much like the players… I am declaring today an optional GDT… gonna nap, eat and have some fun rather than practice errr I mean… write something involved and complicated for tonights game. This fun and frivolous GDT brought to you by the letter O (me and Odie went to the optional practice this mornin and were greeted by more jounalistic types in the stands than players on the ice. They better play really good since they should be well rested LOL

Our concession that there is indeed a game tonight… against the Dallas Stars.

Tonight’s line up

Scottie Upshall – Lombardi – Petr Prucha
Shane Doan – Steven Reinprecht – Joakim Lindstrom
Daniel Winnik – Martin Hanzal – Mikkel Boedker
Brandon Prust – Viktor Tikhonov – Enver Lisin

*************************Everything below this line is for fun and has no bearing on anything GDT worthy*************************

Apparently our Wild Thang has lost none of his menacing prowl abilities.

okay all done nao…. if you want some serious discussion or maybe some facts like we’ve kicked their asses 3 of 5, (The Coyotes are 3-1-1 against the Stars, including two 1-0 victories in the last two matchups.) Goalie Ilya Bryzgalov is expected to start. In five games against Dallas, Bryzgalov is 3-1-1 with a 1.56 goals-against average and two shutouts.) then maybe you better visit Andrew or our official preview.. or theirs.

See you at the game I hope.

As always… Go Coyotes!

Wow! Lots of activity in just a week.

Ducks 3/22/09 We didn’t fare too well against the Ducks on sunday. (you can check out the pitiful GDT commentary for that game over at Odie’s if you want). There wasn’t much to say about it for sure. The 2 – 6 score doesn’t tell the whole story but I really think it says enough. Pruuu!!! notched his first goal as a Yote  and of course the Captain came through with one. But the story of the night was the Ducks PP which pretty much had its way with us all night. The 4 minute hi stick on Uppy pretty much just sealed our doom by letting them get 2 in less than 30 seconds. So we opened the door for the Ducks to sneak back into post season contention… oops, our bad.

Oilers 3/26/09 But these new Coyotes are really gettin into their spoiler role and when EDM came to town (yeah the team that was tryin to sweep us), we came to life on home ice. Klee, Lombo and Hanzal bulled, bashed and scrabbled their way to beat Rollie the Goalie giving us the 3 – 2 win over the Oil. Hemsky and Kotalik are pretty much unstoppable when they get into gear and scored goals 43 seconds apart in the 3rd period. This was a really solid effort although we got a little rattled in the third, we never stopped pushing and that attack mentality is what really kept the Oil from completing the comeback. That never say die attitude bodes well for the future. It was great to see Klee get his first goal in the desert, Dawes fed him the perfect centering pass (we’ve seen a lot of those since the arrival of Team Transplant), it is taking our stay-at-home-defensemen a little bit to figure out that they are actually going to get to shoot occasionally!

Sharks 3/28/09 So, on Saturday we flew up to SJ to try to ruin the wounded Sharks day. (No team has beaten the Sharks in regulation more than us) if we could have kept our game together this would have made 3. But alas it was not to be. Specialty teams really made the difference again. But what really made the night especially fun was seeing Kurt ‘Sweets’ Sauer score a badass goal.

What made the night especially yuck was seeing Jody Shelly score. Tree really screwed the pooch on that outlet pass which totally killed the momentum from the Sauer goal. But we battled down to the wire and really made those fish sweat. We failed to kill the Lombo penalty in the 3rd and then failed to convert on the PP from the Cavanaugh penalty after. Another great thing about this game was hearing the commentators praise Scotty Upshall. Apparently Uppy is going to make TGOs line swapping look like genius everytime it includes inserting thegr8Scott into a line. According to Panger & Co, Uppy has an uncanny ability to bring energy and heart to any line he’s played on. If you didn’t love the Carcillo trade you still gotta give Upshall his props for what he’s brought to the Yotes in his short tenure.

Well we get to roust Dallas tomorrow at home. This should be a really good game as well. Another team we’ve matched up well against all season.

News and Notes:

Bettman reiterates… Glendale or die tryin!

Z’s shot blocking total is now 247! (he better stop blocking them with his hands tho, the one last night scared me to death) Brett Clark from COL is closest to him at 237. After that no one is close.

