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!

Well its only 2 games into the season and the Coyotes are 2-0-0. Should I have made that font bigger? You read it right… 2 wins, no ties or losses. Yes those Coyotes. The ones mired in uncertainty, knocked for a loop by BK court and lacking any big name guys. You remember the team everyone loved to see come to their barn for the easy 2 points?

We headed into Pitt riding on a 6 – 3 win over fellow bottom feeder LAK. If you hadn’t watched the game, you might have just figured it was our normal trodding over them just to stay off the bottom of the cellar floor. (we’ve traded wins like that sometimes in the past) That win was more than that. It was the debut of the new and seriously improved system of the Desert Dawgs. That win was the warning shot over the forward bow of the 2009 season. (funny how nobody understood that we only intend to give 1 warning) We displayed attack sense, total committment to owning all 3 zones and a fearless pack mentality to keep pushing, tearing , biting right to the last buzzer. The LAK folks and the world at large dismissed this win, Doughty had a bad game, Quick hadn’t hit his stride. (funny how we’d hear these same sentiments but w/ different names attached, a few nights later)

You might have good cause to ignore the LAK win but how the hell do you dismiss shutting out the defending Stanley Cup champions? Oh wait for it…. the backup goalie wasn’t good enough (bullshit! that kid robbed Doaner from point blank range) Syd was off, Geno was off and of course, my favorite, they are struggling with cup hangover. Everyone can say what they want but good old fashioned hard work won this game. The Yotes didn’t LET the Pens catch their stride, didn’t LET these guys get focused, didn’t LET those boys take over the game. They were’nt given a damn thing. They flat out TOOK it.

Can no one give us props for what we’ve done? I’m not asking for a wholesale conversion here. But these guys have overcome one of the most bitter, degrading, contentuous off seasons ever seen in the NHL. Ridiculed and dismissed for a decade, laughingstock franchise that no one wanted to own, coaching/training deficiencies out the wahzoo and they haven’t give up. These guys take whatever comes their way and continue to give their all. They deserve better from the NHL family and the media.

Tippett’s system works. Burke’s training works. Maloney’s vision works. The proof is in the pudding and let me tell you its turning into quite the tasty dish. Just watching Hanzal shutting down the Kid and Geno…didn’t seem to matter which one was on the ice last night, they were both pretty ineffective. Bryzgalov defending his 9th shutout with authority. Sami ‘the pistol’ Lepisto stepping into the big skates of the injured Kurt Sauer seemingly seamlessly. Fiddler in the face off circles at 63%. Prucha on his back, nay! on a Penguin back, catching a rebound and putting it in the net. Jovocop, putting Malkin on the ice AND putting our PP front and center with his first of many beautiful goals. Vrby/Hanzal letting the world know all about the new Czech federation with one of the sweetest empty netters I’ve seen in a long time.

Every member of this pack is playing the system to the best of their ability. They’ve bought in, they’ve committed and they’re ready to take on all comers. I know its early, but for those of us who have followed this team through thin and thinner, who have given their hearts, souls and hard earned dollars to this team, it feels like we are finally reaping the rewards with a team that believes in themselves as much as we do. An unselfish and dedicated group of guys who are playing for us as much as themselves.

The new Phoenix Coyotes have made a committment to each other and to their fans. That is not a chip on their shoulder, thats the boulder of determination, to prove to the world that they are professionals, good, hardworking professionals, dedicated to the pursuit of the greatest trophy in the world. There will be ups and downs, there will be skids and slumps but it feels like hope around the Valley of the Sun, certainly for the first time since the move to Glendale, it feels like winning.

Tonight we take on Buffalo, a team that has been in our shoes not too long ago. These guys should remember their own mindset and beware the Pack. Lindy Ruff is nobody’s fool, he’ll be ready. Do they have the speed to keep up with the big Dawgs once they get rolling? Can Miller stop the Czech Federation? Can anybody stand up to Jovocop patrolling the blueline with big guns blazing? How many pucks will not make it past that shot blocking monster named Z? Can AZBarbie step up to the plate and get the critics off his back too? Guess we’ll all have to be glued to the TV or the radio (xtra 910 is our audio feed w/ the beloved Heeter calling the games solo) or even online to find out.

