Well … in a rare appearance of our alter egos we go down like the famous and mythical bird that bears our name. Hopefully to rise again in 08 stronger, more resilient, faster and more experienced. Dropping games in ugly succession to the Oil, Nucks and now the Kings… ouch. Barring a miracle of Biblical proportions the boys are now playing for pride, learning and chemistry development.

We got swept by the Oily bohunks. It was ugly, the problem was they are just as fast as we are, they don’t have any BIG stars they too are rolling a lot of small threats every game, their goal tending can be just as streaky as ours. We got caught on days when their goalies were hot as hell(check out Rollie’s stats … some of his best games were against us) and although we tried, we just couldn’t establish OUR tempo and ended up playing to their tune and 1 step behind all 4 games. The last game we actually managed to score more than 2 goals! and managed to keep tying it up too. But as the 4 - 8 score indicates we totally lost our lil minds in the third and left the ice on the ends ot the Oiler’s series brooms.

We also got caught in the Linden backlash. The Canucks got the Gipper speech from Trevor Linden and totally morphed into the Power Puff Girls or something. Suddenly the wonder twins managed to get their rings together and become harder to intimidate and harder to catch, much less hit. Of course we happened to be in full out crapitude mode from our net to our forecheck which is NEVER a good thing.  The 2 goal shuffle we were mired in didn’t help either.

    AP photo

So the last mathematical possibility is just about over and with all of our enemies too far to catch w/ out divine intervention… we faced the Kings to begin our battle back to the team from January (I hope). Booyah! We score 5 goals! The scoring committee was back! Even Rhino found a lil puck sense. (Poor Vrbie is still in the wickedest slump evah!… his agent could just cry right about now) Without Jovo and Hanzal and with Z playing in spite of the fact that he shoulda been nursin a bad wing, we didn’t do too bad. The new King’s goalie Ersberg is amazing. No wonder the Kings are playing with renewed vigor and confidence. If he had been in net at the season start those boys mighta had a real good shot at a run. So anyway… the Kings finally get by us 5 - 6 final after a shoot out… poor Telly he just seems to get caught in those long running shoot em ups.

But at least these 3 losses did not go for nought. With the playoffs out of reach maybe reality can set back in and we can get back to Plan A - the rebuild. I hope the plans for the off season include a little chat w/ the people responsible for the referees about some fairness and safety for Carci.

    AP photo

I mean this is becoming ridiculous, foolish and is definitely buffoonish. Calling the kid for everything under the sun is one thing, calling the kid for majors no one has ever seen b4 is another,  but letting the kid get beat to death is a whole nother story.

     AP photo

The refs are supposed to be fair and objective, the arbitrators of fair play. Instead they are turning into vindictive and petty dictators who skew the games due to a predjudice that has no place in their calls.

Who is looking forward to a delicious Duck dinner? I know I am… without all this white out talk getting in the way, maybe the boys can get their teeth into some good old fashioned hockey again. Coyotes style. Forechecking, (hip checking too please Bally), scoring committee, Breezalicious, Coyotes style hockey. Play hard, get deep and score like Hiller is made of cream cheese!

Go Coyotes!

~pics from BTinAZ~

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bleedintealinaz/sets/72157604153391788/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bleedintealinaz/sets/72157604189002148/

onyxstarr@coyoteshipcheck.com

First the good news… the inaugural Coyotes Locker Room tail gate was a big success about 25 members and spouses and kidlets came out to lot J and much merriment and mass consumption ensued.

Oh man… I soooo did NOT want to waste one of our precious losses against these guys. But we are down to 2 losses and then its out for the count. Every game from here on out is game 7 of the finals. All the talk is, that every game has been playoff calibre… well the stakes just got raised a notch. With our enemies managing to cop 2 while we were skidding last night, we just got pushed into ultimate desperation situation. Code blue time. Our play off bid is now on life support and only heroic measures can save it.

Like night and day. Between the Nucks game and this Oil game, our performance was a complete 180. Everything we did right on Thursday, we did wrong on Saturday. I have questions. When do you pull the plug on giving large chunks of ice time to a very young player because of errors? Obviously we are short on D that can play to this level or else the number 6 slot would be filled with someone else by now (there seems to be very little faith in Jonesy (-8 w/ 2 pnts…ouch) at the moment or is this rookie trial by fire (Yandle -9 w/ 10 points) thing of even more importance than the playoff bid?). Did the team stay at the hotel the night before this game? If so maybe they need to switch to the Holiday Inn Express for better results. Does Edmonton have a voodoo doll of Breezy hidden amongst the team equipment?

