It's the moment Phoenix Coyotes fans have been waiting for since Shane Doan's first 2 goal game way back in who knows, 1997? 98? With just .1 second left on the clock and staring his 39th 2 goal game in the face the Coyote Captain ripped one last shot on net and Evgeni Nabokov just couldn't save it. call it karma, call it luck, call it whatever you want, but Doan put that extra drama into one of the best moments in team history as the hats rained down. Toronto had to make it official as it was close, but the call on the ice stood and one of the best guys in all of hockey finally got his hat trick after scoring 305 previous goals. (Now 308?)

While the third goal was certainly the most important for Doan, his previous two in the game really got the Coyotes going. He started the scoring in the game with a knee drop shot from the left side cleaning up a rebound and sent it high over the out stretched arm of Nabokov. The second was almost as pretty as Doan broke out on a turnover and sent it five hole to make it 2-1 in the second period. Check back in a few for the video highlights of them, but use this thread to profess your love for Shane Doan.

Video after the jump...

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Kyle Turris apparently got his Christmas present a bit early this holiday season. Turris is no longer property of the Phoenix Coyotes. Coyotes General Manager Don Maloney has traded the young center to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for another young player in the form of defensemen David Runblad. GMDM also got Ottawa to throw in their 2nd round draft pick in the 2012 entry draft. The trade allows Turris a fresh start and the Coyotes to be rid of one of the two pieces of drama surrounding the franchise (ownership being the other).

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Justin Pogge

#35 / Goalie / Phoenix Coyotes

Height: 6-3

Weight: 197

Born: Apr 22, 1986

Goalie Justin Pogge has been recalled by the Phoenix Coyotes. No word yet on the staus of Mike Smith or Jason Labarbera, but since its an emergency recall one of the two players is likely either injured or has something going on that would preclude them from playing this evening.

Pogge was signed a two way deal with the club in the offseason. He has spent the last couple of seasons playing in the minors. The goaltender's only NHL experience came with the Toronto Maple Leafs back in the 2008-09 season. He was a 3rd round draft choice by the Leafs in the 2004 draft. His numbers this season in Portland have not been spectacular. In his seven games played he has an .891 save percentage and 3.22 GAA. He last played on Sunday (12/11) in Portland's 5-4 shootout loss to Manchester.

As reported earlier today by Dan Tancer from CHED 630AM in Alberta,  the Calgary Flames have traded center Daymond Langkow to the Phoenix Coyotes.   In exchange, the Coyotes have sent forward Lee "Desert Ninja" Stempniak to Calgary.  Given the Ryan Smyth trade issue and Langkow's recent neck injury it shouldn't be a surprise that the trade is contingent on Langkow passing a physical.  This will be Langkow's second go round in a Coyotes sweater.  The Edmonton native arrived in the Valley back in 2001 via a trade with the Philadelphia Flyers.  He spent 3 seasons in Phoenix before he was traded to Calgary in 2004 in exchange for Denis Gauthier and Oleg Saprykin.

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Media reports have Boyd Gordon signing a two year deal worth $2.65 million total with the Coyotes.  Gordon will likely fill Vernon Fiddler's role on the 4th line.  Fiddler signed a deal with division rival Dallas.  Gordon played his entire pro career in the Washington Capitals organization prior to signing with the Desert Dogs.  He was selected by the Caps in the first round in 2002 and was Alexander Ovechkin's first center in the NHL.

Based on career numbers, the Coyotes lose a bit of offense with the former Cap coming in and Fiddler leaving, but not much else. He's not going to bring much offense to the table.  Gordon only has 27 career goals in the NHL.  However, his strengths are those similar to Fiddler's.  He's a solid defensive forward who is good in the faceoff circle and kills penalties.  The major concern with Gordon is his health.  He missed a number of games due to various health troubles, including back issues, the last few seasons in D.C

For more on Gordon's play the last season check out Gordon's Rink Wrap at our SB Nation partner blog, Japer's Rink.

The Coyotes released their preseason schedule today. While there's a very cool game against the Stars to be played at Reliant Stadium, home of the Houston Texans, the bigger news for Coyotes fans is that there are only 2 home preseason games. One, a split squad game against the Kings and the preseason finale against the Sharks. I don't really blame the team for doing that as the preseason games aren't exactly big draws, and by keeping the closer and having the big game in Houston it gets more focus on the hockey rather than the City or the other issues. Though I'm sure those won't be brought up again this coming season. 

For those that don't know much about Reliant Stadium, it's a retractable dome stadium that seats about 71500 people. This wouldn't be the first time they've had ice in the stadium as they've also had things like Disney on ice, but to the best of my knowledge, not ice hockey. It might not be the Winter Classic, but it does bring big stadium hockey to a "Non-traditional" market and could be a good test of how that would work if the League ever considered doing the classic in Southern or Western markets. 

The Schedule:

• Sept. 20: Anaheim Ducks-Honda Center-7 p.m.
• Sept. 21: *Los Angeles Kings-Jobing.com Arena-7 p.m.
• Sept: 21: *Los Angeles Kings-Staples Center-7:30 p.m.
• Sept. 23: Dallas Stars-Reliant Stadium-TBD
• Sept. 24: San Jose Sharks-HP Pavilion-7:30 p.m.
• Sept. 27: Edmonton Oilers-Rexall Place-6 p.m.
• Sept: 29: Calgary Flames-Scotiabank Saddledome-6 p.m.
• Oct. 1: San Jose Sharks-Jobing.com Arena-6 p.m.

(* denotes split squad game.)

The Phoenix Coyotes re-signed goaltender Jason LaBarbera on Monday to a two year deal. Reports are that he will receive 1.25 million dollars a year in the new deal.  The Burnaby, B.C. native has been a steady presence in net for the Desert Dogs while serving as Ilya Bryzgalov's backup the last two seasons  He set career highs in save percentage and GAA during his first season with the team during the 2009-10 season.  He followed that season up with another solid performance this season.  While his numbers weren't as good, one could argue neither was the support he received on many nights.  He still put up a save percentage of .909 which is average numbers wise for an NHL goalie and one most teams would be happy to get from their backup.

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At yet another riveting meeting and vote, the members of the City of Glendale's city council voted 5-2 for a 25 million dollar pay out to run and manage Jobing.com Arena through the 2011-2012 season. The move will give the NHL and interested parties one last year to try and get this mess tied up for good. At least for Phoenix Coyotes Coyotes fans they don't have to worry about relocation for another year. Well, except the inevitable continuing saga that will be played up if the NHL et al doesn't wrap this up post haste.

The meeting itself was the usual mix of Coyotes fans and some rational and some not-so-rational dissent to the idea of paying the arena management fee to keep the lights on. One of the best highlights from the meeting was Mayor Elaine Scuggs slamming Jerry Moyes for bleeding the team dry and then causing this mess to begin with. Then following that up by blasting the Goldwater Institute for using this whole process as simple a way to get publicity. It's taken long enough for everyone to be fed up with this including the Honorable Mayor.

The fact of the mater is this though, Glendale approved the cash, but the team still faces an uncertain future. If there isn't a deal done by July 1 Don Maloney is going to be awfully hamstrung trying to re-sign players and bring in new talent. That in turn will cause another season in the stands like we saw this past year. That's something the team simply can't afford. The fanbase has basically been given a mulligan, and needs to get out to the arena win or lose. That's asking a lot and may not be realistic but it needs to happen. Though the alternative is just to get the deal done and frankly, I like that better.