Announced after practice earlier today (It's still today in Prague right?) Keith Yandle will wear an A for the Phoenix Coyotes this season. The announcement is both surprising becaause he's still such a young player, but also fitting as he's always friendly with other players and fans and always seems to have inside jokes or rituals with other players. After Coyotes wins there's always the jumping chest bump with Ed Jovanovski as well as what looks to be an almost "Three Amigos" style high five with goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov.
Yandle is going to be a cornerpiece of this franchise defensively for years to come. If not for the fact that he hadn't been in US Olympic camp to get drug tested , he likely would have made last year's team after showing the player he's developed into early in the season. While watching him grow on the fly in the NHL instead of in the AHL was painful at times, he's become much more responsible defensively while picking up the offense as well. He's jumps into plays quickly and intentionally, throwing opposing defenses off.
Year
Team
GP
G
A
Pts
+/-
PIM
Hits
BkS
PPG
PPA
SHG
SHA
GW
SOG
Pct
2007-08
PHO
43
5
7
12
-12
14
N/A
N/A
4
4
0
0
0
72
.069
2008-09
PHO
69
4
26
30
-4
37
N/A
N/A
1
12
0
0
0
118
.034
2009-10
PHO
82
12
29
41
16
45
36
82
5
11
0
0
2
145
.083
Career Totals (Full)
201
21
64
85
0
104
36
82
10
29
0
0
2
345
.061