Whodathunkit?

Lil Kyle Turris had the game of his life on Thursday night. Handing us 8th place with the help of his trusty Russian sidekicks Bryzzie and Lisin. Don’t be hatin, a few more games like that and KT will have proven TGO right. No one else could solve the very hot Dan Ellis (who is playing extremely well right now and is a big factor in Nashville hanging around in contention). The Preds have been habitually low scorers this season and KTs timely goals were just enough.

It seems like the rest of December is MUST WIN games… 4 pointers or some wanna be team tryin to creep past us so any loss (w/out a point) would truly impact us.

Thank goodness Bryzzie matched Ellis for intensity and played solid if not brilliant in this one. Enver Lisin just keeps gettin better and better. The lil Russian Rocket flat out makes things happen out on the ice, each and every shift he seems to break things open on some level. His linemates are starting to recognise it very well. The break away on the first goal was beautiful (thanks to Lucky Lindy for recognising Ellis’ weak spot and spreading the word to KT and to the REAL Jovocop for the pokecheck) but the second goal was one of those ugly ones and with out Lisin popping Ellis like a taser, this opportunity doesn’t happen.

Funny how one of the league’s bad boys shied away from any extracurricular activity w/ the Wild Thang (apparently Danny did everything but triple dog dare Jordin Tootoo to go. After the 6th invite… a ref stepped in and made Carci back off with the threat of a 10 min) too bad we’ll never see a game w/ DC mic’d up…

So we send the Preds home and hop into the 8th spot like we own it. We timeshare well but with the Wild’s current foundering I feel like we own 7th all by ourselves. So we stay home, rest up, hang out and prep for what could very well be the game of the season so far…bring on the Bluejackets!

Can I say whodathunkit again?

I mean, srsly…The Coyotes in 7th place… all alone… no timesharing? Sound like peyote dreams? Well think again… 2 - 0 SHUTOUT! 4 game series SWEEP!

Bryzgalov was so solid, so hot and so in the moment that the Jackets had nowhere to go. With a stunning set of defensive corpsmen in front of him, there didn’t seem to be anything SuperBryz couldn’t do… including shutting the closet door on those poor, tired looking Blue Jackets. This was a major milestone for us. playing a game that had so much meaning (7th place in standings, pushing a close competitor down the standings ladder and closing the mouths of all who drag out that nasty Nash goal to taunt us with every game against these guys). “A shutout is like a dessert,” said Bryzgalov, who has allowed only three goals in his last three games. “Most important is we are in a playoff race right now and Columbus was two points behind us. It doesn’t matter if we win 2-0 or 6-5, it’s a huge two points for us.”

A series sweep over the Bluejackets by a ragtag group of kids, an ailing #1 goalie and a coach that many have been begging to step down. Oh yeah the motley crew stepped up and swept the Jackets with a cagey mix of old shooters and new shooters with Rhino drawing first blood and Boeds puttin the insurance goal to bed.

Mules to Ksquared to Doaner rocked Mason just enough for that tough ol dog Rhino, who tucked the rebound past Mason to give us the lead and what would eventually be the GWG.

That Lucky Lindy seems to be makin things happen ever since he got here. “(Lindstrom) made a good play taking the guy on the wall a little bit and the puck bounced to me, ” said Boedker, who has 16 points in 33 games in his rookie season.

“It was supposed to be Enver (Lisin) on the ice, but he was getting his skate fixed so I took a chance and jumped on and was lucky the puck was right there.” May the force continue to be with us and hopefully Boedker can clump a few together after that beauty.

Can you say JOVOCOP!

Well I can…the monster cop was back and dishing out extreme stopping power all night long. One of those stand-em-ups nearly cost that Jacket his tailbone, (hittin the ice, bouncin, then sliding several feet is hell on the coccyx). Hello! the blueline was committing assault w/ intent to win, all night long. Sig Sauer

and the Iron Czech

had Breezy’s back and sides and any other angle the Jackets could dig up.

Oh look! Klee was makin York sammiches too w/ a lil Zebra on the side.