Smack Daddy is scheduled for surgery on April 1st.

Team Pierre wins more awards

See you guys tomorrow at the Job.

And as always… GO COYOTES!

We owe these boys… big time. The Ducks got a gift from the hockey goddess last game with the Petteri Nokelainen goal. Officially, Coyotes forward Kyle Turris deflected the puck into his own net with 7:01 to play, giving Anaheim a 2-1 lead, truthfully, Nokelainen was already inside the net, interfering with Bryz on top of everything else, waaay b4 the puck ever crossed the goal line. Should NOT have been a goal.

But be that as it may, the same keys to the game need to be applied today. Discipline, tenacity, group effort, scoring committee and Beastgalov. If that happens, we’ll win this time barring anymore ref brainfarts.

The Ducks don’t mind taking penalties. Hell, I think they like it and its part of their game plan on any given day. We need to make them pay for that. With MacG out for the season, the Bad Boy Patrol won’t be making very many appearances. I would hope TGO has another brilliant game plan like the VAN game (well thought out matchups and pairings).

IDK who the Ducks will throw in net, Hiller has had a pretty good showing against us but Giggy could also play (wouldn’t it be sweet to chase a 3rd NHL top goalie out of the net?) We will be starting Beastgalov. Bryzzy has been absolutely at the top of his game. That guy must have been suffering the agonies of the damned when he was stoppin 35+ sogs and we couldn’t score to save our lives. Hang in there Breezy, your guys have finally figured out where the opposition’s nets are.

BattleofCalifornia

FiveforHowling

TheNHLarena

GirlWithaPuck

Official Previews Yotes and Ducks

Hear the game on 1510

See the game on FSN – Arizona

Remember the game is early! 5pm PST

As always… Go Coyotes!

So, now that we are all relaxed and happy, the Pre-ASG Coyotes are back. Someone please tell the boys that the AllStar break is only 4 damn days, not 2 damn months!

3 of the 4 games of this homestand have been pretty damn good. First SJS gets the cattle prod treatment ( a little shock therapy was probably just what they needed to get their act together). Then the Ducks cam into town expecting to just waltz away with 2 points and actually had to get a little help from the totally incompetent war room and blind refs in order to even grab a point. Then HNIC shows up with their crowd of crazies chanting Looouuu! b4 the puck was ever dropped. Funny how quiet they got after that 3rd goal.

The Ducks still garnered 2 points for their push but it was a close call as we made them go to the shootout to get them. The Petteri Nokelainen goal was about the most pathetic miscue by the referees/war room I have ever seen but par for the course in our games. I’ve come to expect nothing less when it makes a difference between a W and an L. But we didn’t quit! We battled and scrapped (its a damn shame MacG was possibly injured in his scrap w/ Parros…Brian is out for the rest of the year).

We grabbed a point, we showed that we have some pride, we proved we CAN play with another gear. Too little, too late? Well yeah but better late than never.

The Canuck’s game was a different story. We battled from minute one. 60 minutes of intensity and tenacity. I’ve been begging for this kind of performance.

Urgency! Good start, come out with a nose for the net. Get the lead and play with it all game. There wasn’t a whole lot of coasting back for pucks in this one.

Tenacity! Second efforts, 3rd efforts, hell 5th efforts if thats what it takes to get something in the net. Lombo and Dawes really understand this and it showed in this game. Lombardi got a goal for his efforts and Dawes setup some great opportunities.

Group effort! Play unselfishly but don’t forget to take your own shots when they present themselves. Everybody take a shot or 3. Keep the passes simple and crisp. Oh hell yeah! 5 different Yotes got goals and 12 Yotes grabbed points.

Physicality! If they even LOOK like they want a piece of our smaller guys, hit ‘em. If they are not in a red jersey, hit ‘em. If you can get anywhere near launching distance, hit ‘em. The Nucks don’t have a lot of guys who can chuck ‘em, they do have the pests Burrows and Hordichuk, who will fight but were not a worry. TGO sat the entire Bad Boy Patrol (they really weren’t needed. Jovo and Doan could pretty much take anybody on the Nucks and we needed the skill more than the kill last night).

