Rocker Alice Cooper is a hockey buff too

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- To Alice Cooper, no sport resembles rock n' roll more than hockey – which is why it's been his favorite sport since he was a young boy in Detroit and remains so as a long-time resident of Arizona.

"Baseball is slow, basketball is slow. Football is better on TV," Cooper said. "But hockey never stops, just like rock n' roll. It's very similar. It's relentless."

One of the state's most recognizable stars, Cooper comes to see the Coyotes about 20 times a year, but Saturday he was at Jobing.com Arena for "Alice Cooper Bobblehead Night" -- he is depicted in full stage makeup with a snake wrapped around his shoulders, but wearing a Coyotes sweater inside his leather jacket.

"I grew up in Hockeytown and when I was ‘this tall,' my dad would take me to see Gordie Howe and Terry Sawchuk and Ted Lindsay and those guys," he said. "Those were rough guys; there was blood on the ice every night. And all I remember about (the old Olympia) was that it smelled like cigars and beer. But Detroit basically smelled like cigars and beer all over, so …

"I also remember going out on the lake at night and they would light it up and we would play pick-up hockey games. So I Iove the sport.

"If you got to a baseball game, or basketball or football … there is never a game where you jump out of your seat more than in hockey. I keep saying the game should have been called ‘Ohhhhh' because that's what you do 20 times a night. It's by far, the most fun sport to watch live."

The bobbleheads were distributed on "Coop's Troops Night" in Glendale, As a special thank you, the Coyotes are offered active military and veterans special ticket offers for the game, part of a season-long tribute the Coyotes have offered to the troops.

"Anytime you can combine rock n' roll, sports and support for the troops, everybody is all over that," Cooper said. "I know Ted Nugent goes over there all the time and lot of rock groups go over and play concerts. We definitely want to do that. But anytime you can support the military … they are all rock n' roll fans and all sports fans and anytime you can bring a little bit of home to them, I'm all over that."

Cooper said he's never had a bobblehead likeness of him done during his 40-plus years in music. He was impressed by the likeness and said the limited edition souvenir would be a hot item among his fans worldwide.

"It's amazing. I thought it was going to be a little piece of plastic but this thing has some weight to it. It's a real bobblehead," he said. "And my fans around the world – this is like the Holy Grail to them. They always try to get the stuff that nobody else can get – the first printings of press copies, a piece of clothing from the stage … but a bobblehead? And they know there are only 10,000 of them? Our European fans are already in line ... they are going to be at a real price-point."

Cooper said he hopes the team will resolve its ownership problems and secure a long-term future here -- and he said that selfishly.

"We need to be a four-sport city, and it's the only sport that I constantly go to," he said. "I got to a couple of baseball and basketball games and maybe one football game a year, but I go to a lot of hockey games so I don't want to see it move.

"It's too good a franchise to leave (Arizona). And go to Hamilton? Come on."