SB Nation - Josh Tordjman

Coyotes Open Training Camp Practices Start Today

OdinMercer — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 07:00:28 -0000

More photos » by Paul Connors - AP

The Great One won't be the one leading camp this year.

Officially camp actually started yesterday, but the first public practices start today at 9:00 am. Here's a look at those invited to camp this year. There are a few names in there that you might recognize from around the league that have not signed with the Coyotes. Ryan Hollweg formerly with Toronto, Aaron Downey from Detroit, Ross Lupaschuk from Anaheim and the KHL and Mitch Fritz from the Islanders. None of them have particularly impressive resumes, but I imagine they're trying out for the position of "Hey someone got hurt, call us up from San Antonio."

Wayne Gretzky, doesn't look to be coming to camp as of today, Ulf Samuellson will be leading in his place. With Wayne's contract situation in the air due to the bankruptcy mess, he simply decided he wasn't going to be there. But I guess Coyotes fans will be getting what a large portion of them had wanted for some time, Wayne out as head coach.

I'll update and repost the list as cuts are made.

Forwards		Defence		Goaltenders
Justin Bernhardt	Mikkel Boedker	Jonas Ahnelov	Nick Ross	Ilya Bryzgalov
Jeff Hoggan	Peter Mueller	Adrian Aucoin	Ed Jovanovski	Joel Gistedt
Kevin Porter	Taylor Pyatt	Shaun Heshka	Michael Stone	Josh Tordjman
Matt Watkins	Scottie Upshall	Chris Frank	Ross Lupaschuk	Jason LaBarbera
David Spina	Francis Lessard	Mathieu Brodeur	Zbynek Michalek	Al Montoya
Vernon Fiddler	Mitch Fritz	Sean Sullivan	Kurt Sauer
Martin Hanzal	Ryan Hollweg	Sean Zimmerman	Sami Lepisto
Lauri Korpikoski	Jordan Szwarz	Tim Billingsley	Keith Yandle
Daniel Winnik	Radim Vrbata	Justin Weller	Jim Vandermeer
Viktor Tikhonov	Andrew Orpik	David Schlemko	Jeff May
Colin Long	Aaron Downey
Shane Doan	Chad Kolarik
Matthew Lombardi	Brett MacLean
Stefan Meyer	Joel Perrault
Petr Prucha	Jared Staal
Kyle Turris

A Conversation about the Phoenix Coyotes with Five for Howling

John Fischer — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 15:12:34 -0000

More photos » by Marcio Jose Sanchez - AP

These are the Phoenix Coyotes, celebrating a goal. Also pictured: expected salary-eater, Ed Jovanovski. Let's learn more about this team. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

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During this offseason, there is plenty of time available as we await training camp and the 2009-10 season to actually begin. Plenty of time to reflect, to analyze, and to learn. Among the SB Nation hockey blog network, we have decided to ask questions of a team in the opposite conference. Given that the Devils don't play too many Western conference opponents, we may not know much about them. And the only way to find answers is to seek them out (I think that's from a book, but whatever). Call it, a Summer Fill, if you will. It's taking place across the network even as you read this (example: Tampa Bay and Detroit.)

In any case, I had a conversation with Odin Mercer of Five for Howling - a Phoenix Coyotes blog - to learn more about each other's teams. We split up the questions and posted up the our respective responses. Odin has the questions he had about the Devils and my response already up at Five for Howling. What follows after the jump are my questions about the Phoenix Coyotes and his responses.

I encourage you to check out Five for Howling and engage in the discussion there, perhaps you have something to add that I missed about the Devils. I also encourage you to comment on any other questions or thoughts you have about the Coyotes. I'll pass on any interesting questions to Odin and if there's enough, we could have a follow-up to this post.

John Fischer: OK. First question, and it's the obligatory and ONLY one regarding this situation: How long will the Coyotes stay in Phoenix?

Odin Mercer: For the foreseeable future. If the court accepts the Reinsdorf bid, the only official bid that keeps the team in phoenix, then there's no way that the Glendale lease gets broken in the near future. Everyone talks about them bailing after a couple years but Glendale will still be there and won't be putting any out clauses into the lease.

John Fischer: Most recently, Devils fans saw the Coyotes come to the Rock last season and saw a guy by the name of Josh Tordjman get lit up pretty well. [Here's my recap of that game, a 5-2 Devils win.] Not exactly a fair representation of the team, perhaps. So let's start there. Who are the netminders for the Coyotes and how are confident are you in them for this coming season?

Odin Mercer: Well, Ilya Bryzgalov will be the starter the majority of the time. He's solid when the team can play D in front of him, but if teams get to him early he can get in his head and then implode. We also signed Jason LaBarbera in the offseason to back him up. I don't think there's too much danger of him stealing the starting role, but he can at least step up for a game or two if we need him. Al Montoya is the young guy to keep watching. He came in for the last 4 games of the season and went 3-1 with a shutout. They weren't pressure filled games, but he could be in the NHL in the not too distant future. So long as Bryz stays healthy we should be okay in goal though.

John Fischer: Now, speaking of the Islanders, the Coyotes are at least a little similar in that younger players have significant roles on the team. Which of those younger players have been doing well with Phoenix so far?

Odin Mercer: We do have a lot of young guys on the team. I think depending on who was on the roster from game to game we went back and forth with the Hawks on being the youngest in the league. I think Martin Hanzal has been huge for us. He's not scoring tons of goals, but he's a big kid and can be the 2nd or 3rd center. He's very good on the defensive end as well. Mikkel Boedker is probably my favorite of last year's rookies, he wasn't super consistent in his first year, but he's great with the puck and makes some incredible moves.

