I thought I would have some fun and make some predictions for the upcoming NHL season. If they’re right, you’ll be hearing about this later. If not, well, this post might be deleted.
In case you haven’t heard yet, the Coyotes pulled off a trade yesterday to bring back center Matthew Lombardi. During his time with the ‘Yotes he scored 24 goals, 45 assists in 97 games. More importantly, however, in the 7-game series vs. Detroit in 2010, he chipped in 6 points (1G, 5A). Since he left Phoenix for what he thought would be greener pastures in Nashville, he hasn’t had the type of success that he enjoyed earlier in his career. While in Nashville, he suffered an “upper-body injury” (I thought I’d get back into the hockey groove with my injury descriptions). The injury was originally thought to have been a concussion, but during the press conference last night with GM Maloney, GMDM said that the injury was a neck injury and was cleared up at training camp of last season. And if he’s 100%, we all remember how fast and effective Lombardi can be.
Looking at the roster, I’m trying to figure out what the line combinations could be when we see the team take on Dallas on Saturday. Since I usually just write without thinking, I guess I’ll do that here too.
Forward Line Predictions:
Boedker/Vermette/Doan
Sullivan/Hanzal/Vrbata
Moss/Lombardi/Korpikoski
Chipchura/Gordon/Torres (for the first 8 games, could be BizNasty)
Defense Line Predictions:
Michalek/Ekman-Larsson
Yandle/Morris
Klesla/Schlemko
And of course…(read in an announcer voice) “In goal for your Phoenix Coyotes, #41 Mike Smith”. However, Tippet said last night in his press conference that we could see a lot more LaBarbera than we did last year.
It wouldn’t be a full prediction unless I also looked into the crystal ball to see how the Pacific Division will end up, along with both the Western and Eastern Conferences.
Pacific Division
Phoenix Coyotes – I didn’t want to do this. It may seem like I’m just picking them because they’re my team, but here’s my reasons. Good defensively, picked up a few pieces to help the offense, and the majority of the guys skated together at some point during the lockout. I expect them to get to raise another banner.
Los Angeles Kings – Jonathan Quick is too good. He won’t let this team slip too far. Only good thing about Quick? He’s American. So he’ll be my favorite player in February 2014.
San Jose Sharks – Can you believe this? The Sharks could possibly fall to the middle of the division! They’ve been at the top for such a long time, but their team just doesn’t impress me enough to put them above the Coyotes or Kings.
Dallas Stars – I like Lehtonen, but the rest of this team just doesn’t seem like one that can compete in this division. Ray Whitney will have to stop producing at some point (hopefully), and Jagr isn’t what he used to be. They have a few good players, but not the depth needed to be higher up in this division.
Anaheim Ducks – If you can shut down their top line, you’re going to win. That’s not a recipe for success for the Ducks. As I look at their roster, I see that they have at least announced a TV schedule for this year. That’s the only thing they have over the Coyotes at this point.
Western Conference
St. Louis Blues
Phoenix Coyotes
Minnesota Wild
Nashville Predators
Los Angeles Kings
Vancouver Canucks
San Jose Sharks
Chicago Blackhawks
Detroit Red Wings
Dallas Stars
Calgary Flames
Colorado Avalanche
Anaheim Ducks
Columbus Blue Jackets
Edmonton Oilers
Eastern Conference
Pittsburgh Penguins
Carolina Hurricanes
Buffalo Sabres
New York Rangers
Washington Capitals
Philadelphia Flyers
Boston Bruins
Ottawa Senators
Florida Panthers
New Jersey Devils
Tampa Bay Lightning
Toronto Maple Leafs
New York Islanders
Montreal Canadiens
Winnipeg Jets
I know I have some non-conventional picks for my final standings. Detroit falling out of the top-8 to Buffalo and Carolina winning their divisions, this could be a season that is not like any other that we’ve ever seen. It’ll be about which teams have depth and get out to a hot start.
Stanley Cup Prediction
St. Louis Blues vs. Washington Capitals
St. Louis in 6
There you have it. My Stanley Cup champion is the St. Louis Blues. That defense and goaltending combination will be hard to beat in this shortened season.
**Bonus Features**
Yesterday, I had my 20th birthday. Yes, you can send me money anytime you want. But that made me think to how I spent my 13th birthday, at a Coyotes game. It was the first game that I attended at Jobing.com Arena. I remember walking around the concourse before the game and seeing a model plan of how Westgate was going to end up. Sadly, it still hasn’t reached that point. That game was the MLK matinee game on January 16, 2006 vs. Washington Capitals.
Remember that one? When I was there, I obviously didn’t like it. It was my birthday, and the Capitals just took a 6-1 lead. Looking back, however, I’m glad that I got to see what could be the greatest goal scored by of one of the greatest goal scorers. It’s definitely something that I can enjoy now.
And now for Bonus Feature #2! Here’s a Fox Sports AZ highlight video from last year. Enjoy!
On September 11, 2001, I was 8 years old, and in 3rd grade. I remember being told by my dad at dinner that night, that I would remember where I was that day and what I was doing. I didn’t believe him. I thought the day would pass and the world would be like it was on September 10.
During my senior year of high school, I had to come up with a moment in my life that caused me to change in our big philosophy paper project. I think the teacher called it a “fall from innocence”. I wrote mine on 9/11. I thought I would share that today.
“When I was younger, I didn’t always have reasoning behind what I thought I believed. Most of my beliefs came from the idea that my family and friends believe it, so I must believe it too. I didn’t give it much thought as to whether I actually believed it or not. It was more about following what I saw, rather than thinking outside the box to come up with my own opinions. I was very naive with the way I thought about the world, and the people in it. That is the reasoning for the cover that I made. (I titled my paper: ‘The World is Full of Stupid People’ with the word ‘good’ crossed out and ‘stupid’ below it.) I thought when I was younger that everyone in the world were great people. I never imagined there to ever have the possibility of evil. That all changed when I was in third grade.
