This had the look and feel of one of those workmanlike road wins. The Coyotes got a goal early from Shane Doan, the 25oth of his career, and never seemed out of control of the game. The Blues looked flat. It looked like all the Coyotes needed was that second goal.  After all, they scored on their first shot of the game!

They would never score again.  St. Louis did … twice. Their first goal was the back breaker of all back breakers. The Blues scored from the red line on a dump in. A goofy bounce of the puck and it was in.
The Coyotes had a chance soon thereafter to get that goal back when they went on a four minute power play.  You guessed it: a shorthanded goal.  OUCH.

Hear Coach Gretzky’s post game:

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The hole gets deeper and the trade deadline looms…

See ya in Nashville on Thursday night on AZTV.

- Todd

The Coyotes continue their road trip with a visit to St, Louis. Listen now to Wayne’s comments after practice, plus his pre-game interview:

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- Todd

How about that! The Coyotes came out with jump and jam and rolled the Kings in LA to start the first of 3 straight games on the road and it couldn’t have come at a better time, The Kings had the lead for a moment or two in the second, but midway thru the period they started an onslaught that amounted to five straight unanswered goals.

Olli Jokinen finally got on the score sheet, in a big way, with a hat trick  which sets the table nicely for a two game road trip to St Louis and Nashville which begins on Tuesday on AZ TV. For a bit the Coach shortened his bench to three lines and it worked.

Click to hear more from Wayne:

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Is this the start of what must be a streak? We will find out in St Louis on Tuesday.

- Todd

What a relief! The home ice losing streak is over.  Yes, the Coyotes let a lead slip away late and had to find a way to win in an epic shootout, but the extra point went to the Eastern Conference.  By the way, the game winner?  Dan Carcillo who actually stood at center ice with a giant smile on his face soaking up every moment of it.

It was fun to see the Coyotes have fun.  There was no morning skate, a practice earlier in the week devoted just to the power play and tension was mounting with each loss.  For a day, despite the fact that everybody in the West picked up at least a point, the hole didn’t seem quite as deep.  And that was a welcome relief. This team hasn’t quit.

Hear more from Wayne during his post-game conference:

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See ya on the radio in LA on Saturday.

- Todd

There will be plenty of debate from outsiders as to what the right move was for Kyle Turris, the third overall pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.

Turris is going to be a great NHL player for many, many years to come. That is not the question.

The question is, in order for Kyle to progress, is it better for him to stay in the NHL, and not play meaningful minutes, sit in the press box and watch and learn? Or is progress accelerated by going to San Antonio of the American Hockey League, play for a team that is on a pretty good run lately, play on the power play and upwards of 20:00 per game?

There are those who will say this will be the best thing that happens to Kyle…when he looks back at it years from now.

Right now, he must be thinking many things, and going down to the AHL likely isn’t something he thinks will be one of the best things that is going to happen to him…in his lifetime!

There are those that thought, before the season, that the Coyotes would have been best suited leaving him in college at Wisconsin for another year. They wouldn’t be wrong. Nor would they be wrong in saying that the experience he is going through right now (the AHL) is the best way to develop Kyle or any other up-and-coming highly-touted prospect.

I believe it is a case-by-case, team-by-team situation that must be considered.

Wayne Gretzky is so good with young players. They will all look back years from now and really understand how he protected them, took pressure off of them and nurtured them. Some veteran, career coaches would never be that way. They may not be that patient and they may not be that secure in their jobs, in this business of winning hockey games.

Turris never thought for a minute that he would spend time in the AHL. Why would he?

If that were the case, why would he leave the University of Wisconsin?

That leaves us with this. And this is my opinion right now. This was not or would not have been my opinion two months ago. This IS the best thing for Kyle. He will be a much harder hockey player next season. He will come into camp a tougher player with more edge and less naivete. He has gone through a few tough moments this season, experiences that he would have to go through next year, if it were his first season. But it won’t be. This is. This is where the progress begins for a player that will be in this league, the NHL, for the next 20 years.

He was a healthy scratch his first game in his hometown against the team he grew up watching and dreaming about playing for, the Vancouver Canucks.

He had to be crushed. He wants to play and be a player that the coaches and his teammates will count on.

