Phoenix Coyotes Hockey on AZ Vibe

It’s the half way point in the season and it’s time the Coyotes report cards.  The Coyotes find themselves near the top of the heap in the west. With the high western rankings, it usually means that teams will be targeting key Coyotes players as Petr Prucha and Scottie Upshall already have found out.

The Coyotes are going to have their work cut out for them in the second half of the season but first, let’s see how they did in the first half.

::edit:: Jan 7 – 10:23 AM

One other thing to note is that I’ve watched lots of games this season from other teams around the league.  I’ve sat down and analyzed many of the bad teams and used them for the ‘D’, ‘F’ and ‘Negative Z’ grade scales.  (The Toronto Maple Leafs being the ones with the ‘Z’ grades)  So when someone gets an ‘A’ you’ll know that the F, or Z grades were really bad.

Paul Bissonnette – (B+/A-) – For a kid who doesn’t play very many minutes per night, he does his job very well.  He has shown some signs of other skills than fighting/energy but it remains to be seen if Dave Tippett and his staff let him showcase some of his skills on the ice.

Shane Doan – (A-/A) – Now I know many of you were probably expecting a lower grade for Doan but think about this….

One of the reasons he hasn’t been producing is that there hasn’t been a consistent secondary scoring line for the Coyotes.  Opposing teams have been sending their main checking lines at Doan’s line and not focusing little if any of their attention to the other lines.

Once the Coyotes have some chemistry clicking on the other lines, teams won’t be as focused on Doan and his line as they are now.  This is a problem the Canucks went through with the Sedin Twins. Once the team put some solid second, third, and fourth lines around them, they started blossoming in the points department as you all have seen this season.

Vernon Fiddler – (A) – Up until his injury he has been a key component of the Coyotes success in the defensive zone and on Penalty Kills.  He also seems to gel with just about any linemate he’s paired up with.  Just an overall solid player.

Martin Hanzal – (A/A-) -Hanzal has been nothing short of amazing this season as a great role player for the Coyotes.

Lauri Korpikoski – (B-) -  Korpikoski has shown small glimpses of brilliance on the ice over the course of the season.  He simply needs to have more confidence in his abilities and know he can own just about any opponent on the ice at any given time.  If there’s one player I (and I’m sure other Coyotes fans as well) would like to see just break out and take his game to another level, it’s Korpikoski.

Robert Lang – (A-/B+) – Robert Lang was a last minute addition to the Coyotes roster prior to the start of the season and he is on pace to have a very productive season.  At his best, he’s a great playmaker and a competent at faceoffs.  However, two minor knocks against him are his taking dumb penalties at the wrong time and the inability to take more scoring chances with the puck.

Matthew Lombardi – (A) – Another great help in the faceoff area, Lombardi has turned out to be a great return in the Olli Jokinen trade and has been a solid player on both ends of the ice.  He’s quietly become one of the key components of the Coyotes success this season.

Peter Mueller – (C+) – You know, I don’t get Mueller.  He seems to have all the skills to succeed at the NHL level (22 goals and 32 assists in 07-08) but seems to either be de-evolving, sandbagging, or just not clicking in Dave Tippett’s system.  Like Korpikoski, he’s one of those players you want to see break out. However, with Mueller is that really something that fans can actually see come to fruition with the Coyotes?

Kevin Porter – N/A – Not enough time on the Coyotes for a grade

Petr Prucha – (A-) Wow.  Prucha has also been another one of those Coyotes players that has been blossoming right before our very eyes.  As you may or may have not noticed, opposing teams are now paying attention to when Prucha is on the ice.  If he can find the right line mates to click with (as it seems that he has as of late) he can really do some damage on the ice.

Taylor Pyatt – (B) – Pyatt has shown glimpses of brilliance on the ice so far this season.  However, with promotions to the top lines he doesn’t seem to be ready for the responsibility, skill wise.  Pyatt, for now, would blossom on a secondary scoring line given the right linemates.

Scottie Upshall – (A+) – Scottie Upshall may just be transforming into a bonified NHL forward and a team personality as well.  Watching him just get better and better on the ice as the season has progressed has been extremely fun to watch.

Radim Vrbata – (A-/B+) – Vrbata is on pace to match his point total when he was last on the Coyotes roster.  He has been a great force in the Coyotes offense and seems to have picked up where he left off when he was last with the Coyotes and producing offensively.

