RAWR

RAWR

Clickee the linkee if you want to see Dan DaSilva and Kyle Jones topless. That is correct, topless. The Roadrunners totally need to make this a full calendar and sell it. I would so buy one. Although Mr. Jones has his jersey over his shoulder which covers him up more. But he is a goalie and for that I heart him. Mr. DaSilva is totally rocking the faux hawk. Yup, gotta love it.

In other RR news...Goalie! aka Craig Kowalski was named ECHL goalie of the week. Congrats Goalie! We heart you too.

Ok, I am a little behind this week. So I will try to do some quick hits, starting with newest (Sharks game) and working back to oldest (All-Star game). Lastly, I will look ahead to Buffalo at Coyotes on Saturday. Hold on…here we go!

Coyotes at Sharks:
Coyotes lost 2-1,with the last goal being an empty netter. They played better than they did against the Ducks on Tuesday but not up to what they were before the All-Star break. Rhino left the game early with an injury and won’t be back for 4-8 weeks (Coyotes called up Nikulin from SA). I watched the game but I was so tired, I don’t remember too many details so this is all you get.
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Ducks at Coyotes:
Ok, the Coyotes started out strong but ended up looking like crap in a 7-2 loss Tuesday night. The refs didn’t help. Getzlaf puts a bad hit on Mueller then holds him down, argues with the ref and at one point kicks one and gets nothing. That’s right….NOTHING. It was all down hill from there (Oh yah, Mueller also left the ice and did not come back. He is out with a concussion). But the refs were nice enough to give us a PP with like 2 seconds left in the third. Fantastic! Shane Doan got us our two goals. I believe Rhino assisted on both of them.

Luckily the other teams competing with us in the playoff run also lost so we weren’t bumped too badly.

OK….done!
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All-Star Game Hits:
Toews was wearing #19, which is Captain Coyotes number. On the broadcast they stated Vets get to pick if they want to wear their number or let another player wear it. I have decided that Toews whined and Doan was like “You can have it, really I don’t mind.” He is such a nice guy, I can totally see this happen.

Carey Price called his mom after he finished playing, how adorable!

Dang, Doan is so good at getting through like 3 guys from the other team. He is so strong on the puck. He also got a goal right away in the third period. Way to go Doaner!

Overall I thought the west unis looked the best. I do not like the white gloves that they were wearing though. They reminded me of marshmallows. I think the east should have went with red helmets; it would have flowed better. West has white jersey, white helmet. East has red jersey, blue helmet. It just looked wrong.

I heart Goalies...

In watching some of the NHL All-Star pre-game stuff, I just have to say…Carey Price and Henrik Lundqvist are about the cutest goalies ever.

Price just has really nice eyes and those lips. Lundqvist is just overall good looking but his face just lights up when he smiles. Plus he’s got that Swedish accent. *insert swoon here*
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I also noticed the NHL feeds them very well. Sushi, smoked salmon and apparently Montreal’s famous hot dogs. You have no idea how much I’ve been wanting a Smoked Philadelphia Sushi roll. After seeing all that sushi, it has intensified!
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Dave Strader was doing the pre-game show on the NHL Network. It’s always nice to see our Coyotes staff involved in these type of events.

Tonight was the Young Stars and Skills Competition at the NHL All-Star game.

I had the TV on for all the events but didn’t watch all of them.

The star of the Young Stars game was Boston’s Blake Wheeler. He was drafted by Phoenix but because he fell under the old CBA, he basically chose to become a FA this summer. At the time, he said some things that pissed me off. I still don’t like the kid, but I am glad to see that he has done well for himself. I don’t think he would have had the same chance in Phoenix as he has had with Boston. Although, I still can’t wait for Boston to come here so we can show him that Phoenix has real hockey fans.

My boy Bods also had a nifty move, lovely toe drag with shot which the rebound lead to a goal by Steven Stamkos of Tampa Bay. Bods was definitely one of the fastest youngsters out there. The rookies looked hesitant to hit or really dig in corners but that didn’t stop them from lighting Carey Price up. Final score: 9-5 Rookies. Nice.

Ovenchicken won the Breakaway Challenge with about 42% of the vote. I voted for him but was so close to voting for Stamkos. I loved the fall down and flip it in with my hand move he did. But you can’t beat Ovie going over to Malkin and getting sunglasses and a fishing hat with a Canadian flag on it, going two sticks to the net. OMG, hilarious stuff.

And last but certainly not least, my boy Doaner won the Elimination Shoot Out. He should have had it a round sooner but Tim Thomas went easy on his teammate, Marc Savard who was providing some great feedback to the announcers. (I am now a Marc Savard fan btw.) When Doan first got up for the first round, I thought, “he is going to win this” (why Gretz never uses him in the shoot out anymore is beyond me) but I didn’t want to say it out loud or tell anyone for fear I would jinx Doan!

Coyotes players representing us well. Way to go boys!!!

Tomorrow night is the “big game”. I will attempt to watch all of it and report back.
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On a side note, I think the NHL should really use Ovie to market to non-fans. He may not be the best looking, but he has this charisma that just makes you love him. He is funny, he is energetic, he has skills, he’s not afraid to hit and he’s a clean player. He doesn’t do any of those cheap shots like Crosby. I would much rather see Ovie promoting the NHL than Crosby. What can I say? In the great Crosby vs. Ovie debate, I am 100% Ovenchicken! I just think he could really get non-fans into hockey. His commercial a few years ago was classic. I vote for Ovechkin as NHL’s new ambassador. Screw Crosby, give me more Ovie!!!!!! He is endearing, even with his missing tooth. And you can tell he loves the spotlight. Hey NHL, wake up and use the Russian to market the sport!