Even Enver ‘Feivel’ Lisin got his licks in.

Carcillo finally got a bout with Boll and to me there was no clear cut winner but some decent knucks were chucked in this one. One thing about DC is there is just no quit in the boy. Boll was tryin to tie him up w/ an equipment strip but DC was havin none of that… he kept battlin even as parts were fallin to the ice. Gotta love the Wild Thang.

This was one sweet game.

http://coyotes.nhl.com/team/app?gameNumber=483&gameType=2&page=Recap&season=20082009&service=page
Last 5 games

DATE RESULT
12/20/2008 CBJ 0 @ PHX 2

12/18/2008 NSH 1 @ PHX 2

12/16/2008 PHX 1 @ DAL 2 a point!

12/13/2008 DET 5 @ PHX 4 a point!

12/11/2008 MIN 1 @ PHX 3

Next up EDM oy! http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=260584&lid=sublink03&lpos=topRelated_nhl

Standings http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/standings/

We need a win… a BIG win! A squeaker will definitely help but a serious barn burner, high scoring or shut out, either one would boost the kids confidence to no end. We need something to shake us up, to get us into a new head space. A winner’s mentality if you will.

We’re headed for the longest losing streak in over 9 years! Oh yeh you read that right… 9 YEARS! Never saw that coming with this incarnation of the Desert Dawgs. Adding Jokinen, the surprising performance of our additions to the blueline, the sweet potential of our new rookies all pointed to a hot season… probably a roller coaster ride but a real shot at hangin tough and battling for a shot at a playoff berth.

We started out fairly well, hung out around the .500 mark for a month and then lost our way. The Jackets are blowin hot n cold too sittin on a record of 9-8-3 VS our 8-10-2 but we’ve met twice so far and the boys rocked the Jax 3-1 and 5-2… this game may be just what we need to get back in the W saddle.

The Jacket’s lineup looks like this according to the locals

Huselius-Brassard-Nash
Modin-Umberger-Voracek
Chimera-Malhotra-Boll
Torres-Peca-Dorsett

Commodore-Hejda
Tyutin-Methot
Backman-Tollefsen

Mason in net

We look like this according to the Yotes site:

well hell… its easier to just say the scratches tonight should be McGrattan, Murray and DMo rather than pretending that any line announcements are going to last beyond the first shift. Tellqvist will be in goal though.

Hopefully the boys (Carcillo, Boedker, Lisin and Joker especially) can work as hard as they did in the NYR game.. umm with better reults though. Hey fellas! You wanna borrow my scope to take a better bead on Mason?

Good luck and bring us home a W!

oh and as added incentive to a certain blueline blunder… here is your pic of shame which you will be noted by every single GDT until you start producing…

Graphix brought to us by the letters O and Q from the forum

Ok, Rick McNashsty and his boys are guarding their town.They are bringin a 3 game winning streak to the table. It will get ugly. After taking down the Oil, Montreal and the Flames, these boys think they are rollin deep and dirty. Our earlier season trouncing won’t mean squat to them except extra motivation to kick our asses. They’ll be lookin for another highlight reel, we’ll be looking for a 3 game streak of our own.

All the pieces will be in place that whipped them the first time, but with a twist. Ken Klee (if healthy) to compliment the suddenly revamped Yandle and the even nastier version of Bryzgalov 3.0(who has been absolutely bone deep in top goalie head space lately). Carcillo has had his leash loosened and the addition of Garth Murray means that Dorsett and Boll had better be very careful who they decide to run tonight.Peca is back, Malhotra is still one to watch out for and the #2 line could be very, very dangerous.

All of our rookies have wet their whistles w/ at least a goal pretty early in their first season and Mikkel Boedker is looking like a seasoned vet out there (absolutely rock solid), DC may be teaming up w/ Rhino, who has been dishing out spectacular passes to those who haven’t gotten their goal on yet… look for DC to light the lamp tonight and Yandle shows no signs of slowin his roll so secondary scoring is covered. The Chalupa line of Doan, Jokinen and Mueller have been raising the roof on the Job lately, which means we should see some monster primary scoring too.

