On Monday everyone was excited that Gustavsson was starting in net for Detroit, except me. Everyone thought since Monster is such a sieve it would be easy to score goals and win the game. My reply? Coyotes can't score, don't become overconfident. The games we expect to win are the ones in which the Coyotes fall flat on their faces. As the great (in his mind) SputnikAZ likes to say: never get too high, never get too low.
This has not been the Coyotes year. The last few years have been great, especially last year but something just isn't clicking this year. There were only a few roster changes from last year and I honestly thought the Coyotes would be just as good. Boy was I wrong.
Smith had a phenomenal year last year. Was it a fluke? Or is the shortened season and condensed schedule too much of a burden on Smith? Is he tired, playing with small, nagging injuries? Well, currently he's on IR but I mean overall. For some reason he is just not having as good of a year as last.
Our defense struggled early on while our forwards actually seemed to be scoring. We finally seem to get the defense straightened out and the forwards stop scoring. It is hard to win games if you can't score goals. Smith and company can stop all goals or allow 107 but it won't matter if our forwards can't get 1 or 108 goals.
The power play looked so promising earlier this season too. It is now slowly going the way of the buffalo (cookie for you if you get the reference). Obviously something is not working, somewhere something is broken. Is it coaching staff? Players? A combination? Something beyond that? I know I don't have the answers and neither does any other fan; we aren't privy to everything.
What would I like to see going forward?
My wish list would include a power play that works. One where dump and chase is not very common but where we can actually carry the puck into the zone. We win face offs all over the ice but when it comes time to a power play faceoff we can't win one to save our lives. I'd like to get some face offs. I'll settle for 50%.
I'd also like a true sniper. A goal scorer. Someone who gets 30+ goals a season, consistently. Someone that has proven he has what it takes to score all the time or at least when it matters. I don't know who this is but I want him. 😉
I want the Coyotes to be less fancy-pants in their passes. It's great that you have figured out the drop pass but it is not appropriate in every situation. Along the same lines… stop being so unselfish. If you have a shot, please take it. Yes you have a teammate coming up but he may not have a shot and now you've wasted a perfect opportunity.
Lastly, I want to see a full 60 minutes played. I want to see lots of hard hitting hockey. We don't have a team stocked with a bunch of highly skilled players. Coyotes have always played best when physical but you can't always come from behind and win because you didn't want o play in the first period. Nor can you give up in the third and blow a lead. I can't count how many times I've said this over the past six or so years. Last year was about the only time I wasn't saying it every other game.
Honestly at this point I don't care if the Coyotes make the playoffs this season. The way they've played hasn't been indicative of a playoff team. I just want to see them play their best and I don't think that has happened much this season.
Tell Me: What is your wish list for the Coyotes? Would you consider a coaching change if it helped the power play? Who would you deal and for what?
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