Ouch… just ouch… the boys are back but apparently they left their hockey on vacation for this stinker. Losing to the Blues 5 – 2 pissed Tippett off so badly that I think his presser was about 3 sentences long. Methinks the boys will be practicing long and hard tomorrow.

The first few shifts it looked like the boys were gonna be alright. But everyone was off tonight. Fiddie, Winnie, Muels and AZBarbie were pretty much the only ones who were ready from their first shifts and stayed on the ball the whole 60 minutes. The rest of the team only had moments… Joel Perrault teamed up with Mueller and they looked solid early. Joel even scored the first goal. Hanzal ran a few guys over and seemed to be intent on knocking people thru the boards. It would be downhill the rest of the night.

It was great to see Petr Prucha back on the ice, just as feisty and fast as he was before the infamous Neal hit.

Jovo got hit in the chops hard enough to knock his helmet off, he left the game and didn’t return. The refs of course missed this as well as several really ugly incidents. Fraser… please either stop channeling Magoo or retire to your porch and regale family about the time when you were a ‘good’ NHL referee.

Bryz! Get that screwed up Russian coach outta yer head! Regardless of how badly team Russia got spanked, it was sooo not your fault. You are back home with your NHL family and WE love you. I totally don’t get why Tip started Bryzzie tonight… the Blues should have been AZBarbie’s game, giving Bryz an extra couple of rest days. Much better to let Bryz get back his desert legs and go up against the Avalanche instead. Och, too late now I suppose but our Breezy needs to get back into Coyotes space quick.

5 unproductive power plays… left me wishing once again that we could decline those bad boys. Not that it would have made a difference against a Blues team on a mission. We were flat and busy doing a lot of things… just not the right things. The boys seemed to be looking around to see if everyone was still on the team. GMDM should just make his deals early and let the boys take a deep breath of relief and get their minds back on hockey. Trade deadline has to be very rough on their psychies.

Before everyone starts running out on their ledges, don’t panic. Lets see what the rest of this homestand looks like before we start with the meltdown crap. GMDM, this would be a perfect time for even a minor move. We all saw what kind of energy a team can get from a new face or two last year.

With Eriksson possibly on waivers, it feels like Don is about ready to make at least one move. So far most of the rumors are still swirling around Peter Mueller (he has been linked to trade talks about Cogliano:EDM and the Av’s Wolski) why the Avs would even entertain the thought of sending Wolski our way, I have no clue…unless the rumors about coaching issues are true? If Wolski doesn’t fit your system Yetis… we’ll gladly take him off your hands.

Hat Trick Hound will be monitoring the webosphere and will post up any moves our intrepid GM makes tomorrow. 3PM can’t come soon enough if you ask me… trade deadline sucks. But one thing is for certain, we need the energy that change will bring, we need an upgrade at defense, our PP needs an injection of urgency and a guy who understands the need for low slot work and we need to get this over with so that the boys aren’t in a constant state of anxiety about who is getting the plane ticket.

As always… Go Coyotes!

Congratulations to The US Men’s hockey team for their heroic performance in the 2010 Olympics! You did us proud guys! (P.S. the silver is prettier anyway) It sure was nice hearing the complimentry things being said by the commentators during the games and the local media may finally be on the band wagon too if the local NBC sport’s mentions are anything to go by. (I have even been listening to sports radio in the mornings because there has actually been hockey talk on!)

There hasn’t been as much movement of players at the trade deadline as we all probably imagined. Its a seller’s market and the prices must be pretty steep. GMDM has reminded us all about his value policy in today’s AZCentral column. So be patient, The Don is pretty damn good at hose tradin, if there is a deal that fits us, he’ll make it. If not, we’ll be workin hard like usual to make the post season but either way, we’ll get ‘er done. Have faith!

So the boys are back in town and ready to rumble. Sami Lepisto is the only one of our Olympians to bring back any hardware (Congrats to Sami for his bronze medal with Team Finland!) Lots of new items on the Coyotes web page, Strader’s preview of the game, Doan and Nash took an F-16 ride and Yotes Quotes from Z just to name a few things.

We take on the St. Louis Blues tomorrow. It is a ’should’ win game but we can never take ANY team for granted. Every team, mathematically eliminated or not, will be turning on the afterburners. Playing spoiler is sometimes the only satisfaction to be had for teams out of the running. We’ll have to be sharp to grab as many oints as we can before we go out on the road into seriously hostile territory.

