Keep Your Heads Up, Coyotes. . .

So the season that was successful, ground-breaking, and franchise record
setting, came to a not-so-happy ending for the 2009-2010 Phoenix Coyotes Tuesday night.

So what.

Woah, now, don't confuse the passive attitude with non-interest or disrespect. It's
neither!

Rather I don't want in any way to disrespect the team for all they did this season. To focus on the end and not the journey, in this case, would take away from all they accomplished. (And, man, did they accomplish a lot!)

Look, we'd all be in a much better state of mind if the Yotes powerplay didn't go dry in 5 out of 7 games, if regular season Lee Stempniak didn't forget how to score in the playoffs, and if Shane Doan didn't get so seriously hurt.

But...that's not the way it rolled. Sometimes all good intentions and better teams just don't get you there.

I think the Coyotes played well, and on many nights, as well as they could have. Games 5 and 7 didn't follow that mold. Many people thought they'd go down in 4 or 5 games.

Instead a squad of young, mostly inexperienced players took the two time
consequtive Western Conference champs to 7 games.

Hell, I thought the Coyotes would win in 6 games. Felt very confident in fact. Sometimes the good, and perhaps the better, teams fall.

Just ask Washington.

____________________________


Anyway, think of the positives of the playoffs.

Shane Doan got back there. True it was only for 2+ games and he was severely injured. But think back to game 1. When he was told to have fun before game 1 he said, "don't worry I will," with his trademark, glorious Doan-ish smile.

Keith Yandle took a big step towards joining the next ranks of breakout defensemen in the league. His game 1 performance was dominant. The only bad news, he won't be a silent weapon much longer. He's too good.

Matthew Lombardi and Martin Hanzal stepped up in the faceoff circle. Vital parts of this team. Hanzal, in fact, had a masterful performance, even in games the Coyotes did not play well. Guy is sometimes a little penalty prone, but he is young and learning.

Ilya Bryzgalov may not have had his best games at all moments but the guy
carried the team as best he could when the once steady, well-disciplined
defense in front of him fell. He will only grow from this. He's too good a goalie to not get the chance to experience more playoffs and improve in big games.

And Petr Prucha, the oft-scratched, rarely counted upon in do-or-die situations in the past (well, at least in New York), had the best night in his young playoff career in Game 3. A key assist on his tempo-setting first shift, a goal that undressed 6-time Norris winner Nick Lidstrom, and a well deserved first star of the game honor. All on a nationally televised game. And when their captain was injured, it was #16 that skated with Lombardi and Woltek Wolski. Think someone has gotten
their confidence back?

Anyway, I think we should focus on that. Not the powerless powerplay, not the
defensive lapses, not the things we can't control. (And that seemingly the team could not control either).

They got a taste now. They will be hungrier next year. Get the nerves out of their system now, and work to fix what they can - like the powerplay. This team will be in good shape. I'm confident.

And the cool thing about it all. They did get there. It may not have been MISSION ACCOMPLISHED, but it was mission accomplished.

A team no one thought would even contend - did. And they did all of their fans proud - the fans that have supported for years, the fans in Phoenix, and the fans from afar. They did us proud.

So bravo to them. And thank you. I don't think we'll ever forget this season in the desert. It was truly something to marvel at and there are no words to describe how happy I was and satisfied I am to have been one of the many taking their journey with them.

Thank you, 2009-2010 Phoenix Coyotes. We'll see you next season.

For the First Time In a Long Time. . .

Previewing the Rangers:

I am excited for this team. I don't know what to truly expect from them, but I'm excited for it. I don't think they'll be as bad as many have said. Now I don't think they'll be perfect. Too much room for improvement, perhaps a need for some growing pains. But, I don't see how a team that made the playoffs four years out of the lockout (one of only 2 Eastern teams to do so) suddenly will get so horrible.

Look, they lost a lot of players, and yes, some are going to be missed, certainly, but I think the trade-offs were ones worth making.

And I'm not talking about Gomez here. Although, if I was, I'd say it was the BEST gamble worth taking to unload that salary and get in return all the potential good that Gaborik can bring. Totally worth it.

But we're not just talking about him. We're talking about finally, and perhaps for the first time in my entire tenure as a fan, seeing so many young Rangers - Rangers through and through - getting a chance to play on this team.

Guys that weren't brought here at the end of careers, old and past their prime.

Guys that weren't other team's experiments that went wrong or other team's lost superstars.

Look at our team, right now.

These are, for the most part, our guys. OUR guys.

And no matter what that means for point totals, league standings or playoff berths, that feels damn good. It really does.

Newbies on defense: Del Zotto and Gilroy.

A still young Marc Staal.

Anisimov.

Callahan.

Dubinsky.

Hank.

For the first time in a long time, there seems to be a core. And the above players - the ones that have been there and the ones that are brand new - they seem to get it. They really seem to get it.

Add in a guy that can seemingly only play in New York - Sean Avery - and we have a team that I am certainly more proud of than those in years past.

Guys that will play for the sweater. Guys that want to be here. Want to make the plays necessary to win - for the team.

And under a Tortorella system of go-go-go and accountability and team unity - I see more to cheer about than I have in a long time.

Will there be speed bumps? Absolutely. Look, this team is not a scoring machine, although I hope they'll score more. They are young and porous on defense. They are still laden with 3 super contracts. They are banking their success primarily on two fragile players.

Oh, and they have still not scored a power play goal. Yet.

But, I will cheer. As a fan, I will cheer for them.

And for the first time in a long time, it feels really good to do so.