GLENDALE — Coyotes forward Paul Bissonnette has more than
147,000 followers on Twitter so he’s used to getting
chirped online on a daily basis about his off-ice
escapades, his playing time and a wide variety of other
topics.

Lately, @BizNasty2point0, has been getting plenty of
chirps from fans of the Winnipeg Jets regarding Saturday’s
game between Phoenix and Winnipeg at Jobing.com Arena.

“I’ve been getting not so much ‘hate tweets’ but tweets
from excited Jets fans who want to come in and show us who
is boss,” Bissonnette said after Friday’s practice. “It
should be a pretty emotional game and I think it’s going
to be the start of a very fun rivalry.”

The dynamic between the Coyotes and Jets is a complicated
one. The Jets, of course, left Winnipeg in 1996 and moved
to Phoenix to become the Coyotes. At the end of last
season, there was widespread speculation that the Coyotes
would move back to Winnipeg and again become the Jets.
That never happened, and the Jets, of course, were
eventually reborn when the Atlanta Thrashers moved to
Winnipeg after 11 years.

Long story short, there’s some bad blood between the fans
of the Coyotes and the new Jets, which is odd because the
teams haven’t even played a game against each other yet.
Nevertheless, Bissonnette can sense the tension
surrounding this game in the cyber world.

“It’s awesome,” he said. “It’s a live soap opera about to
play out tomorrow… We know the way it’s going to be and
we’re expecting a great crowd. And I know there’s going to
be quite a few Jets fans here because I’ve been getting
tweets about it.”

Bissonnette said he expects the rivalry to develop even
further when the Coyotes play at Winnipeg on Dec. 1.

Saturday’s game is the home opener for the 2011-12
Coyotes. Bissonnette said he and his teammates are eager
to get back on home ice after last season’s exit from the
playoffs.

“We’re very excited,” Bissonnette said. “We have a little
bitter taste in our mouth after getting knocked out (of
the playoffs) in our own building. We just need to play
with controlled emotion and play our game. We went into
Nashville (on Thursday) and they were all hyped up for
their home opener and we saw how that went. I think we
should use that as a learning experience and run from
there.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Contact Dave Vest at thedesertdogblog@phoenixcoyotes.com and
follow him on Twitter @davest4yotes.
For information on upcoming Phoenix Coyotes games, please
visit
http://coyotes.nhl.com

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