So tell me, Mrs. Rita, what’s it say in their tarot?
Read their palm and tell me why the Coyotes suffer blows?
Anybody who follows the Coyotes even casually knows that they have experienced an inordinate amount of suffering. Whether it was the two-decade search for a deep-pocketed owner, the seven straight seasons (and 13 of the past 16) without a playoff berth, the constant relocation prattle or the apocalyptic run of injuries that began last season and continued with Niklas Hjalmarsson’s broken fibula in Denver on Saturday, some of you have wondered aloud if this team is cursed.
— Christina (@Christina113570) October 14, 2019
The coyotes just cannot ever catch a break. https://t.co/YtQzfDeP1l
— Christian Rabbitt (@CMRabbitt96) October 14, 2019
Oh no… here it comes again https://t.co/MZYnIExdK5
— Rob Leaño (@robleano1) October 14, 2019
We are cursed https://t.co/cUoF8Mfwds
— Joe B (@JoeCB91) October 14, 2019
Yikes. This team is seriously cursed https://t.co/Lde7iJjYuf
— Pokecheque (@Pokecheque) October 14, 2019
I hate predictions, but when pressed at the start of the season, I picked the Coyotes to make the playoffs. A 1-2-1 start and Hjalmarsson’s injury didn’t help that prediction, but I like covering playoff hockey, so I decided to take matters into my own hands.
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I thought about an exorcism, but the long pause by the Catholic Church representative on the other end of the phone suggested I had come to the wrong place.
I thought about burning sage in the locker room. The Coyotes’ executive vice president of communications, Rich Nairn, wasn’t fond of that idea. Neither was the fire marshal.
As I drove through Arizona State’s campus, another thought occurred to me: a psychic reading. And what better place than Mrs. Rita’s Spiritual Awakening Center, the place made famous by that Gin Blossoms song in 1992; my first year in the Valley.
The song is a reference to Rita Miller, who founded the center nearly four decades ago. Rita passed away in 1996, but her granddaughter, Nancy Nickels, has carried on the family business. Nickels knew from the time she was a girl that this was what she wanted to do. In the ensuing years, she has incorporated some of her grandmother’s old-school methods with newer practices.
“It’s like any other skill,” she said. “If you learn the piano when you’re 4, you perfect it by the time you are older. If you learn it when you are 17, you may not be able to master it.”
Mrs. Rita’s Spiritual Awakening Center is located in what is literally the last house standing on University Drive between Mill Ave. and Ash Ave. It has been in the family for about 40 years and now sits next to the restaurant First Watch, and across University from the Centerpoint-Chase Building.
Nickels does readings through appointments. I didn’t tell her much about my proposed story or the subject matter, but I approached the experience with an open mind. That was easy because there was no psychic lingo, and Nickels did not have a single bone of salesperson in her body. It was a straightforward conversation in a perfectly pleasant setting.
Nickels had no idea who the Coyotes were or what sport they played when I arrived (she does not follow sports at all), but after I explained my basic premise, I had what’s called a Rune Reading. Initially, she laid out three cards: Partnership, Harvest and Separation. Her readings on all three were interesting.
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From the Partnership card, she stressed the importance of shared goals and positive thinking (confidence) without losing individuality. From the Harvest card, she saw beneficial outcomes, but a need for patience in the building process.
“They won’t experience quick results,” she said. “It will be one year before they experience real success, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be successes along the way.”
From the Separation card, Nickels noted that the Coyotes appeared to be constrained by their past and an old way of doing things. She stressed the need for change because the detritus of the past was weighing them down. When she said the latter, I had an internal Keanu Reeves moment.
No, not this one.
This one.
Here’s where it got really interesting.
Nickels started to look into the past year and made these observations. Again, she had no prep time for the subject before my visit.
In June, she saw disruption and positive change. I broke the story that Alex Meruelo was closing in on his purchase of the Coyotes on June 10. The Coyotes drafted Victor Söderström on June 21, they acquired Carl Söderberg on June 25, and they traded Alex Galchenyuk for Phil Kessel on June 29.
For July, she said the Coyotes appeared to be idle. The Coyotes were mostly quiet in free agency and then on vacation.
For August, she saw chaos in the month where most players traditionally uproot their families from their summer locations and head back to Arizona. Also, Meruelo held his introductory news conference on Aug. 1, precipitating the changes that new ownership always brings.
For September, she saw growth and positivity. Hello, training camp vibe.
For October, she saw constraint at the beginning (she had no idea when the NHL season began) and again, a need to shed the negative associations of the past. When the Coyotes posted their second victory of the season — and first-ever in Winnipeg — on Tuesday, in their first game without Hjalmarsson and mere hours after this reading, I couldn’t help thinking how symbolic it was that they finally defeated their old selves, the Jets, in the city from whence they came.
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Nickels said the Coyotes could choose a number of approaches to rid the negative energy of their past and a lack of confidence that appeared to be holding them back, but she stressed something must be done. She suggested prayer, verbalizing positive energy and she even suggested sage (see, Rich?!).
Then she said something that really freaked me out. She sensed a woman on the periphery of the team who was trying to introduce positive energy and thinking. She said this woman needed to be heeded more. I thought immediately of Coyotes Mental Performance Consultant Brenley Shapiro, whom the Coyotes hired last year.
At this point, Nickels offered to do a series of readings on specific questions, based on 12 cards she drew after I had shuffled the deck.
Will the Coyotes’ health be better this season than last season?
Her reading indicated there would be considerably fewer injuries than last season when the Coyotes lost nearly 400-man games to injury; mostly to key players.
Are the Coyotes cursed?
No, Nickels said, but there is still negative energy around the team that must be removed.
Will the Coyotes make the playoffs?
Nickels said it would be close, but she saw a strong possibility of a postseason berth, further noting that November and February would be exceptionally good months.
And as long as I was there, I thought, “What the heck? I’ll ask the million-dollar question.”
Will the Coyotes find an arena solution that allows them to remain in the Valley?
She had an overwhelmingly positive reading on this one, with all signs pointing to a solution – and a quick one at that.
Do with this information what you will.
Me? I will be monitoring Nickels’ insights. And I’ll be re-listening to the Gin Blossoms’ New Miserable Experience for at least a week.
(Photo: Terrence Lee / USA Today Sports)
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