Upcoming Coyotes Events

This week the Coyotes have sent out a plethora of stuff to me. First I got an email (Tape to Tape, the one any fan can sign up for) and it was a save the date type thing. The Coyotes Caravan starts on September 14 and runs through September 19. I am looking forward to that. I wonder who will be the guys at each location and where in the Valley will they be at? I am sure they will send out the schedule on September 12. Last year, they never announced who was going to be at events until like the day before. I am sure that has to do with getting the guys schedules and stuff but some of us fans are anal retentive and like to know things early so we can plan!

The email also mentioned the rookie games against LA. The dates are September 16 at 6 pm and September 17 at 2 pm. I was able to get the day off work, so I will be at both games. Both games are free and open to the public. No word yet on what time doors open.

The last thing in the email was about Coyotes Fest. That will be September 20 from 11 am to 3 pm. Again, there weren’t any details. Hopefully it will be like last year and they will do a practice/scrimmage (the ice should be down, so they should).

In the mail, I also got some season ticket holder stuff. For $50, we can add a nameplate to our seats! Uhhhh, no thanks. I can think of lots of other things I’d rather put $50 towards.
I definitely do not need my name on my seat.

Also included in there was a sheet for bonus tickets. We get to pick 3 games and those 3 games we get two extra tickets too. Unfortunately none of the games that I have people coming to are on that list. Oh well, guess I just need to upgrade for when people come!

Athletics Resource has posted pics of the unofficial camp:
http://www.athletesresource.com/p-camp.aspx

Unofficial Camp

Kyle Turris

DW and Turris conspiring?

Kurt Sauer (my new favorite Coyotes d) Picture compliments of Coyotes Hipcheck

Kyle Turris and Olli Jokinen

Jovo (actually upright on his skates)

Khabibulin

Doan (I believe those are the Sundog players)

(All other pictures stolen from my brother)

Images of Carcillo

Google images has sent a lot of people to my site lately. It seems a ton of people are googling "Dan Carcillo" on the image page so I thought I'd post some Carcillo pictures to appease those people.
Many of the images I have found on azcentral.com.

Tomorrow I am planning on putting up some pictures from Doan's unofficial practice. If you like the Carcillo images, I have more. Drop me a comment and I will do another post. I have a lot of pictures of other Coyotes and some I have taken at games. I just haven't felt the need to post a ton of pictures but if people want more, I can post more.

Finally some hockey!!

Today I went to Doan’s unofficial camp. It was pretty interesting. The guys looked like they were having a lot of fun.
Here is who I remember being there:
Kyle Turris
Daniel Winnik
Keith Yandle
Ed Jovanoski
Olli Jokinen
Mikael Tellqvist
Brett MacLean
Enver Lisin
Jonas Ahnelov
Kurt Sauer
Nikolai Khabibulin
Todd Fedoruk
Shane Doan
Turris and Lisin are some fast boys! They were just flying all over (except when Doan totally tricked Lisin and Lisin fell down – hilarious!).
Jovo fell like 3 times (Mike York syndrome?), not sure what was up with that. He let the puck go by him a few times.
Yandle thought he had a goal, but they took it away from him. The bench also awarded Lisin a penalty shot (which he missed) when Fedoruk took him out.
Speaking of Fedoruk, he was playing like he does in an actual game, slashing and hacking away. He did forget to put his tooth in this morning. He may be a nice addition to the team. I am warming up to him a little more. I am looking forward to seeing him in training camp.
Jokinen had a smile on his face the whole time and really seemed to have some chemistry with the guys. He looked like he was having a good time and the guys seemed to really like him. I’m thinking he just needed a change of scenery and he’s not the locker room cancer that Florida is claiming him to be.
Telly looked good. He was down at the other end (with Khabibulin) so I didn’t get too good of a look at them. Our end seemed to have the ASU goalie and a goalie in a Western Michigan helmet. We were thinking he might be a sundog (there were a couple of them there).
Ahnelov may give Jones a run for his money. He is looking really good out there. And he is huge. MacLean is looking better and better. His skating is much improved since last summer (even since rookie camp this year).
I am really starting to like Kurt Sauer. He is huge and seems to have a good handle on the blue line. His shot isn’t on target but damn is it a hard shot.
Doan came about an hour into it (sneaking in as usual) but he was having a blast. Laughing and smiling the whole time. At one point he pinned Turris in the corner.
Winnik looked good. His skating is good, his passes good. I’m thinking he makes the Coyotes again.
I’m starting to see a few more pieces falling into place. Even though I’m liking Sauer, I still think there are some questions on the blueline. I’m not sure how every one is going to be paired and who the last 2-3 will be (if we go with a 7 dman rotation – most of last year was carried 6). It will be between Hale, Jones, Yandle and Ahnelov (maybe Ross, give him a shot but let’s not rush him). Z, DMo, Jovo and Sauer are sure things.
I’m looking forward to seeing MacGrattan. I was hoping he’d show up for this practice. I guess I will have to wait until training camp. He is most likely going to play against the teams in our division and be a healthy scratch the rest but I want to see how he interacts with some of the guys (Fedoruk and Carcillo mostly). I’m hoping Carcillo lets him take some of the battles so Carcillo can focus on scoring and agitating.

Pictures from the Open House

View from Line

Mueller and Jokinen
Mueller
Jokinen

I didn't get any shots of Doan. He was at one end and I just never got around to taking any.

The last of our players has been signed!

