It took 71 shots on goal to beat the Florida Panthers and netminder Tomas Vokoun last night. That’s right, 71 shots. The Coyotes put 71 shots on goal with Vokoun stopping 46 of them and the Panthers blocking the other 25.

That’s probably the #1 item that should be brought up about the game. The second would be the horrible ice conditions for the second game in a row.

But that’s not all…

The third item that should be brought up about the game was the team character that the Coyotes displayed. This character was something that is not seen too often in sports during the regular season….and it’s paying off at the right times too.

At first the Coyotes showed up to the game in body but not in spirit. It was like watching empty shells of players that were getting beaten badly. The Coyotes were getting beaten by a Florida Panthers team who were out for the kill the moment the puck dropped. Normally Coyotes fans would see their team match and beat the level of play that their opponents brought to the table.

For the first 40 minutes of the game, the Coyotes were just empty shells of their usual self.

But….they never fully quit.

Even after the third Florida goal was scored and many Coyotes fans had changed the channel to Oprah, the Phoenix Coyotes stayed in the game until Martin Hanzal and Lee Stempniak scored less than a minute apart in the third period.

You all know what happened after that.

The point here is what the Coyotes displayed against the Panthers is what fans don’t see all too often from any professional sports teams in this day and age. Fans don’t see teams display character, a killer work ethic, and caring about the logo on the front of their uniforms and not the name on the back. Not like fans saw last night against the Panthers.

This was a great game not only because of the comeback. This was a great game because of the work ethic and character that was instilled on this team from the beginning of the season is paying off at the right times.

Now I know there are other major story lines in this game. If you’ve read this site for the majority of the season, I let the ‘other guys’ handle the game summations and other canned other cookie cutter post game wrap-ups. Our mission is to fill in the cracks with the ‘other guys’ game summations.

In case you’re wondering, I put all the major game story lines in the game notes below.

Notes from the game:

- The Coyotes are three points behind San Jose (who lost last night in Vancouver) for the Division lead.
- The Coyotes broke a franchise record for wins in a season with 44
- The Coyotes are on a seven game winning streak
- The Official Three Stars are: 3) FLA – Stephen Weiss 2) FLA – Cory Stillman 1) PHX – Radim Vrbata
- Radim Vrbata – 10 shots on goal
- Mathieu Schneider – 2 Assists – +2 – 24:14 minutes of ice time

Game Hi lights

Game summary

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/GS021048.HTM

Event Summary:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/ES021048.HTM

Play by Play

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/PL021048.HTM

Faceoff Stats:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/FC021048.HTM

Shootout Stats:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/SO021048.HTM

Post game comments from Coyotes head coach Dave Tippett (Courtesy of PhoenixCoyotes.com):

http://coyotes.nhl.com/club/podcastplayer.htm?pid=337&iid=21146

Post game comments from Radim Vrbata (Courtesy of PhoenixCoyotes.com):

http://coyotes.nhl.com/club/podcastplayer.htm?pid=335&iid=21145

Post game comments from Zbynek Michalek (Courtesy of PhoenixCoyotes.com):

Post game comments from Panthers Head Coach Peter DeBoer

Postgame comments from Nathan Horton:

Postgame comments from Brian McCabe

By the seventh inning, the score would be six to two in favor of the Rangers as the Brewers would drive in two more runs in the eighth as they try to stage a comeback. Texas would be able to hang onto the lead as they defeat the Brewers by a score of four to six.

Colorado pitcher Jason Hammel would have an excellent outing as he would throw five innings, walking no one, striking out six with one earned run. The Rockies would win the game by a score of nine to two.

In the fourth and fifth innings, the Indians would hit one homer in each of those innings by Hodges and Hafner to take the lead. Indians’ pitcher Hector Rondon would come into the game to throw three scoreless innings while striking out four. The Tribe would go on to keep the game without any more runs as they were able to put three more runs on the board in the bottom of the eighth as they win the game by a score of six to two.

In the fourth and fifth innings, the Indians would hit one homer in each of those innings by Hodges and Hafner to take the lead. Indians’ pitcher Hector Rondon would come into the game to throw three scoreless innings while striking out four. The Tribe would go on to keep the game without any more runs as they were able to put three more runs on the board in the bottom of the eighth as they win the game by a score of six to two.

In the fourth and fifth innings, the Indians would hit one homer in each of those innings by Hodges and Hafner to take the lead. Indians’ pitcher Hector Rondon would come into the game to throw three scoreless innings while striking out four. The Tribe would go on to keep the game without any more runs as they were able to put three more runs on the board in the bottom of the eighth as they win the game by a score of six to two.

Last night Florida Panthers Goaltender Tomas Vokoun joined a rare club in the allowing of a center ice goal by Coyotes forward Radim Vrbata.

Vokoun became a permanent member of the Dan Cloutier Beach Ball Club

The Dan Cloutier Beach Ball Club is a hockey related meme that got started on Hockey Message boards in 2002. It’s based on former Vancouver Canucks goaltender Dan Cloutier allowing this center ice goal from Detroit Red Wings defenseman Nick Lidstrom in 2002:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=y524oYnSuqQ

As a result of this goal, Cloutier haters have photshopped images such as this one:

…all over the internet.

