The Other Off Season Game Plan - The Arizona Coyotes Edition

Big disclaimer - I know very little about hockey as compared to Scott Cullen, residential fanatic analytic expert (read; stats geek) over at TSN. But I do have some time, access to the Internet and like to write about things of little interest to most people but not about stats. So here is my off season game plan for the Arizona Coyotes, part 3 of 30.

'Hey Arizona, I'm in the Offensive zona!'

The Arizona Coyotes formerly Phoenix formerly The Original Winnipeg Jets

Arizona is known for two things and hockey isn't one of them. The Coyotes probably lead the league in Away games as it seems most of the people who attend games are there on vacation so they can have an affordable chance to see their favourite team play. It is cheaper to buy plane fare, a hotel room and Coyote tickets than it would be to see the Canucks, Maple Leafs or Canadiens play in their respective home buildings. Plus going to an NHL game allows visiting Arizona-ites to escape the Arizona heat and just the fact they live in Arizona.

Even the real coyotes seek to escape the heat

That said, even with their ambivalent fan base, Arizona had a strange year. It was like they heard about the David McConnor thing late and decided to get in on the bit of action at around Christmas time and summarily tanked hard. This was a bit hard to take for Yotes fans as they did pretty well in previous year's playoffs. They had an all-star goalie in Mike Smith, capable back-up in Devan Dubynk ad a stellar one-two punch in offensive defencemen with Keith Yandle and Oliver Ekmans-Larson. Then there was hockey rock star (by Arizona standards) Paul Bisonnette aka BizNastie. But BizNastie retired (I think) before the season started, they traded away Keith Yandle at the deadline and Mike Smith became average. They were close to winning the McDavid sweepstakes, only missing dead last by 2 points and if nothing else, a chance to get the other golden boy, Jake Eichel. But who are they going to pick for third? Probably some nobody...

But mostly they suffered from having to play in Arizo- um, the Western Conference. I mean... come on - look at that side. There was the surprising Flames success, the return to winning form of the Canucks, Chicago, St. Louis, Nashville, Anaheim, and The Minnesota Dubynk. Well, they all have to beat someone and that usually was Arizona.

Authentic current Coyote player

Head Coach

Currently Dave Tippett

Dave shouldn't be going anywhere and nobody expects him to (much like the Coyotes next year in the standings). He's had to watch Keith Yandle and Antoine Vermette be traded away at the deadline by the current Coyote owners (I have long lost interest in who won the lottery to own the Coyotes aka NHL code-name 'Anyone but Jim Balsillie' and is making do with a team that isn't exactly under-performing.

Plus, he has this crazy-looking dog he keeps in his office..

He's a good coach with a mediocre team that will continue to primarily fill the NHL void of having a stop-over for teams going to play in Dallas or California. He would do well to remember that the Jet/Coyote franchise is historically a yo-yo of yearly points production and after this year's poor performance should improve next year as nobody is expecting them to. They could be like the 2014 Colorado Avalanche, only without the talent.

Forwards

Someone's trying the famous Arizona peyote, I think.

The Coyotes have a group of forwards that no opponent fears and that is a problem. When their biggest concern is wondering if Sam Gagner will ever pull another 8 point night or if Shane Doan might begin telling stories that start with "I remember when..." then things are looking pretty good when a visiting team heads Arizona way. Most casual fans will be hard-pressed to name three forwards on their team but will believe that they have a pretty decent team if Arizona is in Europe (which it is not).

One of the 'Yotes seasoned veterans encouraging one of
the younger defencemen on the bench.

Defencemen

After releasing Yandle to go try out the Big City lights of the New York Rangers, its up to Oliver E-L to shoulder most of the defensive and offensive responsibility. Mike Stone is capable but the problem really lies in that they have no truly NHL ready defencemen to help OE-L. If only someone like Johnny Oduya was available to relieve that pressure.






Goalies

Will the REAL Mike Smith please stand up,
please stand up,
please stand up.

Mike Smith is still the undisputed #1 goalie and don't expect that to change anytime soon. See;Devan Dubnyk.  He should be sending Mike a Thank You and Merry Christmas card every year from now on. It would be a good idea for Arizona to acquire a quality 2nd string or even 3rd string goaltender to let Mike get some rest next year as it looks to be a busy time in the defensive end of the 'Yotes.


 Overall 

My #1 Priority - Getting Out of Arizona
My #2 Priority - Getting 6 ready-to-play defencemen
My #3 Priority - A back up goaltender who is funny on Twitter

Really, just about any goalie will do.