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.
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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!
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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.

Sharks at Coyotes

Let me just start off by saying OMG Gretzky, pull your head out of your ass and be a coach. Don’t coach based on your “man crushes”. UGH

Basically Gretzky said that Telly would get the start (they even changed the article to take out where he said Telly would start). You know, the whole you get to play if your hot thing but what does he do? He starts Bryz. And our offense does a great job of kicking off the game with two goals. So the Coyotes are quickly up 2-0 and the Sharks take two shots on goal, and score. On both. Within about a minute of each other. OMG. But I do have to say, Gretzky was at least smart enough to pull Bryz at this point. In the past he has just kept him in.

This would have been a totally different game had Gretzky started Telly. It may have went the other way and the Coyotes could have ended up with a 2-1 win instead of a 3-2 loss. Telly has just been outstanding. So who gets the start against the Kings on Tuesday? Do we try Bryz again? Do we put Telly in? To me, this Kings game is crucial. The Sharks are the best team in the league and we hung in. The Kings are another story. I said at the end of last year the Kings would be the team to watch out for and it looks like I may be right.
But I digress…back to the Sharks game.

Best Part of the Game: Carcillo rocking JR into the bench. AMAZING.

Best Goal: KT getting his second goal of the season after a 19 game goalless streak. Let’s hope this gives him the extra boost he needs. He has been really battling and playing hard the last few games, now let the goals come.

Players who seemed off: Doan and Sauer. Neither of them played like they normally do, but they weren’t horrid. Just off.

Boneheaded move of the game: Jovo taking a stupid penalty after about 2 minutes of a 4 minute penalty to Joe Thornton. So, why are we playing Jovo so much on the PP? He makes bone headed mistakes, he gets caught not moving, he turns the puck over. Come on Jovo, you are being paid over 6 million per season, play like it. And Gretz? I know you can’t bench him, but don’t play him on the PP if he’s sucking. Don’t give him the ice time. Send him a message. Maybe send him a message in practice too because you know, if you practice lazy, you play lazy.

Best Dmen: Dmo (another goal) and Z. I don’t think I need to elaborate on Z. AMAZING.

Hockey Milestone of the Night: Rhino playing his 500th game. Congrats Rhino! He also played a great game. He was trying and battling through Sharks but like I said, Doan was just off last night and Rhino was trying to get something going but couldn’t.

Surprising Moment of the Night: Hanzal and Thornton going at each other. Hanzal has developed quite the mean streak.
Second Most Surprising Moment: Bods getting in the face of some dude at least 2-3 inches taller than him.

Rookie Mistake of the Game: Bods hesitating to shoot. He looked like he forgot how to. He stuttered so much by the time he did shoot the lane was clogged.

Underrated Dman (besides Z): Klee. He seems to have really made a difference in Yandle’s play.

Areas we need to work on: Winning face-offs, especially crucial ones.
Power Play, we can’t control the puck on the PP and spend most of the time in our own zone or at center ice.
Shooting. The last two games our SOG have been pathetic. You can’t score if you don’t shoot. What is it that Gretz said…You miss 100% of the shots you never take, meaning SHOOT MORE.

Player that was not missed: Jokinen. Would he have made any difference? Probably not. He didn’t show up for the last how many games we’ve played before he was injured. I think the last game he was really fully there for was when we played the Panthers.

And as an after thought, I like the colors and style/design of the new jersey but I cannot get past the logo. I do not like the leaping “coyote” (I use that word loosely as it looks more like a fox to me or a ferret according to the Coyotes Skate Coach). They could have done something so much more.

Up next we have the Kings on Tuesday. Like I said, team to watch. This may be a battle for us but I know the guys can do it.

Thursday the Maple Leafs come to town. I am not sure how this game will go. Toronto is currently in 10th place in the East. They have played the same amount of games (23) and have the same amount of points (22) as the Coyotes. They also play the Kings on Monday, Sharks on Tuesday and Coyotes on Thursday. This game could go either way.

not my best effort..

This past Saturday, the Florida Panthers rolled into town bringing two former Coyotes with them. Keith Ballard and Nick Boynton made their first trip as Panthers to the job and both played a solid game against their former team. Unfortunately it was not enough as the Panthers continued their losing streak. Final score: 4-1.

Ballard was having a grand old time. He was riding Bods like a pony the whole night. He also made some hits on Doan and Carcillo but left Rhino alone. On one of the faceoffs, him and Rhino were having a friendly conversation. Carcillo also gave Ballard a playful hipcheck when they were both on the way to their benches. Ballard also had some fun playing goalie. I loved seeing him get in there and play goalie. I was deprived of the hipcheck. :)

Boynton got a penalty and he looked so sad to be in the box. I think he misses being in Phoenix. He was actually paired with Ballard and they were awesome together. Actually, the Panthers have some really good dmen, they just couldn’t get the offense going (and that could be because they traded their best offensive players for more D when they have like 20 guys listed as D on their roster).