Fast forward to last night’s game with the Panthers and the Coyotes…

In the third period and with little time left Radim Vrbata added another member to goaltenders who allowed a center ice (or longer) shot on goal

A’s right fielder Ryan Sweeney was 2-for-3 on the day including an RBI before he was relieved by former ASU star Travis Buck who went 1-for-1 and scored two runs, one as a pinch runner.  Center fielder Eric Patterson went 1-for-4 on the day but made his one count as he had a double and drove in three runs. D-backs third baseman Mark Reynolds was 2-for-2 on the day with a homer.

Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley allowed only one run on five hits with a walk and four strikeouts in his 4.2 innings of work. Cubs starter Ryan Dempsey lasted four innings allowing four hits and two runs on the first inning homer by Ramirez. The Cubs fell to 9-6 on the spring while the Dodgers improved to 5-6-1.

Fox Sports Arizona just announced that The Phoenix Coyotes playoff tickets will go on sale March 27th at 10 AM.

More Details as we get them.

Is it really ever too early to talk about football? Sure, March Madness just started and everyone is thinking about their brackets and how Murray State, St. Mary’s, and Old Dominion have begun the busting of said brackets. Nonetheless, I am already excited for ASU’s football season. You see, ASU Football is the only game in town that I have season tickets for. I’ll go to 5-10 Diamondbacks games, one or two Suns games, and maybe a preseason Cardinals game (Sunday games unfortunately make it that way for me). But when college football comes around, my best friend Nathan, my brother-in-law/friend Jared, Jared’s best friend and best friend’s wife (most games), Jared’s parents, my wife (most games), and I dress up in maroon and gold, go out to eat barbecue and drink Mormon booze (Dr. Pepper or Pepsi/Coke), and attend every game in Tempe. Road games almost always involve at least Nate at my house or me at his (sometimes with wives and four children per family) with ribs or pizza, more Mormon booze, and a big screen TV. So, to answer the question, it is NEVER too early to talk about football, especially when it is ASU.

With all that being said, we have been very disappointed by ASU’s past two football seasons. Last season (a disaster) I personally did not have high expectations (I was hoping and expecting a bowl game, ANY bowl game). This was because of the previous year’s performance (disappointing), an unsure quarterback situation, and an overall opinion from the press that it was going to be a struggle. However, there was a buzz about the ASU defense. Dennis Erickson was excited about his defensive front, especially the linebacker corp (with a mix of senior leaders and young play makers). Other writers were expecting that the ASU defense was going to have win games for the team, with the offense simply needing to be adequate. The only “buzz” about the offense was the discussion of who was going to be the starting quarterback, not about talent.

The ASU defense was as advertised, finishing 13th overall nationally. Unfortunately, the same was the case for the offense, which finished 97th out of 120 schools. The defense, with the exception of the Stanford game, held up, but three times gave up game-winning field goals in the final minute of games. In each of the cases, the offense either left a short field or special teams gave the other team the ball in field goal range to start with. The result? An atrocious 4-8 record.

This year is different going into spring practice, which starts at the end of this month. There is still uncertainty at the quarterback position, as Stephen Threet, Brock Osweiler, and Samson Szakacsy all could be the starter. But this year, the buzz is about the offense. Here is what Dennis Erickson said that gives me some optimism:

We feel like we’ve got wide outs with the addition of the junior college players coming in that can do things. We feel like the speed of our offensive football team is way better than it’s ever been. So he (new offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone)  likes what he’s seen plus we have some guys coming in the fall…We’re using the Gerell Robinsons and Kerry Taylors of the world a little differently. They’re going to be much more involved and Aaron Pflugrad and Jamal Miles and the running backs that we have. We’ve got some running backs coming in who are very fast. So you’ll see more speed and our ability to use that speed more than you have. I think you’ll probably see as fast an offensive team as you’ve probably seen in a long time here and us taking advantage of that stuff.

This has me excited. Do I expect Dirk Koetter offensive numbers? I’m not saying that, but I do expect to see, rather than offensive ineptness, offensive efficiency at the very least. There should be energy on offense, with the hurry-up style that Mazzone is bringing. This, at the least, should lead to  less defensive snaps, which will help a defense that is already solid.

Will the defense be as dominating as it was last year? That is a valid question. Even Erickson wonders, “Can we stay where we were defensively? We think so, but we lost some awfully good players.” The personnel is still solid. Vontaze Burflict now has a year under his belt. Matching last year’s defensive performance would be great, but shouldn’t be necessary. I would not be surprised to see a step taken backward, but I think that step back will still result in a top 40 defense. Offensively, could it be any worse? Not really. My hope is that at minimum that it can become an average offense. Even average would be a marked improvement over what happened last year.

What do we have to look forward to this next season? Well, we still have months to wait for the finished product, but if we can believe the enthusiasm there is for this year’s offense, we can hope to see anywhere between 7 and 10 wins in a year where the PAC-10 can been seen as wide open. Is it early? Yes. We still haven’t seen anyone practice. Is it early for excitement for football? NEVER! One thing I know about this year is that there is a different feeling, a good one.