Wanna talk about it live? Try HFBoards or TheNHLArena or Five4Howling. The Twitterverse will be buzzing all game long with theYotesDiva , Mark, HKYFN and myself. Can we come home 3-0-0? We’ve already gotten 4 of 4 possible points, lets hope we can steal another 2 from BUF.

We have 4 new places buzzing about Coyotes hockey… Bob, Larry , Mark and Hendrickshockey.com will soon have some good Yotes content as well… stroll by, give them some love please.

As always…Go Coyotes!

TV: FSN-ARIZONA

Radio: XTRA 910 AM

We need to get the young guns going early… Boedker, Mueller and Hanzal will be dangerous enough, under Tippett’s new system, to be key factors in getting good scoring opportunities.

We are seriously competent 5 on 5. We are seriously at a disadvantage right now when we get PIM issues.  Apparently Scottie Upshall has been given the ’stay out of the box or you’ll sit on the bench’ talk by Tippett (and has felt the sitting punishment already in the later portion of the Kings game). I think we’ll see a much more careful Uppy this game. We do have to stay out of the box though. One of our worst areas last game was the PK. *lookin at you Kurt!* I know it is early and folks aren’t all the way up to speed yet so I won’t be pissy about this problem yet.

Hopefully Bryzzie can get some serious rebound control going, the Pens are notorious for those 3rd n 4th attempt scoring opportunities. We definitely can’t afford to leave anthing juicy around for Syd or Geno to swipe at (especially that stupid sliding on your butt highlight thing Syd practices every day to make teams look completely inept)

The keys to a Coyotes victory will be scoring by committee again (its fine for Vbrat to lead the way but every body has to contribute… one man cannot do it all). Watch for Lombo, Mueller, Uppy, Vrbata and Doan to set fire to the rubber all night. It’d be sweet to see Jovo find his scoring touch early and heat up the blueline contributions.

Another key will be the forwards continuing to harrass the crap out of everyone attempting to enter our zone. This was a big key to the Kings victory. The Pens are too dangerous to just skate around with a puck. They have their own speedsters, we’ll have to hope Tip gets his matchups so that his system can operate well. Tip stresses an aggressive forecheck and constant/consistent back pressure. Forcing turnovers and creating odd man rushes could become SOP for this new Coyotes team. Hopefully Hanzal will have a great time containing Malkin, he’s certainly made Thornton’s life a misery, may he be just as successful with Geno.

We are dangerous because we are fast and tenacious, hopefully teams continue to underestimate just how fast we are for a long time. Our improvement in the face off circles has already resulted in increased puck possession and apparently we have figured out that if we’ve got the dang biscuit, we should try stuffing it in the basket. Look for Fleury to have an aggravating night.

I’m torn… it’d be sweet to set some tongues wagging, beating the current Cup holders would certainly do that. Back to back wins against the flightless birds (and especially in their own barn)would be a bold announcement that we are here and ignoring us would be hazardous to your post season dreams. On the other hand, it could be to our advantage to continue to roll under the radar ( catching as many teams as possible unprepared, could give us a nice cushion for those lean times when we can’t buy a goal). Of course I’m all for the bold statement. It would be fun watching all those who have written us off due to the summer bedlam, try to retain their credibility while they scramble to find reasons why they always knew we could do it.

Its US against the world!

As always… Go Coyotes!

This is probably a lil disjointed and maybe I’m an idiot but its how I feel…

Okay hockey bretheran… I have a question. One that has been bothering me for some time. Why can’t the league support 2 more teams? Why can’t makeit32 work? Why is expansion ‘really’ such a bad thing? Is it really the horrible an idea that Kansas City or Wisconsin AND Hamilton or Winnipeg get a team. (I really don’t have a clue who all is clamoring for a team right now)

I can see the NHLPA getting behind the idea. They get more members to contribute to the pool and have a stronger voice. More players get a chance at the gold ring.

I can see the players getting behind the idea. More opportunities to play longer (they are already like migrant workers going from team to team, 2 more to choose from can’t be a bad thing). Newbies could see it as better opportunity to break into the league with a bigger draft (almost like adding round 8 back in...) and b4 you say no one good comes out of the lower rounds, puhleze! the Wings seem to have no problems finding talent like Zetterberg and Datsyuk in late rounds.

I can see the fans getting behind this. More hockey! is thereanything better than more hockey? Ummm especially for the fans of the chosen cities who have been raucously screaming their lil lungs out to get one for years.

