GAME DAY! Ducks @ Coyotes 127/2009

The Phoenix Coyotes will begin the second portion of their season tonight when they take on the Anaheim Ducks at Jobing.com Arena. Phoenix enters this game with five victories in their past seven games, including three straight wins at Jobing.com Arena; and are looking to improve their winning streak to 6. Having lost 7 of their past 11 games, the Ducks are hoping to prevent their 3rd consecutive loss.

In their last game prior to the start of the All Star break, the Coyotes beat the Detroit Red Wings 6-3 at Jobing.com Arena. Enver Lisin scored two third period goals to lift the Coyotes over the defending Stanley Cup Champions. Keith Yandle, Olli Jokinen, Ed Jovanovski, and Derek Morris all contributed goals for the Coyotes as well (24-19-5).

Anaheim (23-21-5) has struggled through-out the month of January, entering the All-Star break having lost 7 of 11 games, including four of their past five. Despite this, the Ducks are only 2 points behind the Coyotes, who currently hold the 5th spot in the Western Conference standings. The Ducks are currently tied with Edmonton and Vancouver for the 6th playoff spot. With 53 points and 34 games left in the season, the Coyotes need to earn 42 of 68 possible points in order to reach the 95-point mark that Head Coach Wayne Gretzky has identified as the minimum needed to make the playoffs.

Notes & Quotes

*Shane Doan leads the Coyotes in goals (18), assists (28) and points (46).

*Ryan Getzlaf leads the Ducks in goals (17) & assists (39) in 48 games.

*Defenseman Kurt Sauer (lower body) and rookie Viktor Tikhonov (upper body) are out for the Coyotes.

*Teemu Selanne (lacerated calf muscle), Francois Beauchemin (torn ACL), Kent Huskins (fractured foot) and Todd Marchant (broken finger) all have missed games for the Ducks.

*Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov is expected to start for the Coyotes. Bryzgalov has started the team’s past seven games and has gone 5-2-0 in that stretch. It is unknown if Jean-Sebastien Giguere will be starting for the Ducks.

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“We know what they are capable of,” All-Star Captain Shane Doan said of Anaheim. “We know in the end that it’s going to come down to battles and playing physical. It’s a huge game.”

"As a team, we've had our ups and downs and we're not where we want to be right now," Ducks goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere said prior to starting Sunday's All-Star game. "We'd like to be a little higher in the standings, and we know we have to play better."

The puck drops at 7:00pm MST. This game will be broadcast locally in Phoenix on FS-A and in Anaheim on PRIME.

Quotes & stats coutesy of Phoenix Coyotes & Anaheim Ducks websites.

♥ -The Diva

Calamari Anyone?

Thanks Michelle!

Coyotes Break Curse in the Desert

There are so many good things to be said about last night's game, I hardly know where to start. I guess I'll start by saying that the Coyotes had been unable to solve the Detroit puzzle at home since January 24th 2004. A 6-3 vicotry over the defending Stanley Cup Champions on home ice was a sweet gift to give the fans as we go into this long, virtually hockey-less All Star break. A perk was giving us the opportunity to wave good-bye to the Detroit bandwagoners as they got up and left the game early. The Coyotes faithful have had to endure much abuse from the Red Wings fans in our own arena for many years now. We were long overdue for some payback. Thank you Enver Lisin. Enver scored the goal that brought us to 5-3 with 13:11 left in the 3rd period. Then he sealed the victory with an empty netter with 1:44 remaining in the 3rd. Derek Morris also had a goal and an assist while Keith Yandle and Olli Jokinen each scored one for the Coyotes. TSN.ca says:

"A Detroit fan threw an octopus onto the ice after Samuelsson's goal. A second octopus hit the ice following Lisin's empty-netter and a third with 5 seconds left, possibly because fans didn't want to take home their soggy,smuggled cephalopods.

What I want to know is... how on earth did they get those into the arena? We have security.... I don't even want to think about where they put them to sneak them in. Ew. And Carcillo; I think a suspension and fine would've been well worth it to see you throw that octopus you had on the end of your stick right back into the pack of Red Wings fans where it came from. Yah... we saw that look on your face, we know you wanted to do it...

The Coyotes are now sitting proudly as the sole owners of the 5th spot in the Western Conference. I'm quite proud of the Coyotes effort against the Red Wings. They looked like a real team, a competitive team; things seem to be starting to gel and come together quite nicely. Hopefully, the Coyotes can keep up the momentum when they return from the All Star break.

View more photos from the game here.

♥-The Diva

Ohhhh....

GLOOM & DOOM & woe is me!!! How will we ever defeat the Red Wings? Ohhhhhhhhhh we'll never make it out of this game with a win! They are just too good....

hahaha... now, here's a link to a REAL game preview.