According to Puck Raker’s we might be seeing these lines out of Tuesday’s practice.
Huselius-Umberger-Nash
Chimera-Brassard-Voracek
Torres-Peca-Modin
Murray-Malhotra-Boll

Commodore-Hejda
Tyutin-Methot
Backman-Tollefsen

Steve Mason

We’ll probably roll something very similiar to these lines… unless well Wayne decides to do his juggle thang:
Daniel Winnik-Garth Murray-Viktor Tikhonov
Shane Doan-Olli Jokinen-Peter Mueller
Kyle Turris-Steven Reinprecht-Daniel Carcillo
Todd Fedoruk-Martin Hanzal-Mikkel Boedker

Derek Morris-Kurt Sauer
Ed Jovanovski-Zbynek Michalek
Keith Yandle-Ken Klee* (if healthy)

Ilya Bryzgalov

EDIT* practice Wenesday the lines looked like this:

Kevin Porter-Martin Hanzal-Mikkel Boedker
Steven Reinprecht-Kyle Turris-Shane Doan
Todd Fedoruk-Olli Jokinen-Peter Mueller
Daniel Winnik-Garth Murray-Viktor Tikhonov

no Carcillo? hmmm, is DC paying his penance for the PIM fest in the Shark’s game? or is it just maybe his turn in the box? UH OH! or maybe something more ominous… an injured DC

The keys to this game are going to be

Stay the hell outta the box! (ummm DC? DC? are you listening to me?) We absolutely have to get a clean jump on these boys or we will be battling ugly all night.

Contain the Nasher. This boy not only CAN burn you, he WILL burn you. And usually its a guaranteed web broadcast replay nightmare. Hanzal, Z and Sauer better be on their A games (again) and Bods is about the only one with enough speed/strength to consistenly ride herd on the boy comin through the neutral if he hits his stride.

Shoot like its the last game of your career and you need 1 goal to get to the hall of fame. New goalie Steve Mason has been playing like a thief. Do NOT take him lightly, we have given more new goalies their 1st career shut outs than I care to think about. Shell him, early and often.

It would be nice to start this one ahead but since we’ve proven that we can come from behind,I won’t get too bent if the Jackets draw first blood. But we better draw the most…
Not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but traveling down to Minny with a 3 game streak in our pocket is just what the doctor ordered as far as confidence for the youngins and Breezy.

http://www.bluejacketsxtra.com/live/content/sports/stories/2008/11/11/jackets_notes11.ART0_ART_11-11-08_C5_KOBRSJK.html?sid=101

http://bluejacketsxtra.sportsdirectinc.com/hockey/nhl-matchups.aspx?page=/data/NHL/matchups/g2_summary_10.html

http://coyotes.nhl.com/team/app?gameNumber=224&gameType=2&page=Preview&season=20082009&service=page

GDT logo is from CoyoteQ - davidaebischer.net

Well I know its too early to rate performances and waaay too early to start predicting how well we are going to perform for the season, but come on! you know we are all in heaven so far as the Yotes come out scrappin and yappin in 08.

We are 2 - 0 for a fantastic start. 1 home and 1 away winning game under our belt. Nerves and jitters for both rookies and vets are settling down now. KT and Bodz both grabbed their first NHL goals (Bodz with extreme patience and KT with dogged perserverance). I got a feeling Tiki and Ports won’t be far behind as both are also playing extremely well.

The vets are no slouches either as the wiley Rhino leads the Coyotes with a +4 and 3 assists but we have 6 players w/ multiple points and 12 players w/ at least 1 point under their belt. Mad Max Doan has been on and poppin anyone that takes a shot at one of his charges. What is even more exciting is seeing them so gelled, that no matter who gets a liberty taken against them… someone is watching and payback is guaranteed. From Hale to Jovo retribution is swift and as painful as the punisher can make it.

Bryz Ga Lov! Bryz Ga Lov! oh yeah the main dude in charge of the nets has only let in 3 for 64! Very nice start for our Breezy. If he can keep his concenration tight this is going to be the best start the Yotes have had in a very long time.