The team owners, well hell, them ole boys would get expansion money out the wahzoo. Could shift the conference member teams around a bit resulting in shorter flights, less money being spent crisscrossing the country, more revenue to share, better TV contracts if the markets are chosen correctly.

Seems to me that everyone wins with makeit32. So why isn’t it happening? Why haven’t Mr. Balsillie or Mr. Bruckheimer or whomever, been throwing their dollars at getting the NHL to expand, rather than targeting teams already in place? We’ve expanded and contracted a lot since 1967, I don’t understand why the topic has suddenly become such an anathema.

Cincinnati, Hamilton, Oklahoma City, Portland, Winnipeg all seem like pretty viable expansion cities for various reason. Hell Kansas City’s TV market alone would make me sit up and drool if I’m the NHL. Portland doesn’t provide a whole lot of competition from ‘other’ sports and could easily become a hockey hotbed just from lack of Pro sports choices. With a bit of judicial governmental $$ support, either Hamilton or Winnipeg could renovate their large arenas to accommodate a couple more thousand fans and some state-of-the-art luxury boxes in a very short time frame and with the clamoring market could have that monetary support paid back very quickly. Cincinnati I’m not too sure about even if it has been bandied about in the past. Vegas seems too transient to support a pro franchise on the season ticket holder front (although I am pretty sure they could get plenty of corporate response). These are just a few cities w/ possibilities off the top of my head.

Its long been said that hockey costs too much to make part of the average Joe’s discretionary spending and that isn’t true in most markets. Its mainly the longest serving and the big ticket winners that charge out the wahzoo for tickets (but hey! they only charge what the market apparently will bear). Maybe it is time for Toronto et al,  to share the wealth? Bring down the ticket prices there just a little bit with some healthy competition from a team close enough to give fans a choice (TOR has got a waiting list that would immediately give their competitor a built in shot at a fanbase). That would certainly give the fans a boost (lower prices for the team they already love and a chance for others to get season tickets without waiting for Uncle Cletus to drop dead) It could start one of the nastiest rivalries the NHL has ever seen and you KNOW hockey fans can seriously get behind a rivalry. Maybe its time to take a look at having a set price range? We’d damn sure see which cities can support a hockey team then. Have a set range that ticket prices can fall within, if your team can’t maintain an average attendance at the prescibed prices…well I guess then we get to find a home for you that will be able to. I don’t know… just seems like all the teams should be contributing equally but can’t due to weird ass management practices or some other form of monetary mismanagement madness. (That way it truly becomes about butts in the seats rather than teams filling an arena yet still not pulling in the monetary numbers because they charge 40% less that the rest of the league, we need equal footing for true measurements)

With the economy in such disarray maybe this seems like a shallow and thoughtless entry. Expanding the NHL when people are losing their jobs, the economy is freefalling like a stone from a bridge and food banks can’t keep up with families on the edge. But even the economy would get a boost. Construction or renovation of 2 arenas would create jobs, said arenas need to be staffed which would create new jobs and of course their would be another 60+  hockey players getting jobs (including any minor league additions in 2 new feeder rosters).

What am I missing here? I know there has to be some major issue with this idea. The NHL can’t be stifling its own growth for no good reason right? So help a sista out. Explain it to me like I’m a 5 year old because I don’t get it. Makeit32 makes more sense to me than keepinit6 or relocating it7 in too many ways to ignore.

I can’t wait for this to be over so I can enjoy hockey again. C’mon Canes! (damn you flightless birds! That Geno is a monster! why’d he have to wake up now?) You can do it Cammie Cane. Lets go Ded Things! Black Hawks Suck! Guess you know where I stand in this series LOL Even though I kinda realize a Canes – Wings final just won’t have the punch that a Wings – Pens matchup would have, it would still be beautiful to have a ’southern’ team in the finals… for troll taunting reasons if nothing else.

Mr. Breslow… sir, I salute you!

As always… Go Coyotes!

Oh my Capitals, 1B team of my heart, I have neglected you woefully. I apologise for leaving you to the mercy of Lil Flower and the Kid, not mention that other guy Geno and his OT antics.

I have been watching…really I have. But due to the surprising turn of events with the 1A of my heart I have been unable to cheer you on in these humble pages. But somehow you have won through on your own. I am so proud of you guys.

