First Half Report Card from the Desert

Damn its been awhile... thought I'd better stop by and update on my boys...

We’re 40+ games into the season but looking as fresh and productive as we did at 30. GMDM has given a mini state of the Coyotes interview to Dave Vest. So I guess its time to take a good hard look… not completely at where we’ve been (although our rearview window shows a trail of teams looking for a few easy points and getting turned into road kill instead), nope, instead we’re gonna look at where we need to go and how we need to get there. We can start from the net out, which is how I like my teams built.

GOAL TENDING - A+

In Bryz we trust is not just a slogan on one of my posters. It is the base for our pack mentality. The boys trust Breezy to give them a chance to win every single night. He’s become a 29 team wrecking ball and like that iron ball, shows no signs of wear. He has to continue that stellar play for this team to get where we need to be. Smart practice schedule to preserve his mental acuity while giving him just enough of a workout to keep sharp is paying off handsomely. The Olympic appearance shouldn’t do much harm since you can expect Nabokov to be the real workhorse for the Russian squad.

Back up Jason Labarbera is doing well (he’d do better if he remembers he’s a huge guy and doesn’t need such big dramatic movements to get the job done). He’s currently 3 and 3 for starts which isn’t going to set the world on fire but won’t hurt us much if Bryz needs a little more rest down the stretch and for that horrendous road schedule in March. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I think there may be better solutions out there but I don’t want to give up anything to get one of them, so its, continue dancing with the one who brought you at this point.

Defense - A

Bryzzie isn’t doing all this by himself. The offseason acquisitions of Aucoin and Vandemeer cured one of our biggest issues, which was defensive depth and grit. Last season our season turned ugly on the lynchpin of a broken foot. Kurt Sauer’s injury sent us into a tailspin of epic fail. There were other injuries that didn’t help but the loss of Sweets shuffled our line up too much and made us too dependent on players who weren’t quite ready for prime time like Hale and Yandle. When Sweets comes back we need to avoid the usual acclimation period that most teams have when a long term IR guy gets back in the lineup.

This season tells the tale. We lost Kurt after one game but didn’t miss a step in the rise. Keith Yandle became a man almost overnight and when we lost Z and Jovo, the young rookie manned up and could be counted on like a veteran. Young Sami Lepisto and noobie David Schlemko proved to be admirable fill-ins for the lighter work and the blue line remained stable. That same blue line has to continue to progress. They have meshed well and can be shuffled without worrying too much about specific pairings (this season there is no real ’shut down’ pairing, everyone has to play defense AND take care of their ancillary scoring chances).

It is wonderful to see that the neutral zone has become a battlefield. With the forwards actually doing their job and harrying the opposition, the Dmen can hold the line better and limit who gets to go see Bryz for a slap down. This also has to be stepped up. The nights that we battle way harder than we need to, are the nights when the forwards forget about the pack mentality and their ‘other’ responsibilities in the pack.

Offense - B+

It only takes 1 more goal than your opponent. Under Dave Tippet’s system it is a rare night when the opposing team gets the chance to score much. Thank the hockey gods for Tip and staff’s defensive teachings, because the pack has not gotten up to speed in scoring yet.

The Czech Federation of Hanzal, Prucha and Vrbata have been leading the way too often. They are not supposed to be the top line, yet they have been pulling our chestnuts out of the fire more often than not. Marty has continued to contain every top center in the NHL. He’s also becoming the King of flukey goals (I don’t care how he gets them, I just love to see him get on the board). Vrbie has been shooting his ass off. He’s in the top of the NHL for attempts. (He’s starting to get hot again and we all know what that kid can do on a streak.) Prucha has been the imp of this group. His amazing puck handling and seemingly crazy romps through the opponent’s slot have been bringing the crowds to their feet as much as the exciting Upshall. (We need to see Pruuu!!! in the shoot out more. He used to save NYR’s butts on a regular basis)

Apparently Doan’s quick offensive starts of the past 2 seasons were an aberration and we’re only just now seeing the Captain getting back into a point grabbing groove. We have found our top line again. The Lombo combo of Doan, Lombardi and Upshall have clicked finally. They have to remain solid and finish their excellent chances more often as the season goes forward. There will be even more close games as other teams start eyeing us like the threats we are. These guys will undoubtedly be the make or break difference for the team going forward.

Our 3rd and 4th lines have been deliciously interchangeable. Winnick and Pyatt have been simply fantastic for grit and determination. (It seems like our Winnie plays better when given specific tasks and a set role… apparently TGO couldn’t fathom that little gem but thankfully Tip is playing that card for all its worth.) Anyone who thought Fiddler was just a grunt has had their eyes opened through his face offs and the occasional goalie robbery. Robert Lang may not be as good as he once was but often enough, he is as good once, as he ever was. We may have to give the elderstatesman a break in TOI when we play tough back to back 65 -70 minute games (sometimes Lang seems to have issues with endurance… I could be wrong but resting the guy now and then on ugly scheduling can’t hurt). Mueller is slowly finding his confidence. PM is going to have to start giving that uncanny release of his a few more outings per game. (He’s going to have to ‘want’ the puck and take those shots with confidence rather than continue to dish the passes.)

