Phoenix Coyotes Hockey on AZ Vibe

Phoenix Coyotes vs Calgary Flames Penngrowth Saddledome – Calgary, AB Puck Drops at 6:30 PM AZ Time TV: FSN-AZ Radio: KFNX 1100 News-Talk Radio

The day after turning in one of their worst overall performances this season against the Vancouver Canucks, the Phoenix Coyotes look to get back on the winning track tonight in Calgary against the Flames. The two teams meet for the final time this season and it’s their first meeting since January 28th. The Coyotes lead the season series 2-1.

Both teams have gone some major changes in their lineups since their last meeting. As you may know the Coyotes added talent to their lineup and the Flames unloaded talent from their lineup at the trade deadline.

The Calgary Flames seemed to be a team in a Free-fall in the month of January where they posted a 4-8-3 record. The Flames allegedly had problems in the locker room with a player who was reportedly a cancer.

On January 31st the Flames Traded away Dion Phaneuf, Fredrik Sjostrom and Keith Aulie to Toronto for Ian White, Niklas Hagman, Jamal Mayers and Matt Stajan.

You can fill in the blanks there.

Ever since the trade, the Flames seemed to have picked their collective games up and are winning again….kind of. However, the damage had been done to the Flames in the standings from their play in January and part of February. The Flames are now barely holding on to a playoff spot which means one thing….

The Flames may very well bring their best against the Coyotes tonight like the Canucks did last night.

As for the Coyotes….

If the Phoenix Coyotes come out and play the opposite of how they played against the Canucks it can only be a good thing, right?

Seriously, the Coyotes need to come out tonight and play their game against a Flames team that are fighting for their playoff lives. The Coyotes need to be prepared for a Flames team that will more than likely be playing desperate hockey. The Coyotes need to come out of the gate with a greater hunger and desire to win than the Flames. Anything less won’t cut the proverbial mustard.

Game Notes:

- Coyotes Goaltender Jason LaBarbera is the starting goaltender tonight.

- According to Fox Sports Arizona’s Tyson Nash, Jim Vandermeer and Mathieu Schneider are back in the lineup tonight.

- Coyotes are 12-6-0 against the Northwest Division this season.

- Coyotes have not allowed a power play goal in the last 5 games.

- Martin Hanzal is one point away from 100 career points in his NHL career.

- The Vancouver Canucks are fans of the Coyotes tonight – The Canucks would clinch a playoff birth if the Coyotes beat the flames in regulation, overtime or the shootout.

- Flames defenseman Jay Bouwmeester is the reigning NHL Ironman (consecutive games without injury or being out of the lineup) at 418 games

Things to watch for:

The Flames out of the gate – The Flames have just come off a grueling road trip of 6 games in 10 days that criss crossed North America four times. It’s going to be interesting how they play right off the bat and if they can play for a full 60 minutes.

Flames goaltending – The Flames tandem of Mikka Kiprusoff and Veska Toskala have been anything but solid as of late. Peppering Kiprusoff with pucks and placing Coyotes bodies in front of him should be a priority.

Keys to the game:

Play 60 minutes of Hockey, not 20, or 40 or 0 – The Coyotes have to play all 60 minutes of hockey to have the best chance of winning. It’s great experience and an amazing show of character to come back in the third period like they have. However, why make thing so difficult on themselves? Get ‘er done early!

Keep the Crowd out of the game – Like GM Place in Vancouver, the Saddledome can be a tough place to play as well…even though their home record doesn’t reflect it.

Faceoffs – The Coyotes have been proficient in faceoffs as of late. It’s just that their opponents have been better.

Officials:

Referees: Bill McCreary #7, Brian Pochmara #43
Linesmen: Brian Mach #78, Mark Wheler #56

Injuries/Scratches:

Coyotes: Kurt Sauer(IR), Scottie Upshall(IR), Robert Lang(Day to Day), Viktor Tikhonov (Scratch), Paul Bissonnette (Scratch)
Flames: Christopher Higgins, Curtis Glencross, Daymond Langkow(Day to day)

…it was UGLY! What? What? Ugly! Yo mama said it was ugly!

“Everything that makes us a good team, there was a lot of those elements missing tonight. At this time of year that’s unacceptable…”

This was a post game quote from Coyotes head coach Dave Tippett following their loss the Coyotes getting their asses handed to them by the Vancouver Canucks.