Tonight’s game was a blood curdling monster. It is sooo not good for my blood pressure! But damn was it exciting. Way to go Steckel! But guy? don’t toy with your victims anymore. Take the lead and take down the black n gold with extreme prejudice.

Game 7 is going to be a hellstorm and I will be with you all the way through, I promise. I am going to ask the hockey goddess to help you thru to a thorough beat down of the Kid & Co. May Cindy and Gena’s shots be high and wide, may lil Flower’s glove  tip pucks into his own net and may Ovie, Greenie or Stecks (heck, anyone rockin the red will work) hit the Cap’s GWG in a spectacularly amazing highlight reel fashion. Ummm Varley? Doood! Let’s address your glove side issues  soon mmkay?

Sorry Pens… It is time to Rock the Red all the way to the finals. Go Caps Go!

Hooboy! Nucks killed themselves. Only US teams left in the playoffs. These post season games have held some of the most surprising games and winners ever. Upstart Blackhawks take down one of the NHL’s best. Sorry Lou. I was pullin for ya big guy.

On the Coyotes front… big news comin… maybe some early word? Remember there’s gonna be a rally on Saturday May 16th at 10 am

I’ve finally woken up out of my postseason funk. (who the hell wouldn’t after these 2nd round antics) Ducks managed to scoot past the Ded after 3 OTs (4 – 3 ANA). The Cardiac Canes are certainly living up to their moniker after spankin Boston’s bear butts (3 – 0 CAR) you go Cammie!. The Nucks found out that the Bulin wall has apparently patched up most of his holes (4 – 3 CHI). All the series are tied at 1 – 1 right now…….except the Caps VS Pens.  So in honor of my personal favorites I want to share a new glossary of hockey terms and maybe give them a lil luck to grab a bit of a lead in their series.

Ovination! – actions in which the red number 8 decimates your squad with a super slick move that makes you feel shame and embarassment… and possibly makes the Kid cry…some more.

Greenitized! – when a hawk sportin, red wearin defenseman glides into your zone innocently, mesmerizes your forwards and blasts your goalie with a slow rising wrister w/ eyes.

Varleytini- what a rookie goaltender from Russia serves you after he shuts yer asses out. It contains no alcohol yet leaves you with a hangover and a sense disbelief that you did all that embarrassing stuff the night b4.

Steckelportation – when an-impossible-to-miss, 6′ 5″ forward slips into your zone and drops his stealth shields and makes your team look like it has a bad set of Lithium crystals and Scottie is nowhere to be found.

Laichning – a type of electrical strike that only occurs when the DC team is on yer ice. Get the hell out of its way, it packs a hell of a punch and can strike more than once in the same spot.

Seminaltalality - when memories of a bongo playing Opie Taylor looking kid overwhelms your sense of danger and that ‘other’ Alex finds your goalie’s 7 hole for the GWG.

Potimon – not to be confused with any anime character. This lil monster stands between you and the best shot angles and often gives opportunities for Ovination or Steckeling to happen to you with his super blocking powers.

Fedorovitis – a disease that doesn’t strike often but when it does, it usually makes the goalie being struck very ill. Can happen in any zone and during playoff runs can kill.

Brashearing – a type of close shaving given to anyone NOT rockin the red by a really pissed off mack truck… if you manage to survive to game 6, be very careful that it doesn’t happen to you.

We hope this helps and we continue to Rock the Red… GO CAPS GO!

and as always… Go Coyotes! Still alive and ready to rock the desert in 09!

Happy Playoff Hockey!!.. SOMEONE had to step up and do it since HTH felt the need to make me give a shit. We all know how much I hate to do it since my precious boys are off participating in the Worlds or chillaxillatin for the summer. I guess it’ll be me doin the quicky look at round II and a couple of player(s) to watch for and hopefully a reason to tune in, watch and maybe discuss on the forum. So let’s start off with the Eastern Circus…

(1) Boston Bruins v. (6) Carolina Hurricanes  Bruins lead the series 1 – 0

The Canes knocked off the nearly invinsible Marty Brodeur and the red hot Zach Parise led Devils by the skin of their teeth. Taking on the insatiable Boston Bruins will hold a very scary challenge. Timmy Thomas (dontcha just wanna say little Timmy Thomas for some reason?) and the B’s seemingly can do no wrong (sweeping the Canadiens and ruining their 100th anniversary). In their first meeting, Boston has established a psychological advantage over Carolina with a big win. (4 – 1) but we all know why Carolina fans call their team the Cardiac Canes. Don’t count out Cam Ward and his determined band of miscreants, they always seem to find a way out of every hole they dig themselves into. Having the Canes in a game almost always means a crazy roller coaster. Game 2 will be in Boston on Sunday 5/3 at 7:30pm on Versus.