As every team digs down to find that extra gear, to find ways to win at all costs, we may be ahead of the curve, since our entire game plan is predicated and planned and practiced for exactly that. We will probably not become some offensive juggernaut but we will need to find a way to get all 4 lines to finish their chances more often and preferably in some of the same games as each other.

We all take peeks at the players who are looking available before March 3rd and I am sure GMDM is looking the hardest. I doubt he falls for the rental player trap (the man cares too much about long term value for that). We all admit that a successful scoring forward would be the ideal grab. We also all remember how well Jokinen worked out for us. I do see Don kicking the tires on a few players to add to our firepower. I don’t see him bringing in a rental and possibly jeopardizing our pack’s pecking order and chemistry. GMDM will be looking for a player he already knows, a player who has at least a year left on his contract and a player whose personality and attitude will mesh with the boys and whose skillset will compliment Tippett’s system. We’ve got quite a few bargaining chips to play with for a good acquisition. We still won’t sell the farm (our youthful potential) but there are some 1st and 2nd round extra picks laying about that would be good starting points for discussions and bargaining. (We’ll talk more about that soon.)

Special teams - B

The PK is carrying the PP at this point and has since last season, otherwise this woulda been a C at best. This has to stop. Maintaining discipline will remain a crucial and pivotal part of our success. We can’t wear our best defensive players out while continually staving off the opposition’s PP crews. Our Pkers are in the top 10 in the league which is a beautiful thing. We need to stop giving them so much work. (How many ways must I say this?) Z as usual has been phenomenal in this respect but the other components have done well too. We need to continue doing the little things to keep our kill ratios high going forward… so let it be written, so let it be done.

The PP HAS to arrive. Bottom 10 of the league is pathetic with the skill we have on the ice. This is not optional. We will need the calvary when facing playoff experienced teams. The games will get tighter and tighter and without a fairly solid power play, Bryz will be fighting for his life every game and we can’t do that to the big guy. Relying on 5 on 5 scoring is fine for the first part of the regular season. The second half of the season is a brutal war that can leave you up or down a man continuously. We have to be ready to capitalize on those oppotunties when they come. Aucoin and Jovo have to step up here. Yandle has been relatively solid in getting the most out of his PP opportunities, its time for the big guns to follow suit. Pucks to the net, pucks with eyes, pucks that can be put away on 2nd and 3rd tries are severely needed going forward.

Coaching - A

So far the coaching staff has been stellar. Not to say they can’t improve with a little judicious tweaking of TOI for some players and a continued cattle prod for others. But they are all on the same page with 1 lead dawg and their skills complimenting each other very well. They think outside the box a lot and seem to be bringing solutions to whatever ails us on a daily basis.

We succeed as a pack, through grit and determination. The coaching staff need to continue to find ways to motivate the boys. We’re battling on our own tempo most nights but games like the New Year’s tilt against the Sharks can really hurt us. We came out all hungry and energized but let them lull us to match their low energy and when push came to shove, we just couldn’t get our rhthym back. (like frogs in a pot of warm water, when the Sharks turned the heat back up we didn’t realize it until too late and we got cooked) We need to be able to control the tempo and the tenor of the games better going forward.

They can’t let up on the guys about the distractions even as those distractions change from the BK and ownership issues to too much praise and media attention as we pull closer to a playoff chance. They have been phenomenal! From Ulf during the preseason ramp up to Tip and crew now. This has to continue, we appeared to be easily distracted over the last couple of years and we certainly can’t afford that again this year.

Believe it or not the Olympic break scheduling may help us. We’ll play 3/4 of the 82 games before taking a break. This means that a strong January performance will actually be the hump we need to get over. After the break it will be all about maintnence of our spot. So I guess we’ll just have to kick ass all of January then find a road game system to maintain through March. (Our road record is just this side of respectable… barely) A strong January will help negate any damage a barely .500 road record can do through March.

Operations - A

Don Maloney aka GMDM aka We Salute You, Mr. Super Bargain Hunting General Manager Guy (sorry that commercial just slipped into my head) has worked miracles. We haven’t given up a damn thing this year but we got some of the best pieces available. The only reason GMDM didn’t get a plus is that Craig Andersen was still available when we grabbed AZBarbie. (Can you imagine a goalie tandem of Andersen and Bryzgalov!) But no matter… the Don still done real good.

