Whodathunkit?

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

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

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

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

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

Can I say whodathunkit again?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Can you say JOVOCOP!

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

and the Iron Czech

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

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

Even Enver ‘Feivel’ Lisin got his licks in.

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

This was one sweet game.

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

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

12/18/2008 NSH 1 @ PHX 2

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

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

12/11/2008 MIN 1 @ PHX 3

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

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

Here ki ki kitty! That’s right Shea Weber and the fanged wonders are in town tonight. Talkin about fighting like cats n dogs! Both teams need these two points to remain in contention. Both teams have been hangin close, by the skin of their teeth.

The Preds have 33 points (15-12-3) is a really good record, especially for a team that is uber dependent on goaltending and has no power name leading the litter. Both Ellis and Rinne are holding this team in place with their performances and Weber has gotten hot on the blueline to give them some added claw power.

We’ve gotten at least a point out of the last 4 games and sit at 32 points. (14-13-4) is a damn good record for a team with a first time #1 gate keeper and a hodge podge blueline. The nicest thing about our offense is that on any given day 6 or more fairly consistent shooters can heat up and we have 3 possible canons that can get busy on the blue line.(of course with 1/2 of that number being grass green… there is also the possibility that no one will score) ughhh.

Apparently there is very little difference between cats n dawgs as we both sit 3rd in our respective divisions. The cats are 7th and the dogs are 9th in the west. PK% (Yotes 16th, Preds 17th) and GF % (preds 17th, Yotes 18th) are within a point of each other in the league. So what does it come down to?

Which team is hungrier? Which team’s netminder has the bigger cojones? Which team’s coaching staff has done the better prep job? Which team can find a way to snag the W at any cost. This is a game that we absolutely NEED to win in regulation. We are in direct competition for playoffs with these guys and it is absolutely vital to put them away w/out letting them grab a point and stay ahead of us. That point could mean the difference between a playoff berth and early golf again.

Please don’t let TooToo be stoopid enough to take a run at the rooks. I really don’t wanna see him die. Although a Carcillo on Tootoo beat down might take the team into win space like nothin else.

Beware the Pred blue… Webz is sittin on 25 points and a hefty +12. Lets nip that in the bud straight off the hop.

Gonna need some crafty offense… both Rinne and Ellis are soo hot right now… some menage a tois (sounds so much more fun than tic-tac-toe) hockey in front of the crease or maybe just some nasty Fridgie screening can get us into chalupa territory tonight.

Come on Bryz! its time to steal one tootsie. No early softie… just good solid stoppage. You can do it… nay! you NEED to do it. The boys have had your back for the last couple of games big time. Step up! OWN your net babe.

!!!LET’S GO COYOTES!!!

Predatorial Coverage

Odie’s Take

Official Preview

Thanx Qbert for the graphix

Thanx JC for some of the sweet stats

BIG SHOUT OUT TO PATIO 6

Watch the game

Ack!!! Boy did we stink. From net to net we played like shite. The Preds came out of the gate like startled quail. Players everywhere! Seemed like they had extra men on the ice they were so fast and furious.

The first period was all classic execution and hard charging work… too bad none of it was our execution or work. I can barely type I am still so mad about the poor showing we made last night. The next person who says Hanzal is too slow and doesn’t contribute enough offense is gonna get a severe keister kicking from me. We miss that big body. Look at our record since he’s been out. The system in place utilized every line a specific way, without that big Czech playin defensive center for us we have a hole, well, the size of Texas.

Hello goodbye…

Vandy did not look too out of place in his debut. The hard workin brawler managed his 5 minutes of TOI quite well (meaning no huge faux pas) but no fighting or even huge hits either.

No one played exceptionally in this one. ( Dwin gave it his best shot for more minutes than anyone ) Bryz! wasn’t the only one stinkin up the 1st period, those 3 goals he gave up on 8 shots? Take a good look at how they were scored. (Yes, Breezy is out of position and can’t control his rebounds but with the team standing still just watching Preds swarm the net the big Russian has a hard time knowing where the hell to focus) Oy Vey 3 - 0 and The Cats chase Bryz! out of the net.

So anyway, Telly comes in and our captain puts on his hard hat during our second PP opportunity. (as Doan goes… so does the team?) The Donor starts our come back with a huge PP goal to end the miserable period.

We look stronger and faster in the second (we are just behind Dallas as a second period performer) and Winnie goes hunting the honey pot in Ellis’ kitchen(sweet move thru the circles and a quick slider thru the posts). Momentum baby! That fickle she devil switches to our side as Dwin gets rewarded for his determination. 3 - 2 Preds.

The Preds aren’t quite sure what to make of this whole turn around and our big gun takes advantage to tie it up Jovo scorzes unassisted from the blue with a laser canon. 3 - 3 tie game!(it’s the ice buckos…trust me on this… you got the good ice for 2 periods… its definitely a factor in our home record)

So we head into the third. Aw man do we have to? Dammmitttallltohell! The Sybyl team is back. Standin around, thumbs in unmentionable places as Telly gets handed his ass 23 seconds apart. 

