Five For Howling

Phoenix Coyotes at Tampa Bay Lightning - Game #70 Preview - We're almost home...

2010-03-16T16:00:46Z

And when I say the Phoenix Coyotes are almost home I don't mean from the roadtrip, but to a home in the Playoffs. Technically our magic number after tonight would be 7, but realistically it's not going to take quite that to get in. But guess what? I'm not even thinking about magic numbers with San Jose losing games and us continuing our winning ways bringing a 5 game winning streak into the St. Pete Time Forum against the Lightning. Dream big. Get the division. Shock the world.

On to the matter at hand though. I need to focus on one game at a time much like the guys do. I'm getting ahead of myself. Tonight we face a Tampa Bay team that has really fallen off the map since the last time we met in November. They looked like a resurgent team under new leadership as well. But since then they've slowly gone backwards and now find themselves in 10th place in the East 4 points back of Boston who's in 8th. To say the Lightning need this win would be an understatement at this point. That doesn't mean we're going to cough them up by any means though. We'll need to be on the lookout for the top line of Steven Stamkos - Martin St. Louis - Steve Downie as they've been bringing it lately. Downie of course was involved in the Crosby hit that got so much play this weekend, but the line is scoring in bunches even if it's not translating into wins. If there's a weak spot to exploit it's got to be the goaltending. It's been streaky all year with Mike Smith getting starts here and there behind Antero Niittymaki. Niittymaki has been more solid, with a GAA of 2.69 and a.914 sv%. Even so he's only seen 39 starts with Smith getting about 30. Niitty is expected to get the start tonight.

Hopefully the Coyotes got some rest after a hard fought overtime win in Atlanta on a quick turn around. They did practice yesterday so there wasn't just off time, but somethings got to look better as they just looked asleep on Sunday. The did manage to find a way to win as Jason LaBarbera at least looked rested. Ilya Bryzgalov will take over again as he was stellar against Carolina. Look for the NHL's second star of the week Lee Stempniak to stay involved as well as he's just been on fire. 6G, 1A +7 in 5 games so far. Martin Hanzal didn't practice yesterday, though the Coyotes said his injury that he suffered early in the Thrashers' game wasn't serious. He'll either be back or we might see Robert Lang back in the line up or even just move someone else to center and put one of the wings in. The scratches from last game were Petr Prucha, Viktor Tikhonov and Jim Vandermeer with Lang and Sami Lepisto out for injuries. We'll see if anyone played hard enough in practice today to get back some ice time.

STARTING GOALTENDERS

	GP	MIN	W	L	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Ilya Bryzgalov	59	3463	36	18		131	2.27	1668	1537	.921	8

Last time out he shutout Carolina and now leads the league and is tied for the team record in shutouts. If he's seeing the puck even half as well as he did in Carolina the Lightning will be in serious trouble.

	GP	MIN	W	L	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Antero Niittymaki	39	2167	18	13		97	2.69	1125	1028	.914	1

Like I said before looking at the record he's alright statistically, but he's streaky. A lot of the Ws in that record came in an 8 game stretch between Jan. 21 and Feb. 9 where he went 7-1. Other than that he's been spotty. He'll have a good game or two and then implode so Smith gets a call. His last game was a tough 2-1 loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday.

KEY PLAYERS

Lee "Desert Ninja" Stempniak

#22 / Right Wing / Phoenix Coyotes

Height: 6-0

Weight: 195

Born: Feb 04, 1983

This is really his spot to lose. He's doing it all. 2 PPG also help though when you're seeing the puck like he is right now who cares when it goes in, it's just finding the way to the net.

Steven Stamkos

#91 / Center / Tampa Bay Lightning

Height: 6-1

Weight: 196

Born: Feb 07, 1990

He got a bad lower back bruise against the Penguins that saw his playing time limited and with how he's been playing he's not a player the Lightning want out. It's kinda cheap, but the Coyotes need to finish their checks to keep him off his game if he's trying to play like normal. He says he's good to go even if he's got a lot of pain right now. We'll see.

THE INFIRMARY

Phoenix Coyotes Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Robert Lang	other-excused	03/15/2010

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Kurt Sauer	head	10/07/2009
Scottie Upshall	knee	01/29/2010

Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Ryan Malone	other-excused	03/15/2010
Steven Stamkos	back	03/15/2010

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
David Hale	leg	02/06/2010

Coyote Tracks - Tuesday March 16 Edition

2010-03-16T13:00:40Z

John Bazemore - AP

Captain Shane Doan and the Coyotes look to continue their 5 game win streak. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

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Well, the Coyotes play tonight against the Lightning. Coyotes are an amazing 20 games over .500, and well on their way to the playoffs barring a major collapse. In fact, the Coyotes number is 7...or 5.5...really, I'm not entirely sure, but I'll post the two links after the jump, you can review them yourselves and make your own judgment. Either way, the Coyotes just need to keep on winning to ensure home ice advantage for the first round (and, who knows, maybe if the Sharks want to keep on losing...).

Travis will have the game preview up later...just be aware of the line of Steve Downie - Martin St. Louis - Steven Stamkos. The Lightning played really well when they came to Jobing.com Arena earlier in the season, hopefully the Coyotes can return the favor.

LAST NIGHT'S NHL SCORES: BOS 2 - NJ 3; EDM 3 - CLS 5; DET 2 - CGY 1

New User Tip of the Day: Got a topic you want talked about? Email us (link at the bottom of the page) or you can write up a FanPost or FanShot of your own. Check out the guide on how to use these tools here.

After the jump - big days ahead for the Coyotes and Ice Edge Holdings, what exactly is the Coyotes magic number, Desert Ninja gets a star and Bryzzie's amazing year continues...