Shoring up our face off figures, repairing our blueline and grabbing us a real-honest-to-god-coach with chops in Dave Tippett, are all in and of themselves monumental A’s for the guy and we are all thankful for those. Now going forward, if Don can just grab us a scoring forward with playoff experience and grit, he’ll get that plus sign and my undying gratitude. We already know he is patient and value minded so we needn’t worry that he’ll give up anything we’re gonna need to keep this team in future hunts for the cup. (well, not without a plan in place to upgrade that give away)

Since the BK was finished, we’ve seen the Coyotes organization step up the advertising. There are billboards all over town, there are commercials on primetime TV (even CSI, NCIS and the Biggest Loser had Yotes ads in them!) We’ve seen partnerships like Pepsi/Circle K (buy Pepsi and get Yotes tickets) We’ve seen guerilla marketing (Ambassadors club discounts so the STH’s can pimp the team). These are fantastic ways to get Arizona aware of the team and get butts for our seats. This needs to continue going forward, its working. We will be pimping the Coyotes Carnival alongside the organization because there is nothing like meeting our boys to give potential STHs a sense of the wonderful people they are and help the potentials become invested in the guys.

The other thing that needs to happen sooner rather than later is the ownership question getting solved. The NHL and the CoG needs to get this done! Remove that potential distraction before it starts nagging at the team and the fanbase that is slowly starting to come back to the fold. I know the NHL keeps trying to keep it out of sight by saying they have til the end of the season to comlete a deal but seriously? This needs to be worked out way before that so that the fence sitters can committ and the haterz can go find other teams to harrass.

So where does that leave us? We’re sitting pretty in the standings. We’re finding ways to win. We have an experienced coaching staff that shows no signs of weakness. We need a scorer to get us over the hump but don’t need to spend unwisely to get him nor take just any old cancer from someone else’s locker room. We’ve got a system that works and our fanbase is trickling back every game. We’ve got new ownership on the horizon. I’d say that we look pretty damn good at 40+ and have plenty of spring in our step for the next leg of the journey.

So just keep the faith, come out and enjoy the second half of the season. It will be worth every penny, worth every emotional coin spent too. The Phoenix is rising, make sure you are part of it. The Year of the Yoties is happening now Arizona! GAME ON!

As always… GO COYOTES
XPosted from

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Phoenix - It Sure FEELS Personal

I am dismayed and appalled to find my team once more embroiled in controversy, financial and otherwise. Whatever happened to that quiet little team plugging away at gettin better in the desert?

Money happened... or is that lack of? Since the team got here back in 1996 it seems like we have been unable to find ourselves some firm footing.We've been the bastard children of the NHL since we arrived in Phoenix. It seems like pretty much the entire world has been holding its collective breath waiting for our demise. And now with the impending bankruptcy filing, everyone can't wait to express their joy and say 'I told you so, Phoenix sucks'.


It hurts. As a pretty die hard fan I can't seem to accept that this is business, not personal. It feels personal. The jabs about a lame fanbase. The snide asides about my chosen city. The overt disdain about the franchise's operation, players, history and overall game. There are a LOT of petty people in the world. I am shocked by the amount of vitriol being shovelled our way though. Hockey fans are some of the kindest and most loyal folks on the planet usually. But apparently not with regards to the Phoenix Coyotes.

The Yotes have suffered through some of the worst ownership, one of the worst arenas, one of the worst scouting teams, some of the worst personnel decisions and probably some of the most apathetic media in all the NHL. Yet we still persevere.

We are growing the sport at the local level like wildfire (a model that has made Dallas a very successful group). We are giving youth a prominent chance (a model that has paid off handsomely for Chicago). We have built an arena that is as state of the art as any in the league. We have award winning marketing. We have upgraded our prospect pool to the point of envy. We have maintained an average attendance of more than 14,000 + per game (although I admit that we do need to raise our prices a bit so that these numbers do more for our bottom line contribution to the league). What more can we do to get a little respect?

Win? You say that like we haven't been building towards that very thing over the last 4 years. It would be a damn shame if all that hard work culminates into success somewhere else although.I'm pretty sure those same mean spirited people would point to the success and say 'see! told you it was all Phoenix's fault'. This makes me sad to contemplate.

I just want to say thank you to those kind souls (many of them here at HLOG) who have sent caring and supportive thoughts our way. Many of you have even signed up to help us save the team. Special thanks to the Predator fans who have gone through this agony most recently and are amongst my brightest moments in this ugly battle.

I should do more writing on this whole battle for HLOG but right now most of my wordsmithing is going towards trying to get information out to my fanbase and rallying the troops to fight this move to the hopefully, triumphant end. I will try to get an entry or two up in the coming weeks as the bankruptcy filing hearing and Save the Coyotes rally get closer to fruition.

I hope you will all keep us in your hearts as we battle, we can use all the friends we can get.

PS if anyone has been on the planning end of a rally, I could suuure use advice/suggestions etc.

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Outrageous Gifts for the Coyotes - the Z list edition

They've all been as good as could be and deserve good prezzies, unfortunately I'm broke and have no pull with Santa

Fedoruk - Please Santa, get the Fridge his front teeth… and some side ones too… or at least a reminder device to tell him to take them with him for interviews?

