Whoa! WOW! Wolski! (okay sorry, I couldn’t resist) Wotjek Wolski and Lee Stempniak made Phoenix GM Don Maloney look like an evil genius…again. (there’s a reason that Coyotes fans have the mantra … In GMDM we trust. But I’ll get to that later) Poetic justice or not, this game couldn’t have worked out any better for the Coyotes. It had drama galore and back stories out the whazoo.

New boy Lee Stempniak (affectionately as of this moment called Stumps) started his tenure off on the right foot by drawing first blood. Stumps basically woke up in Toronto, hauled it off to the airport, made it to Phoenix in time to suit up for the game. That’s right, no acclimation for this boy, just jump right on in and start the party with his first Coyotes goal. Of course he had an advantage from working wit Fiddy and Winnie, they may not score that much but they sure generate a lot of chances, which can give a kid with a nose for the net plenty of opportunities. Look for a point gathering renaissance for Lee Stempniak in the coming weeks.

It is supposed to sting Petey my lad, if it hadn’t I would have given up on you as many of the Phoenix fans already have done. Peter Mueller said after the game ” It was really strange (playing against Phoenix) It happened so quickly, the last few days. It’s been surreal. This is one of the games where, not just me, but everyone, wanted to win. It stings a little right now.” The constant booing of a former Coyotes player was startling to me at first but I understand the vitriol of the fans after learning that the chronic underachiever…err lazy bum…sorry, I meant the kid asked for a trade months and months ago according to GMDM. Much like Blake ‘the flake’ Wheeler before him, it was a slap in the face to some of the loyal fans. Many felt like that answered their questions about his performance, that maybe Peter stopped giving his all in an effort to get traded and THAT is a very big no no in the eyes of any fanbase, not just Phoenix. But really people, let it go after this, its ugly and truthfully its waaay too much personalization (he didn’t abandon YOU, he had different needs and it wasn’t really that kind of relationship anyway). Think of it this way, his new team got trounced and the last give away that we scored on was directly on him, that should be enough just desserts, lets move on and wish the kid well in the future, the way we would for any former Coyotes player (just never against us thank you very much).

Speaking of poetic justice, what about Wolski with the GWG? Oh yeah, talk about having the last laugh. The big native of Zabrze, Poland sure got the knee slapper over on his former team mates on Thursday. Scoring off a beautiful feed from his new Captain and endearing himself to his new fanbase, his new team mates, his new coaching staff and giving hockey writers everywhere a cool angle to write about all day. After pissing in the skates of his old team I bet WWW went to bed smiling from ear to ear… I know I did.

We hit an empty net? Really? I rubbed my eyes twice before cheering, cuz seriously, these boys and empty nets just can’t ever seem to get together. Thank you Radim for proving 2 things… yes we can so hit an EN and we can also score more than 2 goals in a game after the break.

The return of BeastGalov was great to see, now maybe I can avoid the cost of going to Russia and beating the hell out of the Olympic goat,I meant coach, sorry. Saving 23 of 24 shots was a pretty big deal because it meant Bryzzie is coming back from the doubting place and will be able to keep the boys hanging around til they can find a way to win.

All the new kids found a way to contribute. Nokaleinin? Nokalienen? oh to hell with it, LocoNoko may not have scored but he ran around knockin the fire out of everyone he could reach. (I would love to nickname the boy AT&T for his ability to reach out and touch someone but I have a feeling LocoNoko may be sticking if he keeps playing so edgy)

Last but certainly not least, the DeMolition man has returned… finally. Despite all the hoopla at the end of his last year, we all knew he’d be back if there was a way. He seemed to have a shaky moment or two but other than a puck hopping over his stick during a power play this new Derek Morris is just fine. The hit on Mueller was sheer poetry and he got a couple of nice shots off during his 16+ minutes of TOI without even breakin a sweat. Welcome back Mo indeed.

The Coyotes took down the Avalanche 3 – 1 and it was a great time. The 12k+ fans in the building were rockin the house. Lots of signs were visible welcoming the new kids and fan favorite DMO, a wave was produced after ginormous effort from a crazy man in section 104 and folks were makin serious noise for the boys throughout the arena. 81 points! 4th in the Western conference! 4th in the NHL! Attendance going up every game (including pesky weeknight games)! National media attention…POSITIVE media attention! Holy jumpin! (yes I wish our little motor mouth, Darren Pang could be here to enjoy this, he was the biggest homer ever through some tough times) but I’ll just borrow his favorite phrase to describe this amazing turn of events.

