Playoffs, Day 1 and start of 2

I didn't get a chance to watch any of the games yesterday.

Calgary beat San Jose. I must say I am both impressed and happy. I hope they can keep it up. I am not a San Jose fan. I'd like to see Calgary win this series; even though it's probably not going to happen.

Avs beat the Wild. THANK THE LORD. I want the Wild out in the first round. If that means cheering for Colorado, sign me up!! I will be their biggest fan for this series!

Sens lose to Pens. I hope the Sens come back and kick some butt. God I hate the Pens. I have watched more than enough of them this season.

Rangers beat the Devils. I like Lundqvist and Sjo, so I'm rooting for the Rangers in this series.

Looks like Montreal is going to beat Boston. They are up 3-1 in the second. I really want to see Montreal sweep this series. They are a really good team with an amazing young goalie.

I am currently watching Detroit and Preds. I hope the Pred win. It's 1-0 Detroit in the second. Ellis is doing so well for the preds. He is making some amazing saves. Suter has had some great passes up the ice. Fiddler looks like he's going to start something. Ok, it's now 1-1!! Way to go Preds!

I am not planning on watching any of the other games tonight. I will do an update this weekend on the reast of today's games and Friday/Saturday/Sunday.

GO PREDS!

Draft Lottery

Well, we are still picking 8th. We did not win the draft lottery.

Tampa Bay actually won and they were already set to pick number one. Im just glad LA didnt move up. Tampa Bay will most likely pick Stamkos. They had him on the show and were asking him how he'd feel playing for Tampa. Now, I know Tampa will most likely take him but isnt that just a bit premature? And Tampa better pick him, I dont want LA to get him.

From all accounts I read, it sounds like Phoenix will end up taking a Dman. We are pretty well stocked on quality young forwards, so I can see that.

Playoffs start Wednesday. I probably wont update until then.

The Final Game: Coyotes at Ducks

Wow, what a game. The first period was held at 0-0. Bryz had an awesome first period. And second period. Apparently Carcillo wanted the hat trick again. His first goal came off the shot of Kyle Turris. So our newest youngster gets his first NHL point. Vrbata was really trying to get a goal but Carcillo ended up getting it.

We played hard but then seemed to sit back again in the third with our 2-0 lead. Bad idea. Ducks came back to tie it. The game went into OT. Damn jovo so freaking slow, anaheim almost got a goal on a break away. Mueller and Ballard both had a good chance. Just couldnt put it past Hiller. Turris had some good moves during OT. We had it in but the official waived it off, it went in after time ran out. So we have to go to a freaking shoot out. Even though we lost the shoot out, we got to see Turris score a sick goal. Man does that boy have skills! He is going to be gold for us in shoot outs. Him, Mueller and maybe Vrbata can be money for us in the future.

Interesting PP on which Carcillo got his first goal. No defensemen. 4 rookies. It was Mueller and Turris on the point. Vrbata, Carcillo, and I cant remember the fourth one.

With this game, we are in the 8th spot for the draft. Tomorrow Versus will air the draft lottery. I plan on watching, so I will update at that time.

Heres my predictions for the first round winners:
Detroit over Nashville (even though Im hoping nashville has the surprise upset, it wont happen)
I think Colorado will upset Minnesota.
San Jose will take Calgary
Anaheim and Dallas is a difficult one. I think Anaheim will ultimately win that one.

Canadiens will beat the Bruins
Ottawa over Pens
Im hoping for the upset, Caps over Flyers. I think the Caps have really come into their own
Im going Rangers over Devils. I just think NYR will take it. Plus Id like to see Sjo advance. :)

We'll see how I do. Cant wait for the playoffs to start. This time next year the coyotes will be in! I just know it.

And Carcillos going to get his 25 goals next year. And way less PIMs. Seems the refs have stopped giving him crap calls. finally.

Its going to be a long summer!

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.

Weekly Summary

I had a busy week, so no time to update from all the games this week.

Monday: Ballard and Carcillo appeared to be the only 2 players to show up.
Once again the refs show their bias and send Carcillo to the box for shit calls. Ballard throws a nice clean hipcheck and injures a guy. Im sorry the guys hurt, but it was clean hit no matter what that the Canucks fans are calling for his head. It was not knee on knee. Carcillo scores the only goal for the yotes and has a lot of other close calls.

Tuesday: This game wasnt on tv, so i had to listen to the radio broadcast of it. Im not sure why Bryz was started. For whatever reason, he cant beat the oilers. Anyway he was pulled and Telly put in. Even though that wasnt that much better. We tied it 4-4 but somehow ended up giving up four more goals to make it 8-4. Very disappointing. Although the only good thing about radio only is i can listen to Louie.

