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.

Random Stuff

Ok, I still havent had a chance to watch the two games I missed while out of town (nashville and colorado) but it seems since the calgary game, our beloved coyotes are falling apart.

Ive learned more about Carcillo's actions in the Nashville game. Seems he ran his mouth and that was what the game misconduct was for not for pushing the linesman (that was the misconduct, even though sundins was much worse and he got nothing for it). But I do agree with Carcillo being sent down, i just wish they had taken action earlier in the season (like scratching him after having a bad game). Ok, enough on that.

Thomas has been sent back down again. Im just thinking Maloney wants to see how hes coming along, to see if he is worth re-signing. Murley is still up here. I found an interesting tidbit on wikipedia when I was looking for stats and age/height/weight on Murley. Apparently he was invited to Ryan Malone's wedding on the condition he brings a date. He couldnt find one, so he went with his good friend Sidney Crosby.

We also called up (and signed to an NHL contract) Pete Vandermeer. Now, I cant figure this move out. Im thinking its either a) rewarding guys that are working their butts off in SA and/or b) to give Carcillo more motivation to get his ass in shape. Pete played last night against nashville and i barely noticed him out there. Toc said he was brought up to be physical. They guy had one hit and a miss. He had words with someone but nothing came of it. I was not impressed.

I got to watch practice Saturday and morning skate Sunday. I liked Toc. He wasnt afraid to stop a drill and say "no youre doing it wrong, do it like this". He also works more one-on-one. Hes not afraid to grab a player and show him how to stand, which way to face etc. I was really impressed. Their practices seemed so much more efficient and well ran with Toc there. And the guys really seemed to respond to him. Most of the guys didnt play for him, just Doan, Ballard and Z. They looked good in practice but not in games.

Thursday night we played Columbus. Our guys looked like little kids out there. It was pathetic. I was ready to leave half way through the 2nd period (i didnt but i was seriously bored). Weller got kicked out of the game. it was absolutely ridiculous. There wasnt a call on the hit (if you watch the replays) until after the scrum. They were going to not call the hit until after weller got attacked by 2 columbus players. Weller did a shoulder to shoulder hit on "superstar" nash and nash turned and ran himself into the boards. Then someone comes charging at weller and weller pushes him away and then OKT comes at weller one hand going for his throat, the other one almost dropping the glove (but not quite) so weller drops his gloves and hauls off and punches OKT. OKT just drops to the ice. I feel bad that he got a concussion, but man, that was a great punch!

Last night we played nashville again. I pretty much watched Ryan Suter the whole time. he's a great dman. I wish he played for us. Yandle got a penalty shot in the game. He missed and seemed so disappointed he missed. Bryz got pulled in the first (thank god, he let in 3 goals in the first). Telly did a good job, he let in two goals but our d was just off last night. the pairings were so odd. Boynton and Jovo, Z and Yandle. Not sure I like that. But Z has been getting into too many plays lately for a stay at home dman. And Yandle likes to get in the plays too. I think Morris is our only dman who is truely been a stay at home recently. It was an exciting game when we were able to catch up and then we lost it again. Maybe we are missing hanzal more than I realized we would? Looks like Hanzal will be out the rest of the season.

Looks like we are going to end up just out of reach of that playoff spot, especially if we keep playing this way. At least all the teams we need/want to lose are doing just that.

In other news, Game Night with the coyotes has been announced. It will be held March 9th at Dave and Busters. I went to last years and had a great time meeting almost all the guys, so i will definatly be attending again this year.

And in sad news, Zednik had life saving surgery after taking a skate to the throat. I wish him a speedy recovery and hope that he is able to play again.

Quick Update..

I'm waiting for my cab to take me to the airport, so I thought Id do a quick update.

Coyotes beat Colorado last night in OT. Game tie-er (is that a word?) and winner by Vrbata. This guy has been great for us this year. 1) I hope we get him signed to a reasonable deal (similar to Bryz, maybe less money though) and 2) I hope he keeps it up. Hes known to have a big start and then taper off, hes done the opposite here, slow start and keeps picking up steam. With this win, coyotes are now in 8th again. If we win tonight we could jump up as high as 5th. This is a roller coaster of a season. Man, its going to give me a heart attack. At least I wont every cry at a game like the guy next to my friend during the caps game. If i was his wife, Id have smacked him good. Theres still plenty of season left!

Carcillo was sent to SA and Murley brought up. Here is what Gretz said to the AZCentral:

"He's in a really tough situation," Gretzky said. "He's the kind of guy we need to play with a lot of energy and a lot of passion. With that, there's going to be some effects toward the hockey club, but that's part of the makeup of him as a hockey player.

"Obviously, the positives outweigh the negatives, but we've talked to him continuously about the aftereffects, so the fights and all that kind of stuff we can live with, the penalties we can live with, but the continuous 10-minute misconducts, game misconducts, it's just at the point where it's not acceptable any more."

Sounds like Gretz still has his man-crush on Carcillo, but feels he needs to tone it down a tad. I agree. The misconducts are preventable. Usually it his mouth, this last time he harmlessly shrugged/pushed a linesman away. I heard sundin did the same thing (havent seen it) but got nothing. Calls have been so inconsistent this year. But thats a whole other blog entry I may or may not get to.

In other news, Toc will be back! Bettman was in Colorado last night and said we need to put the whole thing behind us. Cant wait for the game on thursday for Toc's return.

Once I get home and settled I will watch the nashville and colorado games and maybe give my opinion. Calgary isnt on tv tonight, so I will make my ride lsiten to it on the way home from the airport. I will miss the 1st period though. Why arent all away games on tv? This is another issue I may attempt to tackle in a future blog. Think off-season, lots of days with no news. haha

And I cant wait until next years schedule comes out. I need to plan another trip to DC since i got my friend addicted to hockey now. (i know i know, it wont be out until like July)

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."