Boedker -Boedy could use some ProActive solution. I hate to be mean… but the NHL has not been good to that gorgeous lil rookie’s complexion (srsly he’s got everything else hockey-wise)

Mueller - Muels apparently could use a new hip flexor and a lucky charm to take the sophmore jinx off his back

Turris - to “REALLY” weigh 180! my friend Virg says he should get one of those shirts with the fake musles built in. or a McDs gift card so he can haz cheese burger everyday…

Jokinen - Joker could sure use some Rogaine for eyebrows

Bryzgalov - Breezy needs a home hot dog cart (I’ve never seen anyone who actually LIKED hot dogs as much)

Lisin - a sweet lil red race car bed, so he can go fast, even when he sleeps. vrrooom vrrrooommm snore snore snore

Yandle - a professional photo session, so he and his family can have 1 non mug-shot photo,(with a barber on standby to shave him between takes)… that 5 oclock shadow thingy is a 5 minute shadow on him

Hanzal - a ritual burning of ALL copies of Zoolander so he can stop hearing how hot he is right now (even though he is)

Doan - sheesh what do u get the captain who has everything? 3 hats… in lieu of the real thing, since I can’t seem to will him an NHL hat trick (and neither can he apparently)

Jovanovski - JoVo gets a better tryke, one where all the wheels work? or a longer bus? or maybe we upgrade him to a big wheel… a big boy ride! since he has decided to be more Jovocop than Special Ed lately and both Santa and I appreciate that

Tikhnov - Teeks needs a Russian accent (cuz the Nor-Cal one sure confuses the hell out of interviewers) add the banishment of the words dude and awesome from his conciousness

Michalek - Z could sure use an auto block for his puck-over-glass moments and some seriously kevlared shin pads since he seems determined to go full-metal-kamikaze in front of every puck this season

Morris - DMo gets a new contract, early…please Santa, convince Mo Cheeks to re-sign (ok this was really a gift for me but hey…its MY list)

Porter - Puddin gets a line mate who understands his mental signals to go to the front of the net (or for Kolarick to make the team and show the other kids how it works)

Tellqvist - Telly sure could use a few less breaks between starts, the Swedish Wolf deserves better than 10 - 15 a year anyway

Carcillo - Wild Thang gets a muzzle or a taser button on his balls (TGO can press it to shut him up when needed) although the ability to grow a REAL mustache would also be nice, so DC can stop looking like a 12 year old trying to look like Erroll Flynn playing a porn star

Winnik - The Beast could use some skate brakes so he can actually stop n shoot in the opposing crease and save his career (aka get out of Gretzky’s doghouse)

Reinprecht - Rhino could use some R.E.S.P.E.C.T. the guy should NOT be on another trade-him list for 2008, he just gets no love and he should

Lindstrom - Lucky Lindy needs 2 of the kids on permanent status for linemates, Lindy Hop could really throw down if he had some stability

Hale - OhHell needs a modicum of defensive wisdom… he can hit and pass a little but deciding when to do what could use a little boost

Sauer - Sig needs a goal, a pretteh, puck handling, honest to goodness goal scorers GWG (he does nearly everything else so well, this would really be a gift)

Klee - Ksquared needs a stronger constitution so he won’t have to rest so often which opens the door for Hale storms

Thanks Odie, Virg and Teal for the input, hopefully Santa reads this blog… or maybe not since I would prolly end up on the naughty list for some of them

!!!!MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all!!!!

xposted to Z4's

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Coyotes: Franchise Player? Where?!

Gotta have a franchise before you can have a franchise player.... or maybe its like the chicken and the egg theory. In Phoenix, we'll definitely know which came first... it ain't the franchise.

Seriously, can we even call the Coyotes a franchise until lately? Its more like a motley collection of fairly good players who battle their hearts out every single night and get no love, no recognition and close, but no cigar for postseason aspirations.

Now Tracey may attempt to beat up on me for saying this... Shane Doan is not a franchise player. Not in the old school definition of the phrase. He's a great captain w/ the heart of a lion and a really decent skill set. But he really doesn't qualify as a 'franchise player'. Sure he's the last of the Jets and the oldest current Coyotes but is that ALL it takes to be a franchise player? A core player? sure. A skill player? sure. But not the guy you build a team around. The dumbasses running the team into the ground in the past brought in players like...Hull, Amonte, Handzus and a host of others were brought in to form a nucleus around Donor... didn't really work to make a viable franchise.

To me, the franchise player was that guy who you could throw on line w/ a pile of rocks and a blind iguana and he could lead your team to victory. A guy like Super Mario or Gretzky.

But maybe the definition is changing. Iginla and Ovie and Crosby and Malkin and Lecavalier, no matter how talented, can't do it all by themselves but they are the faces and fortunes of their franchises. But they are the guys that give their team an identity. Whether that ID is speedy and score hungry, defense and stamina or just plain old hard hat wearin, blue collar, 100% effort kinda team *Coyotes!* cough, cough*

hmmm maybe Shane Doan IS our franchise player. Just a new school definition of the word. The player that sets the tone and direction of the team. Sometimes the franchise player of today doesn't even wear a letter on his chest (Datsyuk comes to mind here). The guy that lays it all on the line night in and night out, making it impossible for anyone else to shirk or loaf and still call themselves a hockey player.

