Sunday Practice

I had the chance to watch 4 hours of practice on Sunday at the job. We saw two scrimmages and two of the three teams run drills.

At the end of practice McGrattan came out and worked on his skating (thank god) along with Hanzal. By the end Hanzal looked like he was in a lot of pain. Hanzal was giving out pucks and I got one! Most of the writing is off but you can still see part of the NHL symbol and the word “practice”. It’s my first practice puck. I usually let the little kids run and get them. McGrattan is fun to watch work on his skating. He is a very large guy (like 6’5, 235 lbs) and he definitely is not as smooth as Hanzal. His crossovers vastly improved when the skate coach told him (and showed him) that leaning wasn’t helping him.

During one of the scrimmages, Lessard (brought in for SA, not Phx) hit Jovo a little too hard and Doan said something to him (being he is the Captain and he probably told him to take it easy or something). Lessard then proceeded to say something to Doan and we got a flash of angry Doan (my favorite). Gloves were flying and Lessard and Doan were being held back. Jovo then realized what was going on and threw his gloves off and went after Lessard. Jovo and Lessard then spent some time in the box. I don’t think that was good on Lessard’s part. He is trying to make a good impression and he insults the captain and an alternate captain.

Another interesting altercation was when Chickenoff tripped Carcillo. Carcillo (while on his knees) hit Chickenoff’s shins with his stick. Both of those boys went to the box. Once they were out, Carcillo was a moth to Chickenoff’s flame. He was totally watching Chickenoff. He reminds me of a cat stalking a mouse.

None of the goalies really stood out as really good or really bad. There are six goalies at camp and all but one are under contract with us. I thought we had another goalie that was with the Sundogs last season, but maybe his contract was up with us. It doesn’t seem to be a goalie fight like it was last season when we started with three goalies on the Coyotes.

I can’t think of anything else. There wasn’t a lot that stood out to me today. I am still trying to get all the new guys straight.

Coyotes/Kings Rookie Games

For Tuesday’s game we took over section 104. We pounded on the glass, screamed, yelled, and cheered for our baby yotes. We were not very loved by the baby kings during warm-ups. Clune even went so far as to stick his tongue out at us.

We didn’t have much defense going for us Tuesday night. The kings came out very physical and shoving our guys around. It wasn’t until maybe the second period that we started pushing back. The kings were also a little dirty, throwing some elbows. They took a liking to Turris and every time he was on the ice he was being shoved like mad. He will definitely need an enforcer on a line with him in the NHL. If these rookies (who weren’t huge) can push him around, imagine what a full grown NHL man could do to him. Also, he needs to tighten the helmet. It wouldn’t stay on his head and was sliding around like crazy.

We ended up losing this game 2-1. Mucha was in goal and the talent level just isn’t there yet. He’s not bad; he’s just not quite there yet.

Part of the problem was the rookies acted like traffic in Phoenix. Everyone gathered together, not willing to spread out. The PP was looking pretty good. My only complaint is they need to shoot more. They waited far too long passing the puck before shooting.

Simmonds, Cliché and Clune were out for blood. Clune fought with someone Tuesday night and for the life of me I cannot remember who. At the end of the game, there was a “brawl”. Ahnelov even left the bench to join in. Ahnelov also got a nice hipcheck (my Ballard replacement?) on one of the kings, never saw it coming and sent him flying. Our guys needed to get a little rough with those kings. Johnson (here on amateur try-out) was a scrappy little guy. He also got our only goal of the night. He was easily the smallest guy out there but he battled anyone, he got into it at the end, and you could just tell he wants this.

Wednesday afternoon we sat behind the Coyotes bench. I had a pretty good view of Ulf’s head. During the second period there was a camera man taking pictures of Gretzky. I heard him say something about being from Vogue.

We came out a lot better today. We were ready for this. I’m thinking the nerves were gone. We were physical and Ahnelov had something out for Simmonds. If that boy was on the ice, Ahnelov was on the ice. Simmonds had to start watching his back after awhile. Ahnelov also threw down with Clune. Ahnelov had a look on his face by the end of the game like he was going to kill anyone who crossed his path.

All the boys looked much better today. Sullivan played today. I was pretty impressed with him. He tried to make a couple of hits and got a couple good ones in. Porter and Kolarik were on today. Last night I wasn’t too impressed with them but after today, wow. They are going to be a force. I don’t know if they will be with the Coyotes all season, but they will definitely get some call ups.

Staal needs to learn to use his reach. There were a couple of times where if he could have used his long arms and stick to grab the puck or poke it away. His arms were always bent and in close to his body.

