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LAS VEGAS – On Wednesday Ryan Miller capped off a spectacular year when he won his first Vezina Trophy at the 2010 NHL Awards at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas. In addition to the Vezina Trophy, Miller became the 12th winner of the NHL Foundation Player Award which is given to the player that ‘applies the core values of hockey – commitment, perseverance, and teamwork – to enrich the lives of people in his community’. The NHL foundation will donate $25,000 to Ryan Millers’ Steadfast Foundation as part of Miller winning the Award.

The Vezina Trophy is awarded to the best Goaltender in the NHL and is voted on by all the General Managers in the NHL. Miller beat out Phoenix Coyotes Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov in the voting by 47 overall votes. Miller also received 23 first place votes on 28 of a total of 30 ballots.

According to a press release from the NHL:

Miller led the Sabres to the Northeast Division title for the second time in the past four seasons. He set a franchise record and ranked fourth among NHL goaltenders with 41 wins; placed second in the League in goals-against average (2.22) and save percentage (.929); and tied a career high with five shutouts. Miller continued to excel following his MVP performance for Team USA at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, going 9-2-1 in his first 12 decisions after collecting the silver medal in Vancouver.

As Ryan Miller arrived in the Media room at the 2010 NHL Awards at the Palms Hotel, he was carrying the full sized trophy himself (staff from the NHL carried trophies into the Media Room for the other trophy winners) and appeared to be extremely grateful to win the award.

Ryan Miller’s full press conference with the media (following the Vezina Trophy presentation) can be heard here:

Final 2010 Vezina Trophy Voting

Pts. 1st-2nd-3rd
1. Ryan Miller, BUF 126 (23-3-2)
2. Ilya Bryzgalov, PHX 79 (5-16-6)
3. Martin Brodeur, N.J. 32 (1-6-9)
4. Evgeni Nabokov, S.J. 9 (1-1-1)
5. Craig Anderson, COL 9 (0-2-3)
6. Henrik Lundqvist, NYR 6 (0-1-3)
7. Tuukka Rask, BOS 3 (0-1-0)
8. Jimmy Howard, DET 2 (0-0-2)
Miikka Kiprusoff, CGY 2 (0-0-2)
10. Jaroslav Halak, MTL 1 (0-0-1)
Roberto Luongo, VAN 1 (0-0-1)

LAS VEGAS – Center Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks came into the NHL Awards as one of the most talented and dangerous players in the NHL. By the time he left Las Vegas he had the hardware and accolades that reflected the caliber of player he was this past season.

Prior to the NHL Awards, Henrik Sedin had already clinched the Art Ross Trophy which gets awarded to the player who was the 2010 Regular Season Scoring Champion (Sedin tallied 112 total points – 29 goals and 83 assists).

Sedin earned two further accolades at the NHL Awards by becoming the first Vancouver Canuck player in franchise history to win the Hart Trophy (Most Valuable Player to his team). Henrik Sedin was also voted to the 2009-2010 First All NHL All-Star Team. The Hart Trophy and the NHL All-Star Teams were voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association at the end of the 2009-2010 regular season.

In the Hart Trophy race, Henrik Sedin barely edged out two-time defending Hart Trophy recipient Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals by six first place votes and 60 overall votes (full voting tallies are below).

For the full list of the 2010 first and second team NHL All-Star Teams please refer to this article:

http://coyotes.azvibe.com/2010/06/23/2010-nhl-awards-bryzgalov-named-to-the-nhls-2nd-all-star-team/

Phoenix Coyotes Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov was 5th in the Hart Trophy race.

Henrik Sedin sat down with reporters following his Hart Trophy presentation. Here’s what he had to say:

Final 2010 Hart Trophy Voting
Pts. (1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th)
1. Henrik Sedin, VAN 894 (46-34-27-19-4)
2. Alex Ovechkin, WSH 834 (40-35-22-22-13)
3. Sidney Crosby, PIT 729 (20-35-38-29-7)
4. Ryan Miller, BUF 505 (13-22-24-27-20)
5. Ilya Bryzgalov, PHX 354 (13-6-17-22-31)
6. Steven Stamkos, T.B. 28 (0-0-2-3-9)
7. Patrick Kane, CHI 17 (0-1-0-2-4)
8. Martin Brodeur, N.J. 16 (0-0-2-0-6)
9. Craig Anderson, COL 10 (1-0-0-0-0)
10. Patrick Marleau, S.J. 10 (0-0-0-3-1)
11. Nicklas Backstrom, WSH 10 (0-0-0-2-4)
12. Joe Thornton, S.J. 9 (0-0-0-1-6)
13. Zach Parise, N.J. 7 (0-0-1-0-2)
14. Mike Green, WSH 5 (0-0-0-1-2)
15. Zdeno Chara, BOS 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
16. Duncan Keith, CHI 3 (0-0-0-0-3)
17. Drew Doughty, L.A. 2 (0-0-0-0-2)
Marian Gaborik, NYR 2 (0-0-0-0-2)
Anze Kopitar, L.A. 2 (0-0-0-0-2)
Nicklas Lidstrom, DET 2 (0-0-0-0-2)
Tuukka Rask, BOS 2 (0-0-0-0-2)
Martin St. Louis, T.B. 2 (0-0-0-0-2)
23. Henrik Lundqvist, NYR 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Evgeni Nabokov, S.J. 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Chris Pronger, PHI 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Paul Stastny, COL 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Tomas Vokoun, FLA 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Shea Weber, NSH 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Henrik Zetterberg, DET 1 (0-0-0-0-1)

Las Vegas – In a press released handed out to the media here at the 2010 NHL Awards, Phoenix Coyotes goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov was named to the 2010 NHL second All-Star team. Having been snubbed at the NHL Awards this is a sign to fans that people do recognize that Bryzgalov had a great season!

