And behold, Hockey!!!

[_Aatlaar_]

Coyotes 3
Wild 2

AROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! its just begun!!

[_Aatlaar_]

COYTOES WIN FIRST PRESEASON GAME

By: Chad Lynch

On Friday night, the Phoenix Coyotes defeated the Minnesota Wild 3-2 in the first exhibition game of the season for both clubs. While the game was full of highlights, it was somewhat marred by a late injury to Coyotes goaltender Brian Boucher.

As the game began, it was obvious that the crackdown on calls as mandated by the NHL, would have a serious effect on the game. The first period alone featured a dozen penalties between the two clubs as the players tried to adapt.

“It was a big change from the way games were called in the past,” said Mike Comrie. “I think it will end up being good for the game, but it is going to take a little time for everyone to change their style of play.”

The Wild were the first team to take advantage of the increasing number of power plays as Pascal Dupuis slap shot from the top of the left face-off circle at 7:07 of the first period, gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead. Coyotes’ defensemen Derek Morris and Denis Gauthier were in the penalty box during the goal after having been called for holding and delay-of-game respectively.

Late in the opening frame, Morris would make up for his earlier transgressions when he tied the game with 1:02 left in the period. With the Coyotes on a two-man advantage of their own, Morris found a loose puck at the top of the slot, where he blasted a slap shot that beat Wild goaltender Manny Fernandez short side to tie the contest at 1-1. Paul Mara and Ladislav Nagy both registered assists on Morris’ goal.

Phoenix forward Oleg Saprykin admitted that the enforcement of the rules helped the Coyotes in getting the five-on-three that would lead to Morris’ goal.

“It certainly played a part,” said Saprykin. “I think we will see more of that same situation over the next few games.”

In the second period, the clubs were able to limit their trips to the penalty box to four apiece, but they would again prove costly. Just as they had in the first period, Minnesota again grabbed the lead in the second. This time Peter Olvecky found the back of the net as he stuffed a rebound thought the legs of Brian Boucher for the 2-1 lead.

The Wild continued to apply pressure on the Coyotes as they kept Phoenix from mounting a serious offensive attack until just over halfway through the period.

Then at 11:43 of the second, the Wild again found themselves down two men with penalties to Olvecky and defenseman Burt Burns. With the five-on-three in their favor, the Coyotes set up in the Wild zone and began to generate some quality scoring opportunities, capped off by a goal from captain Shane Doan. As the Wild chased after the puck, Doan planted himself at the top of the right face-off circle. Comrie passed the puck along the far boards to Morris, who found Doan alone on the right side. Once he got the puck, he fired a laser that beat Fernandez top shelf and evened the game at 2-2.

It looked like the teams would stay tied going into the final period of play, but a late power play gave the Coyotes other thoughts. The final 30 seconds of the period turned into a flurry of activity around the Minnesota net. But when Fernandez lunged to make a save on the right side of the crease, he failed to see a streaking Nagy on the left hand side. Krystofer Kolanos didn’t miss Nagy, as he sent a cross-ice pass to the speedy forward, who then tapped it in, giving the Coyotes a 3-2 lead after forty minutes of play.

In the third period, the Wild seemed to show a sense of fatigue that they didn’t in the first two periods as the Coyotes completely took over the tempo of the game. Both teams also limited their trips to the box in the final stanza to one each, but neither resulted in a goal.

The only sustained pressure from the men of Minnesota came late in the game. While on a power play, Wild coach Jacques Lemaire pulled his netminder for an extra attacker. But the Coyotes continued to clear the puck and keep the front of the net clear as time expired.

Following the game, the Coyotes were flying to Minnesota for Saturday’s contest the Xcel Energy Center.

Click here to watch Wayne Gretzky's comments on Friday's game

BOUCHER INJURED
The first shot of the post-game shootout on Friday belonged to Minnesota’s Peter Olvecky. As Brian Boucher went down to block the shot he sustained an apparent injury to his groin causing him to lay flat on the ice for several seconds until a trainer could attend to him.

After helping Boucher to his feet, he was helped off the ice in obvious discomfort.

“It is really unfortunate that the injury occurred,” said Coyotes Head Coach Wayne Gretzky. “I’ ve never seen anything like that. He was our best player tonight and he ended up getting hurt on a play that didn’t effect the outcome of the game.”

While Gretzky was visibly upset at the injury to his netminder, he refused to point the finger or put the blame of the shootout.

“The shootout is something that every team is doing and it was just sad to he him injured on that type of event.”

Coyotes forward Brett Hull, who didn’t dress for Friday’s game, but will travel to Minnesota for Saturday’s contest, was not as forgiving.

“I’ve been saying, why do we need to practice shootouts after the game,” said Hull. “It’s not that hard, you stand at center-ice, you skate in and take a shot.”(I knew this could be entertaining for fans, as a shootout has been a rare event for a long time, but I agree with hull, its a waste of time. After a game, mandating that they have the shootout is not only a waste of time for the team who is tired after a regulation game, but for the fans as well)

Click here to watch Wayne Gretzky's comments on Brian Boucher

POWER PLAY
Everyone knew that with the rule rules and the NHL’s promise to crackdown on existing ones, that there were likely to be a lot more power plays this season, at least until the players adapt to the new restrictions.