Player(s) to watch: David Krejci (B’s) – he’s been quietly doin some serious scoring and  is 3Gs, 3As in 5 games so far in the post season to go with his 73 regular season points. Combine those numbers with a sweet post season +/- plus 8 and you’ve got a guy to watch for sure. (not to slight the red hot Ryder or Savard in any way) On the Cane’s side as always it comes down to whether or not Cam Ward can work his magic. The Bs have so much fire power, Cam is going to be one busy boy. Stahl had better step it up a notch or 3.

Definitely worth watching, although I can’t stand the B’s (still have a little Wheeler induced nausea), they are very very good and very very disciplined and will make life miserable for the erratic Canes all through the series.

(2) Washington Capitals v. (4) Pittsburgh Penguins

I’ll be rockin the Red when these 2 division rivals meet for round II or should I just go ahead and call it WWV? Or how about the Cold War – Part Deux? Anyway you slice it, its gonna be a media circus (hell, it already is) Ovie VS Sydney is causing Betty to salivate all day and into the wee hours of the night. The regular season has ramped this series into the stratosphere and when these two play in Washington on Saturday, the pundits will be squirming in their analyst chairs no matter who beats who. (hell they already are. NHL on the Fly has been beside itself and had a lil series of questions for the Kid and Ovie…including some really dumb ones) Poor Syd and poor Ovie, lots of people tryin to make this into a Thrilla in Manila. But there is more to both teams than Ovie and the Kid.

Player(s) to watch: Alexander Ovechkin (Caps) – is he really hurt or is he playin possum? Or is the injury all in the mind of a certain reporter from the Post? Whether he’s hurt or not, he’s still not going to be the deciding factor in the series, again…this time it will probably come down to another Russian, that lanky youngster in the net. Simyon Varlamov has the Capital buzzin. Cool as a cucumber, seemingly unflappable and holding a mind boggling .952 sv % and a stunning 1.17 GAA, if the Iron Curtain continues to hold, the Pens could be in deep borscht. For the Pens all eyes will be on the Kid and Geno but it may just come down to Fleury keepin up with Varlamov.

As HTH would say, both teams can score. Between two time Rocket Richard trophy winner Ovechkin and the top goal scoring defenseman in Mike Green (now that Greenie appears to be back on track) add another Hart candidate in the hulking Evgeny Malkin and the human highlight reel stylings of Crosby and every game should be a barn burner. (but can they play some serious defense too… the answer to that question may just be the tie breaker)

Now on to the West Coast Royal Rumble

(2) Detroit Red Wings v. (8) Anaheim Ducks  Detroit leads the series  1-0

True to form the Ducks came out viciously dirty. ( No I don’t like them or their style but hey, its hockey and not supposed to be prim nor prissy) They took their edge and  “flexible” rule book to the next level as expected. Brownie knocked Hudler into next week with a shot to the head and will probably get a suspension for it. (lots of disagreement on whether it was dirty or if Hudie shoulda had his head up) whatever you think it was, it sure got the Ded into the highest levels of pisstivity that I’ve ever seen. Who woulda thunk that Ericksson could fight?

As HT said, the former Stanley Cup champions will certainly do “whatever it takes to get their cup back”, literally! No matter who they have to run over or run through. But the Wings are pretty damned determined to keep it for themselves.  (Go Liddy!) Its gonna get nastier so stay tuned.

Player(s) to watch: Jonas Hiller (Ducks) Can the kid hang on in the face of one of the best offensive juggernauts in the league? Can he live with Holmstrom’s butt in his face all the damn time? Chris Osgood (Wings) -Ozzy was on and poppin. Despite the Ducks attempts to put him through his own posts, the cagey vet hung in there and seems prepared to give as good as he gets. Combine that with the Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Franzen onslaught VS the Getzlaf/Perry/Ryan combo and it should make for one hell storm of a  series. Game 2 in Detroit on Sunday at 2pm.