Up next in this home stand are the Anaheim Ducks. I know everyone and their mama is expecting the Ducks to make their push for a post season spot. We better be ready to squash those plans.

Keys to the game?

Solve Jonas Hiller. Period, point blank and simple. We’ve given this team the business all season but it always comes down to Hilly. This kid is a rock in their net and doesn’t rattle easy. If we can get 2 by him and then hold on tight I would be happy.

Mind our own net. We have to give Bryz some lock down defense. That damn Bobby Ryan can make the best defense look like Swiss cheese. We have to let Bryz see what is coming in and don’t let those damn Anaheim trees set up shop in front of him. Bryzzie still knows how they shoot and always gets up for these games. No rebounds! No second chances for these guys Breezer.

The newest edition of the scoring committee can’t lay back and let the new boys do all the work. (it will be fine if LocoNoko gets the GWG though, I’m all in for another case of poetic justice against his former team) It is time for everyone to partake in the scoring drives. We have to bring all guns to bear in order to get this job done.

Discipline of course will be key tonight. These boys will eat you alive if you give them enough PP time. Just stay out of the box for your own sakes. No stupid penalties tonight please.

Watch your backs! Getzlaf and Wizniewski will be headhunting. Head on a swivel and do unto them before they do unto you should be the words of the day.

There are still some tickets left. The bandwagon is starting to fill up but don’t worry, we’ll scoot over to make room for you to join us. There will of course be a tailgate in Lot J as usual from 2ish to 5pm when the doors open. So come on by and join the party. Don Maloney is hosting a chalk talk around 3:30 ish (I hope you RSVP’d for that) Don is always a great speaker and allows lots of questions.

Don’t forget about the Coyotes Carnival on Sunday! Right here at the JobArena. Rain or shine the boys will be out for this charitable event. We’ll have a blast and you can meet the new kids. It is only a $10 donation to get into the event. Hope to see you there.

As always… Go Coyotes!

Holy crap! Big ol’ duck egg for Bryzzie tonight. Thats 5 shutouts for the big guy. He must be laughin his ass off after we chased Hiller out of the net. (Sorry lil boy, get out of the way and let the Breezer show you how its done)

We are sittin really pretty in the NHL right now in 6th place (game in hand on COL) and 4th in the West (COL is division leader so they take precedence). But after we take the Kings behind the woodshed we can take 3rd legitimately. (WOW! that feels really good to be able to type that)

Our home W streak advances to 8. Most in like 7 years? And a first in Glendale? Glendale gots game yo!

Mr. BizzNasty blew Pornstache Parros off and denied those bastages any spark. Total discipline, gotta love it.

The lil Mueller boy turned into a serious monster tonight. 2 points and a plus 1 on the night. Damn were those passes sweet. 2 primary assists! Took a hit to make a play! Welcome back big PM. Now just finish turning the corner so I can stop raggin on you…please. (Don’t make AJ break out the backwards jersey every damn game, Pru may need the mojo a lil bit too)

I guess the new stitches line up Marty’s shot better. Big Hoss got a very pretty goal tonight. He needs to shoot more. Deceptively wicked shot on that boy.

The Lombo combo! So happy to see this line clicking. Fantastic chances all night long.

Our face off wins didn’t suffer from the loss of Fiddy. 58%! We held our own and better yet, we dominated on puck possession.

A PP goal! Enough said.

This is my second favorite game of 2009. The last Jackets game is in the lead but this one had everything. Discipline, scoring (3 lines hit the back of the net), passing (PM to Langer! thing of beauty), defense, Bryz in total DENIED! mode (only 21 shots but he came big when we needed it), chasin goalies outta their net and scoring on the replacement guy(this has to be righteously sweet for our Bryz, since the Ducks picked Hiller over him… a definite how-you-like-me-now moment). Fans chanting in the stands (Hiller’s name followed by you suck, booing Wizzer every time he touched the puck. Apparently we have developed long memories about wrongs done to us) and the crazies bowing in the attack twice corner were completely awesome too, decent crowd for a holiday week day (thankfully I was at the game rather than in the mall like the last minute shopping schmucks), rise of the Phoenix in the standings looks damn good too.

This team is why all us die hards kept holding on. This team is a force to be reckoned with. THIS team can go to the playoffs and make some ‘real’ noise. It is a beautimous thing to be a Coyotes fan right now.

We take on the Kings on Saturday. Get there. We’ll be honoring our Captain for his 1000th game. Puck drops at 7pm (time changed to give us time for the the Doan homage) if you still need tickets… DISCOUNT HERE

As always… GO COYOTES!