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2008 - Mikkel Boedker	78	11	17	28	-6	18	2	0	3	0	116	9.5

John Fischer: Let's talk a little more about Boedker. He's entering his second season of hockey. Do you think he'll hit the sophomore slump hard, or do you think he'll rise above?

Odin Mercer: It's always hard to tell with young guys. Peter Mueller is an example of one of our kids that really hit that slump in year two. The thing is though, to everyone watching you can tell what the problem is but no one was fixing it. So I think a lot of it will have to do with who's there to help when he hits an inevitable rough patch or two. The other thing he has going for him is that while he played well, he wasn't this massive producer that's going to be leaned on to win the game. With all the young guys that pressure kind of gets spread around so hopefully it won't have too much of an effect.

John Fischer: Fair enough. The Devils got a big taste of that with Zajac, who had an excellent third season which was parlayed into a nice contract for him and a lot of love for him here. Maybe the Coyotes' third year players will have the same effect?

Odin Mercer: They could. Hopefully they don't do too well though so we can sign them to reasonable deals.

John Fischer: Speaking of third year players, how's Kyle Turris?

Odin Mercer: Kyle is small.

Kyle Turris

#91 / Center / Phoenix Coyotes

Height: 6-1

Weight: 180

Born: Aug 14, 1989

How is he: Small

John Fischer: Seriously.

Odin Mercer: He's a good player, but I think he got rushed a bit. He just wasn't ready to be in the NHL full time. His size doesn't help. He's got little chicken legs and especially at the beginning of the year was getting shoved all over the place. He got better about shrugging off the checks as the year went on. He may have to fight for his spot in camp this year - which may not be a bad thing. He'll be a great player at some point, but we'll have to see what shape he is come camp time. If he puts on a little more muscle, then that will help his game a ton.

John Fischer: Now, what do you make of the current Coyote's defense? What would you say their overall style would be (e.g. physically-inclined, etc.)

Odin Mercer: It's hard to say. Every pairing seems to bring something different. The Zbynek Michalek - Kurt Sauer tandem led the league in blocked shots. Keith Yandle is a little more offensive minded and has started to find his Game. Ed Jovanovski just needs to decide who he wants to be again. Does he want to lay the other team out with the hits he can make? Or try and be the scoring defenseman? Last year he couldn't decide and ended up not being either one. We added Adrian Aucoin and Jim Vandermeer who aren't exactly offensive forces in the off season but can eat up minutes. I think if I had to go with a "style" I'd say they're going to prevent a lot of shots from the beginning. Not necessarily from checks, but from blocks and other methods.

John Fischer: What do you expect out of Ed Jovanovski next season?

Odin Mercer: I expect nothing except for him to eat salary at this point. Seriously. I find that it's better to not expect much from him and be surprised. I was so frustrated with him last year. There were times he literally assisted on other team's goals. Not just turned it over or the neutral zone or something, but stick to stick to the other team for a goal. It's aggravating to pay 6 million for that. If he can just get back to hitting and denying the puck and not even thinking about scoring, that will make me happy.

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2008 - Ed Jovanovski	82	9	27	36	-15	106	6	0	3	0	194	4.6

John Fischer: Let's talk about the fans. What is the general atmosphere at a Coyotes game?

Odin Mercer: It depends. At the beginning of the year it's pretty good, people are at the games, the arena is mostly full, but once we hit rough spots it becomes harder to fill. The other problem is that I think the casual fan doesn't really know what to do at a hockey game. They don't know what to cheer for or when to do what. I've had friends shushed at the games for cheering by people that don't really get it. I think there's some fan education that needs to happen there. But mainly when the team does well the crowds show up. We had it going pretty well until we tanked after the break last year. We just need some sort of success and the fans will come and make the arena rock. Which it needs to. It's a beautiful arena and one of the best hockey venues in the league, but it needs to be full of fans.

John Fischer: What is Wayne Gretzky's style of coaching? Other than, not good enough?

Odin Mercer: It's hard to say. There are times when he's not even at the practices and lets the assistants do it. On the bench he can be fiery, but like too many coaches these days, he often starts blending up the lines after the first shift. It's hard to keep track of who's playing with whom. The blender gets old really fast. It would be one thing if there wasn't chemistry between guys, but if a line has one or two of games but was previously successful it gets blown up.

John Fischer: That sounds like Brent Sutter in '07-'08.

Odin Mercer: Yeah. It's even hard to tell what style of play he's going for from night to night. Makes me wonder if he even knows what it is. If there's one good thing to come out of this mess it's that if Reinsdorf wins Gretz is done coaching us and we can see if it was him or our guys.

John Fischer: Who would you want coaching the Coyotes?

Odin Mercer: That's a good question. I'm not really sure who would work for us. Dave Tippett is a name I've heard mentioned a few times. He's played against us enough to know what works/doesn't on our team too. He got a raw deal in Dallas for last year too. How much was he supposed to do with half the team on the IR? He might want to pound the Stars 6 times a year.

John Fischer: I would have liked him in NJ, but my understanding is that he wanted some time off?

Odin Mercer: I'm not sure. There have been plenty of other issues to deal with before the looking for a new coach phase.

John Fischer: Of course.