Fortunately for Phoenix, we have a couple of franchise contenders hitting the ice soon in Kyle Turris and Peter Mueller. Either one may earn that old school honoriffic in the near future. Our franchise is coming. *you think I kid?* Its coming in on the back of our interpid captain by example and by way of mentorship of the young, talented gunners. I guess our franchise is being built with oldschool ways (build it and earn it) but with a newschool flavor.

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Poppin' Wheelies

I know you're all completely devastated that you haven't had your normal dose of Coyotes news, but never fear. We're still here (sorry Winnipeg). I've been slacking lately because, well... just because I haven't really cared lately. Blasphemy, I know. It is what it is.

Here's the deal, the Coyotes are signing prospects. Joel Gistedt, Jonas Ahnelov, Kevin Porter, Chad Kolarik. We haven't, however, signed our 2004 5th overall pick Blake Wheeler. He left the University of Minnesota on May 9th(ish) and we have 30 days from then to sign him. I haven't heard even the slightest whisper that anything is going on there. So what happens? We lose him? He becomes a free agent? Sheesh. He's a good player Maloney, get on the ball.
I believe I heard that his agent is the same guy who allowed and/or encouraged my little Slovakian heart to become greedy and leave me in the lurch. Not this time Mr. Agent Man... please? I need my players. The ones I care about, I mean. I'm bored with some of the ones I have, I need new blood!!

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Will Wheels Sign?

Blake Wheeler is still a Coyotes prospect. He hasn't decided what to do with his career yet. With all the talent pouring into the desert lately I really don't think it should be this much of a 'thang'.

AZCentral Article



I don’t think its as simple as Wheels not wanting to come to Phoenix. The kid was still in high school when drafted, he is a prelockout draftee so he has lots more to consider.

If he returns to school he will be the captain of the squad and have his degree at the end as well as another full year to equalize his age and the chance of success.

If he goes pro with the Yotes he will seriously be fighting a whooole bunch of talent for a spot on a team that doesn’t have a whole lot more room for more rookies (ratio of rookies to vets has to be maintained for success). He is also most likely lookin at offers from DMGM of the new rookie max plus bonuses which is not as much as he could get elsewhere.

If he goes pro and doesn’t sign with the Yotes some other team would likely pick him up and since he would be UFA (prelockout rules/CBA) he could command more $$$ from another team. I don’t think he is limited to going back into the draft pool.

The good news is that either way he decides … the Yotes win!

If he doesn’t come to us, we get a 2nd round, 5th or so place pick to add to our other 6 picks in the first 3 rounds! So then we can trade a pick or two to move up in the draft without really impacting our cupboard stocking.

Or we could use a few picks to grab something sweet from another team in an off season trade, again without really impacting our ability to get some more talent for the future.

WIN WIN!

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Level of Ick

I am fairly certain the Phoenix Coyotes were scheduled to play Edmonton on Saturday night. In fact, looking at my handy magnetic schedule given out at each preseason game this year it shows that we were indeed supposed to host the Oilers. However, something must have come up because not one of the Coyotes showed up to play.

Technically they were there, we all saw them. But in the best sense of the word, no one actually played. In fact, the only players I can distinctly remember being on the ice were Roloson & Penner (and him only because every time I see him it's tradition to yell, "PENNERSQUEE" at him). Let me just point out that I was pretty out of it to begin with and so picking single players out of the crowd was not my strong point. Add to that the fact that we were sucking it up royally and you have me sitting around doing anything but paying attention to the game.

However, a few things stood out to me and I thought I would share with all you fine people so that you might enjoy the few things my team DID manage to stumble through.

1) Turnovers. Keith Yandle, my dear rookie, is going to give me an aneurysm from all the yelling at him for his brain farts. I love the kid to death but I'm really starting to understand why, at the beginning of the season, the Powers That Be were saying that he's very talented and needs to work on his defense.

2) Aforementioned brain farts. Ed Jovanovski (Jovocop) hasn't been playing too horribly lately. He's managed to stay healthy and hasn't given the masses many reasons to make up clever nicknames for all his stupid moves (Special Ed, etc.) However, last night wasn't his greatest game. I can't place all the blame on him, though. Like I said, no Coyotes were even present last night. We'll just leave it there.

3) Temper-tantrums. For once Carcillo (my middle name is misconduct) wasn't the one losing his cool. Sticks were flying last night, literally. My boy Bryz! slammed his (with warrior strength) into the glass behind the net when he let in a goal. I love the passion, truly. The almost taking off the ref's head I wasn't such a huge fan of. Not too long after that, Derek Morris broke his stick over the net when an empty netter was allowed.

Be nice to the sticks boys, it's not their fault you guys were having a crap night.

All in all, a 3 hour waste of my life. We really needed this win. I can only console myself with the fact that Roli turned around and beat the SJ Sharks, so it wasn't just a fluke for us.

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Classy vs. Classless

Last night, during a very feisty matchup between the Phoenix Coyotes and the Vancouver Canucks, I noticed something from the corner of my eye that royally pissed me off and I'm wondering if any of you have ever noticed something like this in all your years/months/days as hockey fans.