I woke up one morning thinking it was going to be just like any other morning. While I was laying in my bed, I heard my sister and grandpa talking downstairs about what they saw on TV. As the naive kid I was, when I heard ‘did they do it on purpose?’ for some reason I thought we landed on Mars. Unfortunately, I was very wrong. That morning was September 11, 2001. I had never heard of the World Trade Center or the Pentagon before that morning. I had such a hard time understanding why anyone would do this to anyone else. This was the first time that I saw what true evil is. True evil is not pushing someone on the playground or taking someone’s chair. What I didn’t know at the time is that it would still be affecting me, almost 10 years later (this was written in May 2011).
After that day, I became more aware of what the world is like. I abruptly found out that it’s not filled with great people. Instead it is filled with a lot of stupid people. I learned that I need to cherish my life and the lives of people that I surround myself with.”
I continued on to talk more about my beliefs and philosophy, but really just to fill the page since that was a requirement. I’m writing this today for a few reasons. Of course, it’s the 11th anniversary today of 9/11, and the first since I started this blog, so I figured I would share my experience.
As you read above, I was a little kid. I didn’t know what was actually happening. This was the first time in my life that something big happened, the first time that I experienced something that caused everyone to be afraid…and I mean everyone. I remember going to school and hearing teachers talking about how worried they were about the attacks. I had classmates from New York, wondering if their loved ones were safe. Then when I knew it was really bad was when we could only watch the news when I came home from school. Usually, my sister and I could watch our favorite shows, but instead my parents told us that the news had to stay on. I don’t remember seeing my parents in fear of what happened, but I’m sure that they were. Who wasn’t?
Since this is a sports blog, lets bring in the stories that occurred after 9/11 in sports. Major League Baseball postponed games, causing the regular season to end a week later than scheduled. Major League Baseball showed fear. This was big, and I was finally starting to realize it. In the World Series that year, we got to see some of the best out of our country. If I recall (remember, I was 8), President Bush threw out a first pitch, a flag from 9/11 was flown, and Americans rallied around our favorite pastime in a time where something other than thinking about the attacks was needed.
Today, as I write this, it’s difficult to think about all of the things running through my mind on 9/11 and in the following weeks. But I will tell you one thing I learned that day, true heroes aren’t professional athletes or rockstars, it’s the people that put their lives on the line to save others. And I think the best group of Americans I will ever hear about will be those passengers on United Flight 93. A group of random people pulled together to save the lives of fellow Americans. I haven’t been able to see the movie created to tell the story of Flight 93, but I have heard recordings of phone messages and communication between the plane and air traffic control. It makes you really think about your “bad days” when you hear something like that.
And that brings me to my final point I wanted to make. The majority of my blogs are about sports, and mainly about the Coyotes. We’ve all been upset when our teams lose, or worried that our Coyotes might not stick around much longer. Take into consideration when you’re worried about something like that or when you’re upset at a loss to a rival team, it’s meaningless.
The things that do matter never get taken into consideration until they’re gone. Thank a fire fighter, thank a police officer, thank a member of the military, and most importantly, enjoy the time you have with your family and friends. Cherish it.
From July 19-27, I was on the road with my band, Chaos Playground (www.chaosplayground.com). I’ve given the history of the band in a past blog, but just some general stuff, we started back in May 2008 and after a bunch of changes, it’s back to the original trio and we now play punk/pop punk. Our drummer/vocalist calls our music “Punk Revival”, which is a term he made up that encompasses our influences of classic rock, 70′s punk and the 90′s pop-punk. It’s ok, we all think he’s a little crazy.
We named our tour “Go Big, Get Wild”. You might be thinking to yourself, “wow that’s a great name for a tour! I wonder who the brilliant person who thought of that is”. Well, if you must know…I’m not sure. Back in May, we were starting our Kickstarter Fundraiser and we needed a name for our tour. We were looking around the room to get clues, and I saw a poster that said “Go Big, Get Wild”. The poster was for a Boy Scout trip or something that our drummer’s dad was somehow involved in, and the name stuck. Looking back, the name was a good one. We didn’t get “wild” like you might think a punk band would have, but we definitely had a great time.
Let’s start with a recurring theme of this tour. Homeless people. I was amazed at how many homeless people there were in California. They are on every street corner, in front of every Walmart, and some have a few good stories that they tell, and I’ll have them sprinkled in throughout the blog.
First night, we went to San Diego and decided to go to Mission Beach. We find parking (which is a fiasco when you are pulling a U-Haul trailer!) and started walking towards the water. We’re waiting to cross the street, and this man starts talking to us. We figured he was harmless, but we were carrying a stun-gun this entire tour just in case. As we were walking and talking, he started talking about their past. Now I cannot confirm that this next thing is correct, but the three of us all could have sworn that this is what he said. We heard him say that he killed 12 girls. Now we were luckily getting closer to the beach, and he was walking in a different direction, but when it’s your first night on tour, this isn’t the stuff that you like to hear. We quickly walked away from him, and I hope that we all misheard him.
That night, we spent our first night at a CVS…yes, the pharmacy. We found 24-hour CVS Pharmacies, asked if we could sleep in their parking lots (after buying stuff first), and then crashing there for the night. Each one we went to, the people were nice enough to let us sleep there and all of them got free copies of our album, “Crisis”. The first night was difficult. You don’t realize how nice a bed is, or how nice it is to wake up and shower, or how nice it is to not have to brush your teeth in a parking lot. I could go on and on, but realistically, you’re all just skimming through this anyways, so I’ll get on with the story.