Wha?? No hockey?!?!?

Oh my god, I have to go a whole week without hockey? How will I ever manage?? I need a fix…
So far, I have just been working out and catching up on my sleep. I’ve also watched a couple TV shows I normally don’t get to watch on Thursdays. I usually have to watch them on the weekends.

I know there is All-Star game stuff to watch this weekend, but really…it’s just not the same! I will be watching it though, mostly to support Doan and Bods.
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In other news, Shumway has stepped aside as CEO. Moyes will now be taking over the Coyotes while Shumway will focus on other aspects of Moyes’ businesses.

Shumway has been good for the Coyotes organization, but I could see where Moyes would want to do this. It gets another salary off the Coyotes books and Moyes more involved with the day to day workings of the teams, as he may retain some ownership. It sounds like they are looking for investors and part-owners to help Moyes out. It doesn’t look like they are going to completely sell the team off.

Game Re-Cap, Coyotes 6, Detroit 3

I don’t even know where to start with my write up about last night’s game. I didn’t get much sleep but I am still all hyped up from the win and maybe the three cups of coffee I had this morning…maybe.

The Coyotes have not won in the last 9 games (since March of 2006) against the Red Wings (this was the stat I saw on tv last night – sometimes at games I sit where I can watch the tv broadcast). This was a well deserved win and a much needed win.

This game was big in many ways, something the Detroit fans don’t seem to grasp. They seem to think that the season starts in April. Let them think that, I will take all the points and do a little victory dance. I want all the points we can get and I want them allllll season long! This win placed the Coyotes alone in the 5th spot (it also didn’t hurt that Vancouver and the Ducks lost last night!). Our team played a full 60 minutes of our game. The Wild and Wings were two teams we could not figure out and were finally able to do so at least once this season. The boys need to see that they are good. They need to know they can beat these teams. It’s a confidence thing. We know they have the skill. We know they can beat any team they want, but do the boys know that? This game should go a long way in them seeing what they can do and believing in themselves.

I’ve noticed our PP is starting to look much better these last few games, last night included. We still have a problem winning face-offs, which is hurting our PP. We start the PP chasing after the puck; definitely need to still work on the face-offs in order to help the PP.

Another thing that really lights a fire under our guys is the other team taking a few liberties with Turris. Early on the red wings made some questionable plays on Turris and Carcillo stepped in to tell those wing players to watch it. That really seemed to spark our whole team. I am still sticking to the Carcillo-Turris-Stevie G line being one of the better ones out there.

It was nice to see we held Detroit scoreless in 5 on 5 play. Their goals all came on PP. One was a 5 on 3 that should have never happened. There were a lot of ghost calls on the Coyotes and a lot of “missed” calls on Detroit. It was like the refs wanted the wings to win it. Luckily our guys were able to battle back and take the win.

Some other info on the game:

Winnik was a healthy scratch for the Coyotes. Will he be sent back to SA again? Will he be a healthy scratch in Phoenix for the rest of the season? Will he be able to return to the Winnik of last season? So many questions there…

Detroit fans threw two small octopuses on the ice after two of their goals. After Lisin scored the empty netter, sealing the win, a much larger octopus was chucked on the ice in front of the Coyotes bench. Carcillo skated over and looked like he really wanted to fling it at a wings fan; instead he took it over and deposited on his bench, much to the chagrin of his teammates. I think it would have been hilarious if he flipped back into the crowd (not hitting any Coyotes fans of course).

Klee played his 900th career game last night. I heart Klee. He has really done well this season and has stepped up even more in Sauer’s absence.

The Coyotes honored two Cardinal players last night, showing once again what a classy organization they are.

Coyotes goals compliments of (in order scored): DMo (1st period), Yandle, Jokinen (2nd Period), and Jovo, Lisin, Lisin (3rd period). Last night at the arena, they changed one of the goals to David Hale. I believe it was the Jovo goal listed here.
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In other news, Stevie G was sent back to SA. I am hoping this is just to give him some playing time during the All-Star break and that he will be back next Tuesday for the Ducks game.

If not, I would suspect a call-up for one of the other guys doing well down there. But like I said earlier, the Carcillo-Turris-Stevie G has some really good chemistry and Carcillo is playing more like last years Carcillo. I suspect the goals and assists are going to start coming for that boy now. Why mess with a good thing? Oh wait, we are talking about Gretzky here. These lines have been together for a few games…time to switch ‘em up!

6-3 Coyotes OVER red wings

More in depth tomorrow. I need to figure out how to fall alseep with all this extra energy I have now!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We split the road trip and the Cards are going to the superbowl!

There were highs and lows to tonight’s game, but overall I am not terribly disappointed with the loss. I was hoping that Telly would start as Bryz’s stats against the Oilers are not that great and it would give him plenty of time to rest up for the Red Wings. I was also hoping that Gretzky would keep the lines together and at least he did that.

The game started off great with Yandle scoring thanks to the work of the Carcillo-KT-Stevie G line. This line played extremely well at Calgary and Edmonton.

After that the Oilers go on a tear and score three times before the end of the first. We head into the second 3-1 Oilers and I am thinking we are doomed.

In the second Carcillo and Mueller score to tie it but we can’t hold on to the sippery Oilers. They score once in the second to pull ahead 4-3.

Carcillo gets into a fight. The boys take their helmets off before it begains and the linesmen stand within about 2 feet of them. Carcillo gets in a couple of great hits before they wrestle to the ice. I’d say the fight was pretty much a draw, maybe the Oiler taking the win.

The Oilers score in the third to make it 5-3. The Oilers also score on an empty net to make it 6-3 final. The forwards were out there working their bums off but just couldn’t make it happen.