I hope you got plenty of information out that as much as I did. I would like to give a big thanks to Odin at Five for Howling for responding to my questions and for taking part in this effort to fill the summer time up. Again, leave any comments and questions about the Coyotes here.

Coyotes Re-Sign Scottie Upshall and Josh Tordjman

OdinMercer — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 09:12:15 -0000

More photos » by Ross D. Franklin - ASSOCIATED PRESS

4 months ago: Phoenix Coyotes' Scottie Upshall (8) shoots to score on Dallas Stars' Tobias Stephan (31), of Switzerland, in the first period of an NHL hockey game Monday, March 30, 2009, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

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The Coyotes today announced that they have resigned both Scottie Upshall and Josh Tordjman to one year deals. While the Team didn't realease the numbers on what each signed for, Capgeek.com has Upshall signed for 1.5 million, and after the season he'd still be a restricted free agent. Tordjman was signed for just over half a million, if he plays in the NHL. Chances are he won't be seeing much time in Phoenix. He'll also be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

Both deals are solid for all sides in my opinion. In Upshall's case, he wanted more money after a career season. 1.5 is okay money for someone that's only just started to show what he can do. Having just the one year deal both allows him to show he can replicate last year's success and keeps him an RFA so the Coyotes aren't losing an asset at year's end.

Tordjman was honestly lucky to get much of anything. I was surprised that the team actually kept him on after some of his performances last year. With Montoya looking to be the starter in San Antonio at the moment, Tordjman is really going to have to make an impression simply to get starts down on the farm team.

Coyotes Extend Qualifying Offers to a Dozen Players

OdinMercer — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:07:31 -0000

More photos » by Paul Connors - AP

Phoenix Coyotes left winger Scottie Upshall, right, was given a qualifying offer on Tuesday.

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The Coyotes today extended qualifying offers to twelve Restricted Free Agents ahead of the July 1st start of free agency. Details of the offer sheets have not yet been released, but here are the players we made offers to:

Scottie Upshall: Yay! No way we let him go after how he performed for us after the trade from Philly.

Keith Yandle: No question he would be staying with how weak we are on D.

Enver Lisin: Kept the speedster around. We really need to work on his defensive skill set, but the kid can flat out fly.

Daniel Winnik: Solid 3rd line center but needs to pick up his game to what it was a couple seasons back if he wants to stay in Phoenix instead of riding the bus.

Nigel Dawes: From what I heard from the team they hadn't been all that impressed with him, but maybe this is just to keep an asset rather than getting noting for him.

Dave Spina: A locally grown kid who could finally be the first native Arizonan to play in the NHL. The fans here love him and he's a solid guy.

Josh Tordjman: He can compete with Al Montoya for either the Starting spot in San Antonio or possibly the backup spot if we can't find someone to backup Bryzgalov.

Alexander Nikulin: Protecting an asset as I think we've already heard rumors of him going to the KHL.

Stefan Meyer, Shaun Hushka, Sami Lepisto: The new guys we aquired in the Reinprecht deal and trading picks at the draft.

The Coyotes did not extend qualifying offers to the following restricted free agents:

Alex Bourret, Garth Murray and Joakim Lindstrom.

Grease the Tires and Light the Fires: Getting Ready for Next Season

Gootzman — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 05:58:55 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

8 months ago: Phoenix Coyotes right winger Mikkel Boedker, of Denmark, celebrates his goal with teammates against the Colorado Avalanche in the first period of an NHL hockey game in Denver on Wednesday, April 1, 2009. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

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With the financial situation of the Phoenix Coyotes becoming clearer in recent days, General Manager Don Maloney has been able to draw a more accurate picture of what his plan will be for the organization this summer as the franchise looks to fill holes and get ready for next season.

The year was going well for the Phoenix Coyotes. They went into the All Star Break fighting for the 5th seed in the Western Conference, a spot they had not been familiar with since the 2001-2002 season when they finished 6th in the conference, one point behind the Chicago Blackhawks who owned the fifth seed. The situation was looking strong and Don Maloney was in line of getting the team into the playoffs for the first time since that year.

However, the team began to unravel. The Coyotes could not get going again and went on a stretch where they lost 12 of their next 15 games. They were held to one goal or less in 8 of those games, including being shut out in back to back games and a scoreless drought which spanned over 180 minutes, the equivalent of three games. Inconsistent and poor play on the part of many players contributed to the rapid decline as rookies could not find a scoring touch and the veterans were snake bitten. Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov kept the team in many games but the inability to score on the Coyotes' part led to a padding of his loss column. When he failed, the team was doomed.

The trade deadline saw a better team coming together, winning five of their last seven games, but it was not enough as the team finished 13th in the Western Conference and out of a top five draft lottery spot.

There are many problems that this team needs to address and as I have mentioned throughout the season it starts behind the bench. Head Coach Wayne Gretzky and his staff are not the coaching staff needed to run this team. If this was a team of veteran players then Gretzky's approach may work but with such a young team, the players need someone who can teach and guide the team through good times and bad. Coaching experience is an aspect of the game that often gets overlooked but it is necessary for a team to succeed, especially if the situation involves a young team. There are a couple of candidates that should be considered by Don Maloney for the coaching position:

Peter Laviolette: With a Stanley Cup on his resume', Laviolette should be a man that is considered for the job. He worked hard in bringing a team that did not have alot of big names in the Carolina Hurricanes to the top of the league. Despite the lockout year between the Stanley Cup year and when they finished 11th, Laviolette led a team that had veterans but relied on young players to succeed. Eric Staal was 21 and led the team in scoring both for the regular season and the playoffs while rookie goaltender Cam Ward took over for the veteran Martin Gerber and was phenomenal in the crease during that playoff run. His aggressive style of play would allow for the Coyotes to use their speed more effectively.

