UPDATE: The Coyotes have waived Dave Schlemko. The defenseman has been put on waivers and will either be claimed by tomorrow or be sent down to the AHL. Schlemko is a fringe NHL but a good guy, so I hope he catches on with another team. However, since he's also decent in a pinch, he'll make a good emergency option out of Portland should he clear.
The good news is that this means Brandon Gormley should now be a regular, however, who even knows anymore with this team? They might decide to make Chipchura a defenseman for all I know. They also have Chris Summers wasting away in the press box and I think Summers is a pretty decent dman as well.
If I had my way, the Coyotes would trade Michalek for a forward capable of playing in the top six and they would ice a OEL/Yandle - Stone/Murphy - Summer/Gormely defense group.
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My best friend Gerry came over and we drank some horribly cheap beer and spent an hour flipping between some great games. There was Colorado vs NYR and the Jets vs Carolina and St.Louis vs Nashville.
Of the three, St.Louis/Nashville was the most interesting because the best player to watch in the whole NHL for the last three weeks - Vladimir Tarasenko - was at it again. A goal, an assist and a fight in which he first threw himself into his opponent at top speed as if he was going off the turnbuckles at a wrestling match, made for a great game.
The game itself was not bad, though the result - Calgary 5 Coyotes 3 - left a lot to be desired. Eight goals in a game is always something good to watch and this one had a couple nice goals, (specifically the Girordano goal) a couple fluky ones and it was a pretty competitive game for the most part.
That is, until the Flames scored late in the third to make it a two goal game. The goal was a fluke that deflected off the stick of Smith and into the net. After that, you could visibly see the collective shoulders of the team slump. There was not to be any comeback in this game and you knew there wouldn't be the second that goal went in.
For the Coyotes it was the same old story: sloppy, defensive breakdowns, no sustained offense and mediocre goaltending. It was also not even close to as exciting as the St.Loius game.
Nor was it as good as what happened afterwards. I turned on the Oilers game in time to see the Sens win in OT and then it was off to Dallas where they beat the Kings 2-0 in an intense game that saw Kari Lehtonen make possibly the best glove save I have ever seen in my life.
Overall, great night of hockey but a frustrating one to be a Coyotes fan, as the basement three-way ended with the Avalanche winning in NYR and the Oilers getting dud-point vs the Senators. The Coyotes now sit alone in the basement.
Its turning into a long season.
Coyotes get right back at it with the second of their Western Canada road trip tonight in Vancouver. I would look for Dubnyk to get the start and I figure this is going to be a pretty important game that shows how much mettle this team has - they looked pretty deflated after last night's loss and if they come out strong tonight, I think that's a really good sign.