There are 20 games left including tonight’s tilt against the Dallas Stars. That is 40 points, sitting there, begging to be brought home. Now of course we can’t bring them all home but I’m sure our record can accommodate 21 or more of the little critters.

Looking back and being honest, who can say they saw this coming? We had hopes of course and most of us said we’d skid into the post season on a smoking wing and a prayer. But who saw THIS? This team that won’t quit, that hasn’t lost more than 3 in a row all season. This Coyotes squad that never gives up, even when they’re 2 goals or 3 goals behind. Who saw these guys becoming a family, a unit, a force of nature?

That force is back in Glendale tonight after burning the Oil,  sweeping the Wild for the first time ever! and just missing beating the Avs to 2 points. (we just left too many chances on the table last night. Totally winnable but I’m not totally disappointed. Just gotta say… there are nights when I really hate zebras) But the boys scratched, clawed and as Tippett says, hung around til they could find a way to win for the most part. We grabbed 4 more of those coveted little points to bring our total to a whopping 79! *we’re 3 points ahead of LAK and within shouting distance of Chicago’s 83*

Tonight is one of those nasty back-to-back nights with a bit of travel slipped in to make it more interesting. (the NHL scheduler really hates us apparently, because we just did this… against Dallas no less!) Well the Stars can forget about facing a lifeless, legless team again this time. They’re home and we’ll be providing them with some energy to help them along tonight on home ice.

So, keys to this game?

Screw Marty Turco. Literally and figuratively. Make him a non factor. Don’t dump anything too close or he’ll go all 3rd defenseman on us. *putting it out far enuff that he’s tempted to go out front would be fine and then strip him and put it in the net!* that works quite well.

Watch out for the rejuvenated Ratboy, Ribbie is back in the lineup and ready to sneak a few goals if he can. Don’t let them get any good chances, they had a good game against CAL the other night.

Play physical not tentative. (just because the refs in COL blew some calls at the end, doesn’t mean we’ll get jobbed again) We have to play these guys physically and hard all 60 minutes. No space allowed.

Discipline as always will have to be tight. No matter what any Star does, let HIM get the penalty… or take that clown to the box with you. (we don’t have to worry about Otter, he’s out with his appendix)

Scoring committee and their new left wing Lombardi need to come out firing all the heavy artillery tonight. We need to go into the break with a good victory.

Puck drops at 6pm. Tailgate is from 2pm til 5pm in parking lot J. Hope to see you all there! It is we win/you win night so don’t forget to keep your ticket AND the voucher for free tickets after we win. Booster Club 50/50 bring your extra 2 bucks to get in on the chance to win some dough.

******************NHL Olympic Roster Freeze is on

Some juicy pieces cleared waivers  Like Jonathan Cheechoo… an interesting player,  we should at least kick the tires on that

As always… Go Coyotes!

Holy guacomole! What a night. We held a pregame celebration for our Captain’s 1000th game and 16,ooo folks showed up. They came in old school sweaters. They came in new school and home made apparel. They came in family groups and teams and singles. It wasn’t a cheap promotional trick, there were no tickets from vodka bottles or white out gimmicks. They came to honor Shane Albert Doan and to watch his team in action. What a tribute and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer, more deserving guy… or team.

Every game lately makes me think, wow, thats the best game of 2009. This one was no different. We had a hell of a crowd. We had a fight. We had neck and neck scoring. We had a goalie battle. We had the requisite crazy goal (just so the hockey gods can let everyone one know who they favor?). We had the epic 6 on 4 battle in the last seconds that brought the crowd to its feet. And we got the win. Who can ask for anything more? This couldn’t have been better if I sat down and planned it out. A huge crowd got to see what we die hards have been witnessing all year. If this 3 – 2 last ditch effort win doesn’t draw back some fans I don’t know what will.

