out to be much worse than it was. As long as you’ve got a spot to put your gear on and talk about the game, it really is a beautiful college hockey rink. I’ve played in worse arenas, that’s for sure.”
The Coyotes players’ experience
As they left the ice on opening night, the Coyotes were cheered by the remaining fans in the student section. To the outside, it was a crowd of 4,600 fans, with capacity slightly reduced due to television broadcast and media overflow needs. To an Arizona player, it was something they rarely had in Glendale: a sellout.
“Just to see a full building, it’s a new chapter of hockey here, being in Tempe,” Coyotes star forward Clayton Keller said. “Hopefully they keep showing up.”
GM Bill Armstrong believes they will. The Coyotes aren’t expected to be contenders. Armstrong has acknowledged the importance of highly drafted players in ultimately building a winner in the desert. But he also wants his team to exhibit a work ethic that lays the groundwork for future success, while connecting with fans now.
“I think we can have a special flavor here. We’re a physical team. We’re a grinding team. I would like to think we’re one of the hardest-working teams in the National Hockey League,” Armstrong said. “If you come to see us play, you’re gonna get your money’s worth. And when you come to see us in this building, you’re gonna have one of the best seats in the NHL.”
Many of the Coyotes players on the current roster won’t be there when the team moves into its next home. But for now, they appreciate the uniqueness of their temporary home, especially as it compares to their previous one.
“I thought the energy of the crowd was great. Something that we’ve missed as players, especially guys that have been here for a while,” Fischer said. “It’s a fun place to play. There’s a lot of noise about the outside and the details of it, but we’re playing a hockey game. It’s loud, and the fans are cheering for us, that’s all we really care about. It’s a cool little rink.”
Why he could win: Olson is a late replacement for Acuna as the home team’s representative at this year’s Derby. Apart from being the Braves’ first baseman, however, Olson also was born in Atlanta and grew up a Braves fan, giving him some extra motivation. The left-handed slugger led the majors in home runs in 2023 — his 54 round-trippers that season also set a franchise record — and he remains among the best in the game when it comes to exit velo and hard-hit rate.
Why he might not: The home-field advantage can also be a detriment if a player gets too hyped up in the first round. See Julio Rodriguez in Seattle in 2023, when he had a monster first round, with 41 home runs, but then tired out in the second round.
2025 home runs: 36 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: It’s the season of Cal! The Mariners’ catcher is having one of the greatest slugging first halves in MLB history, as he’s been crushing mistakes all season . His easy raw power might be tailor-made for the Derby — he ranks in the 87th percentile in average exit velocity and delivers the ball, on average, at the optimal home run launch angle of 23 degrees. His calm demeanor might also be perfect for the contest as he won’t get too amped up.
Why he might not: He’s a catcher — and one who has carried a heavy workload, playing in all but one game this season. This contest is as much about stamina as anything, and whether Raleigh can carry his power through three rounds would be a concern. No catcher has ever won the Derby, with only Ivan Rodriguez back in 2005 even reaching the finals.
2025 home runs: 24 | Longest: 451 feet
Why he could win: He’s big, he’s strong, he’s young, he’s awesome, he might or might not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. This is the perfect opportunity for Wood to show his talent on the national stage, and he wouldn’t be the first young player to star in the Derby. He ranks in the 97th percentile in average exit velocity and 99th percentile in hard-hit rate, so he can still muscle the ball out in BP even if he slightly mishits it. His long arms might be viewed as a detriment, but remember the similarly tall Aaron Judge won in 2017.
Why he might not: His natural swing isn’t a pure uppercut — he has a pretty low average launch angle of just 6.2 degrees — so we’ll see how that plays in a rapid-fire session. In real games, his power is primarily to the opposite field, but in a Home Run Derby you can get more cheapies pulling the ball down the line.
2025 home runs: 20 | Longest: 479 feet
Why he could win: Buxton’s raw power remains as impressive as nearly any hitter in the game. He crushed a 479-foot home run earlier this season and has four others of at least 425 feet. Indeed, his “no doubter” percentage — home runs that would be out of all 30 parks based on distance — is 75%, the highest in the majors among players with more than a dozen home runs. His bat speed ranks in the 89th percentile. In other words, two tools that could translate to a BP lightning show.
Why he might not: Buxton is 31 and the Home Run Derby feels a little more like a younger man’s competition. Teoscar Hernandez did win last year at age 31, but before that, the last winner older than 29 was David Ortiz in 2010, and that was under much different rules than are used now.
2025 home runs: 16 | Longest: 463 feet
Why he could win: If you drew up a short list of players everyone wants to see in the Home Run Derby, Cruz would be near the top. He has the hardest-hit ball of the 2025 season, and the hardest ever tracked by Statcast, a 432-foot missile of a home run with an exit velocity of 122.9 mph. He also crushed a 463-foot home run in Anaheim that soared way beyond the trees in center field. With his elite bat speed — 100th percentile — Cruz has the ability to awe the crowd with a potentially all-time performance.
