Final papers have been signed closing the sale of the bankrupt Phoenix Coyotes to the NHL.

It's time to drop the puck on a season that has already seen many changes from last year.

HAMILTON, Ontario — Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie says there is an inescapable fact concerning the Phoenix Coyotes: They are bankrupt, no matter who owns or controls them.

Coyotes goalie Ilya Bryzgalov was named the NHL’s second star of the week Monday after posting a 3-0-0 record and 1.62 goals-against average to help Phoenix extend its winning streak to four games.

This was Wayne Gretzky’s initial response Tuesday to a question about his wife’s possible involvement in an illegal gambling ring financed, according to authorities, by his associate coach and good friend, Rick Tocchet.

After more than 300 days of sitting through a brutal, crippling, history-making lockout, the Coyotes tried to pick themselves up, dust themselves off and begin the business of skating forward Wednesday.

After attending the NHL Board of Governors meeting in New York Tuesday, Phoenix Coyotes owner Steve Ellman is certain the 2005-06 season will open on time.

A National Hockey League that had flatlined on Wednesday and showed only the faintest pulse Thursday was, by Friday night, on the verge of getting off its knees to finally start skating.

I guess I’m supposed to feel bad that the NHL season is about to be canceled.

For the man most responsible for the NHL’s explosive growth and expansion to all points of the United States, the first total season cancellation in the history of major North American pro sports hit especially hard.

The 2004-05 NHL season died on Wednesday. Everyone saw it. Unlike most league games, it was on national television. But, as is often the case in the NHL, things may be headed to overtime.

NEW YORK - The NHL canceled what little was left of the season Wednesday after a series of last-minute offers were rejected on the final day of negotiations. A lockout over a salary cap shut down the game before it ever got a chance to start in October.

Even with Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux on the power play, the dysfunctional sport of hockey couldn’t light the lamp and pull the 2004-05 NHL season out of its deep freeze.