GO

COYOTES

♥-The Diva

Saturday Morning Cartoons

The Hockey Sweater

Peter Puck- How To Play The Game

DOOM!

I went into that game last night with a very negative attitude. Apparently, pessimism works for me. We won. 4-1 Phoenix. I'll be damned...

I shall do my part to keep the momentum going.

On to Calgary we go! We suck. We'll never win it, we don't even stand a chance. Kipper is just too good of a goalie. We're gonna stink up their ice so bad they won't EVER let us come back. Then we have to play the Oilers. We'll be slipping and sliding on oil spills all night long. Gretzky will blow a gasket, Danny will lose the rest of his teeth... doom, doom, doom.

And OMG, then we come home and have to play the Red Wings... this will be a disaster. Fridge will run down Osgood and get suspended. Doan will be traded. Jovo will put pucks in his own net. Bryz will knock out the ref while throwing his stick in frustration. You can forget about power play goals... or even going on the power play period. Carcillo will ruin that for us with his ludicrous penalties. The rookies will be flailing about as if they'd never played an NHL game before, the veterans will look like rookies. There's no way we'll make it through this with our playoff spot in tact. And let's not forget about the Red Wings' fans. They are so much better than us. We're such terrible fans, we don't even deserve an NHL team. Send the Coyotes back to Canada, I say! We should all just go jump on the Cardinals bandwagon. How dare we call ourselves "hockey fans"? We're doomed. Dooooooooooooomed! :D

There, that should cover the next couple of games. We're good to go...

♥-The Diva

Ways to occupy yourself when your team plays like crap...

Before I get to my game recap, here's the Diva's tips on how to occupy yourself when your team is playing like they are destined for a dispersal draft:

#1 Watch funny videos of your favorite players on youtube. There are so many to choose from. You could watch Bryz tell you all about his helmet when he played for the Ducks.



Or you could hear his opinion on ex-teammate Chris Pronger. ("He's a good guy, why you hafta be mad? It's a minus turty two dere...")



I chose this video of Todd "Fridge" Fedoruk doing a little on-ice dancing when he was still playing with the Wild. Every time one of your players does something stupid on the ice, watch it again and remember what good guys they really are...



#2 Spend some time checking out the funniest website I've seen in a loooooong time: nhLOL. They have an especially hiliarous Wayne Simmonds picture that references Anze Kopitar as a zombie. Hysterical. (Be sure to move your mouse over the picture for another view.) Thanks to hipchecks for pointing these out to me and keeping me from losing my sanity during the game. You can even make your own nhLOL, here's the one that I made...

Really... where has this site been all my life???

Now...
Wild 6
Coyotes 3
BLAH!

Why we lost: we played like crap, for the most part. Down by two goals early in the first, the Coyotes appeared to wake up in the second. By the first half of the third, it looked like we were on our way to our first comeback of the season. But looks can be deceiving. Goals by Joakim Lindstrom, Olli Jokinen and Steve Reinprecht put us only one point behind the Wild. They started playing like a team NOT destined for HNIC's hypothetical Coyotes dispersal draft. Thanks a lot guys... give the media up north more fuel for their fires. Then our Defense fell apart and the Wild started scoring again. We are missing the hell outta Kurt Sauer right now. David Hale played better than Yandle, I'm sad to say...

Next up? We get to welcome back Roberto Luongo, in net for the first time since his injury. Canucks, Flames, Oilers... effin' great. This is going to be one helluva road trip. Then the boys come home and play the Red Wings again. Hold on to your hockey pucks ladies and gentlemen, we're in for a bumpy ride...

Oh Danny, I know how you feel...

*photo credit

♥ -The Diva

GOALIE TURCO! Watch out for that Fridge!!!

Tonight the Coyotes take on the Dallas Stars at Jobing.com Arena in what will be the two team's 4th of 6 match-ups this season. The Stars won the first, Coyotes the second, Stars the 3rd.... which means that tonight its our turn again to get the win. If not, perhaps Fridge will plow over Turco in an attempt to give us some...

With Sean Avery no longer stinking up the ice (and the locker room) in Dallas, the Stars have been on a steady incline in an attempt to recover from the Averyitus that plagued them for the first part of the season. Coming off of a 6-1 stomping by the Detroit Red Wings, the Stars will be looking to gain back a little of their self respect tonight. It's our job not to let that happen.

I will be yet again cheering my Boys on from my section of Jobing.com Arena but if your looking for some game time chat fun, head on over to Five For Howling or The NHL Arena and see what's going on...

♥ -The Diva

*AP Photo

Keeping Up With My Boys: Danny Loses His First Teeth!

