We’re statistcally close…Divisionally we rank 3 and 4 (who woulda thought we could hold on to 3rd in the Pcacific?) Conference wise we’re 7th and 11th (again, who woulda thunk it? holding onto 7th for more than a game or 2) their superior numbers on the Pk will not be an advantage…as we have no PP to speak of anyway. Last 10 games played for both teams is a tie at 4-3-3… this might be another goalie war.

We missed sweepin these guys last season by 1 game. Erik Ersberg sure made the last games of 07 tough, but he’s out DTD and we will probably get to see just how quick Jonathan Quick is in goal for the Royals (LA Barbie has not been havin a whole lotta success recently and is riding the pine behind the called up Quick). Our lil speed demon Lisin was the star of the only game we’ve played against the Purple Puck Pushers in 08. (I’m sure everyone members that full stride breakout on a DMo pass but just in case… you can watch it again here. ) So we need to continue to own these guys. With ANA quiet tonight we have the chance to pull even with them and with their next game being against the quietly improving Stars we could stay ahead if we pull off the Ws in this back-to-back series. (ANA 39 pts - PHX 37 pts). This is a do NOT waste situation that will be invaluable down the stretch. And look to COL as the last game of December (with Stasny out with arm fracture makes the Yeti very vulnerable right now)to be THE big finish for the boys.

Damn thats a lot riding on 3 games. But with 2 of them at home where we have been thriving lately, it certainly looks doable. So I am going to stop looking ahead and focus all my limited powers of concentration on winning tonight and let Saturday and Wednesday take care of themselves as they arrive.

Watch the game on or on AZ- TV locally

As Always

!!!!LET’S GO COYOTES!!!!

Here ki ki kitty! That’s right Shea Weber and the fanged wonders are in town tonight. Talkin about fighting like cats n dogs! Both teams need these two points to remain in contention. Both teams have been hangin close, by the skin of their teeth.

The Preds have 33 points (15-12-3) is a really good record, especially for a team that is uber dependent on goaltending and has no power name leading the litter. Both Ellis and Rinne are holding this team in place with their performances and Weber has gotten hot on the blueline to give them some added claw power.

We’ve gotten at least a point out of the last 4 games and sit at 32 points. (14-13-4) is a damn good record for a team with a first time #1 gate keeper and a hodge podge blueline. The nicest thing about our offense is that on any given day 6 or more fairly consistent shooters can heat up and we have 3 possible canons that can get busy on the blue line.(of course with 1/2 of that number being grass green… there is also the possibility that no one will score) ughhh.

Apparently there is very little difference between cats n dawgs as we both sit 3rd in our respective divisions. The cats are 7th and the dogs are 9th in the west. PK% (Yotes 16th, Preds 17th) and GF % (preds 17th, Yotes 18th) are within a point of each other in the league. So what does it come down to?

Which team is hungrier? Which team’s netminder has the bigger cojones? Which team’s coaching staff has done the better prep job? Which team can find a way to snag the W at any cost. This is a game that we absolutely NEED to win in regulation. We are in direct competition for playoffs with these guys and it is absolutely vital to put them away w/out letting them grab a point and stay ahead of us. That point could mean the difference between a playoff berth and early golf again.

Please don’t let TooToo be stoopid enough to take a run at the rooks. I really don’t wanna see him die. Although a Carcillo on Tootoo beat down might take the team into win space like nothin else.

Beware the Pred blue… Webz is sittin on 25 points and a hefty +12. Lets nip that in the bud straight off the hop.

Gonna need some crafty offense… both Rinne and Ellis are soo hot right now… some menage a tois (sounds so much more fun than tic-tac-toe) hockey in front of the crease or maybe just some nasty Fridgie screening can get us into chalupa territory tonight.

Come on Bryz! its time to steal one tootsie. No early softie… just good solid stoppage. You can do it… nay! you NEED to do it. The boys have had your back for the last couple of games big time. Step up! OWN your net babe.

!!!LET’S GO COYOTES!!!

