haha good one the sharks would eat the coyotes lunch all season long

Please resign as a blogger, I do not mean to be rude but this is by far the worst comment I have ever read! Yes Colorado finished 2nd in the West by accident and San Jose tied for 3rd by accident so Arizona is definitely better..... Minnesota beat Arizona out despite losing their top 2 goalies and Dallas improved their line up significantly. Arizona has done NOTHING!
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

They have Gagner now.

haha good one the sharks would eat the coyotes lunch all season long
- 2Real

Yeah I don't see Yotes roster anywhere near the talent level of the Sharks

They have Gagner now.
- YzermanIsTheMan

He's could apparently still be "great"

He's could apparently still be "great"
- sbroads24

And Matt Cooke could win the Selke.

Pretty much every other team in the West improved.. and Phoenix really.. didn't.

You're going to miss the PO's again, eh.

If Smith goes down kiss it goodbye. Even with him, good luck.

Chicago, Anaheim, St. Louis, LA, San Jose.. all pretty much a lock. That leaves 3.

Colorado and Minnesota/Dallas.. all gonna be better.

That leaves basically the rest to fight it out.. do you really think you guys have improved that much??

Hmm. I don't see it.

I don't see how Dallas, SJ, Minn or Col can be considered better, as PHX has a better goaltending/defense combo than all of them and its not even close.
- James_Tanner

That must explain the Avalanche winning the Central and the Coyotes missing the playoffs.

Great logic.

Yeah I don't see Yotes roster anywhere near the talent level of the Sharks
- VANTEL

and almost everyone thought the canucks were a sure thing to make the playoffs last year.

For SJ, loss of their top scoring D-man in Boyle will hurt. I think Thornton will be fine, but I could see Marleau reverting to a 50 point player. I also think Pavelski will drop back down to a more normal 60 point year for him.

Not saying the Sharks will not make the playoffs, but they are a team on the decline and a couple key injuries could have them on the outside looking in.

Seriously, find me 3 teams in the NHL with better 1 through 6 depth than the Coyotes on D. Then let's see if they have Summers and Schlemko at 7/8, or anyone as good as Yandle on their second pairing.

I don't claim to know every team in hockey as intimately as I know PHX, I mean, I do have another job and can't spend all my time on hockey, but I am reasonably knowledgeable about the other 29 teams and I don't think it can be done. Maybe one or two, but not three.
- James_Tanner

Blues are better.
Petro>OEL (Look at Norris voting this year)
Shattenkirk>Yandle (Look at who made the US Olympic team)
Bouwmeester>Michalek (Look at who costs more in a trade, been an all star)

Gunnarson, Jackman, Cole, Leopold, Butler, Prosser is a better group for bottom 3 than what Coyotes have. Sure, Coyotes have more young guys with potential. But potential is just another word for being unproven. Blues don't have a bunch of guys who are going to come in and make rookie mistakes, they have a couple vets who have proven they can handle top pairing minutes on teams with weaker defense, a couple more guys who are top 4 on weaker teams, and a prospect rated about as good as all of Coyotes young guys outside Gormley.

Blackhawks and Predators have solid arguments for being better as well. So there you go, 3 teams. A lot of your opinion on the Coyotes defense seems to be based on you forgetting that guys like Karlsson, Doughty, Petro, & OEL are the exception by being so good so young. Most defensive prospects, even good ones, need about 200 games in the NHL before they are really the player you expect them to be.

and almost everyone thought the canucks were a sure thing to make the playoffs last year.

For SJ, loss of their top scoring D-man in Boyle will hurt. I think Thornton will be fine, but I could see Marleau reverting to a 50 point player. I also think Pavelski will drop back down to a more normal 60 point year for him.

Not saying the Sharks will not make the playoffs, but they are a team on the decline and a couple key injuries could have them on the outside looking in.
- Tumbleweed

Wrong. I live here and have watched the majority of Sharks games the past decade.

Pavelski and Couture are only going to get better. They need to trade Marleau and Jumbo both and get what they can now to re-stock the system.

But they will still be fine during the regular season.

and almost everyone thought the canucks were a sure thing to make the playoffs last year.