This was the tale of 2 underrated long shots vying for the right to take on the perrennially division leading Sharks for first place honors. So evenly matched and each with something to prove after no play off appearances in over 7 years. Each team is clawing their way up the points ladder, game by game. Neither team has a major proven star but after this season, there may be a few more household names in the Western Conference.

Our best get-well-soon wishes go out to Justin Williams who suffered a broken leg during the first period. And to our own Daniel Winnick who may have broken an arm (we’re still awaiting official word but Winnie was sent straight to IR and that spells long term issue). I have never seen the stretcher at theJobarena. It was scary as hell. The Dawgs play so honorably and unusually clean that this kind of thing never crossed my mind to happen in a Yotes game.

We didn’t move up in the league or conference but we sure as hell proved a point in the division. 50 points is good enough to get us into 2nd place and within targeting range of the Sharks. Do we really want that distinction though? I mean look at San Jose, they are in 1st place a lot and it gets them diddley squat in the playoffs. It may even be jinxed!  It also paints a target on our backs for every team in the Conference to start gunning for. But then again, I for one would be willing to risk it since 1st in division guarantees us a berth in the post season. So lets go get it and worry about keeping it later.

Speaking of keeping it, all the haterz out there have started chattering again. Trying to cha cha their way out of the doody hole they put themselves in by predicting the Yotes for dead last in the NHL. Rumor has it that we are a fluke and will be dead after the break. Do they just not do their homework? Dave Tippett has coached (4) 50 game winning seasons. He has a reputation for getting everyone on the same page and for delivering the performances of their lives…consistently. I hope they all enjoy a heaping helping of crow when we blaze into the post season no matter what place in the league we take to get there.

The Sharks know we’re coming for them. Monday night in the tank is going to get crazy. This first part of a home n home will be a serious testing ground for us. If we take the win we will be within 1 point of them and with a second shot at them on home ice on Thursday we could start opening up the distance between competitors in the Pacific.

I am not looking forward to this game despite beating the Sharks twice so far in the series. I can’t think of a worse time to be out Winnie and Fiddy. The Sharks play a very physical game against us. We could really use Winnie’s size and tenacity tomorrow. We weren’t too bad on the face off without Vernon Fiddler but puck possession against the Sharks will be tough without those extra FO wins that Fiddy brings to the table. We’ve called up Porter and Hoggan. Hoggan brings the physical with his play and hopefully can help ward off McLaren, Shelley and Murray’s bruiser tendencies.

Keys to this game?

Shut ‘em down – Thornton is not easy to make invisible but Hanzal seems to be in his head, lets keep it that way. Marleau is on a tear, we just can’t give him any room. Heatley is just Heatley and we’ll have to try to limit him as much as possible.

Jump them early – we do much better playing with a lead. We need to give Ilya that breathing room so he can put the onus on Nabby to blink again. We’ve chased their goalie from the net before and if that 1st line can keep rolling like the last few games this might be another one of those nights. But we may need another unlikely hero to step up and surprise these guys.

Goalie battle! – Sheesh how many times can this be a key to a game? The goalies in the west are all exceptional and Nabakov is one of the wiliest. I still think he’s at least part alien but this season at least we know he’s beatable. Our mad Russian VS theirs will once again be the difference maker.

Own the neutral zone – this is our best chance to keep ourselves out of trouble.

Discipline, discipline discipline – it has to be said. Stay out of the box. #8 in the league with PP points against our #9 place PK looks pretty even but we’re down one of our best with Winnie out. Lets not test our PK prowess tomorrow.

Puck drops at 8:30pm and the game is not on local TV so listen on the radio with Heeter or visit a friend with Center Ice.

Go check out BTinAZ’s newest pics, they’re phenomenal as usual. And if you need tickets, you came to the right place we got the ambaasor’s club discount still going strong!

As always… GO COYOTES!

King slaying. Tonight will be all about knocking the LA Kings off the throne.

