The Desert Dogs: A Phoenix Coyotes NHL10 Dynasty

[JetsIn06]

http://phoenix.fanster.com/coyotes/files/2009/06/coyotes.gif

[JetsIn06]

After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the Phoenix Coyotes were in disarray. Actually, they have been in disarray for much longer. After making the playoffs five of their first six years in the desert, the Coyotes fell to the bottom of the Pacific division year in and year out.

On May 5, 2009, after years of poor play and poor attendance, the franchise hit rock bottom. The team's owner, Jerry Moyes, agreed to sell the team to Jim Balsillie.

Balsillie initially wanted to move the team to Hamilton, Ontario. After a whole lot of legal red-tape and court rulings, the NHL had an auction in September of 2009 to find a new owner.

Kansas City and Hamilton will have to wait for a new NHL team, for I am the new owner of the Phoenix Coyotes, and they will remain the desert dogs.

[JetsIn06]

Let's take a quick look at the squad. We have a few veterans like Doan and Lombardi, but we have a lot of young guys who probably shouldn't be playing here yet. Unfortunately, we don't really have a choice.

Scoring Line One

C - Matthew Lombardi (80 SNP) 27 Years Old. $2.3M, 1 Year Left
LW - Mikkel Boedker (81 DNG) 19 Years Old. $1.35M, 2 Years Left
RW - Shane Doan (85 PLY) 32 Years Old. $5.03M, 3 Years Left

Scoring Line Two

C - Vernon Fiddler (75 GRN) 29 Years Old. $1.58M, 2 Years Left
LW - Lauri Korpikoski (77 SNP) 23 Years Old. $1.18M, 2 Years Left
RW - Peter Mueller (82 PLY) 21 Years Old. $1.33M, 1 Year Left

Checking Line

C - Martin Hanzal (80 PWF) 22 Years Old. $1.45M, 1 Year Left
LW - Taylor Pyatt (78 PWF) 28 Years Old. $2.05M, 1 Year Left
RW - Radim Vrbata (80 DNG) 28 Years Old. $3.48M, 2 Years Left

Fourth Line

C - Kyle Turris (79 SNP) 20 Years Old. $1.33M, 2 Years Left
LW - Scottie Upshall (79 GRN) 25 Years Old. $1.98M, 1 Year Left
RW - Petr Prucha (79 SNP) 26 Years Old. $1.58M, 2 Years Left

--

Defensive Line One

D - Ed Jovanovski (84 OFD) 33 Years Old. $6.98M, 2 Years Left
D - Zbynek Michalek (83 DFD) 26 Years Old. $1.73M, 1 Year Left

Defensive Line Two

D - Adrian Aucoin (78 OFD) 36 Years Old. $2.73M, 1 Year Left
D - Kurt Sauer (78 DFD) 28 Years Old. $2.23M, 3 Years Left

Defensive Line Three

D - Keith Yandle (77 OFD) 22 Years Old. $1.68M, 2 Years Left
D - Vandermeer (77 DFD) 29 Years Old. $2.78M, 2 Years Left

--

Goalies

Starter - Ilya Bryzgalov (84 BUT) 29 Years Old. $4.73M, 2 Years Left
Backup - Jason Labarbera (75 HYB) 29 Years Old. $1.58M, 2 Years Left

[JetsIn06]

With opening day just a few days away, let me briefly describe my strategy going forward.

On the ice, I strongly believe in an aggressive defense that can force turnovers. Our forwards not only need to be skilled passers or shooters, but they also need to be able to hang with our opponent and actively look for opportunities to get the puck back. If we can keep them out of our zone and stop their attack before it can get started, we can win.

Off the ice, I'm a firm believer in building through trades. The draft, outside of the first few picks, can be a crap shoot. However, our first few years here may be tough. We'll most likely land a top pick in the draft, and I don't have any intention of giving that away.

[JetsIn06]

Scouting Update:

I sent my scout to Canada for a month to check out the 46 forwards that will be eligible in the draft. There are some great looking guys, but we don't know much yet.