For SJ, loss of their top scoring D-man in Boyle will hurt. I think Thornton will be fine, but I could see Marleau reverting to a 50 point player. I also think Pavelski will drop back down to a more normal 60 point year for him.

Not saying the Sharks will not make the playoffs, but they are a team on the decline and a couple key injuries could have them on the outside looking in.
- Tumbleweed

Disagree completely. Vancouver sucked because the Sedins did not carry them. Outside of the Sedins and Kesler they had nobody. There was no depth there and nobody to step up. After that they basically traded away their starting goaltender for some guys I do not believe will pan out.

San jose has the depth. If Thornton goes down they have Couture, Pavelski and Marleau to step in. Burns can always move up to forward if need be. Sharks are fine, I know they'd like to move Thornton so those younger guys can move up and they can get some younger pieces back.

Pretty much every other team in the West improved.. and Phoenix really.. didn't.

You're going to miss the PO's again, eh.

If Smith goes down kiss it goodbye. Even with him, good luck.

Chicago, Anaheim, St. Louis, LA, San Jose.. all pretty much a lock. That leaves 3.

Colorado and Minnesota/Dallas.. all gonna be better.

That leaves basically the rest to fight it out.. do you really think you guys have improved that much??

Hmm. I don't see it.
- DutchCanSaveUs

Col is hard to predict in my opinion. Duchene, Mackinnon, O'Reilly, Varlamov and Landeskog are probably good enough to get the team into the playoffs.

On the other hand, I personally didn't like the roster changes made and the Av's may have a tough time this year.

Wrong. I live here and have watched the majority of Sharks games the past decade.

Pavelski and Couture are only going to get better. They need to trade Marleau and Jumbo both and get what they can now to re-stock the system.

But they will still be fine during the regular season.
- DutchCanSaveUs

Fair point on Couture. Pavelski had a ridiculous 18% shooting percentage last year. I'd be shocked if he can maintain that. Very good player, at 30 years old, I just think you've seen his best year at this point.

Col is hard to predict in my opinion. Duchene, Mackinnon, O'Reilly, Varlamov and Landeskog are probably good enough to get the team into the playoffs.

On the other hand, I personally didn't like the roster changes made and the Av's may have a tough time this year.
- Tumbleweed

We'll only be better man. MacKinnon is 18... 18!!!! Landy is 21.. Ror and Dutch 23.. we have the core of our team for the next decade at least provided we keep RoR, and I hope to god we do.. even Sakic knows how important he is. Pay the man.

Varly will still be solid.. our D will be better. Everyone is a year older and more experienced.. Barrie was turning into a stud and then got Matt Cooked, which kills us in those last 2 games against the Wild.. Stuart will be better than either of Wilson or whoever else held down that rotater spot.. it was terrible.

Iginla will be better than anyone else we could have thrown on the RW up top.. for part of the season we had Jamie McGinn playing with Duchene and RoR, c'mon lol...

That leaves us better options going down the line.. Tanguay should be back healthy, Briere is here now, and we can slot those other guys who were more suited to 3rd and 4th line minutes where they belong.

I can't tell you how many times Parentau or McGinn flubbed passes or flat out missed open nets.. Iginla will not do that.

We will be just as good, if not better. Worst case we regress a hair.. but still finish over 100 pts and make the PO's.

Disagree completely. Vancouver sucked because the Sedins did not carry them. Outside of the Sedins and Kesler they had nobody. There was no depth there and nobody to step up. After that they basically traded away their starting goaltender for some guys I do not believe will pan out.

San jose has the depth. If Thornton goes down they have Couture, Pavelski and Marleau to step in. Burns can always move up to forward if need be. Sharks are fine, I know they'd like to move Thornton so those younger guys can move up and they can get some younger pieces back.
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

I'm just not sure that SJ has the depth like LA, Stl or Chi to withstand a couple key injuries. Loss of Boyle hurts and I think Marleau is poised to decline. Moving Burns back up to forwad will really test the depth of the D-men in in front of an average goalie in Niemi.

and almost everyone thought the canucks were a sure thing to make the playoffs last year.

For SJ, loss of their top scoring D-man in Boyle will hurt. I think Thornton will be fine, but I could see Marleau reverting to a 50 point player. I also think Pavelski will drop back down to a more normal 60 point year for him.