OK we seriously blew chunks during this game. Despite throwing up 40 sogs, many of those could’ve been stopped by me, much less a world class goalie like Rollie. No traffic in front of the net, no crashers or bangers creating the havoc needed to pick up the many, many rebounds that were produced from those mostly perimeter 40 shots.

Our matchups were THE suck. I realize that the Oil have quite a few weapons in their arsenal but we have many answers too. Our answers just seemed to be the wrong ones at the wrong time. The Oil are very fast… and dare I say it? very slippery. But so are we. Rollie is a world class goalie… but so is Breezy. So on paper and in theory we should be able to whup these jokers right?  But then again on paper and in theory we are supposed to be dead last… guess that means paper and theory means jack sqat.

So as WG said, we didn’t give 100% and we got stung. Nobody was willing to pay the heavy toll to pick up the garbage. Our main weapons were once again silent (by now Vbrat has to be grippin that stick like he’s tryin to squeeze lemons) and Rhino? *insert sound of crickets here*.

Breezy was havin a bad day (didn’t I warn them about goalie dependency?) not knockin the big guy but he just can’t seem to get a handle on the Oil (3 games 4gaa in each one)… I know he had the shut out and all the patter about startin the hot tender but Telly relieved Breezy in an Oil game and only let in 1 of 18… I know who I would have started but thats of course just my humble opinion.

The less said about Yentle the better… this kid is making my brain hurt, but the big hit was sweet, too bad that was pretty much it for the night. (all the Jovo haters have a new can to kick) at least Yandle has the inexperience card to play, JV had to weather the crap storm with only a thick hide to shelter him.

Zbyneck? how the heck do you manage to play 24+ minutes? Sheesh kiddo you sure do me proud… but if you don’t mind… SHOOT MORE OFTEN! 2 sogs? You’ve got a beautiful wrister that should see the light of day more often (How about a bit of PP time instead of all that EV for the kid Wayne? At least he won’t get burned as much as some folks) and Bally gotta give you some props too man, lately you have been on fire and managed to be the only freakin defenseman not in the minus this game.

We were all hits (34) and no play last night. Perimeter shots just will not get it done. Official stats say only 5 give aways… I beg to differ unless that was just the defense? The Oil gave away zip, nada, not even one. Does anyone want to talk about puck possession? I think I’ll just skip that one since we had about 39% off the dots *frickin Stoll and that stick tappin technique 16- 3* no face off wins means no puck possession and that means playin on your heels all night long. Then cretins like the Oil go home with your 2 points, 5 -2 final score.

Soooo, time to regroup, recharge, rethink and return to the ice against the Nucks on Monday. Hopefully the road warriors will come out to play. And then Tuesday we face the Oil again… they’ll be weilding brooms and trying for the sweep. Remember … every game is game 7 from here on out, its time to come big or you’ll be wearin checkered shorts and perfecting your swing in no time at all.

Let’s Go Coyotes!

onyxstarr@coyoteshipcheck.com

We are on a mini-roll. Ducks n Nucks down. This was a classic example of how we CAN play. How we SHOULD play every single game.

Starting from the net out, every single player brought their A game. (ok, some players have more of an A game to bring but that is besides the point) they all brought their best from lil Hoss to NickyB there wasn’t a slacker in da house that I could see.

High points:

Daniel wild child Carcillo - (there will be links at the bottom of the page to justify this). DC was on the prowl from the minute the puck dropped. Toc kept the leash on until the right moment.

Burrows deserved every punch DC landed on him. The wild child not only put a lid on the twerp who was huntin our top sniper, he definitely pumped up a ready- to- get- crazy crowd to levels not usually seen or heard at the Job. DC gave the Yotes their sixth man home crowd and stopped the Canucks lil intimidation bid in its tracks.

Marty too hot Hanzal - playing with a sore groin, assisting on both goals, shutting down the Sedins (especially the steal from Henrick) that scissor pass was one of the prettiest of the season. Sheesh just wait til that kid fills out… totally unstoppable.

Daniel cookie monster Winnick - he always seems to know exactly where mama hides the cookies. Lately Winnie has just been a force to be reckoned with and is not inconsistant in his defensive play whatsoever. (other guys have an off night and Dwin doubles his efforts) Amazing kid.