Cause apparently I’m psycho.. psychic.

Lombo, Upshall and Doan! On fire and totally dominating. If that keeps up, the Western conference is in biiiig trouble.

Just gonna throw out some random thoughts cuz…well I’m so juiced up right now, sleep is going to be impossible and coherent thought is totally out of the question.

We won tonight, taking the series 3 of 4. We smelled desperation and blood on the air and our uber carnivore instincts apparently shifted into high gear.

Hanzal, I salute you. (quick hint… you had him all day til you bent the elbow and let him into reach… thnx DT for pointing that out, I couldn’t see how asshole…Boll got the better of Marty) It took balls and heart to step into that fight. I hope your teammates buy you some liquid anesthetic and give you major love for that. Still wondering why Jovo Oaks didn’t step in and take that one? (Thanks to hockey fights and DTG for pointing out that I had the wrong goober) Skill guys VS goon (Marty AND Verby gettin eff’d over by Boll?) Jovo shoulda been all over that. But Marty has been gaining a set of clankers as he’s taken on AND contained the best the league has to offer. I guess this was the final stage of his evolution into a monster. Don’t worry Marty, word on the street is that chicks dig scars.

WTF were the reffs calling on the Michalek scrum? Seriously, Z goes down hard and those asshats surround him and punch and kick him? Then one pulls him up out of the pile to try to start a fight? And the refs miss all that? They call Z for the boarding but miss 5 jerkwads trying to kill him? *head desk* Yes he laid out a hit that could have been borderline but to completely ignore the afters is just plain mind boggling.

This was perhaps the most complete game the boys have played so far. The big guns were finally blazing full force (10 points for the Lombo combo of Upshall, Doan and Lombardi) the defense was clicking on all cylinders. Even without Fiddy, Winnie was totally focused and making life miserable for the jackasses Jackets. The new boy Bubba didn’t embarrass himself (at 34, Anders isn’t so much of a boy) bt what matters is that he came in and added a helper, which bodes well for the future blueline contributions. Mueller was present and accounted for a few times, a couple of nice shots and a couple that were blocked. (Seriously though Petey, don’t make it so obvious by standing still in our high slot alone you stand out when your man is behind you sneakin in on Bryz and you don’t move too)

And Bryzzie… you played very well dear heart but don’t think I didn’t notice you trying to shoot yourself in the foot playing the puck ala Turdco. Stay in your crease and let the boys do the heavy lifting.

What is with the official stats? Can’t believe they missed that horrendous give away by my boy.

So anyway, it was a great game that had a little bit of everything. Fights, blood, offense, discipline, power plays and one of the most beautiful tic tac toe displays I’ve ever seen with Jovo, Lombo, Uppy and Doan crisscross passing through the Jackets zone 4 on 2 and actually scoring on it! Huzzah! Everybody contributed a little somethin somethin. Brought a tear to my eye.

We are still in 6th place in the West. Only 1 point behind the Kings and the Preds. The view is beautiful from 10th place in the league. We are 8 – 2 for our last 10 and show no signes of stopping. When has December been this much fun?

So we play tomorrow night. The dirty Ducks come to town fresh off a win against the Avs. (thanks for slowing COL down for us Quackers) we need to win this one cleanly. The Ducks seem to be gettin their poop in a group so we’re in for a battle as usual.

Keys to the game?

Well we tried shellin Hiller into extinction which didn’t work out so well. Its time to break out the garbage goals I guess. We saw a bit of Jovo in front of Garron last night, maybe between his big rump and Bubba’s we can screen Hiller long enough to grab a couple of goals. Pruu! the other boys have turned it on, maybe you can give us one of your crazy aerobatic performances? Its even better than garbage goals watchin Prucha break dance thru the crease with the puck on his stick (or behind the opponent’s goalie). Whichever way we gotta do it, its time to get creative, that is one hot goalie.

Stay focused and disciplined. We may be the only team that can beat the Ducks at taking penalties. Bobby Ryan will make us regret every one (if Getzlaf and Perry don’t beat him to it). Play your position, waltz with your man if thats the only way you can keep up with him (or hug him or tell him to say hi to his sister for you, whatever it takes) just don’t get caught out and then try to make it all better by hacking at him.

This is a division rival known for comebacks. Do NOT give them any opportunities to be IN this game. Containment, containment, containment.

I guess Fiddy is still questionable and Marty may be feelin some serious after affects so we’re gonna get to possibly see Porter who was called up today. He’s old enough to fit Tippett’s preferred player profile. Hopefully he can shine tomorrow night and get to stick around for a bit.