Read the rest of this entry »

Before we get to Odie’s GDT I wanted to remind everyone… we are having a tailgate again today! WooHoo! Meet between 4pm and 5pm Out in Lot J bring your own food aand beverages (and grill if you plan on cookin… we’re gettin sammiches from Which Wich for the most part) so there will be no organized cookery this time. Now back to your regularly scheduled GDT w/ OdinMercer.

OdinMercer Sports News

Not Associated WIth Anything Press

October 11, 2008

Jobing.com Arena

Start Time: 7:00 PM

TV: AZ-TV 7 (Cable 13)

Radio: AM 910

Columbus Blue Jackets @ Phoenix Coyotes

VS

Tonight is finally the night! After months without any real hockey, suffering though the brutal iceless summer, desperatly watching workouts, pre-camp camp, real camp and then 8 not counting preseason games (Including a Winnipeg HOME GAME!) It’s finally time! Time to start the regular season!

Tonight our Phoenix Coyotes led by Captain Shane Doan will go to work against Rick Nash and the Columbus Blue Jackets. The even younger than last year Phoenix Coyotes (How is that possible?) With 10 rookie and sophmore players starting the season on the roster, Our yotes will be raw, but with lots and lots of skill. Rookies Mikkel Boedker, Kyle Turris, Viktor Tikhonov, Kevin Porter and Jonas Ahnelov (who is starting the season on the IR) All made the team AND will get significant ice time, playing on the top lines with Doan and Jokinen. Ilya Bryzgalov will start in goal tonight and we’ll have him for the entire season this year.

Starting lines for Phoenix tonight: (barring last minute changes, as usual)

Doan - Mueller - Carcillo

Boedker - Jokinen - Turris

Hanzal - Tikhonov - Winnik

Fedoruk - Porter - Rheinprecht

Jovonovski - Michalek

Morris - Sauer

Yandle - Hale

Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to the jungle indeed. This game was rough. Craig Weller is THE MAN.  Sorry… I had to go there first. C’mon that was a classic! (I know I am not usually a big proponent of fighting but it is a part of the game… And every true hockey fan has to acknowledge the awesomeness of that lil dustup) I do feel sorry that OKT has a concussion ( concussions suck and my sympathy goes out to anyone who suffers from them) … Wellie himself just returned from one not too many weeks ago. Truly the NHL needs to fine refs who make seriously funky calls… I mean sheesh, I thought with McGoof retiring we might actually have a shot at some decent refereeing. Anyway enough of that. Except one more GO WELLIE! You were awesome!

Despite the fact that they never stopped scrappin the boys just couldn’t catch a break in this one. The early shorty that Bryz! let in really hurt. I just don’t understand how a team that scraps as hard as these guys do can give away short handed goals like this one. (No I am not going to tap Jovo on the shoulder this time , so don’t ask).

Seriously, down by 2 goals in the 1st period on home ice… just ridiculous. So the crowd and the ice both suck, get it together at home kiddos. Our road record is so good, it would be nice to see that road team at home more than once in awhile.

So Chimera bites us in the ass again. Just how bad was the breakup when we shipped him out? He really, really gets up for the games against us. The refs were callin this one so damn funky that the boys got tentative and that hurt even worse than just having Wellie out of the game. Lots of dumb penalties… c’mon! kneeing? and Perrault’s invisible slash?   It’s definitely a crazy game when Boll si running around looking for something to do and actually looking like he knew what he was doing (scary that we could make that moron look like a hockey player). ok sorry … the kid might be okay but the Boll fans behind me were driving me bonkers and I’m taking it out in here.

Sooo where was I? Oh yeah stupid xtra penalties… that allowed that sneaky lil Ruskie Zherdev to smack Bryz! upside the head in a 3 on 5… just … dammittalltohell!

When York looks like the second coming of Lemieux, something is not right in Mudville people. The crazy Peppermint Patty was our only goal of the night. After being invisible for like 18 games? At least he was awake cuz I HATE getting shut out in our own rink.

