March 28, 2010 :: 2:23pm ET Tippett's Coyotes continue to weather the storm By Tracey Myers, TheFourthPeriod.com

[DALLAS, TX] -- The shouts coming out of the Phoenix Coyotes locker room last Sunday were boisterous and celebratory. Adrian Aucoin entered and was greeted by chants of "Rivera!" a homage to the New York Yankees closer Mariano. Fitting, since the 'Yotes defenseman had filled that role with the shootout-winning goal against the Stars.

This, folks, is a happy bunch of desert dogs. And why shouldn't they be? Considering all the tumult they've gone through in recent years -- OK, just about every year -- the 2009-10 season has served as a beacon of hope and pure hockey joy for them and their resurgent fan base.

And right near the top of it all is coach Dave Tippett. Competitive and victory-driven as ever, Tippett is happy in his new surroundings. He's comfortable with his new team and even -- gasp -- relaxed.

Yep, relaxed. Or at least as relaxed as a coach who's leading an upstart NHL team to a surprise playoff spot can be. But Tippett is coaching a determined and talented Coyotes squad that never ceases to amaze him and make him proud.

"What can you say about this group that hasn't already been said," Tippett said after last Sunday’s victory. "For where we are, every night I say I'm concerned about this or that, they just keep coming up with big efforts. To get in here (Saturday) night at three o'clock in the morning in a snowstorm and get very little sleep, and the emotional hard game we played last night, we played very well."

Tippett's odyssey to Phoenix was very much like the Coyotes' weekend travel to Dallas. He got there very late (hired in August, not long before training camp began) and was welcomed by the Coyotes' version of a snowstorm: they were in complete disarray, on the selling block, not certain where they'd be playing next season and, because of so many lousy seasons, totally overlooked by their own city.

Oh yeah, it was a mess. And Tippett was already dismissed from one of those after the Stars' 2008-09 campaign. He had to deal with the Sean Avery trade, a disaster from the start that ended in December of 2008, but not without much damage done. Then there were the injuries, tons of injuries. Tippett had to piece together a hodgepodge lineup of young NHLers and minor leaguers in a season when the Stars had no true minor-league farm system.

But Tippett went anyway. And what he's done is nothing short of miraculous, at least in hockey terms.

So why has it worked?

Maybe it's because of where the Coyotes were coming from, which was very little. They've been bad for a long time -- yes, they've teased here and there, but the end result every season has been the same. And entering this season they were truly at rock bottom. But instead of tearing them apart, the Coyotes' problems banded their players together. They wanted to prove everyone wrong, wanted to prove that they could be a success. They just needed the right formula and the right coaching staff.

Enter Tippett and his group. This is a guy who builds his own motorcycles, so he knows a thing or two about starting from scratch and getting the right pieces to fit. Credit the players for buying into the system and believing in themselves. Credit the goaltending for being fantastic -- that part's been pretty good for a while thanks to Ilya Bryzgalov.

And give another heaping round of credit to general manager Don Maloney. He saw this team was surging to the playoffs and made some nifty and not-very-costly moves at the trade deadline.

The vibe is changing in the Glendale area. When the team announces tens of thousands in attendance at home games, they're actually there. They're riding a winning streak that's better than anything they've done before in franchise history, be it in Arizona or Winnipeg.

And their head coach is reveling in it all.

The Phoenix Coyotes website had a traditional look to it the other day, asking fans to join the 2010 White Out when the playoffs begin in mid-April. After all they've been through, that is a "storm" the Coyotes truly welcome.

Tracey Myers, a beat writer who covers the Dallas Stars for the Fort-Worth Star-Telegram, is the Dallas Correspondent for The Fourth Period Magazine and a Columnist for TheFourthPeriod.com.