1. A New Owner- Well this one was an obvious request as the team has never had a very good owner since its arrival to the desert and now it appears this wish will come true.  With Ice Edge Holdings signing a letter of intent to purchase the team, and listening to CEO Anthony LeBlanc discuss his business plan the other night, it appears this team will finally get an owner who treats them as a sports team.  The Ice Edge group has done the research and believes that the city of Phoenix can support a hockey team; all you have to do is win to attract the fans.  He compared sports fans and the team they cheer for to a relationship between a man and a woman.  If things are going right, then they will be very happy together, but if things go sour, you can bet the sports fan will not support the team and find other more exciting places to spend its money.  Hopefully Chris Cringle can get this letter of intent turned into an actual purchase so that the Coyotes can finally have someone who actually cares about them, instead of the team that’s owned by the NHL, who has way too many other issues to take care of right now.

2. FANS!!!!- Boy, oh boy, would it be nice to see some more bodies in the stands and not so many vacant red seats.  Maybe Santa will include tickets to every household in AZ so they can come and watch how much fun an NHL game really is.  The Coyotes are a defensive style hockey club now, but are still a blast to watch and if you have kids, there is no doubt in my mind they won’t enjoy Howler, who is far and away the most entertaining mascot in the league, I even laugh at his goofy face frolicking through the stands trying to get the fans on their feet howling the Coyotes on.  And I know that it is a long drive for a lot of people, on a weekday, during rush hour traffic, but the Coyotes are now offering a shuttle service to and from the game so I suggest fans take up on that and get out to Glendale to show why Phoenix deserves a team.

3.  Over 5,000,000 balloons filled with helium- Now, I’m sure Santa will laugh when he reads this request, but hear me out.  Obviously the biggest problem in getting fans to the arena is the fact that the main fan base is almost an hour drive during a weekday to get to the rink.  So my thought is to tie these balloons and try to lift the arena up from Glendale and move it to somewhere closer to the main fan base, sort of like the movie UP.  I worked at two different hockey rinks in Arizona, and the sport has grown tremendously over the years for youth players.

When I have asked why parents don’t go to many games, almost every single one of them have said it is too far of a drive for them, and with the increase strictness of DUI laws in AZ, it’s even more of a risk to even have a single adult beverage and have to drive home.  The ticket prices are the cheapest in the league, so that is not what is preventing people from going by any means, it’s the location.  And the number one rule for a successful business is… LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.  Sure the balloon theory might be a bit of a stretch, but recently the state has built a light rail to help transport people throughout downtown Phoenix and students to Arizona State University.  If they were smart they would make the light rail go out to Glendale, therefore driving will no longer be a situation for fans, therefore allowing them to consume more adult beverages, but not too much, everyone hates an overly intoxicated hockey fan.

4. A Go-To Goal Scorer- The Coyotes are defense first club now, and are doing extremely well with Ilya Bryzgalov in net and having Jason Labarbera performing well in the backup role.  Only 3 teams have allowed less goals then Phoenix.  Sadly, only 6 teams have scored less than the Coyotes so far this year.  It has been said that defense wins you hockey games, which TECHNICALLY isn’t right, defense isn’t responsible for scoring goals, it’s responsible for preventing them.  Offense scores goals, which if you don’t score goals, you can’t win the game (See how I explained the technicality?)So what the Coyotes need most for Christmas is a guy that can go out almost every night and get you that one goal that counts.

I have a feeling that the new owners will have the same feelings towards this thought and will attempt to snag a premier number one goal scorer.  The Coyotes current number one guy is Shane Doan, who is a great player, and outstanding leader, and one of the hardest working guys in the league, but is not a go to guy when a goal is needed.  The team is surrounded by guys who can provide secondary scoring every other game or so, but the Coyotes need a Dany Heatley, Vinny Lecavalier, Ilya Kovalchuck type player who will go out and get you that much needed goal to help relieve a little pressure off of Bryzgalov.  Hopefully one of the young guns such as Kyle Turris, Peter Mueller(who I will get to in a minute), Brett Maclean, or Chad Kolarik can be that guy in the future, but in order to win NOW and get the fans to come NOW, the team needs a franchise face like the earlier mentioned players above.  Hell, maybe even toss all your eggs in a basket and attempt to squeeze Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin out of Pittsburgh.  Anything is possible if the right deal comes along; remember when Gretzky got traded, TWICE???

