Guest Post: A look from One Fan’s Perspective
PB @ One Fan’s Perspective wrote the following post as a preview so us Wings’ fans could learn a bit more about the team he blogs about, the Phoenix Coyotes. The two teams play Wednesday night at 7:30pm in Detroit. If you don’t already read his blog on a daily basis, you’re missing out on some quality posts even if you aren’t a Coyotes’ fan. And now onto PB’s post…
With everyone selecting the Phoenix Coyotes to be in the cellar of the NHL, having them mere points away from the eighth playoff spot is next to remarkable. Of course, picking up a top-flight goaltender doesn’t hurt either.
The Coyotes were never expected to score goals, to stop goals, or to win games. Teams used to be able to count on an easy two points from the Coyotes, especially if they had a losing streak to break and needed a team to help them feel better about themselves. The Coyotes were easy prey for such a game and it became rather expected. However, now, teams have to be ready for a high-energy hockey club that will not quit and as a result are stealing games from teams when it used to be the other way around.
Radim Vrbata was a great off-season acquisition for the Coyotes when they traded Kevyn Adams to Chicago for his services. Vrbata has 21 goals for the year, a career high for him that has eclipsed his earlier career best of 18, and Adams has been on the shelf for Chicago for the better part of the season. Earlier in the summer, Coyotes General Manager Don Maloney put Adams on waivers, but being able to trade for a player to get something in return was a bonus.
Peter Mueller has developed into a solid rookie for Phoenix. He has 13 goals on the season, second only to Jonathan Toews and in front of Patrick Kane. Mueller can be used in virtually any situation as he has become an extremely versatile player. Mueller has been playing on the top line with Shane Doan and the two have developed a chemistry on the ice where when Mueller passes the puck, it ends up on Doan’s stick.
Shane Doan has a ten-game point streak and has a point in twelve games played. He is second on the team in goals scored with 16. Doan’s game has stepped up in intensity as he finds ways to lead his team into new situations and to find ways to win hockey games instead of lose them. He is now the ranking veteran on the young hockey club and as Shane Doan goes, the Phoenix Coyotes go as well.
Obviously, the acquisition of Ilya Bryzgalov has been a catalyst to push the franchise forward in their development faster than expected. The team plays confidently in front of him and are not afraid to make mistakes as Bryzgalov will be there to make the important save. The goaltending position is the most important one in hockey to fill, like the pitcher in baseball, or the quarterback in football, and if the goaltending is not there, the team usually follows suit.
With their record five games above .500 at 26-21-2, and better than average road record of 15-10, the Coyotes begin the next half of their season in their comfort zone starting with a game Tuesday night in Columbus, and Wednesday night against the Red Wings in Detroit.
To say that the Red Wings have owned the Coyotes is a gross understatement. For the past three seasons the Coyotes have only won two games and that was back in the 2005-2006 campaign where the two hockey clubs split their series 2-2. After that, the Red Wings have won seven straight. However, with the last two games, the Coyotes have played their counterparts tough, almost squeaking by with a point in the last contest, except for an ill-fated pass by Steven Reinprecht and then Pavel Datsyuk takes the turnover and does what he does best by scoring timely goals.
Based on the recent success of the Phoenix Coyotes, the home arena in Glendale, Arizona should be full of screaming Coyotes’ fans, right? Unfortunately, it has yet to take place, even though momentum is swinging over some fans who have seen exciting hockey of late. Each time the Red Wings roll into town, the building is jam packed with Red Wings fans, some who are residents that only come out to hockey games when the Red Wings are in town. The marketing staff has taken some creative efforts trying to keep the numbers of Coyotes’ fans higher such as raising ticket prices for only Red Wings games.
The opinions vary greatly as to the success of this marketing endeavor - if one is a transplant Red Wings fan, it is not fair that tickets are higher for those games only - if one is a Coyotes fan that has a difficult time cheering for their team because tickets are easy to come by for the opposition, then the strategy, to them, is a good one.
However, I still state that winning causes these issues to resolve themselves, and the Red Wings, with all of their championships and history, are an easy team to cheer for. Besides, if any fan of the opposing team, Red Wings or otherwise, want to get tickets at or above original face value, there are plenty of places to find them.
The Coyotes have been steadily improving their performances against the Red Wings for each game this season, I don’t expect the last one to be any different. In fact, in many ways, the Coyotes strive to be as successful a franchise as the Red Wings are right now. Head coach Wayne Gretzky feels that from Ken Holland on down that the Red Wings are a classy organization and they win games the right way through hard work and execution.
The Coyotes haven’t quit yet, and I don’t expect that they will against the Red Wings Wednesday night.
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