Get well Petr Prucha! We adore you.

We lost for a second time to Dallas. We went 8 – 3 in the last 11.  It was just a loss, we’ll bounce back. It is what the Coyotes do, bounce back, stronger and harder every time. Keep in mind that while other leading teams (BUFF, SJS, CHI et al) have been slipping and sliding around these last few games, teams like (PHO, CAR, ATL) have been turning on the afterburners and getting hot at just the right time. This may well be one of the tightest races to the cup berths in a long while.

On the Neal hit, it will be interesting to see what hapens. TSN’s McKenzie doesn’t think there will be any punishment. I guess it depends on the views of the hit you watched. When it first happened I was kinda on the fence but after getting home and watching the replays I wasn’t quite so ambivilent. It is high, there appeared to be contact to the head area, I thought that it warranted a review and an explanation from the NHL. Coach Tippett has been so mum on the refs all year but he really lost his cookies over this one and pretty much called the refs and the league out for accountability on this one. From Tip’s press conference (listen to the whole presser on phoenixcoyotes.com - 

“The league, all I’ve heard for months is how we’re bearing down on head shots,” Tippett said. “Well, that’s a clear head shot. . . . It’s a hit to the head, and you have a guy that’s basically knocked out cold. Again, it just baffles me. When you have referees looking right at it, and they tell you that’s not a bad hit, and you’ve got a guy laying on the ice unconscious. That just baffles me.” -

The 210lb Neal caught the 170lb Prucha vulnerable, no Neal’s shoulder isn’t high but the elbow does come up, there wasn’t any serious speed behind the hit but it is deliberate. Neal has been suspended once this year for his hit on CLS’ Derrick Dorsett. Will he be carrying the repeat offender tag after this one? I certainly hope so.

Coach Crawford should keep his mouth shut, his first sentences make him sound like a completely callous creep - 

“It was to me, it really was nothing,” he said. “Nobody likes to see anybody get hurt. It’s terrible when a guy hits his head on the glass, but he took him out. You watch the play, and he doesn’t even finish his check. It was all his head hitting the glass. It’s tough. (Loui) Eriksson got a tougher hit (from Doan) at the end of the game, and he’s got the face to show it right now. We hope Petr’s OK. You hate to see anybody get hurt.”

I would be all over giving Turco props for getting back on track except he seems to have lost his mind (the deliberate head butt last game and the punches to Doan as he was falling across the paint last night were not only uncalled for but very un-Dallas like) I lost a lot of respect for Marty with these actions. One of the solidly Dallas fans in the stands took off her Turco jersey after the punches and has disavowed him. (She was staunchly in his corner for years) Playing hard and playing with attitude are great things… why does the cheap and ugly suddenly have to enter the picture?

Props to Bissonnette and Hanzal for standing up for their team mates.

Anyway, the Stars did exactly what they were supposed to do, get a lead and make a tired, legless team chase the game. Intentional or not, the injury to Prucha helped the Stars to keep the Yotes off their game and mentally screwed up. Does this game matter in the scheme of things? We’re still 3 – 2 in this series. I guess it only matters if you are wearing the green and gold. (Dallas remains in 9th tied with DET and 14th in the league.)Dallas is still fighting for their playoff lives, we on the other hand didn’t lose anything, still 4th in the league and in the conference. (although LAK and COL have snuck a little closer, we’ll have to put some serious distance between us when we return from the break) 

Come playoffs, the Yotes will have to shake these things loose and continue to play their system if they want to progress. Not forgive of course, but forget long enough to get the job done. First priority is to get the win, revenge is a dish best served cold, from a big silver cup that finally has our name on it.

Darryl Jones of Ice Edge was at the game last night. Good to see that they are keeping a sharp eye on their future investment. Too bad we lost but he did get to see a team of heart put out a good effort after a brutal travel schedule and a team that stands up for itself and its mates. If you haven’t been watching Goldwater’s attempts to interfere in our business, the Judge pretty much told the GWI to butt out. The court says there are no new documents for them to root around over and to get lost because they didn’t present enough evidence to contradict the City of Glendale and Ice Edge.

So enjoy this break Yotes fans, devote time to the family and the dog and the yard. Watch the Olympics and cheer for our kids playing for their countries and of course root for the USA to win a bunch of gold. We’ll all be really busy watching the Yotes make the mad sprint into their long awaited post season berth after this haiatus. A healthy and well rested Coyotes team will be hunting points and howling their way through the NHL ranks. THIS is the year of the Coyotes!

