Here we go again… time to break the stranglehold these boys have on us. Break the cycle. PERIOD.

TGO has juggled again… this time I pretty much approve of the swaps.

Here is Phoenix’s lineup for Tuesday:
Daniel Winnik-Martin Hanzal-Viktor Tikhonov
Shane Doan-Olli Jokinen-Peter Mueller
Kevin Porter-Steven Reinprecht-Mikkel Boedker
Daniel Carcillo-Garth Murray-Todd Fedoruk

Derek Morris-Kurt Sauer
Ed Jovanovski-Zbynek Michalek
David Hale-Ken Klee

Ilya Bryzgalov

Garth Murray has been recalled from SA. (Garth had a really strong camp and many of us were surprised when he went to the Rampage). He will add some grit and fire to this group for sure. and maybe a few more face off wins? Patrolling the ice with the Fridge and Carcillo, I got a feeling ‘energy line’ may take on a whooole new meaning. Kyle Turris will be watchin the game from on high. (Use the time wisely lil one… you got game… you just gotta figure out how best to utilize it.)

The other big change is on the blue… seems that everyone is hoping to jumpstart the Jovocop’s production by putting him back w/ his old partner Z. ( I could just spit! The kid was finally starting to show flashes of his innate offensive talent again) Apparently JV isn’t very comfortable w/ DMo as his partner and it certainly shows in his lack of production. I can pretty much see him going on a tear w/ Z back on his six, dooming Z to babysitting duty for the rest of JV’s Phoenix tenure. Ah well… maybe my baby boy can continue to find ways to get into the offensive zone occasionally and pick up a point or two. The Klee/Hale experiment will continue and DMo is now paired with Sig and should lose that ugly minus stat he accumulated trying to cover Jovo. There still isn’t a big shot on the 3rd pairing (Yandle is still languishing in the pressbox) but until TPTB decide to give Goose another shot at the roster we’ll have to be content with the third pairing not producing a damn thing and just pray they can hold their own defensively.

The WTH line is back together. Hoping they can finally break through with some points on the board. Winni and Tiki are sooo overdue it isn’t even funny. They work so damn hard and have been right on the doorstep so freakin often it is starting to hurt. C’mon lads! you can do it!

The BIG line is back. In an effort to stimulate Mueller’s production, the #1 line has been put back together. Both Joker and Doan are catchin fire… maybe together they can light one under the often lacksadaisical looking Mules. The kid has not been looking well out there. Especially in light of what we KNOW he can do. Kick it up a notch… or 5 Mueller.

Rhino has two youngins to teach in this one. Boedker has been the best of the rookie class in terms of actually playing like he belongs in the NHL. Naturally gifted, the Bods has picked up more and more confidence with each shift and can be relied on to be where the best chances are by vets and fellow rooks. Ports is not the flashy guy, he is basically the mini-me of Rhino. Quietly contributing in nearly every aspect of the game. While not the fastest thing on the ice, Ports makes up for the dash and the flash by totally creating a bond w/ his line mates and giving them the passes, checking and basic good calm play needed to score.

Keys for tonight:

Intense my ass. Just get in the face of everyone. Jump on every loose puck and do whatever it takes to get said puck on the Flames net. We have to play smart, smash and grab hockey tonight. Take the hit, hit them back twice as hard. If you take a player out of the play, make sure he ’stays’ out (no more of these pansy rub n gropings along the boards) please.

The vets (Doan, Rhino and Joker) are starting to come to life… Jovo? Jovo?

Mueller? Mueller? (the pressbox has space, bucko)

Hang in there Breezy… they’ll get the hang of it.

BTW - if you hadn’t heard… GMDM took on Nikulin from OTT (what is up w/ OTT pissin off all the Russians?) Like Kaigodorov before him Nikulin basically wanted out of OTT’s clutches by any means neccessary. So we took him off their hands for Drew Fata in return. Gonna be interesting.

AZCentral storiesNikulinJuggling Oh Jovo

Yotes Offical GDT

Flames Eye View  another Fireside Preview

!!!!GO COYOTES!!!!

I SINCERELY HOPE YOU VOTED TODAY

Beware the highs….beware the lows…words to live by as a Coyotes, fan or player. Easier said than done right? But honestly, did you expect the youngest team in the league to come in and actually win this game? Jeeze and I thought I was the biggest abuser of Coyotes Koolaide ever… apparently there are fans elsewhere that imbibe more than even me. C’mon peeps, the Flames have owned us for oooh, around 11 straight games (since 2005) I think we won like 1 of those matchups. As C13 so succinctly put it… we have a long term contract to be the Flamer’s bitch and apparently that contract has not yet expired.