After their 8 day rest up and with all the crown princes back in the line up (Smyth, Simmons and JMFJ may all return tonight) its time to take these guys out decisively. No points, no mercy. Too much rest and the rust from too much time away from the rink due to injuries, may just provide a chink in their armor.

The Kings grew a pair of brass ones when they kept rookie Wayne Simmons on the team. They play with more grit with that kid in their lineup. The Smyth/Kopitar pairing was as hot as anything the NHL could throw at us. Kopi did not fare well in Ryan Smyth’s absence and hopefully will take some time to redevelop that rapport. Adding Jack Johnson to a back end that includes Pouty Doughty is no picnic… unless Drew decides to brainfart all night again.

So far we have delivered big games (like the win for Tippett’s first game against Dallas) hopefully we can pull off a spectacular showing for our Captain’s 1000th game celebration. A win would also mark the team tying a franchise 9 game home winning streak that hasn’t been duplicated since we were Jets.

Both teams sit at 7 – 2 -1 in the last 10. We’re more alike than people think… except we roll deeper lines and are not dependent on 3 – 4 players to get a win.

So how do we pull this off?

Be careful! If Ryan Smyth and Anze Kopitar manage to avoid the injury-rust syndrome and recreate their magic it will not be a pretty outcome. Kopi has barely managed 2 g/4 a’s in 15 games since Smyttie has been out. Together they represent a serious portion of the King’s goal production.(32 points in 22 games for Kopitar) King Kopitar uses Smyth’s crease camping to disguise his devestating shots with disgusting ease. We absolutely have to contain Kopitar without losing track of Big Dustin Brown and Frolov the wonder hobbit. Easier said than done I know but we have the tools.

Match their physicality without getting penalties. That is one badass blueline rockin the purple. Johnson and Doughty are willing to knock you into next week and send our puck cross-ice without thinking and that puck could end up in our net if Bryzzie so much as blinks at the wrong time.

Special teams had better be something really special tonight (just not short bus special please)

JUST SAY NO! to power play chances. We cannot give them any easy opportunities. These guys LOVE a power play. The Kings aren’t great at it (they are like 12th in the league while we are like 21st) its like giving a fat kid cake, they get a high that is hard to neutralize later. Please hockey gods let us find someone else’s power play. (some team that is really good at it like WSH … I need to be specific with the hockey gods or they’ll give us Carolina’s or something)  We need to capitalize tonight. These guys can really take the joy out of a man advantage.

Our PK is something magical. But it’s better not to be dependent on it tonight. We’re around 6th in the league while the Kings are around 23rd. Lets keep that superiority going, by limiting the times we have to break that puppy out.

Offensive creativity. We need to roll all 4 lines. We’ve found our top line (the Lombo combo is back, this time with Doan in Prucha’s place.) Thes boys are the tic-tac-toe sorcerers. Followed by the Czech Federation (Prucha, Vrbata and Hanzal pick their spots but when they get rolling its a monster). The 3rd  and 4th lines shift pieces but any combination that includes Pyatt, Fiddler (if he’s well), Lang (slow to the party but brings excitement with him when he arrives) and the high octane Mueller (now that he’s getting on track) is sure to break a few royal hearts (hopefully Quick’s)

Goalie battle! Can Jon Quick’s glove hand beat the overall insane performances that Breezy delivers? If we remember stick side high in traffic, this might be a perfect storm. Quick can blow hot and cold but his beefy blue line usually pulls his Nestle out of the fire. We’re gonna have to run some Prucha-esque blitzes on his crease to make sure he doesn’t see who is coming. Making sure Bryz can see everything is going to be critical but limiting their visits by cutting off their access at the neutral (like the Duck’s game) would be the best help we can give our big guy.

So home ice, a blood pumping Captain’s ceremony and a good crowd to be the 6th man should be the last pieces to aid in this joust. Let’s go Coyotes… play for us!

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!

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!

