In Derek Morris' time with the Phoenix Coyotes, the club compiled a record of 136-162-25. So you can forgive the Bruins defenseman if his return to Glendale, Ariz., Saturday for the second game of the Bruins' first road trip of the season is more sentimental for off-ice rather than on-ice reasons.

"Obviously, I have good memories there. We had a tough time with hockey, but they're real good people, real good friends, real good families, that I played with and people that I met there," said Morris before the Bruins left for Dallas, where they won Friday night, 3-0. "It's always fun to go back to play that way, to play in front of them again and maybe get a chance to talk to them after the game."

Despite the bankruptcy dispute that has carried over since the summer and the notion that this could be the team's last season in the Valley of the Sun, things are looking up a bit to start the season.

Head coach Dave Tippett has brought his successful ways to the Coyotes after he was fired by Dallas. Along with assistant coach Dave King, there's a solid track record behind the bench. On the ice, the Coyotes imported veterans such as defenseman Adrian Aucoin and forwards Radim Vrbata and Vern Fiddler to take some of the heat off the younger players that were counted on a little too much last season. Kyle Turris and Mikkel Boedker are in the American Hockey League.

It's all added up to a 4-2-0 record to start the season.

"They have a real good team," said Morris. "Some of the kids that were there last year are down in the minors to sharpen up their games. They brought in some real nice players. They've got a real solid defensive corps; they've got one of the best goalies.

When the goalie [Ilya Bryzgalov] is on, he's one of the best goalies in the game. You can't get shots behind him. Now they've got structure. They've got a coach that preaches structure and if you're not going to play well, you're not going to play."

Regardless of the future of the franchise, there will always be a debate about whether an NHL team can survive in the greater Phoenix area. As a longtime resident of the area, Morris spells out the case both ways pretty well.

"I think a team should be there. Selfishly I would like a team there. Because I think youth hockey has gone a long ways in the years that they've been there," Morris said. "If you're looking back six years, then no. But when they started there, there was no hockey in Arizona. Now my kids started playing hockey there, Shane Doan's kids started playing hockey there, other people's kids started playing hockey there, there's a good youth program. If that team leaves there, you're not going to have that youth hockey program.

"Financially, I don't know if they can ever succeed there. & The fan base is good, but they had their team sold out (opening night), but how much were they selling the tickets for? [Some tickets were 10 bucks]. I think they've got to do a better job of marketing it, market it to the kids. The location isn't a great spot. It's nothing against the city of Glendale. & Phoenix is a retirement community, so you have people from Michigan, Canada, but they all live out in Mesa or Scottsdale. The city's so spread out that to go to a game during a week is an hour and a half with traffic. & It's a long ways to commute.

"I do think if they get a winning team and make the playoffs, then people will make the drive because they are passionate about the game. The ones that follow the game love the game."

Time's on their sides
Take a look at the game sheet from Friday's win over Dallas. Fourth-liners Shawn Thornton, Steve Begin and Byron Bitz all logged more ice time 5-on-5 than the first line of Marco Sturm, Marc Savard and Michael Ryder. Now that's a balanced game. ... Funny that Savard wanted to get Ryder 14 shots on this road trip, but by the time the dust settled in Dallas the center had six shots (plus two goals) and Ryder just one. ... Morris blocked five shots last night -- that's an Aaron Ward-like performance if I've ever seen one.

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