I would love to do a good, bad and ugly run at this baby but truly… it was ugly, putrid then fugly so I am not going to go there. We got a lil too high after sliding past a sleeping Ovechkin, and a big win high is much like any other hangover… it hurts the next day.

Just a few thoughts in the aftermath of the last few games…

Why is Mueller not moving his feet? Is there still a problem with the hip?

Why is Ollie Jokinen not the point man on the PP? Didn’t he sit around 2nd highest in PP points from that spot on the Panthers?

I know every fan in Coyotes Country wanted to see the BIG LINE…aka Doan, Jokinen, Mueller but honestly…its not working, soooo… how bout creating a lil chemistry by keeping at least 2/3s of the 1a and 1b lines together?

Bodz and Joker - (insert random wing here when the urge to shake thiings up gets too intense) add Carcillo/Lisin/Fridge as needed or until one of them clicks… Bodz and Joker seem to get each other just fine. Adding/rotating the other LWs can give extra speed (Lisin) or extra nasty (Fridge) or both (Carci)depending on who the opponent is.

Doan and Mules - (insert random wing here whenever the juggle bug cranks your tractor) add KT or Rhino or Porter as needed or until one of them clicks. We damn well know that Mules practically goes into overdrive when he plays a lot w/ Doaner, why not let that relationship develop further. Slip KT into this line occasionally so he can get the feel of making plays for players who could possibly “get” what he’s trying to set up.

Winni/Tiki/Handzi - LEAVE THIS LINE ALONE! or retire because fixing shit that ain’t broke is asinine and will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you need to be playin golf at a retirement home rather than being behind a bench. Winni is still competing for the nickname Beast (and starting to look like one with all that facial hair. Tiki is sooo close to that first NHL he can almost taste it. And Hanzal… well just damn the boy can sure center a shut down line.

4th line - (we have a 4th line?) oh yeah KT and the irregulars…when KT is stuck back here give him 1 babysitter not 2… talk about overkill and a waste of a learning experience… at least give the boy 1 wing who can actually play hockey.

NEVER! EVER! Play DHL on the PP… for the love of hockey… the guy is very nice… he tries really hard every shift… but why is a guy (handpicked guy even, the worst player on the team? There was a lot of defensive talent available during the offseason and we gambled on Hale) ummm guys? know when to hold ‘em… know when to fold ‘em. Can’t wait til Jlov get off the IR…not sayin he’s the savior of the blueline or anything but sheesh… gotta be better than this.

EDIT**** Yotes pick up Ken Klee off waivers… while not a definitive upgrade… if Klee can be a little more mistake free and keep Yandle on his current course… I will declare him a success… until Jlov comes back and knocks our collective socks off or something else drops into our laps via GMDM’s uncanny knack for being in the right place at the right time.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=389088 

Despite the weird tire blow in this game…DMo is usually one of the most reliable defensemen in the game. Give him and that big slapper a lil more time on the PP. Especially right now while Jovo isn’t quite up to par. Apparently Jovo has transferred Doaner’s slow start to his side of the fence. He’ll be back… hopefully some time in the next couple of games. He’s shootin that big shot, but Theodore and Kipper really had some serious forcefields up. Its comin, I can feel another career high points, just waiting for the healthy Jovocop… and if we can get some more defense out of him too… well that would be a bonus.

Doan, Jokinen, Jovanovski, Morris, Reinprecht…Between them, they have enough experience and talent to make this team a real threat. Most of them are lagging on the Goal front. Take a look at the total goals for the team…its all about the kids. The veterans need to step up and make their presence felt. Hey guys! The kids don’t need their hands held, they just need their asses covered… their feet have gotten wet, they are doin better than you. Its time to start treating them like NHLers, pass to them, set them up, expect things from them like you would any other team mate. These kids are smart and talented… time to act like you know it too.

Intensity? Screw ‘matching‘ anybody’s intensity. Bring your OWN intensity to every game… as high a level as you can get to and maintain… every stinkin game! The minute your skates touch the ice, your intention should be to knock the hell out of your opponent each and every time they touch YOUR puck along the boards. YOUR PUCK! Every player should play like that lil rubber disk belongs to them and they should rain pain and destruction down on anyone trying to take it… hell on anyone even trying to get to it.