[BYU 14]

Don't have the game yet, but I it is on my buy list so I will be following. One question, what do the abbreviations GRN, SNP, DNG etc mean?

[JetsIn06]

.

[Travis]

Don't have the game yet, but I it is on my buy list so I will be following. One question, what do the abbreviations GRN, SNP, DNG etc mean?

Player types:

GRN: Grinder
SNP: Sniper
DNG: Dangler

Can't remember the other abbreviations but there is also Playmakers, Tough Guys, Offensive and Defensive Defensemen and a couple others I'm likely forgetting.

[JetsIn06]

Pretty sure you got all of them, except there is also PWF which is Power Forward

[Balldog]

following!

[JetsIn06]

Quickly making a change to All-Star and starting over. Testing out sliders today and will probably start again tonight. Luckily I haven't done anything. :)

Everything will still be in this thread.

[JetsIn06]

Okay...I really find Pro to play a better game. I adjusted sliders a little bit, but I also realize I messed up one of them when I started this dynasty so it should be better anyway.

Let's do this thing!

[JetsIn06]

The season has begun, and after 10 games we're at an even 5-5-0. We lost our first four games of the year, getting beaten up by LA, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo and then losing a close one to Columbus.

We picked up our first win against the Sharks at their place, shutting them out. It looked like we were back to our losing ways after dropping one to the Blues, but then we beat Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, and the Rangers to bring our record to 5-5-0.

Hopefully we can turn this little hot streak into something longer.

[JetsIn06]

Our next string of ten games didn't fare as well. We now sit 13th in the Western Conference with an 8-11-1 record.

We're 4th worst in the NHL with just 48 goals on the year, which is 2.4 goals per game. I'm not exactly surprised by this, however. We've given up 3.3 goals per game which is 9th worst.

After looking some more in-depth stats, our big issue is that we're simply not scoring on powerplays. We've only scored 9 PP goals which is dead last in the NHL and just an 8.7%.

Our penalty killing on the other hand has been great. We rank 7th in the league with a solid 88.1% PK%.

As far as individuals go, Matt Lombardi, our first line center, leads the team in goals (6) and points (14). He's also our best faceoff taker and also leads the team in takeaways, something I'm definitely looking for in our forwards.

[JetsIn06]

After a close 3-2 win over the Lightning on the 16th of November, we won six games in a row, five of them in a convincing fashion. We beat up on the Blues 5-1, the Flyers 7-2, the Oilers 4-1, and then the Flames 7-4, a game that saw us down 3-0 at the start of the 2nd period. Then we won another close one against the Stars.

Since that streak, things haven't been so great. We're 1-4 in our last 5 games, and on December 12th we sit at 15-15-1, good for 8th in the conference and 2nd in the Pacific Division. The Sharks sit atop the division at 17-14-1 and our next game pits us against them in Phoenix.

Our first line is doing well together. The three forwards lead our team in points, with Boedkey taking over the points lead with 26. He leads the team in goals and assists. Amazingly, 5 of his 10 goals have been game winners. Lombardi and Doan have 23 points, and Kyle Turris, the real future of our franchise, has 5 goals and 15 assists.

[JetsIn06]

We're 40 games into the season, and as of December 29, 2009 we sit at 17-20-3 which puts us 12th in the Western Conference.

After our last update, we faced San Jose who were the only team ahead of us in the Pacific. We handed them a beating, winning 7-3. Things were looking up.

Unfortunately, we lost 7 of our next 8 games dropping us to 3rd in the Pacific Division. Here's how the standings look right now in the West:

1. Nashville 50 PTS
2. Vancouver 49 PTS
3. San Jose 43 PTS
4. Minnesota 48 PTS
5. Edmonton 47 PTS
6. Calgary 46 PTS
7. Detroit 43 PTS
8. Columbus 42 PTS

In the East, Pittsburgh, Ottawa, and Washington are battling for the top spot.