He may be an obvious candidate but at this point anyone would be better than Wayne Gretzky and his staff behind the bench.

On the ice the Coyotes have some work to do in re-signing players this offseason, especially young ones. Steven Reinprecht has already been shipped out and signed by the Florida Panthers with the Coyotes receiving AHL player Stefan Meyer.

Two other names that are in the unrestricted pool for the Coyotes are two defenseman. Dmitri Kalinin was acquired at the deadline from the New York Rangers in the Derek Morris trade. He had four points for the Coyotes in his 15 games with the team and was solid on the back end as well. Depending on his price, Kalinin would provide depth to the blue line and some offensive abilities that may have been missing on the back end.

Ken Klee is the other defenseman. He was picked up off waiver during the season from the Anaheim Ducks. He may not be known for scoring points anymore, finishing with 11 points in 68 games but his work with young defenseman Keith Yandle helped his development tremendously on both sides of the puck. Klee may be getting up there in years but another year in the NHL to lead and teach a young blue line will provide a significant benefit to the growth of the young players on the blue line like Yandle and Zbynek Michalek.

It is on the restricted free agent front that the Coyotes management will be looking to spend the money they have in bringing back young players:

Scottie Upshall: Acquired from Philadelphia for Daniel Carcillo, Upshall provided a spark to the anemic offense of the Coyotes. In 19 games with Phoenix, he had 13 points, 8 goals and 5 assists. His speed was refreshing to watch as he drove to the net and his offensive abilities began to blossom. Phoenix did not have alot of fire power on the wings this season but Upshall will be looked at to make up for it next season. Don Maloney must sign Upshall.

Petr Prucha: The young sparkplug came over from the New York Rangers in the Derek Morris trade and he had an immediate impact on the team. His hardworking style of play got him 10 points, 2 goals and 8 assists, in 19 games with the Coyotes as he got time on the top line and on the power play. He has guts and a great work ethic, using it to score thirty goals in his rookie year with the Rangers. Many have questioned whether he could do it again. He has the offensive skills to do so but he needs the opportunity. In Phoenix he will get that opportunity and the Coyotes are hoping that it will pay off. Prucha provides more speed down the wing and needs to be re-signed. Resigned...2 year deal

Matthew Lombardi: A center acquired in the Olli Jokinen trade with Calgary, Lombardi was inserted into the top center spot on the team and had success finishing with 16 points, 5 goals and 11 assists, in 19 games with the Coyotes. Being stuck on lower lines in Calgary he was finally able to show his offensive abilities as he meshed well with Prucha and Upshall, forming a quick and skilled top line. Don Maloney was looking for established young players at the deadline and Lombardi is on the cusp of establishing himself as a skilled center in the NHL. He is another player who needs to be re-signed.

Enver Lisin: A Russian prospect who did not look to have a future in the NHL because of his lack of defensive play was developed by San Antonio Rampage Head Coach Greg Ireland, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Coyotes. Lisin was brought up and his offensive impact was felt as he finished with 21 points, 13 goals and 8 assists, in 48 games. His incredible speed down the wing helped him create offense and at times, he took over the play on the ice. His defensive play fell off towards the end of the season but a full year in the NHL will help him develop that and he can become an effective NHL scorer. In terms of skill his ceiling is very high and it needs to be developed. Bringing him back will add a whole new meaning of speed to the offensive attack of Phoenix. However, Maloney will have to compete with a recent KHL contract offered to the young Russian winger.

Joakim Lindstrom: Acquired from the Anaheim Ducks that sent defensive prospect Logan Stephenson the other way, Lindstrom was having trouble finding his place in the NHL, bouncing from the Columbus Blue Jackets, to the Ducks and finally Phoenix in a short amount of time. However in Phoenix Lindstrom did find his place as his offense finally began to arrive. Finishing with 20 points, 9 goals and 11 assists, in 44 games Lindstrom was a main source of offense towards the end of the season. His prowess in the shootout helped the Coyotes earn a few more victories but his step on the ice has gone a long way in finding his place in the NHL as he certainly has earned another chance to show off what he is capable of.

Daniel Winnik: One interesting case is that of Daniel Winnik. After a great rookie year that saw him score score 11 goals and 15 assists in 79 games, his offensive production fell to just seven points, 3 goals and 4 assists, in 49 games. He is known as a checking forward who can play both sides of the puck but Phoenix was hoping for a better offensive output. His work ethic is near the top of the team and, being a 9th round pick in the NHL Draft, the fact he has made any impact in the NHL is a small miracle. Going from the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) to the NHL in a short span of time has shown his ability to improve, earning him another shot at impressing the Coyotes.

Nigel Dawes: The young winger came over from the Rangers in the Derek Morris trade and is known for his offense primarily. However he had trouble scoring with the Coyotes as he had just two points in twelve games for Phoenix, both of those being assists. The Rangers believed that he could become a solid goal scorer in the NHL but problems with consistency have made it hard for Dawes to accomplish this feat. He could be used as trade bait at the draft this season but with the lack of options at wing for the Coyotes and the uncertain financial situation, the Coyotes will look to bring him back.