Bieksa was in the box for the Canucks; he was testing Weller's temper management, he might want to ask OKT how well that works (sorry twin). That's beside the point. The fact was that he was sitting in the box stewing and plotting ways to maim the refs when a fan behind the box dumps his drink (not sure whether 'drink' means water, soda or beer and it really doesn't matter) over the glass and practically onto poor Bieksa. Now, I was a few rows back and about half a row away so I can't be positive whether any of it actually hit Bieksa but that's really not my point here.

Bieksa, naturally, gets pissed off and slams his stick into the glass. The jerk of a fan is ejected and the game gets back on track. All is right in the world. But it's not.

I'm just sitting there thinking; which is always dangerous. First of all, if you're going to make a move like that, why would you do it when the refs are right there reviewing a play? You think maybe they won't see? Second, why would you even do that to begin with? I don't care how much you dislike a play or a player, it's a respect issue. Even if you don't respect Bieksa, himself, have enough respect for the Canucks, the game of hockey, the Coyotes and all fans that are watching you act like a complete tool.

I had a couple of Canucks fans sitting next to me and they witnessed firsthand what sort of fans we have here in Phoenix. Even if they go to every single game until the end of time, they're always going to remember the guy that dumped his beer (again, speculation on my part) onto Bieksa. It doesn't matter what sort of good fans they see (like myself, ha ha) the one that will stick is the one who does something stupid.

Tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are.

The same basic concept applies here: because one Phoenix fan let himself get carried away, all of our fans look like loonies.

So thanks for that, fan. You've single-handedly turned us into Red Wings fans.* Kudos.


*I'd like to point out that I don't mean ALL Red Wings fans. There are exceptions to every rule but for the most part, we get the most pissed off version of Wings fans in Phoenix. Those are the ones I am referring to.

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Dear Coyotes,

It was much easier to explain away (and live with) your exceeding level of SUCK last year when you actually did suck. This year it gets more and more difficult to encourage you lovingly when you make stupid plays because I know that you're better than that. I've seen how well you can play and it's quite frustrating that you don't seem to be able to stay consistent. Yes, we all knew that it wasn't an overnight product, this rebuild, but you're driving me absolutely crazy.

Do you think I enjoy writing mean letters to you? Do you think I enjoy yelling obscenities at you during games? Ok, sometimes that's fun. The point is that I don't WANT to be mean to you. I want to love you and cuddle you and watch you win!! I can even deal with losing sometimes, but I want to at least come by it honestly. I don't want to lose because you couldn't keep your act together.

Shape up boys, I know you're better than this.

Love, Me

P.S. I know this is harsh now, but keep in mind that I really do love you and I only want the best for you. You own my heart Coyotes... don't break it.

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Goat or Coach? And the Answer Is?

A great player can never be a great coach. Thats what the pundits and experts say. Nevermind that Wayne Gretzky is one of the best players to ever play the game, it won’t translate to coaching. Some folks REALLY need to take their heads out of the nether regions. Wonder how long it will take for them to publish anything about WG’s accomplishments? I probably shouldn’t hold my breath ‘eh.

Stark
Spector
Damien Cox
MacLean

I think the old vets we had in here when TGO first got here were not ready, able or about to listen to a thing he said. There was no awe or luster about the game any more for many of them. They were just markin time for the most part. With WG still finding his coaching feet he relied much to heavily on Barry Smith (a coach who in various reports was not well liked by the players). Smith seemed to be the ‘real’ coach of the Coyotes as WG was reported being MIA during some important practice sessions or in the stands observing the proceedings. Smith is gone and so is Toc *temporarily* Toc Article The entire coaching gig rests on the slim shoulders of WG now… no complications caused by too many chiefs.

Out with the old and in with the new. The young kids still have stars in their eyes about Gretzky and the game. They have no clue that what he’s telling them to do is nearly impossible to pull off. They just go out and do it. Not many coaches would have put this many rookies out on the ice. The temptation to get a few more fillers must have been enormous. Thank you for resisting GMDM and TGO.

Luckily this crop of vets listens and performs and doesn’t interfere with what TGO is teaching. Hell, they are even starting to believe what he’s saying too. We finally are blessed w/ enough talented youth to swing the tide towards buy- in of the system… And there is no doubt this time… it is Wayne’s system. Play it his way or hit the highwway (or press box). There are a couple of older guys who have been either dumped or disregarded by the rest of the NHL and just want their chance… TGO is giving it to them…and they are giving him everything they have in return.

Report card at the half way mark says Wayne Gretzky is not only a good coach but is on his way to being a great one. (oh yes, pun is definitely intended)

Despite being short an assistant coach, WG has engaged and nurtured this team into believing in themselves. Believing that every night they can win. Believing that there is a chance that they can make it to the playoffs. Hell, he’s on his way to convincing the rest of us of the same thing.
All around the web there are discussions… no, not about who we get with our lottery pick.Again, that is so last year and the year b4 that and, well you know the drill. These discussions are more like strategy sessions. ‘WHEN we pull off another good road trip, WHEN we beat the Sharks again, WHEN Toc comes back.’ Not IF, simply WHEN.