Thursday: Kings. WTF? How did we give up a game to the Kings? In a shoot out of all tings. jeesh. This is the game that Carcillo got a game misconduct and a major interference call. BULL SHIT. The dude wouldnt have been injured if he wasnt wearing a visor. And since when is a small cut on the nose where the player comes right out next shift and scores a goal an injury? Its a freaking scratch! Ballard came through with the tying goal at the end of the game. Go Bally! In OT we have to kill a penalty but pull it off and go to a shoot out. Gretz rewards Bally by sending him out first. But none of our guys can put it past their swede. Damn that guy is going to be an amazing goalie.

Saturday: The ducks. Wow. How much did the ducks pay the refs? Must have been a pretty penny. Vrbata needs to do something. His stock is falling and fast. Kapi and Carcillo and Lisin had an amazing game. Those 3 have really developed some chemistry. Earlier in the year i didnt like Carcillo with Kapi but something has changed and they get some really nice passes to each other. Carcillo crashes the net and between him and Lisin are creating some great chances. Now if only our other lines could put someone in front of the net. Weller did an amazing job at that earlier in the year, why did he stop that?

Well, next up is the sharks on Tuesday. Hopefully we can still have a chance and win a few here. I dont care about draft position this year. We have a ton of picks and it seems like we have some good scouts. I want the guys to finish on a high note. Get some goals, get some wins, show the fans that you arent folding under pressure. At least we can be entertained if Carcillo has some good fights. His fight last night was AWESOME. He totally dominated that dude (who was 6'3!)

*sigh*

I am currently on an emotional rollercoaster with this team. So many ups and downs. But they are my team and I still love them.

Another loss last night. And too bad all the teams that would have helped us by losing, won. So we are currently 5 pts back from the 8th spot. Still do-able, but a strech none the less.

The guys just didnt seem to have any energy or jump at the start of the game. They looked slow and not as energized during warmups too.

The jerseys they wore are up for auction. When I looked this moring Gretzkys was up to like 659 or something followed by Carcillos at like 350. Then of course Mueller and Doan were up there (i think around 150-200) but most were still at the starting bid of 100.

I dont really have too much to say about the game. I have kind of blocked it from my memory. I do remember Yandle making a lot of errors and leading to Oilers goals. I remember he had a big hit though too. I remember some calls on the yotes that I was like WTF? And looking at the replay, there was nothing there.

Tomorrow we are up in Vancouver. Lets get the win and end the series 3-1 yotes. We totally dominated Vancouver the other night, lets do it again. Then its Edmonton on Tuesday. Hopefully are amazing road record contiues and helps us get the win in Edmonton.

Ok, thats it for today. Word.

The Boys Are On Fire!!!

And with Carcillo back in the lineup they had the jump and energy they needed to win this game.

Where to start? Pyatt was looking for a fight with just about every coyotes player. Vrbata got pissed and actually took a penalty. I swear he hasnt had a penalty in forever. He was way more noticable today but it looked like he made the same shots on Louongo all night. He should have switched it up and surprised Lou.

Lisin was awesome. Hes hitting, going in the corners, plus hes quick and skilled. He really took to heart the call-ups and send downs. Good for him.

Im really starting to like Hossa. Hes just good on PK and defensively. Hopefully he can get some goals for us. But if not, thats cool. I like what im seeing from him.

Carcillo's fight was awesome. He totally dominated and then tried to skate away and burrows pulled him back in. His little move after really got the crowd going. After that, they were much louder than the vancouver fans. He got a misconduct but so did Boynton. And Boynton put us more in a bad position because Yandle also got a 2 min penalty, so we were down 2 dmen for 2 mins and then 1 for 8 min. And Jovo was having one of his bad games. Just what we need, more jovo out there. And ballard and morris were already working their asses off. So I think Boynton should have known better and not gotten the misconduct which put them at much more of a disadvantage than Carcillos.

Lets see, a fan got kicked out. One of the canucks sprayed water through the seam in the box and got a girl all wet so the fan decided to dump beer on him. Now, I dont believe that the beer should have been dumped, but the player should not have gotten away with squirting fans, especially a little girl. He should have been given an extra penalty or made to leave the game. its uncalled for. I mean Avery did something simialr recently (i believe he threw a water bottle into the crowd) and he was fined. I didnt see a single thing on this player being fined for this incident something should have some of this.

Speaking of things that should have come, Pronger needs to be suspended. He does a dirty stomp and gets CRAP. Simon does it, gets 30 games. Pronger gets away with a lot of shit and someone needs to call him out before someone gets seriously hurt. The NHL has been handing out suspensions like crazy, so why not Pronger?

Ott got a couple games. BGL got 3 games for his elbow to the head. He knocked a player unconcious. Theres a trade Im glad we made. BGL was a waste of space. He still is. As far as I know, he hasnt done much for the Pens either. The pens fans are all talking about how we got the better end of that trade and id have to agree.