Mikkel Boedker: The Coyotes Must Look In The Mirror

There are a lot of rumors floating around about possible trades involving the Arizona Coyotes

For some, they might be merited with the team’s struggles of late — but a recent blog post by Mikkel Boedker over on the team’s official site got me thinking about something. Here is what Boedker said that caught my eye:

“We’ve had a few player-only meetings lately and we’ve all accepted that we are the only people who can be blamed for these losses and that the only guys who can fix this problem are the guys in this room. We’ve talked about that as a group and we’ve worked really hard in practice the last two days. Hopefully we’ll start playing better Thursday night vs. Nashville.”

This is really great to hear… and what I want to focus on.

There have been a lot rumors about trades and tanking for McDavid, but I honestly believe the answers to the Arizona Coyotes’ problems this season lie within.

Just compare this year’s team to the team that won a Pacific Division championship, and was just three wins shy of a berth in the Stanley Cup Final.

The same General Manager and Coach are in place. Shane Doan is still your captain, and Keith Yandle and Oliver Ekman-Larsson have only continued to get better. In fact, those are only three of the 12 players who are holdovers from the team that took us all on such a magical ride that season.

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With the leadership and many of the players remaining intact, there shouldn’t be many excuses for the Coyotes losing their identity this season — particularly not to the tune of a franchise record seven game losing streak at home. The answers for this team do not lie with GMDM making the magical deal to bring in a top-notch scorer (although it would help)… they lay with exactly who Mikkel Boedker accused — the players themselves. They are the only ones who can fix the problem, and until they realize that, nothing will get better.

That is also what has made it so frustrating for fans this season — they have almost forgotten the identity that was winning them hockey games in the past. It’s great to hear the players being accountable and realizing that they need to step up their play, but saying that and executing on the ice are two separate things.

I may be in denial, but I want to believe that the Coyotes can at some point gain back their confidence and string together some wins. The best way to do that, in my opinion, isn’t threatening to trade everyone that can be moved — they all, as a team, need to take a good long look in the mirror and understand that this team can only play one way to win hockey games.

The Coyotes style of play that we were used to needs to be brought back; this team needs to rediscover the spark it found while many of the same players on this team were making their run at a Stanley Cup. Great defense, a relentless forecheck that wears other teams out, good goaltending, and just enough scoring to earn the win.

These players — Doan, Yandle, Smith, Boeds, OEL, Korpi, Hanzal, Vermette, Stone, Summers, Chipchura and Schlemko — all know how to play and win the Coyote way; now, they just need to show it.

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