Scott Burnside's Power Play: The playoff outlook and future of hockey in Phoenix - ESPN
The coming week will tell us a lot about the playoff picture and the Coyotes' future in Phoenix. Scott Burnside tells all in this week's Power Play.

Daryl Jones - The FAN 590 Toronto - Audio on Demand
The COO of Ice Edge gives an interview on Toronto radio...I haven't had a chance to listen, but I am sure it is interesting and worth listening to.

Phoenix Coyotes Playoff Chances - Sports Club Stats
According to this site (which provided the basis for Travis' original magic number), the Coyotes magic number is now 5.5 (or thereabouts)...

Coyotes Playoff Scenarios as of March 15th – The Magic number is 7 | Fanster.com - All Sports. All Phoenix.
AZ Vibe on the other hand, has us at 7. I'm going to be like Fox News on this one (GAH!) and just report the information and let you decide...

Illegal is illegal, regardless of injury - ProHockeyTalk - Hockey - NBC Sports
I like Brandon's take on this...and it's something that I've always felt (and is in accordance with many legal concepts, which certainly suits me). The final injury doesn't tell us nearly as much as the action...just because Brian Campbell hits the boards unluckily doesn't make the it worse than something like Matt Cooke's. And this isn't to say that I don't think Alex Ovechkin deserved his suspension, because I'm actually ok with that. But focusing on the injury is asking the wrong question, for sure.

Bryzgalov leading Coyotes' charge up standings - NHL.com - In The Spotlight
One of the biggest reasons for the Coyotes' rise in the Western Conference has been the outstanding play of goalie Ilya Bryzgalov...a real nice spotlight on the year Bryz has been having. The early part of the article talks about a 3 game losing streak against San Jose in 2007...for those of you that remember this, it really was an ugly set of games; I've tried to block them out...

The Vezina Race: Ryan Miller vs. the Western Conference - Puck Daddy - NHL Blog - Yahoo! Sports
Ryan Miller is in great shape to win the Vezina, but Bryz should definitely be in the discussion...and with 13 games to go for Bryz and 15 for Miller, anything can happen.

Samuelsson, Stempniak and Rinne named Stars of the Week - NHL.com - The Hot List
Go Desert Ninja - Lee Stempniak really deserved this accolade, but can't fault the choice of Mikael Samuelsson for 1st overall star as he had quite a week.

Your choice for the Crosby Golden Roar art contest winner - Puck Daddy - NHL Blog - Yahoo! Sports
I'd like to congratulate Travis for his fine showing...it wasn't one of the top 3, but he got to the finals and that is more than I can say for most of the 300 entries. Good job Travis - you'll win it next time.

Adversity part of the game for Lundmark family - Elliotte Friedman
A nice little story about former Coyote Jamie Lundmark and his family...with some interesting notes at the bottom on most teams in the league...

And for your whimsy...the craziest idea from the GM meetings...

See you back here for the Lightning game tonight...you've got links, post them in the comments...

Versus to Return to Directv Just In Time for the NHL Playoffs.

2010-03-15T20:43:40Z

View full size photo »

Per a DirecTV release via it's twitter account and website Versus will be returning to is regularly scheduled programming in the same position it was before this whole dustup began. Having been off the DirecTV air since August of 2009 the Comcast owned network was battling in order to not be relegated to a "sports tier" for which customers would have to pay an extra 10$ a month.

While there aren't any more Coyotes games scheduled to be shown on the Channel in the regular season, the Channel does show many of the early round playoff games and could have precluded local channels from carrying the game. Now those fears have been put to rest at least.

On the downside we now return to complaining about shoddy camera work and Brian Engblom's horrible hair.

The Adopt the Coyotes Letters - Edmonton Oilers Edition

2010-03-15T16:00:59Z

Phoenix Coyotes Fans
Jobing.com Arena
Glendale, AZ
www.fiveforhowling.com

Edmonton Oilers Fans
Rexall Place
Edmonton, AB
www.coppernblue.com

Dear Edmonton Oilers Fans:

It is with a heavy heart that I write this letter to you today. I know it hasn't been easy for you lot this season. What with players getting hurt all year and your team not performing as well as you had hoped. Even with some quality players it just didn't work out. Now you've been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs with a league low 49 points as of this writing, your season is pretty much over. In fact in speaking with some of your fans and reading your posts you gave up on this season some time ago. That's never a fun feeling. We Coyote fans have been there many times. It's not a fun feeling watching your season slip away from you. But that sadness isn't why i'm writing to you today. No, I want to invite you back to watching and enjoying hockey again. And to do so watching the Phoenix Coyotes both for the rest of the season and into the Playoffs.

After the Jump I'll give you some reasons why this could be a good fit...

Let me outline just some of the reasons that you might want to make the Coyotes your team this postseason. These aren't meant to make fun but are real bonding reasons why we can make this work.

We hate Chris Pronger. Yep. We really do. Not nearly as much as I get the feeling you do, but still it's some common ground. It may not have much to do with the rest of the season since he's been banished to Philadelphia, but its a starting place for us to get to know each other. We booed him every time he touched the ice here in Phoenix.
We understand the frustration with Nikolai Khabibulin. There he signed a silly contract and promptly got hurt. Here just wanted a big payday and when we said no he bolted. He's a decent guy, but just disappointing in a lot of ways. We understand.
We get how absolutely infuriating inept ownership and management is. I mean look at our team. Up until recently this place was a friggin gong show. When Mike Barnett ran things we just couldn't get anything right. Our contracts were all insanely dumb. We had terrible players locked into terrible deals and no one knew what the hell they were doing. But with that also comes hope. Someone had the good sense to bring in Don Maloney and slowly things began to change. Those bad players and contracts got sent off. We started drafting better and developing players. We stopped signing over the hill players that just weren't cutting it anymore. Things got better. So we're a picture of what your team could be when Tambellini gets canned.
We both hate the Flames. You hate them because they're your neighbors. We hate them because they're jerks. Well, to be fair you probably hate them because they're jerks too. We want them out of the playoffs, but we have extra motivation to do so. See we have the Flames first round pick so the harder they fall the more we benefit. There's a reason beyond hate to cheer for the demise of the Flames.
Shane Doan is a great Canadian. He was robbed not being on the Olympic team, but that's alright. He's a great leader and has led Team Canada in the past. He's really easy to like and you already know him!