Killer instinct! If you manage to get ‘em down, keep your foot on their necks and grind. There is no such thing as a safe lead anymore. Rack ‘em up as fast as they’ll fall for you. This was the best part of the game. Nobody got that ‘ok, I’m gonna just protect this lead, defense only’ mind set. We were still pushin for the next goal when we were 5 – 0. I loved that.

I’d be remiss if I neglected to mention Tiki’s crazy penalty goal but it was sooo wild I’m just gonna post a you tube apparently there are some disgruntled Nuck’s fans out there?

We played hard, we played well. Our special teams were on and poppin. We got lucky that VAN totally missed how low we were playin and didn’t take advantage with their open point men (especially Bieksa). It was pretty sweet chasing Louie outta the net. Even sweeter was spoilin another bubble team’s bid for 2 easy points.

PS… thanks Haler for Rickrolling 17,000+ people! LOL

As always… Go Coyotes!!!

I don’t know why I hate the Ducks the most out of all the Pacific division rivals, but I do.

If we play these guys the way we battled SJ, this would be a win. That is easier said than done. ANA is another team that has no concept of the word give up. They are also a bubble team in desperation mode. They are going to be dangerous with the capital D!

Things I hope to see in this game:

Urgency! Good start, come out with a nose for the net. Get the lead and play with it all game. Giggy isn’t havin a good season and you can feel sorry about that off the ice, on the ice shell him hard and often. If we can get enough rubber in his face Muells and KT should be able to chase him outta the net.

Tenacity! Second efforts, 3rd efforts, hell 5th efforts if thats what it takes to get something in the net. Rebounds are our friends put ‘em in the net where they belong. Forecheck is essential. Riding these guys through the neutral is the only way to stop Corey Perry and noobie Bobby Ryan from gettin quality chances. Getzlaff is strong as a horse and is coming though anyway, don’t let him have any outlets.

Group effort! Play unselfishly but don’t forget to take your own shots when they present themselves. Everybody take a shot or 3. Keep the passes simple and crisp.

Physicality! If they even LOOK like they want a piece of our smaller guys, hit ‘em. If they are not in a red jersey, hit ‘em. If you can get anywhere near launching distance, hit ‘em. The Ducks love to intimidate, maim and generally destroy their opponent’s will to battle. We have to show them that we don’t know the meanin of quit and fear is nowhere in our vocabulary.

Killer instinct! If you manage to get ‘em down, keep your foot on their necks and grind. Not to be mean but this is the time to learn. There is no such thing as a safe lead anymore. Rack ‘em up as fast as they’ll fall for you.

Hey TGO! ummm you are playin the same roster for a reason… try to keep the lines intact tonight…please.

Went to practice again this morning. One thing that has been missing in practice for the last 6 weeks is the sense of fun. Enjoying the work and the camraderie. Well its back. Prust is quite the funster, McG is smiling the entire time and stayed out on the ice workin on shots and agility. Even the guys who know they are scratches are still workin like hell and having fun while they are doin it.

If David Hale gets 3 ozs more hockey sense he is going to be dangerous. The guy can skate and hit and actually has a decent shot. He looked really good today in practice and I can see why the staff is reluctant to give up on him.

There were a LOT of catchin the pass on the backhand and foot control drills today. As well as some shootout practice. Hopefully that isn’t some type of indicator that this one is going to shootout.

Ducks Blogs: Our Old Friends at BattleofCalifornia and the beautiful and intelligent Christy Finn at Girlw/aPuck.

Coyotes Official Preview

Odie’s Take

Might be able to watch the game here (try to donate, it only takes a buck and for you folks in places with no feeds… lot cheaper than center ice)….. just sayin.

As always… Go Coyotes!

I have a serious game hangover. I’m still not sure how it happened but Shane, this one is definitely your fault!

You know, when you have no expectations and crazy, mad shit happens, you get a great buzz! But now I feel  like crap this morning from too much adrenaline last night.

I got bidnizz this morning but I’ll be back to tell ya’ll a little story about the underDawgs that took on the leviathon of the Pacific and WON!

