WE DID IT! We got 10 straight home wins to set a franchise record. What an amazing night.

We stole a point in San Jose Monday night (we almost took 2 but just couldn’t come all the way back) Battling the #1 team in our division is always tough since SJ has so much talent. It was great to keep within striking distance of the leader.

The big story is our home ice performance though. Feels like nothing can stop us on our own ice. Everyone is starting to notice and say nice things about us. We got plenty of room on the bandwagon, even for the former haterz. Can you believe even Gambo is giving us props. I wish our opponent’s fans would be as classy as Canuck’s Coach Alain Vignault who said we were the hardest working team they’ve faced. Canuck fans are making excuses but lets face it, they were outplayed by a team that went head to head with the Sharks the night before…all the way to shoot out. The Nucks got to sit around and watch us battle, they shoulda been able to put us away but couldn’t. Deal with it Canuckleheads, you got Korpedoed by the lowly Coyotes.

We started AZBarbie for this second game of the back to back. I was totally not expecting anything from him but Jason stepped up and snatched this win from the Canuckleheads. I will still be nervous when JB starts but tonight went a long way towards believing in him. Going head to head against Luongo is no picnic but Barbie outplayed one of the league’s top tenders tonight. At this rate of play, AZBarbie just might become a term of endearment. JLB is 3 – 3 – 0 for his starts which is acceptable considering he has rather large layoffs in between. He really needs to stay in his net before he gives me heart failure but other than a bit of a shaky start with big dramatic movements that take him out of position, he did a good job. Gotta give him props for his shootout prowess too.

The return of JovoNasty was spectacular! If your name was Sedin or Erhoff you ended up calling him MR. Jovonasty. All night Jovo was upending Canucks like a dump truck. Haven’t seen him grin like that in awhile. (He sure likes plowin through people) Also haven’t seen him that pissed in awhile (he should always play mad) but I thought the refs were gonna toss the big guy for arguing their stoopid calls. Totally loving this rendition of Ed Jovanovski. Poor Canucks, must hurt to go up against that many players you rejected and get beat. (Jovo, Babs and Pyatt)

13k in attendance watched our historic moment. You may have noticed googahs of mini hockey teams around the arena. The Coyotes Cup was held in Scottsdale and teams from all over( including the cute group in my section from Alaska) came to battle for supremacy. They got an extra present of seeing the Coyotes play the Canucks and win. Congratulations to Murph! The Squirt A Phoenix Polar Bears won the Coyote Cup.

Count the night a success. We haven’t had a record this good since 2002 when Bob Francis’ team went 12 over 500 (took them nearly the whole season to get there). In the 30 years of the franchise’s existence as Jets and now Coyotes, we’ve never strung together 10 straight home wins. Every game just keeps getting better, this one had it all too. I think we have actually found another gear. Thank god because we’re gonna need it to finish the second half of the season successfully.

Well we’re still chasing that #1 spot in the Pacific. The Sharks ate Washington like a bucket of their favorite chum tonight. So hopefully they’ll either be tired as hell or too high to concentrate. I’d love a delivery of sushi from the boys for New Years, wouldn’t you?

So what do we gotta do to serve up home win number 11?

Well 11 is a good start, Marty Hanzal has to keep doing his spectacular job of corraling Thornton. Z has to keep playing second goalie. Jovo could plaster a few Sharks to the boards for shits n giggles and Bryzzie needs to look sharp and watch out for that damn red hot Pavelski.

Goalie Battle! Is that our newest redundant statement? (Besides pack mentality and committee scoring) It seems to always come down to whoever blinks last with these two goalies. In Bryz we trust. (some nights I swear he could take teams on alone… if he could score, he just might).

Grit and discipline will be the watchwords of the night. Staying out of the box should be a little easier after what we put up with from the Canucks. The Sharks are hard hitting but mostly not cheap shot artistes (like that little bastard Burrows). We know they’ll get their chances but if we can keep them to low percentage chances and screw up their entry through the neutral all night, we should be fine… give the PKers a break guys.

*************OLYMPIANS!************

Z and Sami have been added to the list of Yotes that will be heading to the Olympics. Breezy was announced for Russia earlier in the month. The Michaleks will hit the ice together and give the Czechs a serious chance at a medal. (May be our only chance to see the boys play together) Lepisto will join the Finns along with former Yotes Kapanen and Jokinen. (Good luck Niko! I still adore that little guy, he is all heart). My heart goes out to Doaner, Jovo and Ryan Smyth who were not chosen for the Canadian squad. You know they really wanted to be there. Doan has led Canadian teams to sweet victory before, I think they may regret not grabbing our Captain when all is said and done. The guys stayed classy in the face of disappointment, declaring that they will be with the team in spirit and wishing them golden success. Team USA has not been announced yet, might we see our very own Yands get the nod? (good chances there for the Boston boy who has matured beyond belief this season)

Hope to see you tomorrow night for Coyotes Howlin Good New Year’s Eve game and party at Westgate. Puck drop early peeps. 5 pm start with Westgate going from 7pm – 2am. Remember designated drivers! Be safe out there please.

As Always… GO COYOTES!