Keith Yandle: The young defenseman made great strides this season as his defensive play greatly improved with the guidance of veteran Ken Klee. His strong point of igniting an offense was made known has he had thirty points, 4 goals and 26 assists, in 69 games. The Phoenix blue line has been considered a weakness of the team in the future but Yandle is part of the strength of the future. The team will be looking for him to take an even larger role in providing offense from the back end and will be key for them going forward. Maloney needs to re-sign Yandle.

Josh Tordjman: Playing in San Antonio for most of the season, Tordjman got a cup of coffee in the NHL towards the end of the season playing two games with Phoenix. He lost both games giving up a total of eight goals. With Bryzgalov having the top spot for the foreseeable future and the success that Al Montoya had in his NHL debut, it looks as if Tordjman will be spending another season in the AHL as the top goalie there. However his skills as a goaltender are still high and he is young with plenty of time to learn. With very little goaltending depth in the organization, Tordjman will be re-signed.

The unfortunate piece to the restricted free agent front is that other teams can put in offer sheets and send the Coyotes if they can not match the offer. However the organization and the fans are looking to get out of the rebuilding stage and into being a competitor. With very little to work with, Maloney will need to work fast to get these young players signed before July 1st when other teams can put up offer sheets and possibly outbid the Coyotes for some of this young talent.

While Phoenix will probably not be big players in the unrestricted free agent market, chances at improving the team are always available at any price. Management will have to be stingy about who they target in this market but there are gems at low prices, as Phoenix found out when they signed Kurt Sauer last summer, a stellar defensive defenseman signed at a low price. However, here are a couple of possibilities for the Coyotes:

The Sedins: I am sure that after mentioning that the Coyotes have very little money to work with, you are surprised to see the Sedin twins on this list. However, in the event that the Coyotes do get a viable owner who has money to spend, Don Maloney should go all ahead full for the Sedins. It is not assured that Daniel and Henrik will stay in Vancouver after this season. They want to stay together and a young team like Phoenix may be their chance to truly break out in the NHL. Henrik had 22 goals and 60 assists this season for 82 points in 82 games. His playmaking abilities have developed and he has become one of the elite playmakers in the Western Conference. Daniel was also a point per game player as he finished with 31 goals and 51 assists and as been known more for his scoring. If Don Maloney could get his hands on the money to sign both of these players, who want to stay together, it would go a long way in establishing a firm foundation from which Phoenix could move forward from.

Blair Betts: Regardless of what happens with the Coyotes financially, they need to look to improve their special teams. While the center position is not a weakness for the Coyotes, the penalty kill is and if they want to improve it, they should be looking at one of the best penalty killers in the league in Betts. Phoenix finished 28th in the league in penalty kill and it led to their demise down the stretch. Betts would bring a veteran presence to a young penalty killing unit and would be an option in helping a young player like Martin Hanzal who is slowly becoming a good shut down forward for the Coyotes. Betts would not be overly expensive and would provide benefits both on and off the ice for the Coyotes. Betts finished with 6 goals and 4 assists in 81 games this season, tallying a goal and 3 assists shorthanded. The New York Rangers finished first in the league on the penalty kill.

Stephane Veilleux: A left winger who has played for the Minnesota Wild his entire career, Veilleux has played for a team that has had trouble scoring because of their system. This past season he had 13 goals and 10 assists in 81 games for the Wild. He has played on one of the top penalty kills the past few years as Minnesota finished this season second on the penalty kill in the NHL. Other teams will be after his services this summer but he may fly under the radar and if he does Phoenix should be right there to get him.

As I mentioned before, the Sedins are a long shot and should only be pursued if the right financial situation is in place but other than players like Betts and Veilleux, the Coyotes should not be looking to do too much in the unrestricted market.

Phoenix will most likely not be fielding a Stanley Cup contender the next few years so draft picks are essential to the future of the team. Restricted free agents will be very hard to go after considering all the restricted players that need to be signed for the Coyotes and the little amount of money that could easily be matched or outbid. Giving up draft picks that could result in high draft positions is too risky for a team that is relying on young players and their development for success.

What the Coyotes who do not need to be signed need to do is improve, greatly. Captain Shane Doan had a career season and continues to improve on a mediocre team as he scored 31 goals and 42 assists for 73 points in 82 games. He has committed himself to this franchise when he could have gone elsewhere for more money and glory. His leadership has provided an intangible benefit to the team that many people overlook. However, he will need to continue to be a leader both on and off the ice as he is the focal point of the offense right now.

Young players were going to be the core of the team this season and, unfortunately, things did not pan out as Don Maloney and management would have liked them to. Peter Mueller had a good rookie season where he scored 54 points, including 22 goals. However he was troubled with inconsistency and injuries this season and was only able to tally 13 goals and 23 assists in 72 games. He was being counted on to improve his play and numbers but it did not happen for the young winger. This offseason he will be working hard to get back into optimum game shape after suffering a concussion late in the season. The expectations of the team and of himself will drive him to make him do much better next season

Martin Hanzal, another sophomore for Phoenix, was a bright spot for the team. He may not have improved on his rookie total scoring 11 goals and 20 assists this season but his defensive play was stellar as he was put up against some of the big centers in the Western Conference like Ryan Getzlaf, Joe Thornton, and Anze Kopitar. He matured as a two way forward which benefitted the Coyotes and was on their penalty kill. However, he needs to use his large frame more and improve on his offensive totals.