Ed Jovanovski was 16th in Defenseman voting for the NHL All-Star Teams and Keith Yandle was 19th in the voting.

The All-Star teams are selected by members of the Professional Hockey Association at the end of the regular season.

Congrats to Ilya Bryzgalov on being selected to the 2010 NHL All-Star Team

Below are the players who made the first and second All-Star Teams followed by voting results.

2009-2010 NHL First All-Star Team

G Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabres
D Duncan Keith, Chicago Blackhawks
D Mike Green, Washington Capitals
C Henrik Sedin, Vancouver Canucks
RW Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
LW Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals

2009-2010 NHL Second All-Star Team

G Ilya Bryzgalov, Phoenix Coyotes
D Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings
D Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings
C Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
RW Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning
LW Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks

2009-2010 NHL ALL-STAR TEAM VOTING RESULTS

GOALTENDER

Pts. (1st-2nd-3rd) Career All-Star Selections

1. RYAN MILLER, BUF 598 (105-24-1) 1 First Team, 0 Second Team
2. Ilya Bryzgalov, PHX 371 (20-85-16) 0 First Team, 1 Second Team
3. Martin Brodeur, N.J. 136 (6-16-58)
4. Evgeni Nabokov, S.J. 13 (0-2-7)
5. Miikka Kiprusoff, CGY 12 (0-0-12)
Tuukka Rask, BOS 12 (0-0-12)
7. Jimmy Howard, DET 11 (0-0-11)
8. Tomas Vokoun, FLA 8 (0-2-2)
9. Henrik Lundqvist, NYR 4 (0-1-1)
10. Craig Anderson, COL 4 (0-0-4)
11. Jonathan Quick, L.A. 2 (0-0-2)
Pekka Rinne, NSH 2 (0-0-2)
13. Jaroslav Halak, MTL 1 (0-0-1)

CENTER

Pts. (1st-2nd-3rd) Career All-Star Selections
1. HENRIK SEDIN, VAN 536 (77-49-4) 1 First Team, 0 Second Team
2. Sidney Crosby, PIT 500 (55-74-3) 1 First Team, 1 Second Team
3. Steven Stamkos, T.B. 73 (0-6-55)
4. Nicklas Backstrom, WSH 66 (0-3-57)
5. Joe Thornton, S.J. 5 (0-0-5)
6. Anze Kopitar, L.A. 3 (0-0-3)
7. Pavel Datsyuk, DET 2 (0-0-2)
8. Mike Richards, PHI 1 (0-0-1)
Eric Staal, CAR 1 (0-0-1)
Jonathan Toews, CHI 1 (0-0-1)

LEFT WING

Pts. (1st-2nd-3rd) Career All-Star Selections
1. ALEX OVECHKIN, WSH 644 (127-3-0) 5 First Team, 0 Second Team
2. Daniel Sedin, VAN 153 (1-40-28) 0 First Team, 1 Second Team
3. Patrick Marleau, S.J. 151 (1-39-29)
4. Zach Parise, N.J. 101 (1-21-33)
5. Ilya Kovalchuk, N.J. 84 (0-22-18)
6. Alexander Semin, WSH 16 (0-1-13)
7. Martin St. Louis, T.B. 7 (1-0-2)
8. Dany Heatley, S.J. 6 (0-2-0)
9. Patrick Kane, CHI 4 (0-1-1)
Rick Nash, CBJ 4 (0-1-1)
11. Henrik Zetterberg, DET 4 (0-0-4)
12. Jarome Iginla, CGY 3 (0-1-0)
13. Evgeni Malkin, PIT 1 (0-0-1)
Patrick Sharp, CHI 1 (0-0-1)

RIGHT WING

Pts. (1st-2nd-3rd) Career All-Star Selections

1. PATRICK KANE, CHI 397 (49-41-29) 1 First Team, 0 Second Team
2. Martin St. Louis, T.B. 348 (49-29-16) 1 First Team, 2 Second Team
3. Marian Gaborik, NYR 289 (20-50-39)
4. Dany Heatley, S.J. 82 (7-5-32)
5. Jarome Iginla, CGY 13 (2-0-3)
6. Daniel Alfredsson, OTT 13 (1-2-2)
7. Steven Stamkos, T.B. 10 (2-0-0)
8. Corey Perry, ANA 9 (0-2-3)
9. Alex Ovechkin, WSH 5 (1-0-0)
10. Alexander Semin, WSH 5 (0-1-2)
11. Patrick Marleau, S.J. 3 (0-1-0)
12. Ilya Kovalchuk, N.J. 2 (0-0-2)
Bobby Ryan, ANA 2 (0-0-2)
14. Rick Nash, CBJ 1 (0-0-1)