As always… Go Coyotes!

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!

Records?! We don’t need no steenking records!  But we sure love smashing them. From Bryzzie’s phenomenal career high wins & shutouts to our amazing 10 game home streak to our most wins the fastest in the franchise’s history, we’re knocking down all preconceptions faster than anyone ever dreamed. Not to mention the weird and often too knuckle twisting ways we are finding to win.

We took on Nashville and never scored a goal…and still won! Talk about a fantastic game of defense and guts. The Preds are like a mirror image of our own team. (It was like twin brothers battling each other) Both sides showed no weaknesses. And the 10 round shootout at the end was a gut buster of EPIC porportions. Who would have ever predicted Adrian Aucoin as the shoot out savior? Oakie was brilliant (sooo glad he participates in the shootout tourneys at practice) A 1 – 0 win in a tight almost playoff type game is good practice for the real thing. Aucoin is very funny, he says he was just trying to put the goalie to sleep with his speed, we think that the wiley vet has been watchin these things pretty closely and knows exactly what he is doin out there.

We just love the shoot out apparently because we battled Chicago to a standstill behind the amazing game of AZBarbie. Last season we all cringed everytime the name ‘Blackhawks’ came up in conversation. They schooled us and ruled us all season long. Well, that is no more. We took it to the Chi-town boys 3 -1 in our first contest on home ice and then last night we won again on the crazy success of Adrian Aucoin’s sudden shootout prowess. Oaks says this about his second one “Now I’m nervous,” Aucoin said. “The first one was luck. Now it’s actually a streak.” 2 – 1 W, Yotes! Simply amazing as we got our 6th straight victory.

A tired yet elated team rolled into Dallas around 2 am to try to sleep in yet another set of strange and uncomfortable beds. Then the boys dragged into American Airlines Center to face a desperate Marty Turco (who is facing a serious challenge for his job from TBA – tall, bald & Auld). We’ll talk about goalies facing the possibility of being put on the trading block in another post. (along with rumors about possible pickups for the trade deadline… Wisniewski? really?)

We seem to have a very obstinate attitude towards making anything 7 right now. Our 6 game winning streak came to an abrupt end on Saturday night. The desperate Stars came to play and jumped on us from the first puck drop til the last buzzer. I won’t sugar coat it, it was bad all night. A short handed goal was scored on us, the PP went 0 – 6, a rookie scored twice in less than 5 minutes and Marty Turco denied every good old college try that we could muster. The only good thing about the night was Biznasty dropping the hammer on Barch, which was thoroughly enjoyable even though I wished it had been Steve Ott. Yeah we lost and lost badly (okay, we got shut out 4 – 0) but you have to keep everything in perspective. We are 7-3-0 in our last 10! We’re sitting pretty with 75 points (35-19-5), we’ve got 23 games left to get the other 25 points to break 100 and secure a post season berth. We have no severe injuries (except Uppy and Sweets) *knock on wood, lets keep it that way* We just need to break even on this last week before the break and then we get to rest for the sprint portion of the season.

So don’t be disheartened folks. I know we have gotten so caught up in having a competitive team that is spoiling us by finding ways to win no matter what, but the reality is that the boys are going to falter now and then and we just have to hang in there and keep supporting and believing. This Coyotes squad is the real deal and even though there will be a few more bumps and roadblocks, they are going to stay in the hunt for Lord Stanley’s Cup into April and beyond.

It sure is irritating, yet so very cool, to call for tickets and find out there aren’t many left for quite a few games. If you are planning to see the Hawks game on 3/20, you better call quick. That game was close to sold out last week.

So anyways, we play the Oil tonight. Those boys have been having a rough go of it all season. (18-33-6) and (2-7-1) in their last 10. I hate to kick a team when they are down but we need these 2 points. Besides, its not like they didn’t wreck us more than their share last season.

The keys to this game?

Get a good rest and come out raging. Don’t think about the fact that you got smacked in Dallas or the fact that you gotta hit the road again for another nasty road trip. Think only about containing Dustin Penner and Gagne (if he’s well enough to play). Think about taking advantage of Staios, Horcoff and O’Sullivan (the worst +/- holders on the team). These guys are struggling, run through them or over them as often as possible on your way to see Deslauriers about a goal or 5. (The kid owes us for lettin him have his 1st shutout, doesn’t he?) The scoring committee should really ramp themselves up for a bunch of shots on goal, we’ve had too many nights lately where the sogs were horribly lacking, in quality if not in quantity.