The next morning, we got on the road for Long Beach. We stopped in Ventura to go the the beach. That’s where we decided to get a nice band photo at the beach. Mother Nature had other plans…
From left to right: Bassist Paul Carrick, Guitarist Steven Force (ME!), Drummer/vocalist David “Starr” Miller
That’s a picture of us at the exact moment that a giant wave came crashing in. Before this picture, all of the waves were just coming up to our ankles. This one? This one comes in above our knees, and it was cold. And yes, I am wearing my cheap, fake Coyotes jersey, and I wore that a lot in California to keep warm. Too bad I didn’t see any Kings fans…
Back to our trip to Long Beach. That night sucked, but looking back, it is one of the best to talk about. We found out that because of the geography, Long Beach does not get real waves, which means the beach is boring. Then as we ate our dinner of peanut butter tortillas, we watched as a gang walked past our vehicle looking in at our stuff. We were scared. We’re not used to the gang activity that they have in that area, just outside of Compton and LA. Ironically, I talked to my mom about Long Beach, and she told me about how nice it is. She told me how nice EAST Long Beach is. Let me tell you something, as you go further east, it gets worse, not better. So after finding multiple sketchy CVS parking lots, we decided to take the drive to Fullerton to a CVS there. Luckily, it was a nice area and we were able to stay.
The next day, we drove up to San Luis Obispo, or SLO as the locals call it. And they have some local pride in that town. We stayed that night in the parking lot of a nice shopping center area. It had a Big 5, Sears, Best Buy and a Ralph’s grocery store. That’s where we picked up a few things that we needed. We got music at Best Buy, since the same 3 CD’s over and over again isn’t that much fun, and then we ventured over to Ralph’s. We had spent the past few days on the beach, and apparently, we didn’t put on enough sun screen. If you look at the picture, you can see that Paul had a VERY short haircut. And the sun wasn’t very kind to him. Since he was peeling on his scalp, we decided to pick up a bottle of Aloe (which gives off a very powerful smell when applying it inside of an enclosed vehicle). We also got our only food groups that we ate while in California, tortillas and peanut butter. And remember that local pride I was talking about? When we were looking for tortillas, we asked a guy if he also needed tortillas since we were blocking them trying to find the cheapest ones. His response was, “I support local tortillas”. Really? We can’t get people to support local music out here, but in SLO, people support local tortillas. Long story short, the local ones were cheap so we decided to give our support to whoever made these tortillas.
After San Luis Obispo, we spent the next few days in San Francisco. This was definitely the best place that we stopped along the tour. Coincidentally, this was also the first time on tour that we had a hotel room to sleep in. Once we got our stuff into the hotel room, we were waiting for each other to finish taking showers (since we hadn’t done that in about 3 days), so we turned on the TV. How tired and out-of-it were we? We were watching George Lopez in Spanish, and we didn’t realize it for a while. When we were all showered and ready to go, we walked around downtown San Fran, and it made me feel like I was in New York. I’ve never been to NY, but I think this is what it would feel like. There was a bunch of cars, crazy people, big buildings and it was loud. The thing that amazed me about SF was that everything was built “up”. If you go to a Ross or Target in Phoenix, it’s one floor. If you go to one in SF, it’s the same size, but 4 or 5 floors. Of course, telling you about SF wouldn’t be complete without stories about some of the crazy people I told you about. This might not be a surprising just reading it, but when we were first walking in downtown, we passed a man (who smelled like weed) publicly urinating on the side of a building. You want to say something or laugh, but you can’t. That pretty much explains the majority of the people we saw walking around downtown. I’m pretty sure I witnessed a few drug deals. Also, a lot of people just stand on the street corner. They aren’t tourists taking pictures or enjoying the scenery, they aren’t homeless people, they just stand there. It was a little strange. Unfortunately, this last story from that night, I was not able to witness. Paul and David went down to the vehicle to get our water heater so we could have a fancy dinner of Ramen noodles. While they were down there, they saw a gay couple arguing. The one man was very angry and kept yelling at the guy about not going to their dance lesson. Welcome to San Francisco!
The next day, we did what any good tourist would do. We went to Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf. That’s where we did the souvenir shopping for our family. I got my family a bottle opener/magnet. I figured that’s something that they would get a good amount of use out of! I’ll post the videos of David’s YouTube series called “Breakfast at Gringo’s” that showed what we did along tour. The San Fran is one to definitely watch. I also recommend going to SF to experience it for yourself. You know, a town that has something so terrible (SF Giants), is actually a pretty nice place.
Monday night, we drove to Sacramento for gig #1 that was taking place at The Naked Lounge (no, it’s not a strip club) on Tuesday night. Nothing too exciting happened on Monday night. We went to a CVS in Sacramento, and stayed the night. Tuesday morning and afternoon, we spent walking around Old Sacramento. We went into a few of their souvenir shops, but I already got the $4 bottle opener/magnet, so I was set! We went to a military history museum, which was a really cool place. They had bulletproof glass from a windshield used over in Iraq. You can see where a bullet hit the glass, but there was no hole in the glass. Seeing stuff like that makes you feel super-patriotic and you feel all pumped up. Other than that, I saw a Tide laundry detergent box in Arabic. That was interesting. Tuesday night in Sacramento. We got into the downtown area a little early so we drove around some neighborhoods. And what do 3 guys do driving around neighborhoods when they have megaphones? We talked to people sitting outside their homes, or on the sidewalk. That is, until we got scared when we saw a police car. Then we stopped. So punk, right? The gig went well. There weren’t too many people there, and by that, I mean the “crowd” ranged from 2 to 7 or 8 people. It was at a coffee shop that doesn’t have a “license to dance”. What could we expect? There’s a video
We left Sacramento around midnight, and headed to our first truck stop in Santa Nella Village. This was the first time I had spent the night at a truck stop, and it really impressed me. The bathrooms were nice, and there was food other than peanut butter and tortillas. As you can see, it doesn’t take much to impress me. The night was uneventful, but that’s the way we wanted it.
In the morning, we left for Stanton. We were coming to the end of our tour, and we couldn’t believe it. All of this preparation and hard work, and it was all about to end. So we decided to treat ourselves to a Holiday Inn in Buena Park, which was about 10 minutes away from the venue in Stanton. You might be asking yourself, “What do rock stars do in Buena Park?”. Well, the answer might disappoint you if you’re looking for a story to back up our “Go Big, Get Wild” tour name. We went to Target to get socks and undershirts, got pizza, drank sparkling cider (which we put “on ice” using the ice machine), went swimming, and watched a show about ghosts on the SyFy channel. That’s how we party!
