NHL: Which Phoenix Coyotes Will We See This Week?

Four games into the regular season, the Phoenix Coyotes are at a standstill. After a two-game stint in the Czech Republic, the Coyotes returned to Glendale to face a team that ended their playoff dreams, the Detroit Red Wings.

With fans anticipating their home opener, the Coyotes on the other side were coping with injuries. Top free-agent signee Ray Whitney has yet to play a home game for the Coyotes, as the Wizard could only watch the Coyotes lose in a penalty-plagued overtime.

Whitney was brought over to the Coyotes to help the Coyotes on the power play since the Coyotes experienced problems there.

However, the power play isn’t what is going to hurt the Coyotes this season. Penalties are.

Against the Red Wings, the Coyotes had eight players take penalties, which cost them the game. While some of the penalties might have been argumentative, the way the Coyotes are playing right now, it’s another argument to see when the Coyotes will return to their potential.

The Coyotes haven’t played a good game since Oct. 9, when they opened up the season against the Boston Bruins. Since then, the Coyotes have not only faced penalties, but injuries and suspensions.

Injuries are the most feared word in sports. Nobody likes to talk about injuries, but we all know that sooner or later somebody is going to go down. In this case, three important members of the Coyotes have been bitten by the injury bug this season.

Defenseman Ed Jovanovski, who battled both injuries and suspensions last season, was scratched on Sunday’s lineup due to a minor upper-back injury and is expected to return this week. The Coyotes are not the same without their top defenseman, as his veteran leadership on the ice was a strong asset to last season's success.

Ray Whitney has missed the last two games due to a upper-body injury and is expected to return this week. With Whitney back in the lineup, the Coyotes will have another proven veteran who has Stanley Cup experience, as well as a guy who can score 20 goals in a season.

While the Coyotes never had a go-to guy to put the puck in the net, Whitney can help not only put the puck in the net, but also find his teammates to score as well.

Martin Hanzel suffered a lower-body injury during the 3-2 loss against the Ducks on Sunday and is expected to be out of the lineup for the next one to two weeks. In the meantime, the Coyotes have called up Andrew Ebbett from the San Antonio Rampage (AHL).

Hanzel is one the biggest members on the ice at 6'6". He's a can’t-miss player on the ice, but off it, he will be missed.

Finally and most importantly, the Phoenix Coyotes will be without captain Shane Doan, who was suspended by the NHL for three games for an illegal check to the head of Ducks RW Dan Sexton on Sunday.

While Doan’s stats have dipped in the last two years, he is still the Coyotes captain and always will be. He doesn’t need stats to show what he does on the ice.

While people often forget is that the best players in the NHL only have the puck about one minute a game, it is what they do without the puck that makes them a valuable member to their teams.

When Doan is on the ice, he is controlling the game for the Coyotes as he is the Phoenix Coyotes. Doan is very similar to Jovanovski, as the Coyotes are a different team without either one in the lineup.

Doan will not be in the lineup until next Tuesday when the Coyotes travel to Ottawa to play the Senators.

If the Coyotes want to end their losing skid, the Coyotes will need to avoid the penalty box and start producing.

The Coyotes do have promise; they just need to continue with what they left behind last season.