BIG PROPS! to Keith ‘my balls are so big they clank when I skate’ Yandle… yeah it hurt to say that… but the lil guy was everywhere. In Phaneuf’s face, shootin, corrallin loose pucks, name it and Yandle was tryin to do it. Yeah he had the one big brain fart in front of Telly but he actually dived out and knocked the puck away b4 any damage was done. You Go Boy! Best game Yandle has had so far.

So where was the rest of the team when Yandle got pushed into the goal posts in the third period? Vandemeer shoved Yandle to the ice after the whistle and when he got up it was to Phaneuf in his face talkin beaucoup merde. And did anyone on the team step up? ummm that would be a resounding NO! How do we not respond in his defense? How does TGO not send Doan, MacG, Fridge and every other Yote that can kick an ass out on the next shift Phaneuf/Vandemeer are on and send them a message of our own.

But despite the fact that our 5th Dman was in the top 3 players for our team and the fact that we got manhandled, outplayed and then we pretty much just quit… Telly showed a brilliancy that bodes well for when we get our shite together. Thats 2 games in which the Swedish Wolf came up big and gave us the chance to play. Big props to Telly too!

So our patience is required again for 2008… this time to give our youth a chance to get acclimated… and our vets to get their poop in a group. But we started better than we have in years, there’s more than a little promise hitting the ice in our uniforms this season and we’ll just have to hang on while everything gets to gellin. Its only 7 games, we’re sittin 1 below .500, our back up goalie is on fire, our kids are taking to the game like fish to water. We can do this… the pieces are there.

Lets Go Coyotes!

Here we go again! Sittin at .500 and tryin to get on a roll during this 4 game homestand. Thurs game against the Caps was not only fun, it was a revelation. We still didn’t play an entire 60 minutes (the second period was seriously slow, luckily the Caps were flat too) but we came back hard and furious despite missing Tiki who has definitely become a key member of our elite WTH? shut down line.

Match their intensity my ass. We gotta have MORE than them. That will be the key. We have to want it more than they do. We gotta try to run Kipper out of the net, stand Iggy up in the neutral so he can’t kite around thru the middle. Beat their defense up as much as possible and make sure lil Cammaleri doesn’t slink thru and bite us either. I know that is a LOT to ask for but it is possible (when we managed to contain the Caps, is anything impossible for our boys at home?)

The same keys to the game apply in this game… only the names change and some added talent calibre. This time its bad ass power forward war w/ Iginla and Doaner head to head for leadership and taking over a game. Its Phaneuf on the back end who can score and knock the hell out of you and will throw down at the drop of a hat. The addition of Sir Cammaleri from the Kings adds a dimension of stealth that the Flamers didn’t have before. Instead of all bang and crash ugly scoring, Cam adds some extra danger to their scoring arsenal.

Containment- Stop Iginla from making the game go his way. NO space! NO time! He can take tenths of a second and make them seem like years. Do NOT give Phaneuf a shooting lane. Frankenhead Phaneuf can make goalies cry with that monster shot of his. Sir Cam cannot be alowwed to canoodle around in our zone, he’s good at zipping around playing keep away… feed him some boards and make him keep looking over his shoulder.

Volume - 1 goal games are fine as long as you are on the winning end. Much better to get something from each of the big vet offensemen (JV played so well against the Caps, it’d sure be nice to see him get his first of the year tonight) and a throw in from a couple of the youngins…get the game out of reach and don’t let off the pedal (the Flamers hijacked a 0 - 3 game last night and came away with a 5 - 3 win) we don’t wanna be that statistic tonight. We have to play these guys all 60 minutes, Kipper needs to thnk its raining pucks (I wonder if Doaner splits another puck and both pieces go in the net will both count as goals?) LOL Peter Mueller! move your damn feet! Spectacular things happen when you do boyo.

Netminding Miracle - Ask and ye shall receive. We asked Telly to give us a fighting chance… he did more than that. The boy practically turned himself inside out for us. I hate to ask for more but tonight its going to be another hellfight and Telly will have to survive the first moments until we get our legs movin. It sure would be sweet if Tells can establish himself as more than just a premiere ‘back up’ goalie… maybe this is the year Telly gets his consistency issues under control? How sweet this win could be. Go Telly!

http://coyotes.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=388401

http://coyotes.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=Preview&seas=20082009&gtype=2&gnum=119

graphics provided by Q of the P6P - thnx Qbert

Ok… Are Wayne and Co slicker than snake snot or crazy as bat shit?

