I tried to come up with some catchy title, but alas, I had nothing.
I know that Yotesgurl is clearly upset with the recent trauma that the Coyotes have inflicted upon themselves lately, and I can completely understand. In fact, I get it. If you go back through my archives a little bit, this pain is nothing new to me.
The only thing that is a concern is the Jekyll and Hyde tendency of this hockey club.
However, in my perspective, last night’s game wasn’t that bad for the first 45 minutes or so. In fact, I think the Coyotes matched them with the same speed and grit where the goals that would go in for either goaltender would be not be the pretty kind.
And that’s exactly what happened when both goals that went in ricocheted off of defensemen skates.
I think what we’re seeing is a combination teams ready for the Coyotes’ brand of hockey (they aren’t surprising anyone) and people that stepped up last year are not this year. Wolski’s absence for the past two games is an indication of that.
The issue was summed well by head coach Dave Tippett yesterday in the following quote in the Arizona Republic:
“We have a number of forwards that aren’t contributing offensively the way we’d like to see it, and Wolski’s certainly one of those guys. A little more production from some guys would help our cause immensely. We’ll keep pushing and prodding, and try to find the right mix for our group, and at he end of the day, we’re going to have to play to our identity.”
Those that don’t will sit and/or be traded.
The game didn’t start falling apart until after that third goal went in. Plus we had this dirty hit from one Pavel Kubina, thanks to Hockeyfights.com:
Shane Doan is the man and that is all. I don’t care who “won or lost” – Doan essentially stood up for his teammate.
The only thing the Coyotes are control of is themselves. They need to stick to their game plan while adjusting on the fly for how teams will play them.
Unfortunately for us, we don’t know what team will step on the ice on any given day.
The only consolation prize from last night is that these two points were taken from an Eastern Conference team. However, sooner or later they will start facing division opponents and conference opponents. If they continue on this path, they will finish .500 and out of the playoff picture.
And that would pretty much be a disaster.
Original Story:
http://onefansperspective.com/2010/10...
