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Dave Tippett Calls Out Veterans In Interview

By Richard Flores

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Dave Tippett had some words for the team’s best and brightest

After Monday’s 5-2 road loss to the Colorado Avalanche, Coyotes fans were a tiny bit panicky.

For just the third time in franchise history, they were held without a shot on goal in a period — to everyone’s amazement, the team was outshot in the second period 12-0. Per Craig Morgan, it was the first time this has happened in over a decade.

As if that wasn’t enough to panic, head coach Dave Tippett told the assembled media the following:

If you made a list of things you never want to hear a coach say, then essentially calling your team an AHL team is probably a top ten pick.

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A fan may read that and see the second period shot total and panic — but in the bigger picture, it doesn’t really mean a whole lot. It was 20 minutes in a 60 minute game — in an 82 game season (which equates to just 0.4 percent of the entire season).

In addition, it was brought to the fans attention later — this wasn’t about the team as a whole, it was an attitude thing. Not just an attitude thing, but a veteran attitude thing; overall, the game wasn’t bad.

In that game alone, the Coyotes rebounded and ended up “winning” the third period. They could have quit down four goals, but they didn’t.  They outscored and outshot the Avalanche in the third period, and the attempted shot chart bears that out as well.

Giving up two goals within nine seconds in the first three minutes — combined with the history-making second period — might be considered the low point of the season for this team.

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Honestly — how can it get worse than not getting a shot on goal in a period, and your coach calling you out for not executing at an NHL level? That’s the definition of rock bottom.

The entire game wasn’t, though — and that’s the more important part.

The Colorado game was the third game in four nights for Arizona — and in the first two games of that stretch (against two of the NHL’s best, nonetheless) the Coyotes held their own — and the coaches and players praised their effort.

“We have lots of try in us right now, we just have a hard time capitalizing on anything,” head coach Dave Tippett said after the 5-1 loss at home to New York.

Read that quote, and realize what has gone on since the All-Star break for this team. They have beaten both the Montreal Canadiens and the Chicago Blackhawks on the road, and have been competitive in just about every game since the break — despite some of the scores. They were tied with both San Jose and New York entering the third period, before the talent of both teams won out in the final twenty minutes both nights.

This team is in a transition mode right now. The front office is giving looks to a lot of the younger guys in the system — like Lucas Lessio, Brendan Shinnimin and Jordan Martinook (who got his first NHL point against Colorado) — and are even getting some production from a waiver wire surprise, who is playing for his fourth team this season. Mark Arcobello has already produced two goals in his first three games, including a goal on his first shift as a Coyote on Friday.

The point I’m trying to make here may seem muddled, so let me break it down.

This late in the season, it’s not about the wins or the losses — what we should be interested in is how this team responds over the next few games, especially the younger guys who are looking to show the coaching staff what they’re made of. Wins or losses, the way the players sustain their play over minutes will show the coaches why they should make the team next season. Coach Tippett spoke directly on the issue of the younger players after the Rangers game.

“A lot of the young guys we have in our lineup; these are very good measuring sticks for them.

When you’re playing against good teams and good players, ” Tippett said, “it’s one thing to work — but everybody in the league works, it’s what you do after the work that counts. Young players are learning how to work, but now you have to learn how to have an impact on the game — whether it be finishing a chance or not making a mistake at a critical time, those are lessons that we continue to learn.”

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A lot of the young guys we have in our lineup; these are very good measuring sticks for them.

When you’re playing against good teams and good players, ” Tippett said, “it’s one thing to work — but everybody in the league works, it’s what you do after the work that counts. Young players are learning how to work, but now you have to learn how to have an impact on the game — whether it be finishing a chance or not making a mistake at a critical time, those are lessons that we continue to learn.”

If there was ever a way to put into words what the rest of the season is about, Dave Tippett just did it. It’s not about tanking for a better pick, it’s about learning what this team is all about.

The next game is Saturday against another strong opponent in the Tampa Bay Lightning — and with four days of practice, one would expect the Coyotes to be rested, come out strong, and find that “try” and work ethic that Tippett praised this past Saturday.  Hopefully, getting called an AHL team lights a fire under the players that need it — and we see them respond as such.

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