Loading ...Told ya we were gonna be doin this a little different. Some of the guests had a whole scenario all fleshed out, some just provided a basic outline. So, since the puck drops on out very first NHL regular game of 2008 tomorrow I figured I better blend this one up since Saturday will be our very first GDT of 2008.
HatTrickHound Reports from the soon-to-be-active Diggin in the Corners blog (as soon as I can talk him into regular posts! he’s so good at it we gotta get him active):
HT here with my keys to the season, predictions and where we fit in the post season race.
Keys:
Offense/Bryz carry the team early - the restructed defense will take time to find cohesion and in a very tough Western Conference the Coyotes cannot afford to drop early games and expect to chase teams down throughout the season. The offense needs to come out firing that puck and Bryz needs to be the all world stopper that he’s previously proven he can be and not allow any of those early “soft” goals to slide into the net. As the season wears on, everything will come together as a team, but I believe early in the season (first 10-20 games) that the offense and Bryz need to come out on fire and carry the team early.
“Dirty” goals - goals coming from a “hard hat” type of effort, or from doing the “dirty work” in front of the net and in the corners I believe will be another key to the season. Having some of those big tenacious bodies parked in front of the net, all of our young talent needs to fire away at the net and hope for a ricochet or rebound goal. There can’t be the sitting back and waiting for that “perfect” pass or “perfect” lane to shoot the puck through, fire away and then grind out that “dirty” goal whacking away in front of the net. Rookies will struggle at points throughout a long season, that beautiful “perfect” play will not always be there, they (and the vets as well) need to be willing to shoot the puck and bang home a rebound… grind out a goal… clean up the trash in front of the net… whatever other team you wanna use to take those lose pucks in and around the crease and just get them in the dang net!
Secondary scoring from talent rich team - we’ve all heard how much talent there is on this team. In fact, since I moved here and started watching the Coyotes in the 98-99 season, I believe this is the most talented team, top to bottom, that the Coyotes have had since they’ve been in the valley. I know, I know, teams back then had Tkachuk.. Roenick.. Tocchet.. Teppo.. Drake and Coyote Cubs Doan and Briere.. and they were a lot of fun to watch. I still don’t know that I’ve seen a better player with his back to the net banging in those “dirty” goals then watching Tkachuk back in the day. The thing is, those teams didn’t have scoring talent as deep as this team does going into this season. Between injuries and just plain ol’ inefficiency, they just didn’t have the punch after that first line, line and a half.
This season there is potential to have Carcillo, a potentially 30 goal scorer per Gretzky, as a third liner (at least via the depth chart online at the moment). There could be Hobey Baker award winner Kevin Porter be on a third or fourth line, this is a guy who scored 63 points in 43 games last season and is tough at both ends of the ice. Yes, some of this maybe a bit of the offseason Coyote koolaid talking, but I think there is a ton of talent throughout the entire line-up and we need them all to chip in from time to time. The Big 3 can’t do it alone and finding some scoring balance throughout the line-up will be a key all season long.
Martin Hanzal - he played an essential and tough role of shutdown center last season. Adding Olli to the team will help some of the burden, but the Pacific is stacked with big time centers and Hanzal played them all tough last season. The key for Marty will be getting his back healthy and strong. They say the season is a grind, with games on back-to-back nights, flights all over the place and seven months worth of a season to go through, Marty needs to take his time coming back and not push it too soon so he ends up with a nagging problem all season long. He’s a huge physical player that does a great job for the team, his health will play a big role in allowing other players to play to their strengths and get this team off on the right track.
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Onyx here with the final installment of the Coyotes 2008 Season Preview
To outsiders it may seem like the Coyotes don’t have a post-season prayer. But to the long suffering faithful, there is finally a fire in the belly of this desert beast again. In the beginning the Yotes truly were a beast, but with the attrition of players like Selanne, Kthunk and the original Roenick the beast became a toothless shadow of itself. We became dependent on grabbing at players who’s glory days were long past and we began to fade into the ridiculous. (the Hull and return of JR experiments are particularly painful examples of this)
The whole debacle that was our team, reached implosion point when Operation Slapshot reared its ugly mug, the team bottomed out under the mixed signal coaching from Smith and Gretzky and the scouting staff’s seeming inability to spot talent unless it came up and bit them on the keister. Maybe that needed to happen for TGO to wake up and smell the stinky glove in his face.