The series stands at 2 -1 in favor of the Yotes. Can the student surpass the master? Bryzzie needs another victory to tie goalie coach Sean Burke’s 33 wins in one season. I know he can do it and I’m sure Burkie will be proud to have a hand in helping Bryz make franchise history.

The keys to this game?

Be very very stingy. We are a team built on defense. We’ve gotten burned in OT by these guys before. Watch the red hot TJ Oshie and that sneaky Johnson kid. The Blues have some key players out but that doesn’t mean we can coast. The back end better be solid tonight, there will be a lot of eyes watching to see if our blueline really is ALL that. With Z, Sami and Bryz coming off a tough 2 weeks in Vancouver (as well as a lot of travel) some other folks are going to have to be ready to step up big if the minutes have to be redistributed.

I am not going to preach about special teams. Our PP is what it is (29th in the league). We can’t depend on winning this one on the back of a PP performance. If we play disciplined hockey, we won’t have to do much short handed defending. We’ll have to stay out of the box and score 5 on 5 to get this one in the bag… as usual.

Offense!? Where forth art thou offense? IDK where its been the last few games before the break but lets hope it shows up for this one. Bruises are healed, nagging injuries should be a distant memory, it is time to put some points on the board. The scoring committee needs to wake up, stand up and be counted on. No excuses, the dirty areas need to be breached and 2nd and 3rd chances must be buried.

Chris Mason was hot right before the break but the layoff may have taken his edge off. We need to rattle him early and not let him get his confidence up. Lots of rubber, make him move… a lot! Backes and Johnson came home from the Olympics with a silver medal and a boatload of confidence… seriously… watch out for them.

Congratulations to all the winners of the Coyotes Coalition tickets! See you all in section 104 to celebrate the return of Phoenix Coyotes Hockey!

As usual… Go Coyotes!

Its been a hellofa week. The new job is fantastico! One of my new team members is a STH Yotes fanatic! whoo hoo!  The new grandbaby is beautiful and healthy! My hockey team is kickin ass and not bothering with names! The site got a facelift and is absolutely awesome! (thank you Hat Trick Hound, every season you manage to make the Check exciting)

Soooo since I last talked to you peeps the courts and Moyes and the NHL have reached an agreement. Probably as early as tomorrow but no later than Friday, the NHL will be the official owners of the Coyotes. The last Monday’s court session turned from a status update to a deal making session. Everyone (while not exactly happy) came to a consensus and since WG decided not to oppose the agreements reached by Friday’s deadline, it is all but in the can. The NHL isn’t going to jump into bed with just any old owner either. They are letting potential buyers kick the tires a bit. The Argonaut guys have decided not to throw their lot in with Ice Edge Holdings and to throw theirs hats in the ring solo. Ice Edge has been diligently working to get their tentative agreement with the CoG solidified and appear ready to rock n roll. No one has ‘officially’ heard from Glendale Hockey, LLC but its those quiet ones that sneak up on ya so be prepared to be surprised by Jerry Reinsdorf and perhaps one other undisclosed local buyer.

We faced the Kings last Saturday before heading out on the road. It wasn’t pretty. We lost focus and there were some guys who forgot that they had to do their part for the pack to be successful in their hunt for 2 points. We trade wins with the Kings way too often. Its not to say that the Kings aren’t a good team but we know them well enough to take 2 points from them every joust. They are also a team on the rise and are nipping at our heels waay to closely to let them grab ANY points, especially in our own barn. The 3 -5 loss hurt but taught a few guys a couple of valuable lessons. Coach Tippett doesn’t allow anybody to stay on his ice without producing their best game. Take too many penalties or miss too many defensive assignments and find your ass parked for real.

We hit the road to the big apple and got our hats handed to us by the NYRangers. We wandered around the ice lookin like rubes from the sticks and the Rangers took advantage of our hick behavior with 2 goals in the first and 2 more in the second. We managed to find our feet a little bit in the second and fought back with our own 2 goals. We got in range but couldn’t completely fight our way out of the hole we dug. Even our own former pocket rocket Enver Lisin put the boots to us with one of his pretty goals (thankfully not one of those highlight markers). The 2 – 5 loss cemented the coaching staff’s apparent philosophy in the minds of the players ‘We don’t need the heroics of one member, nor extraordinary measures every night, what we need consistently is YOUR best, each and every time you step on the ice. No excuses, no exceptions.’