All around the league there are discussions too. ‘What are we gonna do about Phoenix? How do we counter such a wild card team? Who has been hot for them this week? How many lines are they rollin that we can effectively counter? How is our record against Bryzgalov?‘ No more well we can pick up a couple of easy goals against Phoenix so let’s start our back up guy and maybe give our star players a rest’. I can’t think of a single team that can say with confidence ‘oh its only Phoenix’… not even the Redwings.

With Don Maloney lookin after our acquisitions and scouting and Treliving and Ireland preparing our minor league-rs, the systems are working in tandem to provide the parent club with what it needs to get the job done. Most of the call ups have been phenomenal when they get here. They have already been used to hard work and fast pace and know the system. And who can overlook Mal’s promise to not sell the farm to get the pieces we so desperately needed and managing to get those pieces anyway?

With the addition of Bryz! and Vbrat, Maloney gave us 2 keys to our resurgence. With the current crop of rookie’s character and intelligence and drive, the future has arrived much earlier than it was supposed to.

Is TGO surprised? He’d like you to think so. But remember, this is the guy who was always 8 steps ahead of everyone else in the game. Why should he be any different as a coach? If we don’t make it to the post season, it won’t be because Wayne didn’t have what it takes. It won’t be because the team didn’t give it their best shot. Sometimes Lady Luck is not much of a lady and feces happen… frequently. But you can bet your season ticket money that we are going to be right in the thick of it til the very end.

There is hockey joy in the desert again, there is hockey pride on the ice again, there is hockey loyalty brewin right here in Phoenix people. And it didn’t ride in on the back of a goat.

xposted from hip shot blog

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Drive For Five

I was going to post this on my personal blog but the HLOG sent me a mean text message telling me that I've been neglecting her and that I had better get off my ass before she knocked out my teeth. I am fairly attached to my teeth so I decided that I had better humor my dear, sweet HLOG before she opened a can of... well, you know the rest.

Us Coyotes fans have been having quite a grand time lately. A five game winning streak, to us, is practically as exciting as a playoff run for most teams. As excited as we get over this, I'd almost hate to see us when we do make it to the playoffs.

I was starting a very high praise blog a few minutes ago but now we're down by 3 in the first period vs. Edmonton of all teams (no offense ladies and gents) so forgive me if I can't summon the energy reserves to praise a team for 5 wins in a row when they're driving me so utterly insane at this moment. Look for me later, I'll try again.

I think our problem is that we get cocky. We beat "The Defending Stanley Cup Champions" (thank you Cassie, we're JUST the Coyotes) and we start to think we're invincible. Our heads start to swell and we start playing sloppy and thinking no one can get past the Bryz! Oh, boys... I love you to death but I've made a bazillion sacrifices to the hockey gods over the last couple of seasons to get you guys to stop sucking, all my efforts (and yeah, ok, yours too) are finally paying off.

Let's not blow this babies.

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Road Trippin In Style

Ever wondered what it's like to be a part of the Phoenix Coyotes? Now you can know!!

The team has announced that any fan in attendance at the January 17th game vs the Columbus Blue Jackets is eligible to win a trip to Dallas with the Coyotes. The winner will take flight with the team, be put up in a hotel and have tickets to the Stars vs. Coyotes game on February 11th. The winner will also win tickets to see the Princess play the Coyotes on February 10th and will leave with the team immediately after.

I don't know how they pick the winner? "Randomly" is pretty foggy, maybe by seat? Ticket number? Who knows... I want to win! Unfortunately, I am notoriously unlucky in these situations. But if anyone ever needed incentive to go to a Coyotes game, here it is!

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The "Ups and Downs" of Being a Coyote

Well it would seem that TGO has no clue who he really wants on the roster this year so he's perfectly content shipping off our players after a game or two and bringing up fresh meat... erm, another baby from the A, I mean. It's not even halfway into the season yet and already we've seen Auldy get traded to Boston (and play outrageously better there than he did for us, might I add) and Abby get loaned to Switzerland. Billy T and Brendan Bell both get recalls only to get shipped back down to San Antonio after a few games apiece and now Joel Perrault and Keith Yandle have been called up to play with the big dogs (no pun intended).

Funny story about Yandle - I believe it was Maloney who stated in an interview over the summer (and I'll try to find the link) that Keith Yandle is a fantastic player. 'His only problem is his defense... *short pause* and that's a big problem considering he's a defenseman." Ya think??

Anyway, we played the Islanders last night and it wasn't pretty. As far as I'm concerned they outplayed us and they shouldn't have; We made stupid mistakes and deserved the loss. What we didn't deserve, however, was DiPietro being a douchebox to Doan & the Joves. Don't get me wrong, I have always had a bit of a softspot where Ricky was concerned but as a fan, I tend to get a little miffed when people hit my captain... call me crazy but there you have it.