No 99 woke up w/ a vengeance. The Den was stripped down to bare essentials and new blood was put into nearly all key positions. GMDM, Keith Gretzky and his scouting team and a replacement for that tired old bastage in SA began the dawning of a new chapter in Coyotes history.
We did okay in 2007, Baby Yotes Mueller and Hanzal played a huge role and further accelerated the transformation from tired old retirement home to lean hungry contenders. From the net out, this team has a new attitude.
Bryz will be looking to establish his bonafides from season start this time, rather than playing catchup. Even Bryz’s 28-25-6 record and 3 shutouts in 07 wasn’t enough to get the Dogs over the post season hump. The big Russian got thrown in the deep end and was run too long and too hard. (More than was good for a first time #1 starter in my personal opinion, but I guess they needed to test his mettle) The Coyotes staff now have a better idea of just how hard to work the guy and with Telly holding steady at backup (9-8-2), the Yotes have much more confidence going into 08 and we all know that confidence can make or break a team.
But quite honestly the Coyotes most dramatic change will be up front. Last year late in the season, scoring became a dire issue. When Vrbie’s hot hand went cold, he basically took the entire team w/ him into the freezer and our playoff hopes w/ them. The addition of Ollie Jokinen at #1 center brings hardcore help to the Dogs weakest point.
The crafty Finn put up 30+ goals with very little help so giving him one of the best power forwards in the west, Shane Doan, makes for a possible 60+ goal first line. (Donor potted 28 of his own goals last season with very little help) Now top that picture off w/ young gun Peter Meuller (whose rookie season of 22 goals and 54 points is nothing to sneeze at) and you are looking at possibly the best 1st line the Coyotes have ever run. My prayers were apparently answered late this week when TGO decided to split up Joker and Donor and make a 1A and 1B line rather than having KT and Bods try to hold a #2 line together in their first outing as Pros. It would make no sense to hobble our future stars by giving them too heavy a load from jump street, they just don’t need the added pressure, and we just ain’t that desperate anymore.
The second and third lines will be rookie dependent (but hell, being rookie heavy sure didn’t hurt the Pens or the Hawks in the last 2 years). 3rd overall, 2007 draftee Kyle Turris, 8th over all, 2008 draftee Mikkel Boedker, Hobey Baker winner Kevin Porter, Viktor Tikhnov w/ his superb skillset and bloodlines, Enver Lisin w/ his phenomenal speed and seriously improved all around game will join forces with wiley veterans like Steven Rheinprecht and Todd Fedoruck (neither of whom are household names but both have postseason experience that will provide balance for the kids as they make their first foray into playing hockey at the highest level). Hell, I certainly can’t leave out the affect that big Martin Hanzal will have up the middle with the brazen and ballzy Dan Winnick on his wing, in their sophmore effort.
But the question that will probably figure most prominently in every Phoenix fan’s mind will be whether or not Dan Carcillo can make good on the promise that we saw at the end of the season? (He was pottin hatties by season’s end) Can he cut back on his antics and let the dangerous and gutzy LW inside, outshine the agitator that rides so close to his surface? If so, there is a whole lot of firepower waiting to be tapped and the Coyotes won’t have to worry about any tail-end-offensive-fading this time around. With the addition of Brian McGrattan/Todd Fedoruk, there really is no reason for Carcillo to figure so prominently in the fight zone. (Dear Hockey Goddesses, please let Smack Daddy and Fridge be as good as GMDM believes! I will sacrifice multiple buckets of KFC as needed… thnx in advance)
I personally, am a blueline kinda girl. These guys make or break a game for me and we lost 2 really great players (Ballard and Boynton) in the trade for Ollie. Ballard teamed up last year w/ Morris to form a super hot shut down pairing and Boynton babysat Yandle through his freshman session (which had to be the second hardest job on the team… the first might have been Z’s handholding job with JV)and Nick also took out the garbage when opposing players got too frisky. We will definitely miss those two. BUT…
Big Ed Jovanovski played nearly an entire season healthy for the first time in years and had 51 freakin points! The Jovocop is back, in fine form and will be shepherding a young but dangerous blueline core. Derek Morris and Zbynek Michalek at number 2 and 3 D are always steady, always able and can always be counted on to hold up their end of the backfield (look for Morris’ big shot to be a factor this season. that sucker is nasty…can you say contract year?).