At one point in the third, there was a big pile up because the Oilers thought Stevie G had a bad hit on their player. In reality the Oiler lost his edge, fell and made it look like Stevie G hit him. The Oilers lucked out and didn’t even get a roughing penalty on this even though they totally jumped Stevie G and went after Yandle. The Oilers lucked out several times as the refs didn’t call much on them, even though they were taking liberties with our guys. That’s just the way the Zebras roll at times.

In some ways, this was very similar to the Minnesota game at the start of the roadtrip. Both games we battle back to tie (or close) and then end up losing 6-3. it’s showing signs of progress that we are battling back instead of giving up, like we used to.
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I was reading some comments on Azcentral (I don’t know why I torture myself…) and someone had the balls to say that Rhino is MIA. What team has he been watching? Obviously not the Coyotes, which might explain why he thinks Rhino is MIA. Rhino may not have the points, but he has been one of the few vets that continues to work his butt off game in and game out. He’s getting pucks to the net, he’s getting his body to the net, he’s fighting in corners and he’s making things happen Lets look at his stats… 45 games, 9 goals, 16 assists, 25 points, +8, 12 PIM, 2 game winners and 56 shots. Oh yah, he is definitely MIA. This is why I love Rhino, he flies under the radar. He is underrated. He makes things look pretty and easy, even when he is battling through two opposing players.
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Tuesday night the yotes are going to rock the house and the wings. That is all I am going to say about that.
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In other sports, the Cards defeated the Eagles and are going to the Superbowl!! Way to go Cards! At the start of the season, I never thought they would make the Superbowl. This will be their first appearence in the 'bowl. Let's Go Cards!!

Coyotes at Calgary

The pre-game info for tonight’s game was missed due to the Arizona basketball game running over time. I find it funny that I have seen hockey games on NBC that have run over time, yet they will just switch to whatever is next (golf or horse racing) but basketball trumps hockey. Boooooooo

The Flames were coming off a big win over the Sharks, so my boys needed to be ready and play their game for the full 60 minutes and play it they did.

Hale started it off with a goal and a fight. This was the second goal of his career (both done this season) and I believe his second fight of the season. And who did he choose to fight? Jerome Iginla. He got off a couple of good swings before Iginla took him down. You have to give him credit for fighting Iginla. Hale and Iginla both left their helmets on (neither has a visor), I am sure this was due to all the recent talks about keeping the helmets on during fights and recent OHL rule change.

On the Hale goal, Fridge did a great job of screening Kipper. This is what I have been talking about all year and it seems they are finally starting to get the importance of getting in front of the net.

Calgary had a good scoring chance on the PP early in the second; the puck hit the post then the crossbar and bounced out. As Mueller comes out of the box, he is fed the puck, tries to pass it but it comes right back to him, quick shot and it’s in the net.

The Flames finally answer with a shot from Cammallari and a screen by Iginla. Cammallari gets another goal later in the third. The Flames will score once more in the third but it wasn’t enough to beat my yotes.

Jokinen also got on the board with a sweet shot from the corner that somehow found a gap between the post and Kipper. Boedker had a nice breakaway on a pass from Klee (made possible from a block by Yandle) and was able to score on Kipper.

The end of the game became a little nerve wracking when the Flames pulled Kipper to have the extra attacker. The Coyotes just couldn’t clear the zone and the Flames were giving everything they had, which thankfully wasn’t enough.

The game ends and it is 4-3 Coyotes. The yotes have moved into 5th in the Conference and second in the division, ahead of Anaheim because they have played one more game than us. We are sitting at 14th in the league (right behind the Florida Panthers - hrmmmmm funny stuff).
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Tomorrow night the Coyotes go to Edmonton to take on the Oilers. I am not sure what time the game starts. The schedule says 6 but I got a text Friday saying the game was at 6 pm on 1510 am but then they sent out another one saying it started at 7 pm. The Coyotes website also says 7. I will probably be prepared and check at 6. I have nothing else to do, with the Cardinals/Eagles game in my backyard, I will be stuck at my apartment all day.

Edmonton is currently in 9th place (tied for 8th with Minnesota) and four points behind us. They will be looking to get two points this game. They could be a tough team to beat. The Coyotes will need to bring their A-game and not get too cocky/overconfident about these last two wins. I said before I wanted them to get six points this road trip and they can do it. They just need to stick to their game, limit the penalties, and play the full 60 minutes.

Will Gretzky ice the same team tomorrow? Will Gretz rest Klee? Will Bryz get a night off to prepare for Tuesday's game? If I recall, Bryz has a horrid record against Edmonton.

If they can get these three wins in a row, it could be good for Tuesday when we face the Red Wings at home. I am asking that all Coyotes fans come out to Glendale. We need you on Tuesday. We need your body in the seat, we need your support, we need your voice. I will be loud and proud and make the Red Wings fans not want to come back to our arena, yes our arena. It is not the Red Wings arena and the team and the fans should not get comfy there, like it’s theirs.
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David Schlemko has been called up from SA. I'm not sure if he will actually play, as Klee, Hale and Yandle have been playing well.

Also, G has been called up to SA; hopefully he will get to play this time. He has been called up numerous times this season but has yet to play in SA.
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Well, I think that is all I have for you kitties tonight. I am going to finish watching 30 Minute Meals. Peace out.

I decided to see how much Byrz’s holiday mask went for. I got on NHL.com and found the past auctions. His mask sold for 3,999. Wow. That is an awesome amount for charity!
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Thursday night the Coyotes beat Vancouver 4-1. The Diva is responsible for Bryz/Z giving up that one goal. She decided to talk about the last time we got a shutout. I tried to tell her it was Dallas (hehe) but she wouldn’t listen and kept talking about it.