We were flat and ignoring the puck in favor of hitting someone…anyone. Stop trying to impress Toc with your toughness… he’s been watching you dorks for months and he knows who has the wallop and who doesn’t. Just play the system which includes getting to the pucks b4 THEY do… not getting to them b4 getting to the puck.

OUR ICE SUCKS SOOOO BAD! Ave Maria and pass the ketchup, somebody DO something about that please! We are a team that depends on speed, passing and puck handling. Hard to do that on 1/2 frozen pond.

I keep digressing don’t I? Well the game pureD sucked so I might as well just say all the things that have been bugging the hell out of me instead of bashing the boys. The last few minutes of the game were awesome except we couldn’ tquite pull it off. The boys were totally workin back behind that net… woulda prolly worked better in front but we just couldn’t get it there.

Anyway… TGO called out the big Russian and said he needs to get back to the form we saw when he first arrived and that the first goal shoulda never happened. WOW! hardcore Wayne, hardcore. What he didn’t say was that the boys have to stop bein so goalie dependant too.

So the Jackets won 2 - 1 final. Nash looks good in black *eye* and blue. Wellie did not get suspended… apparently the board sees MUCH better than the refs. Dr. No did an excellent job in net for the Jackets. OKT will be okay and will stop worrying about instigator penalties when he gets to his next scrap. Take the 2 points and stop whining all you Jacket fans blasting the internet with your cries of foul play.  Welcome back Rick, you sure got your work cut out for you man, our PP sucks!

In other news: Pete Vandemeer got called up for the next game (first NHL contract for the big brawler I believe). Not sure what this will accomplish but, hey! you never know. BillyT gets a plane ride back to Texas (will that boy ever stick?) Hanzal is out now they are saying 4 - 6 weeks OUCH! and it appears that Carcillo has no idea what the message Wayne is sending him says… he got 10 minutes for unsportsmanlike behavior last night. OY! rebellion? or too stupid to live? I dunno… and I am quickly going to stop caring if the kid can’t pull himself back from the ledge.

Ah well we are so close to that playoff berth… let’s shake off the misfire and go pummel the Predators!

GO COYOTES!

~photos from BTinAZ~ http://www.flickr.com/photos/bleedintealinaz/sets/72157603875605267/

onyxstarr@coyoteshipcheck.com

Whoa nellie! Who woulda thunk it? Sorry to take so long… between work and technical difficulties (as in I’m a total dorkette) I bring you the total euphoria that was the CBJ game.

First off when the hell did we become a team that can come from behind? with authority? twice? Just askin, cuz thats exactly what we did! Move over Hammer, the big PM has more moves than you do and a better entourage and pants too.

TGO called this, one of the best games we have played. Its getting to the point where nearly every game is the best one. I have to agree with him on this one. Just wow, what a battle!

Our resident net hound got hit early…(seriously Breezy… can you just pretend you let in the early goal and just not do it?) Modin lit us up in the first 30 seconds of this one. Setting everyone’s hearts into the first of many cardiac arrests. Jonesy tried blocking (taking a nasty Malhortra slap shot to the chest) and the rebound just bounced right onto the tape of Modin. Talk about unlucky. Both teams settled into siege mode. The return of ScrappyDo (Danny Carcillo) was marked by an inaugural beat down of Ole Tollefson. Carci practically shoved the refs out of his way when they tried to break it up. That boy had a full head of steam and took it to Ole pretty good. Welcome back lucky #13. The first period ends 1 - 0 Jackets

The second period (arguably our best most games) starts out with a DMo penalty. Opening the door for pessimism to poke pissy lil paws in our boys minds but we manage to fight through the PK. And then the big PM ghosted up the boards unmolested, patiently waiting for Leclaire to twitch… and twitch he did, opening up just enuff for Mules’ deceptively quick wrister. MULES scorzes! 

