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!!

Weekly Wrap-Up

Christmas week ended well for the Coyotes with a 2-1 win over LA. It didn’t start off that well with a loss to Edmonton.

I didn’t get to see the Edmonton game but from the stats and a friend who was watching it, it sounded like the boys didn’t play that well. They did battle back to tie the game but lost it in the third. Apparently Carcillo got a misconduct for firing off a puck after Jokinen got called for a penalty. My friend watching the game said it was no different than what other guys have done, yet he gets a penalty for it.
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Tuesday night the boys played in Colorado and ended up taking it to overtime. I was hoping we would finally break the OT curse, but we didn’t. We are now 0-5 in OT. I was also hoping Doan would break his hat-trick curse, but again, he was stuck with 2 goals. I’m pretty sure he has never had a hat-trick in his pro-career. He always gets just two goals. I was hoping for Christmas Santa would give him the hat-trick. If he ever does get one, I hope it’s at home though. He would get the biggest standing ovation ever.
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Last night the game against the Kings was a good one. I was hoping Bryz would get another shut-out but when Jokinen took a stupid penalty in the third, the Kings were able to score.
Bods was looking like a monster out there. He was hitting and battling through guys and shooting the puck like crazy. He hasn’t had a goal in awhile but if he keeps it up it won’t be long before it finds the back of the net.

Mueller broke his 21 game goal-less streak with a sweet pass from Doan. Doan and Mueller actually played really well together last night. They looked more and more like the Doan and Mueller of last year.

Jokinen looked like a pee-wee league player in the first. It was like he forgot how to play hockey (another Jovo moment?).

Bryz was making me really nervous at the end. He was out of position and flopping around like a dead fish.

I was impressed with King’s goalie Quick. He played a good game. He also seemed to have fixed his pants issue he had during the first rookie game… And I think I may have a new goalie crush on my hands. I hope he plays again tonight so I can watch him again. I am not a fan of LaBarbara.
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Tonight the Kings come back to the Job to take another shot at the Coyotes. Look for some interaction between Carcillo and Ivanans as they were looking like they might have fought last night. They were definitely up in each others business. Brown may also get a beat down or be a target of many Coyotes hits for his cheap punch on Jokinen.

No word on who will be in goal. Bryz or Telly? Bryz didn’t play bad but will he need a rest with back to back games? Will Hale get to play with the back to back games with Klee needing a rest?
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In other news, Paulina Gretzky sang the anthem last night. From the clip I heard, I was not that impressed.
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New Years we will take on the Avs at the job. I will be in a suite for the first time and the margaritas will be flowing! It should be a good time with my hockey family. I am looking forward to it.