Predatorial Coverage

Odie’s Take

Official Preview

Thanx Qbert for the graphix

Thanx JC for some of the sweet stats

BIG SHOUT OUT TO PATIO 6

Watch the game

Hoo boy! Its gonna be a scorcher down in Texas tonight. The Stars have done a lil self chemo and rid themselves of the cancer in their locker room. With Avery gone and team mates bonding again, the Twinkles will be looking to get back to their classic winning ways. Injury riddled lineup makes them totally unpredictable. Wounded opponents are always more dangerous and the Stars will be no different.

We’re on a tear. Bryz is coming back to solid. Adding Lindy seems to have infused us with a lil more hop in our step. The Joker is healed and on the hunt for his playoff berth (and apparently has no problem dragging the team kicking and screaming into contention). Enver Lisin is DTD (we lose a bit of the wallop thru the neutral…hopefully Boeds will pick that up for us) but we called Porter back up to give us some other options.

Since the shaming in Chicago we seem to be pulling together. 3 wildly successful games in a row (a point out of the Wing game counts as successful people), indicates a turning point for the boys. We don’t want to just cling to an 8th place tie, we need to build off this and grab some points tonight and make the next 8 games our coming out statement to close out December. Every month we’ve gotten a little better, become a little more gelled, a little more confident and certainly increased our winning ways.

DAL sits in our usual spot in the cellar right now. At 5-5-0 in their last 10 and 26 points, we need to hit them hard before they are able to regroup. A flustered Marty Turco is our best friend (he really hates sittin in the crease waiting for something to happen, we need to play off his impatience again…make him move Dawgs). Their PK/PP AND GA are all amongst the lowest they’ve ever been  (28th). Their IR list reads like a full team roster but they still have the newbie Brunnstrum, our arch nemesis Riberio and Modano/Richardson can also bite ya even when you expect it. Even though newly acquired Brian Sutherby is listed DTD (remember that scrapper from ANA?) he can’t be overlooked.

Our numbers look pretty good, 6-3-1 on the last 10 games. Our GF/GA and PK% are firmly middle of the pack but our PP could still use a whooole lot of work… as could our lamentable face off inability (again I beseech TPTB…No Panic Yanic for specialty team coach, we’ll never become a puck possession team if we can’t gain friggin possession in the circles). Lindstrom and Jokinen have been hot, Mueller has found his legs, Boeds is due a clutch and Doaner always gets up to face Turco.

This is TOTALLY WINNABLE! We can do this!

!!!!GO COYOTES!!!!

NHL.com is wrong…dead wrong. There is nothing ugly about the play of Peter the Great nor Martin Bboy Hanzal. Whats ugly is the tendency of the press to pick on any team NOT in the old boys network. Peter had a slow start sure (extra muscle=skating and shooting adjustments and the early hip flexor didn’t exactly help either) but Pistol Pete is back on track (see the Stars and Wild games for confirmation). Marty has been shuttin down the likes of Joe Thorton and Ryan Getzlaf since last season. The kid has his defense down pat now and is polishing up his offensive skillz. I can’t wait for the final numbers so those asshats can eat their words.

But I digress…

The Ded come to town tonight. Its always ugly when they show up. Their fans infiltrate our arena and annoy everyone who has ears. There team is so loaded with talent that even the puck boy is a bad ass.

We got 2 wins in a row against arch nemisi (is there a plural for nemisis?) Our top net minder is returning to form, our scoring committee is on track, our blueline is actually getting help w/ containment and our forwards now seem to have a clue about pressure through the neutral.

STAY OUT OF THE BOX!!! these boys will hand you your ass each and every time. (our PK is on and poppin but c’mon! Datsyuk? Zetterbergh AND Hossa?) So don’t give them the opportunity.

HIT EVERYBODY NOT WEARING THE RIGHT RED!!! These are mostly skill guys (there are a few that can take a hit and not get off their game too much) but each player you can take out of the play means less sleight-of-hand for Dats and Zets. Then Bryzzie can focus on stoppin their first shots.