Seriously… if you listened to the game last night you know whereof I speak. The first couple of games were a nice mix of vets and youth… very young goalies though, so expectations weren’t too high. We did okay… nothing spectacular, Bodz, KT, Ports and Ahne all had pretty decent runs once the jitters wore off. So we sent some kidz home to the minors (where they can develop at a nice pace, hurry back Brodie you did quite well ) and that Monty gave a us a wee taste of why GMDM is so crushing on him.

But last night’s game against the Flambe must have been the sorriest roster I have seen in a looong time. Seriously… horrible.

13 L DANIEL CARCILLO
14 C CHAD KOLARIK
15 C MICHAEL ZIGOMANIS (A)
16 R BRIAN MCGRATTAN
18 R ENVER LISIN
21 D DAVID HALE (A)
23 C KEVIN PORTER
24 D JONAS AHNELOV
36 D LOGAN STEPHENSON
39 C GARTH MURRAY
41 R VIKTOR TIKHONOV
44 D KURT SAUER (A)
56 D DREW FATA
59 R JEFF HOGGAN
62 R DAVE SPINA
73 R STEVEN GOERTZEN
75 D ED STONE
85 R ALEX BOURRET
32 G MIKAEL TELLQVIST
35 G AL MONTOYA

VS

4 D JAMES VANDERMEER
6 D CORY SARICH
7 R TODD BERTUZZI (A)
8 D ANDERS ERIKSSON
12 R JAROME IGINLA (C)
13 L MIKE CAMMALLERI
18 C MATTHEW LOMBARDI
20 L CURTIS GLENCROSS
23 L ERIC NYSTROM
27 R ANDRE ROY
28 D ROBYN REGEHR (A)
33 D ADRIAN AUCOIN
42 L BRETT SUTTER
60 C MIKAEL BACKLUND
61 D JOHN NEGRIN
62 R KRIS CHUCKO
63 C WARREN PETERS
75 C JOHN ARMSTRONG
1 G CURTIS MCELHINNEY
34 G MIIKKA KIPRUSOFF

When DHL is your point on the PP? C’mon you know thats a bad roster, the poor guy hasn’t gotten a goal in 215+ games? on your PP point? Hale on the PP aside, the only thing last night’s roster had goin for it was Telly and try though he might he had no help in front of the net most of the game.

So with a roster that smelled to high heaven and still managed to hang with the Flamers (of which I am very proud they did not get completely slaughtered… w/ Kipper in net for most of the game) is Wayne a genius for never quite showing our full hand? Hell I been watchin these boys for the last 5 weeks in various formats and I’m still not quite sure what exactly we have goin for us. So good luck to anyone scouting us.

Or has TGO lost his everloving mind? I’ve heard of getting your feet wet approach, but it never involved throwing of the entire body of a novice swimmer into the deep end and expecting Michael Phelps to emerge.

I’m torn… well I wasn’t last night when I was yelling at the online feed, Fools! charlatans! crazy summabitches what are you doing? But now that my adrenalin and blood pressure have both lowered a bit… I have to wonder.

Kudos: Lisin w/ 2 goals (and almost had the hattie), Tiki w/ the face saving goal last night, Porter for a very poised couple of games, Monty for a couple of very decent performances, KT and Bodz for holdin their own and then some. Keefe vs Ivanans? speaks for itself that he not only survived but came back into the game to harrass the big enforcer again. Ahne, lookin good back there.

Razzberries: Tordjy… dude just brutal. Jones/Yandle combo on the blueline…should never even be thought of by any rational human being. Rossi… get some intensity… steal it if you have to.

Ok this is getting really crazy… I can’t keep up LOL

Two more players sent down to their minor teams today… Nick Ross to Kamloops (WHL) and Jared Staal back to Sudbury (OHL) there will be many more to come in the next few days I am sure.