Holy guacomole! What a night. We held a pregame celebration for our Captain’s 1000th game and 16,ooo folks showed up. They came in old school sweaters. They came in new school and home made apparel. They came in family groups and teams and singles. It wasn’t a cheap promotional trick, there were no tickets from vodka bottles or white out gimmicks. They came to honor Shane Albert Doan and to watch his team in action. What a tribute and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer, more deserving guy… or team.

Every game lately makes me think, wow, thats the best game of 2009. This one was no different. We had a hell of a crowd. We had a fight. We had neck and neck scoring. We had a goalie battle. We had the requisite crazy goal (just so the hockey gods can let everyone one know who they favor?). We had the epic 6 on 4 battle in the last seconds that brought the crowd to its feet. And we got the win. Who can ask for anything more? This couldn’t have been better if I sat down and planned it out. A huge crowd got to see what we die hards have been witnessing all year. If this 3 – 2 last ditch effort win doesn’t draw back some fans I don’t know what will.

This was the tale of 2 underrated long shots vying for the right to take on the perrennially division leading Sharks for first place honors. So evenly matched and each with something to prove after no play off appearances in over 7 years. Each team is clawing their way up the points ladder, game by game. Neither team has a major proven star but after this season, there may be a few more household names in the Western Conference.

Our best get-well-soon wishes go out to Justin Williams who suffered a broken leg during the first period. And to our own Daniel Winnick who may have broken an arm (we’re still awaiting official word but Winnie was sent straight to IR and that spells long term issue). I have never seen the stretcher at theJobarena. It was scary as hell. The Dawgs play so honorably and unusually clean that this kind of thing never crossed my mind to happen in a Yotes game.

We didn’t move up in the league or conference but we sure as hell proved a point in the division. 50 points is good enough to get us into 2nd place and within targeting range of the Sharks. Do we really want that distinction though? I mean look at San Jose, they are in 1st place a lot and it gets them diddley squat in the playoffs. It may even be jinxed!  It also paints a target on our backs for every team in the Conference to start gunning for. But then again, I for one would be willing to risk it since 1st in division guarantees us a berth in the post season. So lets go get it and worry about keeping it later.

Speaking of keeping it, all the haterz out there have started chattering again. Trying to cha cha their way out of the doody hole they put themselves in by predicting the Yotes for dead last in the NHL. Rumor has it that we are a fluke and will be dead after the break. Do they just not do their homework? Dave Tippett has coached (4) 50 game winning seasons. He has a reputation for getting everyone on the same page and for delivering the performances of their lives…consistently. I hope they all enjoy a heaping helping of crow when we blaze into the post season no matter what place in the league we take to get there.

The Sharks know we’re coming for them. Monday night in the tank is going to get crazy. This first part of a home n home will be a serious testing ground for us. If we take the win we will be within 1 point of them and with a second shot at them on home ice on Thursday we could start opening up the distance between competitors in the Pacific.

I am not looking forward to this game despite beating the Sharks twice so far in the series. I can’t think of a worse time to be out Winnie and Fiddy. The Sharks play a very physical game against us. We could really use Winnie’s size and tenacity tomorrow. We weren’t too bad on the face off without Vernon Fiddler but puck possession against the Sharks will be tough without those extra FO wins that Fiddy brings to the table. We’ve called up Porter and Hoggan. Hoggan brings the physical with his play and hopefully can help ward off McLaren, Shelley and Murray’s bruiser tendencies.

Keys to this game?

Shut ‘em down – Thornton is not easy to make invisible but Hanzal seems to be in his head, lets keep it that way. Marleau is on a tear, we just can’t give him any room. Heatley is just Heatley and we’ll have to try to limit him as much as possible.

Jump them early – we do much better playing with a lead. We need to give Ilya that breathing room so he can put the onus on Nabby to blink again. We’ve chased their goalie from the net before and if that 1st line can keep rolling like the last few games this might be another one of those nights. But we may need another unlikely hero to step up and surprise these guys.

Goalie battle! – Sheesh how many times can this be a key to a game? The goalies in the west are all exceptional and Nabakov is one of the wiliest. I still think he’s at least part alien but this season at least we know he’s beatable. Our mad Russian VS theirs will once again be the difference maker.

Own the neutral zone – this is our best chance to keep ourselves out of trouble.

Discipline, discipline discipline – it has to be said. Stay out of the box. #8 in the league with PP points against our #9 place PK looks pretty even but we’re down one of our best with Winnie out. Lets not test our PK prowess tomorrow.

Puck drops at 8:30pm and the game is not on local TV so listen on the radio with Heeter or visit a friend with Center Ice.

Go check out BTinAZ’s newest pics, they’re phenomenal as usual. And if you need tickets, you came to the right place we got the ambaasor’s club discount still going strong!

As always… GO COYOTES!

King slaying. Tonight will be all about knocking the LA Kings off the throne.

After their 8 day rest up and with all the crown princes back in the line up (Smyth, Simmons and JMFJ may all return tonight) its time to take these guys out decisively. No points, no mercy. Too much rest and the rust from too much time away from the rink due to injuries, may just provide a chink in their armor.

The Kings grew a pair of brass ones when they kept rookie Wayne Simmons on the team. They play with more grit with that kid in their lineup. The Smyth/Kopitar pairing was as hot as anything the NHL could throw at us. Kopi did not fare well in Ryan Smyth’s absence and hopefully will take some time to redevelop that rapport. Adding Jack Johnson to a back end that includes Pouty Doughty is no picnic… unless Drew decides to brainfart all night again.

