Bad Moon Rising? Despite Distractions, Phoenix Coyote's Ready To Attack the Ice?

Written By: Mark “The Hard Hitter” Ritter

For the Phoenix Coyote’s players, staff, and fans, it has been a summer that they’d all rather forget. The bankruptcy proceedings took their toll, as did the departure of Wayne Gretzky, all and all, it has been a tough summer, one filled with more off-ice drama than actual hockey news.

With the summer of discontent behind them, the Coyotes now turn their attention to what is expected to be a very tough October Schedule, which will include games against the Los Angeles Kings (2), Pittsburgh Penguins, Buffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets (2), San Jose Sharks, St. Louis Blues (2), Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers, and the Anaheim Ducks.

Clearly, there will be no "easy nights" for the Coyotes, as many of their opponents are expected to make the playoffs this season, something the Coyote’s can only dream of doing this season.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch Changes

The offseason saw the Coyotes add Defensemen Jim Vandermeer, Adrian Aucoin, and Lauri Korpikoski; goaltender Jason Labarbera and Forwards Radim Vrbata, Stefan Meyer, Vernon Fiddler, and, most recently, 38 year old Robert Lang.

Further changes were made behind the bench with Wayne Gretzky stepping down as head coach and former Dallas Stars head coach Dave Tippett replacing him. Other significant coaching changes included goaltending coach Grant Fuhr being replaced by Sean Burke and the very experienced Dave King being added as an assistant coach.

Coaching will not be an issue for the Coyotes. Both Tippett and King are very capable coaches, with tons of NHL and International experience between them. The two Daves bring an NHL coaching record of 173-182-52 (King) and 271-156-28-37 (Tippett), both men are regarded as excellent, well-rounded coaches.

Overall, the Coyote’s player acquisitions were unimpressive. That said, the addition of Labarbera should give the Coyote’s decent depth in between the pipes and Aucoin and Lang will add some much needed experience to a team that is going to rely on a number of their young guns if they are to have any success at all.

For the most part, the players have been saying all the right things in training camp. Sure, it’s been a tough summer, there have been a lot of distractions, but the players contend they are “ready to go” and, with the distractions behind them, they are ready to wipe the slate clean and play some puck.

Last season expectations were high for the Coyotes. Many prognosticators felt the Coyotes had a decent shot at the playoffs, but in the end, the playoffs were not to be, as Wayne Gretzky led his troops to a record of 36-39-7, good enough for a fourth place finish in the Pacific Division, 24th overall.

Lowered expectations

This season, the fans (all 3000 of them) have low expectations. There are no delusions about a Stanley Cup parade and a playoff berth would be more of a shock than an expectation. It will be interesting to watch what level of support the Coyotes receive at the Jobbing.com arena.

I, for one, suspect it will be shoddy at best, with many seats left unfilled on more nights than not. But, given the offseason turmoil, what can you expect?

There are a few reasons to cheer this season. Young guns Mikkel Boedker, Peter Mueller, and Martin Hanzal are all expected to improve on last season’s totals. On defense, Keith Yandle is expected to continue to progress and eventually should take on the title of franchise defenseman for the Coyotes.

Returning veterans Shane Doan and Ed Jovanovski should keep the locker room together and both of them can still play at a high level. Another player to watch is diminutive forward Scottie Upshall.

At just 25 years old, Upshall still has some maturing to do, but his rough and tumble play and ability to irritate the oppositions best players, is sure to bring the fans out of their seats on many occasions this season.

So, what can we expect?

It’s going to be a tough season for the Coyotes. The Western Conference is going to be ultra-competitive and, for the most part, the Coyote’s look to be out-gunned and short on Defense, which should amount to more than a few bad beats on the ice.

If the Coyotes can, as they say they will, forget all the distractions, concentrate on hockey and play a defensively tight game, they may have a shot at staying out of the cellar, but a bottom five finish, while not ideal, is very realistic for this tough luck team.

Hey, after the dust has settled, at least there will still be hockey in the desert. Question is, will it be more painful to watch the season unfold, or would it have been more painful to watch the team walk away?

Until next time,

Peace!