(3) Vancouver Canucks v. (4) Chicago Blackhawks Vancouver leads the series  1-0

Defensive shutdown artistes VS high flyin creative offensively minded youngsters. The Nucks have been finding ways to score but they are bettter at getting a lead and then shutting down the opposition. The Hawks have had their defensive struggles, but usually can score their way out of trouble. Facing one of the best goalies in recent memory is going to prove troublesome for them.

Players to watch: Roberto Luongo (VAN) Nicolai Khabibulin(CHI) – just like the other goaltending battles, this one may come down to which goalie has the best set of nights and the edge goes to Louie. But other players are definitely making their presence known. Chicago’s Captain better get into battle mode because Kaner and Versteeg probably can’t keep up their current pace alone.

I agree with HT that Louie is just too good in the playoffs…  and could be the biggest factor in halting the Hawks march to a finals appearance. Chicago is young but rapidly proving themselves worthy after knocking off Calgary.  Can the Bulin Wall keep playing above himself and get his team back on track? Game 2 in Vancouver on Saturday.

Another toss up series that will really depend on the goaltending (Chicago), or lack thereof, that each team receives. While HTH seems to have forgiven and forgotten the bitter season against the Hawks, I certainly haven’t, and will be rooting for the Nucks.
——————————————————————————–
Be sure to tune into the playoffs and watch some exciting hockey!! Don’t forget to stop by and vote in the polls and chit chat on the forum.… Enjoy!

Shout out… for those interested in a particular game and it’s not being shown on TV, you can watch the game via online feed.. just head on over to www.nhlsnipers.com

It is sooo hard not to get waaaay high off this game.

We were simply magnificent. okay… maybe not magnificent but we played damn hard… all 60 minutes.

First period… kept them on their heels. No sogs for the birds for nearly 15 minutes! (the Pens have been having shooting issues despite having Sid and Geno leading the charge). We made sure they continued to have issues. Worried that poor Breezy would fall asleep back there. The Winnik/Malkin battles were epic… and our Beast continuously out worked their beast for the puck. The Pens looked disjointed, lethargic and were on their heels for much of this period. Fleury had his hands full but managed to keep us off the board, he looked cool and calm and was pretty much their best player for the whole 20 minutes.

Second period… the Pens found their feet and began to waddle across our neutral with a bit more authority. They caught up on sogs (not many were true chances, but they probably put more shots on net in this period than they have in total for this road trip). The Joker finally slipped past MAF (1 -0) but Satan worked his evil magic on a flukey high riccochet and answered our goal with one of his own. (1 -1 ) Captain Clutch roared back into action in the waning moments to snatch back the lead on a Rhino pass and we let the Pens roost at second intermission w/ that 2 – 1 weighing on their shoulders.

Third period… the birds returned with vengeance on the brain. They had fire and legs for the first half of this one but Breezy had other ideas. The big Russian repeatedly turned away all comers with authority. But the turning point of the game came when our DC fed Sykora a face full of board (hey Pete, nice performance btw, Carci deliberately went in from the side but Sykora somehow ended up face into the glass) and Sig got called for the dreaded delay of game, puck over glass. The Pens could have handed us our ass at this point, could have gotten their fans back into it with a timely marker here. (the Pen fans in the crowd did their best to get the boys fired up… to no avail) Our Pkers went into overdrive and pissed Satan off so badly he hooked Hanzal and then pulled off a 10 minute misconduct. The crowd visibly deflated and the Pens pretty much left the ice to the hard charging Boedker/Rhino/Porter phenomenon. Boedker snatched the puck from Goligosky and fed Rhino a beauty, the Rhino pretty much delivered Ports his first NHL goal tied in a red ribbon to make it 3 -1. IDK why they bothered to pull MAF in the last minutes, they had pretty much conceded the game. Even poor Malkin, who had taken the team on his shoulders and tried to put some guts back into them, couldn’t do anymore. Doaner put the chalupa goal in and we left the ice w/ a 4 – 1 victory, a chalupa for the fans and all 3 stars of the game.

Observations… this is not the 07 Pens… IDK who the hell these guys were. Staal was avoiding hits like most people avoid bill collectors. Malkin didn’t bother to hide his frustration and Sid the kid was nowhere to be found when the chips really went into the toidy.

