Phoenix Coyotes Hockey on AZ Vibe

Coyotes vs. San Jose Sharks

Jobing.com Arena – Glendale, AZ -
December 31st, 2009 – Puck drops at 5:00 PM AZ Time
No Local TV (Will be on Center Ice) – Radio: XTRA – 910 AM

Follow game analysis LIVE on our Twitter account:

http://www.twitter.com/azvibe

It’s been a long time since the Coyotes and Sharks met last.  Look at my watch calendar, I would guesstimate that it was…..this past Monday since they last met.  Lots has changed since the last time the two teams met especially the landscape of the NHL standings……oh who am I kidding.

We’re in for an untelevised treat tonight as the two top teams in the Pacific divsion, if not the league face off in what is becoming THE divisional battle to watch in the league.  The Coyotes have held the high scoring sharks to only three goals in the three games, including one shutout, they have played this season.  Simply a remarkable feat given the amount of points the top three Sharks scorers have this season.

Things to keep an eye on:

- Sharks – They played the night before against the Capitals and their stamina/energy may be a factor tonight.

Keys to the game:

Discipline – The Coyotes have proved twice already that they know what to do when squaring off against the Sharks. Nothing has changed since then. Discipline is what it’s going to take.

Time to step up again – With injuries to Winnik and Fiddler, the Coyotes have responded in the stepping up department but it needs to continue against this Sharks team.

Scratches/IR:

Coyotes: Kurt Sauer (Upper Body Injury – Listed as week to week), Daniel Winnik, Vernon Fiddler (Lower Body Injury – Listed as Day to Day), Jim Vandermeer
Sharks: Jody Shelley, Brad Staubitz

Officials:

Referees – #34 Brad Meier; #36 Dean Morton

Linesmen -  #74 Lonnie Cameron; #84 Tony Sericolo

Notes:

- According to the Coyotes website, Ilya Bryzgalov will get the start in net tonight against the Sharks.

- Have a happy and safe New Years folks!

The Coyotes played the second of a back to back game schedule against the Vancouver Canucks at the Jobing.com arena on Tuesday night. When all was said and done we had another close and tight battle between the two teams with the Coyotes coming out on top and the Coyotes extending their home winning streak to 10 games.

Now as close as this battle was one of the other factors in the outcome of this game was the horrid officiating. It wasn’t the fact that they blew calls, it was the fact that they were so damned inconsistent with their calls. It was so bad it looked like both teams couldn’t get a feel for how the game was going to be called from one moment to the next as it seemed to change practically every few minutes.

The first part of the game was a pretty tight defensive battle as both teams played extremely disciplined hockey in all three zones on the ice. Once the scoring opened up with Ed Jovanovski’s Power Play goal at the half way point of the second, the game opened up and the Canucks turned it up another notch and scored less than a minute later.

The Canucks then brought some great physical play and started to take control of the game….until the Coyotes not only matched the level of physical play but took it up ten more notches and started hitting practically any Canucks player on the ice. The physical play didn’t seem to effect the Canucks very much but the Coyotes were definitely controlling the play and managed to take the lead off of a Petr Prucha goal from a sick, sick pass from Radim Vrbata. Just watch how the play develops:

The Coyotes kept the pace and control up until Canucks media whipping boy Kyle Wellwood scored a fluke deflection goal off of an Alexander Edler shot from the top of the left faceoff circle.

The game went back to the tight pace until Ed Jovanovski took a stupid hooking penalty with approximately 40 seconds left in the game giving the Canucks a Power Play in the Overtime session. Fortunately, the Coyotes NHL (one of the) top ranking Penalty Kill did a spectacular job killing off the penalty.

The game wasn’t resolved in the OT session or for the first two rounds of the shootout until….

Talk about the right moment for a player who needed a game winning moment for a confidence boost!

Dave Tippett’s Post Game presser:

Post game comments from Korpikoski, Jason LaBarbera, and Ed Jovanovski

Game Summary

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/GS020588.HTM

Event Summary:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/ES020588.HTM

Play by Play:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/PL020588.HTM

Face off stats:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/FC020588.HTM

Shootout report:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/SO020588.HTM

Team 1040 – Canucks/Coyotes – Period 1 – Canucks Radio Broadcast

http://www.team1040.ca/podcast/canucks/Canucks_vs_Coyotes_1st_period_Dec29~.mp3

Team 1040 – Canucks/Coyotes – Period 2 – Canucks Radio Broadcast

http://www.team1040.ca/podcast/canucks/Canucks_vs_Coyotes_2nd_period_Dec29~.mp3

Team 1040 – Canucks/Coyotes – Period 3 – Canucks Radio Broadcast

http://www.team1040.ca/podcast/canucks/Canucks_vs_Coyotes_3rd_period_Dec29~.mp3

Vancouver Canucks – Press Roundup

http://canucks.nhl.com/club/page.htm?bcid=22749

For those of you who were watching the FSN AZ broadcast of the Coyotes/Canucks game last night you might have heard that the Coyotes may be interested in acquiring now former Canucks defenseman Mathieu Schneider via trade or re-entry waivers (Schneider was waived by the Canucks and cleared waivers today).