****************************

Tonight’s game in Winnipeg, rosters look like this

Forwards:
Dustin Boyd, Rene Bourque, Mike Cammalleri, Craig Conroy, Kyle Greentree, Daymond Langkow, Matthew Lombardi, David Moss, Wayne Primeau, Brandon Prust, Andre Roy, David Van der Gulik
Defenceman:
Mark Giordano, Adam Pardy, Matt Pelech, Dion Phaneuf, Jim Vandermeer, Rhett Warrener
Goaltenders: Matt Keetley, Curtis McElhinney

(Cammie wont be in according to 960 and alas, no Iggy to pop but there’s always Neon Dion! or Frankenhead Phaneuf if you prefer)

VS

Forwards:
Shane Doan-Kevin Porter-Enver Lisin
Daniel Carcillo-Kyle Turris-Mikkel Boedker
Jeff Hoggan-Garth Murray-Chad Kolarik
Francis Lessard-Mike Zigomanis-Brian McGrattan (guess Lessard is stickin around despite acting like a double strength straight jacket might be required in the last practice I saw.)

Defense:
Mathieu Brodeur, Matt Jones, Ryan Lannon, Dylan Reese, Kurt Sauer, Keith Yandle.

Goalies: Al Montoya, Josh Tordjman.

May be able to listen on Rogers sportsnet west or hockeywebcasts.com or am960 hopefully one of those will work to get you some audio.

***************************

Congrats to BillyT our former forward (the Pens have shaved their roster down to like 29 and Billy Thomas is hanging in there!)

********************************

Articles everywhere! How the hell are we supposed to stay under the radar if everyone keeps shining spotlights on us?

http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/JimGintonio/34008

http://coyotes.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=383113

(gonna have a show on tonight right after the game is over, don’t miss it)

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=250326

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/coyotes/articles/2008/09/23/20080923yotenb0924.html

(special nod goes out to Adam Keefe who took on Ivanans in the King’s Preseason game… the boy has a pair of cojones on him, thats for sure)

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=rm-phoenixpreview092308&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

(Jovo and DMo on a pairing? ummm nope can’t even see it…)

Okay thats all the news and notes I could get coherently in a single post… and since I still have tuns of other stuff that I haven’t finished writing up… I will leave you here with all this Yoties goodness…

For more sources of discussion and/or information, check the blog roll, PB is back in action over at Onefan’s Perspective, Tracey is back in Love w/ our Yotes over at TrueCoyotes Love and the kids in the AZSportshub Lockerroom are back on track as well as theNHLArena.com (congrats to Paul, who will be developing the Yoties section of the arena for the future)

When I can follow my sainted mother’s advice (Keep your yap shut if you can’t find a damn thing nice to say) I will finish this one… right now it is too full of vitriol and ichor to post for public consumption……. and of course I would never deprive you of BTinAZ’s pics… so it will go up… soon

ok back…

This game blew chunks in so many ways I cannot begin to describe. When your captain drops the gloves less than 2 minutes into the game the least you can do is respond. We did not in anyway take his lead and get some life. We were flat and disorganized and played like bush leaguers.

The Flames not only out played us, they ran rings around us all night. The players who had been leading the charge all disappeared. Every, single, one of them. Dwin and Carcillo were the only 2 players who continued to battle all night. That is  unacceptable. Getting beat is one thing… rolling over and playing dead is another and although we haven’t seen much of it this season… we can’t keep doing this.

Carcillo is definitely on a (s)hit list. Not only with other team’s players (such an easy PP draw for them since he’s almost certain to respond w/ force to any and all provocation) but also on the ref’s part too. Daniel was pummelled, elbowed and sat on through out the night and never recieved a single call no matter how blatant the infraction( oh yeah Nolan and Kipper I AM talkin about both of your shameless antics).

The cap of the crappy night was the disallowed goal. The NHL should take a good look at that call and tell that asshat not to have any more opinions, just call what he sees not what he wants to see or whatever the hell that was all about.

We did not need any help to blow that game, we were doin THAT just fine on our own with our crappy play. We need to sit down and figure out how to keep the game simpler at home. How to bring some of that road warrior mentality into our own building.

The season is called a marathon for a reason… for 60 games its a long distance endurance run and the last 20+ games its a sprint. We are in that last leg and cannot seem to find a consistant kick. I hope we can do so soon. If we don’t well… plan A goes back into affect.

You guys do remember plan A right? Slow rebuild w/ youth and gain experience over the next several seasons until all the pieces are in place for a true Stanley Cup run? Oh yeah THAT plan A! We are actually in plan X mode right now folks (how can you plan for what is happening w/ the Yotes this season? hope yes, plan…umm not even close) … our youth have exceeded expectations and our vets and xtra bit players have performed beyond the norm and so we find ourselves waaaay ahead of the curve here in this strange 07-08 season. So don’t lose sight of the main objective (which appears to be building something of a dynastic team lol) to contend for the Stanley Cup now and for many years into the future.