A post game writeup normally implies that both teams put forth a good effort during a given game and battled it out for 60 minutes. In the case of this game, the Coyotes (Bryzgalov included) didn’t even show up to play. I could breakdown everything that went wrong with this game but since the Coyotes didn’t even bother to show up to play, why bother with an analysis of last night’s game?

Gotta hand it to the Canucks, they played a near perfect game last night. Many of the problems with the Canucks as a whole were not even evident last night. They owned the Coyotes in all three zones and were in charge of the game from the opening faceoff to the end of the game.

The Coyotes may have tried to get back into the game with some effort in the latter stages of the game. Compared to the high level the Canucks played at, it was but a mere whimper.

Next up, the Flames this evening in Calgary.

Game highlights:

Game Summary:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/GS021141.HTM

Event Summary:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/ES021141.HTM

Play by Play:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/PL021141.HTM

Faceoff Stats:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/FC021141.HTM

Post game presser with Coach Tippett (Courtesy of PhoenixCoyotes.com):

http://coyotes.nhl.com/club/podcastplayer.htm?pid=337&iid=21553

Post game comments from Derek Morris (Courtesy of PhoenixCoyotes.com):

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

http://coyotes.nhl.com/club/podcastplayer.htm?pid=335&iid=21554

Post game comments from Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault:

Post game comments from Canucks captain Roberto Luongo:

Post game comments from Alex Burrows:

Post game comments from Ryan Johnson:

Post game comments from Henrik Sedin:

Update: 1:43 PM Pacific Time -- Closed comments on this article. The point of the article was not to debate the legality of the hit. The point was to use the hit to explain a potential/possible loophole in the new ‘head hit’ rule moving forward. Your comments are always appreciated and welcome. I thank you all for taking the time out of your day to comment. However, after almost 90 comments it’s clear that the intended point was not getting across and that is my fault.

If you were watching the Phoenix Coyotes/Vancouver Canucks game last night in Vancouver, you will remember Canucks forward Ryan Kesler leveling Coyotes defenseman Derek Morris and his head into the boards.

If you haven’t seen the hit, here’s the video:

Now I’m not going to debate the legality of the hit as I’m pretty sure armchair NHL referees from the City of Vancouver will invade this thread and relay to me their interpretations of the rule book.

No, this article is about how this hit is the first new test of the NHL’s new ‘Head Shot’ rule.

If you aren’t familiar with this new rule, that was fast-tracked into the NHL rule book, check out this page with a video describing the new rule:

http://coyotes.azvibe.com/2010/03/27/nhl-releases-new-head-hit-rule-instructional-video/

Ok, back to the story…

Kesler was penalized on the play (5 minute major for roughing a ten minute misconduct and was thrown out of the game) but the hit brings up an interesting loophole in the new rule.

What happens when a player uses the opposing players body to drive his head into the boards?

Technically, the rule applies to this hit as Morris’s head was leveled into the glass, but it’s not explicitly written down in the books. If the NHL really wants to remove head shots in the game, they need to take this new loophole in the rule and seal it up.

Phoenix Coyotes vs Vancouver Canucks General Motors Place – Vancouver B.C. Puck Drops at 7:00 PM AZ Time TV: FSN-AZ Radio: XTRA 910

The Phoenix Coyotes begin a quick 2 game Western Canadian road trip tonight in Vancouver where they will take on the Northwest Division leading Canucks for the final time this season.     The Canucks will be taking on one of the best overall teams in the league on the road in the Coyotes.  On paper, this match-up has the potential to be a great overall game for fans.

The Vancouver Canucks are an interesting team in that they have all the tools to make a VERY deep playoff run.  For whatever reason, they just can’t ‘put it all together’ for stretches more than a few games.  For example, the Canucks are 2-3-1 in their last six games giving up 12 goals in their three regulation losses.  Granted, the Vancouver Canucks have some key injuries on their roster right now.  However, the depth on their roster should have more than made up for any  shortcomings in team roles on the Canucks.

On the flip side, the Canucks own one of the best home records in the NHL at 27-8-2 on the season.  They play tough at home and when GM Place is full, as it has been for the past 298 games, it’s not an easy place to win for any opposing team.  BUT…if the Canucks aren’t on their game at home, like it wasn’t on March 16th against the Islanders, it can be a long night for them.

Now even though the Coyotes have clinched their playoff spot their work is not overwith yet.  The Coyotes still need to fight for playoff positioning and for a potential home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

The Coyotes will need to bring their ‘A’ games against a talented and deep Canucks roster.  Their focus tonight has to be on the first two lines of the Canucks as they must be kept off the scoreboard.  This is one of those games that the Coyotes cannot afford to be lazy in their defensive ends as the Canucks, when they’re on their games, will make you pay.