Respect, gotta be earned. Usually the hard way. The Coyotes are doing their damndest to do just that. From their teammates, their fans and the rest of the world. There is a whooole lot of hockey to be played but if they continue to play the way they’ve started, there is no doubt in my mind that the hockey world will sit up and give credit where credit is due.

FOMs > than FOGs. GMDM has assembled a staff that knows how to do things right. (I know we all kvetched when Sulliman was brought in but apparently he’s doin just fine too) From the coaching down to the equipment handlers, everyone is on the same page, a team page, a pack page, a winning page.

We’ve been on a peak, there will be valleys. Teams still can’t believe what the standings are telling them and we’re still under the radar. But I have to tell you the weather is really fine down here in 09. I know I shouldn’t be all over the gloating thang but c’mon, it feels good to be able to point to the statistics in rebuttal to the haterz doesn’t it? And where the hell is the Canadian media? I guess now that they would have to refer to us as the Pacific leading Coyotes or the top of the league Phoenix Coyotes instead of the bankrupt Coyotes, we’re just not as much fun to write about.

So now that we’ve slapped the Stanley Cup champs, ditched Detroit, beat the Bruins, bruised the Blues, sauted the Sharks and konked the Kings maybe we can start gettin some love? Naaah, you’re right, let ‘em ignore us. We’ve got other things to think about.

Tonight we play the Kings again. The also rising Royals are quietly putting the moves on unsuspecting teams. King Kopitar, Frolov the wonder hobbit and Jonathan ‘they call me’ Quick are a sneaky band of miscreants. We can’t overlook them in our tour de force. We’ve both got 12 points (they have played a few more games than us) and we’re #2 in the conference, while they sit perched at #6 with a bullet. League wise its even tighter with us at #6 and them at #8. whodathunkit? Neither team wants to end their current winning streaks (we got 4 in a row, they are looking for a third). King Kopitar and his trusty knight Smyth are already in the double digits for points (16 & 14 respectively) while we are really spread out over the pack for ours. No matter, that may just make it easier for the Hanzal led Czech Federation to shut them down. It should be a very exciting game. We’re close in performance but with the home advantage, the coaching staff should be able to come up with some good matches.

Of course there are some sweet tickets available. You really should come out and watch. The Russian pillow they call Bryzzie (top dawg in shutouts and GAA in the league) along with firecrackers like Upshall and Prucha will definitely make it worth the price of admission.

********In other news********

I guess we’ve got court again on Monday at 1:30. A status hearing of some sort apparently. I think Moyes wants to see what the NHL has up its sleeve and the NHL needs to test the water on its bid language so they can get this over and done. Ice Edge is sitting in the wings, patiently waiting with wallets in hand (they’ve been to several games and show no signs of being scared off by the attendance issues). I won’t be in court on Monday but check Schoeder’s FB and HCKYFN on Twitter for updates as usual.

Sean Sullivan has been called up from the Rampage. Z has a wonky ankle and Sweets shows no signs of returning to the ice yet. With a road trip on the horizon, we need to take a 7th blueliner with us, just in case.

As always… Go Coyotes!

It was a big day with a few interesting revelations. I absolutely could not keep up with the ‘expert’ testimony. Shep needs a new examination style, I was nearly snoring. Today was a day of all cards on the table, much of it we already knew but the Judge threw in a few twists too.

Baum shell: Baum mentions the possibility that neither the NHL or PSE would win the auction, with the chance that no sale goes through. “There’s third possibility here – no sale,” said Baum. “It’s more than theoretical. You all ought to keep that in mind.”

Didja know? It was confirmed that TGO’s deal with IEH included him taking a pay cut. From 8M to 2M. Guess he really, really wants to stay in Phoenix eh?