The Coyotes have signed Joel Perrault to a two year contract. Personally, I like JP but I’m not sure if he is destined to be a full time NHLer. He had his moments this past season. The best being that one goal he got from that totally awkward angle. It was crazy. He couldn’t even explain how it went in. I think he needs to toughen up a bit (he gets pushed off the puck easily but he does challenge Pronger). Hopefully he trained well this off season and can make the big team. As I said, I really like JP and I hope he can make it as an NHLer but he will need to work hard and fight for his spot, just like all the young-uns. I had read somewhere a few weeks ago(I think the yotes website) that the reason it took so long to sign JP is because he was in Europe working with the NHLPA. It doesn't sound like he was a hold out or anything, just busy.

If you need a part-time job, the Coyotes will be having a job fair to fill 150 spots. It’s August 21 from 3-7 at the arena. Starting pay is $7-9.50. They are looking to fill a lot of different positions for games, concerts, etc at the arena.

Doan's Unofficial Camp

Monday was the start of Doan’s unofficial hockey camp. It seemed very different than last year. It seemed a lot more organized for the first day. They all had matching uniforms (except Tyson Nash) and it was a lot more pros. Last year, I remember the first week was only a couple pros and lots of younger guys. Here is who I remember being there:
Shane Doan
Derek Morris
Bill Thomas
Jeff Taffe
Olli Jokinen
Tyson Nash
Peter Mueller
David Spina
Nick Boynton
There were some of the rookies there that I didn’t recognize yet. I have to start learning who the new guys are! I didn’t take any pictures, maybe next time. I had my camera with me but just didn’t get around to pictures. It was just great to watch hockey again. The guys looked like they were having a good time. When DMo walked in, he told us not to watch him and just watch all the other guys.
Jovo and Lisin were at the rink but not on the ice. They were talking to Maloney and (who I think was) the new assistant coach.

The Coyotes had an open house this past Saturday. According to their site about 2,500 people showed up. I can attest to that. I was there and the line was super long. Signing autographs were Shane Doan, Olli Jokinen and Peter Mueller. They were all good sports, but maybe that was because we were at the start of the line! Jokinen looked a little shell-shocked. I would guess the Panthers don’t have these fan events. He’ll get used to it. Doan was his normal self. We were joking with him about going blind from all the camera flashes. He is such a good sport. I am trying to recall what Mueller was like early last year, but it escapes me. Either way, he seems to be a lot more confident and seems to be interacting more with the fans.

The promotional schedule came out today. I was a little disappointed as it seemed to be less give-a-ways than last year. The items so far seem to be good ones though. The Jokinen bobble head will be nice to add to my collection (too bad I accidentally broke my Jovo one - oops). The fleece blankets are always my favorites. My parents will be excited; it looks like they will be here for that game. The winter gloves are always appreciated. I ended up with two last year and I love them! And the bear is just too cute. I hope there are scratchers this year. I liked wining all those tickets!

I guess the Coyotes rookies and the Kings rookies will be playing a couple of games before the season starts. It looks like September 16 (6 pm) and 17 (2 pm) at the arena. It’s open to the public, so it sounds like it will be free. I’m not 100% sure on that but I will update when I know more. The 2pm game will be tricky for me. I will have to take a half day at work. It doesn’t look like I have any meetings that day and I will make sure not to schedule any that day!

Kyle Turris has a blog entry up on the coyote’s website. In there he said he can’t wait for summer to be over with. We are with you KT! Everyone I know is ready for hockey season to start. I am looking forward to a whole season of KT. This is shaping up to be an exciting season but it is still filled with many question marks.

I didn’t want it to come to this but apparently some people cannot leave well enough alone. In case you were wondering, Arizona has a cyber bullying/stalking/harassment law. If the couple people continue to harass me on this blog, I will go to the authorities and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. You have been warned.

I have your IP addresses, service provider information, how much time you spend on my site plus other interesting information. If you thought I don’t know who you are, you are wrong. I’ve known all along. I had hoped you would go away if I ignored you. When that didn’t work, I tried to say something. That didn’t work either. You have left me with no other choice. If I so much as see that your IP address looked at my site, you can bet that I will be going to the authorities. And I will keep on the authorities to make sure they do something about it.

The Coyotes are Going Green

The Coyotes are the latest business to go green:http://coyotes.nhl.com/team/app?articleid=379202&page=NewsPage&service=pageI’m glad to see my team make the attempt to better the environment. Every little bit counts! I haven’t made any drastic changes, but have done small things to help the environment. I think we all have a responsibility to our planet and it’s always helpful to see larger companies doing their part.

The Pack is back. Well, kind of. From the looks of the Coyotes website, the Pack is what used to be called the Snow Patrol. Personally, I would rather have the Pack back. At least they always looked like they were having fun and knew what they were doing. Most (but not all) of the Snow Patrol looked either bored or not sure what they were supposed to do (and I am not talking about the ones that scoop the ice). Hopefully this year, the Snow Patrol/Pack is better. I was at a diamonbacks game this summer and one of the rally girls is also a snow patrol member. She was one of them that was always enthusiastic. She said that a lot of the rally members are also snow patrol members. Those must have been the half that always looked excited and seemed to know what was going on. As it was the first season of the Snow Patrol, I will give them the benefit of the doubt. Hopefully, they are better this season.

The coyotes have a new article up on Jokinen:
http://coyotes.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=379213
Basically, he gets the youth movement and wants to do whatever possible to reach the playoffs. Pretty standard article. If this is his actual attitude, he will be a great addition to the team in more ways than just scoring. There will be an open house on the 9th (1-4) where you can meet Jokinen, along with Mueller and Doan. I plan on being there. I’d like to meet Jokinen. Plus there is free hot dogs and pop, who can resist that?