5.  The Rookie Version of Peter Mueller- Peter Mueller is young, so let’s not get too angry with his lack of production last season and this season thus far, because guess who else took over three seasons to finally pan out to be the player every expert thought they would be?  Joe Thornton, Marty St. Louis, Jarome Iginla, and Ryan Getzlaf took a few seasons before they reached their true potential.  I’m not saying Mueller will be as good as any of them, but he will be a goal scorer who can pot 25+ a season once he gets his game back.  A concussion last year is still obviously having an effect on his play and the constant benching is obviously going to hurt the morale, but he has to use that as motivation to play better.  I still have faith in Mueller, I watched him his rookie year and the kid can be an offensive force, he just needs to regain his confidence.  Hopefully Santa can return the Mueller of old back to the Coyotes and he can help keep this team running in to the second half of the season.

And Finally…

6. A Strong Second Half and the first White Out since 2002- If anyone followed the Coyotes last year, you will know that it was after the All Star break that the team plummeted to the bottom of the standings.  They were as high up as 5th place in the West going into the All Star break and fell to 12th in their conference and 24th overall.  A lot of that had to do with such a young roster not being use to the long NHL schedule.  Now that the majority of those young players are playing in the minors to help groom them properly, and the team consists of a lot more veterans that have played this long intense schedule for a number of years, it shows promise that another free fall to the bottom of the standings is not very likely.  Don’t count it out, because it is a Phoenix based team, and Phoenix based teams are quite notorious for choking towards the end of the season, but it gives hope that maybe, just maybe the fans at Jobing.com Arena can get the pleasure of witnessing a true White Out, with the team that originated the tradition (or at least relocated from the team that came up with it).  I have faith that it will happen, and I think many Coyotes fans out there do to, after all, the Coyotes motto for numerous years has been:  BELIEVE!!

If you have any other presents you would like Santa to drop off to the Phoenix Coyotes, feel free to add them in the Comment box, and I will be sure to fax them right over to the North Pole.

The Frank J. Selke Trophy- This trophy is one of the harder trophies to nominate players for unless you have extensively watch multiple games played by a number of teams. I have watched my fair share of games this season, but mostly involving the Phoenix Coyotes, the Toronto Maple Leafs, or the Detroit Red Wings. I have watched other teams play, but I usually focus on those three, which might make these nominations slightly different from those that may have been chosen by you, my diehard fans. This trophy is given to the player who plays both ends of the puck, offense and defense, and that doesn’t necessarily mean this player hits, or leads in takeaways, or wins all the face-offs, but rather this player has the perfect combination of all three. With that being said, here are the nominees:

John Madden, Chicago Blackhawks- Madden has been nothing short of perfect for what the Hawks brought him on for this summer, his defensive ability as a forward. If the Blackhawks need a player to go out and win an important draw, John Madden is your guy, and has been that guy for the Hawks. He may not be the most offensively gifted player, but Madden does all things defensively for the offensive power house that is, The Chicago Blackhawks. He is the leader among forwards for the Hawks in Face-offs take, face-offs won, shorthanded ice time, and blocked shots, which is a pretty good reason to consider him a nominee for top defensive forward.

Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings- Call it a homer choice all you want, but there is a reason Datsyuk has won this trophy two years in a row. He is third in the league in takeaways after missing some games to injury (not an excuse, just a stat), he has one of the highest face-off percentages among regular centers, and is just all around the ice trying to keep the other team off of the puck. He is a magician with his stick both offensively and defensively and whenever the Wings need someone to get the puck out of there zone and keep it in their possession, Pavs is usually that guy called upon. He is a truly gifted player that does not give up when his team loses the puck and back-checks anytime he is on the ice to ensure his team gets back on the offensive side of the puck. He is the complete package for a perfect hockey player and has every reason to be nominated for the hat trick of Selke Trophies.

Martin Hanzal, Phoenix Coyotes- As I mentioned I watch A LOT of Coyotes games, and have since Hanzal came onto the scene two seasons ago. So picking Hanzal as a nominee is definitely a homer choice, but an honest choice at that. Hanzal was not drafted for his defensive ability, he was chosen because he displayed very good offensive potential while playing for the Red Deer Rebels in the WHL. When he made the jump to the NHL his offensive capabilities did not transfer as well as previously hoped, but His defensive game improved tremendously. The Coyotes used him to become the shut down player against the opponents’ top forwards, and he did everything in his will to do just that. For example, there is one thing you will always se when watching the Coyotes play the Sharks, and that is Martin Hanzal on the ice whenever Joe Thornton hops the boards. He has also become the Coyotes go-to guy for important face-off wins and has adapted to that as well. He may not win it this time around, or even be truly nominated by the league, but I guarantee within five years, he will earn himself a nomination at the very minimum. Plus, as Mugatu said in Zoolander, “That damn Hanzal, he’s so hot right now” and any Coyote fan will concur with Mr. Mugatu’s statement

Honorable Mention: Ryan Kesler, Vancouver Canucks- Since I have not watched as many Canuck games as I have other teams, I couldn’t feel justified fully nominating him. But from what I have seen he truly is an all around player who plays extremely well on the defensive side of the puck. He is the current leader in takeaways and third in the lead in blocked shots among forwards, so it is obvious that Kesler has no problem getting his nose dirty. But as I pointed out earlier, this trophy is one of the harder trophies to give out if you haven’t equally watched every team play this season. Therefore, I’m sure there are people reading this believing that a player from their team should be nominated, but that’s what the comment section is for. If you think other players should be nominated or win, then leave the name and I will watch them more and re-evaluate my choices for the half season awards ceremony.