Neither side was super impressed with each other’s experts on relocation so far. The NHL kinda reamed Zimbalist (brought up the fact that his testimony had been thrown out in other case for using an unproven methodology that appeared to be made up specifically for that proceeding) Apparently the figures Zimbalist used for our case have not been used before and have not had a peer review either. *imagine that*

No suprise here: The City of G would have preferred either IEH or GH, LLC to buy the Yotes but since  both groups dropped out of the auction process after failing to renegotiate a new lease with the city, its better the potential devil you know than the real devil. “Given the two choices that we have, we are prepared to put our lot in with the NHL,” said Baldiga. “It’s not our preferred choice … (the NHL bid) gives us the chance to mitigate our harm. We vehemently reject the PSE bid.”

Talk about some serious coalescing. Ice Edge Holdings apparently is comprised of Anthony, Todd, Daryl and…. Breslow, Gretzky, the Argonaut boys Cynamon and Sokolowski and only the hockey gods know who else.

Day 2 hopefully will be as interesting but in more spots. Both the NHL and the City declined to examine Balsillie today (probably afraid of cooties) JB’s declaration will stand as is. But Le grande patron Bettman will be grilled ad nauseum by that loud crazy Kessler. Stay tuned but don’t expect any speedy decisions.

Metro Hockey does a good first half of the day transcription here.

The Hockey News recapped the day here.

Heather Schoeder runs the day for us here.

Check out training camp this week! Apparently TGO will finally be coming out of hiding to conduct training camp and lead the team until something is decided. Training camp roster and schedule.

The baby Yotes split the difference with the the Baby Kings. The princelings roared back with a vengeance yesterday, going 4 – 0 to whup up on the kids after they were smacked down the day before 6 – 1. Our Jlov got into a pissing match with #77 (ironically named King) and ended up with an upper body injury. Jeebus Jonas! Is this some kind of ritual for you? Stop it pllease. Hopefully Jlov will be okay and not spend the next few weeks rehabbing a shoulder or something, paving the way back to SA instead of battling for that 7th blueline position.

STHs got their new gone green ticket passes yesterday! woot! Hockey is definitely here. The single card can be swiped at the turnstyle (using less paper than the previous indivual game tickets) and you can still print them email them etc to give to friends or sell to others.

The letter read: Thank you for your purchase of Season Tickets for the 2009-10 season. Continuing with our “Go-Green” initiative and staying on the cutting edge of ticket technology, you will be receiving a ticket card in place of standard hard stock tickets. Your ticket card, parking passes, and information on the new card will be sent to you shortly. You should expect to receive these within the next 5 business days.

However, your tickets are available now on your online Account Manager:  Simply log-in with your Account Number and your password. Once you are logged-in, cancel the transfer to your Coyotes ID Card, then you may print your tickets at home, forward to friends or family, or donate tickets to Coyotes Charities. Forgot your password?

Thats all I got for now. Don’t forget to follow HCKYFN and theYotesDiva on twitter for your court updates.

As always… Go Coyotes!

It has certainly been a long time comin but D- day has arrived. No matter which way this plays out D stands for detonation… there will be some major bombs going off at the corner of Van Buren and 1st Avenue. The Coyotes Coalition has a take on the drama HERE.

The future of hockey in the state of Arizona rest in the very capable hands of  Judge Baum. So far (no matter how much we wished otherwise) the Judge has kept the entire proceeding transparent and above reproach. Oh we all might wish he had just dumped the entire BK from the giddy up when Reinsdorf was ready willing and in town to buy the team. And especially when the NHL said no way Jose to Balsillie as an owner. But the Judge was ever mindful of the problems that appeals carry and kept all the players in the game until the bitter end. ( I have hated every minute of no decision but I guess I sorta understand why) And the next 48  hours will tell the tale as court is scheduled to run from 8:30Am – 6:00PM on Thursday and 8:30am – 4:00pm on Friday.

The topics for the 2 sessions are:

The remainder of Friday will be all about the additional bidding and highest VS best offer finishing touches.

