People of Our Pack, Chapter 7: Day One Drew

Drew Alcazar has been a Coyotes Season Ticket Member since the team's 1996 inception.

Passion and loyalty, Drew Alcazar embodies it.
He's not afraid to wear it, either.
!
A Coyotes season ticket member since the team's 1996 inception going back to America West Arena, he fondly remembers those years as much as he embraces the positive direction of the present.
"That was a wonderful time there, the glory days with everybody from Mike Gartner to 'Repo' Teppo Numminen], 'Walt [Keith Tkachuk] down low in the paint', and all of those great days. It was a lot of fun there at America West."
![
Consider Drew an expert on Coyotes alumni, knowing past rosters inside and out, and sticking with his guns when asked to specify his all-time favorite player, without hesitation.
"Dallas Drake, no questions asked. He was more fun to watch than the law allowed. He'd light it up from all the way across the ice, and if it moved, he hit it."
!
Drew and hockey in Arizona happened to be the perfect match. He moved to the Valley in the year the Coyotes relocated from Winnipeg, and he knew right away that everything had thoroughly aligned to feed his love for the sport.
"As soon as I moved here in 1996 I caught wind of the news that an NHL team was on its way, it was a natural fit and it was something that I couldn't say no to, I was addicted before the first game was played."
That first game was where and when Drew learned to pester the opposition, an aspect of his fandom he takes an immense amount of pride in, and a honed skill he has carried over to his current seats at Gila River Arena.
"Back then, when the team played downtown, our seats were right behind the opposing team's bench, and if you recall there during that period of time, there were no dividers between the glass, so it allowed you to heckle unfettered through the glass from behind the opposing team's bench."
Today, Drew sits in the corner to the left of the net that the Coyotes attack twice, sitting three rows off the glass where he has four seats with his good friend Randy Manship, whom he met through a late friend Mark Wild.
!
"Randy and I have been good friends for many years, but our very close friend Dr. Wild was the original season ticket holder, Randy and I have stayed friends ever since, the sport has connected us all, it's something I cherish, hockey is our common bond."
The long-lasting relationships Drew has built during his 23 years of being a Coyotes season ticket holder are what he holds the closest, the fulfilling rapports that complement the 40-plus games he attends every year.
"It's the great friendships I've developed and continue to develop from all the games I come to. That's what makes being a season ticket holder, a Coyotes season ticket holder, so important and so valuable."
Through the ups and downs, the elation and the heartbreak, and the nail-biting drama brought upon the group of players that fought to contend until the final game this season, Drew is able to take it all in with the close-knit friends who he's come to bond with night-in and night-out.
"From a fan point of view, it was an exciting run, every game was a battle and this team fought to win every night. Of course, it was heartbreaking that we couldn't get a couple of whiteout games with a playoff berth, particularly for our good coach there Rick Tocchet, and I'd love nothing more than to find an appropriate whiteout costume for Rick Tocchet.
If there's anything Drew is especially high on, it's the whiteout theme for the playoffs, and he cuts no corners when dressing appropriately.
!
"Being at the whiteout playoffs games with all my friends in costume, those are the best memories that come to mind, and we've all vowed to do the same again."
For Drew and his friends, and the rest of the fan base that led the Coyotes this season to set a team record for the largest ever year-over-year increase in ticket sales, it's probably best to get those whiteout costumes ready for next year.