The biggest change along the blueline are the replacements. Kurt Sauer is bringing his +17 from Colorado (along with his love of shutting down the west coast’s finest) and dark horse David Hale (who has yet to score his first NHL goal after 215 games) but somehow maintained a neutral +/- 0 with Calgary and caught the eye of GMDM. He has battled our Matt Jones out of the lineup. Jonesy shared the spot with up and comer Keith Yandle last season. (neither one did much defensively but Yandle scored more). Yandle will have a lot riding on his shoulders for 2008 as the Coyotes coaching staff are depending on him for offensive production in all situations. (God I hope they are right) I will admit, Yentle looked bigger and stronger at conditioning camp… a little more relaxed, I hope that translates into less brain fartage in 08. Looming hugely in the background to keep the 5th & 6th Dmen on their toes is the surprise dark horse Swede, Jonas Ahnelov. This kid is ready and willing to knock the hell fire out of anyone in our zone, has first pass capabilities and the size to make the opposition wary. He will be on IR for a short while but Yandle and Hale better be aware that once he’s healthy, their spots are in peril.
The Great One has gotten his coaching legs under him and works magic with the young guns. Is this the year? my ass. The NHL pundits better recognise. TGO has never flown under the radar in his life, trust him to make big noise now that he has some talent and some buyin from the squad. Ulf Samuelson is managing to instill some mean in our backend and much like last season’s surprising performances they will refuse to be pushed around and refuse to give anyone 2 easy points. Don Maloney is working on a tight budget but that doesn’t mean we don’t have quality and depth.
More than nearly any other team in the West, the Yotes made the most improvements. When considering whether or not we can make it to the post season you have to consider that many teams did nothing to improve and some took a few steps backwards (Dallas will have locker room and chemistry problems as long as Sean the moron remains on the once classy contender, if the Ducks get any more dependent on the long in the tooth pair of Tee and Nieds they will be outside lookin in very soon and the beleagured Kings better find a goalie quick, cuz it has to hurt to look up and see the back end of the Coyotes every year).
These Coyotes are a blue collar, hard working team, based on speed and tenacity. We have established what it takes to belong to this pack and cut loose all the old dogs w/ 1 trick, who refuse to learn another. Despite the old reputation that many people, (teams and fans alike), refuse to let go of…, because of our surprising performance in 07 which will be only the beginning… because of the many improvements we’ve made throughout the entire organization, you better believe we’re here for our share of the pie.
Hey NHL! Beware the bite of the dawg. *just thought it sporting to give fair warning* Underestimate and ridicule us at your own risk. These Dawgs are Whiteout bound in 2008.
October 11th, 2008 at 11:50 am
good stuff by all…pretty much follows my own thoughts going into the season. the d has to gel quick to take some of the pressure off bryz, but the wingers being responsible and coming back can sure help, and we gotta lotta guys who do that…doaner, joker, marty, winnie, and hobiebaker his own self..the others aren’t too shabby either. most fans miss how important the forwards are to the d, its not just the dmen who have to do their jobs…someones gotta be third man high and pick up the late guy down the slot to be successful…and i think our guys get it…and have the speed to get back and help…speed kills and we got a murderers row out there..gonna be fun