So far we have delivered big games (like the win for Tippett’s first game against Dallas) hopefully we can pull off a spectacular showing for our Captain’s 1000th game celebration. A win would also mark the team tying a franchise 9 game home winning streak that hasn’t been duplicated since we were Jets.

Both teams sit at 7 – 2 -1 in the last 10. We’re more alike than people think… except we roll deeper lines and are not dependent on 3 – 4 players to get a win.

So how do we pull this off?

Be careful! If Ryan Smyth and Anze Kopitar manage to avoid the injury-rust syndrome and recreate their magic it will not be a pretty outcome. Kopi has barely managed 2 g/4 a’s in 15 games since Smyttie has been out. Together they represent a serious portion of the King’s goal production.(32 points in 22 games for Kopitar) King Kopitar uses Smyth’s crease camping to disguise his devestating shots with disgusting ease. We absolutely have to contain Kopitar without losing track of Big Dustin Brown and Frolov the wonder hobbit. Easier said than done I know but we have the tools.

Match their physicality without getting penalties. That is one badass blueline rockin the purple. Johnson and Doughty are willing to knock you into next week and send our puck cross-ice without thinking and that puck could end up in our net if Bryzzie so much as blinks at the wrong time.

Special teams had better be something really special tonight (just not short bus special please)

JUST SAY NO! to power play chances. We cannot give them any easy opportunities. These guys LOVE a power play. The Kings aren’t great at it (they are like 12th in the league while we are like 21st) its like giving a fat kid cake, they get a high that is hard to neutralize later. Please hockey gods let us find someone else’s power play. (some team that is really good at it like WSH … I need to be specific with the hockey gods or they’ll give us Carolina’s or something)  We need to capitalize tonight. These guys can really take the joy out of a man advantage.

Our PK is something magical. But it’s better not to be dependent on it tonight. We’re around 6th in the league while the Kings are around 23rd. Lets keep that superiority going, by limiting the times we have to break that puppy out.

Offensive creativity. We need to roll all 4 lines. We’ve found our top line (the Lombo combo is back, this time with Doan in Prucha’s place.) Thes boys are the tic-tac-toe sorcerers. Followed by the Czech Federation (Prucha, Vrbata and Hanzal pick their spots but when they get rolling its a monster). The 3rd  and 4th lines shift pieces but any combination that includes Pyatt, Fiddler (if he’s well), Lang (slow to the party but brings excitement with him when he arrives) and the high octane Mueller (now that he’s getting on track) is sure to break a few royal hearts (hopefully Quick’s)

Goalie battle! Can Jon Quick’s glove hand beat the overall insane performances that Breezy delivers? If we remember stick side high in traffic, this might be a perfect storm. Quick can blow hot and cold but his beefy blue line usually pulls his Nestle out of the fire. We’re gonna have to run some Prucha-esque blitzes on his crease to make sure he doesn’t see who is coming. Making sure Bryz can see everything is going to be critical but limiting their visits by cutting off their access at the neutral (like the Duck’s game) would be the best help we can give our big guy.

So home ice, a blood pumping Captain’s ceremony and a good crowd to be the 6th man should be the last pieces to aid in this joust. Let’s go Coyotes… play for us!

As always… GO COYOTES!

2009 has been an awesome ride. (Despite all the lows)

The team has given us the fantastic present of some of the most incredible hockey ever and a new sense of pride.

The NHL has given us the gift of a chance to keep our team, the gift of hope.

Though its not set in stone yet, Ice Edge Holding may yet give us the greatest gift of all… the realization of our dream. A successful Coyotes team, competing for the Stanley Cup from Jobing .com Arena for years and years to come.

Some people say its only hockey, only a game, but Coyotes hockey has been waaay too much like real life lately. We’ve had a great deal of adversity to overcome. We’ve banded together, gathered our family and friends close and soldiered through it with class and dignity. I have been proud to be a fan in the past and thanks to the organization and you fantastic people I am even prouder to be counted amongst Phoenix Coyotes fans.

So MERRY CHRISTMAS from all of us here at coyotes hip check. I hope the day finds you all healthy, happy and surrounded by friends and family.

See you tomorrow night when the Coyotes honor our Captain Shane Doan for his 1000th game and we take on the LA Kings in the ultimate battle of former underdogs. Puck drops at 7pm ceremony before the game.

As always… GO COYOTES!

Holy crap! Big ol’ duck egg for Bryzzie tonight. Thats 5 shutouts for the big guy. He must be laughin his ass off after we chased Hiller out of the net. (Sorry lil boy, get out of the way and let the Breezer show you how its done)

We are sittin really pretty in the NHL right now in 6th place (game in hand on COL) and 4th in the West (COL is division leader so they take precedence). But after we take the Kings behind the woodshed we can take 3rd legitimately. (WOW! that feels really good to be able to type that)

Our home W streak advances to 8. Most in like 7 years? And a first in Glendale? Glendale gots game yo!

Mr. BizzNasty blew Pornstache Parros off and denied those bastages any spark. Total discipline, gotta love it.