Rookies made their debuts for the Coyotes and they were being thrown right into the fire as they were immediately relied upon for offense. Kyle Turris was the big name for first year players. The team had high hopes that he would have a great rookie year on the score sheet. Unfortunately Turris had trouble with his small frame in producing as much as the Coyotes would have liked him to as he had 8 goals and 12 assists for 20 points in 63 games. However with a year now under his belt Turris can prepare this offseason both physically and mentally for the rigors of the NHL season. His second season will be important to his development as a young player.

Danish forward Mikkel Boedker jumped right from the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League to the Phoenix Coyotes as the 8th overall pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. This season he scored 11 goals and 17 assists for 28 points in 78 games. Boedker's chemistry with former Phoenix Coyote Olli Jokinen was stellar in helping him put points on the board while his speed helped him put space between himself and some of the bigger defenders in the Western Conference. Like Turris, Boedker's big issue is in size. Bulking up while keeping his speed and hands will be key to Boedker's success in his second season where Phoenix will be looking for more of an offensive output.

A wild card to make the team, Russian forward Viktor Tikhonov was noted more for his grandfather's reputation than for his play on the ice. However Tikhonov showed why so many teams were after the young forward at the draft last year as he tallied 8 goals and 8 assists for 16 points in 61 games. He needs to learn bulk up his frame a bit but there is no doubt the kid has potential to be a good player in the league and for the Phoenix Coyotes in the future.

Every rookie will need to improve their play if the team wants to be successful now and in the future which means putting in the summer work and coming back to training camp ready to go. Conditioning has been a problem with this team and has led to its downfalls late in seasons. It must be improved if the Coyotes want to take the next step forward. They showed that they have the skill to compete in the Western Conference but they need the physical endurance to stay at that high level for an extended period of time.

What actually happens this offseason with the Coyotes is a great mystery to everyone following the NHL. The battle between Jim Balsillie and the NHL will be branding the headlines for the foreseeable future as a fight for the franchise will continue. Coyotes fans are hoping that there will be a hockey team at Jobing.com Arena this October and for many years to come while critics of Gary Bettman and his initiative to bring hockey to untraditional hockey markets are hoping there will be an empty arena. However what ever the outcome of the financial battle, general manager Don Maloney will need to have a course of action that will field a competitive hockey team no matter where it will be playing.

Count me as a hopeful it is in Phoenix.

Nashville Predators @ Phoenix Coyotes Preview - Let the Tank Begin

OdinMercer — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 19:40:11 -0000

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking "Odin! We can't tank! These guys are professionals. They'll have pride and want to win games." OR "We don't pay for tickets to watch them tank!" Or even, "WE CAN STILL MAKE THE PLAYOFFS RIGHT?!" Well to all that I say, with all due respect, Suck it. In order to get to 90 points or even close we'd have to win out. Quite frankly that's not going to happen. It's done, it's over, no post-season games for us. Since we can't be in there, we may as well keep up the sucking that we've been so good at since the all-star break and land a high draft pick. Does that mean i'm not angry or disappointed that it's come to this? No. I am. I'm angry that they teased us by doing so well for so long before our sucking. I'm angry that some nights we look like a pee-wee team playing out there. I'm angry that we ever traded for Olli Jokinen in the first place. Our team would have been pretty great without him. But I can't turn losses into wins, I can't be coach (Though you have my resume GMDM, I have as much coaching experience as Wayne did when he started. Hire me?) and I can't get Keith Ballard back. What I can do is cross my fingers and hope that all this sucking leads to something. Like getting John Tavares or Victor Hedman. If that means I have to root for the other team for the next dozen games or so then so be it. There must be meaning to this pain. So come join me in the tank. We may need to get a bigger one next time though. Oh right, there's a game tonight too... Welcome Predators! Would you like something to drink? Can we get you anything? Here have 2 points. Maybe we can pass the puck to you? Does that count as an assist? No? Oh, Sorry Ed.

Five for ~~Winning~~ Tanking

Give Jovo 30 minutes of Ice Time: Why not? He leads Coyotes Defensman with an awesome -17. Though he won't be able to pass it to Arnott this time since he's out. the -17 I could forgive if he was on the shutdown pairing, but he's not. He's supposed to be on the scoring pair of D. Not working out so great.

Tordjman! No word yet on who's getting the start from the Coyotes. If we keep running Tordjman out ther we'll lose some games though. He's a serviceable goalie, but not yet. He had just settled in down in San Antonio. He's not ready for the big show yet.

Keep the Special Teams Special: They've been bad for so long I forget what good power plays and penalty kills look like.Hopefully changes come in the offseason and in camp that fix this for next year, but in the meantime keep it up.

Let them win faceoffs: But try a little, we can't make it look like we're letting them win. Though to be fair we could try to win and get the same result. We've been terrible in the circles. Lombardi has been good since his arrival, but that's about it.

Keep mixing it up: I get strategically switching lines in the game but Doan never even knows what his line will be to start the game. It wouldn't surprise me if the lines changed on the way out to the ice 50% of the time. But we've gone with it so far so...

Okay, so that was depressing, but necessary. Tune in next game too where if we lose tonight we'll be totally eliminated from contention and you can have some golf course reviews.

ALSO for those going to the game tonight don't forget that the COyotes are hosting a Coors Light Pre-Game party in front of the arena tonight. It starts at 5pm and refreshments aren't free like I had hoped, but hopefully they'll at least be good. See you out there!