We are young and have many, many trials and tribulations ahead of us. I refuse to let this horrid game cause doubt. If NHL hockey was easy, every one would play and the Stanley Cup would spend some even more interesting days and nights in places it has no business being seen.

Placing this game firmly and deeply into the shadow box of lessons learned will be good for this team as long as the lesson sticks with the team for future use.

~photos from BTinAZ~

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bleedintealinaz/sets/72157603956458390/

onyxstarr@coyoteshipcheck.com

We have to be true to who we are tonight.

Identity: hardest working team in the NHL - every single night, every single shift, every single player *every single member of the organization*
Hallmarks: the relentless forecheck, scoring by committee, there is no star except the team, belief that they CAN win
Expectations: better every month, building day by day to a common goal, living a winning culture
Goal: the Stanley Cup… period, not the playoffs, not the finals, The CUP

This is the game where expectations collide with reality. Yeah, we have several turning point games but we had some really good luck helping us defray the disappointing outcome of several big games.

We’re getting to crunch time, 7th place is sitting there, waiting for us to claim it with authority. WHEN we win this game we will have taken that last step towards accepting that we are a contender. Like Riddick, we keep what we kill. And if we can grab that play off rung we’re keepin it dammitt no matter whose body we have to step over to do it! (you hear me Stars, Sharks and Ducks!)

The expectations were lower than a snake belly when the season began. GMDM tried to temper the rebuild w/ hope. The promise of a hardworking, entertaining, progressing on-ice product has been kept. Only suddenly the expectations and the reality don’t mesh and in a VERY good way. Wayne has said it, Donor has said it… the GOAL is the cup. If you aren’t here to try to win it, stay the hell home. Expectations change, the steps to the goal change. The goal itself remains static until you achieve it. I have been accused of not only drinkin the Coyote Koolaide but possibly bathing in it. Which cracks me up cuz… well its probably true. I have bought into the belief with all my fannish heart. That THIS team could win the Stanley Cup. *IF Lady Luck doesn’t desert Wayne and IF the Dawgs stay true to themselves* I’m a believer not stupid. The odds are against us if we draw the Ded in the first round but nearly everyone else its definitely an any given day type dawg fight that we COULD win.

So … are we proud of how far we’ve come? Hell yeah. Are we satisfied? Hell to the NOT! So tonight we gear up to battle the team that we gave away a game to. Lost a 3 goal lead to. That we basically choked on. A team we have beaten before with a nice decisive 3 - 1 final. We have GOT to play all 60 minutes of this one like our lives depend on it. Because really… they do. We cannot keep depending on other teams winning to keep us in this hunt.

We absolutely have to contain their shooters (there’s a reason they are 10th in the NHL GF%). Dion Phaneuf needs to be hit… early often and mean… he doesn’t like it and will retaliate. I guess DC will have his work cut out for him tonight unless Wellie draws that short straw. Getting Frankenhead off his game will make life much easier on our snipers. Iggy… no space, no time, just say no to Jarome coming anywhere near Breezy unmolested. If he manages to get enough room to take a deep breath he WILL score. Alex Tanguay always sneaky, always dangerous, rarely stable…watch that boy! he has the potential to be our kryptonite on any given day. Beware former Yotes, Lanky and Hussey and OhNo are not our friends… they are trying to usurp our place.

On our end… shoot early, shoot often, shoot ugly angles, shoot like you get a point for every sog. AND of course the FORECHECK! without it we are dead meat. We absolutley have to have pressure through the neutral zone and give the boys on the blue a chance to hold steady at the top of the zone, turnovers will be a critical part of the game plan. Donor and Mules were quiet last 2 games and Vbrat/Jovo stepped up, this game will have to have a little somethin somethin from all the shooters. And of course Breezy will have to be dead on from jump street or we will be dead  b4 we even get out of the gate.

So let’s go show the world we deserve that 7th spot!

Let’s Go Coyotes!

onyxstarr@coyoteshipcheck.com

Up to see the Avs about another point or two.  Okay to continue the good cop bad cop… I mean good news, bad news theme. The good news is the Avs have been our whippin boy for a wee while and this trip is no exception. We end the night straddling 8th place play off fencing again. Woo hoo! The joy of that little feat was probably felt in several AZ counties. *oh yeah I was dancin in my seat* The bad news is that they made us work for this one majorly and we let them let them get a point off us as well. The horrible news is that we lost Hanzal with a shoulder injury very early in the game and the Czech will be out due to a shoulder injury for approx 5 weeks.