Those are just some of the things we have in common. The biggest reason you should watch though is that this is one fun team to cheer for right now. Despite the ownership mess they're a really good team. Dave Tippett has made one good team out of some parts no one thought would work. We're beating down on nearly everyone in the league. Besides all the hype we're not moving to Canada anytime soon though so don't make that a part of you decision.

We hope you'll get in on the ground floor and adopt our team. Besides it's only temporary. You can go back to the Oilers as soon as the playoffs end. But for now you could use a team and we could use the support.

Editors Note: The Adopt the Coyotes Letters will be a feature here through the end of the season. In each letter we'll reach out to the fans of those teams that have been mathematically eliminated from the playoff hunt and graciously, in the spirit of friendship, invite them to adopt the Coyotes as their playoff team this year. These are not meant to taunt teams or to be mean, but really are to invite those fans to join the cause, if only temporarily.

Poll

For Edmonton Fans Only: Could you adopt the Coyotes as your Playoff team?

Coyote Tracks - Monday March 15 Edition

2010-03-15T13:00:29Z

More photos » John Bazemore - AP

Doubloon: "OMG - how awesome am I at this?" (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

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Ok, seriously people - let's have Travis do the links more often - 2 days when Travis does the links, 2 Coyotes wins...need I say more. And what nice wins. Ilya Bryzgalov sets the team mark for shutouts in a season with 8 blanking the Hurricanes - extra chili cheese dogs for you!

Coyotes then turn it around on the next afternoon and get a big win in the shootout against the Thrashers! Went to a shootout as the Coyotes couldn't seem to get things going early in the game and then got victimized later in the game on two power play goals by Atlanta. Lee Stempniak (aka Desert Ninja) scored again - holy god Toronto fans have got to be pissed. Matthew Lombardi had the other regulation goal off a great shot by Keith Yandle (who also had a great shot that led to the Stempniak goal)...he just continues to impress. And then, of course, Adrian Aucoin (aka Shootout Master, aka Oakie, aka Doubloon (you all will support this nickname eventually!)) scores the game-winning goal in the 4th round.

Anyways, game recap from Travis here. [AP take via AZCentral (Gintonio not on road trip?)] [Bird Watchers Anonymous aka Thrashers coverage will be up at some point as well] [@YotesGurl's take is here - and it is hilarious!]

YESTERDAY'S NHL SCORES: PHL 3 - NYR 1; WSH 4 - CHI 3 (OT); NSH 3 - LAK 2; COL 5 - DAL 3; TOR 1 - NYI 4; PIT 2 - TB 1; STL 2 - MIN 4; SJ 2 - ANA 4; CGY 1 - VAN 3 (that's it Calgary - get back to losing and improving our first round pick)

After the break, Coyotes playoff potential, longest game in NCAA history and some of my favorite whimsy of the year...

Ice Edge can save Coyotes: Leblanc
Despite the attendance woes this season and the franchise's chronic financial losses, Ice Edge Holdings thinks they can do it

New Ownership Heats Up | Hip Shot Blog
According to Sportsnet last night Jerry Reinsdorf is looking to get back in the mix should Ice Edge not work out and Season ticket packages will go on sale next week.

Don't forget about the Phoenix Coyotes - ProHockeyTalk - Hockey - NBC Sports
That's right league - the Coyotes are coming to the playoffs and nobody is going to want to play them there...

Shannon: In no particular order - sportsnet.ca
Looking ahead and looking behind at the world of hockey this winter. He doesn't have all the facts right or anything, but he's absolutely right that the team is built to win now and in the future...

Stempniak continues to shine as Coyotes beat ‘Canes 4-0 | Pro Sports Blogging
Travis keeps posting about it on his twitter feed, but Stempniak has been pretty amazing since the trade...

Longest NCAA game ever sees Quinnipiac beat Union in fifth OT - Puck Daddy - NHL Blog - Yahoo! Sports
This sounds like a pretty amazing game, as most multiple OT games...hopefully we'll get to see some of those in Glendale in a few short weeks.

New England Hockey Journal: Sullivan has found touch with Rampage
The NEHJ takes a look at how Coyotes prospect Sean Sullivan has done this year with the Rampage.

And finally, the brackets were setyesterday for the March Madness tournament...but another annual tournament is also in the process of beginning...

Name of the Year: Who Will Be the Next Mingo?

Next Coyotes game is Tuesday at the Lightning...good times!

Adrian Aucoin Again Lifts Coyotes in the Shootout, This Time Over Thrashers 3-2

2010-03-15T05:21:34Z

More photos » John Bazemore - AP

1 day ago: The game-winning shot from Phoenix Coyotes Adrian Aucoin gets past Atlanta Thrashers goalie Ondrej Pavelec during in a shootout in an NHL hockey game Sunday, March 14, 2010 in Atlanta (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

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What was once a joke is now starting to become an expectation. Adrian Aucoin has gone form the guy who the coaching staff just took a chance on in the shootout to the guy that's being sent out to win them now. He's not only 4 for 4 in the shootout, but each of those four have been the deciding goal each time. He's not doing anything fancy. He typically just skates in and blasts it from about the hash marks right past the opposing goaltender.