Not saying the Sharks will not make the playoffs, but they are a team on the decline and a couple key injuries could have them on the outside looking in.
- Tumbleweed

All signs were pointing to Canucks dropping in the standings.Stick to the topic.

So which team falls out from playoffs in the West to let the Mighty Coyotes in?
Considering that every team improved and Coyotes lost Ribeiro and Vrbata.

Thought so.

There is about zero chance they make the playoffs.

I'm just not sure that SJ has the depth like LA, Stl or Chi to withstand a couple key injuries. Loss of Boyle hurts and I think Marleau is poised to decline. Moving Burns back up to forwad will really test the depth of the D-men in in front of an average goalie in Niemi.
- Tumbleweed

Boyle was not very good last season, I would know I had him on my Fantasy team. He is not a good defenseman but he could rack up points, he did not do that last year and honestly the sharks were a better team when he was hurt.

I'm just not sure that SJ has the depth like LA, Stl or Chi to withstand a couple key injuries. Loss of Boyle hurts and I think Marleau is poised to decline. Moving Burns back up to forwad will really test the depth of the D-men in in front of an average goalie in Niemi.
- Tumbleweed

I think Boyle leaving isn't a big deal, they have lots of young promising Dmen that are looking to crack the roster, Mirco Mueller and Matt Tennyson should be there this year. I think their D will be ok with Vlasic, Braun, and Burns (they stated he will be a Dman this season). They will shelter the Kids

The West being so good is just an overdone cliche. Yeah, ST. Louis, Chicago and LA are 3 of the 5 best teams in hockey, but after that?

I don't think teams like NYR, Philly, Detroit, Toronto, Montreal, Washington and Columbus are any worse than SJ, Anaheim, Colorado, Nashville, Phoenix, Dallas etc.


Anaheim, San Jose and Colorado will all finish behind the Coyotes.
- James_Tanner

That's rich......

I don't see how Dallas, SJ, Minn or Col can be considered better, as PHX has a better goaltending/defense combo than all of them and its not even close.
- James_Tanner

Well as far as the Sharks are concerned....the will be better than Arizona next year for the exact same reason they are always better than the Yotes. They score lots and lots of goals and always have the puck in the Ozone.

So which team falls out from playoffs in the West to let the Mighty Coyotes in?
Considering that every team improved and Coyotes lost Ribeiro and Vrbata.

Thought so.

There is about zero chance they make the playoffs.
- StargateSG1

Zero chance. I put them only above Calgary. Bottom 5 in the west IMO
Calgary
Arizona
Nashville
Edmonton
Vancouger.

Zero chance. I put them only above Calgary. Bottom 5 in the west IMO
Calgary
Arizona
Nashville
Edmonton
Vancouger.
- Jeropotato

You forgot the Jets

Im the farthest thing away from a Troll. Anyone who gives you critism you write them off as troll, you need to take a look in the mirror first regarding your writing style since envokes my style of comments. Do that before you start discrediting people as Trolls bc you disagree with them.

And you "breaking down" and writing about all the reasons of why youre team will make it was a nice effort but then to counter all that and disregard other teams with your reasons , such as the Ducks, bc thats how "you feel" about them. That is being a fan boy against your teams rivals.

So yes this is a fan boy blog bc you discredit the other playoff contending teams on gut feelings and opinions instead of actual well thought out facts.
- DDM-Coga

I actually thought this was meant for me DDm, Was a bit surprised when I saw you're name there...

but you're right, James is notorious for these blogs where he trawls out a bunch of his homerish opinions involving the Yotes and then defies you to tell him why he's wrong. Once you start arguing one persons opinion against another's with nothing factual to base anything on, it's a pretty moot argument. This blog is the equivalent of stating, the Wild and the Av's are two of the top ten teams in the west.

It's vague, it's easy to back up with rhetoric and it's a fairly safe estimate. Nothing real concrete about the statement either way. But I defy anyone to tell me "why I'm wrong".... Do it!

James Tanner: The Coyotes Are Better Than You Think
- James_Tanner

2Real: The Coyotes Are Worse Than You Think