The worst team in the league has been the Dallas Stars, who are 12-20-6.

The league leader in points thus far has been Rick Nash of the Blue Jackets. His 33 goals and 22 assists give him 55 points, just one better than Washington's Alexander Ovechkin. Nash and Ilya Kovalchuk are tied with 33 goals.

[JetsIn06]

We've made it into February and are doing a bit better than I expected. We're 5-3-2 in our last ten games and now sit in 10th place in the West with a 28-27-5 record and 61 points

As of now, we have to knock off St. Louis and Columbus to move into the final playoff spot. St. Louis sits in 9th with a 28-26-6 record and 62 points, and Columbus holds the 8th spot with a 30-27-3 record and 62 points.

In the Pacific, the Kings are in first place with a 30-24-5 record and 65 points.

One of the biggest reasons we've been doing so well is our penalty kill teams. Our 88.9 PK% is best in the West and 2nd best in the NHL.

The trading deadline is exactly three weeks from now, but because of the 2010 Olympics, we only have four more games to play. If we split these four games, it's going to be a tough call on whether we buy or sell at the deadline. It sure would be nice to start off my ownership and GM career with a playoff appearance, although building for the future is probably a slightly better idea.

[JetsIn06]

Happy Valentines Day!

We've reached February 14th, the first day of our two-week vacation. As our league's best players head to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics, we'll use this team not only to cheer them on, but also to rest up our players.

We sit in 11th at 28-30-5. We're 6 points behind the #8 team, Columbus. With the trading deadline coming up shortly, we'll have to make some decisions in the coming days.

[JetsIn06]

http://www.product-reviews.net/wp-content/userimages/2007/07/2010winterolympics.jpg

[JetsIn06]

My career in hockey didn't start here in Phoenix. I have been on the Olympic Ice Hockey Committee for the past four years, and finally the time has come to watch my country go for the gold.

Sixteen teams are split up into two pools. A round robin will take place first, where each team will play the other seven teams in their pool once. At the end of pool play, the teams will be seeded into a single-elimination bracket.

The U.S. has a terrific roster, but Canada is the clear favorite. Other teams that look great are Finland, Sweden, and Russia. Slovakia and the Swiss don't look bad either.

After the seven-game round robin, the teams have been seeded as follows:

Round 1 - Pool A

1 Canada
8 Czech Republic

2 Switzerland
7 France

3 Germany
6 Norway

4 Slovakia
5 Sweden

Round 1 - Pool B

1 Finland
8 Austria

2 Russia
7 Italy

3 USA
6 Ukraine

4 Japan
5 Latvia

--

The US team was matched against Ukraine in the first round, and we barely made out alive. It was a defensive struggle. Ukraine had nine power plays and the US had six, but neither could score until there was under five minutes left.

With 4:30 left in the game, US center Drury took advantage of a power play. The defense held and the US shut out Ukraine, 1-0.

Round 2 - Pool A

1 Canada
6 Norway

2 Switzerland
4 Slovakia

Round 2 - Pool B

1 Finland
5 Latvia

2 Russia
3 USA

--

In the second round, we faced off against the always great Russia. They scored a quick goal just 1:10 into the 1st period and held us off. 4:29 into the 2nd, they put a second goal on the board, but five minutes later we answered back, making it 2-1.

But in the 3rd, Russia put three more pucks in the net making it 5-1. There would be no miracle. The US is going home.

Round 3 - Pool A

1 Canada
2 Switzerland

Round 3 - Pool B

1 Finland
2 Russia

--

Gold Metal Round

1 Canada
1 Finland

CANADA HAS WON THE GOLD!

[JetsIn06]

While I was in Vancouver watching our boys play, I did a lot of thinking about what we should do at the trading deadline.

As of today, our record stands at 28-30-5. We have a total of 61 points, which places us 11th in the Western Conference and 3rd in the Pacific Division.