Hunker down dawgs! Lets keep that home record win stat climbing. (we’re 13-5-0 at home) Puck drops at 7pm, hope to see you there.

Positive press? from TSN no less. Power rankings are often silly and inconsequential and obvious but its nice to be given credit finally.

Ambassador’s club discounted tickets available! Go buy some so I can beat Marc please.

As always… GO COYOTES!

I warned ‘em but I guess sometimes it just isn’t enough. Not that we played badly, we just didn’t have enough left.

The Ducks came at us hard but the best performance was young Hiller as usual. We had our chances, we battled hard but it wasn’t to be. We shelled Hilly with 17 in the first to no avail. 13 sogs in the second only yielded 1 goal and they were some doozy shots. We struck early in the third and then got held off the board. The Ducks took advantage of our PK like they were naive school girls.

We definitely looked a little worn, guys were running into each other, we committed 9 penalties and we couldn’t get to loose pucks cleanly most of the night. Special teams… nuthin special about our power play thats for sure. Man does it still need work. We just haven’t produced when it would matter most. And we’re killin our PK guys. 9 penalties! Uggghhh. What the hell are we thinkin? I could simply chalk it up to mental or physical fatigue except we seem to be determined to be the PIM kings of the league even when we’re rested and at home. Trust me, we get our share of shitty reffing but that doesn’t account for most of our plain and simple brain farts.

Sooo we shot ourselves in the foot, let the Ducks retain their relevance and get a skate on the ladder to crawl back into the cup hunt. These are the games we need to jump on but I will give the boys a pass given the nasty scheduling this week.

The boys come home with half the available points and retain our spot in the standings. A strong home stand could help us leapfrog some serious contenders like the Flames, Sabres and Avalanche. We need to avoid our normal 2 game loss pattern and hope those 3 get a little stagnant. Catching back up to the Kings and gaining 8th place in the league would be a great place to end 2009.

We’re rollin gansta. But keep your fingers crossed that Fiddy will be okay (he left the game with a lower body issue). We need those face off wins and the puck possession to keep the momentum going. Winnie and TayPy would really miss him.

So hopefully I will see you all on Monday night when the boys take on Nash & Co… again. Maan, Olympic year makes for cruel scheduling.

As always… GO COYOTES!

The boys are on the road still. Don’t these road trips feel like they take forever? Wish they could play all their games at home but when they’ve grabbed 4 of the 8 possible road points I guess it isn’t too bad.

Wings - wounded and with suckage in their net, the Ded managed to do their best zombie imitation and and kept coming at us. Our Captain added to their walking wounded count by taking poor Ericksson out of the game. We didn’t look so hot. Bryz was even ice cold for once and with a final score of 2 – 3 not in a good way, I think Breezy would like a mulligan on a couple of those goals. We didn’t play bad per se, just not our usual vim and vigor. Lucky for the Wings that their role players stepped it up a bunch of notches, unlucky for us, I think for once in this reality the boys were looking past the Ded Thangs to the next game. Bad dawgs! Thats one of the hazards of taking them behind the woodshed, we forgot just how resilient those Motorcity Monsters can be. We leave Detroit with no points except the ones Tippett probably made over and over in the next hours while they traveled to Toronto.

Leafs - The storied franchise had fallen onto hard times recently but were making a serious bid for a good season. Young Kessel seems to be thriving there (betcha he don’t miss Boston one bit) He’s dragging the Leafs, kicking and screaming into the playoff hunt. Sorry to put a crimp in their mini-streak but we walked into the legendary Air Canada Center and kicked some serious Maple hiney. Petr Prucha led the way with 2 goals and someone convinced Yands that he was a Czech (Yands and Hanzal tallied 3 assists each). The Y’s got in on the action too with Fiddy, Vrby and Uppy grabbin goals of their own. Talk about a sweet win, Bish sat 8 games but Tip put him in for energy (that old softie put him in so his daddy could see him play in the NHL for the first time too) Bissionette would not only put on a show for his pops, he would score the GWG for that extra soupcon of coolness. 6 – 3 Yotes 2 points and out to Columbus and that pain in the ass Rick Nash.

