Off The Post: New Year's Resolutions
by Luke Lapinski / Arizona Coyotes GLENDALE -- The year 2011 is upon us and the Coyotes find themselves in the playoff hunt once again, looking to build on what proved to be a remarkable 2010 for hockey in the state of Arizona. What will the new year bring? Well, I obviously can’t tell you that. I’m not a psychic, check your horoscope. But I can at least offer some thoughts on what to look for in January. And what better way to do that than with some New Year’s resolutions? Because self- improvement has always been an obsession of mine – especially when I’m self-improving someone else…
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Luke Lapinski |
2. Give Shane Doan Puck, Get Out of Way. I guess it’s not really a resolution if you’re just trying to maintain something you’re already doing - no one ever resolves to keep eating junk food. Captain Coyote has 24 points in his last 19 games. That’ll work. Credit certainly needs to go to linemates Scottie Upshall and Eric Belanger, but the bottom line is: Doan’s on fire. That’s a stat line you expect from guys named Sedin, Crosby, or Stamkos. Number 19’s the kind of player who can get the job done without showing up in the scoring summary so, when he’s out lamplighting like this, the Coyotes become that much more dangerous. That said, if he hits one more post looking for that elusive hat trick, there’s a very real chance that I just trip the person standing next to me out of frustration.
3. Play Some Home Games. Remember what Jobing.com Arena looks like? I don’t. The Coyotes were on the road so often in December that, when they finally came back, I nearly got lost on the way to the game. Luckily, I was able to seek refuge in a gas station where I proceeded to scream random hockey news and notes at confused bystanders, but that’s a different story for a different time... Every team in the league faces quirks in the schedule so it ultimately all evens out. But don’t discount the toll that playing a six-game road trip against some of the more powerful offenses in hockey (i.e. the Sharks, Penguins, and Stars) can take on a team. Especially when you consider the fact that it spanned both coasts, carried on through the holidays, and featured numerous injuries to key players. That sort of adversity can bury a team, but it didn’t. And this month they get eight games in their barn. It’s time to make noise.
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Keith Yandle. Photo by Getty Images. |
After what they showed last year, no one in their right mind can question this organization’s resiliency. And it’s been tested on the ice lately. Every mistake seems to burn them right now and the last thing you want is players overanalyzing or getting frustrated because there’s still a lot that this team is doing right. They’re just not necessarily being rewarded for it. That’s why Tuesday’s victory over Columbus was so important - moral victories don’t cut it anymore. In fact, the very notion that sitting three points out of the fourth seed in the West isn’t good enough is an indication of how high the bar has been raised. This team has loftier goals. Based on what they achieved in 2010, I’d say they’ve earned that right.