I thought the boys played really well. Mr. Klee was a shot blocking machine, Lucky Lindy almost struck gold (2 goals in the first and almost had a natural hat trick), and Bryz actually looked awake and ready to play.

There was a scary moment when Carcillo hit his head on the ice during a fight, but he was in practice yesterday and will play tonight. This fight has also been used in quite a few articles involving fights and if the players should wear helmets during them. I am not sure which direction the NHL should take, but the definitely need to leave the fighting in the game. Read more about it here.

Since this game was on Thursday night and I didn’t take notes, this is all the recap you get. I was going to write yesterday but never got around to it. I just didn’t have the attention span to sit down and write. I need deadlines and stuff or I put things off. I am the biggest procrastinator ever!
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Tonight the Coyotes are in Calgary. I am trying to be optimistic about this one but given our track record, it is hard. The Diva is taking the opposite route as me and going for all out gloom and doom, check it out here.
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Ok, that is all for me. I have a ton of stuff to do today, so I must get going.
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Also, I have calmed down much since earlier this week. I am going to try to go the Zen-route about the whole Red Wings fans and Canadians* being jag-offs about my team.

*Please note, I do not think all Red Wings fans and/or Canadians are jog-offs but it is much easier to generalize as it seems to be the majority of what I have read recently.

A lil calmer now...

Ok, now that I have calmed down a bit from my second snap of the week (in two days, maybe I need a psych eval...) I have tried to educate some people on hockey in the desert.

Someone had the audacity to say that Canadians deserved a team because they freeze in the winter and they eat, sleep, breathe hockey (I am paraphrasing a bit here) and this was my response:

wow, colin I hate to tell you but there are people in the desert that are die-hards. We dont know what to do with ourselves in the off-season. We go a little mental without da hockey. We need our hockey here too. Hockey has been in the desert since the 60's (see: Phoenix RoadRunners) and is currently the fastest growing youth sport here. There are also like 6 (not including AWA and Jobing.com) places to play hockey here, some having more than one rink at the facility. Try going to one of theses places on the weekend...they are packed with kids (and adults) learning to skate, playing hockey, buying hockey equipment etc...

Just because the Canadians aren't smart enough to move to a warm place with hockey (like I did) doesn't mean they deserve hockey more. I am one of the Phoenix Coyotes die hard fans and will do whatever I can to support my team and keep them here. If they were to move, I think I would probably die from lack of hockey or go through serious withdrawls.

I thought that was a pretty good response and I mean what I said. I will help the Coyotes anyway I can. Since I don't have money to help out that way, I guess I have to try and battle all the idiots and nay-sayers online. I will no longer not post. I will continue to go to games and post blogs. I am proud to be a Coyotes fan and they deserve to be in the desert.

What is wrong with red wings fans?*

Sometimes I just want to scream at them:

"REMEMBER THE 80's? OF COURSE NOT, YOU WEREN'T A FAN THEN BECAUSE THEY SUCKED. PLEASE JUMP OFF THE BANDWAGON AND GET RUN OVER"

And then I aslo want to go:

"IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE COYOTES MOVE BACK TO FREAKING DETROIT AND STAY OFF MY COYOTES SITES. WE DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOUR CRAP. YAH, YOUR TEAM IS GOOD NOW BUT THEY SUCKED FOR A LOOOOONG LOOOONG TIME TOO."

God. I hate people and the whole, "I live in America so I can say what I want". I am almost 100% sure when the founding fathers wrote "freedom of speach" they were not talking about idiots saying whatever they want in online comments. These were also the guys that came up with the electoral college partly because they felt most Americans were not smart enough to elect a president. I think they would still feel the same today, as this is how I feel when I read this crap (and it's not just Coyotes, it's on all news articles that allow comments).

*Please note this does not apply to ALL wings fans, just the jag-offs that visit AZCentral.com and do nothing but put the 'yotes down (and not in the constructive way).

On a lighter note...

I found this article on Azcentral.com today. It's about the Coytoes nicknames. It was great. Some good quotes from Fridge like:

"It's like an honor to (be) given a nickname," Fedoruk said. " . . . You get a nickname on a team, you're a good guy. You don't get a nickname, you're a loser."

It also says that KT's nickname is Screech because he looks like him and has a similar body. LOL gotta love that!

Frustrated

Ok I might have snapped a bit today.

I am just so tired of reading all the negative media and negative comments about the Phoenix Coyotes, enough is enough already.

First we have the Canadian media always looking to show how much we are in the hole and that the team would do so much better in Canada (I am not going to dispute this fact here). We even have ESPN getting in on the bandwagon. The Coyotes come out and basically say there is nothing to worry about, but yet the rumors persist.

Second we have the comments on these articles. They are almost always negative and dissing the Coyotes franchise and their fans.

Thirdly we have the so-called fans that post on places like Azcentral.com. There is a group of posters (or one person with multiple screen names) who claims to be a fan but has nothing positive to say about the team, ever. They don’t even post when the team wins, only when they lose. Also, even some of the fans that seem to support the team turn into negative Nelly’s when we lose. Yes, I was disappointed in last nights game but there is a huge difference between constructive criticism and ripping the team apart. The fans that are usually good are even fighting amongst themselves on the site.

And lastly, there is no local news coverage on the Coyotes. When they win or do well, we don’t make the front page of Azcentral. We do get on there when we lose though. The media needs to help in building the Coyotes up. It’s so frustrating only seeing two seconds of the Coyotes on the news but the Cardinals don’t even play and they get 20 minutes.