Defense and discipline. It has been our ability to execute these two things that has saved our bacon lately. Let’s keep that going. The goalies have gotten used to having help, lets give them a break tonight and limit the amount of rubber they have to fend off. Don’t let their losses fool you, these boys from EDM are sneaky, they have been right on the verge of winning quite a few of these games. Do NOT let them have PP time or we will give them the break they’ve been waiting for to get some confidence and possibly go on a tear.

Maaan Bryz, hang tight. I know there is all kinds of craziness running through your mind right now. Bearing the weight of your country for the Olympics is never easy (especially when that country is Russia) and knowing you are one of the lynchpins for the success of an entire franchise has got to be quite the heavy load. You only have 3 more weeks of double duty big guy. Hold fast, we believe in you. Come out scrappin tonight, you got this!

Sorry this one is so brief but I am crunched for time. Lets just get to the game tonight and let our boys know how much we care. BRING THE NOISE!

See you all at the game, puck drops late on this one folks 7:30 start time. See you all there.

As always… Go Coyotes!

Apparently working 9hrs and school for another 3hrs every day is resulting in epic fail for my posting habits. So I will endeavor to catch up.

Wings 5 – 4  We won… at the Joe…  I know the Wings have been struggling lately but give the boys their due. This was no easy task. Both Zetterberg and Datsyuk were in this game, neither of them could take over and run us like they used to. This pack is somethin else when they decide to bear down and take a game to its limits. It was gratifying to see that the boys refused to quit even after Lidstrom nailed us twice. Apparently there is no such thing as a game out of reach for these guys.

Flames 3 – 2 We won… despite a house packed with Flamers. These 1 point games are killers. But to give Calgary their due, that was one hungry team on the ice. Desperation doesn’t even describe it. We handed them their 9th straight loss. No wonder the team is getting blown up even as I type. We’ve already seen Phaneuf leave town. (Our poor Sjo got dragged with him but at least he was wanted, not sloughed off. Poor Prust, is he ever gonna find a real home?) Now its buh bye Olli and Brandon? Hello Kotalik and Chris Higgins? If Darren Dreger of TSN is right, what a weird trade but at least Calgary gets rid of 2 rumored cancers and can get back on track.

Rangers 3 -2 We won on Teppo retirement night! How awesome is that? Especially since it was the 3rd straight win in a row. Sean Avery is still a puke. (too bad we let the lil arseclown score) The creepy little feces disturber was up to his dirty deeds before the puck even dropped. (whacking Bissonnette was not the smartest thing he ever did but luckily Paul did the smart thing and ignored the pest). I sincerely hope we learn to put these things completely out of reach before one of these comes back to bite us in the butt. 3 – 0 in the 1st only to let Gabby and Creepy give the Rangers hope in the 3rd *facepalm* But its okay, AZBarbie held on through the blizzard at the end and we handed the ailing Rangers their 5th straight loss.

Stars 4 -2 We won! On Tip’s first trip back to Dallas since they stupidly gave him the boot. We have won all 3 meetings so far with Tippett’s former team. We play them 2 more times in the next 2 weeks. The game got pretty scrappy and I can’t even imagine how bad it may get, playing them so much, so close together. 4 Yotes with points and 3 of the 4 with multiple points…suhweet! Vernon Fiddler with back to back nasty blocks to help keep the Stars from gaining control of the end of the 3rd period. 4th straight win. (I wonder how many in a row we’ll have to win before TSN give us props in the power rankings? Seriously TSN? The Flames move up based on the trades?) *ESPN has moved us up from 10 to 6th…guess they’re one of the few looking under the radar?

Scottie Upshall – torn ACL, surgery imminent. Sucks in the worst way. If anyone could be termed irreplacable in this pack, it would be the Gr8Scott. How does such a little guy leave such a big hole? Well, he’s 90% heart and that is hard to replace. Even if the surgery goes well and the tear isn’t horrendous we probably won’t see Scottie for the rest of the season and maybe not even the start of the next (Most orthopedic physicians agree that a minimum of 6 months is needed before returning to competitive sports. Because of potential risks of reinjury, however, most recommend waiting 7 to 9 months.) *Jerry Rice made it back to the NFL in 3 1/2 months, only to scrag the whole knee in his first game back*…we don’t even want to contemplate something like that for our boy. Take your time Uppy, get well soon. We’ll miss you on the ice but rest assured, your boys have it covered.