PP!!! PP!!! PP!!! once you got em pissed off enough to take some penalties, gotta put those babies in… no way we can take them apart without using every advantage we got.

SPEED KILLS!!! don’t stop and wait for a pass to hit you in the ass. Take a run at the neutral BODS… LIS…LINDY get the wheels goin here guys… not much anyone can do with gresed lightning.

If we manage to get a lead… don’t friggin play it safe. step on the gas cuz these bastages love to lull ya into a sense of security, right before they stick it to ya.

Expectations are a real bitch… we’re in surprise mode right now… lets surprise the hell out of the DED and break their strangle hold on us.

**good luck and godspeed to Brian Mack Daddy McGrattan who has voluntarily entered the substance abuse program…. thank goodness he has the gumption to get the help he needs***

Keys to this game:

Get the lead…keep the lead. Once the Wild get a lead they shut down tighter than a fat lady’s girdle. They can play like that to protect a lead, for freakin ever. Don’t let them have the opportunity to play their game. Keep them scrambling, do NOT let them get comfortable. Remember! Keep them scrambling, not comfortable.

Make Backstrum move. Big Nick covers a net like a trapdoor spider… one minute its clear and open and then BAM! he’s stopped your shot and you skate away thinkin, ‘how did that not go in?’ Pressing hard on the weaker D of Zidlicky (-4) and the soft offense line that contains Clutterbuck, Sheppard or Veillieux sould help keep Nick from getting much of a breather.

Play all 60 minutes like its the last time you’ll ever see NHL ice. That has been the key to every victory we’ve had. When we have the majority of loose puck recovery, when we consistently crush the opponent out of the play, when we close the gaps and crash the nets, there isn’t any way to stop us.

Does ANY of that look familiar? It should… its the keys to any Wild game, I hate repeating myself…I am not well… AND really lazy to boot … BEAT THE FREAKIN WILD… that is all…

Okay now that the Hawks hysteria has chilled. Lets get back into finishing this road trip from hell. If Telly is still screwed up maybe we can borrow the human shutout machine from San Antonio. Hey! not my words but w/ a couple of shutouts under his belt and only a hop,skip and a cowbell away, Josh Tordjman is available to back up Breezer if he has another melt down.

Lets see… comparison time… we’re 4-5-1 in last 10 games…Stars are 5-4-1 eh I can live with us both being 5-5-1 (as that means we won this one LOL) We’re 3rd in division they are 5th. They sit 2 points behind us at 24, perfect time to widen that lead. Do I have to mention how bad our PP% is? we currently sit at 28th but with a GA ranked 16th (yeah even after the game that shall not be mentioned) Dallas currently sits 29th for GA… gee hope we can blow them into a tie for last place.

I guess we won’t be seeing Avery this game even though he will be off his suspension (maybe not ever again on NHL ice if the situation gets any more sour). Stars have sorta replaced the pest with a 5th rounder? named Tom Wandell. Turco has been almost back to form lately, We’ll get a good look at the new LW Brunnstrumm who has been making some offensive noise and of course the shifty lil ratboy Riberio is a clear and present danger every shift. From what I’m reading about games and practices, the Stars, without the foolish distraction machine, may just come out of the tunnel firing on all cylinders despite all the injuries. (hey Hull, get the point? No Avery, better Stars performance) The Stars practices looked like this the last couple of days including Tuesday:

Modano-Richards-Eriksson
Neal-Ribeiro-Parrish
Conner-Petersen-Brunnstrom
Barch-Wandell-Wilson

We just took a trip to school and then to the woodshed in Chitown. Please let it galvanize the boys into action. We aren’t that far off from our standings last season but damn if that wasn’t the least amount of effort/heart/will I’ve ever seen out of a Coyotes team. I am appalled at what we didn’t do (we showed no pride. guts or determination). Speculation abounds…were the boys sending Bryz a message? Was Bryz sending Gretz a message? Is there a friggin message at all? IDK, but everyone concerned better get a clue. We can’t afford to lose any points right now. Send a candy gram or a text message next time, this is hockey not freakin kindergarten.