By the time we hit Columbus, the message had hit home. The Pack was back. Marty, Vandy and Z all brought a lil offense to the party. (all 3 notched their first markers of 09)  Jovocop appears to be stayin, consistently bringing a solid offense as well as being able to cover his own end without the Yotes fanbase breaking out into hives when he does make a mistake. (Now if Yands will stop crossin his crease on his breakouts, we might all breath a lil easier all the way around). Scottie Upshall learned the hard way that the new Yotes just don’t do the penalty thang. Gettin your minutes taken away does a lot more than sting, stupid penalties will get you some serious splinters in your breezers. The 4 – 1 routing of the Jackets proved the point… the consistent whole is the only thing that counts, pull your weight!

I don’t think St. Louis was ready to entertain the Pack. They sure as hell weren’t ready for the return of Bryzgalov. The big Russian cemented his team’s belief in him with his 3rd shutout of the season. The 2 – 0 win was the very definition of not having to score a lot when you don’t let the other guys in your kitchen. Guys not noted for their offensive prowess stepped up to take this one for the team. Winnik has been the story of the season for underdogs making a comeback (c’mon, you all thought he was waiver bait after last year) and Pyatt is certainly making up for lost time after being injured for most of the season’s start. Our checking line has turned into a monster with 3 big forwards who can hit you and make you remember it the next day or put a game to bed with a GWG (which you also remember the next day). Either way, you know when you’ve played against the WTF line.

I hope the players were as excited as we were for Halloween. The barn was a bit empty due to all the family oriented outside activities on the night. But those of us who were there certainly made our presence known. We were loud and proud and did not leave disappointed. This 3 – 2 performance was possibly one of the best performances of this young 2009 season. The dirty Ducks were up to their old tricks. Less than 4 minutes into this donnybrook, elder statesman Lang sent a message to Hiller with a beautiful PP wrist shot to start the festivities off. The Ducks didn’t get the message, they just kept coming, scoring a PPG in the second and an even strength goal in the 3rd. It only took 18 seconds for the WTF line to even it back up though and we went into what would be a scoreless OT. The first game back from a road trip is traditionally a pisser to win. But when Wizzer dumped our captain, the Ducks pretty much sealed their own fate. There was no way this side of hell we were puttin up with that shit. Young Yands went after Wisniewski (Kudos to Keith for stickin up for his Apha pack mate) then the rest of the pack went buckwild the rest of the night. There were 3 fights and a whooole lotta jawin, shovin and general mayhem. The Captain decided to send his own message when he got back on the ice goin after Wizzer and showin him the ugly side of Shane Doan. *the shoulder to the head was followed by a nasty forearm and left our Captain woozy as a drunk on a bender* Doan is one of those guys who is hard to knock off their feet much less knock out, Doan responded with lethal force and I don’t think Wiz or any other Duck will take the chance from here on out. The game ended up in a shootout and Vrbie’s sweet backhander would stand as the GWG after 2 posts from Doaner and the Korpedo for our side and a complete stoning of all 3 Ducks by Bryzzie. The win was great and it was also great seeing boxing great Muhommed Ali up in the suites last night.

I don’t know what it will take to get you people to get off your wallets and out to the arena. No more excuses. The NHL has done its part to save your team. The players are doing their part to make the team worth your entertainment dollars. (The Coyotes are 9 – 4 -0 on the hot start, 2nd in the division, 4th in the conference and 5th in the league)You have no excuse if you are any kind of fan of the sport or even a true citizen of Arizona. This is OUR team! But if you don’t get out there and support it, there will be no more hockey in Arizona. I hate to be a bitch about it but seriously? You absentee fans are starting to piss me off. If you just can’t afford it because of the economic times, I can certainly feel your pain, but I see enough of you on the boards and sites spouting off about not wanting to support a team that may be gone in a year or other such nonsense… if you won’t come out to do your part, it is a self fufilling prophecy. Don’t be part of the problem folks… be part of the solution. Tippett says it all the time, be part of the pack, do your best and the rest will fall into place. If you can only make 1 or 2 games so be it, if you can afford a package do it. The team needs you and they need you NOW! Hope to see you all on Monday night for the battle royal against the Kings. Game starts at 7pm.

Welcome to Coyotes Rising … a new member of the Coyotes blogging family! Great reads every week.

Bleedin Teal in AZ has some really great photos up from the home stand!

Remember to check out our featured blogger on the bottom of the front page.

As always… GO COYOTES!

Sorry for the gaps but it has been a hell of a week. Got the new job (thanks to all my hockey family who really, really supported me through my unemployed period of hell). 14 hour days are a biyatch but at least I’m workin eh?