Trade deadline – March 3rd is bearing down on us like a lion. What will GMDM do? With Upshall out, I am sure Don’s phones are ringing off the hook. Teams will be looking to steal from us, to capitalize off what will appear to outsiders as a desperation factor. They don’t know the Don very well if they think they can trade their junk for some of our prospects and picks. Will he stand pat? Guess it will depend on the next few games. Mueller stepped up huge in Dallas (perfect timing Petey! Show you can be the missing piece of the Lombo-combo line and give Don some more breathing room) Has GMDM already got someone in his sights? More than likely. You know the Don, value is his middle name… (we’ll take a look at the possibles on Wednesday… errr maybe Thursday) Tippett’s pack doesn’t let much throw them for long. There are 26 regular games left in the season. We need to win a little more than half of them and get to 100 points to be sure to make it to the ‘extra session games’ (we’re avoiding the P word because I am a superstitious cow who is afraid to jinx the boys). Can we do it? Hell to the yeah! One for all and all for one against a world that is still dubious about whether we’re the real deal or not.

Some food for thought

Yandle – 10-19 for 29 points AND +10! Enough said. I’m won over.

Mueller – You can say that anybody playing on a line with a red hot Doan should be able to score but it just ain’t so. (exhibit A - Olie Jokinen) Mueller manned up in Dallas and exhibited skills we haven’t seen in a month of Sundays. Give the boy his props and cross all your appendages that this isn’t a one time deal.

Blueline points – Our defense is #1 in the NHL for points! The boys in the back keep steppin up to the front. Bombs, lasers, wicked wristers, these guys have an entire arsenal back there and apparently they are not afraid to use any of it. Kudos!

Bryz – He may have faltered a bit but don’t count Beast-galov out. The Russian pillow is back! We may still see a few 3 or 4 hole issues but for the most part Bryzzie has been stellar after getting his head back together. That is one determined goalie in our net. He has proven that  he is a crunch guy (see the Duck’s Stanley Cup run for your proof if you doubt the veracity of that statement) This is as big as it gets for a #1 guy, keeping your team in the hunt is the stuff NHL dreams are made of. Focus and calm seem to be his trademarks lately. Look out Vezina, there is a new boy in the race.

Attendence – 12,725 vs Calgary on a weeknight. 16,687 vs New York on a Saturday.  Chicago is nearly sold out already for 3/20. Methinks, the general public is starting to figure out that the JobArena is the cool place to be. Alice Cooper and Muhammad Ali have made return visits, Vince Vaughn has hung out with us too. We’re the hot ticket now and things will only keep getting better as we keep battling closer to the post season.

Teppo Numminen – It was fantastic to see one of our best honored. He seemed so pleased with the whole thing. Man of few words, our RepoMan. Our ring of honor finally got its first Coyotes player! I wish I had made a better sign since it got some camera time towards the end of the ceremony. But my heart and sentiments were in the right place, Congratulations Teppo, enjoy your retirement. You definitely deserve every honor the Yotes can give you.

Captain Shane Doan with the NHL’s 1st star!

We take on the Nashville Predators tomorrow. Puck drops at 6PM. Let’s get a win for Fiddy’s return to Nashville!

Keys to the game?

Play the system! No matter what the Preds throw at us (and you better believe it will be everything they’ve got) we have to stay disciplined and play all 60 minutes. The Preds have lost 5 of their last 6 and are looking to halt their slide before they skid out of the hunt. (The Preds were tied with us before the skid, they now sit 7th place in the conference with 63 points)

The committee members have to show up. We don’t do too well at Sommet Center (haven’t won there in awhile, like 2 years?) We need to bring the heat early and often. We’re 26-2-1 when we score first. Don’t let the goalie with the funny name (Pekka Rinne) get settled. Last time Scottie Upshall pulled our collective chestnuts out of the fire. This would be a great time for our big guns to stay hot. Doan, Vrbata and Mueller can get this party started right and let the blueliners finish it off. We need to win this in regulation, don’t give the Preds anything to move them up in the standings or they could get on a tear and catch us again… no bueno! Plus with Langer out our shootout might just kill us.

Defense! Defense! Defense! Martin Erat is a dangerous man. These boys can play the scoring by committee game just as well as us. We’re going to have to be sharp, these boys really throw some rubber at the net when they face us. Positioning and heart is where our blueline has to be. Keep these guys out of the scoring areas at all costs.