Brodeur has become a much better skater since rookie camp. Ross seems to have gained a lot of confidence since last years training camp. Ahnelov isn’t afraid to hit, defend, fight etc. Zimmerman didn’t look too bad. He seemed to be throwing his big body around.

Well, I think that is it for now. I am sleepy after the last two days of hockey and can’t think anymore.

Coming up Saturday is the CoyotesFest at the job. It’s 11-3. I will be there to see how all the guys look in their scrimmages.

Rookie Practice

I headed over to the job this morning and had to deal with stupid football fans, I almost hit one with my car. I digress. I went to the job to watch the rookie practice. All of the rookies that will be playing in the rookie game were there.

First off, goalies in attendance were Joel Gistedt and Kurtis Mucha. Gistedt was pretty impressive. I can definitely see the talent there. I was not as enamored with Mucha. He obviously isn’t to Gistedt’s level yet. During one defensive drill, it didn’t look like he was trying much at all.

The forwards were broken down into lines for most of the drills and the mini-scrimmage they did. Top line was Turris, Tikhonov (Chickenoff) and Boedker. I have a total man-crush on Turris. That kid is just so talented. He is practically oozing talent. And those three are fast m-effers! The next line was MacLean, Porter and Kolarik. This line wasn’t as impressive as the Turris, Chickenoff and Boedker line. I didn’t notice them too much (as I was busy watching the dmen). I cannot remember the rest of the lines but they included Staal, Colin Long, John Flatters, Adam Perry and Daine Todd.

I am liking Nick Ross even more this year. He seems a lot more confident and his skating seems quite smooth. He had good puck control and he also seemed to be directing his fellow dmen. Ahnelov handled the puck quite well except for one drill where they had to skate out, spin in a circle and then put the puck on net. He was having problems with the spinning and keeping the puck, but so were most other ds (Sean Sullivan and Michael Stone had a lot of trouble with this one too). Michael Stone and Mathieu Brodeur stood out mainly because of their size. Brodeur is listed as 6’5 but I swear he is taller than that. He seemed to tower over Ahnelov (or maybe Ahnelov is lying about his 6’3). Stone is listed at 6’3 and 205 but he just seemed so much bigger to me. The d did a lot of puck control/skating drills.

Once the players split up between d and forwards, I did not watch the forwards drills. The d just have so much more interesting drills. It’s all skating and puck control. I would glance down at the forwards but whenever I did, they were just doing a shooting drill. I am more about goalies and d. I like to watch when the forwards are denied. I like seeing the shot being stopped or the puck stripped from the forward.

Also, the job was not very cold. The first half of practice it seemed like a lot of the guys fell or lost an edge. The ice looked quite cloudy and not quite right. After the zamboni came through, the ice looked much better and there wasn’t the falling like before. The job also seemed to get a little colder by the end.

The guys also did like a mini scrimmage. They were actually getting a little rough with each other. There was some shoving and checking into the boards.

Overall, it was a good practice to see. It’s nice to see our future talent because some of it is just amazing. It’s also fun to see how the guys have developed from previous years.

Ballard Update

Keith Ballard has signed a 6 year extension, supposedly worth 4.2 million/year with the Panthers. It looks as if Ballard will be asked to play a more offensive role with increased time on the PP. He most likely will not be a shut down dman with the Panthers, which could be good for the Panthers as he seems to do better when he can jump into the play.

I plan to follow the Panthers a little more this year to keep an eye on Ballard. I am sure he will be using his signature hipchecks, taking those Eastern Conference players by surprise. I am also hoping to be able to catch the Panthers in Washington this March.

Practice!!!

Ok, quick rundown of today’s practice. I was a little busy fielding texts and phone calls, so I did the best I could. Bryz and Montoya (NY Rangers helmet with "The Big Cubano" on the back, assuming it's him) were there.

Montoya and the other goalie stayed late and did the scrimmages. Montoya looks like he has some potential, although when it was over, he went to lean on the net and it moved and he fell over. It was quite humorous and smooth. Haha

There was a MN wild player today. I got a quick (read: not good picture) and he was wearing number 3 on his helmet. MissConduct, can you ID him? He looked older and it appeared as if he had a big scar on the left side of his chin. Thanks!

Turris is so slick. And soooo good at everything. Every time I saw something amazing I was like who was that? And it was always Turris.

Jovo left super early and Doan showed up super later. Yandle and DMo were not there at all.

Mueller did this slick pass to Turris. He was spinning in circles (like a dog does when trying to lie down) and had the other team going what the hell and then passed it behind his back across the ice. I was like holy shit, how did he do that??

Carcillo had four guys on him at one point and shoved his way through them all the while still controlling the puck.

