Coyotes vs Avalanche PREVIEW; Time to RISE
By Troy Baker
Will the real Coyotes please stand up, please stand up, please stand up!
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Which Coyotes squad will take the ice in the thin air of Colorado? Will it be the gritty hard nosed defense with a brick wall behind them stopping every wayward puck? Or the Milli Vanilli, dancing around impersonating Dave Tippett’s system guys. Early in the 2013 season we have had a tale of two teams. Good news is if you remove the Chicago Blackhawks and a few minutes against the Sharks (which are both tops in the playoff standings) you’re left with a shootout loss to the Oilers and a pair of 4-3 losses to Dallas one in OT.
Of course there is the defending champs the LA Kings who have been struggling. With shutouts against Dallas and San Jose recently it begs fans to overlook the Chicago debacle which got out of hand with several 5 on 4 and 5 on 3 chances. Take away the rough 1st period and you have a 2-2 squeaker. But hey here we sit 5 – 5 – 2 and sniffing the playoffs from the outside looking in.
No rest for the weary with 2 more road games against the Avalanche and Predators. Both winnable games if we get Coyote UGLY on them. Then a beatable Columbus team and Calgary without Kiprusoff will be waiting in Phoenix a week from today. My opinion is the next 4 games will show us a few things. Is this team a contender capable of being disciplined? Will system or mistakes prevail in the coming week? Is Smitty fully back and healthy or will we get a 6 goal game against any time soon?
Today is the first day of the rest of our lives in the desert. Each win grows fan and potential owner confidence. So time to dig deep and HOWL loud. Let’s GO COYOTES! MIKE SMITH too!