Why he might not: Like all first-time contestants, can he stay within himself and not get too caught up in the moment? He has a long swing, which will result in some huge blasts, but might not be the most efficient for a contest like this one, where the more swings a hitter can get in before the clock expires, the better.
2025 home runs: 23 | Longest: 425 feet
Why he could win: Although Caminero was one of the most hyped prospects entering 2024, everyone kind of forgot about him heading into this season since he didn’t immediately rip apart the majors as a rookie. In his first full season, however, he has showed off his big-time raw power — giving him a chance to become just the third player to reach 40 home runs in his age-21 season. He has perhaps the quickest bat in the majors, ranking in the 100th percentile in bat speed, and his top exit velocity ranks in the top 15. That could translate to a barrage of home runs.
Why he might not: In game action, Caminero does hit the ball on the ground quite often — in fact, he’s on pace to break Jim Rice’s record for double plays grounded into in a season. If he gets out of rhythm, that could lead to a lot of low line drives during the Derby instead of fly balls that clear the fences.
2025 home runs: 19 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: The Athletics slugger has been one of the top power hitters in the majors for three seasons now and is on his way to a third straight 30-homer season. Rooker has plus bat speed and raw power, but his biggest strength is an optimal average launch angle (19 degrees in 2024, 15 degrees this season) that translates to home runs in game action. That natural swing could be picture perfect for the Home Run Derby. He also wasn’t shy about saying he wanted to participate — and maybe that bodes well for his chances.
Why he might not: Rooker might not have quite the same raw power as some of the other competitors, as he has just one home run longer than 425 feet in 2025. But that’s a little nitpicky, as 11 of his home runs have still gone 400-plus feet. He competed in the college home run derby in Omaha while at Mississippi State in 2016 and finished fourth.
2025 home runs: 17 | Longest: 442 feet
Why he could win: Chisholm might not be the most obvious name to participate, given his career high of 24 home runs, but he has belted 17 already in 2025 in his first 61 games after missing some time with an injury. He ranks among the MLB leaders in a couple of home run-related categories, ranking in the 96th percentile in expected slugging percentage and 98th percentile in barrel rate. His raw power might not match that of the other participants, but he’s a dead-pull hitter who has increased his launch angle this season, which might translate well to the Derby, even if he won’t be the guy hitting the longest home runs.
Why he might not: Most of the guys who have won this have been big, powerful sluggers. Chisholm is listed at 5-foot-11, 184 pounds, and you have to go back to Miguel Tejada in 2004 to find the last player under 6 foot to win.
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Twins All-Star center fielder Byron Buxton admitted to feeling a little added pressure before Saturday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was his bobblehead day, meaning the first 10,000 fans to walk through the gates at Target Field would receive a replica of Buxton doing his “Buck Truck” home run celebration.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous before the game started, just knowing it was bobblehead day,” Buxton said. “Obviously you want to come out and do something good.”
Buxton did more than something good. He became the first player to hit for the cycle at Target Field since the ballpark opened in 2010, helping ignite the Twins to a 12-4 win over the Pirates.
It was the 12th cycle in Twins history and the first since Jorge Polanco had one in 2019.
Buxton had three hits through three innings — a single in the first, a triple in the six-run second and a double in the third. After singling again in the fifth, he had one more opportunity in the bottom of the seventh.
Buxton, who will participate in next week’s Home Run Derby in Atlanta, crushed a 427-foot solo homer off Pirates reliever Andrew Heaney with two outs in the seventh to make it an 11-3 game and complete the cycle. That brought the Target Field crowd to its feet, with many fans celebrating with Buxton bobbleheads.
With his team holding a comfortable lead, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli almost took Buxton out of the game before his final at-bat, he admitted afterward. Thankfully for Baldelli — and Buxton — a few coaches reminded the skipper what was at stake.
“He was 4 for 4 at the time. But with everything going on during a game, sometimes I’ll be the one that might miss on a hitting streak or something that’s going on with a particular player,” Baldelli said. “But once they reminded me of that, he was going to stay in the game. He was going to get another at-bat, regardless of the score, and give him a chance to do something great.”
The homer was Buxton’s 21st of the season, tied for fifth most in the American League. With two runs driven in Saturday, Buxton now has 55 RBIs on the season — just one shy of his single-season high. He boasts an OPS of .921 and is 17 for 17 in stolen bases.
“It’s one of the greatest first halves I’ve ever witnessed,” Baldelli said.
Buxton was replaced in center field after the seventh inning, but not before getting a standing ovation curtain call from Twins fans. He also received a Gatorade bath courtesy of teammate Ty France, who was headed to the clubhouse before realizing that nobody had doused Buxton yet after the game.
“It’s special,” Buxton said. “To be able to come out on bobblehead day like this and have a day like this is something I won’t forget.”
CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Reds right fielder Jake Fraley was activated from the 10-day injured list on Saturday.
He had injured his right shoulder while trying to make a diving catch June 23 against the New York Yankees.
An MRI revealed a partially torn labrum that will eventually require surgery. Fraley received a cortisone shot and will try to play through it for the rest of the season.