Maloney, Trevling (spelling?), Fuhr and new asst coach guy were all in the bleachers. When Carcillo came out and was in front of them, he got this huge grin and saluted them.

If I think of anything else, I will post it! I just had to get all this down before it left my brain, so excuse any fragments and grammatical errors!

Picture from top to bottom:

Daniel Winnik, Daniel Carcillo, Dan Cleary, Carcillo, Carcillo Stretching

Rookie Game Line Up and Respectable Players

Something I have been wondering about recently involves our rookies and those coming back for their sophomore season.
Will the returning guys (Mueller, Hanzal, Winnik, and Carcillo) have a sophomore slump? Hanzal will be coming off a back surgery, will he be cautious? We are putting a lot of stock in our young guys. Watching Mueller in practice, he looks older and more muscular. Winnik still looks good and he’s skating very well. Last time I was at the practice he was out with Jokinen and Turris and looked very good with those two. I haven’t seen Carcillo or Hanzal yet but I’ve heard Carcillo has been working out this summer and going to a camp up in Toronto.
Another thing I have been wondering is how the rookies are going to do. I’m sure Turris and a few others (Boedker) will be up here all year but I wonder about the likes of Porter and Kolairk etc. We have so many rookies; I don’t see them all on the Coyotes all year. I have a feeling that some may be bouncing back and forth between here and San Antonio. If it’s like last year, the call up will happen and then when they aren’t doing as well, back to SA.

In two weeks we have the rookie game. That should also give me an idea how all the young guys are doing and who will be making the big club.

Here is the line up for the rookie game line up
Stolen from: http://blog.coyoteshipcheck.com/

Phoenix Roster: Projected Players:

Joel Gistedt - Goaltender - Frolunda (Sweden)
Kurtis Mucha - Goaltender - Portland (WHL)*
Kyle Turris - Center - Wisconsin (WCHA)/Phoenix (NHL)
Colin Long - Center - Kelowna (WHL)
Daine Todd - Center - Medicine Hat (WHL)*
Tyler Johnson- Center - Spokane (WHL)*
Viktor Tikhonov - Left Wing - Cherepovets (Russia)
Brett MacLean - Left Wing - Oshawa (OHL)
Adam Perry - Left Wing - London/Belleville (OHL)
John Flatters - Left Wing - Prince Albert/Saskatoon (WHL)*
Mikkel Boedker - Right Wing - Kitchener (OHL)
Kevin Porter - Right Wing - Michigan (CCHA)/San Antonio (AHL)
Chad Kolarik - Right Wing - Michigan (CCHA)/San Antonio (AHL)
Jared Staal - Right Wing - Sudbury (OHL)
Jonas Ahnelov - Defenseman - Frolunda (Sweden)
Nick Ross - Defenseman - Regina/Kamloops (WHL)/San Antonio (AHL)
Sean Sullivan - Defenseman - Arizona (CHL)/San Antonio (AHL)
David Schlemko - Defenseman - Arizona (CHL)/San Antonio (AHL)
Mathieu Brodeur - Defenseman - Cape Breton (QMJHL)
Tim Billingsley - Defenseman - Mississauga-St. Mike’s(OHL)
Michael Stone - Defenseman - Calgary (WHL)
Brett Motherwell - Defenseman - Syracuse (AHL)/Elmira (ECHL)/BC (H.E.)*

Obviously not all of these guys are going to be in the NHL. Many will be sent back to their junior team but it will be fun to see them all and focus on those that may be making the Coyotes. I can’t wait to see what lines they put together. With Gretzky behind the bench, I am sure there will be much line juggling!

And for those who care about the other team:

Los Angeles Roster: Projected Players

84 — Azevedo, Justin — Center
45 — Bernier, Jonathan — Goaltender
55 — Cameron, Bryan — Right Wing
81 — Campbell, Andrew — Defenseman
72 — D’Orazio, Mike* — Defenseman
80 — Doughty, Drew — Defenseman
44 — Drewiske, Davis — Defenseman
77 — Fillier, Matt — Left Wing
37 — Hickey, Thomas — Defenseman
50 — Holloway, Bud — Right Wing
64 — Kidd, Josh — Defenseman
74 — King, Dwight — Left Wing
83 — Legault, Olivier* — Left Wing
48 — Loktionov, Andrei — Center
53 — Martinez, Alec — Defenseman
51 — Moller, Oscar — Center
75 — Rowat, Linden — Goaltender
57 — Simmonds, Wayne — Right Wing
79 — Teubert, Colten — Defenseman
76 — Voynov, Viatcheslav — Defenseman
82 — Wudrick, Geordie — Left Wing
36 — Zatkoff, Jeff — Goaltender
* tryout?