We're moving right on along the East to take on Pookie & Schnookie. Apparently they're ready for us... Bethany's been calling Brodeur every night with tips on how to beat her twins team (which I don't appreciate thankyouverymuch) and so we're going to have to come up with some crazy stunts if we want to get past him. No worries, though, he's not the only one getting tips whispered in his ear. I've been watching you Brodeur and I've got you all figured out!! Game on!

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Yeah, We Know...

I don't know about any other Coyotes fans out there (if they even exist) but my absolute favorite games to watch/attend are the Coyotes/Sharks games. Maybe because I (very secretly) have a soft spot for the Sharks or maybe it's just because they're close and I want to see them get killed. Either way, when Roenick signed with the Sharks this past off season, I *knew* that he would find a way to score his 500th goal against us.

I wasn't wrong, my dear Hlog-lovers.

Last night we played the Sharks and Jeremy Roenick snagged himself his 500th goal, which also turned out to be the game-winner. If we want to be picky about it, our goalie Auld scored it for him (whatever the hell he was doing) but I won't take much away from him by announcing to the world that he didn't *technically* score that 500th... more than a few times anyway.

Congratulations, Roenick, even though half of me wanted you to score it here as opposed to there in San Jose. I know a lot of people would have loved to give you the standing ovation for reaching that 500 here in Phoenix but I'm sure you'll get some love on Thursday regardless.

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What's Luck Got To Do With It??

I've been reading these superstitions posts all morning and I finally decided to get off my bum and write my own. Unfortunately, it's going to be rather boring because I, unlike all you crazy women with your ladders and mirrors and black cats, am not superstitious at all.

I certainly did not spend an entire winning streak last season clinging to a bracelet because 'lyke omg, it's totally lucky!' I also don't have a string of Coyote beads hanging from my rear view mirror that I talk to (sometimes lovingly, sometimes cursing) on my drive to games. I would never even think of wearing the same jersey/tshirt combo to every game because it was worn the night my 2 favorite players each scored.

I mean, seriously, these crackpots who think that somehow their own personal luck is tied into how well their teams do kill me. It's not like the team would suddenly go into utter despair if I took my bobble heads off my TV. I doubt that we would lose consistently if I moved the Shane Doan poster from behind my door.

It's just pure crazy talk.

But just in case, I'm going to re-hang my poster and glue down my bobble heads when I get home. :/

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Head 2 Head Challenge - Tracy vs. Steph

The battle lines have been drawn, the faces have been painted and the jerseys have be donned. Let's not get too ahead of ourselves here, ladies and germs, this battle of epic proportions has only begun. There's still plenty of time for eyes to be gouged and hair to be pulled. What war has begun, you say? Only the most devastating war to ever have been fought in any arena from here to world's end (no, not the Johnny Depp movie). The battle of Wings vs. Yotes, and trust me, my dears, it's a bloody and dangerous battle.


We fought valiantly, we even thought we had it for a full period. The Wings wouldn't have any of it, though. Losing to the lowest life form was just unacceptable to them so after allowing the Yotes to get their hopes up; just toying with us, I'm sure; they smashed us back down to Earth with surprising speed and without us really even realizing that we were being schooled. I would be impressed if I weren't so pissed off. My dear Coyotes have a terrible knack for allowing me to think that we're going to win, only to pull the rug out from under me. It's quite frustrating.



Either way, the battle was fought and there was neither enough battle (on my side) nor enough blood (definitely on the Wings side) and so it was difficult to sit through. Between pissing off the Wings fans sitting around me to having text-message battle with Ms. Steph, herself (in between her blasphemy of switching to the Sox game of course) I got enough happiness to get me past the fact that my team was (once again) murderlized by the Wings.

I think I'm actually good with it, though. I knew going into this year that my team was going to stink like last weeks garbage and god knows that I've gotten way too used to getting spanked by the Wings for it to really bother me. Good game, Steph, even though you kept ditching your team for the Sox... we'll try again next time. :)

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I'm Sorry, But

THIS had me rolling in my seat. TSN, I DO love you. Sorry KMS2 & Jordi, we've got you beat according to them. :)

At least, in the fantasy world... where I like to hang out. It's sometimes better than reality.

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Coyotes Checking

All has been relatively quiet on the Coyotes front (minus those heinous commercials that we were hoping no one besides us would EVER see... thanks for that). Here's a little something to redeem us... what can be better than our very own Captain taking someone out and then laughing about it?

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Coaching Advice from a Puppet

Everything about Phoenix is starting to make sense now...

I suppose you really can't go wrong with a puppet in a commercial but how does Pierre not give the children nightmares? Also, how does he not melt in the desert anyways?

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KA CHOW!

This entire off season, the (small) population of Coyotes fans have been sitting back cursing in the general direction of the whole management team for not having any good news about Keith Ballard. Fret no more Coyote lovers (if indeed you DO exist). The Coyotes have finally resigned the poster child to a 2 year contract. That, of course, means we have to go through this whole ordeal in a couple years but we're out of the fire for now and that's all that matters. Isn't it?

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