Phoenix Coyotes vs Florida Panthers

The Coyotes travel to Sunrise Florida not only for the last game of their 4 game Southeast Conference road trip.  The Coyotes also have the opportunity to win their 43rd game of the season which would be a new all-time franchise best.

Not much is known about the young Panthers team except for their goaltender Tomas Vokoun and by looking at the Panthers Stats sheet, they too have balanced scoring across multiple line.   They are in 13th place in the Eastern Conference, which doesn’t really mean much because the East is going to be a dogfight for playoff spots.  This includes the Panthers.

Like Bryzgalov, Vokoun has the ability to win games all by himself.  So this game has the ability to be an extremely tight battle as both teams need to cement their playoff positions.

Game Notes:

- Panthers Reporting that Nathan Horton will be in the lineup tonight for the Panthers

- The Coyotes ‘Magic Number’ to be guaranteed a playoff spot is at 6

- FYI Newly Acquired Defenseman Mathieu Schneider is wearing #23. If you don’t see his name in the lineup moving forward it’s not because he’s not on the team anymore, it’s because people are using names of players who used to wear Schneider’s number.

Things to watch for:

Goaltending – This game has the potential to be a goaltenders battle like it was in Nashville earlier this season.  Goaltending is going to be a key element that dictates who wins.

Keys to the game:

Beat Vokoun – Along with Bryz, he is one of the top netminders in this league. If the team in front of him brings a great effort tonight, we may have another close, grinding game.

Take advantage of the Power Play time – The Panthers have the 29th best Power Play in the League but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they can’t score as the Coyotes have similar Power Play numbers.  However, as the Coyotes have one of the best penalty killing units in the league, this will be a challenge to maintain this excellent stat.  On the flip side the Coyotes can take advantage of the fact that the Panthers have the 25th best penalty killing unit in the league when on the Power Play.

Don’t allow the Panthers any space to shoot – The game tonight has the makings, on paper, to be another tight defensive battle.  However, I’m hesitant to fully say that this is going to be the case as the Panthers lost their last game to Washington 7-3.

Officials:

Referees – # 14 Dennis LaRue; #28 Chris Lee
Linesmen – #78 Brian Mach; #92 Mark Shewchyk

Injuries/Scratches:

Coyotes: Kurt Sauer(IR), Scottie Upshall(IR), Robert Lang(Day to Day),
Panthers: Byron Bitz (IR)

Stone, 19, is currently in his fourth season with the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL, where he recorded 21-44-65 and 91 penalty minutes (PIM) in 69 regular season games this year to register career-highs in goals and points. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound Stone finished the regular season ranked T-4th in scoring among all WHL defensemen while ranking 4th in scoring on Calgary. Calgary opens the 2010 WHL Playoffs tonight versus the Moose Jaw Warriors.

Last season, Stone registered 19-42-61 and 87 PIM in 69 games for the Hitmen and finished the season ranked 4th in scoring among all WHL defensemen. In 264 career WHL games with Calgary, Stone recorded 52-129-181 with 238 PIM and a +49 rating. He has also collected 5-18-23 and 40 PIM in 49 career WHL playoff games entering the 2010 postseason and helped Calgary advance to the 2009 WHL Championship Series.

Stone, a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, was selected by the Coyotes in the third round (69th overall) of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

-Courtesy of the Phoenix Coyotes Media Relations-

The agreement buys out two of Reynolds’ arbitration-eligible years (2011-12) and possibly a third season (2013) if the D-backs exercise the option year in the contract.

“Mark has established himself as one of our core players,” Byrnes said. “He is one of the premier power hitters in the game, and he has also worked hard to become a valuable contributor with his defense and baserunning.”

Reynolds established himself as one of the premier power hitters in the Major Leagues and set career marks last season with 155 games played, 578 at-bats, 98 runs scored, 150 hits, 30 doubles, 44 home runs, 102 RBI, 76 walks and a .543 slugging percentage while posting a career high-tying .349 on-base percentage. He also finished 20th in National League MVP voting and was named to The Sporting News’ NL All-Star team. Reynolds joined Alex Rodriguez (2005, ’07), Shawn Green (2001) and Alfonso Soriano (2006) as the only players in the last decade to accumulate 40-plus home runs and 20-plus steals in a season. Reynolds’ 44 home runs were also the second-best single-season mark in D-backs history behind Luis Gonzalez’s 57 homers in 2001.

Since making his Major League debut on May 16, 2007, Reynolds leads all NL third basemen with 89 home runs and is second with 261 RBI and 35 stolen bases, tied for second with 247 runs and 8 triples, third with 177 walks and fifth with a .839 OPS. His 89 career home runs rank third in Major League history by a third baseman in his first three seasons behind Eddie Mathews (112) and Bob Horner (91) and ahead of Troy Glaus (77) and David Wright (67). His 261 RBI rank fourth in the same time span behind Pinky Whitney (335), Mathews (296) and Willie Kamm (263) and ahead of Wright (258).

— Courtesy of DBACKS.COM —