Watch your back Breezy there will be rubber flyin from every angle these boys can try. This will likely be a pretty high sog game. Danger! Danger! Be sharp and give the boys the chance to score first please.

Special teams…meh… play the system and let special teams be a non-factor please.

There is a new media gurl on the Yotes beat. Be sure to check Sarah out on Twitter. She has some great insider videos to share.

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!

Talk about a hellofa ride! We have been in the upper middle of the chase all season. The highs have been great but damn if it don’t make the lows that much more painful. We started off seriously hot. If you didn’t enjoy shuttin the haters up with our jumpstart out of the gate, you just don’t have a heartbeat.

Consistency is really going to be an issue for us no matter who is in the lineup. Getting hit with the injury bug right where it hurt us most is par for the Coyotes course. We turn into defensive juggernauts and of course lose our 3 best blueliners just as we’re gettin the hang of it. But the noobs have been valiant in handling their bizness. (Both Schlemshady and Hushpuppy have scored their NHL goals) … umm where are the other big guns? When Keith Yandle is your best player on the ice besides Bryzzie…something is very wrong with your veterans.

So we still got cojones to spare most nights. When we’re playin Tippett’s system we are a force to be reckoned with… When we fall back on the dump n chase, scared of our own shadow crap, we give the haters so much joy. (No one said it was gonna be a cakewalk to turn this barge around) I’m not expecting miracles here buckos but I am expecting the 09 Yotes (u know..those guys who are battling against the world for their very survival?) to win games against the teams they ’should’ beat and to at least make a good showing against the rest. And wtf? is up with this piss poor home thang? Performance anxiety my ass. We’re your extra man advantage dudes… but not if you can’t be bothered to show up.

Anyway… we play the Stars at 7pm it should be interesting again. The boys showed the Dallas bigwigs what a good coach can pull out of his butt. We need to do it again. If we can keep our conference rivals from getting points we just might be able to pull this season into focus for the remaining fence sitters. With Z and Jovo back we should be in good shape for this one. JV didn’t look 100% against Calgary but he and Z were both loggin decent minutes.

Keys to the game?

Stay out of the damn box as always. Giving Dallas a power play is tantamount to poking yourself in the eye with a sharp stick. Stupid and senseless way to lose an eye a game.

Remember where the best goals are scored… in the middle of the slot (Don’t get all dependent on Yandle to pull your asses out of the fire with a suprise cannonball at the blue). Ummm especially remember the opponent scores best from there too and don’t let ratty Riberio in yours.

Keep a lid on Modano, that old dog still has plenty of teeth. Dallas has just as many dangerous no name players as we do, Brad Richards cough* cough*… and watch that damn Neal too. (Sorry Jimmy, I know I have you on like 12 fantasy rosters but I’d rather lose a few points than this game)

Don’t play Jason Labarbra even if Bryz has the Hinny Flu. Call up Monty and let him deal. (Sorry AZBarbie, the way you been floppin around swingin yer stick and break dancin like a headless chicken on crack makes me ill)

Come on out! Can’t be a cheaper entertainment package in all of Arizona… speaking of cheap…

Operation Sandstorm kicked off today. “Phoenix Coyotes President & Chief Operating Officer Douglas Moss announced today that the Coyotes will hold a “Sandstorm Sale,” offering select lower level tickets for just $25. The sale will begin at 10 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 27 and will end on Monday, Nov. 30 at 10 p.m.

This offer includes all of the available lower level seats in sections 102, 103, 109, 110, 113, 114, 120 and 121 at Jobing.com Arena. During this brief four-day sale, fans will be able to purchase tickets in any of these sections for any remaining Coyotes home game during the 2009-10 regular season (December-April) for just $25 while supplies last. The tickets for the Sandstorm Sale can only be purchased at ticketmaster.com.

While the Sandstorm Sale pertains to all Coyotes regular season home games from December through April, there are several notable games during the upcoming holiday season.

