Catching up with the Coyotes...

Wow, I haven’t written much lately. I was just so depressed after that Chicago loss I found it hard to get up the motivation to write. But don’t worry, I’m back now. I’m sure y’all missed me.

A quick hit on the Chicago game. First off, I’m not sure Carcillo should have played. He was obviously not his usual self, probably all hopped up on pain medicine. Telly let in four goals and was replaced by Bryz in the second. I do find it funny how when Bryz let’s in four goals in the first, he is allowed to stay in. When Telly does it, he gets pulled. And it really shouldn’t have been four goals, one was a distinct kicking motion (they reviewed it and called it good but it really shouldn‘t have counted). Two of them were a direct result of the D breaking down. The other one rolled in off the crossbars, would have been difficult for anyone to stop. Ok, done with Chicago.
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Thursday night the Lightning came to town. This was also the debut of what we like to call the “Bad Boys Line”. Carcillo-Murray-Fridge. I am loving this line. They hit. A lot.

The refs missed a whole bunch of calls against the Lightning, but nevertheless, the Coyotes prevailed and won the game. Hale had a great shot from the blue line that lead to Kyle Turris getting the game winner. KT has really started to come into his own.

Jokinen finally showed up and got us our first power play goal in like ever.

Carcillo took a high stick to the mouth (no call) and went off the ice for a bit in the third. This should have been a 4 minute penalty, as there was blood on the ice. We also have lost Tiki for awhile. He injured his hand while blocking a shot. He will be placed on IR.
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Last night we faced the Dallas Stars who were coming off a 6-1 loss to the Wings. I expected the Stars to be out for blood, but we out hit them 36-20. Someone must have pissed in Doan’s cheerios because I think he hit more guys this game then he has all season. The Bad Boys Line was hitting anything in a Stars uniform.

The goalies were outstanding last night. We ended the game tied 0-0. At one point Turco came out of his crease, almost all the way to the blue line, and checked Lindstrom. Where was our goalie-checking Fridge? Turco seemed to stay in his crease whenever Fridge was out there.

There were a lot of missed calls against the Stars. I counted at least 5 during the third period.
We were all a bit worried going into OT as we have not won in OT/Shootout yet this season. Somehow we were able to hold off the Stars and take it to a shoot out.

In the shoot out we sent out Lindstrom, Mueller, Jokinen, Rhino and KT. Mueller, Rhino and KT scored for us (with KT getting the game winner). Bryz let in two shots, but the second one was kind of odd. The puck hit the blocker and kind of trickled into the net on an odd bounce. There wasn’t much he could have done. Although it was heartbreaking to watch. We were all standing and when that went in we sat down (only for a second).

There 3 Stars were:
3. KT
2. Turco
1. Bryz

The goalies definitely deserved to be stars, but I would have put KT above Turco just because we were on home ice.
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In other news, Boedker was named the the NHL Young-Stars game. He totally deserves that honor. He works hard, hits and gets things done on the ice.

Doan was also honored by being named to the All-Star game. Doan was the one guy on the Coyotes who totally deserved it (of the three that were on the ballot).

Congrats to both Doan and Boedker. I have no doubt they will represent the Coyotes with class and dignity.
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Winnik was sent down to San Antonio for a two-week conditioning stint. He may return early with Tiki out for an undisclosed amount of time.
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Up next the Coyotes go on a long road trip. It starts off Tuesday night in Minnesota. We then play on the road Thursday (Canucks), Saturday (Flames) and Sunday (Oilers). The Coyotes then come home on Tuesday the 20th and play the Redwings. This road trip will be a telling stint for the Coyotes. They play some pretty tough teams (Wild, Flames) and then home to play the Wings. This week may be the telling in whether the Coyotes are ready for the play-offs or not. Hopefully we can get at least another 6 points out of this. Minnesota and Calgary will be a challenge but if they aren’t ready the Oilers and Canucks could easily take the wins too.

A hodgepodge of a post!

Well, I have missed quite a few games on my blog. So here is a quick round up of what I have not written about.

Let’s start with the oldest game first and work our way forward. The game against Detroit was a heartbreaker. I know many fans who were just pissed off but I wasn’t mad about it. The boys played hard and really made the Red Wings work for that win. It wasn’t like games past where we laid down and let them win. We fought them all the way to the shootout. Yes, it went to a shootout.

Which brings me to my next point… Why did we rest the game in young KT’s hands? I know he had a good game and all, but why not put him out in less stressful situation? We need to work on our shootouts in practice. We have not won a game in OT or shootout all season (I think we are 0-4 now).
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In other news… Sean Avery is not welcome back with the Stars. I have a feeling he won’t really be welcome back in the NHL.
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Speaking of the Stars, Turco’s got his game back. He was spot on when we played in Dallas this past week. Sucks for us. Turco’s got his game back, the cancer is gone…look for the Stars to make their way up in the standings.

Again, the boys played hard and took it to OT. Again, we couldn’t get the win in OT. Nevertheless, it was a good game to see and I was glad to see Turco back to his usual self. Yes, I have a goalie crush on Turco and I am not afraid to admit it!
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Thursday night my other favorite team rolled into town. I think I annoyed my seatmates as I was cheering on the Coyotes and then I’d be like good one Suter or way to go Arnott. They kept telling me not to cheer for the Preds but I was like, the coyotes are winning and I can say that the Preds did something well.