The lil Mueller boy turned into a serious monster tonight. 2 points and a plus 1 on the night. Damn were those passes sweet. 2 primary assists! Took a hit to make a play! Welcome back big PM. Now just finish turning the corner so I can stop raggin on you…please. (Don’t make AJ break out the backwards jersey every damn game, Pru may need the mojo a lil bit too)

I guess the new stitches line up Marty’s shot better. Big Hoss got a very pretty goal tonight. He needs to shoot more. Deceptively wicked shot on that boy.

The Lombo combo! So happy to see this line clicking. Fantastic chances all night long.

Our face off wins didn’t suffer from the loss of Fiddy. 58%! We held our own and better yet, we dominated on puck possession.

A PP goal! Enough said.

This is my second favorite game of 2009. The last Jackets game is in the lead but this one had everything. Discipline, scoring (3 lines hit the back of the net), passing (PM to Langer! thing of beauty), defense, Bryz in total DENIED! mode (only 21 shots but he came big when we needed it), chasin goalies outta their net and scoring on the replacement guy(this has to be righteously sweet for our Bryz, since the Ducks picked Hiller over him… a definite how-you-like-me-now moment). Fans chanting in the stands (Hiller’s name followed by you suck, booing Wizzer every time he touched the puck. Apparently we have developed long memories about wrongs done to us) and the crazies bowing in the attack twice corner were completely awesome too, decent crowd for a holiday week day (thankfully I was at the game rather than in the mall like the last minute shopping schmucks), rise of the Phoenix in the standings looks damn good too.

This team is why all us die hards kept holding on. This team is a force to be reckoned with. THIS team can go to the playoffs and make some ‘real’ noise. It is a beautimous thing to be a Coyotes fan right now.

We take on the Kings on Saturday. Get there. We’ll be honoring our Captain for his 1000th game. Puck drops at 7pm (time changed to give us time for the the Doan homage) if you still need tickets… DISCOUNT HERE

As always… GO COYOTES!

Cause apparently I’m psycho.. psychic.

Lombo, Upshall and Doan! On fire and totally dominating. If that keeps up, the Western conference is in biiiig trouble.

Just gonna throw out some random thoughts cuz…well I’m so juiced up right now, sleep is going to be impossible and coherent thought is totally out of the question.

We won tonight, taking the series 3 of 4. We smelled desperation and blood on the air and our uber carnivore instincts apparently shifted into high gear.

Hanzal, I salute you. (quick hint… you had him all day til you bent the elbow and let him into reach… thnx DT for pointing that out, I couldn’t see how asshole…Boll got the better of Marty) It took balls and heart to step into that fight. I hope your teammates buy you some liquid anesthetic and give you major love for that. Still wondering why Jovo Oaks didn’t step in and take that one? (Thanks to hockey fights and DTG for pointing out that I had the wrong goober) Skill guys VS goon (Marty AND Verby gettin eff’d over by Boll?) Jovo shoulda been all over that. But Marty has been gaining a set of clankers as he’s taken on AND contained the best the league has to offer. I guess this was the final stage of his evolution into a monster. Don’t worry Marty, word on the street is that chicks dig scars.

WTF were the reffs calling on the Michalek scrum? Seriously, Z goes down hard and those asshats surround him and punch and kick him? Then one pulls him up out of the pile to try to start a fight? And the refs miss all that? They call Z for the boarding but miss 5 jerkwads trying to kill him? *head desk* Yes he laid out a hit that could have been borderline but to completely ignore the afters is just plain mind boggling.

This was perhaps the most complete game the boys have played so far. The big guns were finally blazing full force (10 points for the Lombo combo of Upshall, Doan and Lombardi) the defense was clicking on all cylinders. Even without Fiddy, Winnie was totally focused and making life miserable for the jackasses Jackets. The new boy Bubba didn’t embarrass himself (at 34, Anders isn’t so much of a boy) bt what matters is that he came in and added a helper, which bodes well for the future blueline contributions. Mueller was present and accounted for a few times, a couple of nice shots and a couple that were blocked. (Seriously though Petey, don’t make it so obvious by standing still in our high slot alone you stand out when your man is behind you sneakin in on Bryz and you don’t move too)

And Bryzzie… you played very well dear heart but don’t think I didn’t notice you trying to shoot yourself in the foot playing the puck ala Turdco. Stay in your crease and let the boys do the heavy lifting.

What is with the official stats? Can’t believe they missed that horrendous give away by my boy.

So anyway, it was a great game that had a little bit of everything. Fights, blood, offense, discipline, power plays and one of the most beautiful tic tac toe displays I’ve ever seen with Jovo, Lombo, Uppy and Doan crisscross passing through the Jackets zone 4 on 2 and actually scoring on it! Huzzah! Everybody contributed a little somethin somethin. Brought a tear to my eye.

We are still in 6th place in the West. Only 1 point behind the Kings and the Preds. The view is beautiful from 10th place in the league. We are 8 – 2 for our last 10 and show no signes of stopping. When has December been this much fun?

So we play tomorrow night. The dirty Ducks come to town fresh off a win against the Avs. (thanks for slowing COL down for us Quackers) we need to win this one cleanly. The Ducks seem to be gettin their poop in a group so we’re in for a battle as usual.

Keys to the game?