Why would he be good for the Coyotes?

Schneider is an experienced defenseman (19 NHL years) who has great Power Play experience.

He would come at a pretty good price on re-entry waivers (somewhere in the neighborhood of $300k) if he didn’t piss off the Canucks before he was waived.  On paper, he may not be worth giving up an asset or a draft pick.

Here’s the reason why the Coyotes shouldn’t touch him with even a radioactive protection suit on.

Schneider was signed (before this season began) by the Canucks by GM Mike Gillis (who was Schneider’s former agent) for a base salary of $1.5 million (and a cap hit of $2.75 million) and was going to be a #5-7 defenseman for the team this  season.  However, that same day Schneider was signed, the Canucks acquired Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff and Brad Lukowitch from the San Jose Sharks for Daniel Rahimi and Patrick White.  (This trade was basically a salary dump for the Sharks to make room for Danny Heatley and his fat salary).

In addition, Canucks Defenseman Aaron Rome and Shane O’Brien, had increased the quality of their play over the course of this season which bumped Schneider down the depth chart even further.

After these events unfolded, Schneider began to complain about not getting enough ice time while appearing in only 17 games this season amassing five points (2 goals and 3 assists).

Now this is pretty normal for most hockey teams to have players wanting more ice time.  However, with everyone on the depth chart above him playing better than him, he was the odd man out.  Schneider was  given every chance to play better by the Canucks but didn’t.

On December 18th Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault dropped Schneider from the lineup for the fourth time this season.  Schneider pretty much up and quit on the team and went home.  Schneider has been at home ever since.

The Canucks are pretty much at the point to where no one (top to bottom) want him back because Schneider seemed to have burned his bridges with the organization and seemed to be a cancer in the locker room.

Does this sound like a player that the Coyotes need on their roster?

Check this out:

http://communities.canada.com/theprovince/blogs/whitetowel/archive/2009/12/30/mathieu-schneider-clears-waivers-but-does-not-clear-way-back-to-vancouver.aspx

According to Botchford’s Twitter account today.  From top to bottom, no one on the Canucks want Schneider back.

Coyotes vs Vancouver Canucks
Jobing.com Arena – Puck Drops at 7:00 PM
TV: FSN AZ(HD)

The Coyotes look to extend their 9 game home winning streak tonight against the Vancouver Canucks.  Both teams have been looking as close to a spectacular team as possible as of late.

Don’t look at the Canucks home or their losing road record (7-10-0) as a measuring stick for where they are at right now as have had numerous challenges on their roster since the start of the season. These challenges ranged from injuries, to spotty goaltending, to problem(s) with individual players, to defensive issues.  All seemed to have been solved on their most recent home stand.

The Canucks are a great offensive team which will not only will this be a great challenge for the Coyotes, who will be playing their third game in 4 nights, this game will also be true measuring stick to see where they are currently at talent wise in the NHL.

Unless the Coyotes are out of gas from their recent games, don’t expect this to be a high scoring affair.

Things to keep an eye on:

Canucks Power play – The Canucks have one of the most offensively gifted set of forwards in the Sedin Twins who are wreaking havoc in their division and a great balance of talent on the blue line. Their Power play unit WILL make you pay if Coyotes make mistakes in their defensive zone.

Mason Raymond/Ryan Kesler/Roberto Luongo – If there are players to watch on the Canucks, its these.  Raymond and Kesler have really blossomed into solid players.  In recent games, Roberto Luongo has been playing at the level of Ryan Miller and Bryzgalov.  Don’t expect a high scoring affair.

The Coyotes endurance – The Coyotes are coming off one of their best games in franchise history last night in San Jose. Coupled with the travel (flying out of Oakland if they left in the middle of the night) back home and the effort they put forth against the Sharks, it remains to be seen how much they have in the proverbial tank tonight.

Keys to the game:

Discipline: Like the Sharks game last night, the Coyote need to bring their A game tonight against the Canucks. The Canucks are a team that can beat you across any of their lines.

Penalties – They did a damn good job last night staying out of the penalty box and they need to continue that against one of the top Power Play units in the league.

Bring back the Coyotes from the second and third period from last night – If the Coyotes can come back and play at the levels they did last night, this is going to be one hell of a game again.

