Will Coyotes Stay in Phoenix?

For months now the Phoenix Coyotes organization has been the object of obsession by writers in Canada.  First they hoped the cash-strapped team would pull-up stakes and head back to the Great White North.  Now they seem content with the idea of the team simply folding.  So what started this ruckus and how much fire surrounds all this Canuck smoke?  Well lets start at the beginning.

The widely hated (in Canada anyway) NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman, has had a long-standing wish to transform the league from a boutique northern sport in to a viable US sport on par with the NBA.  Now there are several inherent roadblocks to making that happen.  Basketball has been played by virtually every youth in America at some point.  It is a cheap sport to play (get a ball, go to park, play) compared to hockey which requires more effort and money to play the further south you go.  In Phoenix, pre-Coyotes, we had two mediocre ice rinks and a handful of youth and adult rec teams.  Which meant if a kid wanted to play hockey they had to talk their parents into driving them to one of the two rinks, buying $300 in equipment and then finding 14 other kids who could also talk their parents into this ridiculous concept.  Meanwhile there was already football, baseball and basketball leagues in place and ready to go competing for the youth sports market.  Meanwhile in Canada, where free ice aplenty invites hockey playing every winter, children are brought up with the sport and put in skates at three-years-old.  Hockey is to Canada what the NFL is to America.  The only problem is that Canada has roughly the population of California making the potential for NHL growth limited to say the least.  What has made the NFL, NBA and MLB sports power-houses is the incredible television revenues they receive.  So Bettman & Company had to find a way to lure networks into giving them the big bucks as well.  But with NHL franchises limited to Canada and the northern US no national network would pay them what they hoped they were worth.  So began the campaign to conquer the south.

The first salvo in the southern expansion were two franchises in Florida.  Tampa Bay and Miami were awarded NHL franchises and began play in 1992.  A year later The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim gave the LA market their second franchise.  In 1994 the relocation of franchises began when the Minnesota North Stars were inexplicably allowed to leave the Twin Cities for Dallas.  That set the stage for Canada to lose their first franchises when the Quebec Nordiques bolted for Colorado to become the Avalanche in 1995.  Two years later the Hartford Whalers moved to Carolina and a year later the Winnipeg Jets became the Phoenix Coyotes.  The next round of expansion awarded new franchises to Nashville, Atlanta, Columbus and in an act of contrition, Minnesota.  That brought the league up to 30 teams, on par with the other three major US sports with every region of North America fairly well represented.  So bring on the TV ratings and the big, big money!

No big money?  What happened?  Well we have to go back to that original concept of hockey not being a “grass-roots” sport in these markets.  Like any new business you start at the bottom and work your way up.  In Phoenix the Coyotes experienced some early success with superstar Jeremy Roenick joining Keith Tkachuk and Rick Tocchet to give the team some offensive punch to go with up-and-coming goalie Nikolai Khabibulin.  The Coyotes finished with .500 or better seasons their first six years and made the playoffs in every year but one.  They were popular but played in a facility that was not hockey friendly so the team began to campaign for improvements to the horrible sight-lines at America West.  When that proved impossible they began looking for a new home and after attempts at publicly financed arenas in Scottsdale and Mesa failed the team moved to Glendale, a suburb located 20 minutes west of downtown Phoenix.  That means for fans living in the east valley it can take up to 2 hours to reach a weekday game in rush hour traffic.  During this tumultuous time the Coyotes fortunes on the ice plummeted with the 2006-07 team earning the fewest points since coming to Phoenix.  This convergence of a non-centrally located arena and a horrible team has sent the fans scattering and the club is reportedly losing $30 million plus a season.  I have confirmed that figure with a source who says the club is currently losing $3 million per month and is actively seeking new ownership.

So is the problem that the team can not be supported in Phoenix or is the problem that a crappy team can not be supported in Phoenix?  As the fifth largest market in the US Phoenix certainly has the population.  With a large portion of that population having immigrated from northern markets there are also plenty of hockey-savvy people already here as well.  The problem is that if the Coyotes stink fans can go watch the Suns or Arizona State.  They could also spend less money on gas and ticket prices and go see the minor league Phoenix Roadrunners.  Or they may simply decide to go hiking or golfing.  The bottom line is that unlike Winnipeg Phoenix residents have a multitude of options for their entertainment dollar that does not include TV or ice fishing.  What we have not seen is a good team playing in a good arena in Phoenix.  That would be a winning combination which would result in sell-outs the following seasons.  You have to understand that the average Phoenix sports-fan has a lot of Missouri in them.  They don’t want to hear about a team with potential, they say “show me”.  The Arizona Cardinals enjoy a high level of success next door to the Coyotes in Glendale but they had trouble selling-out their first home playoff game in 67 years because no one was convinced they could win.  But in the end they did sell-out, did win and the team will reap the benefits next season.  If they can get off to a hot start the fine people of Phoenix will finally jump on board the wagon and any playoff home dates they are fortunate enough to gain next year will be quick sell-outs.  But Phoenix fans are fickle and if the team starts to lose they will abandon them.  That is the nature of sports in the south.  Call us bad fans, call us band-wagoners if you must.  But we simply feel like we have options and if one team is not going to make us feel good about ourselves another one (or activity) will.  Win consistently and you will get season-long sell-outs — just ask the Suns.  But they showed a chink in the armor last year and it is a lot easier to get Suns tickets this season.  They are not struggling by any stretch but a few seasons of declines and they will be playing to half-empty house too.

Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes is definitely losing a lot of money right now.  But this is not a game for the meek or poor.  Major sports ownership is a billionaire’s playground and you have to show a commitment and be in for the long haul if you want to win.  If Moyes bails now he, like the blackjack player who leaves when he is down, will miss the up-swing.  The team has to accept blame for locating themselves out in Glendale.  Had the Coyotes contributed to the financing of an arena in Scottsdale they would probably be drawing 20% more fans simply from the ‘convenience’ factor of not having to brave rush-hour traffic and the newly installed speed cameras on Valley freeways.    But the potential rewards are still there for hockey in Phoenix.   The greater Phoenix area has grown from two sheets of ice for youth and adult rec hockey to 10 (plus two half sheets at Ozzie Ice).  There are AA youth hockey teams playing out of Phoenix that travel to northern cities in the US and in Canada and holding their own in tournaments.  My son plays travel squirt hockey and that division (9 - 10 year olds) alone has five A teams and three B teams in Phoenix.

An article in today’s Toronto Globe & Mail makes a case for contraction in the NHL with the Coyotes being the leading candidate.  Stephen Brunt argues that the league should contract and wait for a better economic environment to possibly resurrect the franchises.  In Phoenix that would be incredible stupid since we have spent the last ten years building the sport up and that effort would be wasted.  The 10 sheets of ice in Phoenix would not disappear overnight but many would eventually.  Fans would find other ways to occupy their time and they could take up with other NHL teams via the Center Ice package on satelite or cable TV.  But the sports credibility would be wrecked here for generations.  The league needs to continue on this course for at least five more years.  It would represent a potential “investment” of $15 million should the team continue to lose money but I do not believe it will.  With a young core of very good players the Coyotes are probably one-year behind the Chicago Blackhawks in terms of development and to snuff that out when they are so close would be criminal.  Let the team blossom, let the fans discover them and watch the support build.  Even Chicago, one of the original six NHL teams, struggled to sell tickets just a couple years ago.  Now they lead the league in attendance.  The same will be true for Phoenix if they have the foresight to continue.  The haters in Canada want the Coyotes to fail.  They want the southern expansion of the NHL to fail.  They want this because hockey is “their” sport.  It is their identity and it differentiates them from the United States.  With a chip the size of a hockey puck on their shoulder, many Canadians (certainly not all) want Gary Bettman to fail since he (in their misguided eyes) helped move teams from Quebec and Winnipeg to larger and potentially more lucrative markets.  But if you are going to come to the big city you better learn how to play like the big boys do and that is to play to win.  The southern expansion was not about just filling arenas with fans, it was about transforming a sport from a boutique industry to a power-house.  If you quit now, you insure failure.  Let the Coyotes have their chance to show Phoenix fans good hockey and watch what happens to this franchise in the 2010-11 season.  That will be the season that Phoenix Coyotes hockey turns a corner from being a curiosity to being a threat to the Suns in terms of attracting fan loyalty.  End it this season and like the investor who liquidates after the crash, you lose everything.

Moving forward the Coyotes have already corrected the first major obstacle: success on the ice.  The team is on pace for their first playoff berth in six seasons.  Westgate, an entertainment complex adjacent to Jobing.com Arena, has completed their first phase with several shops, some excellent dining options and an AMC theater.  This gives people more bang for their gas-dollar as they justify a trip to the west valley.  Stephen Brunt claims that the Coyotes will be the first domino to fall and he is right.  But the dominos here in Phoenix include everyone from owners and inventors in Westgate to the city of Glendale who will own a concert arena without a major tenant.  The NHL needs to stick by their guns and give the Coyotes a few more seasons to prove their worth.