Now he gets the word he is going down to the AHL. There are many fine, young players in the AHL. It is a breeding ground, a place where stories unfold and later on in your career, they become more magnified, more fun to tell. I know. I was there. It was way more fun getting to the NHL with the guys you went to war with in the IHL (back then) or the AHL. Once you get to the NHL, it is ALL business. Every day. Every game.

We would have seen, and do get to see, the character of a person when they get sent down. Do they sulk? Do they mope around? Do they perform like they couldn’t care less? And even worse, do they go down and treat it with such a lack of respect that their peers know it? That is an insult, and no player likes to be insulted.

When I was rehabbing a torn ACL, I remember going down to Indianapolis of the IHL, with Darryl Sutter coaching. I had been in the NHL for almost three seasons. I made sure I went down there with a great attitude, helped out the young guys, and learned from Sutter. When I was in my first season of pro hockey, we were based in Milwaukee, and most of our players had only played in the higher AHL, not the IHL. Boy, did a lot of the players have poor attitudes. And we stunk because of it. I never forgot it. I swore I would never be THAT player if I went down, and I wasn’t.

So, you’re wondering about Kyle… or Kevin Porter or Viktor Tikhonov earlier?

Have no fear. They all have great attitudes and want to prove that they are NHL players.

Look at Tikhonov against Calgary. Two goals and raring to be a player. Porter is simply a great kid and is going to be a tremendous two-way player in the NHL. It will be all in good time.

Turris took this demotion the way you would expect. He wasn’t drafted third overall just based on his skill set. It is about character. It was about how much he wants it. He is oozing passion for the game, and it shows.

He scored two goals and added one assist in his first AHL game. He added an assist in his second game. In his third game on Monday, he notched two more goals and another assist. That’s the way to go down there and tell the hockey world that this is just a small bump in the road, and yes, every player is stronger for time spent in the minors. You appreciate everything about the NHL. It is the very best league in the world.

- Panger

Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s

After missing about a week of hockey, thanks to the Great Basement Flood of Oh-Nine, I was finally able to plug back in the HDTV widescreen on Monday evening, and get back into the Coolest Game on Ice, or is that The Fastest Game On Earth, or whatever we’re calling it these days.

Started with the Dallas Stars tangling with the feisty Columbus Blue Jackets.  Those dudes from Ohio, that well-known Western state, apparently are genuine in their efforts to make the NHL post-season for the first time in their relatively short history.

The hometown Blue Jackets poured shot-after-shot at Marty Turco, but the trouble was, this was vintage Marty Turco in net, not the imposter from earlier this season.  Turco made some fantastic saves, and the Stars emerged with the 3-2 win in the shootout, though Brad Richards left the game in the second period with what appeared to be a wrist injury.

Next flipped over to the suddenly firewagon Atlanta Thrashers in L.A. to take on the Kings.  Atlanta are too far out in the East to seriously make a run for a playoff spot, but you never know, particularly with the way Ilya Kovalchuk has been finding the back-of-the-net lately.  The Kings, however, are in a race for the bottom end of the Western Conference post-season invites, and every game will be huge here on in.

Well, it didn’t start that way for the Kings.  The Thrashers pumped three goals quickly past Jonathan Quick, building up a 3-0 lead only 7 1/2 minutes into the game.  Quick found the end of the bench, and Erik Ersberg took over between-the-pipes.

I was tempted to abandon this matchup, and turn my attention to the Oilers and Coyotes; in fact, I quickly checked that game out, before returning my attention to Southern California.

Maybe the Hockey Gods whispered in my ear, but it turned out to be a wise choice.  The Kings finally got on the board, only to see Atlanta answer back 33 seconds later.  L.A. got one more before the end of the first.

After 20 minutes, this game already had six goals, a fight, a goaltending change, a big lead by the road team, the start of a comeback by the home team, and all that with at least 40 minutes to play.

The Kings would outshoot the Thrashers 45-27 in the game, but more pointedly, L.A. outshot the visitors 34-13 in the second and third period combined.

Ersberg made a number of great saves, while Hedberg held his own when he was called upon.  There were nice goals, shorthanded goals, powerplay goals, video replays, and playoff-type tension as the third period wound down.

The Kings fought back from a 6-3 deficit and tied things up with a powerplay marker, and the goaltender yanked, with only five seconds remaining, on a nice goal by Anze Kopitar, who was able to corral a rebound, and had the presence-of-mind, and a boatload of talent, to step back and set himself properly before burying the puck.