The Coyotes though were lucky to get the game to a point where they were going in the shootout though as this was a quick turn around for a team that played last night and lost an hour to daylight savings. They looked like a team that was tired for the majority of the game. Matthew Lombardi was able to find a goal in the second period getting a tip in off a Keith Yandle shot from the point. The puck just seemed to be pinballing all over but found it's way in. It was a bit of luck that the Coyotes needed with how asleep everyone seemed to be. Well, everyone except Jason LaBarbera. He was outstanding. He made a ton of big saves and really saved this game for the coyotes making 39 stops on 41 shots.

Business picked up in the third though as the team looked like they had finally woken up. They may have, but Atlanta was playing well and controlling play too. Maxim Afinegenov would tie things up less than a minute in with a shot just below the circle to make it 1-1 with a power play goal. The Coyotes scrambled a little bit to try and answer, and 10 minutes later they did. Lee Stempniak once again was the hero driving to the net on a Coyotes power play that has now scored in each of the last 2 games after being practically dead. "The Ninja" as people are now calling him :D, is now 6-1-7 and a +7 over his 5 games with the team. After another penalty on the Coyotes just minutes later though, the Thrashers' Nik Antropov tied things back up streaking toward the net and put it in practically the same way as Atlanta's previous goal over LaBarbera's blocker side.

Neither team could find a way to close things out in regulation or the extra 5 minutes which sent us to the shootout. Neither side could put the puck in the net in the first two rounds. Rich Peverley got one in by attacking the same blocker side on Jason LaBarbera that had been successful earlier. That put Radim Vrbata on the hot seat to get it to extra rounds which he did with a sick back handed move to lift it over Ondrej Pavelec. LaBarbera would stop Clarke MacArthur at the top of round four giving the Coyotes a chance to win it. Dave Tippett was ready to go home so shootout win specialist Adrian Aucoin went out there and worked his magic blasting is from the circle to beat Pavelec to end it and get the Coyotes back to the hotel for a rest.

The Coyotes will play the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday in the third game of this Southeast division roadtrip.

Coyotes at Thrashers - Game #69 Gamethread - Hehe.

2010-03-14T21:00:28Z

Next Game

Phoenix Coyotes		Atlanta Thrashers

41-22-5		28-29-10
87 points		66 points
4th in Western Conference		11th in Eastern Conference

Sunday, Mar 14, 2010, 2:00 PM MST
Philips Arena

TV: Center Ice Only
Radio: XTRA 910 AM

Opposition Blog: Bird Watchers Anonymous

Phoenix Coyotes at Atlanta Thrashers - Game #69 Preview - Dog > Bird

posted by Travis Hair about 2 hours ago

1 comment | 0 recs

Coyote Tracks for March 14 - I'll Make This Quick

posted by Travis Hair about 8 hours ago

3 comments | 0 recs

Complete Coverage >

AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

LET'S GO COYOTES!

Phoenix Coyotes at Atlanta Thrashers - Game #69 Preview - Dog > Bird

2010-03-14T18:58:57Z

More photos » Karl B DeBlaker - AP

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Well it's certainly a quick turn around for the Phoenix Coyotes as they play the Atlanta Thrashers today at 2pm our time after finishing up with the Hurricanes at 7:30 last night. That's just barely outside of the minimum time allowed for a back to back in the CBA, but the guys will have to pretend like they're completely rested.

The Coyotes will carry the momentum of a shutout win over the Hurricanes into this afternoon's game, but they'll try to do it with backup Jason LaBarbera in in relief. LaBarbera hasn't had an outstanding season per se, but when he's scheduled to play instead of just getting a game because Bryz is having an off day he tends to do pretty well. Hopefully we see the LaBarbera that's capable of stonewalling a team and not the spaztastic one that misses simple saves. IT also helps when we're not allowing breakaway chances to doom him though.

The Thrashers were in the playoff race for the first half of the season or so, but have tapered off of late. They've lost their last 5 games and are only 4-9 since the beginning of February. Not good news for a team that much like the Coyotes could really use a playoff run this year.

STARTING GOALTENDERS

	GP	MIN	W	L	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Jason LaBarbera	13	674	5	4		25	2.23	331	306	.924	0

In LaBarbera's last start, all the way back on February 3rd, he did a solid job of stifling the Chicago Blackhawks to get a 2-1 in the shootout. he made 28 saves on 29 shots in that outing with the Coyotes playing solidly in front of him. It seems like everytime he plays the most important part of the game is about the first ten minutes or so. If he can make a big stop or two early the team in front relaxes and can play their game rather than worrying about making saves themselves.

	GP	MIN	W	L	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Ondrej Pavelec	36	1953	12	16		113	3.47	1144	1031	.901	2

While it's certainly possible that Johan Hedberg gets the start, he's been shaky the last couple of games so I'd go with Pavelec tonight. He doesn't have the best numbers either if you look at the GAA and sv%, but Someone has to find a streak for them right?

KEY PLAYERS

Lee "Desert Ninja" Stempniak

#22 / Right Wing / Phoenix Coyotes

Height: 6-0

Weight: 195

Born: Feb 04, 1983

YEah. He's just on firs since coming from Toronto. 5 goals and an assist in 4 games since the deadline? I mean what do you say to that? I thought Wolski was supposed to be the steal, but the Ninja is just finding the back of the net right now and playing exceptionally well.

Chris Chelios

#24 / Defenseman / Atlanta Thrashers

Height: 6-0

Weight: 191

Born: Jan 25, 1962

Chelios is old. There I said it. I know people have been tiptoeing around his age issue, but he's really old! He is logging a decent amount of ice time on the 3rd pairing with 14 minutes a game so far.

THE INFIRMARY

Phoenix Coyotes Injuries

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Kurt Sauer	head	10/07/2009
Scottie Upshall	knee	01/29/2010

Atlanta Thrashers Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Zach Bogosian	hand	03/13/2010

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Boris Valabik	knee	02/06/2010

Coyote Tracks for March 14 - I'll Make This Quick

2010-03-14T13:00:35Z

More photos » Karl B DeBlaker - AP

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I'm exhausted but have to get us up some links for today. It's an early early game (more or less) with a 2pm Arizona time start. Let's have at the links with previews and gamethread to come later.