Coyotes Make Second-Half Push for Playoffs

As we pass the mid-point of the season the Coyotes have compiled 43 points, two fewer than at the same mark last year.  The key to the overall success of the current season is whether or not the team can finish strong and avoid the melt-down that has plagued the Coyotes the two previous seasons.  Last season the Coyotes earned just 38 points over the last half of the season and were, once again, shut-out of the post-season.  In 2006-07 the Coyotes earned just 27 points over the same span but that was the year of the great Coyote Firesale which ultimately netted the team a number of valuable draft picks so take the number with a big grain of salt.  On the face it looks like we are no better off than last season, in fact, a couple of points weaker.  But upon further examination the Coyotes appear better suited for a strong finish than they did last year for a number of reasons.

1. The Vrbata Effect –  Last year Radim Vrbata electrified the team by notching 18 goals in the first half of the season.  He followed that with a thud by notching just 9 the rest of the way including a devastating 22 game streak with no goals and just 7 assists.  The team’s leading scorer disappeared and with him the Coyotes playoff hopes.

2008-09 Cure — The Lightning helped by signing Vrbata to a lucrative 3-year, $9 million contract prior to the start of the season.  He scored 3 goals over 18 games and facing demotion, requested to return to the Czech Republic where, after passing waivers, was assigned to a team there.  This season the leading scorers are veterans Shane Doan and Olie Jokinen who are not likely to have the production fall-off that Vrbata did last year.  The Coyotes other scoring has been spread around with seven other players contributing at least 7 goals so far this year.  Some Coyote youngsters are likely to falter but the pool is so deep someone else will simply be given the opportunity to step-up.

2. Erratic Goaltending –  The goalie tandem of Bryzgalov & Tellqvist were together last season but neither could maintain any steady momentum.  There were flashes of brilliance but then a five-goal debacle would rear its ugly head, usually on those games when the normally dormant offense would wake-up.

2008-09 Cure — Recently that erratic goal-tending has returned with three games of four or more goals allowed in their past five games.  Unless Bryzgalov starts to show he can play five, six or seven games in a row without having a four-goal game the Coyotes may need to hit the open market for another solution between the pipes.  In previous years the goalies were victimized by some shoddy defense but the blue-line has been solid this year with Zybynek Michalek leading the league in blocked shots while veterans Ed Jovanovski, Kurt Sauer and in particular Derek Morris having strong seasons so far.

3. Not So Special Teams -  Last year the Coyotes power-play was respectable with the Desert Dogs ranked 11th.  Their penalty kill unit however was not nearly as effective, ranking 24th in the league.  This season the power-play is awful with Phoenix ranked 29th out of 30 teams.  The PK has dropped to 19th and the Coyotes will not be a playoff team without fixing both these issues.

2008-09 Cure  — The power-play issue should have been resolved with Jokinen but instead the team has somehow gotten worse.  The bottom seemed to be on Tuesday when the ‘Yotes could not get a goal on a 4 minute power-play against the Blackhawks.  It could be time for the team to pull-the-trigger on a deal to bring in an established sniper.  Peter Mueller has been a huge disappointment in his second season.  He helped QB the power-play from the point last season but his contributions have been nearly non-existent thus far in 2008-09.  A Mueller resurrection could single-handedly be enough to cure the Coyotes PP problems and overall scoring issues.

GM Don Maloney expects his team to improve as the season progresses, something he also expected last season but did not see.  It is difficult with such a young team as the players are getting use to a much more rigorous — and long — season.  It will be up to the veterans to lead the way and for players like Mueller to finally step-up.  I expect the Coyotes will remain in playoff contention for the remainder of the season.  Thankfully they don’t have to play Chicago again this year so that alone should be good for a few extra points in the second-half.  It will come down to the youngsters and whether they can put together a strong second-half push that will help carry this team to the next level.

Coyotes Get Crushed in Chicago 7-1

Before Sunday’s game the Coyotes ruled out using Mikael Tellqvist due to a lower-abdomen injury that Head Coach Wayne Gretzky said was “minor” but nothing they wanted to take a chance at making worse.  So it was more than a little ironic that Ilya Bryzgalov was probably wishing he would get pulled by the end of the first period with the Blackhawks up 4-0 on their way to a 7-1 thumping of the Coyotes.  The defense was bad, the offense non-existent and the goal-tending pitiful.  All-in-all probably the worst game the Coyotes have played in the last two years against one of the hottest teams in the NHL.  So what does it mean?  Nada. Zip.  Zilch.  These things happens in hockey, especially to young teams.  If Gretzky is a good coach he will turn this in to a learning experience and an opportunity to do better.  The ‘Yotes face a Dallas team in disarray and the perfect foe to “right the ship” before heading back home for a very tough two-game stand against the Wild & Red Wings.