First, let's look at the possibility of winning the Pacific Division. San Jose and Los Angeles are ahead of us. We're six points back, but have also played two more games than LA, so with just 19 games left in the season we'd really have to hope for a miracle. Not to mention, we would have to hope TWO teams collapse.

The other way in would be to finish at least 8th in the conference. Columbus sit's at the 8th spot now and have played the same number of games as us. St. Louis and San Jose sit 9th and 10th, respectively.

Our three obvious options are:

1) Trade youth for a veteran rental to make a playoff push.
2) Unload Shane Doan/Ed Jovanovski for draft picks/young talent and essentially give up on the season.
3) Do nothing.

The two players have been on the block for the last month, but I've let the other GM's know that it will take a lot. We haven't gotten any offers.

After much debate, I believe the best thing to do is to wait until the day of the deadline. In the final hours, I'll see if anyone blows me away. If they don't, I'll keep Doan and Jovanovski. Then, I'll try to put together a deal for a solid veteran, but not one that will seriously hamper our future.

[JetsIn06]

The deadline is here. For the past few hours, we've gotten a few calls. We were close to making a deal that would have sent Jovanovski to Montreal, but they backed out at the last second because they didn't want to be so close to the cap. We would have gotten a promising 21-year-old defenseman in return.

So the final hour is here, and we still have our two veteran players. So, I'm going to make a couple attempts in this last hour to land a veteran.

We could certainly use a LW and C for our second line, but our defense could use another solid player as well.

In the end, we try to make a deal with Anaheim. We would get Saku Koivu, a 35-year-old playmaking center. In return, they would get 26-year-old center Joel Perrault and 30-year-old winger Francis Lessard. But Anaheim wasn't interested.

I tried one more combination to land Koivu, but the Ducks didn't like my offer. The deadline has passed, and our team looks like same, for better or for worse.

[JetsIn06]

The final few weeks have been played, and looking back, I probably should have gotten what I could for Jovanovski. Doan's value likely hasn't changed much, but Jovanovski is getting older which means less and less value each year.

We finish the year at 34-43-5 and 73 points. Just two teams fared worse in the NHL. The one good thing that comes out of this is a top draft pick, but the old regime here had plenty of those and look where we are. Hopefully I can change that.

The NHL playoffs were tough to watch, but I tried to get my mind off our disappointing season and just watch like I used to, for the love of the game.

In the end, the Nashville Predators made up for their playoff absence last season and their four straight first-round losses before that by winning the Stanley Cup, defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3.

[JetsIn06]

I've got two weeks.

There are 155 skaters and 153 goalies from around the world who are eligible to be drafted in two weeks. I have to decide what players are worth it.

I've sent my scout all over the globe to report on these players, and he's done his job. But it's my job to figure out who to take.

[JetsIn06]

With just a few days to go before the draft, I got a call from our defenseman, Adrian Aucoin. He decided to hang up his skates and retire.

I wasn't expecting anyone else to call it a career, and I'm glad I didn't get any surprises.

[JetsIn06]

Draft day has arrived.

The first thing we do is one of the toughest things I've had to do so far. I got some feelers for Shane Doan.

Doan is our captain. He's been here from the beginning and he's played hard through some rough seasons. I'd really love to keep some veteran leadership around here, but if we could get something good for Doan, I would have to do it.

Well, we didn't get anything we liked. So for now, Doan is still a Coyote.

After those trade talks, the draft officially started with the Flyers on the clock.

Finally, our pick, the 4th overall, came up. Immediately, I knew who I wanted.

Trevor Pollock, Canadian. 6'1", 192 lbs., Left-Handed Center. 18 Years Old.

Pollock is exactly what we need. In the future, him and Turris will man the top two scoring lines. Pollock does it all on offense. He's a great passer, has great puck control, can shoot with power and accuracy, and is an all-around athletic player.

[JetsIn06]

The rest of the draft is complete, and here's who we added:

2nd Round: Curtis Hussey. D, Canada
3rd Round: Owen Law. RW, Canada
4th Round: Jose Christen. LW, Canada
5th Round: Jordan Bouwmeester. D, Canada.