The biggest link has to be from the Arizona Republic website. After I got a hold of Ice Edge yesterday Jim Gintonio followed up and got some more detail out of them. They're still optimistic and are just working out the kinks with Glendale to get this thing done. Hopefully it gets done both right and soon. Ice Edge CEO optimistic deal for Coyotes can be reached.

Saturday's Three Stars: Pronger's heroics, Bryz blanks Canes - Puck Daddy - NHL Blog - Yahoo! Sports
Puck Daddy gives Ilya Bryzgalov the 2nd star of the night. the NHL gave him the first star. Just outstanding work.

Is Shouting "Stars" During The Star Spangled Banner Wrong? - Defending Big D
The Stars have a tradition of yelling STARS! at the same time the word comes up in the anthem. They talke a look at what people think about that.

Mile High Hockey Looks At The Calder Trophy Race - Mile High Hockey
Who is going to take home the hardware for NHL's top rookie? Matt Duchene, Tyler Myers, or Jimmy Howard? The Avs may or may not have a horse in this race.

See you in the preview and at 2 for the game.

Coyotes Roll Over Hurricanes in 4-0 Shutout

2010-03-14T09:21:30Z

More photos » Karl B DeBlaker - AP

Here little puck... go into zee glove...

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When the Coyotes twitter feed and Dave Strader told me pregame that there were going to be big changes to the lines that had gotten us to this point in the season I was worried. The first game of a 4 game roadtrip and you're going to start with all your lines jumbled? Seems fishy. However it turned out fantastically. While there was a bit of a learning curve for a few guys, overall everything was clicking. It helps when your goaltender in Ilya Bryzgalov is just vaccuming up every puck that comes his way too.

The only line that was still intact from the Wednesday game was the Taylor Pyatt, Vernon Fiddler and Lee Stempniak line. It was pretty apparent in the first period exactly why that was. Lee Stempniak again came through in a huge way once again putting up two goals in the first. There was even one on the power play. Go figure! Pyatt helped on the second with a nice screen, but the first one was all hard work by Stempniak combined with a little luck to squeeze it past Justin Peters. Stemniak has just been outstanding so far. While Wojtek Wolski was supposed to be the huge acquisition from the deadline but Stempniak has just been on fire. He's now racked up 5 goals and an assist in 4 games with the coyotes. He's a +7 over those four games with an astounding 41.7% shooting percentage. I mean what else do you say about the guy? There's no way he can keep this pace up really is there? I figured he would cool off in this game but nope. We'll see I guess.

He wasn't the only one finding the back of the net. Martin Hanzal was moved to a line in between Shane Doan and Daniel Winnik in order to give everyone a new look and really make one grinding line. Instead Martin Hanzal tallied the second pair of goals for the Coyotes. The first was just a good play and a Carolina player biting on a play in the Corner. He walked right up to the goal and lifted it over the left pad of Justin Peters. Then early in the third he took a perfect pass from Zbynek Michalek and just blasted it past Peters to put us up 4-0.

The first star of the game though and deservedly so was Ilya Bryzgalov. He did everything short of breakdancing to stop the puck, but he never really had to. As the Carolina announce team kept saying he was just moving with a purpose. Every time he made a movement he made a simple one that just took away any chance the Hurricanes had at scoring. He saw the puck incredibly well and stopped several break away chances pretty easily. He earned his 8th shutout of the year tying the team record of 8 which is also held by Nikolai Khabibulin.

The Coyotes turn around very quickly to play the Thrashers at 2 in the afternoon our time. Ugh. I have to wake up early.

Coyotes @ Hurricanes - Open Gamethread #68 - Mild Breezes Reported

2010-03-13T23:31:56Z

Next Game

Phoenix Coyotes		Carolina Hurricanes

40-22-5		28-31-8
85 points		64 points
T-4th in Western Conference		13th in Eastern Conference

Saturday, Mar 13, 2010, 5:00 PM MST
RBC Center

TV: Center Ice Live, Tape Delay on FSNAZ at 8:30
Radio: XTRA 910 AM

Opposition Blog: Canes Country

Phoenix Coyotes at Carolina Hurricanes - Game #68 Preview

posted by Travis Hair about 4 hours ago

4 comments | 0 recs

Coyote Tracks for March 13 and a Welcome to New Users

posted by Travis Hair about 9 hours ago

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Complete Coverage >

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LET'S GO COYOTES!!!

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Phoenix Coyotes at Carolina Hurricanes - Game #68 Preview

2010-03-13T19:32:29Z

More photos » Paul Connors - AP

Browse more photos »

The Phoenix Coyotes begin a four game roadtrip through the Southeast Division tonight at RBC Center against the Carolina Hurricanes. While Carolina is toward the bottom of the Eastern Conference ladder in terms of the standings, there's still some hope that the team could make it in to the playoffs if they can find a way to keep putting together the wins. While they may be 8 points out of 8th win 15 games to go, the Canes have gone 8-1-1 over their last 10 after a terrible beginning to the season. Is it enough to get them into the playoffs? It could be in a weak east. That makes them one hungry team that's fueled by a lot of desperation at the moment.

That's not a good thing for the Coyotes who have not done well against the Canes in the past couple of seasons. we always seem to run into them when they get hot and get blasted. Hopefully that's a little different tonight as for the first time in... ever? the Coyotes are riding on their success heading into the final 15 games of the year. While the Hurricanes are fighting just to get in, the Coyotes at this point are battling to try and get home-ice in the first round. We keep going back and forth with the Kings Who we're no tied with both in points and have an identical record as. Both teams will figure to be hungry tonight.