Hockey is a game of opportunity some nights. Thankfully the boys recognised this and took full advantage of the Penguin team who have obviously lost their belief.

You have to absolutely adore Daniel Winnik. Has there been one shift in which the Beast has not been an epic factor? Fighting off 4 Pens while we completed our line change, creating open space every shift and just pure out workin and outmuscling and freakin out hustling everyone on the ice with him. Talk about leading by example.

NHL official recap

OdinMercer Summation for Pensburgh

The NHL show is coming to town… well , the poster boy for the NHL is coming anyway… and bringing his merry band of mischief makers (Geno and MAF ) with him.

We went through the post mortem of the Flames game so I am not going to start there. We know that the last time the Pens came here, it was close… a 1 – 3 loss isn’t too horrible considering that The Kid made the highlight reels against us previously and his boys took us apart 2 – 7 prior to that.

So what do we hope for? Well we hope that TGOs current juggle session pays off. The lines as of today look like:

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

With Therrien being almost as much of a juggler as WG, its a tossup as to which lines will actually hit the ice. Rumor has it that Michel is splitting up Geno and Cindy yet again. Meaning we have 2 very nasty lines to worry about rather than a top line that we could have thrown the WTH? Line against (would have been interesting to see if the boys could work their containment magic against such a monster setup). You just KNOW I am going to ream Gretz and Co a new one if the WTH? Line has been broken up for nothing. Lets all hope at least one of those hard workin beasts scores.

Both teams are in a similar situation on the blue. The Pens have problems with Gonch and Whit out indefinitely and Big Hal Gill on the DTD trail. Gill is a monster back there and we had major problems with him, so here’s hoping he won’t be joining us. We have Jlov still out and Ken Klee coming to join us (hopefully meaning Hale will be sitting this one out). Klee isn’t the fastest thing on 2 skates but lets face it… fast isn’t really what we need right now. We need stable, reliable and safe. We need the guy who makes the good decision the first time. And I think Klee just might fit the bill.

IDK what the D pairings will actually shake out to be but I would think some combination of Klee/Yandle, Klee/Sauer or even Klee/Jovo might be seen. With Z being able to partner any thing on skates… there is a versatility that Klee can bring us, if he lives up to even the minimum expectation. (Z/Yandle is a no brainer, DMo/Sauer gives the same shut down capability as the Z/Sauer combo only w/ the added fillip of DMo’s slap shot) Whichever way TPTB decide to go, we’ll be seeing Klee rockin the #2 (that prolly won’t sit well w/ more than a few Ballard-die-hards). Time to let it go people, Bally won’t be comin back. (Doug Moss was recently the guest of the booster club and gave us this lil tidbit… They tried 3 ways from Sunday to do the Joker deal w/out losing Ballard. No dice from FLA.. we want the master of the hipcheck or no deal.) So suck it up and deal with it and don’t be givin Klee the business when he hits the ice.

Read the rest of this entry »

Apparently the Coyotes showed up for a hockey game but there was a swim meet being held. The best dive of the night goes to Armstrong! +10  Interesting game. Lets start with the bad/ugly and finish with the good this time around shall we?

Bad and ugly is that we got beat by the Pens…again. Ugly is that we got beat on special teams…again. Our PK had to work too hard all friggin game and at the tail end of a tough road trip that is a recipe for a distaster. Sad is that a team with so much talent resorted to petty diving and whining at the refs to get a couple of undeserved power plays. I never believed the hype about the whine and dive til I saw this game…Always figured it was sour grapes from team fans that lost to the Pens. Well now I know. The rest of the ugly penalties were our cross to bear for getting out of hand in the face of such wickedly strange reffing.

The good – we showed some mettle and hung tight with a much more talented team.

(gotta give props to my favorite baby Pen ’Geno’  and the most of the boys for their absolutely awesome level of talent)

We didn’t get slaughtered like the last outing. Bally, Donor and Bryz worked their tails off (Doan with the only goal and Bryz keepin the game from becoming a rout). Carcillo! stayed outta major trouble again.

But Bryz summed up the game the best: “We took too many penalties tonight,” Bryzgalov said. “It’s hard to get any scoring chances, hard to get going. We were in the box for half the game.”

Ah well, back to the den to lick our road wounds and get ready to kick the Kings around some more.

~photos from GhettyImages – Gregory Shamus/Contributor ~