Coyote Tracks - WHITEOUT Wednesday April 21 Edition
by Jordan Ellel on Apr 21, 2010 6:00 AM MST
in Phoenix Coyotes Daily Links
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Maybe the Coyotes were too busy with the joys of the day yesterday, or just missing their captain, but by all accounts, it was a flat, tentative effort. Now, I say that having gotten to see all of 7 minutes of actual game time live on TV...and that's with leaving work about an hour before I should have. Thanks NHL schedulers. Yeah, nobody in Phoenix will care if the super important fourth game of the series is on at 3:30 in the afternoon on a Tuesday. Thanks...appreciate that.
Hopefully Travis will put up a longer recap than that because I can honestly say I don't know what happened in the game. I love Bob Heethuis' enthusiasm on the radio, but I just never feel like I have a clue what's really going on. So I'll leave my opening at that.
Recaps: [Travis' take] [AP via ESPN] [AZCentral's Gintonio] [Winging it in Motown]
So we're down to a best of 3 game series with 2 games at Jobing.com Arena with the first on Friday Night. I hope everyone is planning on being there, and being loud. Hopefully Shane Doan will be recovered from his upper body injury and we can get the lines reassembled and clicking.
LAST NIGHT'S NHL SCORES: PHX 0 - DET 3 (Series tied at 2); PIT 7 - OTT 4 (Pittsburgh leads series 3-1); NJ 1 - PHL 4 (Philadelphia leads series 3-1); CHI 1 - NSH 4 (Nashville leads series 2-1); SJ 2 - COL 1 (OT) (Series tied at 2)
After the jump, Coyotes tailgaters, Phoenix's defense can power its offense, more...
Single Video Player
Coyotes fans take over Lot J outside Jobing.com Arena on weekend game days to tailgate...see yours truly and Travis Hair passing the puck a bit while playing street hockey...
Dave Tippett has Coyotes fans coming back for more - ProHockeyTalk - Hockey - NBC Sports
This is the story that links to the one below, so I don't really know why I'm including them both...but whatever...
Phoenix Coyotes fan's faith is restored
Follower always displays U.S., team flags at games. A nice story about a longtime Coyotes fan.
Detroit's talent advantage slimmed by salary cap - The Globe and Mail
Phoenix had plenty of doubters even after a 107-point season but they've proven a tough test for the Wings...The G&M points out that the salary cap is preventing the Red Wings (ever so slightly) from being the Yankees of the NHL...but they neglects to mention that they've worked around it a bit by signing their superstars to very longterm deals...
Defense Is Offense In Phoenix -- NHL FanHouse
Highlighting the offensive production of the Coyotes defense throughout the season and through the first three games of the series. Nobody produced any offense really in the game last night...
Anyways, post additional stuff that you see in the comments below. And I am feeling too depressed to give you whimsy so send some of that too...
Ok, since you twisted my arm...a little whimsy.
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I was able to watch from the 2nd period on, but yeah, totally agree about just listening on the radio.
They seemed to play a tight game until the Wings’ first goal. Bryz was playing great too. Without Doan to rally the team after that, things just fell apart.
And the powerplay… yeah… WTF? Why isn’t Schneider in the lineup? Wasn’t he supposed to be the PP expert? Nash always talked about how he was able to get the puck through traffic and on net. I can’t imagine he’s that much of a defensive liability.
I think Schneider might be nursing an injury. He is 42 or so and coming off of a knee injury. But as Guinea Pig writes below, they need to shoot the puck a lot more. The old hockey adage is “good things happen when you put the puck on net”, and the Coyotes need to be doing that more. Just look at the 3rd Red Wings goal…just putting it on net and it ends up in the back…
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(Oh, and go Philly teams as well!)
by Jordan Ellel on Apr 21, 2010 8:42 AM MST up reply actions
Heck, same thing with the first goal. Kronner just threw it at the net and Z tipped it in between.
Sometimes you just have to throw it at the net and see where it bounces.
I kinda got that impression on the first goal, but as I mentioned in my opening, I didn’t see the first 2.5 periods of the game. Despite taping them, I didn’t really feel like going back and watching :(
But yeah, it didn’t sound like there was much anyone could do about that first goal…
Support Coyotes Hockey - Five For Howling
(Oh, and go Philly teams as well!)
by Jordan Ellel on Apr 21, 2010 9:02 AM MST up reply actions
St. Louis Game Time visitor here....
Too much passing, not enough shooting. They kept looking for a perfect lane rather than just getting it on net.
To me, it looked like the Coyotes went to their 'lock down' mode, and hoped a miraculous goal might eke them out a win.
After Detroit scored one, the game plan went to shiz. They looked frantic, lost, and basically ran around like a chicken with it’s head cut off.
Honestly, I can’t blame them for that strategy, especially because it’s againtst Detroit, and also because it’s worked for them throughout the year.
To beat the Wings, The ‘Yotes need to surprise them. The trade acquisitions of Wolski, Stempniak, Noki, and maybe Schneider need to step in and make their presence felt. They don’t necessarily have to be the primary goal scorers ( it wouldn’t hurt), but they need to do what they do best to push Detroit off of their offensively-styled confidence. As soon as you do that (see game 1 and 3), you’re in the hunt for a win.
Lesson learned from game 3 : The “sit back and wait for your opportunity” approach won’t work against Detroit. Phoenix needs to find a way to fight fire with fire. Make no mistake, Phoenix is capable of hanging at this level. It’ll just seem like more of an experiment once Tippett throws his guns out, on all cylinders.