Thursday morning rolls around, we checked out of the Holiday Inn and headed down to the venue. We played at a rehearsal space that has bands who put on shows in their space. We were lucky enough to get in contact with these people through the band, Pressure Drop. A band that we played with that night, called Primitive Mess, was a lot of fun to hang out with. And I guess I’ll plug the last band too. The guy who let us use his rehearsal space was Jonny from the band, Not A Chance. The room’s AC was broken, and it got hot in there while bands were playing, but for the most part, everyone there liked our music and were great people. After spending 4 or 5 hours getting the room ready, then staying for most of the show, we left again around midnight and headed back. We made it to Blythe around 4 in the morning, and ate dinner/breakfast at Denny’s. We slept in their parking lot for a few hours and hit the road for the last time of the tour to make it back to Phoenix. Paul said it perfectly on the way back. He said, “Yes, we’re going to hell. But hell is home”. We were all very excited to get back home, although almost every day, I wish I could be back on the road.
The first night back, I actually missed my band-mates. It’s amazing. There were times that I wished I could have been home and sleeping in a bed while on tour, but now, I wish I could sleep in the car in a random CVS parking lot. The night before I left, my dad told me to have the time of my life (and of course, be safe and don’t drive off a cliff). I knew I was going to have the time of my life, but I didn’t know that I was going to enjoy it that much. I’m glad I got the chance to tour.
Now, just because we were home, didn’t mean the tour was done. We still had the mud wrestling event for that Saturday night. We got all of our stuff there, while looking at the nasty clouds rolling in. We set everything up, and then what happens? A downpour. Luckily, we got to store our PA speakers inside Revolver Records (where the event was taking place) and there was plastic to cover the other stuff. Everything made it out ok, but it was what happened while the rain was coming down that was the best part. Here, have a look for yourself. I told you that we’re rockstars.
After all of that, we started working on our Kickstarter rewards and had our private show for friends and family called “The Welcome Back Guarantee”. Things have slowed down a bit for us, but we’re still working on writing another album, and who knows, maybe another tour at some point in the future.
You know all of those videos I told you about? Well here they are!
Let’s start with the Breakfast at Gringo’s series. This started on December 31, 2011, and it has been a way for David to share a little of his crazy with the world. Enjoy!
I hope you enjoyed those! The first one (Episode 15) features our friends Westcott Avenue with the first song, and then an acoustic cover of the Friend’s theme song (which is part of our normal set) that was recorded in a gas station parking lot!
Here are a few live videos. The first one is from The Naked Lounge in Sacramento. We’re playing our song, “I Don’t Love You”. The next one is from “The Welcome Back Guarantee” show, where we played one of our favorite covers, “We’re an American Band”, originally performed by Grand Funk Railroad.
Thank you for reading all of this! Or congratulations on finally getting to the end if you’re just scrolling through! You can stop pretending to read it now. I’m starting class tomorrow (8/17), so it might be a while before another blog, but hopefully we’ll get good Coyotes news and I won’t be able to put it off. Until then, goodbye!
We’ve seen some “bad” things happening in the Phoenix sports scene recently: Steve Nash got traded to the Lakers, Justin Upton can’t seem to get Diamondbacks fans happy and he doesn’t care, Ray Whitney signed with the Dallas Stars, and for the ladies, Taylor Pyatt and his eyes have left to New York. I know how difficult that last one is for some Coyotes fans out there.
Here’s my take on the Nash trade. I’ll keep it short and sweet. He gave the Suns organization and their fans so much over the years. And how did he go out? He went out in a sign-and-trade deal, which nets the Suns 4 draft picks and about $3 million. Respect him and his choice to go to the Lakers. And I hope he wins a championship as a Laker. The Suns aren’t going anywhere soon, so it would be nice to see Nash get a ring.
Now onto Justin Upton, the young “star” who hasn’t reached his so-called potential yet. I don’t think he’ll ever reach his potential until he grows up. My biggest on-field issue with Upton is his swing. He tries too hard to hit HRs. Maybe he should look at his bobblehead they are giving away this year. He broke his bat last year, and still got it over the left field wall. So stop trying so hard! The most recent Upton story is the displeasure of the fanbase and Upton’s comments about the fans. Diamondback fans expect a lot out of Upton, as they should. He was an all-star last year, and helped carry the team into the playoffs. He was a force in the middle of the lineup that opposing pitchers had to fear. This year? He’s swinging for the fences every time, and can’t hit a slider low-and-away if his life depended on it. Add all of these things up, fans will get angry. These people are spending their hard-earned money to go see the Diamondbacks. They expect to see a winner, especially when it comes to their first-overall pick in 2005. To give you an idea of the talent selected after Upton, who are now contributing to their teams: 4th overall- Ryan Zimmerman, 5th- Ryan Braun, 7th- Troy Tulowitzki, 11th- Andrew McCutchen. Those players could all be Diamondbacks right now. But instead, they selected Justin Upton. I don’t blame them. Upton is an incredible athlete. But look at these names. These guys are pretty good athletes too, and they realize it. They play the game, and don’t try to hard (unless you want to count Braun taking PED’s as “trying to hard”). Upton gets booed because he’s expected to do a lot. I wish he would have come out and said that he understands why fans are booing. Did he do that? No. Instead, he thought it would be a good idea to say that he doesn’t care what the fans think. Oh yeah! That’s the way to win ‘em over again, Justin! These people pay your salary. Don’t tell them you don’t care what they think, if you want them to start embracing you again as the face of the franchise.
Now onto the Wizard disappearance and pretty-boy Pyatt leaving (oh I’m so clever!). Ray Whitney was gone no matter what, in my opinion. He wanted way too much money for an old guy and wanted multiple years. I don’t think he would’ve come back, even with an actual owner. I won’t say he’s unable to continue his production over the next 2 years, but I doubt he will. Pyatt was an integral part in the last few regular season games, and then played well in the playoffs. However, the Rangers sure did like what they saw out of him. Their 2 year/$3.1 million offer was one that the Coyotes definitely weren’t going to come close to, if they wanted to even make an offer. Good for Pyatt. He gets paid good money, and goes to a team that always will have a shot as long as Lundqvist is there.