Daniel Winnik – (B/B+) – He’s on pace to match his point outcome from his rookie season.  However, his ice time is on par with Peter Mueller which means he’s got to work on his overall game in Tippett’s system.  One of the main things he needs improvement on in the short term is his faceoffs.  An under 50% average on faceoffs is not good.

Adrian Aucoin – (A) – As stated in the previous report card, he has been a great second unit defenseman for the Coyotes.  However, we have yet to see any situations where his patented cannon shot from the point is unleashed.  Regardless, Aucoin has been a damned good defenseman for the Coyotes of this season and is fun to watch on a nightly basis.

Anders Ericsson – No grade – Not enough games

Ed Jovanovski -  (B+/A-) – Jovanovski has been a warrior on the ice, a solid force on the blue line, and an offensive threat.  The only knock against him is when then energy in his play causes him to take the odd bad penalty or two.  Coyotes fans are probably wondering where this version of Jovanovski has been since he signed his contract in the desert many moons ago.  Winning does wonders does it not?

Sami Lepisto – (B/C) – Lepisto has been something of a mystery.  He hasn’t been a bad defenseman (or a liability on the ice for that matter) for the Coyotes.  However, he hasn’t been a good one for the majority of this season either.  His ice time reflects that he has some work to do to improve his game.  However, ever since he has been paired up with Anders Eriksson, Lepisto seems to have found a good defenseman to click with on the ice and has been pretty solid on both ends of the ice.

Zbynek Michalek – (A) – When Michalek is being talked about in NHL defensemen that have improved you know you have something special on your roster.  A solid force on the blue line he is indeed one of the better defensemen not only on the Coyotes but in the NHL.

Kurt Sauer – N/A – Injured

James Vandermeer – (A) – Another solid defenseman for the Coyotes this season has been one of the key cogs in the stingy defense/PK opponents have come up against.  A great agitator and a great defensive specialist.

Keith Yandle - (A) – He just keeps getting better and better.  Yandle may be one of the best surprises in the NHL this season as he has been a solid defenseman for the Coyotes paring mainly with Adrian Aucoin.  When he was given the opportunity to take on more minutes this season with injuries to Jovanovski and Michalek, he stepped up and took his game to a new level.  He too has been extremely fun to watch this season.  It’s too bad USA Men’s Hockey GM Brian Burke felt the need to put bumbling Toronto defenseman Mike Komisarek on the Vancouver 2010 Olympic roster instead of Yandle but oh well….

Ilya Bryzgalov – (A++++) – Bryzgalov has been nothing short of amazing so far this season.  The main question now is can he keep this pace up for the remainder of the season and….dare I say….the playoffs?  Anyways, there’s still the ‘back nine’ of the season to contend with and we need to see if Bryz can keep up the amazing play he’s shown us this season.

Jason LaBarbera – (B+/A) – He hasn’t has many starts to this point in the season so it’s tough to get a full read on him.  He hasn’t been lights out but he does skirt with that level at times.  One of the things he can do to get his game to be better is puck movement in pressure situations.  As I’ve said before, he and Bryz have the ability to become the best 1-2 goaltending tandem in the league.

Coaching – (A+) – Coaching across the board has been stellar especially with Goaltending coach Sean Burke.  The only things to knock is the Coach in charge of the Power Plays. 

Penalty Kill/Team Defense – (A+) -  When the Coyotes are ‘On’ they’re an extremely tough team to beat.

Power Play/Even Strength Offense - (C) – The Coyotes PP is ok.  It’s not great because of the lack of cohesiveness between line mates has prevented the offense from really clicking at times.  That and the occasional inability to read the defenses correctly to beat them.  Players still don’t seem to know where their linemates are on the ice when moving the puck around the offensive zone.

One major thing the Coyotes need to focus on in the second half of the season is putting together a solid secondary scoring line.  The balanced scoring this season is nice but wouldn’t be nice to have another scoring line on the ice?  I’m talking about a scoring line that gives opposing coaches headaches on who to cover when it comes to deciding on who the checking line is going to cover on the Coyotes roster.

Faceoffs – (C-/D) – Wow if there was ever a major weakness on this squad, it’s faceoffs.  It doesn’t seem to be as bad as it was last season but if the Coyotes want to be successful if they make the post season, now is the time to become proficient in the faceoff circle…especially in critical situations.

Don Maloney – (A) – I’ll admit, Coyotes GM Don Maloney has put together a damned solid team for not a whole lot of money.  However, if he’s going to go shopping at the deadline he’s gonna need the following:

1) A Faceoff specialist

2) Help with the PP/Offense

3) A PP QB would be nice too