My one lingering concern after this debacle is on Ilya Bryzgalov.  I like Bryz and hope and he can fix whatever is bothering him but something is definitely out of whack.  Given the delicate psyche of most goalie types I doubt a 7-1 thumping did much for his confidence.  If Tellqvist is not available for Wednesday’s game in Dallas (when by the way Ollie Jokinen is expected back) then the Coyotes might want to take a flyer on one of the young net-minders in San Antonio.  Either Al Montoya or Josh Tordjman who would likely welcome a reprieve from the Rampage’s horrendous start.

Other than that it is time to turn the page on this ugly game and keep moving forward.

Coyotes Putting Bryz on Ice?

A thrilling 4-2 victory last night in Glendale over the Los Angeles Kings and goalie Mikael Tellqvist was once again a key factor.  After losing six consecutive games Head Coach Wayne Gretzky gave Tellqvist a shot against the Blue Jackets on November 26th and the talented Swede came up huge stopping 38 of 40 shots including a 14 shot barrage in the 3rd period when the Jackets stormed the Phoenix crease on four power-plays.  In the Coyotes’ next game Telly once again started and limited the Colorado Avalanche to a single goal in Phoenix’s 2-1 victory.  The following day Gretzky opted to rest Tellqvist and see if Bryzgalov had worked out whatever was troubling his game.  Phoenix jumped out to a quick two-goal lead but Bryz could not hold it, allowing two goals on the Av’s first two shots of the game 71 seconds apart.  Gretzky pulled Bryzgalov and Tellqvist was solid the rest of the way but the Av’s eventually won the game 3-2 and the Coach did not mince words when laying blame for the set-back:

“They get two shots on goal and it’s 2-2 and that’s not good enough, and quite frankly that was the difference in the hockey game,” Gretzky said.

I am sure it would be tempting for the Coyotes management to push Gretzky to start Bryz over Tellqvist given the disparity in their respective salaries — $4.2 Million vs. $800k.  But clearly Gretzky is basing his decision strictly on hockey and not politics.  The bigger question is how long can this last?  Would the Coyotes consider giving the full-time job to Tellqvist and return Bryzgalov to the back-up role he detested in Anaheim?  As long as Bryz is giving up goals in bunches the answer is an easy one, absolutely.  But if both goaltenders are playing well will the Coyotes revert to the 5:1 start ratio Bryzgalov enjoyed earlier in the season?  Unless Tellqvist plays himself out of the job I think he can secure at least a much larger number of starts, perhaps as high as 40 to 50%.   But in years past Tellqvist was never able to maintain a consistently high-level of play.  Maybe this is the year Telly proves he is capable of being an NHL starter.  Clearly Gretzky loves Tellqvist, going out of his way to heap praise on the former back-up and on several occassions noting that the other players “love” playing in front of him.  Does that mean they don’t like playing in front of Bryz?  Maybe they just don’t like it as much.  Maybe Gretzky is playing head-games to try and get Bryz engaged and playing better.

Should Bryzgalov continue to implode the Coyotes are nurturing a lot of goalie talent in the minor leagues with Al Montoya and Josh Tjordman splitting time in San Antonio with very similar stats.  Playing on a struggling 2-20 AHL team the two goalies are both 1-10 with Tordjman sporting a 3.41 GAA in 14 games while Montoya has a GAA of 3.93 in 13 games.  I know, not exactly comforting but keep in mind there are six players on the ice and a goalie can’t stop everything without some help.  The Coyotes have the bulk of San Antonio’s talent on their roster so it will take some time for the Rampage to replenish and adjust. It is unlikely the Coyotes would want to promote one of their youngsters this season unless either Bryz or Telly are hurt.

For the immediate future the answer for the Coyotes between the pipes are already in Phoenix.  Hopefully Bryzgalov snaps out of his funk and Telly keeps on keepin’ on.  Having a pair of elite netminders is a tremendous advantage and something the Coyotes have never enjoyed in their 10 previous season in the Valley.

Coyotes Stumble into Big Apple

The Phoenix Coyotes are winless in their last five games.  That’s the bad news.  The good news is that they still managed to pick-up a couple of points along the way thanks to a shoot-out loss to the Blackhawks and an overtime loss in Philly.  So the young Coyotes are now 8-9-2 and sitting second-to-last (thank you Dallas) in the Pacific Division.  If we compare ourselves to last season the Coyotes are exactly the same with 18 points.  Only last season Phoenix had more wins, 9-10-0.  So in the immortal words of Austin Powers, “what does is all mean Basil?”  Short answer:  not much.  Given that we got younger and made some significant changes to the roster I think we can count ourselves lucky to have 18 points.  This team is still trying to find it’s footing and playing with the consistency (or lack thereof) that you would expect from one of the youngest teams in the league.  But this young team must do something that the 2007-08 Coyotes could not:  improve dramatically in the second half.  If we divide last season up into 20 game chunks we find that they generally won half their games (10 of every 20) up until the final 20 game push when they only won 6.  Over the Coyotes next 20 games they will need to improve and gain 22 - 24 points.  One thing that bothered me early last season was the lack of OT/SO points.  It looked like more of the same this season until this past week’s pair of OT/SO games.  Trouble is, we should have won both.  The Blackhawks and Flyers are both beatable and the Coyotes played well enough to take the games.  Where they need to steal points in OT/SO games is against the elite squads like the one we are playing tonight.   The key for Phoenix is to beat the teams they should (Dallas, Florida, Islanders, etc) and to gain at least a point in half the games against the league’s better teams.

