If there is one thing that has happened over the last ten years in the NHL, it's the explosion of various hockey dogmas as myths which have led to many changes.
Fighting is good. (It's not. Ban it).
Players have to hit to be effective. (They don't).
The tough-guy macho culture. (Lame/Pathetic).
The take over of stats-based analysis. (Guessing is stupid).
The evolution of the puck-moving defenseman and subsequently, the removal of the stay-at-home defender from the game. (See ya Polak!)
The refining of strategies: dump and chase is bad; Banging the puck off the glass is bad. The focus on possession, controlled entries and breakouts. (Memo to Babcock).
Etcetera.
But one really dumb thing lingers: "Injuries are no excuse."
Actually, yeah they are.
Especially when you play in a parity filled, salary cap league. Injuries aren't just an acceptable excuse, they're most likely the determining factor in who wins.
There are six teams in the NHL currently a cut ahead of everyone else: Toronto, Winnipeg, Boston, Tampa, Nashville and Pittsburgh, with Columbus knocking on the door.
Of those teams, whoever ends up the healthiest will have, by far, the best chance of winning the cup. But injuries will also determine who is the best out of the rest of the teams.
Can Edmonton, St. Louis or Calgary make their way into the top ten?
Will the Coyotes make the Playoffs?
Depends on injuries.
Last year, the Coyotes played the first two months of the season without their starting goalie, and two of their top-four defenseman.
They were done by October.
Once they had a healthy roster they actually started to win. They were a playoff team from New Years on. Of course, by that time it didn't matter, but the point was that they were on the right track, and that those of us who'd said their roster was good, only to see them be worse than ever, were vindicated.
Which brings us to this season: The Coyotes roster looks excellent. A solid - if unspectacular - blue line which is criminally underrated. A legit Vezina candidate in net + a forward group that is doused with speed and has the potential high-end talents of Clayton Keller and Dylan Strome, plus the blazing speed of Vinnie Hinostroza and Michal Grabner.
Everything looks great...except:
Jacob Chychrun: out until maybe Christmas (again) with a different knee injury.
Christian Dvorak: injured
Alex Galchenyuk: Mysterious knee injury possibly out for a while, we're waiting to find out.
Barrat Hayton : Concussion
Dylan Strome : Undisclosed
Yikes.
Fortunately, Chychrun is ahead of schedule and Galchenyuk did finish the game and score two goals in which he was injured. With a little luck, everyone will be fine and this won't matter.
But it is scary, because in the NHL where 26 of 31 teams have a half-way decent shot at the playoffs (Only Chicago, Detroit, New York, New York and Ottawa truly have no chance) injuries matter.
They may matter the most.
The Coyotes lost last year to injuries, and we're hoping that doesn't happen again.
Washington Capitals Blogger • 
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