The Story of the Year

 

 

   Let me start out by saying I don't want to sound like a "homer" because I live in Arizona and have been a fan of the Coyotes since 1997 when they came to the desert from Winnipeg. They are also the main reason I got in to hockey and why it has shaped my life the way it has, but the Phoenix Coyotes are the story of the year as they march into the playoffs. The Coyotes currently sit at 4th place in the Western Conference after a loss on Tuesday Night to the 1st place Chicago Blackhawks. After Sunday night's shoot out victory in Dallas the Coyotes had won 9 straight games dating back to March 3rd at the trade deadline. Phoenix made key additions to their team and look to be very dangerous. One name that I had my eye on was Lee Stempniak due the fact that he has had previous success and that Phoenix got him for very little. He has since scored  9 goals and 2 assists in the 9 of the 10 games he has played in with the Coyotes and has been exciting to watch. All of the additions appear to definitely strengthen this team.

   During the 9 game winning streak the Coyotes have five shoot out victories including their last three. They have admitted to not playing their best hockey yet continue to find ways to win which is what the good teams do, especially at this time of the year. They have set numerous franchise records including wins in a season, wins for a single goaltender, overall points in a season, consecutive home wins, and then tied the most overall consecutive wins with 9 dating back to the 84-85 Winnipeg Jets. The Coyotes have done all of this and will most likely finish the season without a player scoring 30 goals or even 60 points. Many of the top level teams thought of as top contenders for the Cup have one or even two well known stars in the league while the Coyotes are playing great team hockey. The most notable name on the roster even being mentioned for an award at season's end is goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. Ilya has accumulated 39 wins and a league best 8 shut outs and has a save percentage of .921. He is one of two goalies reasonably considered for the Vezina (Best Goalie) and is in the top 5 for the Hart Trophy (MVP). He has been a rock for this team all season and makes the big saves when he has to. An award that will definetly be given out is that of the Jack Adams award for the Coach of the Year to Phoenix head coach Dave Tippett. Tippett was fired from the Dallas Stars last season after failing to reach the playoffs for the first time in the last 7 years that he coached them. He has brought in his great defensive style and the more the team kept winning the more they believed in him.

   The Phoenix Coyotes were expected to finish last in Western Conference according to ESPN's pre-season rankings and many others assumed a similar finish. Stemming from last summer the team is still looking for ownership and is currently owned by the NHL. Some teams cried foul about the teams deadline acquisitions, saying they would not have other wise had the money if they were not owned by the NHL. That is something we will never  know and can not just be assumed. This team was in ruins last summer after several years of the Gretzky experiment not paying off. I personally feel losing Gretzky as coach was less of a reason for the team's success compared to the addition of Dave Tippett. If they playoffs started today then the Coyotes would be set to play the Los Angeles Kings, a team the Coyotes are very familiar with and would be a great first round match-up. I feel that this is a win-able series for the Coyotes looking to win their first playoff series since moving from Winnipeg. This will be their first playoff appearance since 2002. Many of the players on the current roster have little to no playoff experience so only time will tell how they will finish this story book season. No one predicted this team would be here at this time of the year, so hopefully the surprises will continue in the post season.