Holiday Season Highlights:

• Black Friday: Friday, Nov. 27 @ 7 p.m. – Dallas Stars at Phoenix Coyotes
• Calgary Flames: Thursday, Dec. 3 @ 7 p.m. – Calgary Flames at Phoenix Coyotes
• We Win, You Win: Saturday, Dec. 5 @ 8 p.m. – Ottawa Senators at Phoenix Coyotes (If the Coyotes win, redeem your voucher – received upon entry – and game ticket for a free ticket to a future game)
• Christmas Weekend: Wednesday, Dec. 23 @ 7 p.m. – Anaheim Ducks at Phoenix Coyotes
• Blanket Giveaway: Saturday, Dec. 26 @ 7 p.m. – Los Angeles Kings at Phoenix Coyotes (First 10,000 fans in attendance receive a Coyotes blanket courtesy of AT&T)
• New Year’s Eve: Thursday, Dec. 31 @ 5 p.m. – San Jose at Phoenix Coyotes”

** we said we’d be behind anything that got butts in the seats (and I know this feels like a slap in the face with a dead fish) I wish they’d make it a little more palatable by offering the STHs a lil somethin somethin (if not now… maybe next season all STHs get a discount? ummm assuming we are around for next year). But it is what it is and I hope it works to galvanize some ticket sales. Its only a few days firesale but again… I hope a lot of people buy a lot of games. We are going to take soo much flak over it so it better work. Soo speaking of sticking around for 2010…

New suitors challenging the Ice Edge group for the team… am I the only one thinkin the NHL is gonna HAVE to figure out a compromise with the CoG to really get the team sold? Getting the lease revamped would raise the value of the team more than any 10 other actions the league could take. But I think over the next month we will see the serious local groups throw their hats on the ice. Bettman says there are 6 suitors for the team (in one form or another) hopefully by season’s end a local bidder prevails.

The City of G has its collective ass in a sling. They can’t just sit on the lease as is and they can’t be seen handing out any money in this economy and with every watchdog group and its brother locked on their every thought. When it comes right down to it, they are going to have to modify or lose it all. Better to make lemonade with the lemons Moyes left them and fight any legal challenges later than to be left with a very empty and pitiful arena and legal battles anyway.

Rampage coach Greg Ireland was shown the door. No reason was given for the sudden dump. But taking a look at their record (with all the freakin firepower they’ve got) might be a clue. 6 – 10 – 2 is not pretty. But then again their goal tending has taken a turn for the worse it seems since Burkie moved up in the world. Monty seems unable to slow his game down for the minors and Tater is always a slow starter. This is not good… the main reason for the high end kids to go to the AHL was to get some exerience and learn to win? Treliving had a little to say about the change HERE

Its time for a win! We lost 2 biggies in the great frozen north… lets not make it an official slide with a third one.

As always … GO COYOTES!

What a game. I guess the Coyotes take their role of spoiler pretty damn seriously… and are having a blast doing it. I thought this would be another relax and wait for the shoot out type game but there was nothing relaxing about this game at all. The guys held us on the edges of our seats for the majority of the game with quality chances, some sik PP antics and just all around fired up play.

The guys apparently haven’t given up aspirations of stunning the conference. (oh I know its nearly impossible but don’t tell them, they are playing awesome hockey, let them dream).

Impressive performances:

Theg8Scott – anyone who isn’t totally impressed by Scotty Upshall needs a new sport to watch. Number 8 combined with Lombo and Pruuu!!! for 2 markers and barely missed gettin the hattie (it wasn’t from lack of tryin, Scotty took  5 quality shots and had several other misses).

Enver Freakin Lisin -went 2 shots, 2 goals and assited on the game winner. Impressive? Even more impressive were his bursts of defensive responsibility. If he can just maintain a modicum of what we saw in this game consistently, he would never see the inside of a press box again. The kid has it all and it was all on display in this game.

The vets were sure as hell not going to be outdone by a bunch of snot nosed kids and put up a tally of their own with Doaner, Rhino and Jovo answering the Stars early 2nd period goal in less than 30 seconds.

Lombardi (love what he brings to our face off numbers) and Prucha are really a joy to watch. Those 2 have grit and determination and ice smarts galore. Neither are the biggest things on the ice but damn if they don’t play like they are 6′5″ 250. Scratch, claw or slide they managed to make our PPs look like works of art even when it didn’t score. And of course Pruuu! with the GWG was classic right place, right time, right touch.

Hanzal throwing the body around, stealin pucks, givin max effort all night was a glimpse of a possible Selke candidate in training.

Not so pretty

The 4/44 combo has apparently run out of gas a wee bit. Oh Z was still blocking shots, he got 4 on the night…(too bad about that 1 missed glove save… duuude! you are sooo NOT the goalie! don’t take chances with your hands like that) but the top blue pairing were off synch all night and indirectly responsible for 3 of the Dallas goals by being out of position or just plain beat in close.