Now onto the subject that every Coyote fan talks about, what is going to happen with Shane Doan? Doan wants to be here, and he won’t just pack up and leave one day. Or, at least, that’s what I get from hearing his agent. I heard an interview with Doan’s agent the other day, that no team could out-bid the Coyotes, as long as they’re staying in Arizona for the long-term and the ownership gets taken care of. I don’t expect anything else from him. I wouldn’t want to sign a 4 or 5 year deal if I wasn’t sure where the team would be after year 1. And through all of this, Doan keeps pushing back the deadline. Originally, it was July 1, then July 9, now it’s July 16. Does that sound like a guy who would just leave without trying his hardest to stay? I hope I can write about Doan’s new contract and Jamison buying the team very soon, but I’ve learned one thing in all of this, don’t ride the roller coaster. I’ll be shocked if Doan signs anywhere without some major negative news coming from NHL, City of Glendale or the Jamison camp. That’s all we can ask out of Captain Coyote, to wait and see if this is a good situation for him and his family.
One last thing I wanted to talk about today. I’ve seen some fighting from Coyotes fans on Twitter, and I think it’s pathetic. We’re all in the same boat. We all have dealt with Coyote “haters”, bad media coverage and the ever-so-knowledgeable ’Peggers and Québécois. So let’s stop fighting with each other over all of this. I’ve seen many people say that what this fan-base has gone through has made the fans into a family. Let’s not be one of those dysfunctional families that go on Dr. Phil or get a special on MTV. Respect each other. It makes you look bad when you fight with someone who wants the same bottom line as you do. We all want the Coyotes. Remember that. The next time you feel like instigating a fight, think about how it makes all Coyotes fans look.
In other news, I have a blog sitting in “drafts” that I started the Monday after the NHL Draft. It’s sort of like the mock draft blog, but with scouting reports/videos of all of the Coyotes picks. I’ll leave that for a later date, once we can officially start worrying about the team’s prospects and less about Ken Jones and the referendum.
Stay cool out there folks! I just read that Beaver Dam, AZ, reached 121 degrees yesterday. Let’s hope that heat stays out there and doesn’t creep into the Valley. And if you find yourself trying to deal with the heat, think of one thing…that great cool feeling when walking into Jobing.com Arena.
I’d like to start off this blog by letting all of you know that I have now surpassed the 500 view mark on my blog. Thank you for supporting my ramblings about sports!
Now on to the fun stuff. We have now entered the craziest time of the year for the NHL. Within the next few weeks, we’ll see the draft and free agency. I already listed some free agency targets for the Coyotes this summer, so I figured I would do the same for the draft. But here’s the problem. I’m not up on the prospects from around the world. That’s why there’s the internet right? So I did some research, and found a few mock drafts. I’ll have more info on some players than others, but that’s just from what I could find.
The first mock draft that I saw was from BleacherReport.com (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1225384-2012-nhl-mock-draft-full-first-round-predictions/page/28). They only did a mock of the first round. With the 27th overall pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, the Phoenix Coyotes select…center Henrik Samuelsson from Edmonton (WHL). Yes, he is the son of former NHL defenseman and Phoenix Coyotes coach, Ulf Samuelsson. Here’s some stats on the 6’2″, 195lbs Henrik: 28GP, 7G, 14A (regular season), 17GP, 4G, 10A (playoffs). There’s a lot of reasons why I would like this pick. One of them is where he played from 2008-2010. Anyone want to take a guess? He played on the PF Changs U18 team right here in Arizona. It would be a great way for the Coyotes to show that there is a pretty good youth team right here in the Valley, and they’re willing to pick players from it. I also like it because of who his father is. Ulf Samuelsson played a big role in the development of young Coyotes players. I’m going to guess that he’s also had talks with his son about the game, especially when he played for him over in Sweden. Here’s a highlight video I found of Henrik. Enjoy!
The next mock draft site I visited, is a site that I usually go to for mock drafts of all sports. It’s MyNHLDraft.com (it can be changed to my(MLB, NFL, NBA)draft.com for different sports too). They have mocked the first two rounds of the draft. With the Coyotes’ first round selection, they have them taking Pontus Aberg out of Djurgardens in the Swedish Elite League (SEL). This 5’11″, 187lbs left winger had 8G and 7A in 47GP with Djurgardens, and also played on the Swedish Junior hockey team this year. With their second round pick (#58 overall) they say the Coyotes could pick defenseman Damon Severson from Kelowna (WHL). He had 7G and 30A in 56GP, and played for Team Canada in the WJC-18 earning 2A in 7GP.
Pontus Aberg Highlight Video
I couldn’t find a highlight video of Damon Severson, so here’s an interview with him.
The final mock draft site that I visited was DraftSite.com (http://www.draftsite.com/nhl/mock-draft/2012/). To my surprise, this was a FULL mock draft. I’d never seen an NHL mock draft before that included all 7 rounds, but I finally found one. I’ll list out the Coyotes picks they had.
1st Round (27th overall) – RW Sebastian Collberg, Frolunda HC (SEL) – 9G, 8A, in 21GP in J20 league, 0G, 0A in 41GP in SEL (not a lot of ice-time), 5’11″, 174lbs. Here’s what they had to say about him: “A team that could look to any position for long-term replacements, they take a flyer on a Swedish flyer who many predicted who be a pick in the teens. He plays a solid all around game and exhibits a strong offensive game. Collberg has superb speed, and scoring ability but his stats in the Swedish Elite pro league, on an veteran club, were thin, because he saw little ice-time. Nonetheless, he may be an legitimate pro scorer as he develops.” Sounds exactly like what the Coyotes need. A fast guy, who plays a solid all around game, and can be a scorer. Is this pure scorer that the Coyotes have been looking for? Here’s another take on Collberg by Bill Placzek: “Shifty game-breaking winger with a superior high-end gear that enables him to drive the net with power, but does so in spurts and may not be the effortless skater he was thought to be. He has a quick release, soft hands, quick feet, excellent passing skills, and a fearless demeanor. He consistently gives defensemen trouble with his speed moves and determination. His development is a matter of getting stronger and more prepared for the pro game.”