43 documents were filed over the last couple of days, some, like #921, are now irrelevant as IEH has backed away from the mess *possibly to join GH, LLC lying in wait for the NHL to deal w/ both Balsillie and the City before reentering the fray*. I recommend you take a look at #945 for the agenda in its entirety (including time limits for each subject to be argued and for the examination of all the witnesses) AND #924 which the City of G explains in terms a 5 year old can understand, why their damage claims can’t be capped and more than you ever wanted to know about leases/landlord rights and rights to specific performance. #929 is a lengthy explanation rebutting the City’s claims of cure, they want all of Glendale’s purported damages capped. #926 is basically who the bidders are and what they are bidding (even though this changes minute by minute as each side sweetens the creditor pot and changes the terms and deadlines) Moyes BK team tries to lay it all out in this one.

#922 (all 10 exhibits of it) are basically how many ways Jimmy can whine and object about the NHL’s expert witnesses on the relo issues * most of the bitching concerns the NHL not making data available to Zimbalist and chiding the court for not making them do it*. #930 is all about why Moyes thinks the NHL can’t be a bidder. In #923 Bettman addresses PSE’s claim that the NHL isn’t a qualified bidder because they can’t be both approving body and bidder in the same process and that the NHL knew they were going to bid at the time of Balsillie’s rejection. #927 is basically just the notice of auction required by law.

#928 is the NHLPA’s restatement of their position on the bidders, a lot of their filing is moot since IEH has withdrawn. #931 Moyes basically tries to defend against accusations that he was an unwilling seller and that his actions caused chilling and hindered the local bidders.#936 and 938 are basically a long winded song and dance routine from PSE on why the team can move in the 09 season even if its half way through. Lots of motions to exceed page limits, lots of motion granted docs. But I think I covered most of the newest filings.

Our thanks go out to the BMCgroup for keeping the filings up to date so quickly. For those of us on extremely limited budgets, their free service was invaluable.

In better and brighter news…

The Coyotes pups romped over the LA Princlings 6 – 1. Joel Gistedt was workin a serius shut out until the 10:50 mark of the second period (we think Vest musta said the word shut out). Apparently the rooks really know how to rock a power play as the Kings played fairly undisciplined and our boys capitalized all night. The game was not available in AZ but fear not, you can watch the second in the serios, online Thursday at 2PM.

Puck Daddy did a pretty thoughtful piece on us today. He did get Schroeds and DivaMcW ( our very own version of the Heathers) mixed up, the story interviewed Heather Schroeder of the Booster Club but the linkage and referral stuff is pure Diva and Save the Coyotes Coalition. Like I said, better coverage of the fan perspective than we’ve seen in awhile (Carrie did it better though).

We’re gearing up for a couple of tailgates. The 9/26 tailgate will be in honor of Mrs. Linda who recently lost her battle with cancer. Check back for details on time and location out at the arena. The second tailgate is in the works from our Coyotes Coalition. Check savethecoyotes.com for details as they develop. *tailgate planning really lets you know hockey is almost here*

Remember to follow our intrepid court report aces DivaMcWhorter and Lightning thumbs Larry on twitter. Keep the faith, its almost over and hopefully we can get back to howlin in the desert.

As always… Go Coyotes!

Let me be the 999th Coyotes fan to express disappointment that the game wasn’t televised locally. Every away game should be available to the visiting team’s fans…always. Its one thing to black it out for the homers (they can get off their fat asses and go to the arena) but the poor bastages without that option get cheated. Seems like it happens to us more than anyone, don’t get me wrong, I love Heeter and the radio team but… it still sucks.

Sooo, after the 5 – 1 loss to the Blues (ughhh…season sweep), I really thought we had that whole tanking thing down. I mean come on, who the hell loses to the Kings 6-1 and then the Blues 5-1, back to back? Apparently we do. Even after hangin tight against the Blues and owning the Kings for most of the season, we manage to pull off 2 of the most embarrassing losses of the season. If that isn’t a sign of the apocalypse OR great tankin, what the hell is?