So the Coyotes are officially doing their Blues Brothers imitation? They are on a mission and have no intentions of being stopped. People can laugh all they want but I am getting the feeling that the boys intend to be battling for the cup… not just a spot at the table.

With Tippett and company not accepting any excuses, Coyotes players are digging down deep and finding ways to win, not finding excuses for their losses. The team is manning up in a big way. The 2 losses have been fair and square (although the home opener really pissed me off *no excuse for you either Tip! those lines sucked, if you have a group playing like these boys were on the road, don’t frack with it* )

This season’s wins over the Sharks, Pens and Bruins can’t be simply chalked up as the boys getting up for big opponents. The kids are being prepared the right way for every game. I’ve got a feeling that Steve Peters and crew are in film heaven, as all the coach’s demand training film for every training session (and its actually being used). This team exudes quiet confidence and a certain joie de vive that has not been seen in recent memory.

The staff are calmly directing traffic, correcting errors rather than punishing mistakes. The goalies have a coach with a plan that fits them as individuals ( AZBarbie had the game of his life and Breezy has regained his pre-Coyotes form). Its early days yet but all indications are that Arizona has a hockey team. A REAL HONEST TO GOD hockey team! Go Yotes!

So today’s Paw Prints is a recap of sorts, bear with me as I catch up.

Leaving Pen’s station with the W – whodathunkit? Malkin invisible, Crosby invisible, the Yotes VS the 08 cup champs and coming out on the fun end of a spanking? Un-fricking believable. Way to start shutting up the haterz boys!

Cut to the bone, those backstabbing Sabres stuck it to us. But thats ok, the Pens game made the pain a little easier to take.

Home opener – Columbus! You Party Poopers – the welcome back white out was a huge, fun success…except for the L at the end. Tailgating with the Coyotes Coalition all day and joining the other nutcases for an arena filled with noise and anticipation was awesome. We did lose but damn if it wasn’t the most fun I have ever had enduring a loss. There were soo many retro jerseys and new-to-me faces in the crowd that I completely have faith in a resurgence of hockey fans in the desert. Seriously, a few more wins, a few more above-the-fold positive stories in the Pube and the Coyotes tickets just might become the hot-to-have item in Arizona. *thank god I will now be able to fund mine instead of relying on the kindness of my friends* (thnx Teal/Missconduct and Don) to reamain part of the pack.

On the road again – Sharks 10/12/09. Wow! Just frickin WOW! Nabby VS Breezy, what is the world coming to when Breezy is hangin tough with one of the premiere goalies in the NHL? Another dbl shut out (remember Breezy VS Turco last season?) The feisty Russian is struttin his stuff. With the help of his trusty blueline, Bryz is smothering teams with his pillow imitation (pucks come in but they don’t get out). A 1 – zip shoot out win over the Pacific division’s perrennial champs is a huge statement about the defensive changes ala Tippett. Gotta love this hot start business.

Givin the Blues…the blues – former Coyotes player Tkachuk and co were no match for a Coyotes team on a mission. This was an especially sweet win after last year’s disappointing series (a sweep no less!). This was a monkey off our backs for sure and a great jumping off point to go into the Bruins game. (Good things happen when you crash the net eh Jovo?)I didn’t get to hear the Blues feed, so I missed the Panger’s take, I’m sure it was bitter sweet for him. I miss the little homer.

Boooos abounded as Bruins got taken behind the woodshed… and SPANKED! 4 – 1 final. It was great to see the trim an energetic DMO on the ice (still adore him no matter what uni he wears) and even better to join in on the booing of young Wheeler (I know he did what was best for himself but still feel betrayed so he’ll continue to get the bizzness everytime he hits Arizona ice). Poor Timmy Thomas, looked like he was groin tight all night. Slow lateral movement and stretching everytime there was any time out. We took it to one of the best of the East and it felt damn good.

Next up? 4 days off, lets hope the boys used the time wisely. Pickin up the practice pace on how to score. I don’t mind a 1 -0 W, but it would be nice to get a few more goals per game. (especially right now when the only thing critics can pick on for is low point production) And yes I remember, we only need one if we don’t let the other team score at all LOL With the PK and the EV strength game rollin tight, I’m assuming Tippett and Co will continue to hone those skills but put some extra bite into the PP and Pack scoring (less pretty passing and more sniping).

Power rankings are fun to read when you are one of the top dogs. Even ESPN can’t avoid giving us props.