Take a look for yourself. Speed and good hands. I think this would be a great pick.
Here’s an interview with Collberg at the Combine.
2nd Round (58) - RW Brian Hart, Phillips Exeter Academy – 31G, 34A in 29GP, 6’1″, 195lbs. Those numbers seem really high, but take into consideration that he is not playing in a top junior league or the SEL like these other prospects. Here’s what Bill Placzek has to say: “Emerging power winger with soft hands and a very good shot. He uses his strength and speed to do strong work on the wall and other battle areas. A well-balanced skater with good jump. Displays patience with the puck. Has soft hands and a heavy shot. Drives the net, stands in front and is good on tip-ins. A rising prospect.” We always see other teams having players that are good in from of the net, and all the Coyotes ever seem to have is Martin Hanzal, and he doesn’t seem to like doing that. Maybe Hart is the answer. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any video of Brian Hart, so I guess we’ll just have to take Placzek’s word for it.
**This pick was acquired on June 7, 2011, when the Phoenix Coyotes traded Ilya Bryzgalov to the Flyers** 3rd Round (81) - C Artur Gavrus, Owen Sound (OHL) – 15G, 22A in 45GP, 5’11″, 178lbs. He also played on the Belarus U18 team where he was an alternate captain and had 1G and 3A in 5GP. Placzek’s take on this player from Belarus: “Speedy, smaller player who finds hole and gets open using his skating prowess. His two-way game is a work in progress for this Belarusian import.” The fact that his two way game is a work in progress scares me a little. To be anything in the Coyotes organization, a player has to be strong both offensively and defensively. If he likes to take time off while in the defensive zone, he won’t fit. However, just a quick talk between him and a coach, and that could all change.
Here’s the video that kept showing up whenever I searched for Artur Gavrus highlights, so I figured I should include it.
It’s clearly a shoulder to the head of Gavrus, but I’m not sure if he was as injured as he appeared to be. It seemed a little “Dustin Brown-esque”, and that’s not what I want on the Coyotes. Hopefully, he will be able to get stronger, or a pick like this would not be helpful for the Coyotes.
3rd Round (88) - G Anthony Stolarz, Corpus Christi (NAHL) – 23-22-4, 2.84 GAA, 0.920 SV%, 3 SO in 50 GP, 6’5″, 200lbs. The GAA is not at an ideal spot for a goaltending prospect, but the SV% is definitely there. Here’s what Placzek had to say about Stolarz: “Giant goalie who is getting lots of buzz concerning his long term projectability, due to his quickness, eye for the puck, and athletic make-up.” If you ask me, that sounds a little like Mike Smith minus the puck playing ability. But remember, Mike Smith learned how to play the puck while backing up Marty Turco.
Watch this. It’ll make you like the possibility of this pick a lot more than reading anything. This guy wasn’t wanted by anyone, and has shown that he is a top goaltender in this year’s draft.
**This pick was acquired on June 28, 2010, from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Daniel Winnik** 4th Round (102) - G Collin Olson, USNTDP (USHL) – 7-6-1, 2.55 GAA, 0.898 SV%, 1 SO in 19 GP, 6’3″, 190lbs. The stats don’t jump off the page when you look at them, that’s for sure. But I think what Placzek has to say about this prospect is important: “Big goaler who is far from the finished product but has all the tools to continue his development to the higher levels. Plays an excellent positional game and is a cool player when things heat up down low. Functionally strong and holds his position in the paint. Must get quicker.” Two things I like there. One is that he has the tools. We’ve seen that if a goaltender has the tools, a good goaltending coach can make the goalie a good one. The second is that he stays calm. That’s a very integral part of being successful. I couldn’t find any highlight videos of Collin Olson, but maybe if you tweet him @C_Olson29 you can get one from him. Just let me know if he send you one!
5th Round (148) - C Colin Smith, Kamloops (WHL) – Regular season: 35G, 50A in 72 GP, Playoffs: 3G, 7A in 11GP, 5’10″, 172lbs. Those are some pretty good offensive numbers from a player available in the 5th round. And he has a chip on his shoulder. Placzek: “Undrafted last year, he already had over 75 points prior to March 2012. Strong competitor with speed and playmaking skills.” I think a player that went undrafted could have something to show the other teams that passed on him that they’ve made a mistake. He’s a strong competitor. What more do you want?
6th Round (178) - G Corbin Boes, Brandon (WHL) – Regular season: 23-10-2, 2.84 GAA, 0.916 SV%, 1 SO in 41 GP, Playoffs: 4-5, 3.00 GAA, 0.922 SV % in 9 GP, 6’3″, 216lbs. I like the numbers, but would question why there needs to be a THIRD goaltender taken in this year’s draft. Seems a little excessive to me. Placzek: “Huge rookie goaler in the DUB who has 20 wins and an excellent save percentage and blossoming game.” He’s big, just like the other two that I’ve talked about here. And he’s supposed to get better. One thing that is better is his record, but his GAA and SV % look very similar to Stolarz and Olson. I didn’t see any video of Boes, but I did see that he went undrafted last year, so that same attitude that I hope Colin Smith could have applies here.
**This pick was acquired with Brock Trotter on October 23, 2011, from the Montreal Canadiens for Petteri Nokelainen and Garrett Stafford** 7th Round (184) - D Christian Djoos, Brynas IF (SEL) – For Brynas J20 (majority of playing time this year): 3G, 21A in 40GP, 5’11″, 150lbs. WOW! This guy is small! He definitely needs to get bigger if he has any dreams of playing in the NHL. Here’s Placzek’s take: “Far from the finished product, this under 6-foot defenseman is an excellent stickhandler and smart with puck distribution. Excellent PP guy. Makes the long stretch pass. His skating leaves much room for improvement, and improved leg strength will help a bit with that.” One thing that Phoenix D-men take pride in is their skating ability. If his is behind, I don’t like this pick, but I do like the name.
