Tony Tavares gets recycled; back in NHL?

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Ducks and Angels fans might cringe, but former Disney trigger man Tony Tavares has resurfaced in Phoenix.

The Arizona Republic reports that Tavares, president of the Ducks and Angels when Disney owned the teams, is ‘collaborating’ with the Jerry Reinsdorf group, which is trying to buy the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes, a team currently ticketed for bankruptcy. Whether Tavares will remain with the team should Reinsdorf buy it remains to be seen.

Either way, it’s sure to conjure up memories in Anaheim.

Tavares, Duck fans will remember, was famous for his failed five-year plans to win the Stanley Cup. He also ordered Coach Ron Wilson fired after he led them to their first Stanley Cup playoff berth. Tavares then defended skipping the press conference where Wilson’s firing was announced, saying, ‘I was not eating Snickers bars and soaking my feet in Ron’s blood.’

Angels fans, meanwhile, will recall this proposed strategy when infighting dissolved the team’s 1999 season: ‘Somebody said to me, ‘You can’t trade 25 guys.’ I said, ‘Why not?’ ‘

Three years later, the core of those 25 guys won the World Series.

Tavares currently runs Sports Properties Acquisition Corp.

-- Chris Foster