The Coyotes travel to Winnipeg tonight to play the Jets. This is an inopportune matchup for Phoenix, as they catch the Jets in the first game after firing their coach, Claude Noel. I for one will miss Noel’s hilarious press conferences and delightfully sarcastic answers to stupid questions, but no doubt the sardonic and funny Paul Maurice will be equally as entertaining to watch on Sports Center. This important because, let’s be honest: The amount I care about who coaches the Jets is in direct proportion to how entertaining said coach is in press conferences.
The Coyotes, however, probably care quite a bit since it is notoriously difficult to play against a team who is playing their first game with a new coach. Hopefully, it won’t matter and the Coyotes will be so happy to get out on the road, that they put together a good effort and end their losing streak, which currently sits at four losses in five games.
Look for Mike Smith to be back in the net for tonight’s game.
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The Coyotes have sent Connor Murphy to Portland of the AHL. They have recalled 22 year old forward Jordan Szwarz.
Murphy was decent in his time with the big club, often playing on the top pairing with Ekmann-Larsson. Although, lets be serious: I would look decent pairing up with OEL. Still, Murphy showed flashes of why the organization prizes him so highly during his recent run. It may just be a coincidence, or he may have been a scapegoat following the lackluster effort at home versus the Ducks on Saturday.
Either way, I like what Szwarz brings to the team and look forward to having him back in the lineup.
--- The player who may benefit most from the demotion of Murphy is David Rundblad. The former St. Louis Blues first rounder is on a one way contract and has been relegated to team cheer-leader lately, spending all but one of the last dozen or so games in the press box.
Rundblad is an exciting but mysterious player. He has really nice offensive skills but can be a nightmare on the defensive side of the puck. Clearly, he doesn’t exactly play a typical Dave Tippet style game, and he is blocked by the offense already on the blue line – OEL and Yandle.
Still, Rundblad can be an exciting player to watch and he his hockey skills are way too good to let him rot in the press-box. It’s just a theory on my part, but I was very impressed with Connor Murphy for the last month and I really believe that he has to be demoted simply because he has a two-way contract and doesn’t have to clear waivers to go to Portland. There is no way Rundblad is clearing waivers, and due to probably just as much to injuries and duplication of his skill set as to his play, he has been forced to sit.
If the Coyotes do not want too many offensive, unphysical defenseman, they have to sit Rundblad, but are faced with the paradox of not getting anything for him if he isn’t playing. Such are the problems of the richest team in the NHL, in terms of defenseman.
Here’s looking forward to tonight’s, the Jets are always fun to watch.
Thanks for reading.