I’m saying this a lot later than I expected when the playoffs began, the Phoenix Coyotes are officially eliminated from the post-season. I’m pretty disappointed with how it all ended. They essentially gave the Kings the driver’s seat with the eggs they laid in Game’s One and Two, only after that did they begin to show signs of who they are and the structure that binds them. What has been so special about this season is their heart and determination. We hear the calls of “not enough talent” far too often. This team has a lot of talent and they buy into a team game. I felt that this was a winnable game but they let it slide through their fingers. Hats off to LA for winning their eighth straight road victory, that is simply amazing. All the team can do from here is focus on the draft and bring back the heart and soul of the team in Shane Doan; this is going to be an interesting off-season.
The thing I will miss most about this run though is easily that season ticket holder who sat two seats to the left of Dave Tippett…wow she has nice…well if you saw the home games you’d know.
There is some controversy surrounding the ending of the game. I really don’t think it matters, that is just Dustin Brown doing what he does best by getting in peoples heads. It showed later, they simply lost focus. If I was going to get all worked up about the refs it would be the linesman’s constant offside parade, I re-watched a bunch (this goes both ways) and I counted seven incorrect calls. They have one of the hardest and least enviable jobs in the world but players know when they balls up an offside, there were a lot of stare downs. The Hanzal interference on Kopitar on the five on three was kind of funny, as was the OT interference call on Doughty, just odd calls at odd times. Crap happens and they are human, what are you gonna do but grit your team and play the game? As far as the end with the handshakes and the banter goes I know a lot of people will call it classless but they are humans. We’re emotional creatures and you could see how incensed they were with the Brown hit on Rozsival. If the goal didn’t come so quickly after that incident, I don’t think we’d even have to talk about this. What I didn't like was the talk with the media, Yandle stuck his foot in it and I think he'll get a fine.
I wonder how Smith and Quick’s heads feel today; I’ve never seen so many slappers to the face mask. Speaking of the two…what performances. I felt that Quick was not as sharp as he was in the first two rounds, but he was still a top goalie. When he’s on his game he is one of the toughest goalies to beat. He has that speed and athleticism you can’t teach, I mean he guy is six feet out of his net on his knees and somehow makes a perfect glove save with his chest on the ice. As for Smith you got to love him, whether you care for his “antics” or personality, he was the feel good story of the year. Waivers and concussions galore, losing his job to Roloson, he comes back and trains like never before with Gary Robert’s in the off season, begins training with Sean Burke (who is looking like a genius these days) and more importantly he worked on his mental game. Goalies are weird creatures, you can have all the physical tools in the world but if that big organ in your skull isn’t there you’ll lose every time. Sean Burke said he had issues where he would lose confidence and begin flailing like a mad man when he got flustered; he helped calm him down and get to play more technical and deep in his net. I would have loved to see a Masterton or Vezina nod for him, but trophies aren’t needed to prove how fantastic he was this season.
There are a lot of changes that could happen with the Coyotes and I’ll be here to follow all those details. Grades and potential moves and such will be coming, as will the draft stuff with Brian Huddle.
With the season over I’d like to wish the LA Kings and their fans good luck in the finals. They steamrolled a lot of good teams to get where they are and Sutter is certainly making Lombardi look smart. Watching them with that mix of size, speed, tenacity on the forecheck, often near perfect positioning and a great goalie it makes it difficult to see anybody beating them.
Thanks for reading. Thanks Coyotes for a great season. Thanks Eklund for giving them the kiss of death with your “Coyotes in Six” prediction (just kidding).
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