So what pushed me over the edge today? I got my Coyotes News and Notes email and there was this article about the Coyotes struggle on the road by Ulf Samuelsson, the Coyotes defensive coach. It talked about how with the young guys they need to adjust to the schedule and travel in the West and about how the Coyotes home record was so much better at home compared to the road and last season. I scroll down to read the comments and find this:

John (Posted 2009-01-14 16:22:21)In Phoenix, they play to a half-empty (or worse) arena. Not exactly motivation to bust your butt is it? What a mistake it was to put an NHL franchise there!

It really pissed me off so I posted before I thought (I usually work very hard not to speak or post before I think, I have gotten in trouble for this as a youngster). This is what I posted:

Hey John, why don't you try reading the article? It's about Phoenix on the road. They have a much better home record this year. It's called reading comprehension, you should try it sometime.

Seriously, the article did not talk about the Coyotes struggle at home because they are actually doing well this season at home. John apparently can’t read.

There are serious hockey fans here and ones that know what they are talking about. There are even some that were born and raised here. I am just sick of all the negativity surrounding the Coyotes and wish it would just go away. I do what I can to promote the Coyotes but sometimes it feels like it is all in vain. I don’t know what else I can do but continue to support them by buying tickets, talking about them, and writing this blog. It just makes me depressed that there are people out there who would celebrate if the Coyotes left Phoenix. If another team left their town, I would feel sorry for the fans there. I felt bad for Nashville a couple of years ago when they were struggling.

Are there other teams going through this currently and I just don’t know it because all I see is the Coyotes articles or are we all alone? If anyone knows, please let me know. I would like to see what is going on with other teams and what they are doing about it.

Rollercoaster of Love....Or something like that.

Wow, this game was all sorts of emotions for us Coyotes fans. I felt like I was on a rollercoaster; it was up and down all night. I wish it would have ended better though. It was a disappointing end to the ride.

It started off fairly well. Carcillo took the opening face off and won. He was out there with Fridge and Doan. They seemed to be putting a lot of pressure on the Wild. Then the Wild score twice and all my hope plummeted.

But then later the Coyotes made a comeback! They got the score up to 4-3 with goals from Lucky Lindstrom, Rhino and Jokinen (who decided to show up for a few minutes tonight). Unfortunately Bryz got sleepy in net, the D broke down and the Wild were able to make it 6-3 to end the game.

Doan seemed to be on every line, why call up both Winnik and Goertzen if you are just going to double shift Doan? It was also obvious that Hale and Yandle do not add up to Sauer. I don’t know if we can survive four weeks without him. The only one I can think of who may be NHL ready is Ahnelov. In the preseason he did really well until he was injured and he was a pretty good stay at home dman.

I spent the game chatting in two different groups. One was my usual group of chatters, which includes the Diva. The other group was over at Hitting the Post so I got a little bit of the Wild fan perspective. Thanks for taking in a way-ward Coyotes fan guys! It was fun. I got a great clip of Fridge doing a “cotton eyed Joe” dance. Hilarious!

Next up is Vancouver. Luongo is going to be back in net for this game. This could go either way. He may be totally rarin’ and ready to go or he may be a little slow. We definitely need to get it together and win this one. This is a radio only broadcast but I will be heading to the Diva’s house to watch it. I’m a mooch. I’m only friends with her so I can watch her CI. ;)

Also, make sure to check out this site. Hilarious stuff! Look for the picture of Simmonds (from the Kings) and be sure to roll over it with you mouse.

And read the Diva's post as her and I apparently share brainwaves and included the same links (nhLOL and Fridgey dance).

Breaking News!! Hipchecks and the Diva can predict the future!!

Apparently me and the Diva are psychic. We have recently been predicting the moves the Coyotes are going to make before they are announced in the media.

The most recent? The call up of Steven Goertzen. We were at the game Saturday and the Diva spotted someone that she thought was Steven and we talked about how he could be the next call up. Then Dave Vest writes about the injury of Tiki and the possible call up of Winnik. He also mentioned that he wouldn’t be surprised if Goertzen was called up.

I emailed the Diva and said since she maybe spotted him Saturday and then the Vest column, don’t be surprised if that was actually him. Then we read today that he was called up.

The Coyotes so need to hire us. We apparently know what they are going to do before they do! And we would work cheap. One hockey player apiece (preferably Yandle and Carcillo). ;)

This Just In!

Kurt Sauer to miss 4 weeks due to lower body injury.

The Coyotes won't bring up any defensemen from San Antonio which means Yandle and Hale will both be in the lineup. Neither are really the shut down dman that Sauer is. This is going to be tough for us, but hopefully the rest of the guys step up and make sure we are ok.
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Winnik recalled from San Antonio. It doesn't look like he played well in his five SA games. No goals, no assists, a minus four and four penalty minutes. Hopefully he comes back to the Coyotes and works his bum off. I know he can do it!

Catching up with the Coyotes...

Wow, I haven’t written much lately. I was just so depressed after that Chicago loss I found it hard to get up the motivation to write. But don’t worry, I’m back now. I’m sure y’all missed me.

A quick hit on the Chicago game. First off, I’m not sure Carcillo should have played. He was obviously not his usual self, probably all hopped up on pain medicine. Telly let in four goals and was replaced by Bryz in the second. I do find it funny how when Bryz let’s in four goals in the first, he is allowed to stay in. When Telly does it, he gets pulled. And it really shouldn’t have been four goals, one was a distinct kicking motion (they reviewed it and called it good but it really shouldn‘t have counted). Two of them were a direct result of the D breaking down. The other one rolled in off the crossbars, would have been difficult for anyone to stop. Ok, done with Chicago.
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Thursday night the Lightning came to town. This was also the debut of what we like to call the “Bad Boys Line”. Carcillo-Murray-Fridge. I am loving this line. They hit. A lot.