Well we tried shellin Hiller into extinction which didn’t work out so well. Its time to break out the garbage goals I guess. We saw a bit of Jovo in front of Garron last night, maybe between his big rump and Bubba’s we can screen Hiller long enough to grab a couple of goals. Pruu! the other boys have turned it on, maybe you can give us one of your crazy aerobatic performances? Its even better than garbage goals watchin Prucha break dance thru the crease with the puck on his stick (or behind the opponent’s goalie). Whichever way we gotta do it, its time to get creative, that is one hot goalie.

Stay focused and disciplined. We may be the only team that can beat the Ducks at taking penalties. Bobby Ryan will make us regret every one (if Getzlaf and Perry don’t beat him to it). Play your position, waltz with your man if thats the only way you can keep up with him (or hug him or tell him to say hi to his sister for you, whatever it takes) just don’t get caught out and then try to make it all better by hacking at him.

This is a division rival known for comebacks. Do NOT give them any opportunities to be IN this game. Containment, containment, containment.

I guess Fiddy is still questionable and Marty may be feelin some serious after affects so we’re gonna get to possibly see Porter who was called up today. He’s old enough to fit Tippett’s preferred player profile. Hopefully he can shine tomorrow night and get to stick around for a bit.

Hunker down dawgs! Lets keep that home record win stat climbing. (we’re 13-5-0 at home) Puck drops at 7pm, hope to see you there.

Positive press? from TSN no less. Power rankings are often silly and inconsequential and obvious but its nice to be given credit finally.

Ambassador’s club discounted tickets available! Go buy some so I can beat Marc please.

As always… GO COYOTES!

We’ve got some Jackets coming into town that need to be hung out to dry.

Hoo boy! We’ve won 2 of the 3 and really, really need to take this one. Keeping Columbus down is not the issue, we can’t look behind us, we have to focus hard on climbing over bodies in front of us, Columbus’ 2 points provides a great step towards that goal. It wont kill us if we slip this one but with Ducks and Kings AND Sharks ahead of us, this game has to be won ( that old saying about winning the games that we should, becomes paramount here). 4 conference opponents and the Sharks twice is plain old ugly. THOSE are must win games, this one is a ’should’ that places us in a position of strength to finish the year end strong. If we win this one, losing one of the other less sure thing games, won’t hurt as much. We can’t overlook these guys by any means. But its time to step it up a notch. This is when the ‘real’ teams ramp up to become contenders. If you have that extra gear, this is the beginning of the shifting. Its almost the halfway mark and if we’re going to be competitors this game should mark our line in the sand.

So what is is going to take to make our statement?

Man Down - We’ve got to throw lazy, undisciplined play out the window. We cannot continue to give our opponents uneccessary chances to score. We are equal to anyone 5 on 5.  Our PK has been through the fire enough. Its time to stop wearing them out. It hampers us in untold ways when our blue line can’t contribute offensively because they have been at a disadvantage for a quarter of a game, night after night. Positioning, grit and cool heads have to prevail each and every game going forward. Play it simple and smart and don’t get caught out, we can’t afford to keep playing from behind.

Man Advantage - do we even know what that means? Its high time we learned. Our PP is all strum und drang. We look good, get good chances but rarely bury them. The NHL is a crap shoot if your special teams suck. Our PP officially sucks in that it is never there when it really counts. This has to stop, right now. When we’re given such an opportunity, we have to find some urgency. We have to have net presence. We have to become dangerous.

Offensively - Committee scoring is fine but its time for the offense to step up. Doaner has to wake up (don’t get me wrong, his contributions have been fantastic) but his mad bull, score at all cost personae has to make an appearance now. This team has been successful following his all heart performances. He has to bring that back. Vrbata is warming up finally (he’s shooting like crazy already) but he has to start burying more of them because 1 -2 goal wins are not going to get the job done going forward. Lombardi and Prucha came in at the end of last season and along with Upshall, delivered hope inducing performances. We need them to give us the heart, the speed, the never-say-die mentality and energy that we know they can. If these 3 can find that mindset again, there is no way we can be stopped from grabbing a playoff berth. Winnik, Fiddler and Pyatt have to remain dangerous. After the crazy Czech Federation, they are the most solid and dependable scoring and containment unit we’ve got.

Defensively - How in the hell does Keith Yandle lead the blueliners in points? Confidence, willingness to take a risk and the ability to learn to step outside his comfort zone, thats how. I was never a fan, the kid was giving me palpitations (and I still wish he’d stop crossin his crease on his rushes). Keith Yandle is an example for Aucoin and Jovanovski to follow. Calculated risks, balls and accountability from these big guns HAS to come to the surface going forward. They have the most experience and they should be digging down deep to be the warrior leaders, not be led by the child prodigy. Z has his hands full, pulling the most minutes of TOI at nearly 30 per game. Playing 2nd goalie, the foundation for the #1 pairing and of course PKing for all he’s worth, he’s not going to be scoring the kinds of goals we need from the back end so its going to be up to the big 3. Until Sauer is able to come back the other 2 spots are going to be rookies Lepisto and possibly alternated between  David Schlemko (who has done an admirable job) and the new kid we just called up Anders Eriksson. I’m betting Tippett is looking for another offensive minded contributor that can be brought along quickly. This is not exactly the time to experiment but we need to get as much firepower on our backend as possible, better to know now if we have it (while there is still time to go out and trade for it or buy it somewhere).

