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.
******
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!
******
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.

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.
***
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.

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.
***
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
***
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.
***
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..)

Coyotes start the season with a BANG!

The Phoenix Coyotes are off to an amazing start, two wins in two nights.

The coyotes had their season opener this past Saturday, taking on the Columbus Bluejackets at home. The coyotes started off hot. They were skating fast and hitting hard. They had Columbus quite frustrated and it seemed that the bluejackets’ penalty box had a revolving door installed.

The coyotes seemed to fall apart a bit in the second. They seemed disjointed and not together. I am not sure what happened, maybe a failure to communicate? They were able to hold Columbus off and they came back in the third to seal the deal.

Jokinen finally started to become the player I had been expecting. He had a goal and an assist. Jovo did not give me any cause for alarm. Hale had a solid game. Yandle had one major fumble, which seemed to lead to Columbus’ goal (or maybe I just blamed him since he was on the ice). He then later got a goal and also a fight, so he kind of redeemed himself.

Fedoruk is looking slow on a line with Boedker and Rhino, but damn the boy likes to hit! He was hitting anything with a Bluejackets jersey on.

The following day, I got up bright and early and hit the road to go to the Ducks home opener against the Coyotes. I am so glad I went to that game. It was awesome.

The coyotes got off to an early lead. The ducks were hitting hard but the coyotes didn’t let that stop them. Hale was taking the grunt of the punishment, but he just kept on going. He even got in a fight (he didn’t do very well, but the point is he tried). That boy has just earned a spot with al us fans. We like a guy who is not afraid to stick up for his teammates, and Hale proved that this weekend.

Jovo had one major turnover, but it didn’t lead to anything, so I guess I will forgive him. Doan got a pair of goals; maybe he’s not off to his normal slow start. Turris had a goal. The ducks fans around me were pissed. The guy in front kept yelling that it was kicked in. I was like, dude, no. First off, there was no “distinct kicking motion” (there was no kicking motion AT ALL) and second off, a duck pushed Turris into the net and he just took the puck with him. Bryz let in two goals. They looked to be the exact same shot and he should have been able to stop them. They were the types of goals I knew were going in as soon as they left the ducks stick. Bryz, please close or cover your 5 hole. K? Kthanks.

There was a big fight at the end (tension was building all night) and they showed Gretz on the jumbotron and he was screaming “The game is fucking over!”. There was .3 of a second left and the refs made them do another face-off. Gretz sent out all forwards since there was no way they could win the face off and get to the other end of the ice in .3 of a second.

Overall, it was a great game. We went down to watch warm-ups. Doan gave us a huge grin and Tiki tried to toss us a puck but it was intercepted by a ducks fan. The guys that sat down next to us tried to tell us they were loud. We laughed at them. They were no where near as loud as we were. As part of the overall Ducks fandom, yes. As individuals? No. A couple of times I wanted to tell the guy sitting next to me to watch the game, not me. I kept seeing him out of the corner of my eye staring at me.

Ducks 3, Coyotes 1

Some quick thoughts on last nights game…
Jovo: Wow, did not see that coming. I only had to say damnjovo a couple of times. I did say OMG was that Jovo? a few times. The guy had a great game, with only one turnover at the blueline. For as much as he messed up last year, I can still give the guy a chance. Hopefully this continues throughout the season.

Sauer, well he pretty much was the cause of the first goal. He knocked into a duck and sent the puck behind Bryz, who then kicked the puck into the net. After that though, Sauer came together. He had some big hits and he has some good chemistry with DMo.

As far as the lines go, our second line was by far the best. They had so much chemistry and got our only goal. Carcillo-Turris-Boedker. Wow, I think Fridge just lost his spot on the second line. You can not deny that this was the best line out there. Speed, toughness, chemistry. So impressed. Carcillo got the only goal and had the Ducks goalie (a former coyote at that) not been on, he would have had the hat trick. Turris can just pass and find his teammates like no other. I was a little worried about Boedker but not after last night! The kid has speed and he just worked so well with those two.

Now, the top line will be amazing too once they get used to playing with each other. Doan is just a monster. Oh, there’s a player in front of me? I will just go right through him. Jokinen skates so well. Mueller, well he passed way too much last night. I think he thought he was back at center and trying to set everyone up. This line has amazing potential though. They just need to keep working with each other. Hear that Gretz: No line juggling yet!