Redwings arrive tomorrow! Hopefully without the unlucky-for-us #13 on the playing roster. Datsyuk is always a menace we could do without, but didn’t he do this to us last year? Hang out on the DTD list til they came to Phoenix? It will be interesting to see Holmstrom and Aucoin have some serious discussion about Holmie’s butt in Bryzzie’s face. Maybe Ozzie’s struggles in the net will be just what the scoring committe needs to get crackin on those GF stats. Looking forward to this game more than almost any other. Time to build on our Wing singe-ing techniques from last season.

It is howling time in the desert. The boys are doing their part… step up Coyotes fans, old and new. Its GAME ON ARIZONA! They are playin for you.

Great Pics from BTinAZ!

Blues

Jackets

Tailgate

As always… GO COYOTES!

Let me be the 999th Coyotes fan to express disappointment that the game wasn’t televised locally. Every away game should be available to the visiting team’s fans…always. Its one thing to black it out for the homers (they can get off their fat asses and go to the arena) but the poor bastages without that option get cheated. Seems like it happens to us more than anyone, don’t get me wrong, I love Heeter and the radio team but… it still sucks.

Sooo, after the 5 – 1 loss to the Blues (ughhh…season sweep), I really thought we had that whole tanking thing down. I mean come on, who the hell loses to the Kings 6-1 and then the Blues 5-1, back to back? Apparently we do. Even after hangin tight against the Blues and owning the Kings for most of the season, we manage to pull off 2 of the most embarrassing losses of the season. If that isn’t a sign of the apocalypse OR great tankin, what the hell is?

The Blues game was so embarassing even BTinAZ  stopped raising her camera when we had the puck on our stick (it rapidly became apparent that we couldn’t do a damn thing with it anyway, so why bother?). Bryz returned to the net after 3 games off and did his best impression of Swiss cheese. ( Breezer has to stop cheating off his posts and get his positioning tighter or he’s going to lose his spot as the owner of the Coyotes net) But there was enough blame to go around, the defense looked like rag dolls, the special teams looked like old cottage cheese, spotty and disgusting, the forwards looked like the Keystone cops on psychotropic drugs. Everybody looked like poop.

But then… we went to San Jose for a lil R n R. Fishing in the Tank. What could be more relaxing? Apparenly the lil road trip had a reenergizing affect on the boys. Even though we were almost prevented from seeing it (thnx to the gracious and magnificent Team Teal for getting us access!) this was a seriously amazing game.

We drew first blood on (who else?) Upshall’s pretty goal about 1/2 way through the 1st period. 1 – 0 Yotes yay! Everything started clicking like a brush fire in a high wind. Trust Uppy to get the party started. Upshall is on a career high for goals scored with 15 total under his belt.

The Captain took a stick in the face, the boys made the Sharks pay for the priviledge. Enver Lisin was a holy terror in the Shark’s zone and drew a second penalty seconds later and the resulting 5 on 3 was a thing of beauty as the Captain and Jovo played pong on the PP before JV buried a monster shot past Nabby to make it 2 - 0. (good thing the President’s Trophy wasn’t unpacked yet)

The start of the second period wasn’t any better as Z finished taking the wind out of their sails with his wrist shot to make it 3 – 0 Yotes. Then it got ugly. Fishy frustrations boiled over and resulted in some conduct unbecoming. Fridge (vs Moen), Jovo (just lending a helping hand in starting a scrum, lol) and Hanzal (vs Setoguchi) all got into the act as mini bouts of  fighting broke out all over the place.

With Monty on pace for his second shutout of his short NHL career, of course poor Yandle (destined to be Monty’s Achilles heel?) failed to clear Moen away from Monty’s six. Moen scores after 65billion whacks at a puck laying at the post, just beyond the Big Cubano’s reach. 3 – 1 Yotes and the Sharks got a shot of life, bringing their crowd back into the equation. I don’t know who gave my baby boy the big brass ones but whoa! Z finally took exception to being creamed behind the net and after Setoguchi’s hit, he went a lil bit apeshit, drawing not one, but 2 minors (crosschecked Seto to the ice and then when he popped up, smacked him another good one) I think he would count that as ‘4 minutes? well worth it’ since the Sharks failed to capitalize after Murray joined the parade to the sinbin, mitigating Z’s lil tantrum. Monty got his bell rung by Goc, literally getting popped in the head as the big forward tried to get one past him.

If we thought it was ugly in the second, watching Tree cut (the-newly-returned-after-injury) Goc off at the knees was even worse. Bad Tree! Bad boy! (maybe retaliation for poppin our goalie in the head…no call?) Then it was the big PM putting the game and the President’s Trophy out of reach for the Teal Terrors. 4 – 1 Yotes.