Sound crazy? It shouldn’t. Tippett’s proven one thing all season long, and that he’s not stupid. A happy medium of playing it safe, while figuring out the pockets of ‘where to take advantage’ on the offensive…He’s got 4 games of playoffs, plus 4 games of regular season footage to peruse.
if I were Detroit, I would be scared. Professor Tippett’s gonna give you a run for your money. If I were any team, facing a Tippett-led team would probably scare the bejesus out of me.
I like my goals like I like my booze..... Top shelf.
by GhostOfLinkGaetz on Apr 21, 2010 11:54 AM MST reply actions
Except...
…Tippet has been out of the first round exactly twice. Lost to Anaheim (03) and Detroit (08) in the conference semis and finals respectively.
The other 4 years he either didn’t advance out of the first round (03-07) or missed entirely (09).
His track record as a coach has me anything but scared, and certainly not enough to exorcise bejesus out of me.
What Does Scare Me
I’ve seen lots of teams completely lose their composure in games that went down like last night’s. The Hawks imploded as a team in a game like that one in last year’s Western Conference Finals where it was tight for a long period before Detroit scored one and then opened the floodgates.
Phoenix didn’t do that. They didn’t start running around at guys or taking themselves out of position to try to hurt somebody. Sure, they opened the game plan a bit, but they had to. What I saw out of Phoenix late last night that worries me was composure.
Babcock’s broken coaches with more clout than Tippett, keeping his team’s focus is going to be a challenge if the ’Yotes can keep from getting frustrated. The Wings will jump all over a team the minute they start to show that lack of cohesion.
by J.J. from Kansas on Apr 21, 2010 2:32 PM MST up reply actions
I am a little encouraged by the fact that in both of Phoenix’s losses they were down by only 1 with 4 minutes to play before the wheels fell off a bit. Granted the Coyotes won a 1 goal and 2 goal game the series, so it’s not like they’ve just been blowing Detroit out of the water in the other games. But Phoenix definitely will not completely lose its composure regardless of what happens. I think the Coyotes have a good chance coming back home to win Game 5, particularly if Doan is back in the lineup. It was an absolute must win for Detroit and the Coyotes hung with them throughout the game; it’ll be interesting to see if Detroit can match that intensity here on Friday.
Support Coyotes Hockey - Five For Howling
(Oh, and go Philly teams as well!)
by Jordan Ellel on Apr 21, 2010 3:21 PM MST up reply actions
The start time for game 4 was much better then making Wings fans stay up half the night watching a game. I was also at the Joe for game 4 and I don’t think that Coyotes Fans can the intensity that was in that building Tuesday night.
We can agree to disagree, but at least staying up is a choice – leaving work midway through the day, generally is not an option. As for intensity, it’s been plenty loud for Games 1 and 2 at Jobing.com, and I expect nothing different for Game 5; whether it is as loud as JLA or just slightly quieter, I have no way of measuring…I know it will be white and it will be loud.
Support Coyotes Hockey - Five For Howling
(Oh, and go Philly teams as well!)
by Jordan Ellel on Apr 22, 2010 4:33 PM MST up reply actions
This is the Western Conference. Phoenix is in the Pacific time zone this time of the year, like a large portion of the Western Conference teams. Detroit is in the Eastern time zone. It was awful that the NHL scheduled a game that was aired in the middle of the workday here. As already answered, you always have the option to stay up late and watch the game. Most of us don’t have an option to leave work. This was awful. I hope this never happens again.
Coyotes, in this series, seem to get a bit panicked after Detroit scores. I have been slightly alarmed to see them fall apart late in 2 games after Detroit scored. And the middle of that 2nd game was the most panic I have seen the Yotes play with in a long time. I get worried because Detroit often uses this to score in bunches. They did it all season long. I hope Tippet finds a way to stop this. Bryz seems okay after he lets one in. Rest of the team, not so much.
Oh, and I agree about the radio. I really love the Coyotes announcing team because they seem so impartial most of the time. But, sometimes I would love to get more from the radio guys about the state of the Coyotes play since I can’t see it.
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Pacific Standings
| GP | W | L | OTL | PT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
San Jose
|
49 | 29 | 14 | 6 | 64 |
|
Los Angeles
|
51 | 25 | 16 | 10 | 60 |
|
Dallas
|
50 | 26 | 22 | 2 | 54 |
|
Phoenix
|
51 | 22 | 21 | 8 | 52 |
|
Anaheim
|
50 | 19 | 24 | 7 | 45 |
(updated 2.3.2012 at 7:29 AM MST)
Coyotes Schedule
Next 5 Games
|
San Jose
|
Sat 02/04 | 6:00 PM MST |
|
Detroit
|
Mon 02/06 | 6:00 PM MST |
|
@
Dallas
|
Tue 02/07 | 6:30 PM MST |
|
Calgary
|
Thu 02/09 | 7:00 PM MST |
|
Chicago
|
Sat 02/11 | 6:30 PM MST |
Last 5 Games
|
Anaheim
|
Tue 01/31 | L 1 - 4 |
|
Ottawa
|
Tue 01/24 | W 3 - 2 |
|
Tampa Bay
|
Sat 01/21 | L 3 - 4 |
|
Detroit
|
Thu 01/19 | SO - L 2 - 3 |
|
@
Anaheim
|
Wed 01/18 | L 2 - 6 |
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