Here’s a penalty shot by Djoos.
7th Round (208) - C Cain Franson, Vancouver (WHL) – Regular season: 27G, 31A in 70GP, Playoffs: 5G, 2A in 7GP, 6’1″, 167lbs. Another guy that needs to get stronger, but I like the offensive numbers that he was able to put up. Placzek didn’t write anything about this guy, but I’ll say from his numbers that he can be a threat if he gets stronger. This is a pretty good pick for 208th overall if the Coyotes could get it.
Who doesn’t like a good fight? Here’s Franson (#12 in black) taking on Robin Soudek.
That’s my 2012 draft preview for the Phoenix Coyotes. I hope you all enjoyed it, and feel free to share it with your friends!
We all know by now that on June 8 (Friday), the City of Glendale voted 4-2 to pass the ordinance and resolution to keep the Coyotes in Glendale, and to pay Greg Jamison’s arena management group to run the arena. We also found out that there’s a chance that Jamison will buy the arena from the City of Glendale in 5 years, which would take the City of Glendale out of the arena business (and make them money). So this is going to be more about my experiences at the City Council meeting on Friday.
If you follow me on Twitter, I’ll guess that you all wanted to stop with my constant tweets during the meeting, but I did explain my reasoning late on Friday. ”I apologize for all of these tweets but it keeps me from screaming at the council. And I promised my mom that I wouldn’t get arrested today”. That’s the tweet that I sent out at 4:04pm on Friday, and trust me, that’s not a joke. I had to hold myself back a few times during the meeting, especially during the citizen comments portion. But I’ll start with the beginning, and go from there.
I got to the West Valley much faster than I thought I would have, so I figured I would find a Starbucks so I could get WiFi to read Twitter updates on the GWI/Glendale court appearance. After about 20 minutes of searching, and coming to the conclusion that Glendale doesn’t have enough Starbucks, I finally found one. For some reason, that Starbucks had a sign on their door that they don’t open until 10am, even though they were open. But that was just a small part of the adventure that day. After seeing on Twitter that the judge accepted to hear what GWI had to say at 9am, I finished my Mocha Frappuccino and headed to the Glendale City Hall.
I was the first Coyotes fan and supporter of the deal to show up. When I got there, there was about 10-15 people against the deal, all of them over the age of 75, and they were looking at me like I was the devil. I wanted to go all BizNasty on them, but again, since I promised I wouldn’t get arrested (and when I showed up, police officers started to show up and watch us), I decided to just stay away from them. Shortly thereafter, Coyotes fans started to show up with the news from the judge that the GWI request was shot down. At 10:05am, I entered the gallery.
Since it is government, I shouldn’t have expected anything different, but the meeting started a little late. While people were finding seats (which are the same colors as the seats at Jobing.com Arena), one old man who I believe was Ken Jones went over to Bettman and Jamison, who were sitting the front row by Ed Beasley, and started yelling at them for something like “corporate welfare”. A few minutes later, the meeting began, and so began the long day. First there were presentations by Birnbaum, who was a lawyer (maybe?) that ran numbers about the different situations that Glendale could find themselves in. Now I think Phil Lieberman said where those numbers came from at some point in one of his rants, but I don’t think I was listening. Birnbaum clearly pointed out that the City of Glendale are better off with the Coyotes, than without the team, even while paying an arena management fee. While Lieberman was questioning Birnbaum, I looked over at NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. The look on his face was classic! It looked like he was trying to figure out what Lieberman was talking about, but like many of the people there, had no idea. It was during this rant that Lieberman had the phrase of the day, “This is the cat calling the cat black”. What does that mean? I don’t know, and I don’t really care, but the Coyotes supporters that I was sitting by got a chuckle from that one.
Jamison looked like he was going to jump up and scream “I’ll buy the damn arena in 5 years!” during the questioning of Birnbaum and the lady from Pollack. He was on the edge of his seat and looked like he wanted to speak. And he got his chance later in the meeting. After Gary Bettman spoke to the council, during which he said to them that the NHL is “all in” with keeping the Coyotes in Arizona, Greg Jamison finally got to speak. His first sentence is all that Coyotes fans needed to hear. Mr. Jamison called himself Mr. Jamison. Now tell me that isn’t the definition of being a badass! Jamison was calm and sounded very sincere about building hockey programs for youth and being involved in the community. In my opinion, if he does what he says he’s going to do, Phoenix could be an even bigger success story than San Jose was.
During the first break, I had to opportunity to go meet Jamison. We talked about the Phoenix Roadrunners and the Mustangs. That was what originally made me into a hockey fan. I didn’t share this story with him, but I will with you (you don’t know how lucky you are!). When I was a little kid, I would go to Phoenix Roadrunner games at the Madhouse on McDowell. One of the biggest reasons I liked going, not just because I liked hockey, was because we would drive through the tunnel along the I-10. The games were cheap, and a lot of fun, and it turned me into a lifelong hockey fan. But why am I saying this? I remember the experience much more than single games. Jamison talked about how important it is for people to remember the experience they have at events than it is whether the event was perfect for them. I think the story I told proves that point. Who knows if I would’ve loved Roadrunner games as much if I didn’t associate it with being able to ride through the tunnel. It’s funny what makes you happy when you’re a little kid, isn’t it?
During the citizen comments, a representative from GWI spoke. And her entire speech was centered around the idea that it’s June and it’s time for sunshine. What this has to do with the Coyotes deal, I have no clue, but I did find the PERFECT goal song for the 2012-2013 Phoenix Coyotes season (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HihhVBgzyXg). Other than the strange speech, I was very surprised with the way that the two GWI representatives handled themselves. Although I clearly disagree with what they are doing, I thought they would be professionals. I guess I was wrong. During the reading of the ordinance, the two GWI representatives were talking and giggling to each other. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I thought they would act like adults and not teenage girls. But with the institute that they represent, I shouldn’t have expected too much professionalism from them.
