Well, another season of promise turned into another season of
unfullfilled promises for the Phoenix Coyotes. The team that
seemed to be going in the right direction at the start of the
season with the acquisition of Jyrki Lumme fell apart by the time
the team traded for Robert Reichel at the end.
Another season of being consistently inconsistent won't bode well
for the franchise's fans, especially with a new coach who will be
expected to light a fire under the team's power play and bring new
life to a stale Coyote squad.
|
Nikolai Khabibulin
by Meredith Martini
|
Team MVP: Hey, if it weren't for Khabby, the Dogs
would have been licking their own wounds a lot more often. Nikolai
Khabibulin returned for the 1998-99 season with a vengeance not
seen since that Steven Segal movie...what was it called? Oh, never
mind...they were all pretty much the same, anyway.
Khabby started out the season on fire, helping the team jump out of
the box with the best record in the league. Known for giving up at
least one weak goal per game last season, Khabby rebounded this
year to post one of his best yet. He had to in order to keep his
job in Phoenix. The vultures were lurking, waiting to see the
first sign of a weakness at the beginning of the year.
Surprise: How about the terrible leadership qualities of
Keith Tkachuk? I mean, he's usually a pillar of strength and sets
an example for...oh, wait. Keith Tkachuk...weak leadership...that
should be a given. Like 2+2=4.
The big surprise was the play of Juha Ylonen. The scrappy
Finn played his heart out for the Coyotes this season. He only
scored 23 points (six goals) in 59 games, but he was a plus-17 as
he manned the center spot in a fine checking line.
Unfortunately, injuries slowed him down throughout the season. The
Coyotes are expecting more offense from him next year.
Disappointment: How about the terrible leadership qualities
of Keith Tkachuck? I mean, how many times can this guy complain
about one thing or another or throw fire exting...oh, wait. That's
not a "fact" that he did it... So I guess he can't be a true
"disappointment," either.
A big disappointment was the offensive numbers of Oleg
Tverdovsky. Sure, he didn't get as much playing time with the
likes of Teppo Numminen and Jyrki Lumme around, but come on! Just
26 points in 82 games? If I had as much talent circulating
throughout my body as Oleg does, I could piss out 26 points with
ease.
Ok, perhaps that was a bit harsh, but it had to be said.
Oleg was a plus-11 for the Dogs, but does that help a power play
that ranked 26th in the league?
Off-season Changes: Speaking of that power play, new head
coach Bob Francis will be relied upon to improve the team when it
comes to the man- advantage. Francis, 40, comes to the Dogs from
the Boston Bruins organization, where he spent the past four
seasons. The last two of those was as a special assistant to head
coach Pat Burns. Francis' specialty was in running the special
teams. Now isn't that special?
Francis, the son of former NHL coach and GM Emile Francis, will also
try to find a way to squeeze some more goals out of the team. The
Coyotes were 19th in goal scoring this past season.