Friday night didn’t disappoint as the two clubs combined for 22 penalties. While it may have added pressure and stress to the penalty killing units, the power play was the real beneficiary.

In fact, all five goals on Friday night came on the man-advantage, including three in five-on-three situations.

SHOOTOUT
With the addition of the shootout to the 2005 regular season, the NL has mandated that a shootout be performed following every preseason game this season, regardless of the score. On Friday night, Minnesota scored the only goal in the post-game shootout, winning the event 1-0. Following the injury to Boucher, rookie goaltender David LeNeveu took over in net for Phoenix.

The Wilds’ three shooters in the event were Olvecky (no goal), Patrick O’Sullivan (goal) and Kirby Law (no goal).

The three shooters for the Coyotes were Jeff Taffe (no goal), Krystofer Kolanos (no goal) and Shane Doan (no goal).

TOMORROW’S GAME
The Phoenix Coyotes will return to action tomorrow night when they face the Minnesota Wild for the second game of a home-and-home series at the Xcel Energy Center. During the 2003-04 season, the Coyotes were 2-0-0-0 at Minnesota.

[Heloisa]

Ahhh nothing says Fall is approaching like the sound of a puck hitting the ice. Happy days are here again.

GO FLAMES GO!

[Genda]

Avalanche 4, Stars 2.

Sakic with 2 goals, including one 30 seconds in. Oh, and the Pepsi Can was sold out.

[Raya]

Ahhh nothing says Fall is approaching like the sound of a puck hitting the ice. Happy days are here again.

GO FLAMES GO!
What he said!! *waves her little red flag with the flaming black "C" emblazoned in the middle - hums "Burning Ring of Fire" offkey* :D

[Heloisa]

/giggle

**hums offkey with Raya**

And it burns, burns, burns
the ring of fire
the ring of fire.......

GO FLAMES!

[Eclipse]

Oilers are going to beat the crap out of the flames in at least 9 of their 12 meetings. :D Just like the other night
hahaha

-Eclipse

[Heloisa]

*Beats Eclipse over the head with an autographed Wayne Gretsky hockey stick* :D

[Eclipse]

Death to the heathen that spells #99's name wrong!

*drenches heloisa in pumpkin pie*

And not the fun kind...that was scalding pumpkin pie! So there.
:D
Careful, or I'll go rip the tongue out of your dumb mascot! LOL (inside joke)

-Eclipse

[Ieranii]

Careful, or I'll go rip the tongue out of your dumb mascot! LOL (inside joke)

-Eclipse


... :eek:

[Heloisa]

eeeps poor Harvey! ;) /cry

edit added: Oh my I did spell his name wrong :D ... must be a Calgary thing ;)

[Monsoon Rhayne]

GO Coyotes!

[Lekkric]

Careful, or I'll go rip the tongue out of your dumb mascot! LOL (inside joke)

LOL that was hilarious. IIRC, Harvey had surgery to re-attach his tongue. Made a big deal out of it, had the "daring medical procedure" aired on CJay 92 (Calgary radio station) here in town.

He was back to his antics in no time. :D

Of course, this was a long time ago and my memory may have embellished the whole thing lol.

[Genda]

Hey, tonight I got to go see the Maple Leafs play in the Air Canada Centre. It's my first NHL game in Canada, and before the game, I found myself a little overwhelmed by the whole "Hockey is Back" thing. Seeing the 13 Stanley Cup banners there in the rafters was awesome.

Then the game started, and the Leafs made me cry. That looks like a bad hockey team right now, and if they are counting on Allison and Lindros to bail them out, they are in even deeper trouble. I doubt those two will play 60 games between them.

Anyway, very cool experience to go there, by the Hockey Hall of Fame, then see the game. Looking forward to a trip up to Dallas in a week or so to see the Avalanche play the Stars at the AA. Go Avs!

[Raya]

Ah, the poor old Maple Leafs. There was no more thrilling time in the old days to turn on the television on a Saturday night and hear Foster Hewitt's inimitable voice hollering out, "Good evening, folks, live from Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, it's HOCKY NIGHT IN CANADA!" The crowd would go wild, even drowning out the play-by-play at times. Every young boy from Bonavista to Vancouver Island dreamed of being an NHL hockey player with Gordie Howe or Bobby Orr as his hero (and later, of course, the Great One). They used to be "my" team, but of course, when I moved to Calgary, I had to change to the Flames :) Don't know that they'll do much better than the Leafs but that doesn't stop me from rooting for them.

[Eclipse]

This year, I believe it's Alberta's teams to watch out for from Canada. Them and the Senators. Canucks are a wounded beast, and Montreal hasn't had a good team since 93.

-Eclipse

[Genda]

I think the Flames will be good this year. I agree about the Sens as well. Edmonton is hard to call, although they definitely improved, I think.

Aww, hell. I'm just excited to see the game back on the ice.

[Feyshtey]

Good to hear you made it to the game Genda! Even if it wasn't a great matchup, it's a great experience.

And yeah, the Sens are definatly worth watching this year.

But Genda and I both know that the Av's are the ones to beat this year, and every year.

[Genda]

True that, my friend. True that.

[Heloisa]

na mates you got it all wrong.

Didn't anyone tell ya?

2005-2006 is the year of the Calgary Flames :D