Ahem, so , I haven’t a clue what the lines will look like since Joker may be in the thick of things, McGrattan was waived (cleared) Telly may or may not be hurt, the new acquisition Lindstrom from ANA is being called up from San Antonio after apparently supercharging them into breaking a 17 game losing streak. so your guess is as good as mine right now.

These were Phoenix’s forward lines at Tuesday’s practice in Dallas:

Mikkel Boedker-Olli Jokinen-Peter Mueller
Shane Doan-Steven Reinprecht-Joakim Lindstrom
Daniel Carcillo-Martin Hanzal-Todd Fedoruk
Kevin Porter-Kyle Turris-Viktor Tikhonov

*no lisin in that line up…punishment for the late poke at Huet that started the scrum? or rewarded w/ a day off for being the ONLY offensive weapon in that game? or got hurt during that debacle? *

Looking for our boys to get back on track here. Line in the sand time, are you here to play some puck? to roll into a play off berth? or curl up into fetal position and crap your bed? I’d love a win… and this is definitely a winnable game. But at this point I’ll take a respectable showing, a display of heart, courage, pride and honest to god effort.

!!!GO COYOTES!!!

Great Stars Blog from Andrew

Texas HLOG alumni Cat

Our Own OdinMercer

Jenna over at Hipcheck

OK does it get more pathetic than this statement? “The Blackhawks have won four straight and six of seven against the Coyotes, including three in a row at home by a combined score of 11-2.” This has simply GOT to stop, Sheesh these games are sooo winnable. What is it about the Hawks that gets our knickers so twisted? For cryin out loud it ain’t like they are the Wingnuts or something (although when that GDT comes up.. I guess I will have an even more pathetic statement to post).

Last matchup we at least showed up respectably. A one goal game and 2 defensemen w/ 5 sogs. We need that more often so how about starting tonight? If not for a couple of reffing gaffes this was a different game, so maybe…if we’re lucky, we’ll catch a reffing break tonight and get some guys who can actually watch the game and make the right calls.
This is a game that we can’t breakdown for even a second… much less the normal 10 to 20 minutes per game we usually get outplayed. Who’s gonna be in net for us? OOOH million dollar question. Bryz wasn’t horrible last night…had some spectacular saves, pillowed up really well for the most part but he can’t save us from ourselves if we consistently parade to the box and when we continually totally cockup the PP opportunities we are given. Face it… a Nabby/Lundy/Backstrom clone couldn’t save us from ourselves some nights. But does Breeze need to start against the Hawks (his perennial nemesis) the second game of an ugly back to back road set? I say no but hey, what do I know. I only want the best for Bryz, I don’t know if that means he needs to start and be reassured that TPTB still believe in him or not though. But then again I really want a win and Telly has been hot as hell for us. My vote is Telly. I guess we’ll see.

We’re 4-8-1 on the road goin against the Hawks 7-1-4 home record…ughh.. Khabby has been a real pain in our butts (maybe we shouldn’t practice with him in the summer any more?) But the Bulin Wall has been ailing, maybe we get to see Christobal Huet in net? Might give us a better shot at breeching the Hawk’s nest.

Patrick Sharp has been quite the Coyote killer and he scored for the Blackhawks on Saturday. He has eight points in Chicago’s last eight games, scoring six goals during that stretch. Think we need to contain him? And of course there’s the tag team of Kane and Toews to watch out for too… I didn’t check to see if Havlat was well, as that could change during the warmup and he’s out of sight out of mind for me after that ugly goal against us that shall not be mentioned.

These guys don’t seem to mind bangin around our rookies and sophs but man do they get touchy if one of theirs (Kane) gets popped legitimately. They may be a bit edgy and lookin for a bit of payback for that… hopefully Carcillo didn’t wear himself out in those Blues bouts last night. Got a feeling this one might get a bit chippy if not down right nasty.