Bryzgalov was not himself. The Beastgalov is just damn lucky we had some serious offense goin on. The slow stuff was catchin him waaay off guard. Or maybe he was depending on the dynamic duo of Z and Sweets just a bit too much and got caught in the back lash of their multiple faux pas. IDK but it certainly wasn’t his best night for sure.

So many horrible missed calls… fans of both sides were upset throughout the night. It really was a pretty brutal Zebra night. I love when they let the guys play but they really have got to get more consistent about what they call.

We walked away with 2 points. We didn’t quit. We played more consistently for more consecutive minutes than I’ve seen in a long time. Even when the Stars caught up and sent the game into OT, they never let us see them sweat.

We should have won this without the OT. The Stars are so severly wounded right now that a 2 point lead should have been enough. Big props to backup goalie Stephane for getting better as the night wore on. Louie Ericksson for continuing to battle and stepping up to help lead his team against what has to look like insurmountable odds. And to the Stars as a whole for not giving up even though they were being worked like a government mule all night long.

Great game to be at. Glad all my buds could make it. Tim, you are my kind of hockey fan. (loud, proud and knowledgeable)You gotta come sit with us more often, I think you may be good luck. Brett, baby, we gonna have to work on that SHOOT! thang of yours (I know you can’t score if ya don’t shoot, but sweetie, if the shooting lanes are shit… a blocked shot can easily turn into a shorthanded breakaway faster than you can blink) sometimes patience is the only answer and gets results too.

We take on another severely wounded team next. The Colorado Avalanche has apparently decided to pack it in for the season and take a run at the Tavares sweepstakes. Can’t blame them much but wounded Yetis are still dangerous and we better not walk up that hill expecting Ray-so-soft to just lie dormant in the net and let us pot shot the corners all night. We gotta get into the habit of playing the dead n dying with as much energy as we do the cup front runners.

As always… Go Coyotes!

much like the players… I am declaring today an optional GDT… gonna nap, eat and have some fun rather than practice errr I mean… write something involved and complicated for tonights game. This fun and frivolous GDT brought to you by the letter O (me and Odie went to the optional practice this mornin and were greeted by more jounalistic types in the stands than players on the ice. They better play really good since they should be well rested LOL

Our concession that there is indeed a game tonight… against the Dallas Stars.

Tonight’s line up

Scottie Upshall – Lombardi – Petr Prucha
Shane Doan – Steven Reinprecht – Joakim Lindstrom
Daniel Winnik – Martin Hanzal – Mikkel Boedker
Brandon Prust – Viktor Tikhonov – Enver Lisin

*************************Everything below this line is for fun and has no bearing on anything GDT worthy*************************

Apparently our Wild Thang has lost none of his menacing prowl abilities.

okay all done nao…. if you want some serious discussion or maybe some facts like we’ve kicked their asses 3 of 5, (The Coyotes are 3-1-1 against the Stars, including two 1-0 victories in the last two matchups.) Goalie Ilya Bryzgalov is expected to start. In five games against Dallas, Bryzgalov is 3-1-1 with a 1.56 goals-against average and two shutouts.) then maybe you better visit Andrew or our official preview.. or theirs.

See you at the game I hope.

As always… Go Coyotes!

Well they came home men. Bryzzie recorded his shutout of the season. What started out as a tentative game turned into a goalie battle of epic proportions in the Big D as Bryzgalov transmuted into Beastgalov and stole the show. Turco was no slouch his own self, turning in a great performance. If not for the heroics of the Russian pocket rocket Enver Lisin, we mighta gone to another double shutout shootout.

The boys did everything I asked of them… well… except you Olli. Man I hope you read this shite and get so pissed at me that you hattrick on Saturday, Monday damn… Thursday? Seriously! You piss me off so royally right now I could pluck you bald…oh wait… you are already bald. NVM but I am still wallowing in never before reached levels of pisstivity. I have no more words to describe you (they say a picture is worth a 1000 words)

Soooo Ilya Bryzgalov saved the boys bacon, going from mild mannered Russian goal keeper to some dire, crazed edition that we haven’t seen before. The amazing beast stymied the Stars all night long. It was one of his best performances of the season so far. (thanks Qbert, for the pic)

The warrior crew returned home and promptly shat their armor against the Canucks… blew a fargin 2 goal lead, let the Nuckleheads grab 3 (count ‘em and weep) unanswered goals in the 3rd. There was more scrummin than hockey goin on. *and I admit to wishing heartily that DMo coulda got loose on Hordichuck*

But all this pushin n shovin took us away from the game rather than shoring us up to play better.

