These “Pups” Have Bite

I’m not a big cliché guy. Every now and then, sure but only if completely necessary. Here, it’s not necessary. I’m not going to tell you about the bark and bite in a dog or the fight in a dog. Though those are fitting words for the Phoenix Coyotes, it goes beyond that. Simply put, the Phoenix Coyotes have a lot of bite in them. For years, many have referred to them as the “Desert Dogs.” This season, the franchise is going with a marketing slogan that appeals to the youth of the team: “Coyotes Hockey – A New Breed.” Take a look down the Coyote roster this season, and you’ll see a lot kids who are nothing more than “pups.” (Yes, full pun intended). They’re not all young pups, though. Five players on the roster are over the age of 30, the oldest being NHL journeyman Robert Lang at 39 (Now with his 8th NHL team). Captain Shane Doan, 33, is the last charter member of the Phoenix Coyotes that made the move from Winnipeg. For the most part, though, this team is just a bunch of pups… pups with plenty of bark in their bite, or however the saying goes.

So what’s with all the talk about the bite in the dog and the size of the bark and every other cliché I could possibly get wrong? The Coyotes stunned a slightly less than packed Joe Lewis Arena last night by erasing a 4-2 deficit with under two minutes to go. Keith Yandle’s weak wrist shot on the power play fluttered past a screened Jimmy Howard to make it 4-3 with about a minute and a half to go in regulation. Now, since dad came into the room and thought it was cool to change the channel, I didn’t see the JoVo Cop’s game tying goal. I did manage to see Doan’s game winner in overtime and that was the result of some hard work in the slot by the Coyotes. As a Blues fan, it never breaks my heart to see Detroit lose like this. However, I’m a self proclaimed hockey purist and I like to think I know a lot about the rest of this league, especially the Western Conference. I know good hockey when I see it and it’s hard to ignore the Coyotes right now. These pups are growing up before our eyes as we saw on Tuesday Night in Detroit.

Two of the hottest young stars in the desert are defenseman Keith Yandle, 23, and Martin Hanzal, 22. They are just two in a cast of several youngsters including Peter Mueller (21), Lauri Korpikoski (23) and the team leader in scoring, Scottie Upshall at the age of 26. Upshall leads the team with 18 goals heading into Thursday Night’s home date with the Calgary Flames (which they won 3-2). We learned a lot about these kids in the comeback against Detroit; the resiliency of this team could be what the Coyotes were missing down the stretch last season. For you hockey purists that keep tabs on previous seasons, you know the Coyotes were sitting pretty between the fourth and sixth seed for awhile. It was around this same time, late January and into February that they sat in the thick of the playoff race. Sadly, I believe Adam and I were single handedly responsible for sending the Phoenix Coyotes into a tail spin mid February. Ironically, it was after an impressive 6-3 win over Detroit in the desert. I made the observation that they were playing very well amidst all the adversity, what with the possibility of moving back to Canada and all. They were playing well with some young talent. I proudly proclaimed that this team was headed to the playoffs. Sadly, the Coyotes were on the wrong side of the eighth seed within about two weeks. I have yet to issue a formal apology to the city of Phoenix. In any case, much of that young talent remains intact here in ‘09/’10.

The real question here is will the youth and inexperience catch up with the Coyotes once again like it did last season? In fears of sending the Coyotes into a free fall again, I’ll refrain from telling you I think they have what it takes again. With that being said, they are better than last season. That can be attributed to a man whom I’ve yet to mention, head coach Dave Tippet. A new system and style of play is in place from a guy who has helped the Dallas Stars get into the playoffs multiple times. So with the alpha dogs in Shane Doan and Robert Lang leading the way, how far can they lead these pups into the spring? At this point in time, a home ice series as a four seed is completely within reach. However, I don’t think they need a four seed to impress anyone. The Pacific Division title may be out of reach at this point, but the Coyotes believe they can run with anyone. This team has already made plenty of noise to this point; you can bet by season’s end, the entire Western Conference will hear just how loud the bark is in the Phoenix Coyotes.

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