Parity is everywhere.  It has been in the NHL since the lockout of 2004-05.

So by now the players, coaches, media and fans are all very much aware of how difficult it is to make the playoffs.

There are roughly 30 games left.

In the Western Conference, as of the writing of this blog, there are six teams within six points of the eighth and final spot. The 14th-place team (Colorado) is six points away with Nashville and LA, while Vancouver is only one point back and Phoenix, Columbus, Edmonton, Minnesota and Dallas all have the same amount of points, 53. Only two games ago, the Coyotes were holding the fifth spot in the West, only to lose two consecutive games by 2-0 scores, and three overall…..and Holy Jumpin!…right in the 10th spot.

Wayne Gretzky has been saying it for two months now. Don’t get too excited. You win a few and you are in the playoff picture. You lose a couple or three, and you are right below the line. You just can’t get too high, nor can you get too focused on the line that separates the playoff teams from the outsiders. You also can’t lose more than three games in a row. You have to manufacture points, no matter how tough.

You really have to learn from experiences. Last season when the Coyotes were looking strong and were right in the hunt, they narrowed down an actual number that was needed to make it. They openly spoke of “HUGE” must-win games, and when they didn’t win them, well, the morale, from everyone involved in the team, went south. You could see it on everyone’s faces and in their demeanors. How could you not show it? It was much too black and white. The problem with that is when you lose. What is there next? When you say it is the biggest game of their lives, and they lose, what do you do the next day? How can you get them to re-group and re-energize?

The game was in Vancouver, a must-win that ended up being a tough, hard-played, 3-1 loss. They played well. Very well. The next night in Edmonton, the Coyotes battled back to tie the score 4-4 in the third period, only to lose focus and the game 7-4. For all intents and purposes, the season, and the team morale, was done.

The lesson is much clearer now than it was then. You can’t give up. As the Coyotes lost steam and the playoff poise needed, the Oilers took that win from the Coyotes and battled so hard, they came from below the Coyotes and nearly snuck in. They missed it by just three points. I am sure they learned an awful lot from that experience. They will be in the race until the bitter end this season, I guarantee it.

The Coyotes will too, as Wayne Gretzky has an uncanny knack of keeping things in the present. He also learned from last season and that is why he analyzes the game so well, especially after losses. He breaks it down as a simple matter of fact.

The last few games, losses at San Jose and vs. Buffalo, the power play has gone 0-13.

The effort and spirit of the team was excellent. The execution on the PP was not. He doesn’t take away all the good things that were done, he gets right to the point.

Big players that get on the PP have to be big players. They have to be difference-makers at important times. He will play the heck out of Olli Jokinen and Shane Doan in games at Nashville and at Detroit.

He will also put rookie Kyle Turris on a line with Jokinen and fellow rookie Mikkel Boedker, as they ended the last game against Buffalo with many good chances.

It doesn’t get any easier for Gretzky and company, but maintaining an even, business-like approach for every game, and for every morning the team wakes up and looks at the standings, will be essential when it comes to making the playoffs.

- Panger

Make no mistake, this is captain Shane Doan’s and the rest of the veteran players’ team in Phoenix.

It proudly displays the faces of Doan, Olli Jokinen, Ed Jovanovski, Derek Morris and Ilya Bryzgalov on the cover of its media guide, and it should.

You don’t just anoint the franchise to four rookies if you are saying you are a playoff team and a team that will compete for the Stanley Cup. The good teams in the NHL all know that is just too much responsibility and it clearly would show a lack of respect for just how good this league is and just how good the veteran, proven players are day in and day out.

That being said, the time is now for many franchises to showcase their top prospects to the rest of the NHL.

The Coyotes, because of some poor regular season showings and some terrific drafting, have a cupboard full of high end prospects. These kids are certainly the real deal. They have uncanny hockey sense and a burning desire to be great players. They train hard, eat well and practice like it will be their last one in the NHL. It is infectious.

I like the message that was sent last week to the four players. General Manager Don Maloney sat Kyle Turris, Kevin Porter, Mikkel Boedker and Viktor Tikhonov down before practice
at Alltel Ice Den in Scottsdale and sent a very simple message.

It went something like this:

You all are going to be terrific players.

You deserve to be here in this lineup.

Don’t back down…ever on the ice.

Hold your own in scrums, don’t shy away. It doesn’t mean fight. It means be there, with your chin in the middle of it. The military will be right behind any one of you…no matter what happens.

Head Coach Wayne Gretzky also sat down with them. His ability to read the right situation and say things at the right time is as uncanny as the magical passes he slid across the crease to Jarri Kurri. He gives these kids, and the rest of the players, so much confidence by saying something so simple.

The other day at practice, there was Gretzky at center ice with Turris. The conversation was calm and directly to the point.

