I haven’t written much lately because I haven’t had the time to really watch any games. The Coyotes had three home games, none of which I made it to. The weekday games (Tues and Thurs) I had errands I had to do and then Saturday I had such a headache, I would have died at the game. I will be going to the Stars game on Monday night and am stoked to see TUUUUURCOOOOOO.
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Also, more bad news… Brian McGrattan is out for the rest of the season. He hurt his shoulder in his first game back. Poor guy. I hope he recovers quickly and gets back on his skates. I read recently that Big Mac is headed back home. We will miss him here and hope to see him back next season!
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I saw bits of the Coyotes game last night against the Sharks. I was at the last Roadrunners game of the season (possibly of all time!). We had the Coyotes game on in our suite.

The Roadrunners played the Alaska Aces and it was quite the spirited/violent game.

Unfortunately they couldn’t get the win but it was not for lack of trying. I am going to miss these guys if all the rumors are true. I would hate to lose a hockey team here in the Valley.

At one point an Aces player threw down his gloves and totally sucker punched a RR like 4 times and this turned into a line brawl. The Aces goalie (I was calling him Lamborghini) was out of his crease making chicken wings at the RR. I think he should have gotten a penalty for that! If you’re gonna call our guy a chicken, don’t stand half way between center ice (where it was going down) and your crease, get your ASS out there and throw down! You are the chicken Mr. Lamborghini!

It was bittersweet to see the RR gather at center ice and salute the fans. If I wasn’t cheering for them… I might have teared up.
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I guess the Coyotes lost last night. I was too tired when I got home to finish the game, went right to bed. But I did see Kurt Sauer’s first goal of the season last night!!! Way to go Kurt!

I also saw Winnik get in a fight. Man, we need Carcillo or McGrattan back. Don’t get me wrong, I love Winnik and all he brings to this team but he really isn’t a fighter.
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Well until Monday and Turco rolls into town!!

Quick Flyers Update!

I decided to watch the Preds at Flyers game since I found a live stream online. Wow, I had almost forget how much fun the Flyers are to watch.

Carcillo had his first fight as a Flyer against de Vries. Almost immediately after Cote got into one too. I guess he couldn’t let Danny show him up or something. :)

And Biron has been spot on tonight. That glove hand, omg is all I can say. He just had some amazing saves tonight. Wow oh wow.

I do have to say the streaming isn’t that great. It’s hard to tell who is out there and if I enlarge the screen it gets all blurry. But it is better then nothing!

Carcillo also got his first assist as a flyer tonight. It was awesome. He took a high stick to the face but still managed to shoot it on net. Lupul got the rebound for a goal.

Flyers win 4-1. I was a little surprised the Preds couldn’t get much offense going. They have been averaging like 5 goals a game recently and Rinne has been spot on. I didn’t see/hear much on Suter. He must have been having an off night.

I have been thinking long and hard about this subject. I think I have come to the conclusion that I can no longer support the Phoenix Coyotes. I am usually all about supporting the local teams, even for sports I am not all that into. When I lived in Wisconsin and the Packers went to the Super Bowl, I cheered for them. Now that I live here, I cheered for the Cardinals in the Super Bowl. I can no longer support the Phoenix Coyotes.

I have previously changed loyalties for teams before. It’s not something I do willy-nilly but if I believe strongly enough about something, I will do what I need to do. When the Suns lost Barkley I was devastated but they went out and got an excellent replacement in Jason Kidd, so I survived (similar to Coyotes trading Ballard) but when the Suns traded Kidd and got nothing in return, I followed Kidd and became a NJ Nets fan. It wasn’t an easy decision and I struggled with it but I felt the Suns were making a huge mistake. Turns out they sucked for awhile (seasons) before they finally got Steve Nash back and a few other players. I understood why the Suns did it but it didn’t mean I agreed with it or liked it.