Between losin the majority of the faceoffs in the 3rd (allowing the Nucks to gain better puck possession throughout) and PIMs up the wazoo, we basically handed the Canucks this one. 4 – 3 Canucks… final.

So to continue the shatting, we played the Flames. Always a fun proposition.. NOT. But we have been holding our own this season so it wasn’t all doom and dred. We came out hard n feisty (20 sogs in the first period! some of them quality shots that Kipper had to really perform on) The Mighty DWin started us out great (gettin that scoring gorilla off his back…not once but TWICE! for his first multi-goal game)

Unfortunately Winnie was the only Yote who seemed to be able to put the biscuit in the basket through 2 full periods.

The Flames were a whoole nother story, walkin into our zone in the 2nd and blasting Breezy full of holes at will. When will the boys learn that 1 – 1.5 periods played balls out will not win them a hockey game? The second period saw 4! (count ‘em again folks) 4 goals scored including a shortie from Glencross that was an embarrassment of a turnover that a group of mini-mites wouldn’t have made. The fire retardant failed us and the Flames outshot us 21 – 8!

The 3rd period we woke up and the Flames cooled down (each side only got 9 sogs). Doaner answered Lombardi’s 2nd goal (6th Flame goal on the night) makin it 6 – 3 and we got a little momentum going. But another goal from the Flames killed the crowd and people started leaving in droves. Well they missed a hellified show by the sneaky Tiki. Tikhnov ripped a slapper and a wrister past Kipper 3 minutes apart that put some life back in us… with time left on the clock. (Another first time multi-goaler!)

I had a foolish leap of faith (idn’t funny how hope will spring up like that?) that we might actually tie this game up. another brown stain added to the score sheet… 7 – 5… Flames… final. *high point of the night… Danny takin Phaneuf down.

Lowpoint of the night…Bertuzzi with what seemed to be 900 assists on the night*

The dismally seemingly perpetually brown film engulfed Monday night’s game against the Oilers too. But at least there was real hockey being played.

High points were

• Telly in the net on a mission.
• Sweets back on the ice after missing 14 games (Sauer was a last minute decision, I mean the kid can barely hobble and laced ‘em up anyway, gotta love this man).
• DMo blastin away at Rolli (6 sogs, nasty ones too).
• The return of Hanzal and his face off percentage of 62%.
• And biggest surprise of the night? Olli Jokinen diving through the crease to try to put one in! (Hey don’t look at me, I was surprised all night that Odawg could actually appear to give a shit, much less show some ‘real’ passion).

Low points were

• 44% face off total.
• Goin 1 for 999 on the PP again (I guess its gettin better… at least we’re managing to get 1 now).
• Having to watch Telly get his bell rung with no call…again (how do the refs manage to miss this over and over again? Has there been a game this season that someone hasn’t tried to decapitate the Swedish Wolf?)
• Goin gooseegg on a minute and a half 5 on 3.
• The sound a post makes when denying a Mueller goal.
• Not getting to watch Jovocop beat the hell out of Sheldon “shit starter” Souray
• And last but certainly not least… watchin the score board record yet another loss. 3 -1 Oilers… final

And that is our home performance, all wrapped up in a brown miasma. We have one more chance to pull out of this homely rut on Thursday night. Please dear hockey goddess, haven’t we been punished enough? Whatever transgressions we’ve committed, please! we will never do it again. Just give us back our pre-ASG team. Oh and ma’am, if at all possible can we have one of those really cool road winning streaks like last year?

News n Notes…

Schlemko was called up again… does this point to a trade acomin? God I hope not. Hopefully this was just a precaution since Mr. and Mrs. Halestorm are expecting any minute. EDIT: Schlem went back to SA… I believe the mini-Haler arrived okay, just don’t know yet what the lil one is named yet.

KT was sent to the Rampage! Didn’t see that coming… although you all know I was an advocate for another year of college (minimum) or startin in the AHL and building up his strength from the giddyup for our boy. Wayne and Co did the kid a great disservice methinks, waiting this long. Hopefully KT will get mongo TOI and build up his confidence and strength… and help the Rampage stagger into a playoff spot. EDIT: KT is rockin the AHL. Multigoal games, huge TOI minutes and just all around tearin it up. 3 games, 4 goals, 3 assists and a +1!

TGO salary stuff… for those who give a shit and are makin a big deal out of his salary in this financial crisis.

Thanks Teal for the pics… more to come

As always… no matter how low or how high we get… GO COYOTES!