| 04 July 2010
There has been a lot going on in Coyote-Land but I haven't gotten around to talking about it yet. Our servers were being moved and it was very complicated so I decided to stay out of it until it was all taken care of. My life doesn't need more complicated.
First off, the Coyotes took home some hardware at the awards. Tippett and Doan received two out of the four trophies that Coyotes were eligible. Tippett of course took home the Jack Adams. Doan received the King Clancy Memorial Trophy but lost the Messier trophy to Sidney Crosby. Really? Crosby over Doan? I don't even know where to begin with that one... Ryan Miller beat out Bryz for the Vezina. I love Miller but honestly, I think Bryz did more for his NHL team while Miller did more for his Olympic team. And the trophy should be based on NHL play, not Olympic.
Secondly, the draft. The only trade GMDM made was some picks. No players were moved. Our first pick of the draft, at 13, was defenseman Brandon Gormley. He seems to be a good puck handling dman with a good shot from the point. Our next pick was 27th (traded down from 22) and we took goalie Mark Visentin. He ended last season with a 2.99 GAA and .911 save percentage. I can't wait to watch this goalie develop. We are starting to get some deep goaltending depth. Does GMDM have a trade up his sleeve? Al, Tater, G, Darling, and now Visentin. (I think we have a couple more that I am forgetting, like the red-headed step goalie – I loved him last rookie camp but can't think of his name)
Day 2:
Right Wing – Philip Lane
Center – Oscar Lindberg
Goaltender – Louis Domingue
It looks like we picked some good players and covered all positions well.
Lastly, July 1st. The big day...
In the time leading up to Free Agency day, GMDM traded off Winnik to the Avs for a 4th round pick in 2012. I like the move. Winnik took the Coyotes to arbitration last year, so you know it was only a matter of time. GMDM didn't want to resign him, so he got a pick out of it. Perfect.
GMDM was also able to get Wolski signed to a two year contract and Dmo to a four year deal. He also traded off Vandy to Edmonton for Patrick O'Sullivan and bought out his contract. They also bought out Nokelainen's contract.
Whew... what else did GMDM do to earn his pay? Well, he resigned Samu and Montoya each to a one year contract. Then he went out and signed Ray Whitney and Andrew Ebbett.
Then, to apparently help out SA, he signed Mathieu Beaudoin, Garrett Stafford, Nolan Yorkman and Matt Climie. I am excited about Climie, another goalie. Holy crap do we have goalies! I am expecting one goalie to be gone by the start of the season. I vote LaBarbera and/or Tater. Hopefully Al is all healed and ready to step it up.
Unfortunately, GMDM couldn't work his magic and retain Z. He signed with the Penguins. Ewl. Sorry Z, no mo love for you. He attempted to sign Lombo but it appears he did not want to be here either. GMDM said Lombo was asking for ridiculous amounts but signed with Nashville for 3.5 mil. My guess? He was asking for much more, the Coyotes said no, we're done. He went to Free Agency Land and could not get more then the 3.5 that Nashville was offereing.
Lots of changes for the Coyotes. I am guessing we are not done yet. Training camp will be interesting. If we don't add more veteran presence, the youngins will be fighting for spots. Is Turris ready? What about MacLean?
According to Dave Vest, Maloney isn't done. He would still like to add another dman with Z gone and it looking more likely that Sauer will not return. Kurt, you will be missed.
Amusingly, Stempniak has not signed with the Coyotes or anyone else because he is on his honeymoon. I'd wait. Seriously. Get signed then go on the honeymoon. GMDM isn't holding out hope but he isn't ruling him out either.
And other random news: Doug Moss was recently fired as COO by the Coyotes. The website press release says he left to persue other opportunities but when the story first broke, it was he was fired by them. So, who knows. Either way, the Coyotes have moved Mike Nealy to fill the role. He has also worked for the Wild before joining the Coyotes in 2006.
Oh and if your interested... the Coyotes will hold open auditions for Anthem singer. This post was previously held by Patrick Lauder and he has done a terrific job over the years. From my understanding, he was notified of this via Facebook. Story goes, they tried to call him but he was unavailable. Hmmm, ever think to leave a message? Or ask that he call you back asap? Nice way to inform him.
All of these changes will make for an interesting season. Who will we see on the ice? Who will be our new owners? When will this ownership deal FINALLY be done? Oi. Lets just figure it all out so things can return to normal. We should have an owner by the start of the season. By next summer will we have more money and direction for GMDM? Is that why he signed Lepisto and Montoya to one year deals? Were they told that they would received better offers during the season/prior to next summers Free Agency day? I hope so. I think Sami and Al are keepers.
I still have some post ideas I am working on. I wish I could get more up and quicker but this summer is crazy! At the end of July, I will be going on vacation and hope to have some more downtime in which to write.
Hopefully rookie camp will be announced soon and I can get some pics of the new guys.
*Pictures from the Coyotes official site. There are many more gems there. Go check them out! And what is with that cheapass blue curtain? Really NHL? You can't do better then that? And the model shot, jersey over the shoulder... did we go back to the 80s?
