UPDATE COYOTES vs STARS

Ok, so Vandermeer has been sent down. Doan didnt make the trip. Hes injured - groin. Thomas and Carcillo recalled and expected to play. Bryz in goal. And Gretz will be micd up on the game for Versus.

I will be watching. And Ive set mu DVR up to record, just in case.

Heres hoping we kick some Stars ass!

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)

Bunch of Crap thats been on my mind lately...

I might be a bit of a homer (im not gonna lie, i love my coyotes) but this quote was totally unnecessary:
"I'd rather coach against a Wayne Gretzky team than coach against a team he's playing for." - Ted Nolan, New York Islanders coach
Wayne has been doing a lot better this year than years previous. And that game ended up being fairly close, but the Islanders got a little dirty. Especially DiPietro. And he used to be one of my favorite goalies. That scrum at the end (and the penalties dealt) was totally one sided. Jovo had 4 Islanders on him, including DiPietro who earlier punched Boynton and then Doan, twice.

In other goalies news, Cujo may be coming back! I love Cujo. Im a little disappointed that the rumors have him going to the Pens. I was so not impressed with them December 3. Armstrong is a complete joke. Gets caught by a Ballard hip check, so he trys (key word: trys) to fight Ballard. Ballards a solid guy and a pretty good fighter. Ballard dominated that fight. Then later in the game, Ballard barely touches him and he goes diving to the ice. Yah, he did that a couple times. And Crosby's whining? Dude, your the captain, step up and be a man. So, basically glad Cujo could come back but wish hed go somewhere else. Lots of teams need goalie help.

I think Chris Simon should be suspended forever, not allowed back in the NHL. His 25 game suspension last season obviously didnt teach him a lesson. I read this about his skate stomping: "Upon further review, it appeared Simon positioned Ruutu's leg before the stomp, which suggests this violent act was calculated." And the replay I saw, it looked like he did it on purpose. Totally uncalled for. And for him to do something this low twice is complete bull shit. Suspend his ass. He's just going to keep doing this kind of crap. Its not needed and its what gives the NHL a bad name.

I think thats it for now. I may post a rant/ramble about the refs so far this season at some point. And about the point for losing in OT.

Oh and I will leave you with a line that made me laugh. Its Wayne Gretzky on why they are scoring more:
"Maybe they're eating a lot of carrots," Gretzky said before breaking out in laughter. "Better eyesight."