[JetsIn06]

It's time to re-sign our players that have expired contracts as well as sign our new draft picks to their rookie contracts.

To start, I offered rookie contracts to all of our draftees. There were no issues, and all of them are now under contract.

The hard part starts now, though.

We have 21 players in our organization that no longer have a contract. We have 6 players who are an important part of our team.

RW Peter Mueller (84 PLY) 22 yo
D Zbynek Michalek (83 DFD) 27 yo
C Martin Hanzal (82 PWF) 23 yo
C Matt Lombardi (80 SNP) 28 yo
RW Scott Upshall (80 GRN) 26 yo
D Sami Lepisto (80 OFD) 25 yo

As you can see, all of these guys are young and really are major pieces of our team. Lepisto spent last year in the AHL, but is definitely ready to be a Coyote this year.

We have $16.9M left to spend.

At the start of the third day of the re-signing period, we finalized deals with Martin Hanzal and a ton of minor leaguers who accepted 2-way contracts.

Mueller, who is honestly my top priority to sign, wants a 2-year deal. I offered a longer deal to see if he was interested, but he wasn't at all. I'm going to see if we can meet in the middle at 3 years.

The next day, after multiple players let me know that my offers were rejected, they were honest with me. Most of them didn't want to come back to a losing team. I understand that.

However, Muellher is such a big part of the future of this team. I'm willing to throw him some extra cash to get him to stick with us.

It worked. I really had to give up some money, but I locked up a few young players to short deals of 2 to 3 years. Hopefully, by the time their deal runs out, we'll be a better team and I can re-sign them to their asking price.

Mueller, Michalek, Lombardi, Upshall, and Lepisto will all be back.

Right now, we have 7 players who won't be back. Only one was not in the AHL, and that was our left-winger, Taylor Pyatt. I offer him a one-year deal. He rejects it, and will enter free agency.

We sign a last minute deal with Sean Zimmeman, a defenseman with decent potential who can possibly fill in for the retired Aucoin.

[JetsIn06]

It's July 1, 2010 and the free-agent period begins today.

I put together my first ideas for line combinations today, and the major hole I see is a defensive-minded center for my checking line.

There are two players that I see on the market that I'd love to have. First, we have Ryan Kesler, a 25-year-old grinder who can fly on the ice. Our next target is Brandon Dubinsky, a 24-year-old grinder who isn't as athletic. Getting Kesler would be huge for us.

He want $3.4M a year for four years, and that sounds like a fair deal to me. I throw in another $100,000 for good measure and wait to see what he says.

Four days later, he accepted the deal. We have our man.

However, there's one more player that I think could be a good addition. 40-year-old Nicklas Lidstrom. He wants over $5M a year for two years. I only have about $1.5M left under the cap, but here's an idea.

I could trade Jovanovski. He's 33 and has one year left on his deal. I doubt I will re-sign him, so I might as well make an upgrade on defense for a year, right? I don't lose the veteran presence that Jovanovski gave me and also get a better player.

We find a partner in the Minnesota Wild. They send us their 2nd round pick in the next draft in return. Now, we have to make sure we get Lidstrom.

After a few days, he accepts our offer of $5.6M a year for two years. He'll most likely retire after this season anyway, so I don't mind giving him the extra year.

[JetsIn06]

With the 2010-2011 season about to begin, here's a look at our line composition:

Scoring Line One

C - Turris (83 SNP) Age 20. 1 YL
LW - Boedker (83 DNG) Age 20. 1 YL
RW - Doan (85 PLY) Age 33. 2 YL

Scoring Line Two

C - Lombardi (80 SNP) Age 28. 1 YL
LW - Maclean (79 SNP) Age 21. 1 YL
RW - Mueller (84 PLY) Age 22. 2 YL

Checking Line

C - Kesler (84 GRN) Age 25. 4 YL
LW - Upshall (80 GRN) Age 26. 1 YL
RW - Tikhonov (78 GRN) Age 22. 1 YL