I didn’t have a rooting interest in this game, so what I wanted to see was an entertaining hockey game, and both the Thrashers and the Kings delivered that on Monday evening.  Eventually, Atlanta would win 7-6 in the shootout, denying the Kings that vital second point.

Kings’ fans experienced a bittersweet evening of hockey.  They were five seconds away from losing, but at this stage in the season, they really needed that second point as well.

After three-and-a-half seasons, I’m still not totally sold on deciding regular-season games by the shootout, but I recognize the drama that comes with it, and on Monday night, it seemed only fitting that a game such as this would be decided in this manner.   Last man standing.

And the fans were standing.

Sure, three periods of high-tempo overtime would have been preferable, but we know that’s only going to occur during the playoffs.

The Thrashers-Kings game had a bit of everything, but mostly, it was fun to watch.  Credit to the Thrashers for not sitting back when they had the three-goal lead.  It almost cost them that second point, but they won my respect.  Head coach John Anderson and his troops made the game enjoyable to watch, and even though you’ll often hear that tired old “just win, baby” saying that I believe came from the mouth of Al Davis, more importantly, the Thrashers went instead with “let us entertain you”.

After all, sports is entertainment, and if it ain’t entertaining, people will find something else to do with their money, particuarly in these times.

Encore, encore!

- Mick Kern

Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s

You can hear it in his voice. There were so many chances, but his team just can’t score goals. Power play goals Even strength goals. Short handed goals.  But most of all we just don’t see the timely goal. The big power play goal that turns the tide.  it is maddening.  The free fall continues.

Coach Gretzky:

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A 3-1 loss to Edmonton makes it six straight losses on home ice. The rest of the west is starting to pull away.  These are trying times in the desert.

- Todd

There’s a chance Kurt Sauer returns. Martin Hanzal is back. Peter Mueller has a game under his belt in his return.  Outside of Dan Carillo who will not play, the Coyotes finally have some key, healthy bodies back. And, it couldn’t came at a better time!

Let’s see if Dan Winnink plays like he did against Calgary and how Telly responds in goal. I’d call this a “must win” but aren’t they all this time of year?

Listen for more on the game from Wayne:

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See you on the pre game show at 7 on Fox Sports Arizona!

- Todd

I won’t bore you with the gory details. I won’t preach. I won’t try and call this a comeback bid that fell short. I won’t because it really wasn’t.  Just a listening task for you…..

Check out what the coach had to say about this loss to Calgary. Listen carefully at about the 3 minute and ten second mark of his post game press conference.

Click to listen:

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I think it says it all.

Edmonton awaits on Monday night.  And we will see you on Fox Sports Arizona.

- Todd

North Las Vegas, NV (February 16, 2009) – Canadians are passionate about hockey and Upper Deck has chosen a very special way to pay homage to Canada’s favorite sport on February 21, 2009. As a way of promoting the fun of hockey card collecting, Upper Deck will be giving away hundreds of thousands of exclusive “National Hockey Card Day” NHL trading card packs for free, only in Canada. Hockey fans need only to visit their favorite hobby shop, Wal-Mart, Toys-R-Us or London Drugs to pick up one of these free packs of hockey cards while supplies last.

“This is a truly unique promotion for us as Canadians,” said David Moore, owner of Cardboard Memories in Toronto, ON. “Promotions like this have been run successfully in the states before, but to have a special set and promotion just for Canada is something special and I think hockey fans here will get behind it.”

“When you spend time in Canada, it is clear that hockey really is the national sport and we wanted to come up with a way to celebrate that unparalleled devotion,” said Kerri Stockholm, director of marketing for Upper Deck.

What really has hockey fans buzzing is the National Hockey Card Day set itself. The fifteen card set consists of some of the top Canadian born rookies, stars and legends. A special “National Hockey Card Day” logo-stamp will adorn each card front and card backs will be printed in both English and French.
“The set that Upper Deck put together around this special day is awesome,” said Wayne Wagner, owner of Wayne’s Sportscards in Edmonton, AB. “Any set that contains players like Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Sidney Crosby and Steven Stamkos is one that any Canadian hockey fan will not want to miss out on.”

For a full list of shops participating and for more information about National Hockey Card Day, please visit www.upperdeck.com/nhcd.