GDT: Game 77: Coyotes @ Golden Knights - 7PM - FSAZ+

[cobra427]

And Edmonton did make it to Game 7 of the WCSF last season and could have won the cup if they didn't have that 3rd period collapse in Game 5 vs Anaheim. Yes, I do believe Edmonton would have won it all last season given how dangerous of a team they really were. Edmonton's problems has more to do with coaching now than anything else.

It look like the Oilers caught lightening in the bottle and were very lucky to get as far as they did. It wasn't sustainable, look at them this year. The only good thing about the oilers is how lucky they were to have the third worst record and land a generational player. that was luck and it still hasn't paid off for them.

 

[TheLegend]

And Edmonton did make it to Game 7 of the WCSF last season and could have won the cup if they didn't have that 3rd period collapse in Game 5 vs Anaheim. Yes, I do believe Edmonton would have won it all last season given how dangerous of a team they really were. Edmonton's problems has more to do with coaching now than anything else.

And where are they this year????? Basically the same coaching there.

2012 was six years ago..... and to be perfect blunt..... I'm sort of tired of coming into this forum game after game of reading how everything sucks when we lose and now how it sucks even more when we start winning.

 

[_Del_]

McEichel year made sense. You were guaranteed a top two spot. With the new lottery, it's not even close to worth it. You have a better chance to draft somewhere other than #2.

 

[Grimes]

Well I have been having fun watching games the past couple months, Dahlin be damned.

 

[SniperHF]

McEichel year made sense. You were guaranteed a top two spot. With the new lottery, it's not even close to worth it. You have a better chance to draft somewhere other than #2.

I'd be absolutely losing my shit right now if it were a guarantee at #2. Right now we're talking about 7% cause we wouldn't catch Buffalo even if we tried. Whoopee.

I like Keller being a top 10 scorer in the league the last month and top rookie scorer by 7 points.

 

[TheLegend]

McEichel year made sense. You were guaranteed a top two spot. With the new lottery, it's not even close to worth it. You have a better chance to draft somewhere other than #2.

Exactly.

 

[Muppet]

McEichel year made sense. You were guaranteed a top two spot. With the new lottery, it's not even close to worth it. You have a better chance to draft somewhere other than #2.

Yep, exactly right. It's total crapshoot with the new lottery odds, and tanking just isn't worth the pain anymore.

 

[SniperHF]

'm sort of tired of coming into this forum game after game of reading how everything sucks

Good news, only 5 games left

 

[TheLegend]

Good news, only 5 games left

No kidding.....

 

[ClassLessCoyote]

And where are they this year????? Basically the same coaching there.

2012 was six years ago..... and to be perfect blunt..... I'm sort of tired of coming into this forum game after game of reading how everything sucks when we lose and now how it sucks even more when we start winning.

I have no doubt that a coaching change will do wonders for that team overtime as it appears that TM is gone after this season. I wouldn't be complaining about this if things were going right for this team all around. Hell, I wouldn't even be complaining about this season if the team was going to the playoffs or if the team winning now is fighting for a spot in the playoffs.

 

[TheLegend]

I have no doubt that a coaching change will do wonders for that team overtime as it appears that TM is gone after this season. I wouldn't be complaining about this if things were going right for this team all around. Hell, I wouldn't even be complaining about this season if the team was going to the playoffs or if the team winning now is fighting for a spot in the playoffs.

Throw out the 2017 calendar and this team is playing like a playoff team right now. Isn't that the long term goal here???

Nobody is going to deny we got off to a historically crappy start. I just don't see the justification for willing this 2018 team still played like that 2017 team just so we grab maybe one extra ball in the hopper.

 

[_Del_]

After the first horrid 20 games, we're 25-24-8! We're 18-12-6 since the new year! You guys decided the team sucked 7 games in and stopped paying any attention to the amazing growth we're finally getting out of a team that's been stagnant forever. "Yep, worst coach/team ever. Look at the standings! Derp"
You keep literally defining the season by the first 20 games. The other, most recent, 57 games are too small a sample size to care about. The 20 game sample is what matters.

 

[ClassLessCoyote]

Throw out the 2017 calendar and this team is playing like a playoff team right now. Isn't that the long term goal here???

Nobody is going to deny we got off to a historically crappy start. I just don't see the justification for willing this 2018 team still played like that 2017 team just so we grab maybe one extra ball in the hopper.

I want to see this team do well and get to a point where the team has the longest cup window possible with winning at least 1 cup. However, I'm not buying that this team has this winning culture until the team can at least show plenty of wins throughout an entire season. If the team can prove there's this winning culture next season, awesome. But what if next season is a repeat of this season? You think things are bad on this board now? I bet it'll get worse if it's a repeat of this season and of recent seasons as well. I'm also aware of the changes made in the lottery, but it's still better to be picking 4th when finished dead last in the NHL if you cannot get a top 3 pick than say finish 4th and drop to 7th.

 

[ClassLessCoyote]

After the first horrid 20 games, we're 25-24-8! We're 18-12-6 since the new year! You guys decided the team sucked 7 games in and stopped paying any attention to the amazing growth we're finally getting out of a team that's been stagnant forever. "Yep, worst coach/team ever. Look at the standings! Derp"
You keep literally defining the season by the first 20 games. The other, most recent, 57 games are too small a sample size to care about. The 20 game sample is what matters.