The refs missed a whole bunch of calls against the Lightning, but nevertheless, the Coyotes prevailed and won the game. Hale had a great shot from the blue line that lead to Kyle Turris getting the game winner. KT has really started to come into his own.

Jokinen finally showed up and got us our first power play goal in like ever.

Carcillo took a high stick to the mouth (no call) and went off the ice for a bit in the third. This should have been a 4 minute penalty, as there was blood on the ice. We also have lost Tiki for awhile. He injured his hand while blocking a shot. He will be placed on IR.
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Last night we faced the Dallas Stars who were coming off a 6-1 loss to the Wings. I expected the Stars to be out for blood, but we out hit them 36-20. Someone must have pissed in Doan’s cheerios because I think he hit more guys this game then he has all season. The Bad Boys Line was hitting anything in a Stars uniform.

The goalies were outstanding last night. We ended the game tied 0-0. At one point Turco came out of his crease, almost all the way to the blue line, and checked Lindstrom. Where was our goalie-checking Fridge? Turco seemed to stay in his crease whenever Fridge was out there.

There were a lot of missed calls against the Stars. I counted at least 5 during the third period.
We were all a bit worried going into OT as we have not won in OT/Shootout yet this season. Somehow we were able to hold off the Stars and take it to a shoot out.

In the shoot out we sent out Lindstrom, Mueller, Jokinen, Rhino and KT. Mueller, Rhino and KT scored for us (with KT getting the game winner). Bryz let in two shots, but the second one was kind of odd. The puck hit the blocker and kind of trickled into the net on an odd bounce. There wasn’t much he could have done. Although it was heartbreaking to watch. We were all standing and when that went in we sat down (only for a second).

There 3 Stars were:
3. KT
2. Turco
1. Bryz

The goalies definitely deserved to be stars, but I would have put KT above Turco just because we were on home ice.
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In other news, Boedker was named the the NHL Young-Stars game. He totally deserves that honor. He works hard, hits and gets things done on the ice.

Doan was also honored by being named to the All-Star game. Doan was the one guy on the Coyotes who totally deserved it (of the three that were on the ballot).

Congrats to both Doan and Boedker. I have no doubt they will represent the Coyotes with class and dignity.
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Winnik was sent down to San Antonio for a two-week conditioning stint. He may return early with Tiki out for an undisclosed amount of time.
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Up next the Coyotes go on a long road trip. It starts off Tuesday night in Minnesota. We then play on the road Thursday (Canucks), Saturday (Flames) and Sunday (Oilers). The Coyotes then come home on Tuesday the 20th and play the Redwings. This road trip will be a telling stint for the Coyotes. They play some pretty tough teams (Wild, Flames) and then home to play the Wings. This week may be the telling in whether the Coyotes are ready for the play-offs or not. Hopefully we can get at least another 6 points out of this. Minnesota and Calgary will be a challenge but if they aren’t ready the Oilers and Canucks could easily take the wins too.

O.M.G.

I think the Coyotes missed the memo that there was a game tonight.

I honestly can't write anything right now. I have some thoughts, but they are all jumbled. I can't think straight.

I just pray that Minnesota lost. That will help ease the pain of the Coyotes loss (sorry Ms. C, but if MN wins, they tie us point wise and we need all the help we can get right now).

Ducks 2, Coyotes 0

Last night the Coyotes were in Anaheim and it was a radio only broadcast. I listened to it but I am a visual person and like to see hockey but I made some notes, read some articles and looked at pictures and will still bring you my lunch time thoughts on the game.

The scratches for the Coyotes were Turris and Yandle. I had a feeling it would be those two, as for Yandle both Hale and Klee have played exceptional games recently and Turris looked off in the last home game. We needed a little bit of toughness against the Ducks, so I had a feeling Turris would sit and Carcillo would play. Bryz was also back in net after sitting the last couple games due to a sore back.

Carcillo was on a line with Fridge and Tiki. From the broadcast, this was probably our best line out there. Carcillo had 4 hits, 4 SOG and drew two penalties (one being a 4 minute double minor). Unfortunately, he did not return after the high stick he received, so all of this was in the first two periods. There was nothing in the articles I read that indicated if the injury was something serious or not. Apparently after receiving the high stick he went into the boards pretty hard and had difficulty getting up and skating back to the bench.

Lisin really came alive in the third and seemed to be the only one shooting at the net and really trying to do something out there. Also notable was Klee and Hale. Where was the rest of our defense last night?

Twice last night the Coyotes took a “too many men on the ice” penalty and the Ducks were able to score. To me this is a breakdown in communication between the players and the Coach. Gretzky is the one who ultimately should have made sure that this call was not made. I can see it happening once (it happens to all teams at some point) but twice? This should not have happened twice. If it wasn’t for these calls, the Ducks may not have scored and the game may have turned out differently. I am not saying we would have one, but it might have been a different game.
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Next up we have Chicago on Tuesday. This game will not turn out well if we play like we did last night. Chicago is quickly becoming a thorn in our sides, much like Minnesota was. I don’t expect to win every single night but I do expect my team to at least put 100% effort into each game. It was obvious they did not do that last night. They will need to in order to beat Chicago.

My All-Star Game Rant and No TV Broadcast Rant

The All-Star game is such BS. The starting lineups were announced yesterday and only include players form four, yes four, teams: Chicago, Montreal, Anaheim and Pittsburgh. It will be interesting to see who the league chooses to round out the lineups.