Goaltending - I still don’t think Labarbra is the answer for when we need to rest Bryz. I hope beyond all hope that Maloney and Tippett are putting their heads together to get us a better option. With Montoya in a sling, we’ll have to go outside the organization to get this done. I have never stopped believing in the magic within Ilya Bryzgalov. I just don’t want to ride him til he drops. We’re gonna need every last ounce of #1 goalie out of him in the stretch.

These things are nothing new but this season we are as complete as we have ever been. This is the season that I believe tweaking may be the difference between playoffs and an early tee time. You may have noticed that I don’t have Mueller listed as one of the crucial cogs in this effort. You have to give up something to get a good return and it just may be that PM needs a change to get his groove back and he would certainly be an excellent starting point in talking offensive trade with another team. (Just my personal opinion at this point unless he proves me wrong by finding that switch inside him).

But first we have to take the Jackets to the cleaners.

Keys to the game?

Continue to contain Rick Nash. No one can give the Jackets the will to live like this kid. We can’t afford to let them have any life. Crush them early by making Nash invisible. Don’t get out of position, don’t let him cross the neutral unmolested. Play him close and do NOT let him have any room.

Goalie Steve Mason continues to struggle hot and cold. Mostly due to a lack of major defensive help. But do not doubt that this goalie can get hot. We have to make sure the percentages fall on our side. Shots from everywhere could shake this guy enough to give us the edge. But it has to be all 60 minutes of raining rubber. Do not let him get his feet under him or he could make us sorry. Chase him out of the net like Colorado just did by shaking him early and often. According to other previews we may see Garon again (I wouldn’t blame Hitch if he did this) Garron played us tight last game but the same principles apply. This is not rocket science. Shake the goalie, take the game.

Take control early. Play full throttle all 60 minutes. Play the damn system with discipline and guts.

Puck drops at 7PM. Hope to see you all there.

As always… GO COYOTES!

I warned ‘em but I guess sometimes it just isn’t enough. Not that we played badly, we just didn’t have enough left.

The Ducks came at us hard but the best performance was young Hiller as usual. We had our chances, we battled hard but it wasn’t to be. We shelled Hilly with 17 in the first to no avail. 13 sogs in the second only yielded 1 goal and they were some doozy shots. We struck early in the third and then got held off the board. The Ducks took advantage of our PK like they were naive school girls.

We definitely looked a little worn, guys were running into each other, we committed 9 penalties and we couldn’t get to loose pucks cleanly most of the night. Special teams… nuthin special about our power play thats for sure. Man does it still need work. We just haven’t produced when it would matter most. And we’re killin our PK guys. 9 penalties! Uggghhh. What the hell are we thinkin? I could simply chalk it up to mental or physical fatigue except we seem to be determined to be the PIM kings of the league even when we’re rested and at home. Trust me, we get our share of shitty reffing but that doesn’t account for most of our plain and simple brain farts.

Sooo we shot ourselves in the foot, let the Ducks retain their relevance and get a skate on the ladder to crawl back into the cup hunt. These are the games we need to jump on but I will give the boys a pass given the nasty scheduling this week.

The boys come home with half the available points and retain our spot in the standings. A strong home stand could help us leapfrog some serious contenders like the Flames, Sabres and Avalanche. We need to avoid our normal 2 game loss pattern and hope those 3 get a little stagnant. Catching back up to the Kings and gaining 8th place in the league would be a great place to end 2009.

We’re rollin gansta. But keep your fingers crossed that Fiddy will be okay (he left the game with a lower body issue). We need those face off wins and the puck possession to keep the momentum going. Winnie and TayPy would really miss him.

So hopefully I will see you all on Monday night when the boys take on Nash & Co… again. Maan, Olympic year makes for cruel scheduling.

As always… GO COYOTES!

The boys are on the road still. Don’t these road trips feel like they take forever? Wish they could play all their games at home but when they’ve grabbed 4 of the 8 possible road points I guess it isn’t too bad.

Wings - wounded and with suckage in their net, the Ded managed to do their best zombie imitation and and kept coming at us. Our Captain added to their walking wounded count by taking poor Ericksson out of the game. We didn’t look so hot. Bryz was even ice cold for once and with a final score of 2 – 3 not in a good way, I think Breezy would like a mulligan on a couple of those goals. We didn’t play bad per se, just not our usual vim and vigor. Lucky for the Wings that their role players stepped it up a bunch of notches, unlucky for us, I think for once in this reality the boys were looking past the Ded Thangs to the next game. Bad dawgs! Thats one of the hazards of taking them behind the woodshed, we forgot just how resilient those Motorcity Monsters can be. We leave Detroit with no points except the ones Tippett probably made over and over in the next hours while they traveled to Toronto.

Leafs - The storied franchise had fallen onto hard times recently but were making a serious bid for a good season. Young Kessel seems to be thriving there (betcha he don’t miss Boston one bit) He’s dragging the Leafs, kicking and screaming into the playoff hunt. Sorry to put a crimp in their mini-streak but we walked into the legendary Air Canada Center and kicked some serious Maple hiney. Petr Prucha led the way with 2 goals and someone convinced Yands that he was a Czech (Yands and Hanzal tallied 3 assists each). The Y’s got in on the action too with Fiddy, Vrby and Uppy grabbin goals of their own. Talk about a sweet win, Bish sat 8 games but Tip put him in for energy (that old softie put him in so his daddy could see him play in the NHL for the first time too) Bissionette would not only put on a show for his pops, he would score the GWG for that extra soupcon of coolness. 6 – 3 Yotes 2 points and out to Columbus and that pain in the ass Rick Nash.