DEFENSE

Pts. (1st-2nd-3rd) Career All-Star Selections

1. DUNCAN KEITH, CHI 604 (112-14-2) 1 First Team, 0 Second Team
2. MIKE GREEN, WSH 524 (80-38-10) 2 First Team, 0 Second Team
3. Drew Doughty, L.A. 433 (39-75-13) 0 First Team, 1 Second Team
4. Nicklas Lidstrom, DET 242 (12-44-50) 9 First Team, 2 Second Team
5. Chris Pronger, PHI 155 (5-30-40)
6. Dan Boyle, S.J. 149 (5-23-55)
7. Shea Weber, NSH 83 (3-15-23)
8. Zdeno Chara, BOS 70 (3-13-16)
9. Tyler Myers, BUF 18 (0-0-18)
10. Brent Seabrook, CHI 12 (1-1-4)
11. Christian Ehrhoff, VAN 10 (0-1-7)
12. Jeff Schultz, WSH 8 (1-1-0)
13. Mark Streit, NYI 8 (1-0-3)
14. Brian Rafalski, DET 8 (0-1-5)
15. Ryan Suter, NSH 7 (0-2-1)
16. Ed Jovanovski, PHX 3 (0-1-0)
17. Sergei Gonchar, PIT 2 (0-0-2)
Scott Niedermayer, ANA 2 (0-0-2)
19. Brian Campbell, CHI 1 (0-0-1)
Tobias Enstrom, ATL 1 (0-0-1)
Andy Greene, N.J. 1 (0-0-1)
Chris Phillips, OTT 1 (0-0-1)
Keith Yandle, PHX 1 (0-0-1)

The NHL Announced today that Phoenix Coyotes Ilya Bryzgalov is not one of the Hart Trophy Finalists.  For those of you who do not know, the Hart Trophy is the NHL Most Valuable Player of the year award.

The three finalists, all scoring forwards, are Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks, Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, and Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Personally, I think having Ovechkin and Crosby as the finalists are a joke.  The Capitals have proven this season that they can still be effective without him in the lineup and Crosby has had anything but an MVP season.  Not much thought went into the actual voting process this year as the whole point what makes a player the Most Valuable Player of the year award was tossed out of the window for favoritism.

The MVP award, in theory, is supposed to be the person that the entire team can’t function without due to their presence in the lineup.  Henrik Sedin fits that bill….so do other players that weren’t nominated.

The NHL Awards will take place at the Pearl Concert Theater at the Palms Hotel on June 23. The NHL Awards will be broadcast live in the US on Versus and in Canada on CBC.

Here’s the final list of finalists for the 2010 NHL Awards:

Phoenix Coyotes vs Detroit Red Wings Game 7 of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Western Conference Quarter Finals Series is tied 3 – 3 Jobing.com Arena – Glendale, AZ Puck Drops at 6:00 PM AZ Time TV: FSN-AZ (AZ Only) Versus (US outside of AZ) – TSN/RDS (Canada)Radio:XTRA 910

“…they got lucky…” – Detroit Red Wings Goaltender Jimmy Howard describing the Phoenix Coyotes victory in game 6

Really?

Not much else to be said here. This game tonight and ultimately the series is entirely the Phoenix Coyotes to dictate.

The Keys to the game below outline what needs to be done to give the Coyotes the best chance at success in Game 7.

In short, the Coyotes need to come out with their most disciplined game to date tonight, Bryz has to play his best game ever, and the secondary scoring has to come up big once again.

It’s time to take this series!

Cheat Sheet:

- According to John Gambadoro of 620 KTAR, Coyotes Captain Shane Doan is out for game 7. Expect the Coyotes to roll with 7 defensemen once again if this story holds up to be true. Head Coach Dave Tippett has said that Doan is a ‘Game time decision’.

- No lineup changes are expected for the Detroit Red Wings in game 7

- Ilya Bryzgalov expected to start for the Coyotes in Game 7 and Jimmy Howard is expected to start in net for the Red Wings.

- Tonight’s Coyotes Game 7 viewing party is at the Native New Yorker in the Westgate City Center in Glendale, AZ

- Pre-game presser with Head Coach Dave Tippett (Courtesy of PhoenixCoyotes.com):

Pre-game presser with Coyotes defenseman Adrian Aucoin (Courtesy of PhoenixCoyotes.com):

Things to watch for:

Stupid Penalties – The Coyotes still haven’t fully stopped taking dumb penalties. Watch to see if they do in game 7.

Coyotes defensive discipline – The Coyotes HAVE to play the best defensive game of the season in Game 7 to be able have the best opportunity to win.

Keys to the game (some of these are the same as game 6 as they still apply for game 7):

Coyotes Role players HAVE to step up in the scoring department – I found this quote from 2009 when a reporter from the AP talked with Former Coyotes Coach Wayne Gretzky about what Pittsburgh needed to win the Stanley Cup last year “In order for Pittsburgh to have success in this series, they’re going to need their role players to step up and contribute in a way that’s going to be a positive factor.” This applies to the Coyotes as well. Key scorers have been shutout as the Red Wings know that the secondary scoring (READ: 3rd and 4th lines) are not coming up with goals in this series. Now is their time to step up. They have to come up big today.

Faceoffs – The Coyotes are most successful when they win key faceoffs and gain possession of the puck. This is another aspect of the series that the Wings have taken advantage of at times. The Coyotes MUST win key faceoffs tonight especially on the Power Play if they are going to be successful tonight.