“Have fun out here. Don’t press. You are here for a long time. The best thing about being in the NHL is it is fun, so have fun. ”

You know that Gretzky will put these kids in an environment to succeed. He was so good last season with Martin Hanzel and Peter Mueller. You sometimes have to “hide” players on
the road against veteran teams. They may not see the last three minutes of a close game. That’s the process for the long run. They have to build confidence along the way.

This season, the Coyotes will need all four of these freshman to be players. They will have off nights and they will be stars of games.

The moxie will have to be there too. The other teams have to know they won’t wilt away when the going gets tough.

I believe that won’t be a problem.

For gretzky.com, I’m Darren Pang.

Wayne Gretzky has been behind the bench for the 2 game rookie tournament against the LA Kings rookies, and it was business as usual for he and his coaching staff. When you look around the NHL during the rookie camps and tournaments, you don’t always, in fact you rarely, see the head coaches behind the bench, for one reason or another.

Not with Gretzky and the Coyotes as he and Ulf Samuelsson took care of the bench, while newcomer Doug Sulliman sat in the pressbox with goalie coach Grant Fuhr to take notes and get a feel for the young players. Gretzky knows that the prospects he has will be a big part of the present and the very near future, not just players that have potential, and may be 3 or 4 years away, if at all.

He is on the bench and on the ice in practice grooming them through drills and systems that will be employed from Day 1.

Its also good for the players to be around Wayne. Its natural to be in awe of Gretzky, so the players have to get used to how he handles the bench, drills in practice and also his demeanor. He laughs a lot, observes most things that no one else even sees happening. He is serious, but knows when to lighten things up and more importantly, has been a player before and understands you will make mistakes.

There are plenty of negatives when you don’t make the playoffs. You lose that winning culture, that expectation that you will win every night. On the other hand, it allows you the opportunity to draft the best of the best in that years draft. A team like the Red Wings haven’t had top picks since Yzerman and Primeau, when they were not a very good hockey team. They have done well with later picks like Datzyuk and Zetterberg.

Pittsburgh had a rough stretch that resulted in Fleury, Staal, Crosby and Malkin to name a few.  The Coyotes have Peter Mueller, Kyle Turris, Mikkel Boedker, and Viktor Tihkonov to go along with a slew of good draft picks that have resulted in picks like Chris Summers, Nick Ross, Brett MacLean and Kevin Porter to name just a few.

Its no wonder Gretzky and Samuelsson are preparing the young players with the same intensity and attention to details as they would be doing with their regular line-up. They know they will play for them, and sooner rather than later.

The unique thing about this collection of players is they all have different games.  The puck follows Turris and he just makes smart plays. He gets plenty of chances and doesn’t need much time to make a play. He has very quick hands and can snap the puck. He is a self motivated athlete that knows what he wants. Its just a matter of time and experience for Kyle.

Boedker is a horse. He has big strong legs and has lots of jump. He checked in around 200 lbs and doesn’t mind the physical part of it. He is a left shot that plays the right side, and has a great one timer.
Tihkonov intrigued many teams. He grew up in Los Gatos CA around the Sharks as his father Vasiliev was a coach with the Sharks and also with their farm team. He only recently got his Russian passport and was asked on several occasions to play for USA Hockey. He was not going to do that as his legendary grandfather, Viktor, is the President of Red Army. Young Tikhonov is a big strong kid that loves to drive to the net, and can play all 3 forward positions. You can tell he has been around pro hockey all his life, as he just fits in, he looks and acts like he belongs in the NHL.

Porter is a well rounded, smart player. He won the Hobey Baker and I get the sense it wasn’t just the point total. He is a leader. There were several times during the rookie games vs LA that he got hit or slashed on a shift, and instead of retaliating, he took a number and made sure he got a piece of that player. He is smart with the puck on both sides of the ice. He was the most mature player in the 2 games and appears to have a real bright future.

Another piece of the line up that has to excite Gretzky is his top line. He finally has a big centerman that can go up against the big boys in the Pacific.

With Ollie Jokinen, at 6’3 220 lbs, he also has a center that wants the puck in his own zone to begin the breakout. Jokinen doesn’t have to be the captain in the desert. He just has to play his game.  This is Shane Doan’s team, and Doan will patrol the LW on the top line with Peter Mueller likely on the RW.

That brings us to Bryzgalov. He is without a doubt the key to the process for Wayne and the Coyotes. He can be an All-Star. He can win a Vezina. He can be a Hart Trophy winner.  That’s what kind of upside he has. He has that potential for sure. He is athletic, mobile and large.  He will have to handle this team the right way. He will have to deal with adversity and have the maturity to handle some of the rough nights. He has shown he can do that and now must know how massive the responsibilty is.

Every player will make mistakes, especially the young ones and its so important in this situation for the older, veteran players, like Bryzgalov, to give his teammates confidence, no matter what happens out on the ice. What a year this should be.

Gretzky is going to have the time of his life behind the bench, in the room and on the plane with these guys. I can’t wait to be a part of it, the beginning of something real special in the desert.

For gretzky.com, I’m Darren Pang.