The Blues game was so embarassing even BTinAZ  stopped raising her camera when we had the puck on our stick (it rapidly became apparent that we couldn’t do a damn thing with it anyway, so why bother?). Bryz returned to the net after 3 games off and did his best impression of Swiss cheese. ( Breezer has to stop cheating off his posts and get his positioning tighter or he’s going to lose his spot as the owner of the Coyotes net) But there was enough blame to go around, the defense looked like rag dolls, the special teams looked like old cottage cheese, spotty and disgusting, the forwards looked like the Keystone cops on psychotropic drugs. Everybody looked like poop.

But then… we went to San Jose for a lil R n R. Fishing in the Tank. What could be more relaxing? Apparenly the lil road trip had a reenergizing affect on the boys. Even though we were almost prevented from seeing it (thnx to the gracious and magnificent Team Teal for getting us access!) this was a seriously amazing game.

We drew first blood on (who else?) Upshall’s pretty goal about 1/2 way through the 1st period. 1 – 0 Yotes yay! Everything started clicking like a brush fire in a high wind. Trust Uppy to get the party started. Upshall is on a career high for goals scored with 15 total under his belt.

The Captain took a stick in the face, the boys made the Sharks pay for the priviledge. Enver Lisin was a holy terror in the Shark’s zone and drew a second penalty seconds later and the resulting 5 on 3 was a thing of beauty as the Captain and Jovo played pong on the PP before JV buried a monster shot past Nabby to make it 2 - 0. (good thing the President’s Trophy wasn’t unpacked yet)

The start of the second period wasn’t any better as Z finished taking the wind out of their sails with his wrist shot to make it 3 – 0 Yotes. Then it got ugly. Fishy frustrations boiled over and resulted in some conduct unbecoming. Fridge (vs Moen), Jovo (just lending a helping hand in starting a scrum, lol) and Hanzal (vs Setoguchi) all got into the act as mini bouts of  fighting broke out all over the place.

With Monty on pace for his second shutout of his short NHL career, of course poor Yandle (destined to be Monty’s Achilles heel?) failed to clear Moen away from Monty’s six. Moen scores after 65billion whacks at a puck laying at the post, just beyond the Big Cubano’s reach. 3 – 1 Yotes and the Sharks got a shot of life, bringing their crowd back into the equation. I don’t know who gave my baby boy the big brass ones but whoa! Z finally took exception to being creamed behind the net and after Setoguchi’s hit, he went a lil bit apeshit, drawing not one, but 2 minors (crosschecked Seto to the ice and then when he popped up, smacked him another good one) I think he would count that as ‘4 minutes? well worth it’ since the Sharks failed to capitalize after Murray joined the parade to the sinbin, mitigating Z’s lil tantrum. Monty got his bell rung by Goc, literally getting popped in the head as the big forward tried to get one past him.

If we thought it was ugly in the second, watching Tree cut (the-newly-returned-after-injury) Goc off at the knees was even worse. Bad Tree! Bad boy! (maybe retaliation for poppin our goalie in the head…no call?) Then it was the big PM putting the game and the President’s Trophy out of reach for the Teal Terrors. 4 – 1 Yotes.

Highlights: Big Al Montoya stopping 41 sogs. The team blocking 31 shots. Lombo goin 18/10 on the faceoff dots and has points in the last 8 games. Enver Lisin usin his brains and speed for defense. Counting the ways the Sj announcers could eff up Z’s first name. Not having to watch another trophy we didn’t win presented.

The boys come home to play the most serious spoiler game of the season. If the Yotes beat the Ducks, they could single handedly be responsible for keeping them out of the playoffs and lending a helping hand to a couple of fellow underdogs trying to get into a most needed post season. (maybe they will return the favor next season if we need it?) go Nashville! go St. Louis!

As always… GO COYOTES!