While I could go on and on about each citizen that got up and spoke, I’ll save you from having to read all of that. Moving on to the voting time. I knew what the vote was going to be once Lieberman’s motion to delay the vote lost 4-2. That pretty much showed where everyone stood on the subject, and saved me from some high anxiety time during the actual vote. Joyce Clark (who now follows me on Twitter, so if you’re reading this, THANK YOU!) talked about the Hartford Whalers and how their situation was similar to the situation of the Phoenix Coyotes. One thing that I didn’t know about was Hartford is currently talking about how they want an NHL team. Why haven’t we heard from them yet, Coyotes fans? But back to the voting. During the votes and explanation, A LOT of people were leaving. Yes, it was getting later in the day, but once you’re there, you might as well stay. However, the majority of people leaving were people who opposed the deal, including those two GWI supporters I talked about. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to stay to listen to Lieberman’s 20 minute rant about something.
Long story short, the ordinance and resolution both passed with a 4-2 vote (Norma Alvarez was not there), and the celebration started. I had my windows down on the drive back and was howling as I drove past the area where news reporters were on camera. I’m not sure if it was picked up, but I really don’t care. All GWI can do now is possibly postpone a vote, but not too long. And the postponed vote? If it changes, it’ll be 4-3 in favor of the deal because Alvarez could be back. Jamison and Bettman both said that 3 weeks could be the magic number to get a deal finalized, which would be right in time for free agency to begin.
I heard people complain about some of the stupidest things at the meeting. My favorite? One person complained that Bettman, Daly and Jamison got seats reserved in the front row and citizens were pushed to the back. Really? I saw people sitting the other sections’ front rows. I wanted to complain saying that the council got comfy seats and got to face the other direction. That’s not fair!
So is it over? Not yet, but Coyotes fans are in uncharted waters once again. I’ve been waiting to write a blog like this since for a while now. Remember when I thought this team was moving and Coyotes fans couldn’t say “there’s always next year”? Yeah, that’s a funny blog to read knowing what I do now. So Coyotes fans, there is definitely a lot to be excited about after this last vote, but don’t go too crazy. We might just have to invade the City Council meeting once more if GWI uses their scare tactics to force a re-vote.
I’ll leave you with this great piece of advice from Coyotes fans’ favorite crazy old uncle. ”That is the cat calling the cat black”. So don’t be the cat, or the other cat. Never mind, that’s not advice. I just wanted to get one last joke about Lieberman in here.
I know that this blog has been all about sports, but it’s time to branch out into something else. And that something else is self-promotion! In case you don’t know, I am the guitarist in the Phoenix, AZ punk rock band Chaos Playground (www.chaosplayground.com). We’ve been together for 4 years and are going on tour through California this July.
First, I’ll start off with a short bio of the band. I started the band on May 22, 2008, which was my last day of my freshman year in high school (Go Horizon!). I called up a few friends and Chaos Playground was born. Over the next few years, we encountered some problems with other band members that came and went, but the core 3 stuck together. Our music has ranged from alternative to rock to metal to punk, which creates a unique sound. We have been told that we sound like we’re combining the sounds of the Sex Pistols, The Ramones and early-Green Day.
Last summer was when everything started to come together for the band. We played our first paying gig at The Plantation on June 18, 2011 with local bands halfcupsodapop and The Dead Cats. Then in early July, we played with The Reagan Years, a band from Reno, Nevada, at Big Fish Pub. On July 23, 2011, we started recording our debut album, “Crisis”, at Cosmic Soup Recording. After a few weeks, we had finished our 4-song EP and released our single “D.N.A.”. The week of August 22-26, we were featured on 106.7 KWSS’s morning show, “The Morning Infidelity”, on their TMI Top 5. We came in at #1 each day that week, earning us honorable mention during their top songs of 2011, that they decided during their Rock Local Labor Day Weekend.
“Crisis” was released on November 25, 2011, at the album release party at The Plantation. We officially hit the music scene and people knew who we were. KWSS then gave us another honor. Our song, “D.N.A.”, was nominated for Best Punk Song of 2011 in their Rock Local Awards. Unfortunately, we did not win the award, but for the band’s first single, a nomination was a big honor.
Throughout the years we have played at charity events like SSBTR (Students Supporting Brain Tumor Research), and we’ve even played in the Macy’s store at Paradise Valley Mall in Phoenix, AZ. So we’ve paid our dues, and now we’re going on the road. We will be hitting the road on July 19 in preparation for our July 20 gig at 924 Gilman Street in Berkeley, CA. Gilman is a special venue that punk bands from around the world (Yes, I mean around the world. They had a band from Japan play there last week) wish to play at. Bands such as AFI, Bad Religion, Chumbawamba, Dropkick Murphys, Foo Fighters, Green Day, NOFX, The Offspring, Operation Ivy and Rancid have played there. This place has rich history, and it’s still hard to believe that Chaos Playground will be able to add their name to the list with all of those great bands. After we play Gilman, we head up to Paradise, CA to play a gig on July 21. Currently we have the following two days off (July 22-23), but then go 3 straight nights in Sacramento (The Naked Lounge), Modesto (St. Clair Theater) and then finishing our tour with a gig at a rehearsal studio in Orange County. As you can see, we will be on the road for over a week, and have a lot of driving ahead of us.
This is where YOU come in, so pay attention! To help us pay for these expenses, we have set up a Kickstarter account (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/385212159/fund-chaos-playgrounds-go-big-get-wild-tour-2012). With each donation, you can get awesome prizes. Prizes include everything from a signed copy of “Crisis” to a signed guitar! We ask that even if you can’t donate, please share this with everyone you know! We will hopefully surpass the fundraising goal that we have set, and maybe even be able to not sleep in the car during the tour!
Do you want to listen to the band first? You can go to http://www.chaosplayground.com to listen to our songs and see a live video of the band performing in August 2011. Also, you can like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/chaosplayground or even follow us on Twitter @ChaosPlayground.
You have all supported my sports blog for the past few months, and I hope I can see that same support of Chaos Playground! Thank you!