Fourth Line

C - Hanzal (82 PWF) Age 23. 5 YL
LW - Korpikoski (77 SNP) Age 24. 1 YL
RW - Vrbata (80 DNG) Age 29. 1 YL

Defensive Line One

D - Lidstrom (91 OFD) Age 40. 2 YL
D - Michalek (83 DFD) Age 27. 2 YL

Defensive Line Two

D - Lepisto (80 OFD) Age 25. 2 YL
D - Yandle (80 OFD) Age 23. 1 YL

Defensive Line Three

D - Sauer (78 DFD) Age 29. 2 YL
D - Vandermeer (77 DFD) Age 30. 1 YL

--

Goalies

Starter - Bryzgalov (84 BUT) Age 30. 1 YL
Backup - Montoya (80 HYB) Age 25. 2 YL

[JetsIn06]

We're 20 games into the season and we're not doing bad at all. As of November 21, 2010 we're 11-6-3 and sit 5th in the Western Conference.

I must say...having a legitimate checking line is huge for us. We send them out to battle the first scoring line of our opponents and they've really helped cut down scoring.

Kyle Turris, the new leader of the first line, is having a great year. He's our shooter, but for whatever reason, he's really playing unselfishly and is creating a ton of plays. He leads the team in assists with 19 and also has 5 goals.

Our main scorer has been Doan. While he's typically regarded by us as a playmaker type, he's really an all-around player and I'm not surprised to see him score often.

[Balldog]

Nice addition of Lidstrom!

What is Pollock's OVR?

[JetsIn06]

Good question. Here's the OVR of all my draftees...

1st Round: Trevor Pollock. C, Canada (78 PLY, B Potential)
2nd Round: Curtis Hussey. D, Canada (76 DFD, B- Potential)
3rd Round: Owen Law. RW, Canada (74 PLY, C Potential)
4th Round: Jose Christen. LW, Canada (69 GRN, B- Potential)
5th Round: Jordan Bouwmeester. D, Canada. (73 TGH, B- Potential)

[JetsIn06]

We're halfway through the season. The all-star game is coming up in just under two weeks and we have four more games before the long break.

At 23-16-3, we sit 3rd in the Western Conference and 1st in the Pacific Division. We are really playing well. We've tallied a total of 51 points so far, but Dallad and Los Angeles are right behind us in the Pacific with 49 points.

We're 2nd in the league in scoring, with 3.4 goals per game, and we're 13th in preventing goals, giving up 2.91 per game.

Our powerplay success percentage is 17.3%, good for 5th best in the NHL. Penalty killing, on the other hand, is a weakness. We prevent a score 84.7% of the time, which is 18th in the league.

Kyle Turris is leading the team with 40 points, and Doan is just behind him with 39.

[JetsIn06]

With the team doing well, I think it's time to make a move to put us over the top. We have a ton of young guys here, and I think a blockbuster trade could potentially happen.

So, to prepare ourselves for a run at a top player, we need cap room. We sent Lidstrom to Carolina, who are making a run in the East and desperately need defensive help. We get their first-round pick in the next draft in return.

[JetsIn06]

And the blockbuster trade is complete.

Atlanta, sitting 13th in the West, was looking to unload some mid-aged players so they could rebuild. Their star player, Ilya Kovalchuk, was a perfect target for us. He's a scorer, plain and simple.

In order to get Kovalchuk, we gave up a young winger in Lauri Korpikoski. He's very promising, but he was a 4th line guy this year. We also have up 23-year-old defenseman David Schlemko who projects to be a second line guy.

Finally, we also gave up our first round pick.

So in the end, this is what it looks like:

GAVE UP:

Korposki, LW
Schlemko, D
Lidstrom, D
PHX 1st Round Pick

RECEIVED:

Kovalchuk, LW
CAR 1st Round Pick

[JetsIn06]

Sorry for lack of updates through the season..