Jackets - These guys just wont go away. Did I mention that Rick Nash is a serious pain in the patoot?  Yands was still hypnotised believin he is one of the Czech Federation and lit the lamp waay early in the first. I thought we’d be scorin up a storm after that but the only other regulation goal would be from that stinkin Nash kid in the third. AZBarbie! whoa whodathunkit? Jason the Barbarian was in rare form. He’s still a big old slow flapper for the most part but he looked fairly solid after a shaky start (the guy hasn’t played since Moses was in short pants (well since Nov 16th and thats gotta feel like forever to a hockey player). After the initial howl of dismay I settled down and actually watched him and he wasn’t too bad out there. Havin Z play 2nd goalie for 30 minutes probably helped alot. My lil Iron Czech took a high stick from that schlub Huselius (I’ve got a beatin with that boy’s name all over it waiting for Monday night) But no matter everyone survived to head into OT. OT was polished off with not even a burp. Neither team was able to generate more than a few belly scratchers.

We head into the shootout, I didn’t miss Muells all game til the shoot out. I like havin sharp shooters for these skills contests and Muells can sure snipe with the best of them. So instead we went with Vrby, Doaner and Langer. Vrbata’s magic didn’t quite pan out but Doan kept us in it long enough for Lang to put it to bed. Hey! whaddayaknow 4 points out of 6 for the road trip! suhweet!

Even better… our magnificent Captain got a win in his 1000th game! WTG Shane, you make me proud to be a Yotes fan. Solid hard working Doan became only the 2nd player in the franchise to make 1000 games (Teppo was the other one) thats what I call good company to be in.

Ducks got next… and I hope we make ‘em wish they hadn’t. The boys are in Anaheim already, enjoying a day off and preppin to imbibe some Duck soup. Its a matinee puck drop at 2PM. It is gonna be a good one… if you have Center Ice, you’ll even get to see it. Luckily for me I am pet sitting for peeps that have a CI package. (Thnx Q!)

Keys to the game?

Bring some energy, its gonna be ugly. The Ducks are so far down in the standings right now that Carlyle has to be thankful for a floor. The Quacks have been playing better of late though. Hampered by the loss of Selanne, the rest of the crew have been picking up the slack. I think we’re about to see the return of the dirty Ducks. There will be lots of the physical so be prepared to take a hit (hint: do not expect the refs to call the penalties, just pick yourself up and go score) Even their media is getting in on the desperation. Thhis isn’t only about 2 points, these guys are in trouble and they are gonna take it out on us if we aren’t fast enough to avoid it.

Hiller is a stingy bastard. Shoot early and often. Get up close and personal…especially you Bish, park that hiney right in front of him every chance you get. Hilly has a good record against us. We’re starting to get everyone’s attention so don’t count on seeing their back up goalie Jiggy.

Play hard, play all 60 minutes. Go into this one like someone called your mama bad names. If you take your foot off the pedal for even a nano second these Ducks will be stickin a fork in you instead of vice versa.

Other stuff:

Almost FREE TICKETS!!! good lookin out for the deals ladies! via theYotesDiva and BabyKate – ATTN Coyotes fans! Buy (4) 8-packs of Pepsi @ Circle K, get 2 lower level seats to a Yotes game in Dec or Jan. Spread the word!

For those who can’t make it to Circle K, there’s always online through the Ambassador’s Club.

Saturday against the Kings we’re gonna have a 1k celebration before the game, honoring our Captain.

Last round of the Arena poll is still going. Get over there and let the writers know what you think about their blogs.

Just some food for thought: 5th in the West and 7th in the league. Our boys sit just 3 points behind the Pacific leaders (LAK and SJS if you didn’t know). We need to welcome them home like the warriors they have proven to be… get a ticket! Its Columbus and that damn Nash kid again so it oughta be a doozy.

Time for bed, have a great weekend and hope to see you out at the Jobarena on Monday.

As always… GO COYOTES!

It was officially a streak for real folks. No I ain’t talkin about some freak named Zeke, cavorting across a soccer field bare assed. I’m talking about the Phoenix Coyotes knocking off 5 opponents in a row! It was sweet. We are now 6 - 1 - 1 after we got tripped up by those pesky Kings and  the wounded but uber dangerous Ded Thangs.

W – Dallas – 5 – 2 -we beat the perennial playoff hounds. They are paarlaying loser points into another hunt for Lord Stanley but we’re denying them every chance we get and staying on the trail right with them.

W – Anaheim – 3 – 2 -we showed them the door too, another playoff monster that thrives on loser points paving their path to the post season. No soup for you only Duck soup for us!

W – Calgary 2 – 1 – scary buncha guys (Joker is still scary even when he isn’t scoring). Thought they would take us out behind the woodshed, glad we were able to not only hang with them but to show them the united pack smack down (damn you former Coyotes for giving so much more to the Flames than us).

W – Ottowa 3 – 2 – I guess having their own Michalek didn’t help. Ours may not score as much but preventing scoring apparently is even better! Go Z!