I have lived here for three years and figured I have spent about $3,000 on Coyotes tickets, merchandise and food/drink at the arena. For me, that is a lot of money that could have been used elsewhere or saved. I could have used that money to make a larger down payment on my house. I could have bought like 6 large (or 30 small) Coach bags. I could have bought shoes, lots and lots of shoes! I could have went out to eat more, went to concerts. The possibilities are endless! I could have bought more airfare. I could have traveled and went to the other 29 NHL arenas.

Every year we have been told that the team would get better and they would be working toward the playoffs. And every year the team has fallen apart at the end of the season and traded off all kinds of players.

I had hoped that when Maloney was hired that this pattern would end and the team would start to improve. I now see that Maloney is just another pawn for Gretzky or a FOG. He has no say in what happens with the team. Maybe Gretzky should become General Manager and hire a real coach. That might actually improve the team.

I guess I am just sick of being lied to, especially when it comes to a large part of my budget. Other people may be brainwashed by what Maloney and Gretzky tell them, but not me.

Until they get a real coach, the Coyotes will continue on this cycle. Yes the new guys may do well when they first get here but eventually they will go the way of everyone else. Their production will suffer, the staff will turn on them and the Coyotes will trade them off only to see them vastly improve on another team.
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I found this quote when I was looking at the preview for the Calgary at Philly game tonight:

"The season is going to start again," Jokinen told the Flames' official Web site. "Going to a place where there are high expectations and the people expect a 'W' every night, that's what you want."

From:
http://www.nhl.com/ice/preview.htm?id=2008020957

I knew there was a reason I didn’t like him, besides the Ballard trade. I hope that wasn’t directed at the fans because we did want them to win every night. If it is directed at his former teammates or Coaches, it just shows what kind of guy he is, classless.
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I have decided I am going back to my former team, the Flyers. It’s not just because of Carcillo either. I have always liked their style of play, brash, physical and not afraid to hit. That is the best way to play. The Coyotes always played their best games (and won) when they followed that style.

It will be a lot harder for me to follow them though. I don’t get Center Ice. I will have to rely on print media and hopefully some time on NBC or the NHL Network. Hopefully I can also focus more on Ballard and the Panthers. I’d also like to see more of the Preds and Sabres.

I am not sure if I will continue this blog. We will have to see what happens.

Well, I went out to Washington DC this past weekend. It was a nice little vaca and I missed some Coyotes game. Apparently they were not too much to miss.

They lost to both the Preds and Blues. I heard Carcillo was one of the few players to show up and that Dmo chose to sit out the Blues game as he asked to be traded from this losing team.

Sunday I went to see the Panthers at Caps and am happy to report that the Panthers beat the Caps 6-2. Ballard got two assists and looked AWESOME out there. I love that guy so much. And after really watching the Panthers (since they weren’t playing my team) I realized there are a lot of great guys on that team. I hope they make the playoffs.

The Caps looked like the Coyotes. For once I was glad not to be on the losing end of a game. Listening to the crowd, they sounded just like Coyotes fans. The only player that really showed up was Ovie. Every shift he was out there you thought this is it, something is going to happen now!

Nick Boynton was scratched. Turns out he got into it with the Coach a few days before. That sounds like Boynton. He is not afraid to speak his mind and that is why I love him.

I am not going to say much about the trade deadline. I expected Dmo and Telly to go but it still hurts. Olli I am not sad to see go but I think we could have gotten more for him then two players that have 22 (or so) goals between them. And the biggest upset of the day? Carcillo to Philly. Wow. No one saw that one coming. At least he’s going to a good team. Flyers were my number one team before I moved to Phoenix.

Don’t be surprised to see this blog go in a new direction shortly. I no longer believe that Coyotes management is seriously trying to “build a winner” and go with a “youth movement”. They have been doing the same thing every year since I’ve been here. They keep repeating the same thing and trading off fan favorites. I ask, do they really want to put butts in the seats, do they really want to win? I also don’t think they can seriously build a winner until something is done with the coaching staff.