Notes:

- Jason LaBarbera will get the start tonight in net (source: Phoenixcoyotes.com)
- James Vandermeer and Vernon Fiddler did not participate in the pre-game warmups

Injuries/Scratches:

Canucks: Pavol Demitra, Michael Grabner, Ryan Johnson
Phoenix: Vernon Fiddler, James Vandermeer, Daniel Winnik, Kurt Sauer

Officials:

Referees – #18 Greg Kimmerly; #23 Brad Watson
Linesmen – #88 Mike Cvik; #90 Andy McElman

The Coyotes took to the ice in San Jose and delivered what can be argued as one of the best Coyotes games ever played. As stated in the Coyotes/Sharks pre-game article, this game was probably going to be one where the team who makes the least mistakes wins.

Well, it turned out to be just that….and then some.

From the opening faceoff to Robert Lang’s miss in the shootout fans from both teams were treated to playoff atmosphere hockey with all the intensity. In addition, both teams were so focused on capitalizing on the others mistakes for scoring chances that a goal could have happened at any time. Fans were sucked into the game and it’s intensity anxious to see who would come out on top of this divisional battle. It was beautiful watching the hockey version of a 60 minute chess match where both teams countered each others moves with patience and skill and pounced on any little mistake in their strategies.

Now keep in mind that the Coyotes were without the services of Vernon Fiddler, Daniel Winnik and James Vandermeer for this game. Three key defensive specialists out in a key divisional match-up and the Coyotes still can keep up their amazing level of play.

I just wish more Coyotes fans could have seen this game.

Even more impressive was the amazing goaltending battle between Bryz and Nabokov. Both of these goaltenders, brought their ‘A’ games out and were not only a solid force in their nets but they also brought confidence to the teams in front of them.

Here’s some samples of the goaltending from this game:

Check out Bryzgalov’s point blank save on Joe Thornton:

….and on Patrick Marleau

…Nabokov (San Jose’s goaltender) stopping Shane Doan in overtime:

This game may not go down as the best Coyotes game ever played, but it sure went down as one of the best Coyotes games ever.

Game notes:

- Quote from Elliot Freidman from CBC: Patrick Marleau just can’t score on Ilya Bryzgalov tonight. What a job Sean Burke has done with him.

- I understand that Fox Sports Arizona places a higher level of importance on Suns games over Coyotes games. I don’t have a problem with that from a business perspective. However, this yet another game that fans missed this season because there isn’t TV coverage of a portion of Coyotes games. Isn’t there another backup channel these games could be show on?

Coach Dave Tippett’s Presser

http://coyotes.nhl.com/club/podcastplayer.htm?pid=337&iid=18526

Shane Doan’s post game comments:

http://coyotes.nhl.com/club/podcastplayer.htm?pid=335&iid=18527

Game Summary:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/GS020583.HTM

Event summary:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/ES020583.HTM

Play by Play:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/PL020583.HTM

Faceoff Stats:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/FC020583.HTM

Shootout results:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/SO020583.HTM

The Coyote posted the full video of Shane Doans 1000th NHL/Coyotes game celebration today. For those of you who missed the game or watched the game on FSN AZ, you missed part or all of the Ceremony. We’ve included three videos marking the occasion.

The first video here is the actual pre-game ceremony of Shane Doan’s 1000th game celebration:

Friends and Colleagues share their thoughts on Doan’s NHL milestone:

Finally, here’s a Video retrospective of Shane Doan’s Career

Coyotes vs. San Jose Sharks
HP Pavilion – San Jose, CA – Puck drops at 8:30 PM AZ Time
No Local TV (Will be on Center Ice) – Radio: KFNN 1510 AM

The Coyotes and Sharks meet for only the third time this season and will meet a total of three times between now and January 12th.  Each game so far in this series has been a tremendous defensive battle where the high scoring San Jose offense has been held to only ONE GOAL in the two meetings so far this season.

The Sharks are 4-1 in their last five games with their loss coming at the hands of the Coyotes.

The Coyotes are 11-2-1 in their last 14 games and are looking to continue their strive for defensive excellence tonight against the Sharks.

Like the Kings game before Christmas, the Coyotes/Sharks game is going to be one of those games where the team who makes the least mistakes wins the game.

Things to watch for:

Coyotes in their D zone – We’ve seen that the Coyotes have the potential to play pretty close to defensive excellence in a game situation.  However, with a couple of players out for a bit, we get to see once again how players respond to the proverbial bell when it comes to stepping up for fallen teammates.

Keys to the game:

Discipline – The Coyotes have proved twice already that they know what to do when squaring off against the Sharks.  Nothing has changed since then.  Discipline is what it’s going to take.

Time to step up again – With injuries to Winnik and Fiddler, the Coyotes are going to have to step up into the vacant roles needed to beat the Sharks and excel in a trial by fire situation.