I did notice that Jovo doesn’t seem to play as hard or smart when he is paired with Z. It is like he knows Z will cover his ass and so he slacks off.

On Sunday, the Sharks came to town and it looked like we were going to lose as Carcillo got two penalties early (the second was complete crap) and we got down 2-0. But we were able to battle back and win 4-2. The second penalty was closing the hand type deal and a shark player did it about 30 seconds later and nothing (it did get the whole arena standing, pointing and screaming at the refs). Carcillo got a couple of other crap calls later in the game.

Tiki got his first NHL goal in this game! WAY TO GO TIKI! I love that kid; he works so hard out there every night. He totally deserved that goal.

At the end of the game, we did get some payback. The sharks were getting penalty after penalty. At one point there were four sharks in the box. They all tried to sit at first, but one was on the other guys laps, so one ended up standing. It was quite hilarious to see.

By the third, Bryz was looking quite tired and was slow to react but he was able to hold it together to get us the win. I am thinking it might be time to put Telly in for a game or two. Bryz has played quite a few games now.

I am still not overly impressed with Jokinen. He was really pissing me off at the end of the game. He kept passing when he should have shot. He was doing circles on the ice, he was waiting too long to shoot. He had some great opportunities to shoot and he either waited too long or passed the puck. I know we were up, but a few more goals are always nice.

What was nice to see was the crowd was really into this game. They were loud and proud. We were cheering on the coyotes, yelling at the refs and taunting the sharks. Overall, it was probably the loudest it has been in the job.

Tuesday I was able to go to the Coyotes practice (thanks to all the vets that have served this country). While there we decided to check out the Road Runners practice, as it was after the coyotes.

The coyotes were looking pretty good at practice. They did the usual drills but at the end Turris, Winnik and Porter worked with the skate coach. Porter and Winnik did some crazy drills. They had to walk on their tippy toes (in their skates) while pulling the coach. They looked like really bad ballerinas! Then they had to pull him while doing that to the side. Turris just had to skate while pulling the coach. I think they were working on building his strength as he is a really good skater.

Also, Porter went after McGrattan at the end of practice and they got into a “fight”. It was really cute. Porter went up to McGrattan and pushed him with his stick. They then got into a little hugging match and then McGrattan was able to clear an arm and threw these baby punches on Porter’s visor. They were both cracking up.

When we went over the RR practice, they seemed really excited to have people watch them. They kept staring at us.

The RR were really into the practice. They were celebrating their goals like it was an actual game. They were also very verbal.

I felt sorry for Goalie. The guys were skating to the bench for instruction and Rome was playing with a puck and shot it toward the boards and it hit Goalie in the head. He went down to the ice. He also kind of yelled at Rome but I don’t think he realized it was an accident.

Tomorrow night, the coyotes play in Columbus. It is radio only and starts at 5. I won’t be listening to it, so I won’t blog about it.

Thursday night the Coyotes will be in Minnesota. This one I will be watching. :)

Coyotes Update

Monday’s game: Coyotes 5, San Jose 1

Of course Bryz let in an early, soft goal. He really needs to work on that. After that though, he was awesome. Telly replaced him at the start of the third and showed us why we love him. At one point he had a bunch of sharkies abusing him and it looked like he was injured (no one is still really sure what happened) but play continued so Telly continued to keep the puck out of the net. He played phenomenal after that even though he was definitely hurting and the Sharks just kept beating on him. Finally, Carcillo did something about it. He made sure the shark got out of the crease. He may have gotten a penalty for it, but it needed to be done. We need to let those sharks know they cannot be in our goalies business.

Mueller was on fire. He got the hat trick. With the small crowd, there was about all of 5 hats on the ice. I was wearing a hat, but did not feel like running down, throwing it, having hat head, and it is my favorite coyotes hat. J

Boedker should have had the hat trick. He had two goals. He also had one that if the refs weren’t retarded, the puck would have been in. The refs believed that the goalie had it (he pretended like he did) but the puck was on Bods stick and going in the net. Stupid cheating goalie.

Let’s see… it’s been awhile so my brain is not fresh on what happened on Monday. Oh yah, we made it on the jumbo quite a few times. I hate being on the jumbo tron. We cheered like crazy over in 104. We were probably the loudest people in the arena. We like to think the boys were feeding off our energy. It was just nice to see a win.