Winner: Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings- As I mentioned before, this guy is a magician in all three zones of the ice, both on the defense or on the attack. He will take the puck away from you without you even realizing it is gone, and then creatively get the puck out of his zone after you finally look up to notice it’s not on your stick anymore. He is just an all around player, who I think will complete his hat trick of Selke Trophies this season, and now that he has started to find his offense again, is turning into that dangerous player everyone knows he can be as the season progresses on.

Jack Adams Trophy- This is basically given to the coach who leads his team to far greater expectations than anyone thought they could do. Last season Claude Julien won the trophy after his Boston Bruins were predicted to squeak into the playoffs, but never thought they would lead the conference in points. So far there have been quite a number of surprising teams in the league, thus giving me a bunch of worthy nominees, so without further adieu, here are your nominees:

Barry Trotz, Nashville Predators- This team began the season with the lowest goals for, with only 19 in the team’s first 10 games (for the mathematically challenges, that’s less than 2 goals a game by average). But Barry Trotz has done something right since then as he has turned his team around and marched them back into a top 8 spot in the Western Conference, winning 9 of their 12 games thus far in November. Trotz is the only coach Nashville has seen behind the bench in its franchise history, and there is a reason the ownership has decided to stick by him. He makes the best with what he has got, which is honestly not much, and makes his team a competitive match every night. Last season was the first time since the 03-04 season that the Preds missed out on the postseason dance, and Trotz is going to make sure history does not repeat itself.

Joe Sacco, Colorado Avalanche- As I have mentioned in each of these award blogs, the Colorado Avalanche were not expected to be a competitive team this season. But after a hot start by an underrated goaltender, the Avalanche are playing far better than anyone in the organization could have hoped for. Sacco was brought in to help work with the young players the Avs had started to use after deciding to start rebuilding for the first time in franchise history. And he has been everything management could have wished for. He has his players fighting for every point and doing their best to prove the doubters wring about the Avs not being a competitive team anymore. His team may not be playing as well now as they were at the beginning of the season, but the mere fact that they are still in a top 8 spot as of today makes them far ahead of where most people predicted them to be at the beginning of the season.

Dave Tippett, Phoenix Coyotes- Raise your hand if you thought the Coyotes would be a playoff team as of right now. If you raised your hand, chances are you are a liar, because there weren’t many people who thought the Coyotes would even be in Phoenix, much less a playoff spot after this summer’s circus. Dave Tippet was brought in after the preseason had started, therefore giving him very little time to work with his new squad, previously coached by Wayne Gretzky. But that hasn’t stopped him from implementing a system, something the team has not had since the firing of Bob Francis late in the 03-04 season. Besides Ilya Bryzgalov’s outstanding goaltending, there is no one player on the Coyotes that has contributed to their success. The reason for their success thus far is the patience and intelligence of Dave Tippett behind the bench. He has turned a team that almost left Phoenix into a team that battles for their W’s night in and night out and beats their opponents using defensive skill and hard work. It still amazes me that the Stars let him go after one bad season last year that included a number of important injuries and a goalie who was struggling find his game. But the Coyotes are happy it happened, and is the rest of the fan(s), myself included.

Honorable Mention: Scot Gordon, New York Islanders- This is another team the “experts” predicted would be battling for last place with the Coyotes and Avalanche. But Scott Gordon has turned a group of young inexperienced players into a group who is only a win away from being within the top 8 teams in the eastern conference. Blessed with the first overall pick John Tavares and his blossoming chemistry with Kyle Okposo, The New York Islanders are giving their fans hope that the dawn is coming, that there is light(house) around the corner. And hopefully, the political people behind the decision for the new arena deal can see that this team has a bright future with a strong leader behind it, as well as a top-tier goaltender returning from injury to help lead the way towards a very bright future in years to come.