Niko lil ninja Kapanen - amazing how many times the opportunistic lil Finn shows up at just the right moment. The Mighty Finn has a nose for the loose puck. (maybe he’s just so much closer to ice level than everyone else) Niko can certainly put the biscuit in the basket and doesn’t get nearly enough love.

Illya i am a horse Bryzgalov - the boy may act crazy off the ice, but he plays totally insane on it and that is what counts. Breezy was in full force field mode. The guy is simply unbeatable when firing on all cylinders. Bryz! only faced 24 sogs… (and truthfully only a few were quality, since the forecheckers and blueliners were stellar) but no softies, no real bobbles on anything at all. Just WOW!

I am resolving not to bag on Yentle and Special Ed. They had a few miscues but more than made up for them with solid performances throughout the night. They get a pass from me because they were leading with their hearts and that has to count big.

The rest of the blueline were… well the best they have been all season. Shutting down, holding the line, getting shots (those boys accounted for 18 of the sogs) which made Louie scramble like a mad fiend all night.

Speaking of Lou… amazing freakin goalie… simply amazing (love ours more… but still) stopped 43 of 45 shots. And some of those shots woulda been guaranteed goals against any other net minder. So props to you big guy… your team hung you out like mildewed sheets.

Who the hell pissed in Vbrat’s cheerios? He wasn’t akin no shit from Burrows or anyone else. Whe is the last time you saw Verbie in the box? He is shooting again (5sogs) and its only a matter of time before he gets his groove back.

Still impressed with Lisin, that fly away and consequent post ping shows me he is on the door step can’t wait til he pots one… (hmmmm, maybe Sat against the Oil, they don’t have anyone who can keep up with the lil jetstream do they?)

We outplayed these guys. Out shot, out hit, outfought, outblocked and just plain old wanted the 2 points more than they did. lead on Captain Doan, the boys are right behind you. And your sixth man is too… Can’t wait to get to the rink, blinky (geeky) glasses, bigger signs and megaphone at the ready.

Let’s Go Coyotes! One game at a time.

 ~photos by BTinAZ~

onyxsarr@coyoteshipcheck.com

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/coyotes/articles/0314coyotes-ON.html

http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=492328

http://coyotes.nhl.com/team/app?gameNumber=1070&gameType=2&page=Recap&season=20072008&service=page

http://www.onefansperspective.com/2008/03/coyotes-win-two-in-row-at-home.html

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

Yes Yes I hear and I obey… sorry for the absence. I was bizzy. Lots of stuff happenin at Chez de Onyx and it interfered with my brain power. So I will attempt to cover the highs and lows that was the last long road trip for the Yotie pups for this season (all the rest are lil 2 or 3 dayers, no problems).

The good news is that we nabbed 6 of the available 10 points on this trip… not bad. The bad news is that 2 of those points are loser points and 2 of the games we pretty much gave away. 

We must learn how to play with a lead, we must learn how to play smarter when tired and lastly, we must not fall into the trap of goalie dependency. We are still close enuff to get where we want to be w/ plenty of games left to play (including games in hand on some teams ahead of us) and plenty of time to heal our wounded. We are still contenders waaay past any dreams even the biggest homers *even me* could have imagined..

 55 minutes and a Failed Prayer - Wings

God I hate/love/hate Pavel Datsyuk. I just plain old HATE Holmstrom… no waffling there. Move along folks, nothing to see here. Just a bunch of ghouls, zombies, you know the drill, Ded Things walking in the night. Oh! wait, whats that? The Coyotes are keeping up with the Ded? The Yotes are ahead of the Ded? Ok maybe there is something to see here. . .

Although the outcome was probably ordained, the young Coyotes sure gave it a hell of a shot.

Zbynek played his sweaty lil tush off. Most love and props from the announces, I’ve heard the lil Czech get all year. He was his normal iron man self with over 23 minutes of TOI. So many little things done right. The only thing the kid wasn’t able to do was score (and that wasn’t from lack of trying) he had a couple of good shots, blocked a few and stole a few too.

Anyway, the Ded were allstar flat in the first (yeah they got the lucky goal from Zets in the first 5 minutes) but over all we out worked them for most of the game. The the BigKids line got busy (taking advantage of a HUGE hit from Boynk) the kids stirred up the slot with traffic and then Dwin slipped a mini tap to Hanzal who fumbled it a bit before roofing a snap shot over Ozzie. Hanzal scorzes! Then in the second our big guy onetimed a slapper past Ozzie, more than making up for Zets’ sneaky goal in the first. Yotes up 2 -1 goin into the 3rd.