And, I never noticed this before but Ellis has this little ritual/dance that he always does when the ice girls clear the snow away. It was actually pretty cute. Yah, another goalie crush…what can I say? I love the goalies.

Anyway, this was a great game and I was excited to see the Preds for the first time this season. Of course the Coyotes win this one and that is all that matters.
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Last night the Coyotes played the Bluejackets. Bryz with the shutout! Coyotes with the sweep! TAKE THAT NASH! That is for the goal on Ballard/Dmo/Telly last season.

I was on the edge of my seat for about the last minute and a half. I wanted Bryz to get the shut out because he really needs it for his confidence and to prove to us fans that he wants to be a starter and it was looking like he was going to let that one soft goal in. He was looking a little slow while the Bluejackets had 6 guys out.

And speaking of the extra attacker, we really need to work on our empty net shots. Wow, we cannot aim, not even in practice. We went today and it was not pretty. Fridge was launching those suckers. The pucks were getting some air!

Ok, back to the game. Carcillo got in a fight with Boll, which was pretty much expected. It was a pretty good one and I bet the guys could have went longer when the refs stepped in.

All-in-all, a great game. This accompanied by the Wild’s lost to St. Louis has put us in the 7th spot. It’s a pretty nice place to be and the guys seem to be in good spirits.
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On another note, the Coyotes brought up Lindstrom and I think this kid has finally gotten it. He also seems to make KT better. KT has just played so well with him (he got our only two goals in the Nashville game). I hope Wayne recognizes the chemistry and keeps those two together for a bit. I believe he will be in the lineup for awhile.
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The guys left today for a road trip. They are hitting Edmonton tomorrow, Colorado on Tuesday and the Kings on Friday.
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I would also like to say best of luck to McGrattan. He is still with the team but has taken some time to work on a personal matter. I am sure he is going through a hard time; Phoenix fans are here for him and hope to see him back on the ice for us as soon as he is able.
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And in another note, my friend Michelle thinks I should buy hockey skates with the Christmas money I will be getting. I am still undecided about this since I have only gone once this year. I looked online and it looks like the cheapest skates are $75. That is a lot of money for something I am not sure I will use very often. Eventually, I would like to learn more how to play but right now is not a good time for me; hockey is expensive!

I got a new toy...

And I had to play with it tonight at the game. This is Vrbata scoring on Luongo in theshoot out.

I took some pics of Pyatt during warm-ups. He's my favorite canuck. and he just happened to score the game winner. So, Im not so sure I like him anymore. totally kidding. I got some of Luongo warming up too.

Then it was to the upperbowl for the game (yah, im poor). I took some good pics. Some of the faces are a bit blurry when i tried to do too much zoom. But overall I am quite satisfied with my new camera.

I plan on getting some coyote warm up pics at the game on New Years Eve. I'm not sure if I will take any at the Wild or Wings games. Im also going to get some at the Nashiville game (Suter) and Ottawa (Emery, Spezza, Heatly)

But the first 2 periods tonight were pretty boring. No score for either team in those periods. there were, i feel, a few missed penalties on vancouver. and there was at least one yotes penalty that I dont think was deserved (god forbid i remember what one it was!)

The third period had vancouver score at about the 9 minute mark. At that point i heard some ass hole behind start yelling about how we cant win at home. dude, we have 9 minutes left, we can still win it. And we at least tied it. Z got his first goal of the year! Go Z! Jovo practically jumped into his arms and knocked him over.

OT was pretty boring and then it was the shootout. Vrbata scored for us (as you can see above) and Pyatt scored for Vancouver. I dont remember who the other person was that scored for Vancouver. I was like I like Pyatt, I just dont want him to score right now.

Overall, it was a good game. The teams were well-matched. I dont know what was going on after awhile. Both teams got real tired looking and sloppy. I figured the coyotes were tired from all the travel and it seems gretz had the flu last week, so maybe some of the guys were battling that. Also, they were short a forward, so instead of dressing Ziggy (who seems to be a healthy scratch) they decide to dress an extra dman. So we got forwards double shifting ALL night and musical dmen going on. The dman pairings were so fucked up tonight. I saw Jones on the bench, but I dont think he played. Ballard was with Morris and Z. Jovo was with Z, Boynton, Dmo, and Yandle at different points. Ballard checked his own teammate at one point. He totally whiffed on a pass but luckily the canucks couldnt gain control of the puck. At another point he was so out of position, Z had to cover his side and then they almost turned the puck over when they went to switch sides of the ice. Ballard had a BAD night. And not one hip check. I think the dmen were messed up by the 7th dman and not having the same partner and that was in turn reflecting on the forwards play too. Also, Im sure Carcillo was missed in the line up. He was at the game even though we thought he might not come in, seeing as hes probably on pain medicine and Im guessing he can't drive (it was his right knee).

Ok, well I am off to bed. I need to get up and clean tomorrow. Yah, loads of fun.