Well its only 2 games into the season and the Coyotes are 2-0-0. Should I have made that font bigger? You read it right… 2 wins, no ties or losses. Yes those Coyotes. The ones mired in uncertainty, knocked for a loop by BK court and lacking any big name guys. You remember the team everyone loved to see come to their barn for the easy 2 points?
We headed into Pitt riding on a 6 – 3 win over fellow bottom feeder LAK. If you hadn’t watched the game, you might have just figured it was our normal trodding over them just to stay off the bottom of the cellar floor. (we’ve traded wins like that sometimes in the past) That win was more than that. It was the debut of the new and seriously improved system of the Desert Dawgs. That win was the warning shot over the forward bow of the 2009 season. (funny how nobody understood that we only intend to give 1 warning) We displayed attack sense, total committment to owning all 3 zones and a fearless pack mentality to keep pushing, tearing , biting right to the last buzzer. The LAK folks and the world at large dismissed this win, Doughty had a bad game, Quick hadn’t hit his stride. (funny how we’d hear these same sentiments but w/ different names attached, a few nights later)
You might have good cause to ignore the LAK win but how the hell do you dismiss shutting out the defending Stanley Cup champions? Oh wait for it…. the backup goalie wasn’t good enough (bullshit! that kid robbed Doaner from point blank range) Syd was off, Geno was off and of course, my favorite, they are struggling with cup hangover. Everyone can say what they want but good old fashioned hard work won this game. The Yotes didn’t LET the Pens catch their stride, didn’t LET these guys get focused, didn’t LET those boys take over the game. They were’nt given a damn thing. They flat out TOOK it.
Can no one give us props for what we’ve done? I’m not asking for a wholesale conversion here. But these guys have overcome one of the most bitter, degrading, contentuous off seasons ever seen in the NHL. Ridiculed and dismissed for a decade, laughingstock franchise that no one wanted to own, coaching/training deficiencies out the wahzoo and they haven’t give up. These guys take whatever comes their way and continue to give their all. They deserve better from the NHL family and the media.
Tippett’s system works. Burke’s training works. Maloney’s vision works. The proof is in the pudding and let me tell you its turning into quite the tasty dish. Just watching Hanzal shutting down the Kid and Geno…didn’t seem to matter which one was on the ice last night, they were both pretty ineffective. Bryzgalov defending his 9th shutout with authority. Sami ‘the pistol’ Lepisto stepping into the big skates of the injured Kurt Sauer seemingly seamlessly. Fiddler in the face off circles at 63%. Prucha on his back, nay! on a Penguin back, catching a rebound and putting it in the net. Jovocop, putting Malkin on the ice AND putting our PP front and center with his first of many beautiful goals. Vrby/Hanzal letting the world know all about the new Czech federation with one of the sweetest empty netters I’ve seen in a long time.
Every member of this pack is playing the system to the best of their ability. They’ve bought in, they’ve committed and they’re ready to take on all comers. I know its early, but for those of us who have followed this team through thin and thinner, who have given their hearts, souls and hard earned dollars to this team, it feels like we are finally reaping the rewards with a team that believes in themselves as much as we do. An unselfish and dedicated group of guys who are playing for us as much as themselves.
The new Phoenix Coyotes have made a committment to each other and to their fans. That is not a chip on their shoulder, thats the boulder of determination, to prove to the world that they are professionals, good, hardworking professionals, dedicated to the pursuit of the greatest trophy in the world. There will be ups and downs, there will be skids and slumps but it feels like hope around the Valley of the Sun, certainly for the first time since the move to Glendale, it feels like winning.
Tonight we take on Buffalo, a team that has been in our shoes not too long ago. These guys should remember their own mindset and beware the Pack. Lindy Ruff is nobody’s fool, he’ll be ready. Do they have the speed to keep up with the big Dawgs once they get rolling? Can Miller stop the Czech Federation? Can anybody stand up to Jovocop patrolling the blueline with big guns blazing? How many pucks will not make it past that shot blocking monster named Z? Can AZBarbie step up to the plate and get the critics off his back too? Guess we’ll all have to be glued to the TV or the radio (xtra 910 is our audio feed w/ the beloved Heeter calling the games solo) or even online to find out.
Wanna talk about it live? Try HFBoards or TheNHLArena or Five4Howling. The Twitterverse will be buzzing all game long with theYotesDiva , Mark, HKYFN and myself. Can we come home 3-0-0? We’ve already gotten 4 of 4 possible points, lets hope we can steal another 2 from BUF.
We have 4 new places buzzing about Coyotes hockey… Bob, Larry , Mark and Hendrickshockey.com will soon have some good Yotes content as well… stroll by, give them some love please.
As always…Go Coyotes!