Winnik and Tiki looked good. Neither guy was afraid to battle anyone for the puck. And wow Tiki, didn’t know you were willing to throw yourself in front of the puck so much! Welcome to the NHL, you earned it!

McGrattan needs to keep moving his feet. He is too big of force to get going quickly from a dead stop. He looked nervous last night, like he wasn’t sure what to do with all his ice time. I think the coyotes expect him to be a regular player unlike Ottawa who gave him a 2 minute ice time average. They have been pushing him in practice (and he’s looked good there). Hopefully he can step up.

Ahhh, the power play. WAY too much passing going on there. When guys had open lanes to shoot, they would pass. When they had 4 players blocking the shooting lane, they'd shoot. At one point I yelled out, “You know how to pass now show us you can shoot!” Other than that, it was looking like it could have potential. They were cycling, setting up and then passing. Even Hale didn’t do too bad on the PP (he also did ok as Jovo’s partner – which by the way I like Z and Ahnelov together, Z got to jump into some plays!).

Let’s see, the guy behind me was an idiot trying to sound like a hockey pro to his buddy. He obviously didn’t know much about the coyotes because at one point he said that “that guy should be sent down”. That guy was Shane Doan. Yup, we are going to send down our captain, one of best power forwards and one that has been in the NHL for like 10 + years. Good idea! I want that guy behind the bench. He was obviously a loser as he kept saying his daughter was going to be a Red Wing fan (umm, I just threw up a lil in my mouth). She is going to be a Red Wings fan damn it! Oh how I hate parents who try to force their kid into liking the team that they do. Let them pick which teams they like. My parents did. I’ve been a suns fan as long as I can remember and I grew up in Wisconsin. They never forced me to be a Packer fan or a bucks fan. It’s kind of like parents who force their kid into activities they like. Have them try everything and then let them pick what they like. Ok end of rant.

The Final Game: Coyotes at Ducks

Wow, what a game. The first period was held at 0-0. Bryz had an awesome first period. And second period. Apparently Carcillo wanted the hat trick again. His first goal came off the shot of Kyle Turris. So our newest youngster gets his first NHL point. Vrbata was really trying to get a goal but Carcillo ended up getting it.

We played hard but then seemed to sit back again in the third with our 2-0 lead. Bad idea. Ducks came back to tie it. The game went into OT. Damn jovo so freaking slow, anaheim almost got a goal on a break away. Mueller and Ballard both had a good chance. Just couldnt put it past Hiller. Turris had some good moves during OT. We had it in but the official waived it off, it went in after time ran out. So we have to go to a freaking shoot out. Even though we lost the shoot out, we got to see Turris score a sick goal. Man does that boy have skills! He is going to be gold for us in shoot outs. Him, Mueller and maybe Vrbata can be money for us in the future.

Interesting PP on which Carcillo got his first goal. No defensemen. 4 rookies. It was Mueller and Turris on the point. Vrbata, Carcillo, and I cant remember the fourth one.

With this game, we are in the 8th spot for the draft. Tomorrow Versus will air the draft lottery. I plan on watching, so I will update at that time.

Heres my predictions for the first round winners:
Detroit over Nashville (even though Im hoping nashville has the surprise upset, it wont happen)
I think Colorado will upset Minnesota.
San Jose will take Calgary
Anaheim and Dallas is a difficult one. I think Anaheim will ultimately win that one.

Canadiens will beat the Bruins
Ottawa over Pens
Im hoping for the upset, Caps over Flyers. I think the Caps have really come into their own
Im going Rangers over Devils. I just think NYR will take it. Plus Id like to see Sjo advance. :)

We'll see how I do. Cant wait for the playoffs to start. This time next year the coyotes will be in! I just know it.

And Carcillos going to get his 25 goals next year. And way less PIMs. Seems the refs have stopped giving him crap calls. finally.

Its going to be a long summer!

End of the Season

It has been awhile since Ive posted. Ive been busy with work and other stuff.

First off I saw this on another forum and thought Id take a shot at it:

Best turn around game (positive): I think I will have to go back to the start of the season and say either the LA game when we first got Bryz or the NY Rangers/NJ Devils games. The fact that we could beat those two teams gave the guys a big confidence boost.

Best turn around game (negative): Calgary, we were up by 3 and then let them come back to win. It seemed we started getting worse from there.