Bryz has to be the best player on the ice – In this series Bryz has been one of the best players on the ice. However, he needs to have the best game in his career to be able to give the Coyotes the best chance of moving on. His challenge tonight is to steal this game from the Red Wings.

Stop allowing the Detroit Crease Campers (Bertuzzi/Holmstrom/etc) to get possession of the puck in front of Bryzgalov – They have done too much damage in the series. The Coyotes need to stop the Red Wings from gaining control of the puck in the crease area as they have been wreaking havoc in the scoring department. The Red Wings have done a pretty good job this series stopping the Coyotes from getting secondary chances on Jimmy Howard. Why can’t the Coyotes do the same thing on the other end of the ice?

Shoot. The. Puck. – The Way to beat Jimmy Howard is not only to get perimeter shots on the Red Wings goaltender but to also pepper him with shots on secondary scoring chances up close. The Red Wings dominated the previous games in the shot department. Howard is weakest when he commits to shots and the Coyotes HAVE to take advantage of that. The Coyotes failed immensely in the shot department in game 4. As a result, they suffered immensely in the game 4 final score.

Find safety valves when the Red Wings pressure the puck carrier – One challenge that the Coyotes have had this series is working through situations where the Red Wings pressure the puck carrier in all three zones on the ice. The Coyotes need to be aware of this and adapt to it. Find the open man.

How bad do the Coyotes want it? – There’s only one game left. The Coyotes playoff destiny is entirely in their hands. They have the tools and ability to win this game and the series. The question is….how bad do the Coyotes want it and are they willing to do what it takes to win?

Officials:

Referees: #11 Kelly Sutherland; #33 Kevin Pollock
Linesmen: #57 Jay Sharrers; #86 Brad Lazarowich

Injuries/Scratches (will be updated as information is made known):

Coyotes: Kurt Sauer(IR), Scottie Upshall(IR), Jim Vandermeer (Scratch), Shane Doan(Game time decision), Petteri Nokelainen (Scratch), Viktor Tikhonov (Scratch), Paul Bissonnette (Scratch), The San Antonio 8 (Scratch),

Red Wings: Kurt Maltby, Jason Williams, Daniel Larsson, Doug Janik, Brad May, Mattias Ritola, Jakub Kindl, Derek Meetch, Brett Lebda

Phoenix Coyotes vs Detroit Red Wings Game 6 of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Western Conference Quarter Finals Red Wings lead the series 3 – 2 Joe Lewis Arena – Detroit, MI Puck Drops at 11:00 AM AZ Time TV: NBC(US) – TSN/RDS (Canada)Radio:XTRA 910

The Phoenix Coyotes find themselves in a new situation this season….facing elimination at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings in Game 6 later this morning (11 AM on NBC/TSN/RDS). Up to this point in the series, the Coyotes have had the skills and work ethic to win games. However, the Detroit Red Wings playoff experience has been the deciding factor in this series. The playoff inexperienced Coyotes have not played a sound mental game for some time now and will need one to pull out a victory here today.

The good thing is that this series is not overwith as of yet and the Coyotes have the opportunity to force a game seven back at the Jobing.com arena. Furthermore, they have been doing many things right on the ice that can be leveraged for game 6 (like faceoffs, penalty killing, etc).

The Red Wings will be more than prepared to not only play the game of their life later this morning, but will be prepared to face what the Coyotes will be throwing their way….which is the Hockey version of ‘everything including the kitchen sink’.

So what are the Phoenix Coyotes going to need to do to win this game and possibly the series?

Former Phoenix Coyotes Head Coach Wayne Gretzky gives insight as to what it takes to win a Stanley Cup from his experience of winning it all 1982…this definitely applies to game 6 for the Phoenix Coyotes (taken from an AP interview in 2009):

“After losing that first final (against the New York Islanders), walking by their locker room, the one thought we had as players was: it was going to be a dreadful sight going by their locker room and watching them celebrate and having a tremendous time,” Gretzky said. “As we found out … it was pretty quiet in there.

“We sort of walked out healthy and they were beat up. We realized then and there that it takes a lot more than just wanting to win. You were going to have to earn it, and it was going to take a lot to win a Stanley Cup and be a champion. That’s what we learned from the Islanders.”

The thing is the Red Wings are well versed in this aspect of the playoffs. The Coyotes are just learning it.

As I’ve said before, the Coyotes have the skills and talent to win beat the Red Wings in this series. The question is do the Coyotes want it bad enough and are they willing to make the necessary sacrifices to win? This includes checking, blocking shots, being mentally aware of their opponents locations on the ice, and so on.

It’s do or die time.

Bring it back for 7!

Cheat Sheet:

- No lineup changes are expected for the Detroit Red Wings in game 6

- Ilya Bryzgalov expected to start for the Coyotes in Game 6 and Jimmy Howard is expected to start in net for the Red Wings.

- Coyotes defenseman Kurt Sauer will appear at the game 6 viewing party at Padre Murphy’s located at 4338 W. Bell Road in Glendale. Sauer will sign autographs for fans on hand. There will also be a second viewing party at Blue 32 Sports Grill located at 1524 East Williamsfield in Gilbert.

- Defenseman Mathieu Schneider is expected to play in game 6

- Coyotes Captain Shane Doan will be re-evaluated by the training staff this morning. I’m expecting him to play in this elimination game. What actually happens, may be something entirely different.