The third period brought the return of Holmie the crease camping champion as Liddie’s shot deflected in between that goober’s legs. 2 -2 tie up 9 minutes in and then to add insult to injury Liddie gets another go at it and plants one in the back of the net. 3 - 2 Ded and poor Donor got turned away on his last ditch effort breakaway try w/ 30 seconds left. It sucked but wasn’t unexpected. We have improved enough to hang tuff with the top team in the league. Thats purty damn good even without the 2 points. 3 -2  Wings

So… off we go to Nasheville.

Big Cats Have Nasty Fangs - Predators

The good news is that every one else that is in our way lost this night too. The bad news is… we pulled off a big fat L our ownselves. But hey, we still snuck a point out of it… and we didn’t really deserve it.

Another early goal given up in the first period w/ no answer (we just couldn’t get a freakin shot away - 6 sogs for the whole period).  

Then we repeat that erly give up again in the second. So we sit all sad sack (and down by 2)waiting for a hero and along comes Doan. The Captain rides to the rescue (or at least closes the gap up a little bit) with a sweet wrister that had eyes. We get on the board and finally figure out where their net is… 17 ! sogs… much better but still behind.

So we creak into the third and young Carcillo takes on HorUpchuck (might have been a lifter too)  but DC also takes on an extra 20 minutes in penalties for his mouth and giving the linesman a shove. ( Note to DC: anyone else does that…*yeah Sundin I’m lookin at you* the shove gets overlooked… but Danny, you get no breaks and apparently no love due to your bad reputation) Danny then went on a rampage down the hallways and earned himself a spot ON the Rampage… of San Antonio. This game was ugly from the gitgo with a total of 18 regular PIMS and 10 in fighting majors… add young Carci’s little disciplinary snafu and you got nearly 50 minutes of referee action. Ouch! So anyways… with barely 3 minutes left good old Rhino ties it up and we manage to eke out another point and head into OT.

It was simply sad… we get NO sogs. They get 7 of them. Breezy is swattin pucks and punks trying to keep his head above water. That pesky Radulov bounces one off of nearly every part of Bryz you can imagine and then off his helmet and in. 3 - 2 Preds final answer.  sighhh another loser point… (but hey, didn’t the Ducks parlay the loser point into a spring board to the dance last season?) okay we’re still in this hunt, lets head out to Colorado and see if they still roll over for us.

see part II

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, well the return of Radim was quite the occasion. The crafty lil Czech was on fire nearly all night long. (you can call him streaky ifn ya want to but I’ll take his streaks any day and twice on game days). Vbrat hoisted the hattie in pretty rapid succession, carried the team on his back (dude! didn’t you just pull a groin doin that?) and with Breezy’s help, kept us in this game.

The first looked bad. We were slightly flat. But thankfully, so were the Preds. Both teams fired off a decent amount of shots (14-12) but the netminders were on their toes. After nearly 15 minutes of back n forth action (only 1 penalty stoppage) Vbrat lit the lamp on Mason with a little help from the local wildlife (Rhino & Fast Freddie). Vrbata scorzes! 1 - 0 Yotes

A referee went down badly with 2 minutes left. Collisions w/ bigger bodies never go well and he was bady shaken but left the ice w/ a bit of help. A breif return in the second proves more than he can handle though and we are down to 3 zebras to finish the game.

The second started horribly as Rads gave Breezy a nasty slapper and scored in the first 7 seconds. 1 -1 game. So we got back to work. Our ice of course turned into slush (when doesn’t it? I should start a pool on how long it will take - odds decided by attendance bodies heatin up the Job). The guys looked like they were snow shoeing instead of skating and of course the puck began to dance crazily. Luckily for us those crazy bounces paid off for Vbrat. His slap shot took some dizzy hops and deflections off sticks and bad ice to alley oop right over the top of Mason and give us back our lead. Vrrbata scorzes! (assists from TQ and Z) 2 - 1 Yotes.

The Preds feel this game slipping away and turn up the heat. Pevererly and then Erat nail our intrepid net minder to make it 3 - 2 in their favor. (why do we keep givin people their first NHL goal or their first NHL shut out… or the dreaded goal of the year?) Peverly is real fond of us right now for giving him his first goal.  3 -2 Preds.

Poor Vbrat, no one on the team seems to be able to find the back of the net (no matter how determined they are) so he calmly picks the team up once again and scored his third of the night on another good pass from Rhino. Vrrrbata scorzes! 3 - 3 game.