One other note: The Coyotes recalled Viktor Tikhonov from the KHL as the season was done over in Russia. He's with the team, but there's no indication that he'll play tonight, or when he might see some playing time. We've got a lot of extra players now so the competition for ice time will be huge.

Starting Goaltenders

	GP	MIN	W	L	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Ilya Bryzgalov	58	3403	35	18		131	2.31	1639	1508	.920	7

Bryz will get the first start of the 4 game trip tonight and against a hot Canes team it's probably the smart move. Bryzgalov is tied for the league lead in shutouts with 7 and if he can collect another he'll tied Nikolai Khabibulin for the team record.

	GP	MIN	W	L	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Justin Peters	5	298	4	1		10	2.01	162	152	.938	0

I know nearly nothing about the Hurricanes' rookie goaltender, but he's done well so far if you look at the stats. He'll get his second consecutive start and the Coyotes will have nearly no intel on him. We need to pepper him with shots quickly to try and get a read on him.

Note for new users: Use the preview to talk anything and everything about the game right up until gametime. a gamethread will be up later to talk during the game. Join up and chat even if you chat elsewhere too!

KEY PLAYERS

Lee "Desert Ninja" Stempniak

#22 / Right Wing / Phoenix Coyotes

Height: 6-0

Weight: 195

Born: Feb 04, 1983

Lee Stempniak has been huge for this team since picking him up from the Toronto Maple Leafs. In his 3 games he's gotten 3 goals and an assist along with a goal in the game deciding shootout against Vancouver on Wednesday. I doubt he'll keep the pace up forever, but why not drag it out for as long as we can?

Joni Pitkanen

#25 / Defenseman / Carolina Hurricanes

Height: 6-3

Weight: 210

Born: Sep 19, 1983

Pitkanen has been big from the Hurricanes' blue line this year with 5 goals and 35 assists. He's trying to put together a points streak and we'll need to watch his playmaking while he's on the ice.

THE INFIRMARY

Phoenix Coyotes Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Robert Lang	other-excused	03/13/2010

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Kurt Sauer	head	10/07/2009
Scottie Upshall	knee	01/29/2010

Carolina Hurricanes Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Brandon Sutter	other-excused	03/13/2010

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Casey Borer	neck	09/14/2009

Coyote Tracks for March 13 and a Welcome to New Users

2010-03-13T14:00:29Z

Hi Everybody! I'm Travis and I run this little outpost of SBNation where we talk anything and everything Coyotes. Recently we've seen a big upturn in traffic with how well the Coyotes have been doing, especially after the trade deadline. Though oddly we haven't had that many people take the time to sign up and get involved. SO I though making a little introduction to the site would be a good way to maybe get you to do so.

First things first. You have to sign up in order to really be a member of the community. You can make up your own username, or use a Yahoo! or OpenID to sign up. There's a link at the top right hand corner of the site that can help with that, or there's also a box on the side that says start posting about the Coyotes. Clicking either one works and will take you through the sign up process. Once that's done you can add your twitter account to your profile if you want or even your facebook page so you can post there are the same time should you be so inclined. Once you're done signing up though you can jump right in and start commenting. There's not a ton of people here yet, but there hopefully will be soon. So it may take some time to get a response.

While you're here you might want to take a minute and look at the Community Standards for the site as well as the other links on the left hand sidebar that can help you navigate the site. I'm still working on the commenting guide, but it's pretty easy. Just type your comment in the big box at the bottom of a post and hit preview or post. It's that easy. If you want to reply to a specific comment there's a little link at the bottom of each that will create a separate box to comment in so you can carry on a conversation.

I know some people worry about abandoning an online community they're already a part of or something like that. Don't be. We're not telling you to just hang out here, we just want your input on the site too. So jump in to the links, chat hockey all you want and stick around later today for the gamethread for tonight's game against the Hurricanes where we'll be chatting during the game (Which is good since it's radio only unless you have center ice.)

To the Links...

Vote Now: Sidney Crosby Golden Roar Reader Art Contest Finals - Puck Daddy - NHL Blog - Yahoo! Sports
VOTE FOR ME!!! Mine is the Sid Scream photoshop. I would really like to win. Help me won't you?

Lightning promotion seeks your lines of rhymes - Raw Charge
Aye, lads and lasses! The Tampa Bay Lightning be seekin' your best limericks! Win tickets to St. Paddy's day game at the Forum! With the luck'o'the'Irish, you'll be a winner! - That's right the lightning are having a limerick contest head on over to raw charge for more details and a few examples.

Biggest Brawls of the Last 23 Years - Behind The Net
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!

Who deserves the Cup most? Consider these rankings - Adam Proteau - NHL - Sporting News
They rank Buffalo at #1, but after how those jerks acted when they were here, no way. Phoenix comes in all the way down at #20.

Got more links? Or just general hockey talk? Talk away ladies and Gents!

Ice Edge Releases Open Letter to Phoenix Coyotes Fans

2010-03-12T23:01:59Z

With all the negativity that's been put out in the press lately regarding the state of the sale and the process that the Ice Edge Group is going through to get the team. IEH released today an Open letter to all Coyotes fans. Here's the text of the letter from Anthony LeBlanc, CEO of Ice Edge Holdings presented without comment for the time being.

These are exciting times to be fans of the Phoenix Coyotes. Our team sits in the top four of the very competitive western conference, and with less than a month remaining in the regular season, the team is well positioned to bring playoff hockey to the valley for the first time in over half a decade.

We are happy to report that regardless of reports to the contrary, there have been no material changes in the process to date. As we stated from the outset, we fully expected the transaction to take upwards of six months, similar to other recent transactions for other NHL franchises. Ice Edge Holdings continues to work very closely with the City of Glendale and the NHL towards finalizing a lease that will be appropriate for all parties.
The execution of a revised lease is the key outstanding issue, and once completed will allow the transaction to move towards closing. We are neither behind nor ahead of our expected timelines.