New Jersey Devils Ran Over Phoenix Coyotes 5-2

John Fischer — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 03:27:52 -0000

In my preview, I was concerned that this would be a banana peel game for the Devils. The only team that slipped were the Coyotes. The New Jersey Devils just outclassed them to a score of 5-2. The Devils looked very good overall, they opened things up early, continued to make it happen, and they played a good, consistent game against a struggling opponent. The crowd was loud, "Mickey Mouse Club" chants were ever present, everyone except for the Phoenix fans (and the 4 girls in Philadelphia Scott Upshall jerseys along with a Ranger fan in a Prucha sweater) had a great time, and the Devils won their ninth straight home game - a franchise record.

Oh, and Martin Brodeur got his 550th win of his career. According to Dan Rosen at NHL.com (and a lot of quotes from opposing forwards), he's intimidating. Brodeur was definitely solid tonight. Not perfect, but he did play pretty well. Watch him intimidate a tied career wins record on Saturday!

Basically, it's almost what one would expect when a highly ranked team like New Jersey faces off against a low ranked opponent like Phoenix. I'm thankful that the game was what it was! For an additional thought on the game, IPB liveblogged the game and were very pleased with the effort. For the other side of this contest, Five For Howling should have something up later. From the comments in their game thread, tonight wasn't pretty for Phoenix fans.

I was dead wrong in thinking Bryzgalov would get the start. Apparently, he had the flu so Josh Tordjman got the nod. And he got Parise'd on the first shot of the game. Zach's 40th goal of the year, 18 seconds into the game, and it was a beaut!

Yeah, when that's the first shot you see - it's likely going to be a long night. And it was for Torjman! Note that the first goal originally began from a forced turnover. The Phoenix Coyotes were just poor on the puck all night long! The Devils' stickchecking was on point, and the 'Yotes were just making bad decisions on their first and second passes coming up ice. The defense for Phoenix was quite poor. Ed Jovanovski was made to look like a paper tiger tonight. It's no wonder Tordjman saw so many shots (36), and a good chunk of those were very high quality shots. He did come up big on a few of those.

Alas, it was far from enough. The Devils kept getting goals through the run of play. A deft deflection of a pass by John Madden beat Tordjman, something that may be he should have had. Patrik Elias busted a long even-strength goalless streak by finishing a 2-on-1 from Brian Gionta in a fantastic fashion. Dainius Zubrus got on the board, to the delight of 2MA, with a good shot from the slot. And Travis Zajac capitalized on a Devils 5-on-3 power play by putting home a nice rebound. Nothing "garbage" or "lucky." Just good heads-up play from the forwards and even better finishing. The Devils' attack just tore through the Phoenix defense and fired away on Tordjman.

The thing is, I think the Devils could have had more. Elias could have had 2 goals, Parise too, Gionta had a few chances, etc. Again, Tordjman did have to come up big in a few cases. In others, like Gionta's, the Devils missed. But chances kept coming for New Jersey. In a massive contrast, while the Phoenix Coyotes got 28 on Brodeur, most of them weren't quality chances. Granted, they did make Brodeur pay early on a Zubrus double-minor in the first period. Petr Prucha's shot was poorly played by Brodeur, who was then left out of position. Paul Martin tried to kick it out, whiffed, and Scott Upshall had the net. Two gaffes from two Devils who don't make too many.

Yet, despite it being only 2-1 in the first, the Coyotes couldn't build on it. I mean, their next big scoring chance came when a Coyotes cross-ice pass luckly hit a Devils' defender's skate and it headed towards the goal. Marty, of course, saved it. They basically thwarted themselves with their poor play. A perfect example of how poorly the Coyotes played of this came near the end of the second period. The puck is dumped into the endboards and Niclas Havelid gets body position to protect it, looking for some space. Two Coyotes (I think it was the Prucha unit) go after Havelid and end up trying to reach for it through Havelid. A third Coyote player comes in from the other end to help. Yet, Havelid was able to knock it loose, get loose himself, and move the puck for the eventual clearance up ice!

I don't care if it is Nicklas Lidstrom in that spot. You should be able to get the puck when you have 3-on-1 to a defenseman up against the boards! That was poor decision making, poor battling, and poor positioning all rolled up into one. Mix that in with the turnovers and it's a recipe for a big loss.

Basically, when that play happened, I knew the Coyotes weren't going to win this. Of course, the 4-1 score at the time also clued me into it. So, the game got a lot more physical, more nasty, but it didn't change much. The Devils kept powering up ice with shots on net. They kept winning the battles, and the box score reflect this. Phoenix got a second one late from Steven Reinprecht, mostly due to that fact that Reinprecht broke away from Elias (I think it was Elias) and had all the space to hit Brodeur on his flank. But just like the last second goal by Calgary on Tuesday, it didn't matter. The game was New Jersey's at that point.

Now destiny is next for the Devils. A game in Montreal with a goaltender who has done exceptionally well against Montreal with a shot to tie the all-time career wins record, currently held by a Montreal legend. With tonight's big win, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little confident about it!

Phoenix Coyotes @ New Jersey Devils Game Preview

OdinMercer — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 21:45:02 -0000

You're dead, Messier! We're gonna get you, Messier!

Welcome back Coyote fans. Tonight your high draft pick seeking Coyotes take on the New Jersey Brodeurs in what could be, well anything depending on what Coyote team shows up. We've played terribly against weak teams and well against strong ones so we'll just have to see what happens. The game is not on local TV, so you'll either have to find a stream online or find a friend with center ice if you don't want to be stuck listening to the game on the radio.