We've made it into February and we're two weeks away from the trade deadline. With one huge move already made, I don't expect that we'll add another key piece but we may make some small moves.

As of the 23rd of February, we're 31-24-3 and are 8th in the Western Conference.

We've really dominated on the road with a record of 17-8-2, and have struggled at home with a 14-16-1 record. I'm not sure why that is.

We have the highest goals per game statistic in the West and are 5th best in goals against.

[JetsIn06]

We found out today, the 24th of February, that our left-winger Mikkel Boedker will be out until the middle of March. Not good.

[JetsIn06]

Today is the trade deadline.

The one move we'd like to make is to trade Prucha or Vrbata. They're similar players who are 4th line guys, and both players are in their last year.

With an hour left to make deals, we were contacted by the New Jersey Devils. They wanted Vrbata. They accepted a deal that sent us a 4th round pick in exchange for Vrbata.

[JetsIn06]

Here are the standings for contenders in the West as of March 27, 2011.

1. St. Louis 89 pts
2. Dallas 85 pts
3. Minnesota 82 pts
4. Columbus 85 pts
5. Chicago 81 pts
6. Phoenix 80 pts
7. Edmonton 80 pts
8. Colorado 79 pts
--
9. Los Angeles 79 pts
10. San Jose 77 pts
11. Calgary 76 pts
12. Vancouver 75 pts

[JetsIn06]

The Phoenix Coyotes have clinched a playoff spot! With three games left, we're currently 5th in the West.

In the Pacific Division, Dallas sits in first place with 91 points. We're tied with Los Angeles with 88 points, but they haven't clinched a spot yet.

[JetsIn06]

With one game left, we still sit 5th in the West, but our final game is against the Dallas Stars, who are just one point ahead of us in the Pacific.

That means a win would put us in 1st place, a win in overtime would make us tied, and any kind of loss would keep us in 2nd.

[JetsIn06]

We lost 5-3 against the Stars, so we didn't win the Pacific Division..

BUT WE'RE IN THE PLAYOFFS!

It's the first time the Coyotes have made it into the post-season since the '01-'02 season and our fans are loving it. It sure does feel good to have to stick around for a few extra weeks.

Here's what the playoff picture looks like:

WESTERN CONFERENCE

1 Columbus
8 Edmonton

2 Dallas
7 Los Angeles

3 Colorado
6 Chicago

4 St. Louis
5. Phoenix

EASTERN CONFERENCE

1 Buffalo
8 Washington

2 New York Islanders
7 Philadelphia

3 Florida
6 Montreal

4 Pittsburgh
5 Boston

[JetsIn06]

We're one win away from getting further than any Coyotes team in the past.

Game 1: PHX 3-2
Game 2: STL 6-5
Game 3: PHX 5-4 OT
Game 4: PHX 5-3

Game 5 is about to begin.

[Travis]

What does your lineup look like now? Too bad you had to give up Lidstrom in that trade, but that is a nice bit of talent to add up front.

[JetsIn06]

What does your lineup look like now? Too bad you had to give up Lidstrom in that trade, but that is a nice bit of talent to add up front.

Line 1

Kovalchuk 91
Turris 84
Doan 85

Line 2

Boedker 84
Lombardi 80
Mueller 85

Line 3

Upshall 80
Kesler 85
Tikhonov 78

Line 4

Maclean 80
Hanzal 82
Prucha 79

D-Line 1

Michalek 84
Lepisto 80

D-Line 2

Ahnelov 78
Yandle 80

D-Line 3

Vandermeer 77
Sauer 78

Goalies

Bryzgalov 84
Montoya 80

[JetsIn06]

Game five started slow. Halfway through the 2nd it was still tied 0-0.

After we scored the go-ahead goal, St. Louis quickly tied it up, but we went on a run and scored two goals, and added a 4th when they pulled their goalie. The game ended 4-1, and we're advancing to the next round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs!