Best Game of the Year: Sharks game where Carcillo got hurt. We were down and our Captain did what was needed to win the game. After that, we showed we had a chance to hang with the sharks (even beat them a couple more times!)

Worst Game of the Year: Either the Columbus game (the goal seen 'round the world) or the last Canucks/Oilers games. We didnt show up for either of those games. I think half our guys were already thinking about their summer golf outings.

Quick hits:
Best Offensive player: Vrbata (until his recent slump) and obviously Doan. Hes had an amazing season. Im wondering if playing for so long with a broken hand has kind of come back to bite him as he hasnt seemed himself lately.

Best Defensive player: Derek Morris, he really stepped up his game from last season. I hope he comes back and does that again. Z would be a close second. You don't notice him as much, but hes there quietly keeping us in some games.

Best Rookie: this is hard. Mueller and Hanzal both had great seasons. Each were asked to play different roles, so you cant compare them. Also, after the SA send down, Carcillo played well and really showed that he has the skills and he now knows it and is going to use it.

Biggest Surprise player: I would say Winnik. He has just gotten better and better as the season has progressed. Some would say Vrbata, but I had high expectations for him as he was a vast improvment over Adams. I knew we got the better end of that trade since day one.

Wow, that was hard. Trying to think back to all the games and evaluating. But it was fun to do.

Ok, and in news Turris signed with the big club! He has two games under his belt so far and you can just see the potential there. He is such an amazing passer. He shoots it high on net, something a lot of our guys dont seem to do (at least not lately).

Another signing was that of Nick Ross. He is now in SA. I hope he does well. I really liked him at rookie camp and they even let him play one pre season game. He wasnt bad but it showed he had a lot of work to do yet. Hopefully at least one year in SA will be a lot of help for him. Im thinking he will be there for at least 2 seasons, 1 seems like it would be rushing his development.

In Blake Wheeler news: he may stay at school for another year. This is what Ive been saying all along. Everyone was going on about how he doesnt want to sign and hes holding out but I had a feeling he just wasnt finished yet. If he goes back next year, he will be the captain. Why wouldnt he want to be captain? And what if they are better next year and get to the frozen four? If Wheeler wants to stay in school, I think thats great. I think hed learn more with a year in SA but ultimately its his decision and he has to do whats best for him.

The season ticket holder signing was this week. Went and got a few sigs. We only got through one table. They cut the lines off early. They said they would cut the lines at 8 but they actually did at 730 and that was about when we finally got through the first table. We went to the tables with Turris. That kid has so much energy and enthusiasm. Its refreshing and I hope a few of our guys catch it! Yandle was giving Turris/Rhino a hard time. Turris was signing my bros hat and he asked where he should sign it and my bro goes, "Right next to the great Steven Reinprecht" and Yandle looks at him and goes; "Who?". It was classic. Jovo was giving Bryz a hard time. It was hilarious. Jovo was totally joking and Bryz was getting all mad. His voice was getting all high pitched. I was laughing my ass off. The guy in front of me had a pic of bryz as a duck and Jovo goes, "that pucks going in" and bryz was like, "no its not. that is playoffs. no goals go in that game". And Jovo went, "no, no thats going in" and bryz's voice gets high pitched and basically repeats what he said before. I also got Fuhrs and Tocs autographs and a pic with Toc. When I was waiting a guy had some old school pics of toc so he was having fun with that. And he seems like a really cool guy. The guy was like I have a ton of stuff for you to sign and Toc was like Really? thats cool. And the guy was cool, hed have toc sign for him and then let who ever was waiting get a pic or autograph instead of just hogging toc. And then this lady walks up and goes, "who are you?" and Toc sticks out his hand an shakes hers and goes, "Im Rick. Im one of the associate coaches". And the lady was like oh ok! nice to meet you. haha, it made me laugh.

Last and final home game against Dallas Stars. Wow, first two periods sucked. but we came back in the third (too bad we couldnt pull off the tie, thanks jovo). I upgraded for this game. I figured last game of the season, why not. Carcillo got the team and crowd going when he took barch out with 2 punches. And i read that barch ended up with a slight concussion. The crowd was literally on their feet cheering for like five minutes. Then they cheered again when he came out of the box. Bally made up for his flub by scoring later in the third. Oh and Lisin got a goal with assists from Kapi and Carcillo. Its about time that line got some points, they have been the best/hardest working line for quite some time. Bryz was pulled and for whatever reason Jovo tried to pass when there was a Stars player right in front of him. So he passes to the stars player who has Jovo in front of an empty net. Hrmmm, yah, not that hard to put it in. So a sad ending to the home games. But, it was a great third period and kind of fitting since their home record was bad this year.