1 - 1 game. We took it to them pretty hard for the rest of the period trying to get some insurance. But of course players-from-Coyotes-past, always bite us in the hindquartes and Chimera is no exception as he takes a drop pass from that sneaky Zherdev and puts an ugly, late period, snap shot high glove on Breezy. We can’t quite answer before the period ends. 2 - 1 Jackets and hearts stutter again. This is a battle to the death apparently as we seem destined to give up late period back breakers.

We go into the third, nasty and wound up like springs. The oft over looked TQ made like Rod Carew off a high Vrbata rebound.

TQ scorzes! I don’t think poor Leclaire knew where the puck went, until TQ was skating away. 2 - 2 game and I for one, am on the edge of the couch cushions because there are nearly a full 18 minutes left and I am Nashified (a reasonable phobia of Rick Nash). The Jackets seemed to turn on the heat but we just keep turning them away and having a blast hangin out in their end. We have another bad moment when we get caught with the the ugly too-many-men and the Jackets go crazy with 4 or 5 great chances that Breezy just smothers (the puck actually goes in the net from behind under a lifted net, I nearly cried til the ref waived it off). We kill that muther! and hope lifts her head and looks around a bit. (Rhino runs rings around the CBJ defense and the BigKids line make Leclaire miserable).

Then the big PM and his faithful Captain step on the pedal again. What a freakin tandem they are. Jovo to Donor, who barely even looks up (he knew exactly where PM was headed) and just hangs a long pass down and across ice onto Mules’ stick. Mules is never one to look a gift goal in the mouth. He charges past his defender (with Rhino on his right) and  slips a snap shot right under a befuddled Leclaire. MULES scorzes!  3 - 2 Yotes. Oh sweet goddess of hockey fortunes, can we hold onto it? or are we gonna pull out all the stops this time and try to get one more?

Apparently we are going to try to give Onyx a heart attack by letting the Jackets turn physical. Silly me, our boys have learned a lesson about playing to tie/protect a lead. The afterburners I didn’t know we had kicked in and we go head to head, in a wide open, shot fest. We hang tight in  the suddenly speed and shot driven last 5 minutes. Breezy turns into a total monster (turning away multiple sure thing attempts by the Jacket’s top players Nash and Zherdev). Talk about end-to-end rushing!

TQ misses the empty net… barely. Hanzal (crucial inerception)… misses the empty net… barely… Icing call. The biggest face off of his career probably… HANZAL!!!! wins it!!!! Then gets another interception to Vrbata who pots the empty netter! Vbrat! scorzes! with less than 10 seconds left. 4 - 2 YOTES! Leclaire fills his last closeup with F-bombs as the Coyotes slip into 8th place in the playoff standings!

NOTEWORTHY:

Mules takes up residence in the rookie goal race right next to Toews. The Captain extends his point streak to a personal best. And the Yotes are in a playoff berth!

~photos from Jamie Sabau - AP~

Well my heart isn’t broken and despite McCabe’s asinine assertions, I am not on the ledge. But I was disappointed that the game that could have vaulted us into the stratosphere was given away (waaaay b4 Nash stripped, rattled and rolled that GWG).

The first was crappy by both teams. But c’mon! only 4 shots on goal? That was just sad. Probably the worst performance of the season. Then again… watching the boys kill off a 3-on-5 PK was pretty damn great. And of course Captain Clutch arrived and made the period worthwhile with his trusty wrist shot off a Dwin pass. So not a total crapper because Telly was hell on wheels and we did draw first blood. 1 -0 Yotes

The second was very, very sloppy and only saved by CBJs inability to put more goals past a sluggish team. This is usually the period where we shine. But the lack of true pressure on the Jackets and a bad penalty that we can’t seem to kill, provide Nash and Klesla with goals. 2 - 1 Jackets. Telly is not as sharp in this period although if not for him this is probably much worse as the Jackets just walked right through the neutral seemingly at will.

The third however was a period to get excited about. I apologize to those poor folks behind me as I hardly sat at all (I was sooo sure my boys would pull this one out at the last possible moment). We get a 5 - on - 3 and Mules just hammers a slap shot home on Leclaire. 2 - 2 tied again. The big PM puts us right back into true contention for some points and we get some serious life in our game. Of course 4 minutes later Zherdev pulls off a slick wrap around and Telly’s confidence takes another hit. 3 - 2 Jackets.