Comments from Phoenix Coyotes Head Coach Dave Tippett on Saturday Afternoon (Courtesy of PhoenixCoyotes.com):

Comments from Coyotes Defenseman Ed Jovanovski from Saturday Afternoon (Courtesy of PhoenixCoyotes.com):

Things to watch for:

Stupid Penalties – We get to see if the Coyotes Team Chaplin fully exorcised the Stupid Penalty Demons that existed during game 5.

Coyotes defensive discipline – The Coyotes HAVE to play the best defensive game of the season to be able have the best opportunity to win.

Keys to the game (some of these are the same as game 5 as they still apply for game 6):

Coyotes Role players HAVE to step up in the scoring department – I found this quote from 2009 when a reporter from the AP talked with Former Coyotes Coach Wayne Gretzky about what Pittsburgh needed to win the Stanley Cup last year “In order for Pittsburgh to have success in this series, they’re going to need their role players to step up and contribute in a way that’s going to be a positive factor.” This applies to the Coyotes as well. Key scorers have been shutout as the Red Wings know that the secondary scoring (READ: 3rd and 4th lines) are not coming up with goals in this series. Now is their time to step up. They have to come up big today.

Faceoffs – The Coyotes are most successful when they win key faceoffs and gain possession of the puck. This is another aspect of the series that the Wings have taken advantage of at times. The Coyotes MUST win key faceoffs tonight especially on the Power Play if they are going to be successful tonight.

Bryz has to be the best player on the ice – In this series Bryz has been one of the best players on the ice. However, he needs to have the best game in his career to be able to give the Coyotes the best chance of moving on.

Stop allowing the Detroit Crease Campers (Bertuzzi/Holmstrom/etc) to get possession of the puck in front of Bryzgalov – They have done too much damage in the series. The Coyotes need to stop the Red Wings from gaining control of the puck in the crease area as they have been wreaking havoc in the scoring department. The Red Wings have done a pretty good job this series stopping the Coyotes from getting secondary chances on Jimmy Howard. Why can’t the Coyotes do the same thing on the other end of the ice?

Shoot. The. Puck. – The Way to beat Jimmy Howard is not only to get perimeter shots on the Red Wings goaltender but to also pepper him with shots on secondary scoring chances up close. The Red Wings dominated the previous games in the shot department. Howard is weakest when he commits to shots and the Coyotes HAVE to take advantage of that. The Coyotes failed immensely in the shot department in game 4. As a result, they suffered immensely in the game 4 final score.

Find safety valves when the Red Wings pressure the puck carrier – One challenge that the Coyotes have had this series is working through situations where the Red Wings pressure the puck carrier in all three zones on the ice. The Coyotes need to be aware of this and adapt to it. Find the open man.

How bad do the Coyotes want it? – This is a best of two series now. The Coyotes playoff destiny is now entirely in their hands. They have the tools and ability to win this series. The question is….how bad do the Coyotes want it and are they willing to do what it takes to win?

Officials:

Referee – #20 Tim Peel – #9 Dan O’Rourke – (Standby) #43 Brian Pochmara
Linesmen – #93 Brian Murphy #80 Thor Nelson – (Standby) #50 Scott Cherrey

Injuries/Scratches (will be updated as information is made known):

Coyotes: Kurt Sauer(IR), Scottie Upshall(IR), Jim Vandermeer (Scratch), Shane Doan(Game time decision), Petteri Nokelainen (Scratch), Viktor Tikhonov (Scratch), Paul Bissonnette (Scratch), The San Antonio 8 (Scratch),
Red Wings: Kurt Maltby, Jason Williams, Daniel Larsson, Doug Janik, Brad May, Mattias Ritola, Jakub Kindl, Derek Meetch, Brett Lebda

Phoenix Coyotes vs Detroit Red Wings Game 5 of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Western Conference Quarter Finals Series is Tied 2 – 2 Jobing.com Arena – Glendale, AZ Puck Drops at 7:00 PM AZ Time TV: FSNAZ (in AZ) – Versus (US outside of AZ) – TSN (Canada)Radio:XTRA 910

The Phoenix Coyotes continue their quest for the Stanley Cup tonight when they take on the Detroit Red Wings in game 5 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals playoff series. This series is all tied up at 2 games a piece after both the Coyotes and Red Wings each won a game on their opponents home ice. With potentially three games left in this series, the Coyotes now have home ice advantage and look take control with a win in game 5 tonight. Both teams have shown signs of strengths and weaknesses in four games but neither team has taken control of the series thus far. Tonight should be an indicator of where this series is heading.

The Phoenix Coyotes are coming off their most anemic offensive outputs of the series in game 4 by hardly shooting the puck for the entire 60 minutes of game 4. Instead of taking advantage of offensive opportunities, the Coyotes seemed tentative and more focused on making pretty passes than riddling Jimmy Howard with pucks.

This must change if the Coyotes want to win this series.

The Detroit Red Wings have done a fairly good job of scoring on the Phoenix Coyotes exploiting numerous lapses in the Coyotes defensive game. Defensively, Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard barely got any work in game 4 partially due to the Coyotes focusing on their pretty passing in their offensive zone and not focusing on putting shots on Jimmy Howard. I’m fully expecting the passing drills to be over in game 5 and am expecting to see the Coyotes work on putting more pucks on Jimmy Howard over the course of the game.