The third period both teams appear to be running on fumes but the Preds are takin it to us more than we are them. We barely manage 4 sogs and they double that with 8. Seriously, I would not want to be the guy who has to tell WG what our puck possession time is in that period. Talk about bearer of bad news.  But since neither team can quite get past the other we head into OT.

Out of gas and being outplayed is not a good thing for this team (especially not with such big points on the line.) We find the last bit of fumes and manage 2 shots… one of them is the game winner… ZZZZ!!!! My baby boy scorzes w/ a lil help from his Czechmate Vbrat and our point streakin Captain. 4 - 3 in OT. We out hunt the Predators (unfortunately they still get a freakin point).  

Awesomeness, thy name is Coyotes hockey.

We now stand outside the windows to the dance, which is hella better than sittin at home w/ a big zit, waiting for the phone to ring like we usually are this time of year. Ringing in the AllStar break with 54 phat points and drawing a bead on 4 teams. I say 4 teams because I really don’t want to stop at the 8th seat (eeewww get stuck playin the Ded Things … no thanks)

~photos from BTinAZ~ http://www.flickr.com/photos/9302501@N02/sets/72157603816517435/

What a fantastic showing from our favorite hockey team. Talk about a fast and furious start!

Dwin! Dwin! Dwin! 54 seconds! and the BigKids line drop it like its hot! And a big fat assist for my boy Z! DWin scorzes! 1 - 0 Yotes. Tbo is already in trouble but he doesn’t know it yet. Ballard and Gaustad went at it for what seemed like ages in front of our crease. Bally pulls a standing hip check on Gaustad and gets away with knockin the hell out of him (helmet flying, nose bleedin, hell too)

We are zippin around with that puck so much I started wondering if it was just a major game of keep away, cuz the Sabres puck possession time can be counted on a 3 legged cat’s paws. But then Gaustad exacted a little revenge by slippin a goal through our 4th liners to tie up the game 1/2 way through the 1st period. They got a wee bit of life in ‘em but we smacked ‘em back down. We leave the ice tied up but we got more fire than they do and some PP time comin as well. 10 - 6 sogs, 2 - 3 penalties *which neither team capitalizes on*

Ok, so we come back out to a few seconds of PP, they kill it. But then poor Pratt is a prat and grabs a high sticking call, putting us right back on the PP. Niko ‘lil Ninja’ Kapanen sneaks in, steals a puck, strikes and struts back out with the goal KAPI scorzes!(unassisted!). 2 - 1 Yotes.

I keep sayin WG has some serious koolaide bein served at intermission cuz its all Yotes when 3 minutes later, the Captain gets his party on and plants a wrister past Tbo. Doaner scorzes! 3 - 1 Yotes. ( The captain has 11 games with points in his streak, 4 of them are multi pointers)

To round out the first 5 minutes of play, good ol DMo (musta accidentally sipped some of the score causing juice) plows a nasty slap shot past Tbo to make it 4 - 1. DMo scorzes! Now to be fair, the Sabres don’t lose their cool, they stay disciplined and work hard but they just have 0 confidence in their net minder at this point and it really shows, they get ultra careful and in this game that just doesn’t cut it. 14 - 6 sogs and only 1 penalty each * we nailed ours…they didn’t*

Big props as usual to our slightly ailing TQ! That boy is slightly insane. The guy is practically a game time decision and is still haulin ash and blockin shots.

So into the third we go, laughing all the way (well Breezy was probably yawning) The Sabres’ Drew Stafford caught the big guy on one of those perfect tripod passing maneuvers to make it 4 - 2 Yotes.

Roy’s line w/ Vanek and Stafford was the only line consistently troublesome all night. It turned out to be ’suck the life outta those suckers time’ in this period. First Boynk and Donor set up the big PM for his streak lengthening goal. Mules scorzes! 5 - 2 Yotes. (Mueller has points in 7 games, 3 of those are multi point games).

Not to be outshone by a PP Qb rookie, Jovo nails a PP goal to finish the rout. Jovo scorzes! 6 - 2 Yotes for the win.

What a holiday! What a performance! and you’ve already witnessed what a miraculously transformative experience a Coyotes game can be in the entry before this one. Come on out folks before there are no tickets to be had. We have been nearly at capacity for the last couple of games.

This was my backstage pass night and I have to say, the Sabres are classy. Thanks Ryan ‘Lady Killer’ Miller - you made my STH perk worth so much more by signing that jersey when you probably just wanted to get the hell out of the desert.