But thank goodness TGO’s coaching skills have improved and he gets the right guys out on the ice as he pulls Tell for the extra attacker at the perfect moment (ok another 1/2 minute later might have been better but wth? at least it worked). Hanzal steps out on the ice and just rifles a snap shot home. With a minute and change left to go we are tied! (I think this is the point that I broke my voice). 3  - 3 game with major point on the line.

We settle in to basically play for the point. Silly Yoties. When has this EVER worked for us? Great teams would use that single minute to go for the win… Which is exactly what the Jacket’s Rick Nash did. And guess what? THAT attitude wins games. As we all know (hell, the whole world knows by now) Gnash jukes, dekes, slips and slides around DMo, Bally and Telly on his way to the GWG.  4 - 3 Jackets = stick a fork in it, we’re done.

Notes:

The PP is still too sluggish to be called a PP. We went 2 for 8! 25% again but sheesh this one coulda been put to bed on PP opportunities alone. (can I say this one more time? WG! STOP USING JOVO SO MUCH ON THE PP!) Every team worth the name, knows that pressuring JV on the PP pretty much handcuffs the first minute of our PP. Let’s try something different. Put the young guns out for the first minute and if they can’t get ‘er done then use the big guy. Mules has been phenomenal as the PP QB so far…give him something else to work with.

We weren’t very physical, we seem to get more hyped by the big hits and our play through the neutral gets really crazy when we don’t establish that hard, gritty physical tone early.

It warms my heart that the boys have come far enough that a loss hurts like hell now (that means that we are really committed to the Yotes cause) We have expectations now (remember those? dreams with legs, people!) . We expect to win these close games now. We are tres spoiled by our boys.

We can’t win them all. But it will sure be nice when we make the highlight clip for goal of the year… with us doing the scoring…  *** find the Rick Nash world cup goal on you tube if you can… a truly spectacular goal by a guy who absolutely is a world class talent. This isn’t the first time he has stripped, whipped and rolled a team and it certainly won’t be the last.

Put it aside boyos. On to the next win…

LETS KICK SOME HAWK BOOTY! GO COYOTES!!!!

~photos by BTinAZ~

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9302501@N02/sets/72157603747626553/

OnyxStarr@coyoteshipcheck.com

The Blue Jackets are in our way. We have the chance to leap over both the Jackets and the Blues with a win tonight. We need to bring our A game. Bryz! needs to be tough and his rebound control needs to be on the money all night. Blue Jackets sport a couple of seriously twisted offensive threats in Nash and Malhorta. And don’t forget that aging, pesky Russian sniper Federov and his protege Zherdev.

Both teams are so very close in points, style and firepower we’re just gonna have to buckle down and out play ‘em. Hard hits and high quality shots with a destructive neutral zone coverage will be the keys.

The Hawks did us a big favor by whuppin the Blues 6 -1 last night. And if we are very lucky the Ducks will roll over them too since, as fate would have it,  the Blues may be without the services of Manny Legace ( Legace suffered his injury with 4:38 left in the first. Blues trainer Ray Barile attended to goalie on the ice and Legace played the remainder of the period *but not the rest of the game). Both the Blues and the Jackets sit at 50 points and we are stalking close behind at 49.

Lets keep the party goin here at home with a HUGE win! I am torn between wanting everyone to come out and rock the Job… and wantin everyone to stay home so I can have a better chance of winning the road trip contest! Ah well… I can be unselfish just this once… COME OUT AND JOIN US! Our boys deserve it and you deserve to watch some of the best hockey ever played in the Valley of the Sun!

PB has some interesting facts and stats: http://www.onefansperspective.com/2008/01/columbus-blue-jackets-vs-phoenix.html#links

Check out Drew for the BlueJacket side of the tilt: http://endofbench.wordpress.com/

Lets Go Coyotes!

OnyxStarr@coyoteshipcheck.com