And the Walls Come Tumbling Down - Avalanche

It looked very much like a pushme pullyou in the last seconds of OT but the Yotes prevailed. This was a… you score (PPG - T.J. Hensick,  Wrist Shot -  Assists:  Tyler Arnason  and  John-Michael Liles ) then we score (PPG - Peter Mueller,  Slap Shot -  Assists:  Ed Jovanovski  and  Shane Doan)

Then we score (Daniel Winnik,  Tip-In -  Assists:  Matt Murley  and  Niko Kapanen ) then you score (Ian Laperriere,  Wrist Shot -  Assists:  Brad Richardson)

Then you score (PPG - T.J. Hensick,  Tip-In -  Assists:  Jaroslav Hlinka  and  Tyler Arnason) then we score (Radim Vrbata,  Wrist Shot -  Assists:  Steven Reinprecht)….

Then we score again (Radim Vrbata,  Backhand -  Assists:  Shane Doan  and  Zbynek Michalek)…… hey wait a dam minute! it was our turn! kind of game.

But the whole thing was a scrum from start to finish. We lost Martin to a shoulder injury (he did not return and was flown home to Phoenix for medical attention) and we lost Vbrat for a huge chunk of this one too (Jovo rocket pass hits V in the ankle). But that shortened bench couldn’t stop a very determined Gretzky and he threw Murley onto the BigKids line with much success. He threw some line combos out there that I had never thought of when Vbrat also went down.

But the play of the game goes to Da Brat and his trusty wingman Rhino. Rhino faked the entire Avs team out of their jocks on a face off move that leaves da Brat all alone and almost as stunned in the kitchen. Vbrat actually fumbles the puck a second b4 pushing it across the line past a too-stricken-to-do-more-than-look Budaj. Tied up and ready for the OT madness.

THE scrum of the season with nearly every AV and nearly every Yote on the ice in a dawg pile in the Avs paint. Donor’s stick breaks somewhere under all the bodies, they look like a basket of puppies sans basket. The whistle blows et voila! the puck is in the net! SAY WHAT! 4 - 3 Yotes. The controversy continues even as I type. (anyone remember the Ducks game from last season? Cosmic karma… puts us on the other end of the hand pass situation. Karma is a bitch ain’t she?)

We got 2 points! Woot woot! and we hated to dine n dash but we ran the hell out of there and caught a plane to Calgary. Where we hoped to prevail over a struggling Flames team.

Damn! We Need a Bigger Fire Extinguisher! - Flames

We’re tired. We’re beat up. We’re down a couple of key elements in our arsenal. So we threw everything we had at the Flames early, hoping to get what we could and then hold on til the end. (it almost worked). The Flames outplayed us all game as we got slower and slower and our passes got uglier and uglier for them to pick off at will. Breezy took the brunt of it with 38 Flame’s sogs on the night compared to our 23 on Kipper.

In the battle for 6th place… up by 3… and we manage to lose in a shootout. *insert sounds of crickets here*

Yep you heard it. (cause you sure didn’t get to SEE it…@#$%!^&&*#(@(#* and just dammitalltohell) TV blackout caused us to miss one heck of a game. Jovo fought Iginla! whoa! Nellie and thank goodness for all the Youtubers and hockeyfights.com. Both guys get down seriously although Iggy did manage to put JV down in the last moments of the fight.

The big PM struck like a pissed off rattler. HATTIE! from the big rookie!

(Donor, Z and Perky all assisted the baby Yote on his most excellent effort) but unfortunately it wouldn’t be enuff.

Iggy and Frankenhead Phaneuf would rally the Flames in the 3rd to take the game into OT. (Phanny’s off speed stick breaker sounded crazy, poor Bryz! was all set up for the arm breaker and got the off speed slider instead…ughh) And Breezy stood on his head to keep the Flames off the board and into the shoot out. There were 2 exceptional plays in there with Jovo saving our bacon after a puck slid thru Breezy and almost across the line, Jovo then outlets that puppy to a streaking Rhino. Kipper barely manages to stop the close in blast.

The last seconds of the OT were barn burners as the Donor took exception to Phanuef’s antics and went to war… everyone jumped in but Phanny and Donor would be credited with the minor penalties.