Words cannot express how pissed I am that the game in Anaheim was not broadcast on TV at all last night. Not just because this was a crucial game, one that needed to be treated like a playoff game... not just that we were fighting for the #2 spot in our division... not just because I can't stand to not be able to watch my boys play. Oh no. All of that is bad enough. But when I found out that this was the game in which my favorite player lost his first tooth (uhh... make that teeth), I was LIVID! YOU BASTARDS!

OK... rant over. Moving on. Daniel Carcillo will not be playing in Tuesday's game against the Blackhawks. He underwent oral surgery today after having several teeth knocked out during Sunday night's game against the Ducks.

"Anaheim defenseman Brendan Mikkelson inadvertently hit Carcillo in the face with his stick as Carcillo rushed the Anaheim net with about five minutes left in the second period. Carcillo fell to the ice, then got up and went directly to the Coyotes dressing room for treatment. He did not return to the game. Coyotes Head Coach Wayne Gretzky said forward Todd Fedoruk gathered Carcillo’s teeth from the ice and brought them to the Phoenix bench.

"I don't know what's more amazing, that 'Fridge' found the teeth or that it was the first time Danny's had his teeth knocked out," Gretzky quipped after Monday's practice. "I'm trying to figure out which is more of a shocker."

Prior to being injured, Carcillo had four shots on goal and three hits in nine shifts vs. Anaheim." - from phoenixcoyotes.com

Fridgy, who shall from this day forth be affectionately referred to as "The Tooth Fairy" searching for Danny's teeth. (seriously... I can't say this enough, I love da Fridge. Thanks for gettin my boy's back, ummm teeth back...)

Below are some photographic highlights from Danny's night in Anaheim, (courtesy of the Coyotes website) prior to the tooth loss.

This is a momentous occassion after all.

♥ -The Diva

The Diva's Player Spotlight on: Zbynek Michalek

Zbynek Michalek is one of the Coyotes best kept secrets. Quietly leading the league in shots blocked, he certainly does not go unnoticed by the Phoenix fanbase.

"Z is probably the most underrated player in the entire NHL. He consistently puts himself between the puck and his goalie. I am sure that boy is covered in puck sized bruises, as he leads the NHL in blocked shots. He isn’t afraid to hop in and play goalie if needed either. He may not get a lot of goals, but the ones he does get usually come at the most needed times. They typically seem to be game winners or at least tie the game up. I don’t know what else to say about Z. His play on ice speaks volumes to the type of player he is. He is quiet but efficient and I wouldn’t have it any other way." -hipchecks

"Z is having the best year of his career. He's been a solid and stable D man and has just about blocked more shots than Bryzgalov!" -Q

How he got here: Z was born in Jindrichuv Hradec, Czech republic on December 23, 1982. Michalek began playing hockey when he was about six years old, and the game came easy to him. Michalek was not drafted in the NHL entry draft. He was acquired by the Coyotes from Minnesota for Erik Westrum and Dustin Wood on August 26, 2005.

Little Known Z Facts:
Favorite food: Steak
Favorite Musician/Band: Coldplay
Favorite TV Show: Survivor and CSI:Miami
Favorite Movie: Eight Below
Favorites Actor/Actress: George Clooney and Jessica Biel
Most Memorable Hockey Moment: 1st NHL game and winning the Calder Cup (AHL) in 2003.
Hobbies: surfing the internet and watching movies
Favorite City in the NHL: San Jose
Reason Behind Jersey Number: picked it when first started playing hockey
Nickname: Z
Best Friend in the NHL: Brother Milan Michalek (plays for San Jose Sharks)
Favorite Tech Gadget: Laptop
Favorite Vacation Spot: Anywhere in Croatia
Person He Would Like to Meet Most: Lance Armstrong
(from the 2008-2009 Phoenix Coyotes Team Yearbook)

What Z has to say:
“When I see a shot coming, I just try to block it if I can,” Michalek said. “In that moment, there’s no time to think about getting injured. I just do it.”

“This year, the coaches gave me more of a shutdown defenseman role versus the other teams’ top lines,” Michalek said. “It’s been challenging every single night and it’s a tough job because you have to be mentally ready every day and every game because you are playing against the best players on the planet. Blocking shots is just one part of it, but it can help us win games and I’m trying to help us win games. That’s the way I play. I don’t even think about it. It just comes natural to me.”

“You have to be careful not to screen your goalie,” Michalek said. “You have to realize that you can’t block every shot and on the ones you can’t block you have to make sure the goalie can see the puck. So you have to pick your spots and make sure the timing is right.” (from Zbynek Michalek feature at phoenixcoyotes.com)

More on what the fans have to say about Z :

"Rarely does a week go by that we don't see Z make an improvement.