Ice Edge Holdings remain committed as ever to the Phoenix Coyotes and to the long term success of the NHL in Arizona. We look forward to joining all of our fellow fans as the Coyotes march towards the playoffs, and participating in white outs when playoff hockey is played for the first time in Glendale.

The fans of the Coyotes have been through more than any sports fan should have to endure. We have said in the past that to be a sports fan is to make a commitment to a team, both emotionally and financially. To do so requires a two way street between the fans and those that own the franchise. Ice Edge Holdings looks forward to showing the great hockey fans of Arizona and the Southwest that commitment for many years to come. We thank you for being the strongest fans in the National Hockey League.

Go 'Yotes!

Anthony LeBlanc
Chief Executive Officer
Ice Edge Holdings, LLC

Statement From Howler (fictitious, but hilarious!)

2010-03-12T18:52:35Z

Statement From Howler (fictitious, but hilarious!)

Wyshinski at Puck Daddy nails this one...very, very amusing. Poor Howler - I have McD's gift certificates for you, buddy...just swing by Section 115 at the next game!

Also, in another article on Puck Daddy, the numbers crunchers revealed that Anton Volchenkov passed the 1000 blocked shot. I ran the numbers and it looks like our boy Z will be there next year as he currently sits at 853...note that the stat has only been kept since after the lockout...but that is a lot of black and blues...I'm sure some of our Czech fans would be happy to care for them, Z.

Another fabulous commercial out of the Bruins organization (s/t Puck Daddy who has this on the...

2010-03-12T16:17:18Z

Another fabulous commercial out of the Bruins organization (s/t Puck Daddy who has this on the front page) - these commercials are truly phenomenal...Thankfully, Coyotes fans don't do this too much...

Coyote Tracks - TGIF March 12 Edition

2010-03-12T14:00:41Z

More photos » Ross D. Franklin - AP

Hopefully a stronger effort on the road will let more lines get into the celebration this weekend... (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Browse more photos »

Nothing to see here folks...no, seriously, there's almost nothing to see here. Coyotes don't play until tomorrow night in Carolina against the Hurricanes as they start a big four game road trip (as discussed yesterday a little). We'll have more about each game as they come up. But it's a seriously slow day for news, so let's just jump into he little stuff we got to discuss...

LAST NIGHT'S NHL SCORES: BOS 5 - PHL 1; PIT 3 - CAR 4 (OT); EDM 4 - MTL 5 (SO); STL 2 - NYI 1 (SO); TB 3 - TOR 4 (OT); ATL 1 - CLS 2; MIN 1 - DET 5; FLA 0 - COL 3; OTT 0 - CGY 2; NSH 5 - SJ 8

Unbelievably, almost every one of these games went against the way the Coyotes would like them to...jeez. C'mon eastern conference teams, beat your western conference brethren (except for the Coyotes, of course).

Phoenix Coyotes' Derek Morris, Keith Yandle reunited on blue line
I think they are now roomates too, if I recall correctly...

Roundup: Blind-side hit rule reveals hockey’s other headaches - Puck Daddy - NHL Blog - Yahoo! Sports
A comprehensive collection of thoughts on the NHL's proposed blind-side hit rule...as we've been saying a lot, it looks like it might create more questions than it solves...

Will President Obama Attend a Caps Game & Barack The Red?
I know that Senator McCain has been pimping the Coyotes on his twitter feed throughout the year (and apparently he's come to some games, not that I've seen him)...hopefully the First Fan will make an appearance to see what is the dominant force in the NHL this season.

Enjoy the two games this weekend...I'll be back with more links on Monday! See you in the comments...

Coyote Tracks - Thursday March 11 Edition

2010-03-11T13:00:54Z

More photos » Ross D. Franklin - AP

Dabloon!!!! Shootout Master!!! (Au-coin = Gold coin...get it? No? Gah!!!) (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

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Well it was a packed house last night at Jobing.com Arena to see the Canucks and Coyotes do battle. Unfortunately, that crowd was split far closer to 50-50 in terms of Canucks and Coyotes fans than I would like...but the Canadians were generally pretty nice...and they did help to drown out the god awful national anthem singer...where, oh where, was Patrick Lauder? Seriously...he's the official anthem singer for a reason, people.

As for the game, Coach Tippett said it best in his presser, the Coyotes were lucky to come away with any points, let alone 2. Although defensively, they played pretty solid, mental lapses by various players (I'm looking at you Ed Jovanovski and Derek Morris) and just simply getting outworked along the boards was par for the course. Travis will have much more about all of this in his game recap, I have no doubt. The important points to remember are the Lee Stempniak (aka Desert Ninja) had a HUGE game with 2 goals during regulation and then another in the shootout. Adrian Aucoin continued his role as shootout master, and Ilya Bryzgalov was good enough to get the Coyotes their 2 points.

Now for the Coyotes, a four game swing through the Southeast division while avoiding Washington (the one team that you really don't want to play in that division). Hopefully they can continue their winning ways.

LAST NIGHT'S NHL SCORES: NYR 3 - NJD 6; DAL 3 - BUF 5; CAR 3 - WSH 4 (OT); LAK 2 - CHI 3 (OT); VAN 3 - PHX 4 (SO)

Recaps of last night's Coyotes win...Travis' take here. [AP via ESPN] [AZ Central's Gintonio] [Nucks Misconduct - it'll be there at some point] - As an aside, thanks to all the folks from Nucks Misconduct that made their way over to the comments yesterday and chatted some hockey. Good people - best of luck the rest of this season, except when we play you again ;)

After the jump, why Stempniak should've had a hat trick, NHL's GMs make a decision on head shots (sort of), a Congressional logo mishap and more....