Game Notes:

- There is a viewing party at 18° in the Ice Den in North Scottsdale. The fun starts at 6:30 PM.

- Coyotes forward Paul Bissonnette signed a two year contract extension with the Coyotes yesterday

- Coyotes Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov is starting for the Coyotes and Roberto Luongo is expected to start for the Canucks

- Canucks Defenseman Shane O’Brien has landed in the Coach’s doghouse by showing up late to practice yesterday Andrew Alberts will take his place in the lineup.

- Pre-game comments from Ed Jovanovski (Courtesy of PhoenixCoyotes.com):

http://coyotes.nhl.com/club/podcastplayer.htm?pid=335&iid=21528

Things to watch for:

Henrik Sedin – I’ve been saying that he and not Alexander Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby should be one of the Hart candidates this season. Keep an eye on how he plays and you’ll see why. The reason he (and defenseman Christian Ehrhoff for the Norris as well) doesn’t get acknowledged more regularly is because Vancouver isn’t on the East Coast.

Roberto Luongo – Since the Olympic break, he’s been nowhere near his usual dominant form. I’m not sure if it’s the pressures of being the Captain that’s effecting his game or just playing too much hockey this year (including the Olympics) but he’s not himself as of late.

Keys to the game:

Faceoffs – The Coyotes may be winning many of their games but as a puck possession team they have not been winning faceoffs with great regularity. Can’t possess the puck if you keep losing faceoffs now, can you?

Get to Luongo early and often – The Canucks goaltending and defense has been anything but solid as of late.  As stated above, part of that is key injuries.  The other part is not playing solid defense in their defensive zone.  Canucks Goaltender Roberto Luongo has been showing signs that he is tired and may be overworked as a result of the Olympics as his usual focus is just not ‘there’.  The Coyotes need to take advantage of this.

Bring their ‘A’ games on defense – The Canucks have some of the most potent offensive weapons in the NHL this season.  This offense will be going up against one of the most potent defenses in the NHL in the Coyotes.  This is one of those games that everyone needs to be aware where the Canucks scoring threats are at…at all times.  The Coyotes also need to shut down scoring lanes, minimize cycles, and so on.

Officials:

Referees: Chris Lee (28), Bill McCreary (7)
Linesmen: Brian Mach (78), Lyle Seitz (61)

Injuries/Scratches:

Coyotes: Kurt Sauer(IR), Scottie Upshall(IR), Robert Lang(Day to Day), Viktor Tikhonov (Scratch),
Canucks: Shane O’Brien (Coach’s Doghouse), Pavol Demitra(Personal Reasons), Mikael Samuelsson (Day to day), Steve Bernier(IR), Willie Mitchell (IR), Alex Bolduc(IR)

This morning, the Phoenix Business Journal released the following article stating that the NHL has a deal in principle with Billionaire David Thomson to move the Coyotes to “Winnipeg next season if necessary”. This alleged deal would only take place if the deals with the Ice Edge group and Jerry Reinsdorf fall through.

Here’s Bill Daly’s statement regarding this article:

“In response to the many inquiries we have received in light of the story in the Phoenix Business Journal this morning, we would like to make clear that at this point in time the National Hockey League has no “deal” in place to move the Coyotes’ franchise to Winnipeg — or to any other city for that matter — in the event a transaction cannot be timely consummated in Glendale. Our focus continues to be on completing a transaction with local ownership that is committed to operating the team in Glendale. Based on the communications and information we are receiving on a regular basis, the stakeholders involved continue to express a high level of confidence that that can be successfully achieved. We will not focus on completing arrangements for one or more alternative option(s) until such time as it may become necessary.

“With respect to Winnipeg and Messrs. Chipman and Thomson, we have had ongoing discussions over time regarding their potential interest in owning an NHL franchise (as we have had with a number of other individuals and cities around North America) and potentially bringing an NHL franchise back to Winnipeg. It remains an intriguing possibility and one we would consider given appropriate circumstances, but there is nothing new to report on that front at this time.”