The outcome of this game for the Coyotes is simple…

Play Phoenix Coyotes hockey for a full 60 minutes and they will have the best chance of winning the game. This is the Coyotes home ice, the Coyotes fans, the Coyotes series to win.

The only question now is….

How bad do the Coyotes want it?

Cheat Sheet:

- Dave Strader of Fox Sports Arizona is reporting that Mathieu Schneider is in the lineup tonight for the Coyotes, no word on who will be scratched tonight for the Coyotes tonight.

- Ilya Bryzgalov expected to start for the Coyotes in Game 5 and Jimmy Howard is expected to start in net for the Red Wings.

- According to Todd Walsh of FSNAZ, Today’s Morning Skate was optional and Shane Doan was not on the ice.

- Coyotes Captain Shane Doan will be a ‘game time decision’

- Coyotes head Coach Dave Tippett’s Game Day Press Conference (Courtesy PhoenixCoyotes.com):

http://coyotes.nhl.com/club/podcastplayer.htm?pid=335&iid=22308

- Mike Babcock game day press conference:

http://coyotes.nhl.com/club/podcastplayer.htm?pid=335&iid=22307

Things to watch for:

Coyotes Offense – Will the Phoenix Coyotes get aggressive and take advantage of the offensive opportunities given to them in game 5? Or will the Coyotes continue to play their passive passing game in their offensive zone? Correct me if I’m wrong, but you don’t get points for passing the puck around in your offensive zone.

Coyotes Defense – Are they going to pay attention in their defensive zone and not give the Red Wings any scoring chances or will they chase the puck around their defensive zone?

Shane Doan – Will he play? If he does, what will his role be for game five? If he’s not going to play, what will the Coyotes backup plan be?

Who will look better in their white tux? – Strader or Nash?

Keys to the game (some of these are the same as game 3 as they still apply for game 4):

Faceoffs – The Coyotes are most successful when they win key faceoffs and gain possession of the puck. This is another aspect of the series that the Wings have taken advantage of at times. The Coyotes MUST win key faceoffs tonight especially on the Power Play if they are going to be successful tonight.

Bryz has to be the best player on the ice – In this series Bryz has been one of the best players on the ice. However, he’s let in some uncharacteristically soft goals. The Coyotes feed off of his confidence and his dominance for success. He has to be a rock in net tonight while the Coyotes go to work on Jimmy Howard.

Shoot. The. Puck. – The Way to beat Jimmy Howard is not only to get perimeter shots on the Red Wings goaltender but to also pepper him with shots on secondary scoring chances up close. The Red Wings dominated the previous games in the shot department. It’s the Coyotes turn for shot dominance. Howard is weakest when he commits to shots and the Coyotes HAVE to take advantage of that. The Coyotes failed immensely in the shot department in game 4. As a result, they suffered immensely in the game 4 final score.

Stop allowing the Detroit Crease Campers (Bertuzzi/Holmstrom/etc) to get possession of the puck in front of Bryzgalov – They have done too much damage in the series. The Coyotes need to stop the Red Wings from gaining control of the puck in the crease area. The Red Wings have done a pretty good job this series stopping the Coyotes from getting secondary chances on Jimmy Howard. Why can’t the Coyotes do the same thing on the other end of the ice?

Find safety valves when the Red Wings pressure the puck carrier – One challenge that the Coyotes have had this series is working through situations where the Red Wings pressure the puck carrier in all three zones on the ice. The Coyotes need to be aware of this and adapt to it. Find the open man.

How bad do the Coyotes want it? – This is a best of three series now. The Coyotes playoff destiny is now entirely in their hands. They have the tools and ability to win this series. The question is….how bad do the Coyotes want it?

Officials:

Referees: #23 Brad Watson; #34 Brad Meier
Linesmen: #65 Pierre Racicot; #84 Tony Sericolo

Supervisor: Rob Shick

Injuries/Scratches (will be updated as information is made known):

Coyotes: Kurt Sauer(IR), Scottie Upshall(IR), Jim Vandermeer (Scratch), Shane Doan(Game time decision), Robert Lang (Scratch), Viktor Tikhonov (Scratch), Paul Bissonnette (Scratch), The San Antonio 8 (Scratch),
Red Wings: Kurt Maltby, Jason Williams, Daniel Larsson, Doug Janik, Brad May, Mattias Ritola, Jakub Kindl, Derek Meetch, Brett Lebda

Phoenix Coyotes vs Detroit Red Wings Game 4 of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Western Conference Quarter Finals Coyotes lead the series 2 – 1 Joe Lewis Arena – Detroit, Michigan Puck Drops at 3:30 PM AZ Time TV: FSNAZ/FSNAZ + (see below for TV Details) – TSN (Canada)Radio:XTRA 910

Here we are at game 4 in the best of seven series with a new challenge and opportunity for the Phoenix Coyotes. The Coyotes have the opportunity to take two games on Detroit’s home ice this afternoon and if they play their game, the chances are pretty good that the Coyotes can do just that….take two games at the Joe Lewis Arena.

The Coyotes will be without the services of Coyotes Captain Shane Doan who suffered an undisclosed injury in Game 3. As with other challenges this season, the Phoenix Coyotes have met and overcome all manners of challenges with flying colors. I expect no different for game 4. Players must step up into new roles, and in some cases, lines for the game.