OK back…

This game totally wrecks the Operation Tank proponents among us. Oh yeah there were some really torn people at the game. Even more than Teal and Q who were decked out in all their fishie glory down by the glass. (I told them that wearin that much teal would be a jinx) The OT theorists really want Hedman in the draft. While I totally hope for some more viable blue line personnel, not enough to tank and establish a losing atmosphere for the kids and Team Transplant.

So Kyle ‘don’t call me tiny’ Turris blew up the joint 21 seconds into the game. Then put in another one to give us the 2 goal lead in the first. The 19/91 combo would prove to be a HUGE success all night long. But in the end it was a Captain’s battle. Pretty Patty completed the Sharks come back from a 3 goal deficit and gave his boys new life. But our Captain literally took the game (and Rob Blake) on his back and put away the game winner. Best goal of the year hands down.

Upshall, Yandle, Lombardi and Prucha all gave a good accounting all game long. The Bad Boy Patrol line (McGrattan, Fridge and Prust) looked great and inspired a lot of confidence in the smaller guys. McG got a lil more TOI than expected as he hit the ice everytime Shelley did.

We chased the Alien Goalie from the net! Nabby is rarely unprepared and almost NEVER rattled but 3 goals in 9 shots caused him to be relieved by Boucher after the 1st period. Amazing.

Tree got his first goal as a Coyote to put us up by 3. Kalinin is really tryin to earn his spot for next season. If the NYR fans could see THIS Tree, they’d be stunned by his apparently newly discovered ability to play high minutes and chip in on the PP.

The game had all the elements you could ever want in a game including something we Yotes fans had given up ever seeing again… extreme physicality… sustained physicality!

The Sharks were pretty pissed about being outworked and the frustration boiled over after Winnie put some poor fish into the wall. Rob ‘the old fart’ Blake jumped Winnie and then realized he had bit off a bit more than his false teeth could handle. He hugged and stripped poor Winnie so long that the refs stepped in before Daniel was down to his skivvies. No punches were landed but the aggression factor ratched up quite a few notchs.

I was sorely disappointed in my other Michalek, mucho liberties after pinning Uppy to the net and old fart Blake jumping in was just ridiculous. Then when Uppy called Mimi out later, Milan refused to go. Sweetie, you and your brother can’t fight. If you are gonna go all bad ass, at least man up when challenged fairly. ROTFLMAO because we could actually read Uppy’s lips (you big p*ssy, now that I ain’t pinned, lets go) ummm… paraphrased, but you get the drift.

McGrattan is still Smack Daddy Supreme! He and Jody Shelley fought a real heavy weight bout. I hate the fights in hockey (yes I am such a wuss) but I understand why they happen and I don’t bitch when they do. THIS one was a humdinger! and because the combatants were evenly matched, had a reason for going and really knew how to chuck ‘em, I actually enjoyed the hell out of it.

Brandon Prust also threw down with Brad Staubitz in the early moments of the 3rd. It wasn’t a great bout but it did serve notice that the Dawgs weren’t out of sass.

As usual the refs botched quite a bit of the game. The fans really let them know it too. I don’t think I’ve seen that much ref induced pisstivity in a long time. From the non call on the other Michalek and Blake for roughing up Upshall (yet somehow we ended up on the PK), to the trip on Klee which led him to fall and trip a Shark (Klee got called  but the original tripper escaped scott free). But on the whole the refs just let the guys play hockey.

The second period was a hell storm. We hung tough. 28 minutes worth of penalties and some hard battles chipped away at our momentum a little bit and Big Joe Thornton came to life with the only goal of the period.

We still have no killer instincts. Up by 2, we let the Sharks get back in the game. Joe T (second goal of the night for that beast) and Pattyboy took advantage of our innate protection mode instincts to tie the game up 3 – 3 early in the 3rd. But our Captain had guaranteed that we would be better. And dadgum if he was gonna be foresworn if he had to haul the entire Teal nation into the net, thats exactly what he would and did do.

So like I said earlier… WE WON!!!!

Pics courtesy of Bleedin Teal…see more

Now we just gotta give the Ducks a lil taste of our desert brewed spoiler treatment too.

As always… Go Coyotes!

First of all, Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all. Hope your day is filled with green beer, good cabbage, tender brisket and a Coyotes win.