Jackets - These guys just wont go away. Did I mention that Rick Nash is a serious pain in the patoot?  Yands was still hypnotised believin he is one of the Czech Federation and lit the lamp waay early in the first. I thought we’d be scorin up a storm after that but the only other regulation goal would be from that stinkin Nash kid in the third. AZBarbie! whoa whodathunkit? Jason the Barbarian was in rare form. He’s still a big old slow flapper for the most part but he looked fairly solid after a shaky start (the guy hasn’t played since Moses was in short pants (well since Nov 16th and thats gotta feel like forever to a hockey player). After the initial howl of dismay I settled down and actually watched him and he wasn’t too bad out there. Havin Z play 2nd goalie for 30 minutes probably helped alot. My lil Iron Czech took a high stick from that schlub Huselius (I’ve got a beatin with that boy’s name all over it waiting for Monday night) But no matter everyone survived to head into OT. OT was polished off with not even a burp. Neither team was able to generate more than a few belly scratchers.

We head into the shootout, I didn’t miss Muells all game til the shoot out. I like havin sharp shooters for these skills contests and Muells can sure snipe with the best of them. So instead we went with Vrby, Doaner and Langer. Vrbata’s magic didn’t quite pan out but Doan kept us in it long enough for Lang to put it to bed. Hey! whaddayaknow 4 points out of 6 for the road trip! suhweet!

Even better… our magnificent Captain got a win in his 1000th game! WTG Shane, you make me proud to be a Yotes fan. Solid hard working Doan became only the 2nd player in the franchise to make 1000 games (Teppo was the other one) thats what I call good company to be in.

Ducks got next… and I hope we make ‘em wish they hadn’t. The boys are in Anaheim already, enjoying a day off and preppin to imbibe some Duck soup. Its a matinee puck drop at 2PM. It is gonna be a good one… if you have Center Ice, you’ll even get to see it. Luckily for me I am pet sitting for peeps that have a CI package. (Thnx Q!)

Keys to the game?

Bring some energy, its gonna be ugly. The Ducks are so far down in the standings right now that Carlyle has to be thankful for a floor. The Quacks have been playing better of late though. Hampered by the loss of Selanne, the rest of the crew have been picking up the slack. I think we’re about to see the return of the dirty Ducks. There will be lots of the physical so be prepared to take a hit (hint: do not expect the refs to call the penalties, just pick yourself up and go score) Even their media is getting in on the desperation. Thhis isn’t only about 2 points, these guys are in trouble and they are gonna take it out on us if we aren’t fast enough to avoid it.

Hiller is a stingy bastard. Shoot early and often. Get up close and personal…especially you Bish, park that hiney right in front of him every chance you get. Hilly has a good record against us. We’re starting to get everyone’s attention so don’t count on seeing their back up goalie Jiggy.

Play hard, play all 60 minutes. Go into this one like someone called your mama bad names. If you take your foot off the pedal for even a nano second these Ducks will be stickin a fork in you instead of vice versa.

Other stuff:

Almost FREE TICKETS!!! good lookin out for the deals ladies! via theYotesDiva and BabyKate – ATTN Coyotes fans! Buy (4) 8-packs of Pepsi @ Circle K, get 2 lower level seats to a Yotes game in Dec or Jan. Spread the word!

For those who can’t make it to Circle K, there’s always online through the Ambassador’s Club.

Saturday against the Kings we’re gonna have a 1k celebration before the game, honoring our Captain.

Last round of the Arena poll is still going. Get over there and let the writers know what you think about their blogs.

Just some food for thought: 5th in the West and 7th in the league. Our boys sit just 3 points behind the Pacific leaders (LAK and SJS if you didn’t know). We need to welcome them home like the warriors they have proven to be… get a ticket! Its Columbus and that damn Nash kid again so it oughta be a doozy.

Time for bed, have a great weekend and hope to see you out at the Jobarena on Monday.

As always… GO COYOTES!

It was officially a streak for real folks. No I ain’t talkin about some freak named Zeke, cavorting across a soccer field bare assed. I’m talking about the Phoenix Coyotes knocking off 5 opponents in a row! It was sweet. We are now 6 - 1 - 1 after we got tripped up by those pesky Kings and  the wounded but uber dangerous Ded Thangs.

W – Dallas – 5 – 2 -we beat the perennial playoff hounds. They are paarlaying loser points into another hunt for Lord Stanley but we’re denying them every chance we get and staying on the trail right with them.

W – Anaheim – 3 – 2 -we showed them the door too, another playoff monster that thrives on loser points paving their path to the post season. No soup for you only Duck soup for us!

W – Calgary 2 – 1 – scary buncha guys (Joker is still scary even when he isn’t scoring). Thought they would take us out behind the woodshed, glad we were able to not only hang with them but to show them the united pack smack down (damn you former Coyotes for giving so much more to the Flames than us).