The Rangers started the season red-hot, winning 10 of their first 13 contests.  But they hit the skids in November, going 4-5-1 thus far.  After losing their last two games this is an excellent opportunity for the Coyotes to grab at least a point from a good team.  If they catch a couple of breaks the Coyotes might be able to nab a couple of points.

Keys for the Coyotes

* Bryz needs to be a wall. The Rangers get strong goal-tending from Henrik Lundqvist who will face the Coyotes for only the second time in his career (beating them in Glendale two years ago).

* Strong Start. The Rangers have been outscored 7-0 in the first period of their past seven games.  The Coyotes need to keep that trend going.  The Rangers know what their problem is and will try and pressure Phoenix hard in the first period to score.  The Coyotes can use their over-enthusiasm to their advantage to create scoring opportunities (see next point).

* Use Their Speed.  The Coyotes will get chances to score from their speedy young players.  They need to convert on those chances and make the Rangers pay for any mistakes.

Yotes Notes:

Phoenix will face former Coyotes Fredrik Sjostrom for the first time tonight.  Sjostrom will play on a line with Colton Orr and Blair Betts.  He has played in 21 games and recorded a pair of goals and one assist.

Enver Lisin is back with the club after getting recalled from AHL affiliate San Antonio.  Lisin fills the spot opened up by the injury to Daniel Winnik.

Defenseman Derek Morris will also be out of action tonight with an injury.

Forwards Garth Murray and Brian McGrattan will be the Coyotes’ healthy scratches.

Coyotes Sweep Weekend Games

After splitting a pair of games in Canada last week the Phoenix Coyotes came home this past weekend and beat both the Florida Panthers and San Jose Sharks.  Both wins were impressive and featured some amazing work by goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov who earned first-star honors after Sunday’s 4-2 defeat of league leading San Jose.  The two-game winning streak finally gave the Coyotes some traction after alternating wins and losses for the previous eight games.  Phoenix has now won 3 of their past 4 games and will hit the road for two games against Columbus and Minnesota.

Bryzgalov saved 56 of 59 shots over the weekend and was especially impressive against a barrage of Sharks’ shots at the end of the second period and beginning of the third.  The defense was strong in front as well with several players blocking shots and sweeping away loose pucks in the crease.

The Coyotes have been turning things around offensively as well.  After falling to last in the NHL in team scoring after a 1-0 loss to Vancouver on Thursday, the Yotes exploded for 8 goals in two games.  Center Olli Jokinen has caught fire in particular with 3 goals and 2 assists over the weekend.  Rookie Victor Tikhonov notched his first career NHL goal with a nifty turn-around blast that careened off of former Coyote Brian Boucher’s skate and into the net Sunday night.  Peter Mueller recorded a goal against both Florida and San Jose which marked his first goals since October 23rd.  Mueller’s success is key for the Coyotes who can count on production from Jokinen and Captain Shane Doan but need success from second-year winger to take the team to the next level.  Rookie Mikkel Boedker had a pair of goals against Florida on Saturday night and just missed getting an empty netter at the end of regulation which would have given the youngster his first NHL hat trick.

All tolled a strong performance from the Coyotes who seem to finally be gelling on the ice and developing chemistry on the various lines.  Head coach Wayne Gretzky moved Boedker to a line with Martin Hanzal and Daniel Winnik and that paid off immediately on Saturday when Boedner recorded his two goals with Hanzal and Winnik each picking-up an assist.  But Gretzky remains unafraid to mix lines in an effort to maximize production and determine chemistry.  One suspect move had Daniel Carcillo moved to the top line with Jokinen and Mueller.  After a couple of early penalties the top line of Jokinen, Mueller and Doan were reunited and that line was on the ice for 3 of the Coyotes 4 goals (though to be fair 2 of those goals came on the power-play).  Gretzky would like to see more production from his second line which is why Doan and Mueller have on occassion played there this season.  But the chemistry between Doan and both Mueller and Jokinen is palpable and it is building.  Trying to develop chemistry between new players like Boedker, Tikhonov and Turris is proving to be more difficult but it is also to be expected.  These player will develop at their own pace though Boedker appears to be on the fast-track.  We can only hope Turris and Tikhonov follow suit.