Okay, went to practice this mornin… we’ll see how observant I was when they announce the scratches. (my take is Lindy/Tiki/Dawes/Winnie/Lisin)

Maybe it is only because I mainly catch the game day practices I am not overly impressed with practice. Here are the things I saw.

• Wayne wasn’t there at all from what I saw.
• Even in practice they overskate the goal rather than stopping to the weak side or in front of the goalie. (coaches should make them do this so it becomes second nature in a game)
• They don’t give the puck the 2nd or 3rd whack (coaches should make them do this so it becomes second nature in a game).
• They don’t follow up with sticks down as trailers. (coaches should make them do this so it becomes second nature in a game)
• Still lots of aimless, undirected time for the guys. They wander around, shooting at the empty net, shooting at the broken glass pane behind the net, talkin along the boards (Dawes and Lindy seemed to be gettin along real good).

Bryz left the ice a lil early, Fuhr padded up in net ROFLMAO (is there a come back planned?). Appeared to be teaching a group how to work a goalie in close. (too bad 3 of the 7 players were D men… how often are they gonna use that?) But Sulli had the rest of the guys doin the same thing to Tater (they wore his lil ass out). Hopefully we’ll get in close enough to use the techniques.

A little face off work for KT. Against Prust. KT even won some fairly handily. Learnin to use his body against bigger guys I guess. Kid is determined as hell.

McGrattan was sportin the #22, he didn’t look that rusty. He even managed to pot 2 goals.

Man! I wish Boeds would shoot more. He has a wicked ass low shot.

They practiced controlling/ moving the puck with their skates (prolly a really good thing since so many passes go into their skates anyway).

Yandle is hilarious when he misses a shot or gets stoned (he has this really high pitched holler) but it is a lot of fun watchin him celebrate when he does score.

They also practiced a lot of bouncin pucks off the back boards and goin to the net for the pass. Tiki and Prust really showed a lot of creativity and chemistry in this drill. Not content with that just bounce it and go stuff LOL they would do spins and fakes and still hit each other in front of the net. Pretty good stuff there.

So that was basically practice. If you see a bunch of shots goin high and into the middle pane tonight remember that they were goofin off hittin it today and stop wondering why it keeps happening.(coaches should make them NOT do this so it doesn’t become second nature in a game)

The Sharks are here. We’re probably screwed. I hope we can turn in at least a decent performance. Doan says we will and if all it took was sheer determination, we would be better right now, but that guy has such a martyr’s complex he’s pretty much taking full responsibility for Joker sucking, the team tanking and just about anything and everything that isn’t right with the Yotes. Trust me Shane, it is NOT all you kiddo.

We need to score, we need to battle, we need to be disciplined, McGrattan needs to be worth a damn so I won’t feel like Tiki/Lindy/Dawes *take your pick*  sat for nothing.

Lousy GDT I know but.. its all I got for now.

As always… Go Coyotes!

That I officially begin mourning the passing of yet another season of great potential. Like many of you, I have questions. Grave and serious questions about the demise of this glorious and vibrant season. A season which appeared full of life and vigor and health only a few short weeks ago.

The 08 – 09 Coyotes were so very young. But despite the financial struggles they were born into, the diagnoses of cancer in their midst, the horrendous injuries they suffered and the loss of key components they not only persevered, they seemed to thrive.

Was it the ASG curse? Did some assclown enemy bury a piece of an Anaheim jersey somewhere at Westgate? Is there possibly a my-give-a-damn- is-busted, doomsday killswitch hidden in the locker room? I wish I could answer that for you, my fellow mourners.

I know we have taken great strides under GMDMs management but 3 steps forward and 2 steps back is not a whole lot of progress. All I know at this point, is that the team I saw last night appears to be irretrievably broken. I saw things that appear to signal the apocalypse. I saw Wayne Gretzky booed last night! during the opening announcements. Quelle horreur! you exclaim in shock and despair. Oh yes my friends, it seems that the people have discovered that the Great One, much like that famous naked emperor before him, has no clothes…errr coaching skills.