Only an hour til puck drop. LET’S GO COYOTES

Second City Hockey and Sam asked Odie and I for the 411 on a couple of questions about the Yotes. See my answers after the jump…

Watch the game

Read the rest of this entry »

Do NOT underestimate the Blues. Despite the fact that we have beaten them already (both last season *the whole series* and once in 08) these boys are no joke. Led by Keith Tkachuk who will be celebrating his 1000th point before the game, the former Jet/Yote is one tough competitor and has 8 PP goals so far this season. Injuries often allow role players to step into the limelight and shine. Andy Mac and Paul Kariya are both MIA but the Blues are still producing (5-5-2 at home) 4th PP and 7th PK and 5-3-2 in their last 10… An emotional award ceremony, role player over achievements + over confidence against these guys could result in sever burn marks on our asses and egg on our faces.

BUT…St. Louis (10-11-3) will enter the game less than 24 hours after losing to Calgary 4-3 in overtime on home ice. This is should be good news for the visiting Yotes, who roll into StLou fresh off a set of crazy wins. #1 goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov apparently rebooted and high in confidence from his return to net on Thurs against the Leafs. Martin Hanzal and Steven Reinprecht have suddenly discovered the formula for multiple goals and the team has developed a meagre killer instinct. All of these elements will be crucial to getting a sweet 2 points in St. Louie.

Odie and I laughed our butts off last night about a Blue’s Clues GDT… as always our 2 brains are warped and hilarious…especially late at night (and Onyx on drugs) so go check him out, it is a really sweet GDT.

GO YOTES!

Make like Toronto and leaf your 2 points at the door, is a favorite saying around the desert. Last game was 5 -1 in the Yotes favor. We are both sitting at 24 points, bot of our records in the last 10 games is 3-5-2. But the Leafs have Toskala in net and if we don’t solve him right away, he gets bigger, badder and harder to solve for some reason. In our favor is Mikael Tellqvist who is playing out of his mind right now and has something to prove to his former team.

Both teams are rebuilding, I’d like to think we are further along in the process and that we can take this game and step up in the standings. SCOTT puts it very nicely… Leafs beat Kings, 3-1, (two pp and an empty net)…we beat the Kings, 4-2, 1 pp, and an empty net…so we should beat Leafs 4-3… LOL I hope his math is good and we get another CHALUPA night!

No Hale tonight as WG replaces the hapless dman with Ken Klee again. As long as Telly doesn’t get too focused on outside influences and just goes in to do his job we should be okay. The boys love playin for the Wolf.

!!!LET’s GO COYOTES!!!

Odie’s take on the GDT

The Toronto Perspective

Last season we pretty much owned the Queens all of the 07 season. I don’t see why we should stop, do you? I mean they didn’t get much better during the offseason so why not keep racking up points to help us get to the post season?

Well it may not be that simple as wanting it to be so. There’s a lil newbie named Ersberg hangin out in the royal net that will have other ideas for sure. The Kings play very well for Ersie, as well they should. The kid made the difference last season. He helped them take on teams like the Flames, the Nucks, the Hawks and give a good accounting and oftentimes a whippin that stunned some of their visitors. Sir Eric was also instrumental in keeping us from sweeping the 07 series with the purple wonders.

So we can’t go into this thing lightly. The Royals have a point on us, they have a step on us in the conference and division standings too. Its time to correct that lil statistic for sure. we’re both pretty stingy on GAA and pretty nasty on the PK… (LAK 10-10-3) (PHO 10-11-2) this should be close …

We both sit on healthy rosters w/ a couple of workhorses (Brown/Frolov) (Doan/Rhino) a couple of young snipers (Kopitar) (Mueller) and a steady if not spectacular blueline. It may once again come down to a goalie battle… so many of our games seem to do that. I can’t really drum up much hype for this one. I just want the points dammitt.

Since both Clune and Simmonds are not part of the roster, a lot of the pisstivity factor I would have expected to see affecting Carcillo, will also be missing. So I guess its just GO YOTES!!!! I’d like a chalupa please

Discussion from a Purple Point of View

Some reallly good stats from the magnificent JC of HFBooards see post entry #1

Yotie Preview

And don’t forget our friend Odie over at 5 FOR HOWLING