Highlights: Big Al Montoya stopping 41 sogs. The team blocking 31 shots. Lombo goin 18/10 on the faceoff dots and has points in the last 8 games. Enver Lisin usin his brains and speed for defense. Counting the ways the Sj announcers could eff up Z’s first name. Not having to watch another trophy we didn’t win presented.

The boys come home to play the most serious spoiler game of the season. If the Yotes beat the Ducks, they could single handedly be responsible for keeping them out of the playoffs and lending a helping hand to a couple of fellow underdogs trying to get into a most needed post season. (maybe they will return the favor next season if we need it?) go Nashville! go St. Louis!

As always… GO COYOTES!

Welcome to the saddest week in my world. Seasons come and go but there it is never easy to end a dream early. But we’re not done yet. Tonight we play STL and can totally put a severe dent in their playoff drive (misery loves company).

After the debacle against LAK the boys will be looking for redemption. We pretty much handed that game to them on a silver platter. Turnovers and slop were the words of the day. It wasn’t hard to watch and I didn’t even feel bad at the loss (it was much like watching a train wreck in which no one got hurt, fascinating to see how many times we could make a mistake per shift). I am not even gonna go into this one, not gonna play the blame game, the Kings were on and desperate, we were… elsewhere. 1 – 6 Kings tells the story pretty accurately and trust me, it wasn’t Monty’s fault at all.

So tonight we face the Blues who are on a mission like Jake and Elwood. These are desperate people with a goal. The Blues are tied w/ Nashville at 86 points, no games in hand and riding the coattails of the extremely hot Chris Mason. Mason picked this team up on his back and is huffing and puffing his way to the post season.

I would’ve been more sympathetic to their plight if they had just resisted the audacity to call us ‘lowly’ and insinuated that they are somehow better than us on a regular basis. Now I hope we beat the snot out of them.

As a fan of hockey, I want these poor under dogs to get into the post season, along with the Preds (there would be no sweeter joy than having those 2 knock off the Ducks and skid into 7th and 8th). But it looks like its going to be the 2 of them vying to knock each other off instead. I guess the best case scenario for the NHL side of me would be to take them to OT or the shoot out, grab the point, give the home ice fans a show. (I’d really like to avoid the sweep though… sighh… the Yotes fan in me just wants to win) If they take the xtra point they could still take the Ducks out with 2 wins after us. But the Preds have to do their share and win too.  ( you can’t always have everything)

The lines for tonight are expected to be:

Scottie Upshall – Matthew Lombardi – Petr Prucha
Shane Doan – Kyle Turris – Peter Mueller
Nigel Dawes – Steven Reinprecht – Mikkel Boedker
Daniel Winnik – Martin Hanzal – Viktor Tikhonov

With Bryzzie starting.

It looks like its gonna be a barn burner as both teams fight tooth n nail. We have a lot of pride and of course the boys are playing to a home crowd that has stood behind them through thick and thin. “I think our fans have been great,” Coyotes defenseman Keith Yandle said. “They have been sticking with us. It has been rowdy and it has been great coming to a game even though we are out of the playoffs. They are still here supporting us. I think we owe a lot to our fans.” We love you too Yands.

So come on out if you can. Watch the game on the web cuz it’s not on the teeveez tonight. Listen on Xtra 910 if yer interwebz don’t like streamz.

As always…Go Coyotes!

The month of February is certainly looking up. Of course its my birthday month too so I’m rather partial to it but also because things are looking up for the team as well. We’ve won 2 straight and are still in the playoff hunt. Just a week ago things looked really, really bleak for the boys. We were in a slump of craptastic proportions (a hole we basically dug for ourselves by losing multiple winnable games) and time was running out for fixing our ailments. Sweets was out, DMo and Rhino and Hanzal were non-skating wounded and it seemed like there was no end in sight. Adding fuel to the problem was all the hoopla about our financial situation (things are looking up there too as Moyes talks with serious investors and the city of Glendale does what they can to help)

But while 90+ points still seems like an impossible dream, the boys have grabbed their hard hats and begun the Herculean task of post season hunting. Decisive victories against the red hot Thrashers and the embattled but still rising Kings have given the boys some confidence it seems.

