Follow @james_tanner123 Hard to believe it was only a week or two ago when the Coyotes - although only for a couple hours - were at the top of the Pacific Division.
Even harder to believe is that despite losing five in a row, the Coyotes are tied with the Ducks and just a single point behind the Canucks and Sharks.
That's crazier than attempting to play an entire NHL season where the only legit NHL centre on your roster is the league's most injury prone player. (Note: that player, Martin Hanzal, missed last night's game with an injury, meaning the Coyotes dressed below average fourth liner Antoine Vermette as their "first line" centre.)
Now, there are those who will say that if the Coyotes can lose five in a row and still be in a playoff spot, then they might actually have a shot at the Playoffs, that maybe the team that won all those games is actually decent.
I would urge those people to reconnect with reality as soon as possible, before someone gets hurt.
The fact is, the Coyotes' early season success was the based entirely on good luck and what we are currently seeing is far more indicative of what this team actually is - which is the worst team in the NHL by a mile.
And, while the Coyotes are only a single point out of a Playoff spot right now, they are also only three points out of the NHL's basement, such is the state of the Pacific Division.
The Coyotes just finished a road trip so bad it would be comical if it wasn't entirely predictable. They went 0-5 and allowed five goals in all but one game, you know, the one where they let in four instead.
Last night, besides losing another lopsided game, the Coyotes also allowed their seventh short handed goal against on the season. That is incredible, actually. Most teams don't allow seven shorthanded goals against in an entire season, and this one is only a third of the way through.
I don't even know what else to say about the Coyotes. Dave Tippett healthy scratched Connor Murphy last night, which seems like the kind of stupid move you do when you're panicking. I mean, it's the kind of move that Marv from Home Alone would make if he was running a hockey team.
A team that dressed Grossmann, Elliott, Dahlbeck and Michalek healthy scratched Connor Murphy? The objectively second best defensemen on the team?
Man, if I am the GM of any other team in hockey I look at that kind of stupidity and I swoop in and trade for the talented and misused Murphy.
Their best overall forward is a walking infirmity.
Their coach makes decisions that make no sense when looking at the data.
Their third defensive pairing of Dahlbeck and Michalek is the worst D pairing in hockey.
They continue to insist that Antoine Vermette is an NHL caliber player.
Their prized rookie, Max Domi, is not good when he doesn't have the puck and much of his talent is being wasted because he is such a bad possession player.
The move they made to pick up former draft pick Tikhonov is not going to help, because they still play Scott, Downie, Vermette, Jeffreys etc. etc. etc.
And both their goalies objectively suck.
Did I mention their GM is perhaps the worst in the league?