The actual players are:
Montreal - Alexei Kovalev (Forward), Andrei Markov and Mike Komisarek (Defense) and Care Price (Goalie)
Pittsburgh - Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin (Forward)
Chicago - Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews (Forward) and Brian Campbell (Defense)
Anaheim - Scott Niedermayer (Defense), Ryan Getzlaf (Forward) and Jean-Sebastien Giguere (Goalie)

Now, I understand that this is the Canadiens 100th year and that the All-Star game is in Montreal, but seriously four Canadiens on the team? And why are there three Ducks on the West? Why not just make the All-Star game Habs vs Ducks? Why even have an All-Star game at this point? I think it would be cool if each person on the starting lineup was from a different team. Each line/pairs could then be five players from different teams. To me that would be more exciting.

In reading some blogs and comments, many people are outraged about the way the starting lineup turned out. Others are calling those people racist and jealous. As far as the racist goes, I do have to agree that the name-calling (frogs) is uncalled for. I am not jealous that the Habs fans had more time to vote than me. I have a life and can’t sit and vote online/by text every second of every day. I did vote and I only voted for one of my teams players, the rest were players from other teams. I voted for Doan. He deserves to go. He is the epitome of an All-Star, unlike Crosby.

How can you be an All-Star when you cheap shot people on a face-off? He shouldn’t even be a captain in this league. Yes, he is a good player but he ruins himself by doing the cheap shots and whining. I don’t want to see a hockey player whine. I want to see them stand up and defend the honor of his team. I don’t want an All-Star who leaves a game when his team is losing and says, I need to review the tape to figure out why how I got injured. Way to leave your teammates out to dry, way to be a captain, way to be an All-Star.

In trying to think of a way to do this more fairly, I haven’t been able to come up with anything. It seems that the league (and other sports) have tried just about everything. Maybe limit the voting to one from each person. Plus, I think the league likes having Crosby on the starting lineup. They think having a big name like him will draw new fans. If I was a new fan and I watched the All-Star game, I think I would never watch another hockey game again. It is not the most exciting game to watch because the players are being cautious (which I totally understand) and is nothing like a real NHL game where everyone is fighting for the win. I am a huge hockey fan and I usually shut it off after two periods. I do enjoy having the goalies micd up though. That is always fun, especially when they get distracted and let in an easy goal (I believed this happened to Dipi last year). I do like the skills contests also; those are fun to watch.
Ok, I am done ranting about the All-Star game.
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But I do have one other rant… WHY IS THE DUCKS/COYOTES GAME NOT BEING BROADCAST ON TV FOR EITHER TEAM?!?!?! Seriously, someone dropped the ball on this one. And it’s not even being radio broadcast on the Coyotes “official” radio station; it‘s on 1510 am (whatever station that is). This is like one of the biggest games of the season and its radio only. Why? I am so pissed that I can’t watch this game and I hate radio broadcasts. I like to be able to see what is going on! I’m a visual person.
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Last night I went and watched my friends hockey practice for the MotherPuckers (as we haven’t been able to see any of her games) and we have (Ok, I have) officially named her Jovo. Next time I am bringing signs that say ‘Go Jovo”.

Coyotes 5, Islanders 4

Last night I found a new player to hate, #28 Jackman for the NY Islanders. He tried to decapitate the Telly Monster and broke his mask. This is a game we needed Carcillo in as Jackman did not get called for a penalty and Jovo/Jokinen just talked at him after he did this. He did get some payback in the form of boos every time he stepped on the ice and a nice smashing hit from none other than David Hale. I don’t care if we get a penalty, he needed to pay for what he did. It opened the door for the Islanders to abuse Telly all night. Telly usually is calm and collected but there was a couple of times he was getting upset with the Islanders abuse he’d actually shove them.

Speaking of Telly, he let in 4 goals last night but I can’t blame him for all the goals as our D totally fell apart in the third. It was almost like we had 5 forwards out there in the third. We reverted back to the Coyotes of past seasons…we are ahead so we let off. Well the problem with that is it allows the other team to come back. At least we were able to hold them off for the win.

Congrats to Doug Weight who recorded is 1,000 career point last night. That is quite the accomplishment. Also, kudos to the Coyotes fans who gave him a standing ovation. He seemed quite humble as he thanked the crowd multiple times, looking as if he wished the camera would be off him soon.
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Bryz’s holiday mask is up for auction on the NHL auction site. It’s currently at 1250 and there is 11 days to go. This mask should raise a lot of money for Coyotes Charities.
http://auction.nhl.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prrfnbr=101129928&prmenbr=12717464&aunbr=101476638#1
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Winnik has been sent to San Antonio on a two-week conditioning stint. He was asked by the organization to go and had the class to say ok. He knows that he wasn’t getting playing time here and now he can go play in San Antonio and get his game back. He knows what he needs to work on and now he will have the chance to do that in a game, not just practice. This is why I love Winnik. He works hard and when given a chance to really work on his game, he takes it. There are so many athletes (and non-athletes too) who think just being them qualifies them for the job. I don’t care who you are, you always need to work to improve yourself.
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Coyotes are currently tied point wise with Anaheim. We have the exact same numbers as Anaheim, 39GP, 19W, 15L, 5OT for a points total of 43. Not to put too much pressure on my boys, but this means tomorrow nights game against Anaheim is crucial. Hopefully Carcillo will be back in the lineup as we will need some toughness against the Ducks. Also, being on their home turf is going to make it difficult. The boys will need to take it up a notch and hang tough (yes, I did just make a NKOTB reference. You know you love it..)

Winter Classic

New Years day offered us hockey fans the second annual Winter Classic. Finally, something for us non-football fans to enjoy. I will admit to having watched bowl games in the past, but only if the Badgers were playing and someone was having a party. The past two years though I have been able to enjoy my first love, hockey. Both years have been a success and are expected to continue for many years. Even people who do not usually watch hockey checked out the Winter Classic.