W – Ottowa 3 – 2 – I guess having their own Michalek didn’t help. Ours may not score as much but preventing scoring apparently is even better! Go Z!

W – Minnesota 2 – 0- silly elves, this is our year dammit, don’t go away mad… just go away. (see other entry for full disclosure)

OTL – Los Angeles 3 – 2 – damn you Wayne Simmons, your dream just may come true. One of the very last teams I wanted to share points with. But gotta give the Princelings their due, just like us and Colorado, the basement kids are coming into their own finally.

W – San Jose 2 – 1 – Wow! I realize Marty owns Big Joe and Z pretty much owns Pretty Patty but can I say wow again or is that too much? Every time they play each other I have an insane urge to put on a life jacket sporting the #30. Always tough (can you say Shelley, Murray and Mclaaren?) but when faced with total discipline and determination, even the best can be beaten. I actually LOVE playin these guys this season.

L – Detroit 2 – 3 – It sucks to start out the road trip with a loss but the boys found their cojones finally and played well to almost catch up to the Ded. I guess #13 is sooo NOT Bryzzie’s number. The 13th start was ugly. Much of the night the big guy looked off kilter and slow. The blue liners didn’t look too swift either for about 45 minutes of the game. (ummm guys? when Breezy is off, you are supposed to carry the big guy til he gets his head straight. He’s carried you many a game, time to return the favor.) Ah well, we’ll get our shite together for Wednesday. Somehow Tipper always manages to rein them in and get them back on pack fairly quickly. I really just wanted 8 points out of this trip and I didn’t care if it meant grabbing loser points. It feels strange to expect to get more than half the available points on a road trip but the boys have built up my faith so much that I actually have expectations now. Too weird.

Sooo anyone have any idea what the hell is up with Doaner? Ever since Wizzer nearly decapitated him, Shane has been off. Stop grippin the stick so tight my Captain. The whole team isn’t on your back anymore. These boys can carry they ownselves big daddy. Just have fun, run over a few more people per game and let the goals fall when they may. (Is it just me or is it almost as much fun to watch Doaner steam roll people as it is to watch him score?)

Daly and Maloney were doin the talking head thing today. Much as expected not much was really said that we didn’t already expect. Everyone is happy about the potential new ownership. Not much will change (except maybe we’ll see a new addition to the team on the scoring front… and of course lose someone since it costs to get a quality scorer even with GMDM doing the buying).

Daly on NHL Live

The BoG will be meeting starting tomorrow so we’ll all be waiting with bated breath to find out if the good ol boys wanna let the whippersnappers into the club. I hope so. I actually have met a couple of them and came away impressed. I think the Coalition wrote something up on that awhile back and I haven’t seen nor heard anything to make me change my mind.

• Ice Edge Holdings – They have passion and a real desire to own the Coyotes for the business of hockey.
• They have business acumen and know how to make money.
• They understand the game (hell they’ve played it and love it).
• They are innovative and are not afraid to take on a risk, much like ourselves and Tippett, they see something in this team that they can believe in.

They have ideas…

1. how to utilize every square inch of the arena to get revenue
2. how to treat a fanbase
3. how to build a hockey club
4. how to recognize that they don’t know everything and will have to trust people to do their jobs
5. they also recognise things that aren’t working
6. and how to treat a legend, we just might see #99 again (oh don’t panic, not behind the bench) but maybe somewhere within the ownership group

I didn’t get to meet Keith but read what he has to say HERE. Whats not to like about this crew? A few games in Saskatoon? Gimme a break. Better a few games for our Northern cousins to enjoy and help the bottom line than none for us because we’re too stupid to recognise an opportunity to get on our feet or too stingy and jealous to share and welcome some more fans for the organization to thrive on. Will there be changes? Of course, there have to be in order to get out of the red ink sea. Will we like all of them? Of course not, don’t be silly, the business of hockey will not recognise our favorites and all of our preferences, but as long as they get good results and keep the team alive and kickin in Arizona… count me in. I like them, they are actually going to give it their all with no strings attached and no screwing of others to get their way. Their regular business is built on that premise. They got tired of being part of the all-about-the-benjamen crowd and started a business they could be proud of. A business with integrity. Thats their reputation in the business world and I expect no less from them in the hockey world.

Monty sighting! We saw the Big Cubano wandering the concourse last home game… in his sporty sling. Best wishes on a speedy recovery Monty.

The always obliging Kurt Sauer gave our friend DTG the skinny on his expected return to the ice (see paw print 12/13 for that news) He graced the stands with his awesomeness last game too.