5 - 3 now and Preds all over the place. Might as well pull the goalie at this rate… oh wait! We do just that… 6 - 3 Preds final to add insult to injury. PS… every player I warned you about in the preview…. scored…

The single most disappointing game of the season in my eyes. We didn’t work hard, we hung our goalies out in the wind, our PP went 1 - 5. Shall I continue the litany? I didn’t think so. Siiiiggghhhh… well this homestand was another exercise in futility…. goods news! we head out to Dallas tonight… ROAD TRIP! (a very lucky fan gets to head out with the team for this one) bet its gonna be a quiet plane ride though…

We gotta pull outta this and quick… a slide at this point of the year could take us out of contention fast. But I have faith. This has been a miracle of a season so far. We have rarely lost 2 games in a row much less 3.  Hell of a ride baby Yotes, hell of a ride. Let’s head into Dallas and let former Stars Kapi and TQ have a shot at thumbing their noses at their old team.

Rock n Roll Boys!

GO COYOTES!

~photos from AP/Paul Connors and David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic~

onyxstarr@coyoteshipcheck.com

It seems like we haven’t had a regulation win in forever. I hope that changes tonight. The Preds are a tough competitor and although we have done well against them at home it hasn’t been through big decisive wins. We won 3 of the last 4 against them but only by the slimmest margin.

Radulov, Arnott, PJ and Bonk have been the big components in these matchups and we really need to shut them down tonight. The Preds are going to be he-man hungry. They have lost their last 2 games and are not even trying to hear 3 game slide. We are in the same leaky raft after having wet the bed the last 2 games. To stay in this hunt we absolutely have to stop this slide in its tracks.

The scoring committee needs to get to work early in this one. Bryz! needs to be awake and solid from the git go. We need to take advantage of the Preds back-to-back status (although they are 5-2-1 in the second half of back-to-back games this season). They will be tired but gotta be bouyed up from having hung tuff with the Sharks yesterday.

While our road record stands well on its own, our home record has not been above .500 yet this season. That has GOT to change if we want to see any kind of post season action. WG has this to say about our home play: “It just seems like we keep digging ourselves in holes now at home, and that’s not good. We need to figure out a way to come out quicker and get ahead.” Maybe Toc has a suggestion or 5? Is this the night where we see a road warrior game? I hope so.

I have no clue what to expect from the latest call up from San Antonio *Pete Vandemeer* the guy has no offensive firepower at all that I can see. But BillyT wasn’t adding much to the scores anyway so maybe WG will just shorten the bench and give the brawler enuff TOI to ensure that no rough stuff gets in the way of a victory? Donor has not been himself lately (or maybe I just have super high expectations) but he, Vbrat, Perks and Mules have been playing uber minutes, it will be interesting to see if that trend continues or if they can score early enough and often enough to give these guys a break from these 20+ minute per night games.

This team definitely plays follow the leader. As Doan goes, so does the team. Set the table early my Captain. Let’s grab those 2 points and leave none for the kitties. A nice regulation win to start the home ice turn around would sure be sweet. Ugly, warty or dirty, I won’t care…. but let’s get it done tonight!

I hope everyone got brand new sticks for this game. Last game we battled the craptastic ice and a broken stick malaise that pretty much cost us the game. Lighter and more flexible is NOT good for defensemen Z… just a thought.

Predators injuries: RW Erat (back) is questionable. LW Steve Sullivan (back) and RW Jordin Tootoo (hip flexor) are out.

Coyotes injuries: C Martin Handzal (shoulder) is out.

Newsies speak up about the Yotes:

NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/sports/hockey/10coyotes.html?_r=2&ref=sports&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

ESPN: http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?columnist=burnside_scott&id=3234260

Let’s Go Coyotes!

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

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/

Well the 5 game homestand is nearly over and the AllStar break is almost upon us. We face the Predators tonight and hopefully we can pull an Arnold out of our hats.

This game is about a 9 on the Richter scale of importance. With Nashville and Columbus both sitting at 54 points and St. Louis sitting at 51 (Canucks edged past them in SO tonight), this is simply a MUST win to go into the break. Colorado, Minnesoda and Vancouver will all be within spittin distance at 56 and 57 points.

Not sure which goalie we’ll face. But in the last contest we were able to get the best of Chris Mason and we haven’t faced Ellis yet. Both are playin very well to keep an ailing Nashville in the hunt.

Players who have hurt us badly in the past are out of commission but I hope no one takes that as a sign of weakness. Arnott and Dumont are very much alive and kicking as well as being point leaders for the team.

These guys are very phyisical and can be down right mean. We need to out tough them without takin any stupid penalties. They can score and they can be defensively touchy.

We could come out of this homestand 7 of 10 points which would make us downright ecstatic. Goin out in style would suit me just fine. A small bit of breathing room in which to incorporate Carcillo back into the fold, figure out who is shifting over to give the boy some running room(my vote is York… sorry Yorkie, so many others are contributing so much more right now… you, not so much) and to regroup for a very, very tough back-end schedule.

LET’S GO HUNTIN!

!Go Coyotes Go!

OnyxStarr@coyoteshipcheck.com