The Phoenix Coyotes did two things Saturday that no one in and outside of Arizona would have expected from them this season:

1) They earned (key word here) their first playoff birth since the 2001-2002 season
2) They soundly beat the Colorado Avalanche by a large margin

As you may know by now, Saturday afternoon, the Phoenix Coyotes earned their first playoff berth since the 2001-2002 season. Through dedication, sacrifice and hard work, the Coyotes earned the right to play for the Stanley Cup. The only thing that remains is to battle for playoff position. If the Coyotes can clinch the #4 seed or higher, they will be guaranteed home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Saturday night, many of the Coyote faithful saw their team play a full 60 minutes of hockey for the first time in weeks as the Coyotes defeated the Colorado Avalanche 6-2. It was refreshing to see the Coyotes come out of the gate and playing their brand of hockey for a full 60 minutes. Stingy defense, great goaltending, smothering neutral zone coverage, and an offense dept that is simply fun to watch are the characteristics of the Coyotes brand of hockey. It’s games like this that make articles like these easy to write (as they will be brief).

This was the kind of game the Coyotes needed to play for some time, especially in front of a sold out crowd.

If there were some knocks against the Coyotes play it would be their faceoff stats and depth scoring. They have been better as of late but it’s something that can always be improved on.

As for the Avs….

Mark this date and time down as this doesn’t happen very often. I agree with Denver Post writer Adrian Dater in that goaltender Craig Anderson may be overworked at this point in the season. It’s been YEARS since the last time I agreed with him on anything.

When it comes to the reasons the Avalanche lost, Craig Anderson wasn’t as sharp as we have seen him in previous outings this season. I’m not saying this was the only reason that the Avalanche got completely and utterly owned but it was a contributing factor. He allowed goals that normally would have been routine stops for him earlier in the season. Granted, the team in front of him was the other contributing factor to the Avs lost. I’d go into this further but this isn’t an Avalanche blog now is it?

The Coyotes tough schedule continues tomorrow in Vancouver as they will be playing the first game of a back to back. Those games are then followed by some time off in between two games then finishing the season with three games in four nights…in three different cities.

Game Highlights:

Game Summary:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/GS021119.HTM

Event Summary:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/ES021119.HTM

Play by Play:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/PL021119.HTM

Face off stats:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/FC021119.HTM

Coyotes Head Coach Dave Tippett’s post game presser (Courtesy of PhoenixCoyotes.com):

Post game comments from Lee Stempniak (Courtesy of PhoenixCoyotes.com):

http://coyotes.nhl.com/club/podcastplayer.htm?pid=335&iid=21466

Earlier today, the Phoenix Coyotes clinched their first playoff birth since the 2001-2002 season when the Boston Bruins defeated the Calgary Flames 5-0. Needless to say the Whiteout will be in full effect at the Jobing.com Arena when the playoffs go into full gear.

Now for those of you who are pretty new to the NHL and hockey, today’s news is just that the Coyotes have been guaranteed a spot in the playoffs. Who they will play in the playoffs has not been determined as it will probably come down to the last game of the season. 5 of the last 6 Coyotes games this season are against teams that will be in the post season. The outcome of all of the final six Coyotes games will have a direct effect on who they play.

So keep an eye on the standings and they will determine who plays who.

Also, playoff tickets went on sale this morning to the general public. If you would like to purchase tickets, please refer to our article with all the info needed to purchase tickets:

http://coyotes.azvibe.com/2010/03/26/coyotes-playoff-tickets-go-on-sale-on-march-27th/

Phoenix Coyotes vs Colorado Avalanche Jobing.com Arena – Glendale, AZ Puck Drops at 6:00 PM AZ Time TV: FSN-AZ Radio: KFNX 1100 News-Talk Radio

The Phoenix Coyotes and Colorado Avalanche meet for the fourth and final time this season at the Jobing.com arena. The Avalanche have a 2-1 series lead and will look to take the third win away from the Coyotes.

The Coyotes are in a tough stretch of games at the moment which is both exciting and frustrating at the same time. The team has not been playing up to their potential as of late. Part of the reason has been the horrible road schedule the team has been on and part of it has been the lack of team discipline on the ice. I’ll be honest, it’s been frustrating to watch the Coyotes at times in the past few games. Especially when the Coyotes aren’t focusing on the game at hand. I know I was harsh on the Coyotes in the last post game report…some of it was deserved….but like any good pro hockey team after a bad loss, I let my frustrations out and move on to the next game.

The Coyotes can take care of business tonight if they play their game for 60 minutes. They’re at home in front of a sold out crowd. Advantage Coyotes.

