Every time you think the Arizona Coyotes are heading for a breakthrough, they bend over backwards to make sure they prove you wrong.
The Coyotes were on the up and up in 2019-20, building on a 2018-19 season where they didn’t qualify for the playoffs, but that elimination didn’t happen until April 4, with just one game remaining in the season.
It wasn’t an easy road, but the Coyotes kept up the fight for the middle of the pack in the Pacific until the season pause in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Then there was the big, public fallout with wunderkind general manager John Chayka in July.