Coyotes star booed in first home game of the season.

In a bizarre way the Arizona Coyotes home opener at Mullet Arena was probably one of the most anticipated home openers of the season, but unfortunately for the Coyotes that was largely due to pure morbid curiosity.

While many were quick to praise the great atmosphere at the game itself there was also a lot of ugliness that simply could not be avoided as well. Including the fact that, despite a sellout requiring just a measly 4,700 fans to attend, there were still tickets available on ticketmaster just hours before puck drop.

Perhaps the ugliest moment of the night however came when one of the Coyotes top stars was introduced prior to the game, defenseman Jakob Chychrun. The young defenseman was of course not playing in the game itself due to an injury, but the Coyotes included him in their opener by having him stand on the Coyotes bench during the intros. In spite of the fact that he has been a consistent and solid fixture of the Coyotes blue line since being drafted by the organization in 2016, Chychrun was welcomed to the new home of the Coyotes by a chorus of boos from the home crowd.

Back in September, during the opening day of Coyotes training camp, Chychrun admitted that he had requested a trade, one that would preferably send him to a contending team. You can hardly blame the 24 year old for making the request, he has spent the last 6 seasons under the umbrella of the Coyotes organization which has unfortunately been plenty of time to witness the dysfunction within that organization first hand. That Chychrun would like to play for another team in the National Hockey League should come as no surprise, but it seems likely that it was also the source of the boos he received at Mullet Arena on Friday night.

I suspect that neither the new arena, or the treatment he received from the Coyotes fan base there, are likely to result in Chychrun having a change of heart.