I’m expecting another tough battle between both teams and for the Coyotes to continue to play ‘their’ game and dictate play in all three zones on the ice. Hard hitting on Red Wings players, disciplined play in their defensive zone, peppering Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard with shots on goal are just some of the things the Coyotes will need to do to come out with a victory before coming back home for game 5.

This will be a key game for the Coyotes in this series. They have to play ‘their’ game to have the best chance of winning.

Cheat Sheet:

- According to Head Coach Mike Babcock, there will be no changes to the Red Wings lineup for game 4

- Brian Rafalski will be in the lineup for game 4. Rafalski left game 3 with an undisclosed injury after getting repeatedly hit by Shane Doan.

- Wojtek Wolski is on a three game goal streak – Matthew Lombardi has scored five points in three playoff games

- Ilya Bryzgalov expected to start for the Coyotes in Game 4

- Coyotes Captain Shane Doan will not be in the lineup for game 4. It is not known at press time who will take Doan’s place in the lineup.

- Coyotes forward Vernon Fiddler will be back in the Coyotes lineup for game 4

- Coyotes head Coach Dave Tippett’s Game Day Press Conference (from FSNAZ’s Todd Walsh)

http://filesocial.com/1sxyrl3

- Todd Walsh and Dave Strader chat about Game 4 – (from FSNAZ’s Todd Walsh)

http://filesocial.com/1t8ba1f

- Mike Babcock game day press conference (from FSNAZ’s Todd Walsh)

http://filesocial.com/1slygbb

- Map to the Coyotes Game 4 Viewing Party at Zipps Arcadia:

Close

Things to watch for:

Brian Rafalski – According to the Todd Walsh/Dave Strader Podcast Rafalski has been the target of the Coyotes and has taken a TON of punishment. Rafalski left game 3 with an undisclosed injury and will play this afternoon. Watch and see if he still the target of Coyotes players.

Red Wings Defense – In Game 3 the Red Wings switched their defensive package to ‘crashing the crease’ around Howard picking up any loose rebounds and preventing Coyotes players from gaining possession of the puck. Keep an eye out to see if they do this again.

Coyotes Defense –

Keys to the game (some of these are the same as game 3 as they still apply for game 4):

Faceoffs – When you have a player like Pavel Datsyuk (winning 14 of 20 Faceoffs in game 3), Henrik Zetterberg, and Darren Helm winning the majority (Wings won 35 of 65 faceoffs) of the Red Wings faceoffs, there’s a problem.

Discipline – The Coyotes need to bring the hurt and ‘their’ game for 60 minutes. Blocking shots, not allowing secondary scoring chances, not allowing the Holmstrom/Bertuzzi/etc like players a spot in front of the net, and not allowing their big guns any room to move on the ice.

Shut down the Wings in Transition – The Wings have to be kept from getting comfortable in their offensive zone and that starts with the entry into their offensive zone. They are best kept from winning by not allowing them to get shots off or by establishing the offensive zone.

Bryz has to be the best player on the ice – In this series Bryz has been one of the best players on the ice. However, he’s let in some uncharacteristically soft goals. The Coyotes feed off of his confidence and his dominance for success. He has to be a rock in net tonight while the Coyotes go to work on Jimmy Howard.

Shoot. The. Puck. – The Way to beat Jimmy Howard is not only to get perimeter shots on the Red Wings goaltender but to also pepper him with shots on secondary scoring chances. The Red Wings dominated the previous games in the shot department. It’s the Coyotes turn for shot dominance. Howard is weakest when he commits to shots and the Coyotes HAVE to take advantage of that.

Hit me with your best shot – Keep up the hit parade on Red Wings players. It’s working. Just keep it going!

Officials:

Referees: Eric Furlatt-27 & Mike Leggo-3
Linesmen: Jonny Murray-95 & Mike Cvik-88

Supervisor: Rob Shick

Injuries/Scratches (will be updated as information is made known):

Coyotes: Kurt Sauer(IR), Scottie Upshall(IR), Jim Vandermeer (Scratch), Mathieu Schneider(scratch), Shane Doan(Day to Day), Viktor Tikhonov (Scratch), Paul Bissonnette (Scratch), The San Antonio 8 (Scratch),
Red Wings: Kurt Maltby, Jason Williams, Daniel Larsson, Doug Janik, Brad May, Mattias Ritola, Jakub Kindl, Derek Meetch, Brett Lebda

This morning the NHL Announced the first of may 2010 NHL Trophy Finalists starting with the Vezina Trophy. As expected, Phoenix Coyotes Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov along with Ryan Miller of the Buffalo Sabres and Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils are the finalists for the Vezina trophy.

For those of you who are not familiar with the Vezina Trophy process, the trophy is awarded “to the goalkeeper adjudged to be the best at his position”. The Vezina trophy is voted on by the General Managers of all 30 NHL Teams at the end of the regular season. The the three goaltenders with the most amounts of votes are named as finalists. The winner will be announced during the 2010 NHL Awards on Jun 23rd at the Palms Hotel which will be televised on Live Versus in the US and on CBC in Canada.

