Ok readers, we have a few things to cover in today’s post. We have two games played, Vancouver and Carolina. There are also a couple of links that I want to share with you. And a look ahead at the Coyotes schedule for the rest of March. Oh and someone old returns to the team (and it’s not DMo).
First up, some interesting reads that have come my way.
The first one is a review of Jobing.com Arena and a bit of Westgate. Of course we all love our arena and the Westgate area but how does it come across to an outsider? The article was pretty balanced and even had some good things to say about the fans:
“The acoustics are very good making it a great venue for a sports event or a concert. With a full house this place really rocks giving the home team an advantage.”
Check out the rest of the article here.
Then there is the “open letter to Phoenix Coyotes fans” from the Ice Edge holding over at Five for Howling. Here are a couple of snippets:
“We are happy to report that regardless of reports to the contrary, there have been no material changes in the process to date. As we stated from the outset, we fully expected the transaction to take upwards of six months, similar to other recent transactions for other NHL franchises.”
“We thank you for being the strongest fans in the National Hockey League.”
I highly suggest you read the rest of the letter here. And yes, this is a valid letter. Travis is a friend of mine and he emailed the Ice Edge group and they sent this release to him.
Now for the games, Wednesday’s game against Vancouver. This was one of those we score, they score games. You think you pull ahead but next thing you know it’s all tied up. New guy Lee Stempniack continues to impress, netting himself two goals. While Pyatt helped out with one goal. And of course, Adrian Aucoin gets the game winner in the shootout, but he got a little help from Jason LaBarbera on this one. Seems LaBarbera was telling him where to shoot the puck. Aucoin getting the shoot out game winner is becoming a trend. Apparently he is clutch in the shootout.
It was a hard decision, but this is my quote of the game because it made me laugh:
“We were very fortunate to get any points out of it let alone two,” Coyotes Head Coach Dave Tippett said. “We’re playing against a team that played last night and they dictated the play. We need to get on the road. Too much home cooking right now.”
All right, then last night we were in North Caroline to take on the Hurricanes. And man was it a good game. Oh yah, and we have now won the most games in Coyotes history, Bryz is now the top NHL goalie in shutouts. All kind of records being broke this year!
Tippet decided to shake up the line a bit, mentioning that the Czech line has grown stale. I agree but can we put Pru with some different guys? He didn’t get many chances to do his dance in front of the net. He’d get there and then the puck would be headed back to the other end. Anyway, the line change up seemed to help because Martin Hanzal got two goals! He hadn’t been scoring much lately and was looking a little lazy but last night? He was on fire! I haven’t seen Marty play like that in awhile. We have learned that Kate needs to talk crap about a player and I need to be not paying attention. If we do those two things, we score. And we win.
Oh and guess who else was on fire? STEMPNIAK! Damn, this guy is a monster! I am absolutely loving this pick up. I don’t even remember what we gave Toronto, a pick maybe? Damn we rocked that trade.
And I have to give credit where credit is due. Bryz. There were a few scary moments but Bryz shut them down! He was playing out of his mind. Even though Carolina turned up the pressure with like 5 minutes left, Bryz stopped everything they threw at him. He earned that 8th shutout of the season.
Quote of the game from Stempniak:
“I’ve developed some good chemistry with my linemates (Vernon Fiddler and Taylor Pyatt). We all play similar games based on working hard and skating well and getting in on the forecheck.”
The rest of March is going to be difficult but I know we can rise to the challenge. Here is a rundown of our schedule:
Today: at Atlanta
Tuesday: at Lightning
Thursday: at Panthers
Saturday: Home to face the Blackhawks
Sunday: at Stars
Tuesday: at Blackhawks
Thursday: at Predators
Saturday: Home to take on the Avalanche
Tuesday: at Canucks
Wednesday: at Flames
Yikes! That is quite the schedule. Go out east, come back home for a day then go play in Dallas the next day? Wow. We are going to have to really want to win those games. We are going to have to have everyone contributing. But you know what? This is a new team under a new coach and I have no doubt that we can come out ahead here. We aren’t going to crash and burn like years past. This is part of the reason I chose the title that I did. It’s from the song “Hurricane” by Something Corporate. So, I picked the song because we most recently played the Hurricanes but I settled on those particular lyrics because this is a new team and we are on the edge of something new here.
Anyway, so I would guess that LaBarbera will be in net today since it’s back to back games and well, it’s the Thrashers. Not that I am saying this will be an easy win because you just never know. But of all the games coming up, this is the one I am least worried about. And I think you rest Bryz today and let him play Tuesday and Thursday.
Unfortunately this game is not on Phoenix or Atlanta tv which is really too bad. How are we supposed to twitter #Cheliosissoold jokes without seeing him out there with his walker? Sorry, I had to go there. The guy is 48 and started off in the AHL this year. He should have retired when he was ahead.
Someone old has returned to the Coyotes. Viktor Tikhonov has been recalled from Russia where he was playing for Cherepovets of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He was the healthy scratch last night. Maybe he will get the chance to prove himself today against the Thrashers. Funny thing I just noticed… he is not listed on the roster. Will he be sent back down to the Rampage? I guess we just continue to watch this story and see how it pans out…
In case you’ve forgotten who Tiki is.
I have emailed Rachael Ray but have not heard anything back from them yet. So as it stands now, I cannot reprint the recipe. I am trying to figure out how I can get it on here for you with out violating anything. I suppose if you emailed me, I could send you the recipe but I still think you should just go out and buy the April 2010 issue. It’s full of other fabulous recipes.
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