Probably the most important steal the old regime ever made. The players we traded to snatch the boy are after-thoughts and long gone from the NHL

He doesn't say much but he has the heart of a lion (for courage, check is his league leading blocked shots status) a sweet wrist shot that has added a few timely goals for us, a slapshot that apparently has eyes that he just added to his arsenal this season, his stick work is sans pareil (well his partner Sauer is no slouch in that dept either but Z is the master). He doesn't cost much (like 1.25m per season) and he gives everything he's got every single game. He's the team leader most nights for TOI but never seems to fatigue.

Thats my baby boy, underrated and overlooked by the shortsighted people who think a D man has to score big to be worth a damn. But thats okay, Z is a modest and shy lil soul (until you really get to know his crazy side) and he does his best work outside of the spotlight and flyin under the radar." -Z4dfense

"Zybnek Michalek is one of the best defensemen on the team. He has got to be covered in bruises from head to toe! He blocks shots with his body just like Mathias(Oh how I miss him) Tjarnqvist used to do. He is an excellent penalty killer. HA! That sounds funny! Zybnek Michalek a killer. Hee hee! He also makes me laugh with that windshield wiper-like tongue of his. " coyotesfanjen

"Zybnek Michalek is a young d-man on the 3rd pairing... I notice that he's not going to burn up the scoring nor does he ever have a lot of penalty minutes. The one thing that does stand out to me is that he seems to have the knack of timely scoring. In other words, its not how much you score or make a big play, it's when you score or make a big play." -Jay Burd

"Zbynek Michalek is like Kim Kardashian’s sister. You may not have heard of Khloe. But she’s smart (comparatively), sexy and poses naked for issues that she cares about.

(On a side note, I would like to encourage most of our hockey players to also pose nude for causes that they care about.) But I digress. Zbynek is like Khloe in that he’s fantastic and hardly anyone is paying attention. He’s blocked 110 shots this year (as of 12/19/08 #1 in the league). If you’re not a numbers person- then know that he’ll sacrifice his body to stop a puck faster than you can say “Jesus Fish.” He’s fierce on the power play and cute as a Czech button. So pay attention to this week’s spotlighted player, you might just find that you’ve been missing out on the good stuff.

P.S. My Zbynek fantasy- since he’s so good at stopping pucks, I suspect he’s equally good at stopping cars. So we would spend an afternoon as honorary crossing guards for a local elementary school. And then follow it up with a quick round of hopscotch and a discussion of the childhood games he played in the Czech Republic." -The Virg

I'd like to end this player spotlight post with a photo tribute to Z. These photos were all taken by Bleadin' Teal in AZ and highlight some of Z's career here in Phoenix. We love you Z! Thanks for all you do for this team!

3.24.2007

11.08.2007

11.08.2008

11.24.2007

12.18.2008

12.20.2008

1.02.2009

♥ -The Diva



CREDITS:
PhoenixCoyotes.com
AP Photos
Yahoo Sports

Winning.

Islanders 4

Coyotes 5

Some teams get lazy when playing the worst team in the league. It almost happened to the Coyotes in the 3rd period. I fully intended to stand and scream at them if they allowed the Islanders to tie up the game. Thankfully, that didn't happen. Here's some thoughts:

Let's start with David Hale.

We typically see him hanging out amongst the crowd at the Job on game nights. Last night he actually played. And he played well. He had some great hits, he had some blocked shots, he had a great night overall. Not perfect but much improved indeed. He's been working hard at practice and it shows. Keep it up Hale.

Telly.

I love Telly. Telly let in some soft goals last night though. 2 maybe even 3 of them. He also had some nice saves. I am going to give him a break since he got smacked in the head by Tim Jackman and his stick hard enough to break Telly's mask. I think the Islanders technique was to try to take out Telly. They gave him hell. Look for Bryz to be back for the Ducks game, just my prediction.

DC was again a healthy scratch last night. Jackman never would've gotten away with his shenanigans against Telly had Danny been there. Jovo barked at him a bit. But he basically got away with it. NO penalty called. It's not like my team to allow people to get away with BS like that. I'm pretty sure Danny was chomping at the bit, wherever he was.

Coyotes forward Steven Reinprecht notched his 200th career assist on Doan’s goal.

Coyotes Defenseman Zbynek Michalek notched a goal and an assist playing in his 300th career game last night.

Islanders Doug Weight notched his 1000th career point last night. Kudos to my fellow Yotes fans who joined me in giving him a standing ovation. That's no minor accomplishment, just ask David Hale... (I had to do it).

♥ -The Diva

*photos from here & here