W – Minnesota 2 – 0- silly elves, this is our year dammit, don’t go away mad… just go away. (see other entry for full disclosure)

OTL – Los Angeles 3 – 2 – damn you Wayne Simmons, your dream just may come true. One of the very last teams I wanted to share points with. But gotta give the Princelings their due, just like us and Colorado, the basement kids are coming into their own finally.

W – San Jose 2 – 1 – Wow! I realize Marty owns Big Joe and Z pretty much owns Pretty Patty but can I say wow again or is that too much? Every time they play each other I have an insane urge to put on a life jacket sporting the #30. Always tough (can you say Shelley, Murray and Mclaaren?) but when faced with total discipline and determination, even the best can be beaten. I actually LOVE playin these guys this season.

L – Detroit 2 – 3 – It sucks to start out the road trip with a loss but the boys found their cojones finally and played well to almost catch up to the Ded. I guess #13 is sooo NOT Bryzzie’s number. The 13th start was ugly. Much of the night the big guy looked off kilter and slow. The blue liners didn’t look too swift either for about 45 minutes of the game. (ummm guys? when Breezy is off, you are supposed to carry the big guy til he gets his head straight. He’s carried you many a game, time to return the favor.) Ah well, we’ll get our shite together for Wednesday. Somehow Tipper always manages to rein them in and get them back on pack fairly quickly. I really just wanted 8 points out of this trip and I didn’t care if it meant grabbing loser points. It feels strange to expect to get more than half the available points on a road trip but the boys have built up my faith so much that I actually have expectations now. Too weird.

Sooo anyone have any idea what the hell is up with Doaner? Ever since Wizzer nearly decapitated him, Shane has been off. Stop grippin the stick so tight my Captain. The whole team isn’t on your back anymore. These boys can carry they ownselves big daddy. Just have fun, run over a few more people per game and let the goals fall when they may. (Is it just me or is it almost as much fun to watch Doaner steam roll people as it is to watch him score?)

Daly and Maloney were doin the talking head thing today. Much as expected not much was really said that we didn’t already expect. Everyone is happy about the potential new ownership. Not much will change (except maybe we’ll see a new addition to the team on the scoring front… and of course lose someone since it costs to get a quality scorer even with GMDM doing the buying).

Daly on NHL Live

The BoG will be meeting starting tomorrow so we’ll all be waiting with bated breath to find out if the good ol boys wanna let the whippersnappers into the club. I hope so. I actually have met a couple of them and came away impressed. I think the Coalition wrote something up on that awhile back and I haven’t seen nor heard anything to make me change my mind.

• Ice Edge Holdings – They have passion and a real desire to own the Coyotes for the business of hockey.
• They have business acumen and know how to make money.
• They understand the game (hell they’ve played it and love it).
• They are innovative and are not afraid to take on a risk, much like ourselves and Tippett, they see something in this team that they can believe in.

They have ideas…

1. how to utilize every square inch of the arena to get revenue
2. how to treat a fanbase
3. how to build a hockey club
4. how to recognize that they don’t know everything and will have to trust people to do their jobs
5. they also recognise things that aren’t working
6. and how to treat a legend, we just might see #99 again (oh don’t panic, not behind the bench) but maybe somewhere within the ownership group

I didn’t get to meet Keith but read what he has to say HERE. Whats not to like about this crew? A few games in Saskatoon? Gimme a break. Better a few games for our Northern cousins to enjoy and help the bottom line than none for us because we’re too stupid to recognise an opportunity to get on our feet or too stingy and jealous to share and welcome some more fans for the organization to thrive on. Will there be changes? Of course, there have to be in order to get out of the red ink sea. Will we like all of them? Of course not, don’t be silly, the business of hockey will not recognise our favorites and all of our preferences, but as long as they get good results and keep the team alive and kickin in Arizona… count me in. I like them, they are actually going to give it their all with no strings attached and no screwing of others to get their way. Their regular business is built on that premise. They got tired of being part of the all-about-the-benjamen crowd and started a business they could be proud of. A business with integrity. Thats their reputation in the business world and I expect no less from them in the hockey world.

Monty sighting! We saw the Big Cubano wandering the concourse last home game… in his sporty sling. Best wishes on a speedy recovery Monty.

The always obliging Kurt Sauer gave our friend DTG the skinny on his expected return to the ice (see paw print 12/13 for that news) He graced the stands with his awesomeness last game too.

Holy crap its almost midnight AGAIN! Gotta go grab some zzzzs (not him!) some sleep people, some sleep.

Quick shot reminders –

The “Leader of the Pack” award is designed to recognize the top Coyotes Season ticket holder for each month during the remainder of the season. The nominations must include a full description of how the individual has demonstrated his or her commitment to the Pack. If you know a deserving Season Ticket Holder, please nominate them for this award. (if you don’t know their full name and info, fake it, give the team as much info as you can so they know who you are voting for… they’ll count the votes right). Vote HERE for December.

Ambassador’s Club! Coyotes STHs (season ticket holders) have volunteered to help out with gettin butts in the seats. The Yotes are sinking their teeth into some guerilla marketing and have issued these volunteers their own links to help friends, family and innocent bystanders get discounted Coyotes tickets. So if you need tickets to a game feel free to use my link HERE. (promo code…Coyotes)

Round 3 of theNHLArena’s poll is up. Go vote in the final round remember to let us know what you think is good, could be better and could just be kicked to the curb.

As always … GO COYOTES!