[JetsIn06]

WESTERN CONFERENCE

1 Columbus (Wins 4-2)
8 Edmonton

2 Dallas
7 Los Angeles (Wins 4-0)

3 Colorado (Wins 4-2)
6 Chicago

4 St. Louis
5. Phoenix (Wins 4-1)

EASTERN CONFERENCE

1 Buffalo (Wins 4-2)
8 Washington

2 New York Islanders
7 Philadelphia (Wins 4-2)

3 Florida
6 Montreal (Wins 4-0)

4 Pittsburgh (Wins 4-1)
5 Boston

[JetsIn06]

WESTERN CONFERENCE

1 Columbus
7 Los Angeles

3 Colorado
5. Phoenix

EASTERN CONFERENCE

1 Buffalo
7 Philadelphia

4 Pittsburgh
6 Montreal

[JetsIn06]

We're on the verge of elimination.

Game 1: COL 3-1
Game 2: COL 1-0
Game 3: PHX 4-1
Game 4: COL 7-6 OT

Game five is about to begin and we need a miracle to stay alive.

[JetsIn06]

Well, we're still in it.

Game 5: PHX 2-1
Game 6: PHX 4-1

Game 7 is about to begin.

[JetsIn06]

This is it. We win and move on, or lose and go home. It doesn't getmuch better than this.

Colorado gets the first break four minutes into the game on a breakaway. Our defender sprinted after him and dove in to break it up, but the penalty was called and they got a penalty shot.

Bryzgalov saved the day though with a beautiful kick save.

The Avalanche got the first power play of the game when Boedker got called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty five minutes into the game.

We killed it, and just a minute later we got a power play of our own. They killed theirs as well, but 11:30 into the 1st, Boedker shot a writer from the top of the right circle that bounced off a Colorado players leg right into the net. Coyotes up, 1-0.

With 2:29 left, Mueller made a great play on the opponent forcing the puck free into the air. Lombardi, watchingit fall from the center line, chased after it and went on a breakaway.

But right before the circle, he was tripped up by an Avalanche player. The ref put up his hand to signal a penalty shot. Not so fast...The puck slid towards the goal and the speedy Boedker, who was chasing in from the left, grabbed the puck and deked once to the right, then went left, and put it in the net. 2-0 Coyotes!

Just 1:30 into the 2nd, Kyle Turris made a super play. He broke into the zone with two men in front of him. The two wingers came in just behind him to the right and left.

As Turris went between the circles, he slid right and then turned around. He backhanded a pass into the slot where Shane Doan was sprinting to the net. The goalie slid into a split, opening a huge hole at the top of the net. Doan didn't miss. Coyotes up, 3-0!

After that, it was smooth sailing, and we win 4-1 to advance into the next round!

[JetsIn06]

WESTERN CONFERENCE

1 Columbus (Wins 4-3)
7 Los Angeles

3 Colorado
5. Phoenix (Wins 4-3)

EASTERN CONFERENCE

1 Buffalo (Wins 4-1)
7 Philadelphia

4 Pittsburgh (Wins 4-3)
6 Montreal

[JetsIn06]

WESTERN CONFERENCE

1 Columbus
5 Phoenix

EASTERN CONFERENCE

1 Buffalo
4 Pittsburgh

[JetsIn06]

Just one more round until the Stanley Cup Finals. But we have to go through Columbus, who are always tough.

Game 1: PHX W, 3-2
Game 2: PHX W, 7-4
Game 3: PHX W, 2-1

One more game to go.

[JetsIn06]

We lost Game 4 (3-2) and we'll have to try again. It was a good game. We went down 3-0 fast, but scored 2 in the 3rd and had some good chances at the end of the game but couldn't put them in.

[JetsIn06]

Wow...overtime game, we score first...WE'RE GOING TO THE STANLEY CUP FINALS!!!

[JetsIn06]

The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Buffalo Sabers 4 game to 1, and we'll face off against them in the Finals.

[JetsIn06]

Luckily for us, the Penguins star goalie Marc-Andre Fleury is out with a Broken Collar Bone.