Olli Jokinen grabbed a hattie and appears to be back on track (if we are going to get this done, he’ll have to be this good and more, nearly every night). Tiki has 4 g/ 2 asst in 5 games. Unlikely sources are starting to contribute again (Hale, Sauer, Carcillo) and all we really need is continued stellar goal tending, discipline and an unselfish, committed scoring committee that plays hard for a solid 60 minutes every game. (yeah, thats all we need lol)

Tonight we take on the Blues. They are right behind us on the ladder to the post season. We need to take their 2 points and climb over the Kings and position ourselves to knock off the Preds on Thursday. Winning these 2 road games slips us right back into the 8-10 spot (depending on the results of the teams occupying those slots right now).

We’ve only faced these guys once this season and they barely squeaked by us (4 -3  Blues). It was the Backes, Boyes and Tkachuk show all the way with enough PIMs to choke a largemouth bass. Tonight’s game can’t be that way. We have won nine of 11 and 10 of the last 13 tilts with these guys.

Keys to this win:

• Discipline, discipline, DISCIPLINE! Keep your mouths shut, both hands on your sticks at all times and your tempers contained (3 fights and a nasty misconduct for the Captain last game).
• Goaltending…no sloppy sloth responses, these boys can and will shoot (30 sogs last time out).
• SHOOT! SHOOT! SHOOT! Losing Legace doesn’t mean squat since Mason has recorded an 8-3-4 record in his last 15 games which includes three shutouts, and a .938 save percentage (make him move, you make him lose).
• Special teams that don’t qualify for the special bus. The PK has to be there for Bryz (none of that knockin th puck into your own net scrambling). And the PP? well hell, just have some that actually produce like we have the man advantage, not them.

I’m not beggin for a miracle here. This is definitely a team that we ‘can’ beat, its only a question of ‘will’ and that is the difference most games for us anyway. These guys have to truly want ALL the games, not just get up for the big teams. They need to play these middle-of-the-road-yet-standing-in-our-way teams just like they would SJS or DET. They need a killer instinct too, if we get up by 2 or 3 they need to make it 4 or 5, srsly, do not keep lettin 2 and 3 goal leads disappear into OTs and such.

Its crunch time! You’ve got a 2 win foundation, build on it. Remember, we need to win about 3 for every 4 played! Lets save the Ls for the rough games, hoard them away by gettin a lil W streak cushion goin.

Blues official Preview

Yotes official Preview

Thrill of the Blues

St. Louis Game Time

News and Notes:

The Big Rig takes on fan questions for those still infatuated w/ Blake Wheeler

Myrtle’s Math for Playoff Hopefuls

Watch the game on AZ 7 or at http://atdhe.net/

As always … GO COYOTES!!!

Rough, rough road trip. I really don’t know where to start on this one.

The boys left here on a 6 goal high. Bryzzie subbed in for Telly and didn’t let in a single goal so his confidence shoulda been at least in the chill zone if not high. We were a game over .500 again and had won 4 of our last 5. So what happened?

In St. Louis we were overconfident and didn’t play the whole 60 minutes. We got started on a seriously physical note. We didn’t sustain it though. We let the Blues stay with us. Then we let them get ahead of us (okay flukey goal off the D but it counted as the GWG).We never turned on any serious heat until the last desperation 2 minutes of the third. We lost. I can”t say it was a horrible game, but it was definitely winnable and we let it slide right through our gloves.

We went into Chicago already broken. IDK what happened. We hit the ice already broken. This wasn’t some kind of meltdown, it wasn’t a total goalie issue either. NOBODY came to play a game at all, much less a 60 minute game. Carcillo tried to set the tone early with extreme predjudice. The first shot Bryzzie stopped told the tale of how confident he was feeling (he stopped the puck but started looking behind him in uncertainty). The first goal was not pretty… the second goal was on the team mostly…after that its a tossup of who looked worse the goalie or the team. By the time the 4th goal went in I was hoarse from yellin at the screen for Telly to be put in. Then Panger and Heeter casually threw out this lil gem…(wait for it… its ugly) … Goalie Mikael Tellqvist has a bruised foot, he won’t be subbin in… So did we just go out on the road with a single, mentally unbalanced goalie? We couldn’t have one of the SA kids come meet us in CHI, just in case what happened, happened? Color me stupid and put a bow on my head…Highlight of game? Enver ‘Feivel’ Lisin. Enver was sooo NOT leavin Chicago on a goose egg. David Hale was the only defenseman NOT a minus… fairly pitiful as highlights go ain’t it?