~photos by the ever miraculous BTinAZ~ http://www.flickr.com/photos/9302501@N02/sets/72157603774680435/

OnyxStarr@coyoteshipcheck.com

Well everyone wondered how the boys would rebound. I say very nicely. Very nicely indeed. Unfortunately it seemed that as hard as the boys battled the refs were equally determined to stop us. 2 - 1 Hawks in the SO.

First and foremost Bryz! found his game. This was an incredible performance in my opinion by Breezy. C’mon you gotta give him credit for that split save at the very least. And oh, my hockey stars n garters, that penalty shot kill was absolutely brilliant.

Ok the shootout didn’t fare so well but he has already bested his former record in winning those so give him a break.

The boy worked his tail off all game. Ahem … so did Lalime. This was probably Limey’s best performance in years and he has these Hawks on a tear (4 game streak counting us). The guy wants to take Khabibulin’s job so bad he was practically salivating all game. If I’m the Hawks… I’d really consider it.

So consider the Hawks… still suffering from injury-itis and tired from the trip down from Colorado. Those boys still had legs and heart. I hope all the Kane nay sayers are payin attention. (most likely not goin to admit they were wrong about his small stature being all wrong for the NHL… like the Gretzky kill joys). Kaner has stepped up huge in the absence of many of his mates. Tonight was another good showing by the lil rookie.

On to the good, not so good and really intriguing. Who knew Ed Jovanovski had that much fire in his craw? Not me… I thought Jovo was going to blow a gasket or perform an appendectomy on that ref with his stick. (WG sent the Captain and backup to go get our blood hunting warrior and possibly saved the life of a zebra) intriguing eh?

The penalty shot award in the OT was pure shite (especially in light of how the Hawks pulled Doan down not even 2 minutes later w/ out a single eyebrow raise much less a whistle). After the nasty shock from Nash, there was no way Jovo or any other Dman was going to let that happen again… thus the take down. But here is my issue: the lil slug didn’t have control of the puck, he also didn’t have clear forward motion towards the goal (yeah he was in the correct zone for the call but didn’t have ANY reasonable expectation of scoring) and to my eyes (which I admit are not the best set in the arena) they looked more side by side when JV grabbed him although he finished the move from behind as Bourque spun around. A simple penalty woulda sufficed rather than breaking out good old Rule 25.8… ok got THAT off my chest. Moot point anyways… as BRYZ! completely turned that opportunity away. Please don’t ask us our opinion of the 4 minute high sticking penalty (no really, don’t ask… it will not be a pretty or short rant on the ineptitude and just plain old buffoonery of the Zebra-kind. You don’t want PETA after me do you?).

Our power play made a rare appearance! Whoo hoo! The big PM grabbed us the lead in the second period after a fast and furiously played first period resulted in goose eggs for both teams. What is really crazy is that we had 14 - 7 sogs in the first and 11 - 7 in the second. and still only managed to get past Limey once. But then again they could only solve Breezy once themselves. 1 - 1 game.

The third period was all shots and no rewards for either side too. These goalies were righteously sick! all night long.

The OT was a mad scramble. Although there were barely any shots as both teams stole from each other constantly and basically couldn’t keep possesion in either end long enough for a fair go at it.

The shootout has been our friend a wee bit this season. Bryz! has had an exciting time of them lately. But alas this night was not one of those. First Kane and then that often bruised lil peach Havlat beat our net guardian while JoelP and Mules were denied by Limey. Siggghhh miss Vrbata a whooole lot more suddenly.

So we grab a point which ties us up squarely in a four team race. (CLS and STL both lost earlier in the day, allowing us to stay tighter than we should be in the race for 9th place). Vancouver sits in a tie w/ Minny at 55 points, 5 above us. And Columbus is passable at 52 points.

stats from TSN.ca

I am seriously hoping the boys can take down the struggling Sabres on Monday to give themselves a boost before taking on the feisty Predators to complete the home stand.

BTW it was Bobby ‘the golden jet’ Hull night too. He was a hoot! Great personality and very nice man. Graciously signing the multitude of Mcfarlane figurines for the masses.. Apparently 447 people RSVP’d for the signing… poor man. Valiant and gracious in the face of such odds.

Talk about believing we are goin to the playoffs! Check out Mossie’s play off beard.

As always…  LET’S GO COYOTES! we can do it!

~Photos by the always brilliant BTinAZ~

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9302501@N02/sets/72157603761651888/

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