Last night they were in Dallass. And Carcillo gets a hat trick and a fight. It was awesome. We ended up cheering so loud when he was on his way to the empty netter. I liked how he carried it into the zone and right to the net. He wanted to make sure that baby went in! Too many times we shoot from too far out with the empty net and miss. But yah, he just showed how much skill he had. he totally had turco going with that second goal. Hanzal got a goal too. There was a time when i thought we were going to lose it. We let Dallas catch us too often. Im so glad I went and watched this game. AMAZING. And Carcillo was named NHLs FIRST star of the night!

Last game of the year for us agains Anaheim Ducks on Sunday. Pronger will be back. We can and will beat them. No matter if we win or lose we will end up either 6, 7 or 8 in the draft (depending on what others do). Im not worred where we pick, I have trust in our scouting department (they have found some great draft picks that are usually below others radars and in trades ie Carcillo, someone had to have an eye on him). Plus we have like 6 picks in the first few rounds. We could even trade up if it doesnt cost much. But anyway back to the Anaheim game. Its on local tv, so I will be watching it and cheereing my ass off. I predict Turris will have his moment this game. He will get either an assist or goal. Hes had a couple of games to adjust and it would be great if he got a point and then went back to school.

Also, Lisin and Yandle were sent back to San Antonio Rampage. Im glad. Lisin should get a shot at playing for the playoffs since he helped get them there. It will be good experience for him. Yandle really needs some more time to develop this year. He had far to many flubs this call up. Give him a chance to work on his defense and then let him see if he can make the big team out of training camp.

And Im excited, looks like Preds and Caps will be in the playoffs. I will be watching them. Buffalo is out. :( I dont care about anyone else in the west that made the playoffs. The east has a couple of other teams I will be interested in seeing how they do in the playoffs. So, I will hopefully be able to write some more on the playoffs once they start.

Ok, I have written enough for today. Once the season is over, I plan on doing an entry about the last game. I will also have plenty of time to go over the UFAs and RFAs on this team and evaluate each player and give my opinion on what we should do with them. (And Ive got some opinions here). I also need to look at the list of upcoming UFAs for the entire league. I havent looked at that much this year since we've been playing pretty well and there was the excitement of maybe making the playoffs.

Pictures

A sampling of the continuous shooting.

I still need some work on this mode yet.

Good Face-off pic

GOAL!!!!

Ballard yelling about the "illegal substitution" penalty and doan yelling at someone...

Anyone up for a little Roasted Duck?

Maybe some duck on the grill, wrapped in bacon?

We are now 4 - 1 in the series with the Ducks. Although, this sucks that this was won in a shoot out. The coyotes could have easily taken this one in regulation, IMO. And why give a team in our division a point? Damn OT loss point. Its really starting to piss me off. The ducks would have one point less than us if they didnt get a point for OT losses. that is freaking crap.

I felt that the end of the 2nd and the start of the 3rd we were playing just to keep the game tied and then picked it up for the end of the third and OT. A little too late guys. I think if we can make it to the shoot out, we are guarenteed a win. With Bryz in net and Mueller. I dont think Mueller has missed once in the shoot out. Vrbata missed tonight but bryz stopped all 3 shots.

We have a problem with this whole "dump and chase" Why are we always reverting to that? Especially on a PP. There is no need. Youve got the extra man, go for it. And whats with the dump and go for a line change? On more than one occassion tonight we had a guy go for the shot and hes the only red jersey out there. Seriously? JP had a good shot and if hed had any teammates with him, someone could have gotten the rebound and maybe a goal. but noooo, they all went for the line change.

And what got into JP? Im really starting to like this guy. I hope they dont send him back to SA. He had some nice hits tonight. There was one really good one by the yotes penalty box. Nice and hard. And then he was fiesty. Getting into shoving matches left and right. I thought for sure he was going to fight. Not that i wanted him to, hed get his ass kicked, but i was seriously impressed tonight. played hard, created chances, just an overall good game for him.