Howls

Martin Hanzal is an animal on the penalty kill.  Hanzal was all over the ice on Sunday when the Coyotes were called for five penalties.  The Sharks converted on their first two chances but were shut-out the rest of the way.

Tikhonov’s first goal was a beauty and I would like to see the rookie take more shots.

Zbynek Michalek, who played against his brother Milan on Sunday, picked up his 4th assist of the season and remains the most underrated Coyote player.  Michalek is a shut-down defenseman who makes few mistakes, particularly in the Coyotes zone.

The Coyotes had just one penalty on Saturday against Florida, a bench minor for too many men on the ice.  That kind of discipline from the youngest team in the NHL is testament to some good coaching from Gretzky as well as assistant’s Doug Sulliman and Ulf Samuelsen.

Yelps

Daniel Carcillo was tagged for 3 penalties on Sunday and they were all of the “dumb” variety: tripping, closing his hand on the puck and boarding.  Carcillo has 0 goals, 0 assists and a +/- of (-1).   Top that off with a stick to the eye that left him kneeling on the ice with blood dripping and you have an ugly start to the season.  Do not be surprised to see Carcillo as a healthy scratch this week.

While it was good to see Tikhonov notch his first goal he still tries to stick-handle his way deep into the opposition’s zone way too often.  This is not a ‘house’ league Pee Wee game and while Tikhonov often gets past the first and sometimes second opposing player he is almost always picked clean shortly thereafter.  You have to pass or dump the puck deep when you are out-numbered 3 to 1 and the sooner Tikhonov realizes that and starts playing smart NHL hockey the sooner he will see the goals and assists start piling up.

Coyotes Earn Split in Canada

Despite a 1-0 setback to the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night, the Phoenix Coyotes played some impressive hockey north of the border this week.  First came Tuesday’s match-up with the always difficult Calgary Flames who had easily dispatched of the ‘Yotes back on October 25th in Glendale by a 4-1 margin.  Calgary was faster, stronger, tougher and just overall better than Phoenix on that day.  But the Coyotes were all business at Pengrowth Saddledome where the up-and-coming ‘Yotes matched the Flames’ intensity and were led by their veterans to a 4-2 victory.  Ed Jovanovski and Derek Morris (who were both without a point heading into the game) notched their first goals of the season as did center Steven Reinprecht.  Shane Doan recorded the other goal, his team-leading 7th of the season.  Ilya Bryzgalov was amazing between the pipes, particularly when he survived a 15 shot onslaught in the third period as the desperate Flames struggled to get back in the game.

The real challenge on this trip was Thursday when the Coyotes ventured into Vancouver to meet the Canucks.  Both Calgary and Vancouver have had success early this season and neither game was going to be a cakewalk.  But the Coyotes have shown a penchant for losing focus, particularly after a win this season.  But last night Bryzgalov stepped-up again and single-handedly kept his team in the game.  Bryz saved 31 of 32 including this spectacular glove save.  It was not quite enough though as the Canucks beat Phoenix by a score of 1-0.

Nogoalov was lights-out but unfortunately he and the Coyotes ran into an even hotter netminder in Roberto Luongo who recorded his second consecutive shut-out (and surprisingly first career shut-out of Phoenix).  The Canucks won 1-0 but they no-doubt feel like they dodged a bullet this morning.  They Coyotes played well but could not find a way to scratch-out a goal to at least earn a point.  Ilya Bryzgalov deserved better than a loss.

The Coyotes once again fall below .500 but unlike their previous post-victory losses, this one does not feel like a punch in the gut.  The boys played well and you simply have to tip your cap to Luongo and move-on.  The Coyotes have had a difficult stretch to open the season and being 5-6-0 after the first 11 games is not the worst thing in the world.

Howls

You have to love Garth Murray.  The youngster was brought up for the Calgary game and his contributions were felt immediately.  Murray dropped the gloves in the first period with the score tied and delivered a couple of impressive haymakers.  That fired up the Coyotes who scored about a minute later to take the lead 2-1.  But Murray was pretty good with his gloves on, playing on the fourth line he skated hard and along with Daniel Carcillo and Todd Fedoruk provided a different kind of ‘energy line’ to the team.

Of course with Murray playing someone had to be scratched and that was Kyle Turris.  Originally Turris was suppose to play in his hometown of Vancouver but with the big win in Calgary Gretzky obviously did not want to tinker with a winning formula.  I felt bad for Turris who I’m sure had family and friends in the stands.

The Doan-Jokinen-Mueller line was effective in Calgary as Doan scored with both Mueller & Jokinen picking up assists.  They were shut-out in Vancouver but the trio did a nice job defensively against Vancouver’s potent top line that features the Sedin brothers.

