I hear Coyote meat is a little gamey, but good.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Rewind to early February of this year, last season. One of the worst winter storms I've had to brave was on in full force in Columbus, as I bravely trudged a half mile down the jam-packed, snarled traffic-ed road that led to Nationwide. The Coyotes were in town that evening and the Jackets were reeling from that nasty road swing through Canada, where the penalty kill had pretty much imploded, and sucked everything inside of it like a black hole of death.That Phoenix game was delayed for a half hour because of the storm, by the way. The Jackets would lose that game 3-0, before a very sparse crowd of maybe 10,000 or so in attendance (13,285 tickets distributed, but with the storm and all ...), and I've been wanting to see the Coyotes suffer at the hands of the Jackets since then.
So it goes without saying that I was positively ecstatic with last night's results.
Now given, the Coyotes have been projected by many different writers and media pundits to do even worse than the Jackets this season, and their lack of cohesion was on display last night. Despite some strong flurries in the second period, coupled with some modest power play pressure -- though they still lack any PP goals whatsoever in their first three games -- the 'Yotes looked highly discombobulated, and incapable of working as a team.
On the other side of the ice? The Jackets' came on strong with the style of play that got them that win against the Anaheim Ducks in their season opener. Even though all of the lines seemed to be clicking well last night, only one managed to stuff the goodies into the net behind Phoenix netminder David Aebischer, and that was the Jason Chimera - Manny Malhotra - Jared Boll group.
Tenacious, strong on the forecheck, and generally a real pain on the backcheck, they were giving the Coyotes fits all night long. To me, it seemed almost as if they had some sort of mental connection going on. We've known Chimera and Malhotra to play on the same lines together as far back as the 05-06 season, however Boll -- who is quite fresh and now all of three NHL games old as a rookie -- has practically hit it off with both Manny and Chimmer very quickly. Look no further than Manny's feed pass to a waiting, broken out Boll, who charged in on Aebischer like a freight train before deking, and sliding the puck home to cement the Jackets' 3-0 win.
But they shouldn't get all the credit, even though they deserve a lot of it. A ton of credit has to, once again, go to Pascal Leclaire, who now has back-to-back shutouts in his first two games of the season. While largely untested early on, once the Coyotes started to come on stronger in the second, as well as during their power play opportunities in the third, Leclaire kicked it up a notch and then some.
While it's only three games in to the season, and Pazzy's only played two of them, it's hard to curb your enthusiasm for the guy. Berated by fans for being physically weak and injury prone, Leclaire is playing as though he has a giant chip on his shoulder, and has something to prove to anyone who's doubted him up until now. And honestly, good for him.
Lastly, before I drag my tired, cold-suffering 'self down to the bus to get to my classes, Mike Peca had his Blue Jackets' debut last night. While modest during regular shifts throughout the game, I was greatly impressed with his penalty kill prowess. One thing that stuck out to me was how on one shorthanded opportunity, he bided his time as the Coyotes never put pressure on him, then tossed a pass off to Adam Foote for a great chance on net. While Foote didn't score, it showed me that Peca isn't the type to get rid of the puck like a hot potato, even during penalty kill situations. And that sort of poise is something that takes a long time to grasp.
By the way, my mid-terms are this week, hence the lack of updates since the weekend. Apologies, folks. Once I am done with them this Friday, I'll be able to breathe a little easier.
Labels: Jared Boll, Jason Chimera, Manny Malhotra, Mike Peca, Pascal Leclaire, Phoenix Coyotes, post-game
Quack.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
It took until the third goal at 7:58 of the 3rd period for me to finally exhale last night. Having remembered the collapse during last season's home opener against the Vancouver Canucks, could you blame me for being more frightened than enthusiastic over a 2-0 lead heading in to the 3rd?But here I am the morning after, finding out that this dominant win over the Stanley Cup Champion Anaheim Ducks was not a dream. I mean, who would have thought that the result would be a 4-0 blowout, let alone in such a dominant fashion?
Before I get in to the game, though, let me just say that it's a real shame that this game wasn't a sellout. Shy by somewhere around 500 seats or so, this is one of those games that you wish had the arena packed to capacity and then some, just because of how perfect it would have been for fans who are currently feeling disenchanted or otherwise frustrated by the Jackets' past season woes. But still, this team does need to convince the people of Columbus that they deserve better attendance, and after one game, so far so good.
Also, the cannon? A thing of frikken' beauty! You couldn't have asked for a better way to kick the game off, let alone celebrate each and every goal. Show of hands, readers: how many of you expected that baby to be fired a total of seven times in the very first game of the season (start of game, goal, goal, goal, goal, two for winning)? That's one Helluva way to break that baby in, I know that much. And if that trumpeter who was standing next to the cannon is there for every game, too? That just makes it even more awesome. When he started blasting his bugle in the 3rd period, the 17,700+ in the arena started to rock that place.
Now, as for the game ...
-Rick Nash is on pace for 328 points (164 goals, 164 assists). Come on, you know he's going to get that many.
-Pascal Leclaire played great when he had to, especially during the flurries the Ducks had around him at key points. I'll admit, there were points where it seemed like he was a little iffy on some rebounds, which was tough to watch. But at the same time, the majority of his rebounds did seem to me as though they were intentionally directed elsewhere to ensure they'd be difficult for the Ducks to take advantage of. This is also Leclaire's second career shutout, which means he's already matched his season record for shutouts (1) from last season.
-The hit that Jared Boll landed on Travis Moen seemed to me less in the vein of something that was dirty, and more in the vein of something that a rookie does when they're too damn enthusiastic. It's clear in the replays that he left his skates, which is a big no-no. However he did not use his elbow, only using his shoulder for the hit. However the hit was also high and to the head, as was evident by the video of a bloodied Moen on the bench.
If he's suspended for a couple of games, I won't be too upset. Any more than two games would be a bit much, however.
-Jason Chimera looked like a hell hound with the way in which he zipped all over the ice. And I lost track of the opportunities that Fredrik Modin had to bury one in the back of the net, only to be rebuffed by some great goaltending by the Duck's Ilya Bryzgalov.
-How about the energy that Nikolai Zherdev played with, too? A far cry from the seemingly unenthusiastic slogging through the pre-season done by Z, he was bold enough to stand up Ducks' players in the neutral zone, was aggressive on both the backcheck and the forecheck, and whether you'll believe it or not, his bag of tricks -- which does indeed include his trademark toe drag -- were actually working. Perhaps the problem isn't so much whether Z overuses things such as the toe drag, but whether or not he personally believes that he can pull it off. Something that's more mental than anything else.
I could go on and on, really, with the players who deserve to be mentioned for their great games. But honestly, you get the idea. I'll wrap things up by saying that last night's effort by the Jackets was simply great. They were methodical, ruthless, relentless, and with the exception of a gruelingly long 2nd period in large part due to the 5 minute major the Jackets' had assessed near the end of it, they never really slowed down.
Now, let's see if they can keep it up tonight in Minnesota.
Labels: Anaheim Ducks, CBJ Players, Fredrik Modin, Jared Boll, Jason Chimera, Nikolai Zherdev, Pascal Leclaire, post-game, Rick Nash