There were more fights and jawing than any real playing going on from our side (please… dont anyone bring up … ‘if McGrattan had been on the ice’, or I may have to resort to some violence of my own). JeebusMerryandJehosophat DC FOUGHT! JOVO FOUGHT! HALE FOUGHT! KT FOUGHT! was there anyone who didn’t fight? and guess what? we still lost … 7 – 1 …

Everyone sucked. Even my beloved Z had a horrid game. I’m going to stop right there… no use in beating a dead horse unless you just want tired arms. Sooo… we sucked in these first 2 road games… yeah we did… but what happens now? How we play Dallas lets us know if this team can bounce back or not. If this team is a collection of guys on skates or an NHL team. I’m not neccessarily talkin about a win in Dallas either… but we better tighten the straps on the hard hats, step into some steel toed boots and bring the work ethic back.

We get the Joker back on Wednesday. There will be a bit of a shake up. Who rides the pine? Who stays in? I don’t know what its going to take for Breeze to get his act together, he’s gotta be feelin like shit, but he has to get his head right. Telly said it best, 21 guys, all have to play their best, all 60 minutes, thats how we win.

We haven’t had a horrible run. This was just one game out of 82. How we choose to respond both Wednesday AND the next time we face the Hawks is the real story. Until we are mathematically eliminated from a playoff berth I consider us contenders. So let’s ALL pull up our socks, put this one behind us (not forgettin it) just learn and move forward. It’s hockey people, not life or death. We play again on Wednesday and hopefully we can take our disappointments out on the Stars.

Last word on the Chicago game…if Versteeg doesn’t get a minimum of 1 game suspension the NHL should declare its rules a joke and disband. 2 game misconducts and an instigator at 19:58…automatic suspension

I really gotta get my ‘What a Lil Bitch’ list back up and running so I can add Sopel and Versteeg to it.

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!

Well I guess that’s why they call them the Blues. The St. Louis team is on a downward spiral assisted by the broom wielding Bryzgalov. Coyotes with the series sweeping end score 2 – 1! The Yotes take home an ugly 2 points with Breezy stealing the game after the Yote’s PP grubs up a lead.

We didn’t draw first blood but by gum we drew next and last. All the scoring was done and over in the first period. The Blues refused to quit all game long (them boys don’t care how many points they are in back of this race, they came to play). Gotta admire their gumption as they shelled Breezy from every and any direction they could. The Bryz! shut down 15 of 16 sogs in the first period alone, giving his boys a chance to get it together.

One of the many Johnson’s scored the first goal of the night giving the Blues some much needed energy 1- 0 Blues but the Yotes got lucky with a 5 on 3. They answered quickly on the big boom of PP monster Jovo’s canon to tie it up. 1 – 1 game. With a minute still left in the following 5 on 4 the Mighty Finn tipped in Yandle’s shot to make it 2 – 1 Yotes. That would pretty much settle the series despite the Blues continuing to throw everything they had at the big Russian.

The second period got a bit ugly with penalties flying everywhere and players getting chippy and dirty in every collision. The Blues outshoot us again 14 – 8 but they were no match for Breezy’s force field. We miss fire on 3 PPs but our PK was workin overtime as the Blues got creative and desperate during the single penalty we accrued (TQ! dammitt watch your stick!) Bally and Jackman tussled a lot and ended up sitting together in the sinbin for roughin each other up.

The intensity ratched waaay up as both teams settled down to play puck rather than chuck nucks (only 1 penalty in the 3rd). We held our own in the third as far as sogs (11 – 12) but the Blue’s shots that were managing to get through to Breezy were quality and the big guy just stifled eveything. It helped that he could see everything incoming (the defense and forechecking kept the Blues pretty limited to the outside all night).

Michalek had another stunning night. I still think Yandle needs to watch a few games. Kapi is so very underrated (that kid works so very hard every game). DMo keeps scaring us to death with these close to the eye injuries. Donor had several chances but just couldn’t take the shots ( no more fighting Captain Clutch, we need that big shot of yours). Hossa looked real good including another post ringer and Jovo has been playing like hell on fire w/ hardly any blue line miscalculations to mar his offensive prowess. Go Carci go! awesome disciplined play by the resident wild child.

The lines were still funky but seemed to be a bit more stable with some defense and scoring balance on all 4 lines tonight. I hope TGO finds what he’s looking for soon. My heart can’t take it.

A great night. A beautiful win. Clinging to our place in the playoff hunt with a tenacity that has been missing in the desert for a long time. Thanks for the birthday win Yoties! Watched the game at K O’Donnell’s in Scottsdale w/ TQutie and Teal (sorry you missed us Time4) and thank you to all who wished me happy bday.

GO COYOTES!

onyxstarr@coyoteshipcheck.com