Holy crap its almost midnight AGAIN! Gotta go grab some zzzzs (not him!) some sleep people, some sleep.

Quick shot reminders –

The “Leader of the Pack” award is designed to recognize the top Coyotes Season ticket holder for each month during the remainder of the season. The nominations must include a full description of how the individual has demonstrated his or her commitment to the Pack. If you know a deserving Season Ticket Holder, please nominate them for this award. (if you don’t know their full name and info, fake it, give the team as much info as you can so they know who you are voting for… they’ll count the votes right). Vote HERE for December.

Ambassador’s Club! Coyotes STHs (season ticket holders) have volunteered to help out with gettin butts in the seats. The Yotes are sinking their teeth into some guerilla marketing and have issued these volunteers their own links to help friends, family and innocent bystanders get discounted Coyotes tickets. So if you need tickets to a game feel free to use my link HERE. (promo code…Coyotes)

Round 3 of theNHLArena’s poll is up. Go vote in the final round remember to let us know what you think is good, could be better and could just be kicked to the curb.

As always … GO COYOTES!

Friday night the Yotes put on a hellofa show. Before a pretty decent crowd ( approx 11k ) they took it to the Stars. *I am not an attendance watcher but I love this article about attendance from our friend zyllyx)Running premiere goalie Marty Turco outta his net 2/3s of the way through the second period. The Coyotes had scored 4 by that point (Langer, Korpedo x2 and Aucoin). We told them boys about the slot goals and Uppy certainly agrees “ We were tough in those tough areas, and we got pucks out and battled around the net. That’s where we found our goals.” My baby boy Z would welcome TBA (he’s still tall, bald and Alex Auld to me) home with a ripper in the top of the 3rd period making it 5 (the most offensive output from the boys since we tore the Kings a new one at the beginning of the season). To say the Stars were a bit unhappy is probably an understatement and a half, Winnie had to have a few words with Robidas about gettin too pissy.

With about 15 minutes left in the tilt, we got a little lax, Schlemshady lost one and Dallas was able to capitalize on the error and of course our poor worn out PK couldn’t battle forever and the Stars managed a PP goal too. It would be too little too late for the Stars and the final outcome of 5 – 2 was certainly sweet over our division rival. Ott was losin his little mind all night but got nowhere (he almost earned himself a MamaZ  beatdown by going head to head with Z but of course my baby stood his ground without chuckin the knucks) With Biss and Vandy out for the night, I guess Otter figured he could push us around a bit. Doan had a few words with him as did Oakie.

Welcome home Boeds! That assist was perty. May I just say one thing about the reffing of this one? Way to suck major toilet water Zebras! okthnxbai. No matter, we took the W and all is well in the desert. Congratulations to the Korpedo for finally finding his offensive feet!

Mueller? Mueller? Well he’s hurt right now… again. But if that boy don’t light a fire under hisself he may not be a Coyotes much longer. It would be ugly for a guy with his potential to get sent to San Antonio and it would be sad to see him go to another team. Pistol Pete is a good guy but he’s gettin tagged with a very hard to shake lazy tag. You gotta shoot to score Pete. Move your feet and give your best effort, you’ll get rewarded. But most of the time there’s a price to pay called takin a hit to make a play. You need to step up to both ideas and embrace them. People other than me are starting to notice. Better hurry.

Teeks has landed in the Motherland apparently on loan. The KHL is tryin to figure out who he gets to play for. CSKA or his original team the Cherovpets. Apparently the fallout in San Antonio is more than just Ireland. The team has not been playing well to say the least and with Tiki’s offensive production in the toilet, our baby Russian has been ‘loaned’ out to Russia to try to get him back on track. He’s not ‘running away’ he’s done everything official and will set about gettin his poop in a group for a run at the NHL roster next season.

Remember how I was tellin ya’ll about the new local ownership group movin in on the Yotes? Well apparently the Ice Edge Group is feelin the heat a bit and is pushin for an early decision on ownership from the NHL. They are scheduled to meet with Gary and the gang on Monday.

The City of G is still perservering. Ellman ain’t paid his money and they got lots of IOUs from peeps to collect on. I sure hope this whole thing gets resolved soon. My city needs some cash people, pay up!

Hey folks! The Sandstorm sale only runs through Monday so grab those tickets while you can. Get online to Ticketmaster and order up a bunch, you can get any game you want no restrictions! Including those We win, You win games! (a chance to see a hot game cheap and get another one for free!)