‘Yotes Notes: Coyotes Shake Things Up

New Lines for New Times

Unable to gain any traction in terms of consistent scoring, Coyotes Head Coach Wayne Gretzky will once again shake up the lines for tonight’s match-up with the Flames up in Calgary.  Winger Peter Mueller will be returned to the top line and re-teamed with Ollie Jokinen and Shane Doan.   I liked this line when Gretzky opened the season with it and I thought he was a bit premature abandoning it after a couple of losses.  Doan remains the Coyotes scoring leader with 6 goals and is tied with Jokinen for points with 10.  But Mueller, though he has started slow this season (3-2-5), is the most explosive scoring threat capable of putting together a hat trick in any given game (he had two last season including one in Calgary).  Once Mueller begins producing consistently the DJM line should be one of the most potent scoring threats in the NHL.

The second line will feature Steven Reinprecht at center and Mikkel Boedker and Kevin Porter on the wings.  There is a wealth of talent in that line but Gretzky is going to have to give the guys time to build some chemistry.  Boedker is a speed-freak while both KP and Rhino are consumate table-setters.  It will work but it will take five or six games for them to really get into a groove.  The third line has Martin Hanzal, Daniel Winnik and Victor Tikhonov while the fourth line features a who’s who of ‘grinders’ with Daniel Carcillo, Todd Fedoruk and the newly promoted Garth Murray.  Kyle Turris gets a night off as a healthy scratch but Gretzky said he will be back in action Thursday in Vancouver.  The unspoken implication is that someone else will be scratched and likely it will be either Murray or whoever Gretzky feels does not put forth an acceptable effort against the Flames tonight.

The defense also gets a new look with Ed Jovanovski being teamed with Zbynek Michalek in an effort to get Jovo to jump into plays and contribute offensively.  The other pairings are Derek Morris with Kurt Sauer and Ken Klee with David Hale.

Attention Hockey Executives, Red Light Special on Defensemen

General Manager Don Maloney continues to hunt for bargains like a senior citizen on a fixed income within a scooter’s ride of K-Mart.  First came D-man Ken Klee who was claimed off waivers from Anaheim.  Maloney went against his own mandate to only bring in young players as Klee was simply too good to pass up.  The 37 year-old NHL veteran has played for six other NHL teams in his 13 year pro hockey career.  Klee is a stay-at-home type defender who will sacrifice his body to stop the puck and is excellent on the penalty-kill.  Klee leads by example and by all accounts is exactly the type of player Gretzky loves:  gritty, hard-working and a ‘team-first’ player.

Next up on Maloney’s shopping spree is disgruntled Ottawa center Alexander Nikulin who was unhappy playing for the Sens AHL affiliate.  The Moscow native had threatened to leave to play in the Russian Kontinental League if he were not traded.  The Coyotes, always looking for under-valued talent, decided to take a flyer on Nikulin and add him to their own roster of disgruntled Russian players (Enver Lisin, Alexei Kaigorodov).  Overall this is a ‘high-reward, low-risk’ proposition for the Coyotes who did not even have to give up a draft pick to acquire Nikulin, just AHL defenseman Drew Fata who was not likely to make the Coyotes roster anytime soon.  It is not clear just where Nikulin will be slotted but you would have to think the Coyotes have at least promised him a shot at the NHL roster or risk losing him to the Kontinental League.  Then again, maybe the promise is for next season.  To make room for Nikulin Phoenix would have to demote one of their other young forwards, most likely Victor Tikhonov or Kyle Turris.

Flames On!

Tonight’s game marks the second meeting between Calgary and Phoenix this season.  The Flames had little trouble dispatching the Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena on October 25th.  The Coyotes came out flat and the Flames ran them off the ice in a 4-1 beat-down.  The Coyotes went 1-3 on their first road-trip of the season and will need to improve on that.

Keys to the Win:  ENERGY!!  They Coyotes should be drinking plenty of Verve, that energy-drink they are heavily pimping at the arena.  When Phoenix comes out of the gate strong they are a very dangerous team.  When they start flat they tend to unravel rather quickly.  Ilya Bryzgalov will be back in goal for the ‘Yotes after playing well in a losing effort against Minnesota on Saturday night.