I have read that some people thought this year was better than last years. Some complained about the snow last year but I loved it. It added another element to the game, another challenge for the boys to overcome and it looked like winter. I also liked the teams last year better being a big fan of many of Buffalo’s players. But all-in-all, I think both years have been great and could do so much for the emergence of the NHL in your typical “non-hockey” markets.

Personally, I did not like either teams this year but hoped for a ‘Hawks win. Unfortunately Detroit decided to show up in the second and third and won the game 6-4. There also was a lot of tension, pushing/shoving incurred around the crease quite often. This is a good way to get more casual/first time fans into the game, show the passion that the players have.

As a girl into fashion and hockey, I have to say I was not in love with either of the teams “retro” looks. Detroit looked like candy canes with their stripped socks. I hope they never play the Wild with that outfit on; we’d have the elves and the candy canes battling it out. Oh wait… That could be next years Winter Classic! I am a genius! I did like the colors of the ‘Hawks uniform but they had too many stripes, both vertical and horizontal, making it hard to look at.

Both Strader and Pang were there. Pang did last years Winter Classic and was invited back again for commentary and interviews. Strader was asked to do the play-by-play when the original play-by-play guy came down with laryngitis. As a Coyote fan, I feel honored that both of our TV personalities were present. It just goes to show that we have a class act up in the press box.

I also think that it is quite classy that we had both the American and Canadian national anthems, even though both teams were American teams. They did this last year also. I think it goes to show how much Americans and the NHL appreciate what Canada means to this sport.

Why you should just call a cab or get a hotel rooom when you got the money...

This is not hockey related but it does have to do with a former Phoenix athlete…

Charles Barkley was arrested for DUI the other night. He was out partying with Urkel and some football player when he left with a women. He rolled through a stop sign and told the cop he was in a hurry because he was going to get oral sex from the women (he admits to previously being serviced by her).

His mug shot is horrid. He looks really, really bad. It is so sad. He was such a great basketball player and he looked good when he was playing.

Here is the link to the article on Arizona Central. So far it is the place that has had the most information. I suggest reading it, as there is so much more than the little tidbit I gave you. There is also a lovely mug shot picture.
http://www.azcentral.com/community/gilbert/articles/2008/12/31/20081231Barkley31-ON.html

Happy New Year!!

The Coyotes rung in the new year with a win over Colorado.

For the team, I want them to resolve to become better on the power play this new year. We are still lacking on that. At least in the win last night, we kept the puck in Colorado’s zone for almost the whole power play.

Last night I got to sit in a suite. It was a pretty good view and the seats were really comfortable. The food wasn’t really worth the price though. I would definitely sit in a suite again if given the opportunity but I think I would say no food.

Tiki was back in the line-up and he definitely made a difference. The PK was so much better with him out there. He was making some good moves. Even if he doesn’t ever get a lot of goals, he is going to be in the league for a long time.

Telly was in goal tonight and he played amazing. He even got an assist on one of the goals. We love you Telly Monster!!!!

The boys started off slow but woke up after Colorado got on the board first.

Mueller seems to have woken up. He got two goals last night.

Scratches were Winnik, Carcillo and Yandle. Bryz is out with a sore back. Tordjman was here on an emergency call up.
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In other news, the ECHL has had two teams fold mid-season.
I found this link:
http://community.adn.com/node/135853 which talks mostly about the fold of the Fresno Falcons.

The ECHL's Pacific Division-leading Fresno Falcons ceased operations today, becoming the league's second team to fold this season -- the Augusta Lynx bagged it earlier.

Fresno officials cited the poor economy for a massive drop in attendance, fewer season tickets sold and reduced sponsorships. The Falcons (18-10-2) were averaging 3,284 fans per home game, down a staggering 1,751 per game from last season's average of 5,035.

According to the article the players have become UFA and will join other teams around the league.

I just wish the players that were dispersed find a team and can start to play again. I wish them the best of luck. Sometimes things happen for a reason. They may seem bad at that time but in the long run it could be the best thing that ever happens to them.

It's just sad that these two teams couldn’t even make it to the end of the season. I guess this is a very sore subject for me because of all the rumors swirling about the Coyotes moving and everything. I hate to see hockey disappear from anywhere in America. We love the sport here and we don’t want it to go anywhere.

In looking at the RoadRunners schedule, it looks like we were supposed to play Fresno six more times this year, including January 2nd and 3rd. I guess the boys won’t be making that trip. I didn’t see Augusta Lynx on the schedule.
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I also found this article on my new favorite goalie:
http://www.echl.com/cgi-bin/mpublic.cgi?action=show_news2&cat=1&id=17369

It appears Quick enjoys sleeping in. He also had some issues when sent to the ECHL, kind of ala Emery…no wonder I love the kid.

“He wasn't staying out all night. He was just a heavy sleeper and slept through his alarms.”

If you like goalies, I highly recommend that you read the full article. It’s really good and makes me love Quick even more. Such a goalie crush. Oi. With LaBarbera traded to Vancouver, look for Quick to stay up when Ersberg comes back.
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And I also found this on another one of my goalies:
http://www.echl.com/cgi-bin/mpublic.cgi?action=show_news&cat=1&id=17380
It’s just a little blurb from the ECHL website that talks about Tordjman’s call up and his stats from his RoadRunners days, nothing too exciting.
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Winter Classic is on today at 1 ET (11 my time) and I will be watching it. Last year I loved watching the Winter Classic and I could cheer for Buffalo but this year I cannot bring myself to cheer for either the Red Wings or the ‘Hawks. I want both of them to lose. Is that even possible? There is a 30% chance of snow in Chicago and it is a balmy high of 33 degrees. Currently it is 25 degrees and feels like 11. (weather info courtesy of weather.com)