Last night the Coyotes went into Calgary and lost to the Flames 3-2 in what had to be the most boring hockey game of the year. Yeah, there were five goals, but overall almost no intensity. And no fights! Outside of some brief end to end action after the first Flames goal, and a little goalmouth scramble in the final seconds, this game was a snoozer because the teams played with the intensity of two teams not making the playoffs and not really that bothered by it.
That’s not to say that the Coyotes played a bad game, because they didn’t really, it’s just that for a team that dressed what looked at times like four fourth lines, you would think they might have been a little more intense. For the Coyotes, this is two straight losses to teams they should be beating if they want to make the playoffs. Overall, they have gotten six out of a possible twenty-two points this month. They now need to win both their games in hand just to tie the Wild for the final playoff spot. I wouldn’t say they should give up on the season, but I advocate a minor rebuild rather than getting into the playoffs as a wildcard seed anyways, and their recent play only continues to make that seem like the smart play.
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Random Thoughts on the Game:
- Number one is the same as it always is. Most of the time the Coyotes look like they could win any game they play, except that they can’t score because they have no game breaking forwards. The only reason the Coyotes offensive stats seem as good as they do is because they have two of the best puck moving defenseman in the world- imagine how good their power play would look if they had a forward equal to either Yandle or OEL’s skill level.
- Mike Smith wasn’t bad. You can’t blame this one on him. The first goal was just the result of a great play by Galiardi. The second goal, by Lance Bouma, was on a breakaway and the third was on a screen. The Flames announcers (the most boring “colour… guy I have ever heard by the way; I think his name might have been Carl Monotone, but there were audio problems throughout and I never caught his name) wouldn’t let up about how off his game Smith has been, frequently citing out-of-context- stats about how little he has been earning wins lately. I personally thought Smith was good last night. He came up big on the few scoring chances Calgary had that he didn’t let in, and he set up two good scoring chances himself by shooting the puck up the ice. On one of them, if it wasn’t slightly offside, it would have been a clear-cut breakaway.
- David Rundblad was back, and again, I am not sure how he is ever supposed to keep playing when he only gets into the lineup often enough to show how rusty he is. He was not really a factor, played limited, protected minutes and didn’t really look all that great on the power play.
-Stone played even less than Rundblad, with Tippet electing to have one of Ekman-Larsson or Yandle basically on the ice at all times. OEL played a seriously insane 32 minutes. This is the most I have ever seen a player play in a game that didn’t feature overtime or an injury or game misconduct to another defenseman. Loco!
- The Flames should go back to their old bright red jerseys. They were 100% better than what they have now. The Coyotes should not make a similar move. Their old jerseys were the worst.
- An unfair criticism was leveled at Yandle after the first Calgary goal. The announcer said “Maybe Burke was right,… referring to his leaving Yandle off the Olympic team. This was not fair because Galiardi approached the backward skating Yandle at top speed, chipped the puck off the boards and blew by him. The only option Yandle has at that point is to take an interference penalty, which doesn’t make any sense to do because the play is not close to his own net. Yes, he could have been in better position, but hockey is a fast game and if Yandle doesn’t try to create offense it’s not like Halpern is going to do it. So a totally unfair criticism in my opinion.
- If the Coyotes can’t score – which they basically can’t – I don’t understand why they don’t try to play a tougher, faster, more chippy game. This would include giving more ice time to Bissonnette and asking him to fight more, just for a start. (A hockey game without fighting is like a Britney Spears song without the accompanying music video: someone probably likes it, but you’re not sure who or why). On his worst day Bissonnette gives you more than Halpern who, let’s face it – his best days were behind him five years ago. The Coyotes could easily be a lot harder to play against. Without Hanzal and Bissonnette they really lose a lot of their edge.
- Hats off to Shane Doan who showed why he is the captain and one of the best players in the NHL over the last 15 years. On one great play he took the puck at centre, tried to beat the defender at the blue line and when he couldn’t, he cross checked him to the ice (and most likely insulted his mother) then he skated down the ice as the puck went the other way, making sure he got back. The Coyotes got the puck right back, Doan took it at centre again, this time on the opposite side, backed off the defender, stutter stepped near the faceoff dot, and fired a snapshot pass Ramo for a great goal and easily the highlight of the game.
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There is a rumor out there that the Coyotes are interested in Mike Cammelleri. According to my esteemed colleague Colin Dambrauskas, the Flames would be wanting a first round pick and a prospect in exchange. See, I love Brian Burke. He is probably my favorite GM of all time, just because he is not a typical boring hockey cliché machine, like 95% of everyone else in the league. This, though, is why people make fun of Brian Burke. That is an absolutely ridiculous asking price that clearly he himself doesn’t even believe he can get. Burke would be lucky to get a second rounder and a dud prospect for Cammelleri at this point. Cammelleri is a 31 year old, smallish winger who is five seasons removed from his last 30 goal season (of which he has two in his career). He is currently out with a concussion and has a 7 million dollar contract (6 million cap hit). I don’t even think he gets you a second rounder, actually. Certainly I don’t want him on Phoenix; I’d rather bring up a young player like Samuelson or Brown and see what they can do.
Another name that comes up (and I wouldn’t necessarily call it a rumor) is Matt Moulson. Again, why? Yes he would give the Coyotes a semi-legitimate top line presence, but I don’t necessarily know if he can create offense on his own, which is the kind of player I believe that Phoenix needs. Moulson isn’t going to get a Tavares or even a Hodgson to set him up if he is on the Coyotes. Now, I haven’t seen him play a ton, and maybe he is undeserving of the reputation I am clearly basing my assessment of him on, but he looks to me like the kind of guy who scores most of his goals by banging around the net. Not that the Coyotes couldn’t use that, I just think they need someone who can create offense and make plays. I like Moulson a lot and the Coyotes could use him as he would be much better than most of what they currently have, however, he is a UFA next year, would cost over five million to resign and wouldn’t be cheap to acquire. Again, I am going to pass here. Instead, I say move some assets for a younger player you can build around with Domi, Samuelson, Boedker and Vrbata.
Just my thoughts and as always, thanks for reading.
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