One article/opinion piece already has Kyle Turris winning the Calder. Last year Mueller was often mentioned in the Calder race and I don’t doubt that KT will be on the top of that list for most of the season. It’s nice to see other people putting their stock into KT over Stamkos.
http://my.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=6051&user_id=11756

My favorite coyote radio guy is leaving. Louie DeBrusk has taken the color analyst for the Edmonton Oilers/Rodgers Sportsnet. I am a little disappointed. I really liked Louie and never did get a picture with him. I do wish him well. I much liked when he did the interviews for the coyotes website. He comes across very well on camera. I am sure he will be great for the Oilers.
http://coyotes.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=381128
A quote from DeBrusk (from article on AZcentral)
"Any time you're making a career change - to a certain degree it's the same line of work, TV, but it's different from radio - it's an adjustment, the unknown," he said. "Every time you try to make an adjustment like that, there's always some thinking about it, but everything seemed to add up for me."

Don Maloney has shown he fits right in with the rest of the Phoenix Sports teams. (For those that may not know, Phoenix sports teams have a reputation of making sure all their athletes are quite respectable. This is why I laughed my ass off when people actually thought Kobe Bryant would be traded to the Suns. With his past, that would never happen) Former agent David Frost is thinking he is going to come to the Coyotes training camp. He has asked (and been granted permission) to leave Canada (he’s on bail for sexual exploitation) to attend the coyotes training camp. I think it would be best to put up Maloney’s quotes from the article to best convey his feelings:
"I can't be strong enough about this, we don't want any part of David Frost," Maloney told the Toronto Sun. "He is not welcome here. This is the first I've heard about this, but I can tell you without a doubt, I don't want him here, we don't want him here, he will not be allowed here."
"If young Keefe is in any way associated with Frost, he will not be coming to our camp," Maloney told the Toronto Sun. "He's a player targeted to play in San Antonio (of the American Hockey League). He played there last season and we had no problems with him and had no association with David Frost."
"This is simple really, if Frost is connected to Adam Keefe, we're through with Adam Keefe. When I was in New York, we had Sheldon for a brief time. And I had a little exposure to this man (Frost). I didn't like it. And I don't want anything to do with him now."
Wow Don, tell us how you really feel. But I can’t say I disagree with Maloney. After googling the man (and a friend’s hint that she also looked into him and was disgusted) I can’t say I don’t disagree with Maloney. The dude sounds like a pedophile. He needs to be locked up for good. Supposedly he sexual assaulted both girls and boys (ages 14-16) and watched them engage in acts with each other. Keep this man far away from Phoenix. We don’t want him here or anywhere near our players.
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=248538&lid=sublink01&lpos=headlines_nhl

The coyotes have agreed to a one year affiliation with the sundogs. Maybe this year I will be able to make it up to a sundogs game. I’m sure I could get a few others to tag along. Road trip time!
http://coyotes.nhl.com/team/app?articleid=381204&page=NewsPage&service=page

It looks like Chickenoff (Tikhonov) will be free to play in the NHL this year. That is good news for us because that boy is good!
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=248637&lid=sublink01&lpos=headlines_nhl

Upcoming Coyotes Events

This week the Coyotes have sent out a plethora of stuff to me. First I got an email (Tape to Tape, the one any fan can sign up for) and it was a save the date type thing. The Coyotes Caravan starts on September 14 and runs through September 19. I am looking forward to that. I wonder who will be the guys at each location and where in the Valley will they be at? I am sure they will send out the schedule on September 12. Last year, they never announced who was going to be at events until like the day before. I am sure that has to do with getting the guys schedules and stuff but some of us fans are anal retentive and like to know things early so we can plan!

The email also mentioned the rookie games against LA. The dates are September 16 at 6 pm and September 17 at 2 pm. I was able to get the day off work, so I will be at both games. Both games are free and open to the public. No word yet on what time doors open.

The last thing in the email was about Coyotes Fest. That will be September 20 from 11 am to 3 pm. Again, there weren’t any details. Hopefully it will be like last year and they will do a practice/scrimmage (the ice should be down, so they should).

In the mail, I also got some season ticket holder stuff. For $50, we can add a nameplate to our seats! Uhhhh, no thanks. I can think of lots of other things I’d rather put $50 towards.
I definitely do not need my name on my seat.

Also included in there was a sheet for bonus tickets. We get to pick 3 games and those 3 games we get two extra tickets too. Unfortunately none of the games that I have people coming to are on that list. Oh well, guess I just need to upgrade for when people come!

Athletics Resource has posted pics of the unofficial camp:
http://www.athletesresource.com/p-camp.aspx