Video: Andrew Raycroft's blind robbery of Lee Stempniak - Puck Daddy - NHL Blog - Yahoo! Sports
Seriously...this was a crazy save that Andrew Raycroft made early in the first to rob Stempniak of what looked like a sure goal. And I think Raycroft made a few more saves like this (Taylor Pyatt and Shane Doan each got robbed when it looked like they had an open net to shoot at).

NHL GMs approve blindside head-shot ban with vague penalties - Puck Daddy - NHL Blog - Yahoo! Sports
Alright, I realize I link to Puck Daddy a fair bit, but it's a convenient site for general hockey news and they do a good job of discussing the issues cogently. Particularly on the head shot issue, because I tend to agree wholeheartedly with what Wyshinski thinks on the topic...

No suspension for Matt Cooke after blindsiding Marc Savard - Puck Daddy - NHL Blog - Yahoo! Sports
Further case in point...

Chris Pronger also had a pretty interesting take on the head shot debate. I see what he is arguing here, although I do think that the NHL needs to step in and do something about the head shot issue. It would be nice if they would do it in a concrete way...this proposed rule has so many vague wordings it doesn't seem much better than Colin Campbell's current wheel of justice.

Tippett hiring a catalyst for Coyotes' success - NHL.com - NHL Insider
Dan Rosen with one of the most obvious articles ever. Ya think? Really? Tippett has turned this team around...perish the thought...

Phoenix Coyotes captain Shane Doan up for Mark Messier Leadership Award
You can vote for Shane Doan through next Monday for the Bridgestone Ultimate Leader Award....requires registration with NHL.com - but that's completely worth it to vote for Captain Coyote!!!!

Bettman's Nightmare: "Those Damn Homer Refs": Team Edition
An interesting study on which teams get called for the most penalties on their own home ice. Phoenix gets called for much more than the average and the worst in the Pacific Division, but they're not getting screwed nearly as much as the Flyers...

D.C. Sports Bog - Could Caps score their way to a Cup?
Dan Steinberg's analysis of teams that have gone to the Conference Finals over the past several years is not encouraging for the Coyotes' chances. Despite the old adage "defense wins championships," the NHL has not apparently been following this model as it's the teams scoring goals that are making the most noise.

And, finally, this is a pretty funny goof from a Senate candidate in Oregon who didn't realize that his web staff made some potentially improper use of the Blue Jackets' logo.

Senate Candidate Only Supports Government Takeover Over Hockey Logos - Politics - Deadspin
Oregon Senate candidate Marc Delphine loves America so much that his web team co-opted the Columbus Blue Jackets logo and made it their own. Maybe Columbus can let us borrow their employee health plan too. [Thanks, Matt C.]

The Blue Jackets were on it and the logo was gone by the end of the day.

Enjoy your Thursday...Coyotes off until Saturday when they take on Carolina in Raleigh!

Phoenix Coyotes Snag a 4-3 Win from the Canucks in the Shootout

2010-03-11T08:10:24Z

More photos » Ross D. Franklin - AP

5 days ago: Vancouver Canucks' Andrew Raycroft (30) gives up the winning goal to Phoenix Coyotes' Adrian Aucoin in a shootout of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, March 10, 2010, in Glendale, Ariz. The Coyotes defeated the Canucks 4-3 in a shootout. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

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Well last night's game was certainly an exciting one. The Coyotes ended up on top, but only after a shoot out that ended with an identical score as the game. Yet again our unlikely shootout specialist Adrian Aucoin netted the game winner. He's becoming quite the go to guy in the contest now 3 for 3 on the season. He just seems to find ways to get them past the goalie even if it isn't all that pretty.

Lee Stempniak was one of the biggest stars for the Coyotes tonight getting 2 goals and one of the 4 shootout goals. He's really been big for the Coyotes since we picked him up from the Leafs with 3 goals and an assist with a +6 over the last 3 games. What can you say about the guy? He's been clutch here.

Taylor Pyatt also got one of the regulation goals against his former team. It was a nice effort play to put his own rebound in. THe Pyatt-Fiddler-Stempniak line in general was the best one we had rolling. Putting pressure on the Canucks all night, attacking well and finding each other with passes. The other lines? Not so much. Doan-Lombardi-Wolski just all seemed like they were in different places, the Czech line had it's moments and Noki-Korpi-Winnik did alright defensively, but wasn't finding anything in our own zone.

For the Canucks It was all Sedins and Sameulsson. Henrik scored one, Samuelsson and Erhoff netted the others. Even with the 3-3 score neither team looked all that great tonight. The first period was a mess for both as no one could seem to set up anything. sure both teams got goals, but everyone just seemed disjointed. The other periods were back and forth, but no one really controlled play for very long. Towards the end though the Coyotes seemed like they were playing not to lose instead of pressuring and trying to get the W. That's just not going to cut it in the stretch run. We have to go for the kill as soon there will be no shootout to win it in. We'll have to figure out a way to play hungrier.

Good win even if we just barely got it though.

Canucks at Coyotes - What a Bunch of Dorks! Get it? Dorks? What?

2010-03-11T02:44:27Z

Next Game

Vancouver Canucks		Phoenix Coyotes

41-23-2		39-22-5
84 points		83 points
3rd in Western Conference		4th in the Western Conference

Wednesday, Mar 10, 2010, 8:00 PM MST
Jobing.com Arena

TV: Center Ice Only
Radio 910 AM

Opposition Blog:Nucks Misconduct

Canucks at Coyotes - Game #67 Preview - Go Puck a Nuck!

posted by Travis Hair about 1 hour ago

9 comments | 0 recs

Coyote Tracks - Wednesday March 10 Edition

posted by Moridin417 about 14 hours ago

54 comments | 0 recs

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