And what is the illegal substitution call all about? This is what i found on it:
Substitution infraction (Illegal Substitution)
This rare bench minor penalty is called when a substitution or addition is attempted during a stoppage of play after the linesmen have signalled no more substitutions (once the face-off is set) or if a team pulls its goalie and then attempts to have the goalie re-enter play at any time other than during a stoppage of play. Too many men on the ice and/or starting the wrong lineup can also simply be called a substitution infraction.

Ummm, the whistle blew almost as soon as Ballard left the box. I dont get it. I must have missed something. But the way ballard and doan were arguing and then gretz, i doubt it. I blame it on Magoo. Freaking refs.

I laughed my ass off when jovo whiffed on a pass. it was quite funny. jovo was again jovo. hot and cold. good and bad. but mostly not good. damn jovo.

there was a guy behind me who every time the ducks had the puck hed yell "hit him! hit him!" some people need to learn when to shut up. then the kid behind me kept kicking my chair. the kid next to me kept crying. seriously.

i tested out my continuous shooting mode on the camera. from the upperbowl. i havent checked the pics out yet, so I might post some tomorrow.

Im a little behind

Ok, first off I want to say Im a little upset with Mr. Bettman. I was listening to his radio show the other day and someone called in and asked about Chris Simon and what would cause them to ban someone from the league. He stated that he thought the punishment was fair and they cant just take away from them their lively hood and all they have ever known. Well, my problem with this is he told Toc that if he ever gambled again, hed be out of the nhl for good. Now, wouldnt that be the same thing? Isnt hockey all Toc has ever known? And Im sorry, what Simon does is way worse than what Toc did. Simon could potentially end another players career or god forbid, kill someone. And Mactavish did just that and hes allowed to coach. Heatly did too and hes still playing. Now, too me drunk driving, driving recklessly and doing things like Simon does is worse than what Toc did. Toc's gamblin didnt hurt anyone (maybe financially, but thats the other persons choice to gamble also). People who drive drunk could kill or hurt innocent people. People who drive at too fast speeds could hurt or kill innocent bystanders. Chris Simon could hurt or kill another hockey player who is just trying to do their job.

Ok, now onto the games.

I watched the outdoor game on new years day. I wanted Buffalo to win. I like Ryan Miller. I think hes a very good goalie. It was a good game to watch. It was definatly interesting and a throwback to the good ol' days (not that i remember them!) I thought all the talk between periods was very intersting also. I hope they do this every year. I would definatly watch and if my team was playing, Id go. Problem is I would freeze my ass off.

Ok, now to the Coyotes..

I watched the Colorado Avalance game on tv. I thoguht the guys put forth a good effort. Although, they are starting to get leads and then just play to prevent the other team from scoring. The problem is, they arent doing very good at that. Jovo was his normal self. Either hot or cold. Cant be any where in the middle. I dont really remember a lot of this game, its been awhile. We got two empty netters.

Last night we did the same thing agains chicago, get a good lead then just try to prevent them from scoring. Telly did a great job. He is the best backup goalie. he cant be a starter but he is great in that back up role. Sjo got a nice empty netter last night. Hanzals goal was awesome. I dont think anyone actually knew where the puck was at first. Ballard gave an awesome hipcheck which was of course retaliated by a fight. Im not sure what happened but it looked like ballard did throw a couple punches but then he was crumpled on the ice, in the fetal position almost, and wasnt moving. I was like OH CRAP. but he got up. normally ballard can hold his own, im not sure what happened last night. Again, Jovo being Jovo. Boynton had a pretty good game. Doan and Yandle were scratched. Doan has a day-to-day hand injury. Overall i thought the team did well with out their captain. They did look tired, probably from the back to back games and travel. And i was a little worried about Chicago, coming off a 9-2 loss it could have went either way. Id be pretty pissed if i lost 9-2 to the Kings. Id feel like id have something to prove. But then again, they did have a lot of injuries.

Up next: Anaheim Ducks. Neids is back. But we have done pretty well against them this year. Hopefully we can keep it up. No new news on Carcillo. Long sleeve t give away tomorrow. I might end up at the game by myself, but thats cool. I can handle one game alone!

Quote of the Day:
"It's so different in practice than playing games because you never end up in situations that happen in a game. In the last period, it (puck) went off three posts, and I had no clue where the puck was, and that never happens in practice. But we're playing well, and we deserved to win."