We travel to the land of make believe to face the Quacks tonight at 6pm. With Jiggy gettin his first wins finally, I wonder who we will face. The Ducks have a 3 game streak rollin behind the veteran Giguere. He has only allowed 4 goals in his comeback tour de force. With each team taking 1 goal victories from each other, this should be a hell storm.

Facing a rejuvenated Jiggy and a scoring duo like Perry and Selanne will not be an easy task. Adding the ever pissy Getzlaf to the mix will make it a thankless one. These boys are riding high on their brutal spanking of the Blackhawks, especially Jiggy with a beautiful shutout, has to be feelin like God right about now. We have 2 more to add to the will not play list with Muels and Jovo taking various injuries against the Stars on Friday.

We’re back in 8th place in the West and 15th in the league. We really, really need to slap the fowl taste right off the Duck’s backs tonight. (2 points would leapfrog us over OTT and BUF to match points with 10th and 11th place BOS and DAL) Our best bet to snaggin a playoff berth is to hang about in the middle of the league pack and stay relentless.

Keys to this game?

Don’t forget that nasty elbow the Wizzer gave Doaner but don’t be all about the revenge factor. Takin the 2 points and leavin the Quacks in the Pacific cellar will be revenge aplenty. Play hard but play smart buckos. Every time you get wronged, put a goal in the net. There will be plenty of opportunities for PP goals… take advantage of them.

Both teams have been sinners extraordinaire in the eyes of the refs. The Ducks use that to their advantage most of the time. Its about time we do the same. We get no respect nor leeway and we’ll end up in the bin unfairly a time or 5 this game too. The PK HAS to be sharp.

Every game hinges on the goalkeeper as usual. Hang in there Bryzzie! Z is back and your life just got a hell of  a lot easier but remember, them other blueliners are still out there so be careful to stay on your toes. This is the ultimate showdown Bryzgalov VS Giguere. You got this maaan!

Its time for some MIA members of the scoring committee to step up their game, especially those who get all that beautiful PP time. Hey Doaner, I see that you have your slapper back, we could really get a kick outta seeing that a few more times per game and Vrby? you been workin so hard for so little lately… this could really be your game my little Czech sniper. Pruuu! No more robberies son, get you some points baby, MamaZ could really use one of your belly slider goals tonight.

Thats all I got for now. BTinAZ has some great pics up from the last few home games go check ‘em out.

As always… GO COYOTES!

3 D down really sucks. But the crazy Coyotes refuse to let anything derail their hot start. (Is it still a ’start’, 16 games in?) Sporting a 10-6-0 record that is good enough for 8th in the league, the Coyotes are still finding ways to get ‘er done.

We gave away a couple points to LAK (only explanation is that we lost our damn minds) and then again in Colorado. *The 2 teams least expected to do a damn thing in 2009, battling for the top of the Western conference…go figure*  But we quickly got back to pack against Chicago.

The Blackhawks were so far into our poor Breezy’s head last season I worried for their sanity and his. But not this year. The Hawks played well and had a couple days rest with their dads, while we came in off the road on a back to back. Not the best of ways to play a game against that rough n tumble gang of miscreants. (you know I really wanna use a 20cent reference here dontcha?) The boys fought hard and got an early jump on the boys from Chi-town. We were already one blueliner down (Z was spotted in a walking boot and Sweets is still about 10 days out) the real Schlem-shady stepped in for my baby boy without missing a stride. Then we lost Jovo in the 3rd… Man are we gettin bit by the injury bug here lately. But we held onto our 2 goal lead *thank god the war room actually saw that friggin kick in by Fraser*. The most important lesson learned in these few games are 1. the ‘new’ Coyotes can hang with anyone when they stick to the system 2. Bryzzie means biznizz this season so all you doubters can bite me and him 3. We have depth, sustainable, professional level depth this season and that all adds up to winning over the long haul.

Must give shout outs to our very own KidCaster Carson who was in the booth on Saturday with Strades n Nasher. WAY TO GO CARSON!

So we’re rollin into Anaheim tonight. Beaten up but not broken. We’ll get our first look at young Mr. Heshka tonight, hopefully he can fill Jovo’s big ol skates with authority. If our paw print holds true, we’ll take these 2 points from the Quacks and rest up for the Habs next week. Maybe everyone will be well by then. But no matter, we will perservere and continue to prove that we are contenders for that big silver cup.

The Yotes are hosting a viewing party at 8. Alltel Ice Den – at the new 18 Degrees restaurant. See you there.

As always… Go Coyotes!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As always… GO COYOTES!

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.
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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