The NHL also posted a bit of history about Vezina Trophy in their press release today:

Leo Dandurand, Louis Letourneau and Joe Cattarinich, former owners of the Montreal Canadiens, presented the trophy to the National Hockey League in 1926-27 in memory of Georges Vezina, the outstanding Canadiens goaltender who collapsed during an NHL game on Nov. 28, 1925, and died of tuberculosis a few months later. Until the 1981-82 season, the goaltender(s) of the team allowing the fewest number of goals during the regular season were awarded the Vezina Trophy.

Tomorrow at 9 AM Arizona Time, the NHL will announce the finalists for the Frank J. Selke trophy which is given to the top defensive forward in the NHL. The announcement will be made on NHL Live which is streamed live on NHL.com and on the NHL Network (US and Canada)!

Game 3 in the Coyotes/Red Wings series was not only a statement game but a huge character game for the Phoenix Coyotes roster not only after their embarrassing game 2 loss at home but after two key players on their roster went down with undisclosed injuries.

As Coyotes fans who watched the game saw that not only was Vernon Fiddler out of the lineup for the Coyotes, but Captain Shane Doan went down with an undisclosed injury in the second period and never returned (at press time Doan’s status for Game 4 has not been made known).

Normally, the loss of two major pieces to any NHL team’s roster in the post season would crush the morale of most teams. However, the Phoenix Coyotes had gone through situations like this numerous times in the regular season. Once again, Coyotes players stepped up in place of their fallen comrades as they have done so many times this season.

What Coyotes fans didn’t realize or expect was that an entire line would step up and unload an offensive attack that did so much damage the Red Wings did not have an answer. The Czech players on the Coyotes roster exploded for seven points in the game. Five of these points came in the third period as part of a Phoenix Coyotes dominance in front of a national television audience in the US. The only exception of the Czech dominance was Robert Lang who had only 6:58 of ice time in the game and lost all six faceoffs he faced.

Watching the latter part of the game after Captain Shane Doan left the game was an amazing statement as not only was the Czech (Petr Prucha, Radim Vrbata, and Martin Hanzal) line over due for scoring a big goal but the way the entire team never quit was amazing to watch. This statement is a perfect building block (and lesson) to help the Phoenix Coyotes continue on the path to a victory in this series.

Now add to all this, that Game 3 was on NBC in the United States which makes the statement the Coyotes made in Game 3 carry all the more impressive.

One thing to note….

Both of the Detroit Red Wings goals came from the same EXACT location (Bryzgalov’s upper right side) AND the Red Wings were working shots at that angle for the majority of the game. In my opinion, the Red Wings looked like they did their research on Bryzgalov and made attempts to see if this issue in Bryzgalov’s game still existed.

Detroit Goal #1

Detroit Goal #2

One other thing to note in Detroit’s first goal was that even though Derek Morris’s poke check led to a puck falling onto Valtteri Filppula’s sitck, note that Martin Hanzal looked like he was supposed to cover Filppula but couldn’t/didn’t.

Post game stats from our Twitter feed

Official three stars for Game 3: 3) Henrik Zetterberg – DET 2) Radim Vrbata 1) Petr Prucha – Czech DOMINANCE

Game 3 Stats: Shots on Goal in the 3rd: 14-9 Coyotes

Shots on goal(game): 33-31 Coyotes | Hits 38-31 Wings | Blocked shots 11-8 Coyotes | Take Aways 11-7 Coyotes

Wings won 54% of the faceoffs (won 35 of 65 faceoffs)

Petteri Nokelainen – 6 hits – Aucoin, Korpikoski, Doan, Vrbata, Hanzal, and Yandle all with 3 hits

Vrbata 6 shots on goal – Yandle, Hanzal, Lombardi, Prucha, and Morris all with 3 shots on goal.

10 Coyotes players with at least a +1 in Game 3

All Coyotes players had at least a shot on goal except for Jovocop, Nokelainen, Korpikoski and Doan.

Lang’s stats imply he’s probably not playing in game 4 – TOI 6:58 | Lost all 6 faceoffs he had

Wings Pavel Datsyuk may have been held off the score sheet but he was dominant in the faceoff circle – Won 14 of 20 faceoffs

All wings players had at least 1 shot on goal except for Ericsson, Draper, Abdelkader, and Lilja

Nicklas Lidstrom was an uncharacteristic -3 but led TOI at 26:57, 31 shifts, 3 shots, 3 hits, and 2 blocked shots

Game 3 Highlights

Game Summary:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/GS030183.HTM

Event Summary

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/ES030183.HTM

Play by Play

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/PL030183.HTM

Face Off Stats

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/FC030183.HTM

Shootout Stats:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/SO030181.HTM

Post game presser from Coyotes Head Coach Dave Tippett (Courtesy of PhoenixCoyotes.com):

http://coyotes.nhl.com/club/podcastplayer.htm?pid=337&iid=22183

Post game comments from Ilya Bryzgalov (Courtesy of PhoenixCoyotes.com):

Post game comments from Wojtek Wolski (Courtesy of PhoenixCoyotes.com):

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

http://coyotes.nhl.com/club/podcastplayer.htm?pid=335&iid=22177

Post game comments from Sami Lepisto (Courtesy of PhoenixCoyotes.com):

http://coyotes.nhl.com/club/podcastplayer.htm?pid=335&iid=22184

Post game comments from Red Wings Head Coach Mike Babcock:

Post game comments from Red Wings Captain Nicklas Lidstrom:

Post game Comments from Henrik Zetterberg:

Post game comments from Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard: