Portland Pirates February 2015 Update

Catching up with the future Coyotes in Portland

Since our last update several weeks ago, the Portland Pirates have a 30-22-4 record — good for 64 points in the Eastern Conference.

They’ve slipped down from sixth to ninth in their conference; luckily, the conference is still tightly contested — so the Portland Pirates are just six points behind both the fourth and fifth place teams, and far from eliminated from the playoff race.

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The team struggled a bit during February, starting the month off with two straight shutout losses — one to the St. John’s Ice Caps (1-0) on Feb. 7th, and then a 3-0 loss to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Feb. 13th.

That was followed up with more February heartbreak; the Hershey Bears left the Pirates hanging on Feb. 14th, winning a 5-2 contest and extending Portland’s losing streak to three games.

On Feb. 17th, though, the Pirates broke out of the losing streak with a 3-2 victory. They followed that up with another 3-2 win versus the Springfield Falcons — they seemed unstoppable until the St. Johns Ice Caps came to Portland and took home both 5-2 and 3-2 victories over the Coyotes affiliate.

The Pirates refused to end on a sour note, though — they ended the month with a 4-3 win against the Manchester Monarchs.

Desert Transactions:

-On Feb. 5th the Coyotes recalled Alex Bolduc.

-On Feb. 9th the Coyotes recalled Mike Mckenna, and re-assigned Louis Domingue back to Portland

-On Feb, 12th the Coyotes recalled Brandon Gormley and Jordan Martinook, while assigning Chris Summers to Portland

-On Feb. Feb. 14th the Coyotes assigned Brendan Shinnimin To Portland Pirates

-On Feb. 21st the Coyotes assigned Alex Bolduc back to Portland Pirates

-On Feb. 23rd the Coyotes recalled Dylan Reese from Portland Pirates

-On Feb. 23rd the Coyotes recalled Henrik Samuelsson (FINALLY) from Portland Pirates , and assigned Jordan Martinook to Portland Pirates

-On Feb. 26th the Coyotes recalled Louis Domingue and assigned Mike Mckenna to Portland Pirates

This season, we’ve seen nearly all the Pirates we’re going to — so looking ahead, I’m excited to see is how new forward Anthony Duclair (“Tony D”) — whom we acquired from the N.Y. Rangers for Keith Yandle — will do in a Coyotes uniform. Since he cannot play under NHL rules until next season, I’m sure he’ll be watched closely to see his progress with QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts.

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How will this affect the chances of the Coyotes making the playoffs?

Hard to tell — but things certainly look pretty bright. From the glimpses Coyotes fans are afforded of Duclair — both from the World Junior Championships and the QMJHL video clips — having him and his WJC linemate Max Domi will definitely improve the Coyotes fortunes next year. Duclair is the whole package — speed, toughness, excellent passing ability, and scoring touch. All qualities the Coyotes need. When he was offered up as part of the Yandle package, Maloney didn’t stutter — he took the deal.

In any case, keep your eyes on howlinhockey.com for the latest details on the Arizona Coyotes — both in the desert and up North.

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