Come on, before you lambaste me (or call for the tar and feathers) take a look at the records. And I don’t mean the whole Coyotes record, just the last 4 years in which TGO and his assistants have held the reins of the team in their incompetent little paws. Any other coach AND staff would have been ridden out of town on a rail. In fact many have been with much less cause *Thierrien, Q, Torts, Renney, apparently the list was endless as I can’t keep naming them and still have room to finish this blog entry*

We have survived through Michael ‘Big Purple GM’ Barnett and the FOGs, a scouting staff who thought Brett Bennett was top goalie material, scandals, an ownership split, financial losses that would give Trump indigestion and a dearth of retirement home players. But apparently the death knell just may be our superstar owner-coach.

What makes a team with so much potential lay down and die? What causes skilled professionals to mail it in? Why do players leave the desert and immediately become all they can be in other locations? How does a team go from 5th in the conference to 15th in less than 8 weeks?

When you have changed the GM, changed the scouting team, changed the roster (multiple times), gotten so healthy that you have a press box over flowing with players and are close enough to new ownership that the ink may be drying as I type, what else is left to consider?

Do I want to consider it? Well no, of course not. Who the hell wants to think that Wayne Gretzky can fail at anything even remotely hockey related? Okay firstly, everyone cannot be great at everything. Where is the logic in thinking that any human being can do that? What we do need to begin thinking about is how to correct the issue before the kids are ruined, Shane Doan sticks his head in an oven, the fanbase completely melts away in despair and before the new season starts.

The team has fallen and it can’t get up… hell, it WON’T get up! There are still some players who don’t know how to quit. Who still give it everything they have but their numbers are dwindling every shift. And everytime it happens, it tears a little piece of my Coyotes loving heart out. Now, if this were the first time it had happpened, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Last season was the same thing. We blamed fielding so many rookies who eventually pooped out (a novel summation of the situation… I think we’ve run out of reasons why we stink and latched onto that one as handy enough). This season we had even more rookies coming and going like shuttlecocks at a PCP riddled badminton tourney. Should we have done that? Probably not. I guess we can add that little decision to the staff’s oopsie column. But I refuse to play the tired rookies card yet again.

There is no shame in stepping down. Acknowledging that maybe a head coachs job in the NHL might not have been the right decision would be a great step from a self aware man. It is not announcing failure, it is simply setting aside pride for the good of the team, nay the game! you profess to love. I know I have a lot of nerve here to be making suggestions but…

1) Go buy interest in a struggling minors/juniors team with potential and take over the coaching reins. Everyone sees your rapport w/ the youngsters. Build a winner out of raw untapped talent, grab a Miron and then a Calder and then return with the chops to handle the highest level of the game.

2) Get a new staff. Look around the league, there are some brilliant assistants out there, some brilliant displaced coachs out there (this is definitely a business of what-have-you-done-for-me-lately). People with years of experience who have trained with the best or led the best and could teach and guide you and the team better than what you have helping you currently. Defer to their knowledge and learn. Just a couple of thoughts below:

• Yanic Perreault face off coach, hell even settle for Mike Sillinger *2 of the best face off men in the biz during their careers*. (No Panic Yanic taught Zigomanis things without even tryin and lives right here in Phoenix) feel me?
• Ulf Dahlen assistant coach… check Dallas’ record when he was there. Maybe he could be lured back from Frolunda?
• Mike Ramsey defensive assistant coach (8 years w/ Lemaire and the most stultifying defensive strategies in the NHL) sounding good?
• Either Allaire brother *if Benoit will even consider returning*, proven track records, I don’t think I can name a goalie that trained with either of them on the main stage that actually got worse during their teaching. (Fuhr? do the names Lenevue, Morris, Bryzgalov speak to you as gettin better from his teaching?)

3) Step down, reclaim your status of figurehead, owner, fan draw on a different level. Use your fame and glory to draw investors and fans through a different aspect of organizational participation.

I’ve never called for anyone’s head before. This feels wrong on so many levels. But after calling out specific players to be accountable I would be guilty of the same blind loyalty to the legend that the Coyotes and the NHL are, if I didn’t at least point out that our emporer is down to his skivvies if not completely arse out at this juncture.