Coyotes Crush Crosby & Pens 4-1

Watching the Phoenix Coyotes is a bit like watching a ping pong match, at least in terms of results.  Win 2, lose 3.  Beat the Capitals, lose to the Flames, beat the Penguins.  Back and forth we go waiting to find out if this team is for real.  One conclusion we can likely draw already, the Coyotes are a much better team at home than they were last season as Phoenix notched it’s third home-ice victory in four games at the Job.  The Penguins did not look much like a Stanley Cup Finals squad, particularly after the first period when they had a grand total of 2 (yes TWO!) shots on goal.  The Pens were forced to play the third without Captain Sidney Crosby who was forced to leave the game with an undisclosed injury.  Also missing for much of the third was Miroslav Satan (whose name always conjures images of Dana Carvey doing his “Church Lady” bit and asking ‘who could it be?  Maybe…….SATAN!!) who was called for a hooking penalty at the 9:55 mark of the third.  But Satan argued the call and was rung-up for a 10 minute game misconduct which was a defacto expulsion from the game with under 10 minutes remaining.  Start your “Superior Dance”.   The Coyotes reversed their fortunes from last Saturday when they looked slow and reactionary to the Calgary Flames.  On this Thursday night they were the fast team, pushing the game into the Pittsburgh zone time early.  But in the second period the Pens responded and out-shot the ‘Yotes 18-8 but the Coyotes were more than equal to the task as Ilya Bryzgalov saved 17 of 18 and the Desert Dogs outscored Pittsburgh 2-1.  With a 2-1 lead going into the third and Crosby out the Coyotes were firmly in control.  With just over five minutes left in the game Steven Reinprecht removed all doubt with a fantastic move in the slot sending the puck past a defender while rolling his stick over the defender’s head before feathering it to the corner of the crease where Kevin Porter tapped it in.  As Porter himself said after the game, Rhino did all the work and you couldn’t ask for an easier first goal in the NHL.

Contenders or Pretenders?

Really it is much too early to say definitively.  The haters make the point that big wins against the Ducks, Capitals and Penguins came as those teams were in ‘down cycles’.  Hard to argue that point but still, the young Coyotes were able to take advantage of those situations when in past years, Phoenix would have been a solution to snap those teams out of their funks.  At home, you have to love Phoenix.  One team not in a down-cycle (though they did just get beat by Montreal — then again, who doesn’t?) are the Minnesota Wild.  The Sons of St. Paul will invade Jobing.com Arena Saturday night.  How the Coyotes come off the big win Thursday will go along way to saying how good they are.  After that they get an even bigger test by heading to Canada for a quick two-game roadie against the Flames & Canucks.  Calgary embarrassed the Coyotes with a 1-4 thrashing last week and the Coyotes embarrassed themselves with a 1-4 road trip.  So a double-dip at redemption against (1) the Flames; and (2) the road.

Coyotes Torched by Flames, 4-1

One thing most hockey pundits agree on is that if the Coyotes hope to make the playoffs in 2008-09 they are going to have to out-work their opponents to be successful.  Most other NHL teams have more experience, proven-talent and depth so the young Coyotes need to work harder and smarter than the competition.  They did neither on Saturday night and the Calgary Flames dumped Phoenix by a 4-1 score.

“Unfortunately, we only had a handful of guys that were ready for that sort of work-ethic type game…They did exactly what we thought they were going to do.”   — Head Coach Wayne Gretzky

The Coyotes looked like they were constantly chasing the action instead of pressing the offense and they paid for it.  You could make an argument that the bounces went the Flames’ way but as usually happens, the team that was hustling seemed to have the breaks go their way.  The very first goal of the game was a power-play score courtesy of a deflected puck off the skate of Coyotes’ defenseman Zbynek Michalek.    The most embarrassing goal in recent memory came after D-Man Derek Morris tripped himself and allowing the Flames to grab the puck and charge the net in a 2-on-1 break.  Wayne Primeau fed Brandon Prust who beat Coyote netminder Mikael Tellqvist to give the Flames a 2-0 lead in the first period.  Unlike previous games where the Coyotes fell behind they responded with Todd Fedoruk’s first goal of the season and Phoenix was very lucky to end the first down just one goal.  But unlike Thursday against the Capitals, the Coyotes could not fight back.  The pressure from Calgary mounted in the second period as they out-shot Phoenix 19-6.  A heroic stand from Tellqvist was the only thing standing between the Coyotes and another blow-out loss.  Though they played better in the third period, the only scoring was an empty-netter to end the game by Jerome Iginla.

The Coyotes have done a good job this season containing the stars of other teams as Iginla as really just a footnote in this game with the empty-netter.  But the way they played last night it would not have mattered if they were playing an AHL team.  The passing was off, the turn-overs rediculous and intensity absent.  This was not the same team who beat the Capitals and the Saturday night version of the Coyotes, if they are ones we see most of this season, won’t be going to the playoffs.

Things will not get easier as the Coyotes finish up the home-stand this week with a match-up against last year’s Eastern Conference Champion Pittsburgh Penguins (and some guy named Crosby who is suppose to be fairly decent).  Then the home-stand finale on Saturday against the red-hot Minnesota Wild.