Well, all I know is we iced the team that will most likey start the season (give or take a few guys) and beat the sharks “b” team 5-1. When we played them in San Jose this week, their “a” team had to go to OT to beat our “b” team. Jokinen finally seemed to get his groove on in San Jose. I didn’t listen to the game so I don’t know much how each player did.

Ziggy and Lannon were placed on waivers. I think Lannon had to be in order to go to SA. I hope another team doesn’t pick him up. He is my new favorite D (another one for you to check on MsConduct – and omg is he flexible, watch him stretch in warm-ups). Ziggy I could care less if he’s on the team or not. He’s a good player but he doesn’t really have a place in the coyotes system. It might actually be better for him to get picked up by another team who could play him in the NHL.

Montoya was sent down to SA today. I am guessing he gets the starting job there or splits with G. Sorry Tordjy, you just didn’t cut it this year. I hope you get back on your game.

Next up: @ Anaheim on Friday and home Saturday against the Kings. I just read today that Kings prospect Rich Clune broke a bone in his chest and will be out for quite sometime. I was hoping to see him Saturday. He made quite the impression during the rookie games and the first preseason game against us. I thought he had a good chance of making the Kings, and if not, he’d be certain to get a call up.

Coyotes 3 Sharks 2

Ok, I said I was going to write a blog about this game but I only saw the first 2 periods. And those were the boring 2 periods.
Heres the highlights (from what ive read/heard):
went into the 3rd tied 0-0
huge scrum near the end
Carcillo injured his knee (MRI was done today, should know results today or tomorrow)
Doan tied it with 4o seconds left
No goals in OT
Mueller gets the first goal in shoot out
Bryz owns the sharks in shoot out

the only game on tv that i dont watch the 3rd period of and thats when it gets good. damn it.

but this should show the yotes that they are just as good as other teams out there. we beat the devils, rangers, flyers, and sharks all in a row.

I did watch the replay. I think JR definatly should not have been grabbing carcillo around the neck. and carcillo was on his knees, in that position anyone should know its not wise to pull a guy back, he should have tried to pull him up instead.

Quote of the Day:
Phoenix coach Wayne Gretzky said. "I was just so proud of how hard my guys played tonight. They played with a lot of heart and character."


And I found this on the yotes website (under 10 things to be thankful for):
5. The Hip Check is back with Keith Ballard who has mastered the old school move! “KB2, The Destroyer” has been leaving a trail of sore bodies all over the NHL this season with highlight reel clean hits which have SportsCenter Top 10 written all over them. Ballard is more than just a marksman with the hip; he is arguably one of the most underrated defensemen in the league. This is a guy who will do anything for his teammates and may someday wear the captain’s “C” on his chest. All you need to know about Keith Ballard is that when he drops the gloves, he immediately removes his helmet and visor. This throwback plays with honor.

There is also a little blurb on the rookies. We have 3 rookies in the top 10 scorers. Mueller at #2, Hanzal at #5 and Carcillo at #9

Coyotes at Flyers and Chris Simon

First off, I just want to say the suspension handed down to Chris Simon is retarded. He gets 30 games, which means he could be back in March and in time for the playoffs. This is also the longest suspentsion given by the nhl. The person who had the previous longest suspension? Chris Simon. Earlier today one of the articles I read said that Coach Ted Nolan called the suspension "extreme". And stomping on Rutuu's foot was not extreme? Nolan can support his player and still support the NHLs decision. I have no respect for the Islanders organization.

Now for the good news, Coyotes continue their win streak by beating the flyers 3-2. I was getting a little worried during this game as we were down 2-0 and usually we arent able to come back and win. But to those who say it was just luck, fuck you. At least two of those goals were pure talent. Yandle started it off by just being able to see the ice, see Biron didnt know where the puck was, and jumped in and hit it in. Then Doan started out on a breakaway, Sjo comes flying down the ice and Doan totally tricks the Flyers out by passing to Sjo and in it goes. And the last goal was a beaut from Mueller. There was a hooking penalty against Jovo, that so was not a penalty. All he did was take the puck away from a Flyer.

In other news, the Flyer fans didnt seem as rude or retarded as the Devil fans. They actually blamed their players and coach, not "oh the coyotes are just lucky" blah blah blah. A few of them of course had to say stuff about the coyotes sucking and getting luck, but you expect that from a few.

Tomorrow night we battle the Sharks in San Jose. They have definatly been a problem for us this year. Hopefully we can pull this one off. We are on a roll and have had tons of energy and played hard. Im going to guess it will be another close game.

Quote of the day:
"My son calls him 'Fast Freddie,' everybody does. Right now, he's hot and makes things happen." Shane Doan on Fredrik Sjostrom