Iggy saves the day. The big PM was out of missiles and the Donor apparently couldn’t make it due to a hand issue. I woulda loved for Fast Freddie to be able to pot one in the SO but much like the 2 points I wanted… I didn’t get that either. 3 -2 Flames final.

We stagger out of Calgary with a point and our butts firmly planted in 9th place… again. So, that was the road trip from purgatory… not quite hell, because we have 6 more points clutched in our grubby lil fists and still have a place at the table… close enough to get those mitts on a play spot if we just keep pluggin away.

GO YOTES!!!!

Onyxstarr@coyoteshipcheck.com

Wow! I mean it! Just plain and simply wow! Our boys have turned into something special. Okay WE all knew they were special but now the secret is out. The entire NHL world all have something to say about the Coyotes right now and its all good.

Suddenly Wayne Gretzky just may have a shot at the Jack Adams award? Say what? Oh yeah you read that right folks. All the nay sayers and just plain old mean people who gave good ol WG the short shift at the beginning of the season are looking around sheepishly and hopin like hell that TGO doesn’t pull this off so they won’t have to eat serious helpins of crow. Spector, Milbury, Wyshynski and a few others are suspiciously quiet on the subject after being quite vocal earlier in the season. But we’ll get to that during the Coyotes report card later.

Right now we need to give props. The often maligned, never taken seriously desert dawgs doused the Flames on their home ice.

The Coyotes came out in this game like they ate nails for pre game meal. (C’mon Fast Freddie, you can’t honestly expect me to believe you played like this on a meal of chicken?) They didn’t score but they rocked the Flames for the first 10 or so minutes pretty heavily. The 10 sogs they managed to fire at Kipper were quality and when the Flames finally got their poop in a group during the second 1/2 of the period Bryz! handled their 9 sogs without breakin much of a sweat. We handed those boys 3 PPs and they couldn’t do a damn thing with Breezy. Unfortunately we couldn’t put away our 1 PP either. 0 - 0

The second period is where Kipper found out about ‘real’ flames. The Yotes shelled the big guy 18 sogs and rocked him for 3 of them, leaving the Flames in hot water at the end of the period. Bryz! watched his cohorts work their opponents over while easily fielding the measily 8 sogs they managed to tally. 3 - 0 Yotes

The third period the Flames musta gotten a serious cheek chewing from Keenan cause they worked like dogs trying to get back into the game. 14 - 3 sogs in favor of the Flambe. No dice. Despite the precision fire power of Iggy and the Hussey, Breezy turned part acrobat, part concrete wall on them and denied all opportunites except for a pretty tip in from Alex Tanguay during the DMo penalty. 3 -1 final.

WG vs Keenan - Welcome to Wayne’s world baby!

The love:

Oh my goodness the lil Finn is back on track! Niiiikooo Kapaaanen! You’ve heard it all, 2 small, 2 soft, 2 Euro ummm 2 points! Kapi set up Dwin with a mahvelous back hand pass for the first scoring tally and came back again with an assist on Yandle’s PP goal. After a really quiet set of games, the unassuming lil Finn reminded us that the VHS and MDR lines aren’t the only set of weapons we got.

Nick ‘freakin’ Boynton! Who knew? The guy rocketed a hell of a cross ice pass right onto the stick of Joel Perrault, who fired that monster over Kipper’s port bow. Ulf and WG probably looked at each other pretty suspiciously * (WG: I thought we put Boynk out there? Ulfie: We did! WG: Then who the hell just did that? Ulfie: Let’s have him checked out after the game… I think he’s channeling Coffey) For those who think the ‘new’ NHL has passed ol’ Nick by…think again. The guy can still come up with a surprise or two.

Keith Yandle - hella rookie D man. Even when he misfires, good things happen when that boy is shootin the puck.

And of course the Bryz! All night strong. Those saves in the 3 rd period frustrated and dominated the Flames. Along with the DMo/Bally pairing Bryz! hung Calary’s snipers out to dry.

The drive for 5 is complete and we head into Oil country to take on a listing Oilers team and try for 6. It can be done… all you gotta do is believe! “We have a great young team,” Bryzgalov said. “We’ve started winning games and we have a great future if we keep working hard and believe in ourselves.”

See PB’s most excellent post: http://www.onefansperspective.com/2008/01/now-coyotes-have-five.html#links

The official recap: http://coyotes.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=Recap&seas=20072008>ype=2&gnum=635

* of course its a ficticious conversation, c’mon it was me and Hat Trick IM’ing, you can’t get much more fictious than that.