Not me! If anything I was getting on the case of those who blasted Toccket early on.

 

[Bandit34]

Luke Schenn was a madman out there. 10 hits and 5 blocks while playing in crunch time.

Raanta, Keller, Stepan, and Panik. These guys have been AMAZING down the stretch. Not enough can be said about these guys.

Cabo line...solid as always.

 

[Grimes]

Great postgame quote from Tocc - "That's our 5th, we have 5 game segments that we started 25 games ago and we have won every one of them". Feels like he is instilling a playoff mentality and how to battle hard in segments, not letting one loss matter too much, etc. Love it.

 

[Dirty Old Man]

For the hockey geniuses who still think tanking might have been a good idea this year: given that players and coaches don't tank, what else would you have done circa early February?

We just beat two division leaders with Schenn, Connauton, and someone playing his first 3 NHL games on D (and hey if T Murphy actually turns into something, what a gift that was, huh?)

 

[SniperHF]

(and hey if T Murphy actually turns into something, what a gift that was, huh?)

I think everyone was so committed on the idea was gonna be a meh/nothing TDL idea that we didn't notice that was actually a pretty good deal for us at the time.
He was the youngest piece in the deal with the most upside. We gave up Gaudet who has about 50% of the offensive capability of Boyd Gordon, and that's probably being generous. And John Ramage who is 27.
Murphy may still never do much of anything but he's got pretty damn good AHL numbers and does not look out place on the third pair so far.

 

[Dirty Old Man]

Yeah, at first glance it was: 44 Connauton, 46 Murphy

 

[PerpetualTankYear]

As a lifelong Arizona sports fan I have learned one thing... we will never get lucky. Ever.

For the past couple years, I have cheered for a tank, and for the team to lose as much as possible for a better chance at a pick. It made complete sense the McEichel year, and we were a 2 goal Dave Moss performance away from getting Eichel (Seriously, f*** you Dave Moss). Plus, I was all aboard the fire our former coach train, and losing was building the case for that. But this year I decided I'm sick of cheering against my team, especially since you're not even guaranteed a top 3 pick. Cheering for a win is more fun, and getting on a role at the end of the year and building excitement, chemistry, and culture for next year is a whole hell of a lot more important than 7% better odds in a crap-shoot lottery that we won't win anyway (because Arizona).

So yeah, let's kick everyones ass the rest of the year.

 

[MIGs Dog]

how much did winning at the end of last season help? ZERO.
Talent wins. Drafting guys like Dahlin creates a winning culture.
Stupid coyotes.

Winning games (not the draft) creates winning culture. (See Edmonton)

 

[Jakey53]

I'd rather have the Stepan - Keller pair keep tearing it up.
It's so much better to have Keller go into the offseason playing well rather than mired on a dumpy team.

If he had only had that hot October then the rest of the season was just pretty good, there would be a lot more question marks there.
Sophomore slumps are always possible but I feel 10x better about his game going into the offseason as I would have if the season ended in early February where his game as at then. He's now *proven* he can adjust and fight back and do so within a relatively short amount of time.

EDIT:

Oh and to add one more thing to this, the other big factor is development. Obviously adding a top flight 1st overall talent would be great and something this team has never had (never had a weak one either.....). But what this team needs to get better at more than anything is not a few ping pong balls that take them from 33.9% chance at a top 3 pick to a 38.8% one, it's development. Look at Chychrun's game on Monday, that might have been the best game of his career and it didn't get a ton of notice because of some of the bigger names. Perlini and Fischer started to look better too.
It's very important to bring in more talent. But they also need to grow the talent they already have.

If those numbers weren't less than 10% difference, I'd have a different (and did have, you can find my posts) a very different opinion. Sure, the absolute worst slot is about 49% for a top 3 pick. But the Coyotes simply are not and were not that bad as they have more than proven.

Chychrun has been playing on a different level the last while, ever since they told him to stand in front of the net on the PP. Don't forget, he was injured for the first half of the season. He is holding on to the puck much more in the D zone and skating, rushing much more. He has all the tools, just needed that confidence and consistency.

 

[Jakey53]

Cousins..looks good.

Though I think he didn't realize that was a 2 on 1 for a split second

I was not a fan of Cousins, at all. Now, I love watching him play. He puts out every shift, has very good mitts, very seldom gives the put away, a gets under the skin of other teams.

 

[Jakey53]

Jesus OEL annoys the **** out of me. He’s always *****ing and can’t take a hit without getting pissed and retaliating.

OEL is great. Really. And when he gets pissed, I can always or at least almost always see why. So beg to differ on that one.

Yup, when OEL is engaged that is the way he plays, but I do not like his retaliation when he gets hits hard.

 

[Jakey53]

Everyone’s whipping boy, Luke Schenn, continues to play well. We have puck moving defensemen. Unless we can replace Schenn with a big, physical D man, I want Schenn back next season.

I was about to say the same. He did have his rough spots at times this year, but has played very well with OEL, like last year.