Coyotes' Roller Coaster Season

The Phoenix Coyotes are having a very up and down season. Just when things seem to be picking up, it all starts to go wrong again. This is especially the case at home where Phoenix have only managed a 10-10-5 record. With another 16 games to go at the Jobing.com Arena, the Coyotes have to turn home ice into an advantage if they want to reach the playoffs. After an awful December, Phoenix got themselves playing well again in January after finding that pack-mentality once more and picked up some much needed wins.

Unfortunately, towards end of the month, the roller coaster ride took another dip as Phoenix lost four games in a row at home, although they did end the month with a 5-2 win over the Avalanche before the All-Star Game. The weekend break gave the Coyotes a much needed five day rest after a gruelling schedule. However, if the Yotes fans thought that might help their team, they were wrong. Since their return from the break Phoenix have gone 0-2-0 with losses to San Jose and Vancouver. Both defeats were bitter pills to swallow as Phoenix blew a 3-0 lead against the Sharks to lose 5-3 and were shut-out against Vancouver, at home, as the Canucks stormed to a 6-0 victory.

Dave Tippett is of the belief that the Coyotes are just not skating hard enough.

"...We’ve got some things to sort out. You have to realize how hard it is to win; we don't have enough players playing hard enough to win."

Defensively the team looks very weak. Other than Keith Yandle, no defenseman can claim to have had a great year so far, which is not a good thing as the team enters the business end of the season. There is enough quality in the team and the coaching staff for the Coyotes to turn this slump around but they also need new faces in the franchise.

The Coyotes' next 2 games are at home and the first is against the Minnesota Wild, who are riding a wave of momentum at the moment. They then play the Colorado Avalanche before heading to Dallas for an important Pacific Division clash. Phoenix need to turn the Jobing.com Arena into a fortress and they need to do it in the next game against a team who have enjoyed scoring against the Coyotes this year. The Wild have won two of the three meetings against Phoenix this season so the Coyotes will be looking to even things up in their final game against each other. Puck drops at 6:00pm Saturday February 5^th.

The race for the playoffs in the Western Conference is still agonisingly tight so the Coyotes need to start putting some daylight between themselves and the chasing pack.

Desert Dog All-Star

3: Keith Yandle

Last night against the Colorado Avalanche, Keith Yandle showed the NHL just why he should have been included in the All-Star Game all along instead of being a late entry due to injuries. Yes he was up against some stiff competition but anyone who thinks he isn't an All-Star based on this season should go watch some of his highlights or, even easier, go look at the standings for NHL defensemen.

With a goal and an assist against Colorado, Keith Yandle became the highest scoring defenseman in the NHL. That's right, he is ahead of the legendary Lidstrom and is also ahead of Byfuglien, Enstrom, Letang and Visnovsky. Yandle was the NHL's first star of the game, and with last night's points, he extends his scoring streak to nine games.

The Boston native has been a part of the Coyotes franchise since 2005 when he was drafted in the 4th round (105^th overall). The last couple of years have been big for Yandle in terms of progression with Coyotes fans having seen Yandle transform from a rookie to an All-Star in only 252 games. Shane Doan, captain of the Coyotes, had plenty of great things to say about his team-mate following the news that Yandle would be heading to the All-Star game.

“He's a legitimate, bona fide No. 1 d-man and we're lucky to have him. He is an incredible player and the players in the League understand and know how incredibly talented he is."

High praise indeed from his captain. Dave Tippett also had some nice things to say about the way his leading points scorer has improved his game, “It’s not just the points, it’s his all-around game that has really come to the forefront. He’s got a very bright future ahead of him."

Dave Tippett is pleased with Yandle's progress.

He certainly does at that. Yandle always looked like he could be a potential offensive threat from the blue-line but he seems to have worked a lot on the defensive side of his game in the last year as well. He now regularly plays against the best players the opposition has and, more often than not, he has come up trumps. Out of the 51 games he has played, he has a +4 rating which may not be the best on the team or in the NHL but it is certainly respectable. With a career high 44 points gained already and with 31 games to go, Yandle could find himself around the 60 point mark at the end of the regular season.

Coyotes fans will be desperate for Don Maloney to sit down with Yandle and sort out a lengthy contract as the Coyotes try to improve the franchise both on and off the ice. With so much time on Yandle's side, the chance to build a competitive team around him and the likes of Bryzgalov should be enough to convince Maloney to splash the cash on Yandle should he demand it.