The Avalanche are continuing their winning ways since the Olympic and are pretty much close to clinching a playoff spot. With the assistance of Craig Anderson they have been holding on to their playoff spots and are looking to climb up the standings.

Both teams have great defensive skill sets but as in previous meetings this season, the team that makes the least mistakes will win this game tonight.

Game Notes:

- Playoff tickets go on sale today!

- Tonight’s game will be broadcast on KFNX 1100 News-Talk Radio

- Coyotes Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov is expected to start in goal tonight.

- Taylor Pyatt will appear in his 600th NHL.

- Martin Hanzal is one point shy of 100 on the season

- Tonight’s game is sold out.

- Avalanche are 11 – 2 – 2 on Saturday nights

Things to watch for:

Paul Stastny – since the Olympic break he’s tallied 19 points (6 goals and 13 assists) in 12 games

Peter Mueller – the former Coyote has 15 points (5 goals and 10 assists) since being traded to Colorado. It’s nice that he’s finally earning his paycheck now, isn’t it boys and girls.

Keys to the game:

Play 60 minutes of Hockey, Not 20 – The Coyotes have to play all 60 minutes of hockey to have the best chance of winning. It’s great experience and an amazing show of character to come back in the third period like they have. However, why make thing so difficult on themselves? Get ‘er done early!

Home again…. In this series between the Coyotes and Avalanche the home team has won all the games. If the Coyotes can give the fans something to cheer about, the advantage will swing in their direction.

Get to Anderson early and often – The Coyotes can’t let a great goaltender like Craig Anderson to get on fire. Bodies and pucks need to be in his face all night long.

Officials:

Referees: #20 Tim Peel; #26 Rob Martell
Linesmen: #74 Lonnie Cameron; #77 Shane Heyer

Injuries/Scratches:

Coyotes: Kurt Sauer(IR), Scottie Upshall(IR), Robert Lang(Day to Day), Viktor Tikhonov (Scratch), Paul Bissonnette (Scratch)
Avalanche: Jones(IR), Koci (IR), Wilson (Day to Day), Yelle (leg), Yip(IR)

Yeesh. This was one hell of a sloppy game for the first 40 minutes as the Coyotes played some of their worst defensive hockey in a long time. This team may be on one of the worst stretches of their schedule in the NHL this season (the Vancouver Canucks ‘road trip from hell’ excluded) and may be effecting the on ice performances of this team.

That doesn’t excuse them from playing horrible hockey to the point to where they can’t even keep up the level of intensity that the Predators played with. This included the Coyotes not being able to see the Predators

Being tired from the games played on a road trip is one thing. Not even paying attention to what’s going on the ice while your opponents are exploiting your weaknesses for goals is another.

How bad did it get at times? Look at these two videos below. Nashville scored goals from the same EXACT location while the Coyotes were playing the puck and not watching for the Predators players. This isn’t a reflection of how tired the Coyotes were. This is just plain sloppy.

Goal #2

Predators goal #3

Now don’t get me wrong, I loved how the team battled back in the last 20 minutes to tie the game and force a shootout. However, it should have never gotten to the point to where they needed to come back from two goals down.

One of these days this team will learn how to win in the first 40 minutes of a game.

Game highlights

Game Summary:

Event Summary:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/ES021105.HTM

Play by Play:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/PL021105.HTM

Faceoff Stats:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/FC021105.HTM

Shootout Stats:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/SO021105.HTM

Postgame presser with Head Coach Dave Tippett (Courtesy of PhoenixCoyotes.com):

Post game comments with Keith ‘Mr. Norris’ Yandle (Courtesy of PhoenixCoyotes.com):

http://coyotes.nhl.com/club/podcastplayer.htm?pid=335&iid=21406

Post game comments from Predators head coach Barry Trotz:

Post game comments from Predators Dan Hamuis and Patric Hornqvist:

The NHL Hockey Operations department released an instructional video regarding the new head hit rule. This new rule has been implemented into all games moving forward. As you know, the new head hit rule is defined as a hit that is “a lateral, back-pressure or blind-side hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or the principal point of contact.” Anyone caught putting a hit on a player that violates this new rule is now open to additional punishment from the NHL, regardless if the player gets penalized on the ice or not.

For me, it was pretty tough to determine what exactly would be deemed a good hit and what hits would be suspension worthy under this new rule. However, once I saw the video the reasons for implementing this new rule were more much clear. I’m pretty sure this is the same video that was shipped out to all teams the other day (don’t quote me on that).

Anyways, here’s the video….