Five for Winning:

Beat Brodeur: Martin Broder is chasing some history and the team is going to want to win one for him tonight. If he could get a win tonight he'd be only one game behind Patrick Roy for the all-time record for wins by a goaltender. Plenty of people are expecting us to be a doormat and while it would improve our draft position, I still want to win and i'm sure our guys do too.

Stop with the Turnovers!: Outside of special teams our next biggest weakness is turnovers. It seems like any time we're on the verge of getting something going we dump it off to the other team. Or we try and dump and chase and it doesn't work. A little hard to score if you can't keep control of the puck.

No Softies Please: The last few games Bryzgalov has been in he's let in an early goal or two that were not the hardest shots to get too. They were simply soft goals. We won't have to worry about that tonight though as Josh Tordjman will get his second NHL start. That does create a whole different set of issues though as the D will need to stick to their guys so he can get settled in. He wasn't bad in his other stat, but he needs to do better if he thinks he can backup Bryz next year too.

Traffic in the Front: Part of what made us look good the other night and in Boston a few games back was our ability to get guys to the front of the net. they were crashing on shots, creating traffic and being a pain to the other team. That works, so let's keep it up. I don't get why we shy away from that style if it gets us goals and wins, but we do.

Find that something Extra: The playoffs are pretty much out of reach, so you guys have to dig deep and find that something that puts you over the top in games. We tried to come back against the Islanders. We hung in there the whole game with the Wings. We're just missing a little something that gets us past them in games. Again it could be any number of things, just find something to give you some extra umph.

GO YOTES!

Phoenix Coyotes @ Detroit Red Wings - Preview

OdinMercer — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 23:00:45 -0000

Yeah, they're making me hungry too. I'm gonna dip them in ranch and destroy them like a Coyote destroys a Red Wing :)

Yippee! We're out of the playoff race, but at least we get to try and make the teams we hate look terrible on their way to the playoffs. If we're not going to make it and we're not drafting Tavares, then we may as well play spoiler as much as humanly possible.

Five for Winning Brought to you by Frank's Red Hot. It's not a hot wing without Frank's Red Hot! (Not really a sponsor, but i'm open to it Frank, call me.)

Mild: I'd say take a second and think about what you're doing out on the ice, but that doesn't work because you guys take five and turnover the puck. Instead just don't think at all. You've been playing hockey since you could walk. Just play natural pond hockey. Pass shoot score. Easy right? Yes. Be one with the ice... Ohhhmmm.

Medium: Stop it with the dumping, or at least make sure it's dumped. Dump and Chase can work, but it only works if you dump it in deep enough that the other team doesn't already have it before you can get to the blue line. Barring that give it to someone with the cojones to take it in over the line. Bods, Lombardi, Yandle someone.

Hot: Hot would describe how our new guys have been playing. They apparently know what's up. Keep getting them involved. Upshall has a couple goals so far, Lombardi has one too. Keep it up guys, maybe our young guys can take a tip or two. Or eleven.

Suicide: I've liked the effort that the guys have been puting in even if they haven't always gotten to the puck. They're crashing, diving doing whatever it takes to try and make the play. The results haven't been there everytime, but I like that we're trying.

BBQ?!: BBQ wings are not okay! Only Commies like BBQ. And crazy people. Like Bryz. Ilya will be back in goal tonight, which is good since Tordjman doesn't need to get lit up by the Wings. Hopefully he gets it done.

Lines for tonight taken from a fortune cookie by Wayne:

Scottie Upshall-Matthew Lombardi-Petr Prucha
Shane Doan-Peter Mueller-Joakim Lindstrom
Nigel Dawes-Steven Reinprecht-Mikkel Boedker
Brandon Prust-Martin Hanzal-Todd Fedoruk

Phoenix Coyotes @ NY Islanders Preview (Make your own caption)

OdinMercer — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 18:30:57 -0000

Good doggie.

Hey, I'm awake. Just in time for our next to last place team in the West to take on the leaders in the Tank for Tavares division, the New York Islanders. Normally i'd say this would be a boring game, but the Isles just beat the Devils 7-2 yesterday and a couple days ago we put down the Bruins, so it could be a good game if those same teams show up.

Five for Winning

Special Teams: I don't know how much worse our special teams could be. We managed to convert on a total of one of our six opportunities on the PP, but the PK was awful. The Sabres scored three times on six chances. THis has been the achilles heel for our team all year.

Tordjman? TORDJMAN?!: Josh Tordjman got called up after the Tellqvist trade from San Antonio. He's been playing well down there and I suppose if you're getting your first NHL start it may as well be against the Isles. Better play well in front boys.

Keep the lines even if they didn't win: After any loss Gretz likes to mix the lines up. Hopefully he doesn't and gives them some time. He won't, but it'd be nice. There are reports that Lisin, Winnik and Fedoruk in with Hanzal(!?), Mueller and Lindstrom out? I don't get it...

Learn from Lombardi: He knows how to win a friggin faceoff! We haven't been too good at that this year, but in Buffalo he went 20 of 28 for 71%! Wow. He's leading faceoff drills in practice from now on.

Start shooting again: We've been pretty slow coming out of the gate the last couple games. In Boston everyone was new so I could understand, but to take half a period to start shooting will get you behind quickly.

That's all. See you in the gamethread GO YOTES!