Coyotes in their offensive zone – If you noticed in the past few games the Coyotes have become increasingly proficient in finding the weaknesses and mistakes their opponents make in the Coyotes offensive zone.  This is a great test to see if they can do the same against the division leading Sharks.

Scratches/IR:

Coyotes: Kurt Sauer (Upper Body Injury – Listed as week to week), Daniel Winnik, Vernon Fiddler (Lower Body Injury – Listed as Day to Day)
Sharks: Jody Shelley, Brad Staubitz

The Coyotes just announced that they will be without the services of forward Daniel Winnik by placing him on injured reserve. He’s going to be out for at least a couple of weeks and coupled with Vernon Fiddler’s groin injury this will be a challenge for the Coyotes moving forward.

The Coyotes called up two players in the meantime, Kevin Porter and Jeff Hoggan. The 23 year old Porter, who was just sent back to San Antonio just a few days ago by the Coyotes, leads the San Antonio Rampage in points with 10 goals and 14 assists in 24 games this season.

Thirty one year old Jeff Hoggan has tallied 16 points in 31 games with the Rampage and appeared in four games with the Coyotes tallying an assist.

It’s is time to go to the land of make believe.

Better yet, it’s time to go to the land of ‘probably will happen’ and lets imagine what changes the Ice Edge group would need to make if/when they became the owners of the Phoenix Coyotes….

What changes would need to be made right off the bat?

Now keep in mind that no changes to the front office or staff would be made and no blowing up of the rosters like a hockey version of Jerry Jones or fans when they play NHL 10.

Here’s some changes that would benefit the Coyotes right off the bat:

1) Pour money into marketing the team online – If you take a look at other teams around the league and how they present the informational portions of their website (specifically the Canucks, Oilers, and the Kings) they take great care to make sure the fans get the information they need/want without showing everything that goes on behind the proverbial curtain.

Right now, I know that the Coyotes can’t do this because of budgetary reasons and that is understood by this author.  However, if there’s one thing where money should be spent with new ownership it’s these areas.

Here’s some samples of what the Coyotes could do to not only market the team better but get in touch with their fan base on a closer level:

Form/Message Boards – The Coyotes NEED a forum to connect with the fan base that they have.  Right now there really isn’t a centralized method for all Coyotes fans to interact with one another.

Expanded Game Coverage – The Coyotes are doing a pretty good job of reporting on the goings on before and after the game.  However, all the angles aren’t being covered (this includes FSNAZ Broadcasts as well).  An example of this are healthy scratches for the game reported before the game.  Another example would be injury updates during and in between games.

Fan Interaction -  Give the fans a chance to interact with the team that they love to follow and have a passion for.  Right now the Pro sports standards are the Vancouver Canucks (http://forum.canucks.com/).  Poke around this site.  Wouldn’t you like to see this done for the Coyotes?

2) Promote hockey in Arizona -If you haven’t heard by now, the Coyotes were offered the opportunity to host the 2011 All Star Game.  However, I don’t see any final decision on this happening until the NHL finds new owners.

In the mean time, don’t you think it would be a great idea for the Coyotes to host the World Junior Championships or even the Memorial Cup?  Imagine the youth hockey players in the state coming to these events to see what you can do if some kid has the talent to play hockey professionally.

I know the Memorial Cup may not be a possibility because the host cities of the tournaments are ones who have CHL teams in them and are given an automatic entry into the Memorial Cup tournament.  However, if something could be worked around, wouldn’t it be cool to see the Memorial Cup hosted in Phoenix?

3) Be more open to Coyotes Bloggers in regards to access to the team and other ways to innovate for coverage of the Coyotes – Coyotes fans know that when it comes to media coverage compared to other NHL cities, the local mainstream media just doesn’t come up to par for fans.  For the most part it’s because of lack of space or time in the newspaper or TV.

In addition, sport journalism coverage is down across the board in all of the pro sports.  This is a trend that is happening more and more in all the major pro sports.  If you want to read more about this and what some teams are doing to counter it, check this article out:

http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/63034

Anyways, it would behoove the Coyotes to start allowing bloggers to cover games as the mainstream media does.  I mean it can’t hurt to have qualified Coyotes writers (and there are quite a few competent Coyotes writers other than this publication) covering games, can it?.

I understand that this may be a new avenue for the Coyotes to explore as the Diamondbacks went through a similar experiment this season.

Anyways, this is just a few things off the top of my head that the Ice Edge (or whomever the new ownership might be) group could spend some money on to better help market the Coyotes and expand their brand awareness.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt to go after some potent offensive talent as well….

Thought you all might be interested in what the home attendance figures are so far:

Total Home Attendance: 202,544

Average Home Attendance: 10,127