Am I wrong? Please show me where I’ve erred. I am extremely open to debate at this time… truly, I WANT to be wrong.

As always… Go Coyotes!

Mathematically eliminated…. again…

Playing like drunken 2 year olds will do that to a team.

See Odie’s Theory of tanking… I doubt we even excel at that…

Hedman would look good on our blue… doubt even WE could sink so low.

OhhhKay… despite the trades we have not lost our ability to get up for the big teams. Seriously, what do we gotta do to get ready for the mid to low ranking teams? Decorate the dressing rooms in the Wings or Bruins colors so they THINK they always playing them? Show them game film from only those teams before the games so that they are all pumped up and can’t lose their high when they hit the ice and see that its only the Islanders?

Okay enough sarcasm. They done good last night. Members of Team Transplant combined with a couple of the old guard to grab us a point from the Ded Things. We looked pretty good all game and simply marvelous battling back in the third. Can’t deny the Rhino/Doan chemistry… still, nor the validity of the new guys as Prust grabs an assist in his 1st game as a Yote.

We close the series 1 – 1 – 2,  so .500 against one of the top teams in the conference. Not bad at all.

The things I did love

Tenacity! I LOVED Hanzal’s billion efforts to stuff that puck for the 1st goal.

Net presence (when it was there), without it, neither goal happens and if we had more of it, more goals would have happened. Pretty simple eh?

The group effort. 6 Yotes captured points on the night.

They didn’t frickin quit. The 1st period we answered their early goal and kept it tied up. The 2nd was a bit dicey, the Wings turned on the pressure but we didn’t let them score even though they outshot us 14 – 5. We battled back in the 3rd (one of our better 3rd period performances… hey! our PP showed up! finally)

Things I found interesting

Muells finally getting to play center. Keeps him moving, keeps him ‘into’ the game. I HATE when he ‘reaches’ for a puck rather than gettin the skates goin to catch up to it and grab some forward motion as well as actually getting control of that overshot pass. (oh the damage that kid could do if he could corrall a few of those)

Is it possible that Tree and Yank could be bonding? The 3rd pairing of Kalinin and Yandle didn’t look too bad and were a plus on the night.

Didn’t love our special teams…again.

WTH? do we have to do to fix that damn power play? Just a couple more PP goals in crucial situations and we wouldn’t be in the cellar. Really I have no idea how to get some urgency in that puppy, let alone more traffic in front more often (each and every time!) You have a 4 on 4 with a man to spare for the crease for cryin out loud…why can’t we do that? Hell, why can’t we get out of our own zone with the man advantage? And let’s not even get on our 5 on 3 performances because I don’t want to wet up my keyboard with tears. We need some special teams help. Seriously, none of our current coaching staff seems to be getting the message across… or maybe they aren’t teaching the right thing, either way that has to be addressed and QUICK! otherwise, this team remains at the bottom of the standings for eons to come.

Our PK has regressed to the point where I just cringe everytime we’re short a man. Z is visibly worn to a nub, one of these million blocked shots is gonna finish the job soon. *he had another 6 last night for cripes sake!* His ability to get a clear has diminished visibly over the last few weeks. We’ve depended on him too heavily all year but in Sauer’s absence the load was more than those thin shoulders should’ve had to bear. Getting Kurt back has helped but the damage has already been done I think.

Didn’t love our face off percentage again… ughhh. How many times does a girl have to say the name Yanic Perrault?

Our communication wasn’t great. Just a simple MAN ON! might have saved us from a few of those 10 takeaways.

Jovo/Klee isn’t gelling yet. That pairing was on the ice for the 2 EV strength goals. I expect Klee will catch onto the fact that handholding Jovo also means protecting your own goalie from him as well as from the opponents. No point in putting Z back with him at this stage of the season, let someone else learn how to do it for next season.

All in all a good game, exciting to watch and did I mention that we grabbed a point?

News n notes

SCOTT asked for $$’s and time#’s on the members of Team Transplant

Prucha 1.6, Upshall 1.25, Dawes .588 all RFA  in 09-10

Prust .525 and isn’t RFA until 10-11

Lombardi 2.35 and is UFA in 10-11

Kalinin 2.10 and is UFA now

As always… Go Coyotes