Winner: Dave Tippett, Phoenix Coyotes- He deserves this after wrongfully being dismissed from the Dallas Stars and having less time than all other coaches to work with his team. And he has turned this team into a scary opponent who have already defeated the Bruins, Penguins, Red Wings, Sharks, Blackhawks, and Flyers, who are all teams predicted to be top teams in their conference. Not bad for a team making no money and having less than half the arena filled on some nights. But Dave Tippett gives the fair weather fans of Arizona a gleam of hope that this team will stick around for years to come, and thanks to their young talented prospects in the juniors and in San Antonio, they will be a competitive bunch for years to come.

That concludes this 3 part assessment of who should be handed the major trophies if the season were to end today. I will do this again at the half-way mark of the season and we will see which of these nominees still deserves the honor of being on my list. If you feel some players from your squad deserve merit more than the players I have chosen, share your thoughts and I will watch those players more closely and see if I agree that they should be included in the half season Awards Ceremony.

Vezina Trophy- This trophy is presented to the goaltender that is adjudged as the best in his position.  For the Hart trophy in my last column, I nominated two goaltenders for the award, Ryan Miller of the Buffalo Sabres and Craig Anderson of the Colorado Avalanche.  Needless to say, those two are my first two nominees for this trophy, but coming up with a third choice is slightly more difficult.  There have been a slew of solid goaltenders this season and not the ones you would think of.  I explained my reasoning behind the nominations of Miller and Anderson yesterday in detail, so this explanation will be shorter.  Here are the nominees:

Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabres- Miller is number one in Goals Against Average and number two in Save percentage and tied for the fourth most wins this season, being responsible for all of his teams’ victories.  Pretty sure that justifies his nomination for this award.  NEXT!!

Craig Anderson, Colorado Avalanche- Seventh in the league in save percentage while starting the most games among goaltenders with Evgeni Nabokov, faced over 70 more shots than his closest competitor, (Nabokov again), and still managing a 2.59 GAA with two shutouts playing for a poor defense corps in the Colorado Avalanche.  He is my choice for the Hart Trophy winner this year, and clearly a fair choice for the Vezina nomination this season, thus far.

Now number three kept me up hours upon hours throughout the night and even did damage to my appetite until I chose the right goalie for this nomination, though to be honest, if the first two nominees were also the Hart Trophy nominees (one being the winner), I don’t think it really matters.  But in the interest of fairness, I reveal my third nominee:

Vesa Toskala, Toronto Maple Leafs Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose Sharks- Sure it might be the obvious choice, seeing how he is third among goalies in save percentage and sixth in GAA while facing the second most shots in the league and also has the most wins.  But I think the league likes the obvious choices because it makes the fans happier.  Nabokov has the best team in front of him right now, but he has done his part to keep the Sharks atop the league.  He has one of the better defenseman in front of him, that being Dan Boyle, but the rest of the defense is pretty average at best.  Yet he has backstopped his way to at least earn himself a nomination, and for that he should be very proud of that news.

Honorable Mention: Ilya Bryzgalov, Phoenix Coyotes- Being a Coyotes fan, it was hard to choose someone over Bryzgalov, who has been majorly responsible for the strong start to the season the Coyotes have had.  He boasts the third best GAA’s in the league and has posted the most shutout so far this season along with Thomas Vokoun.  The Coyotes have won 13 games and 12 have been when Bryz has been in net.  Though his stats are not as good as Nabby’s, he still deserves some sort of recognition for his stellar season thus far.

Winner- Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabres- Now many of you are wondering how this is possible when I chose Anderson to be the MVP over Miller.  That is because Anderson has been more important to his team then Miller has in my mind.  The Avs were not supposed to be competitors this season, much less the top of their division due to the stellar play by Craig Anderson.  The Sabres on the other hand were predicted to do quite well this season and while Miller has been exceptionally strong, Anderson has been more important to his team.  Miller is an added bonus to the strong team that Buffalo already has.  Believe me, it was very hard to choose Anderson over Miller for MVP, but I clearly believe that Miller has been the best goalie so far over Anderson, thus gaining him this award.  Be confused all you want readers, but nowhere in the rules of the trophies does it say if you win the MVP you HAVE to win the Vezina too if you are a goalie.  And if you are posting the best GAA’s (the only player under 2.00) and the 2^nd best save percentage, you clearly are the best goalie in the league, even if another goalie is more important to his team.  Thus, Ryan Miller is my choice for the Vezina Trophy for best Goaltender of the year.

Calder Memorial Trophy- This award is given to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the NHL.  In layman’s terms, this trophy is for the Rookie of the year, but if you follow hockey you should already know that.  And if you don’t follow hockey that much, you learned something new, and my dad always told me ‘It’s a dull day if you don’t learn something new’ so congrats on making your day more interesting.  Choosing the Calder is a fairly simple process just like the Vezina, normally it is the top three point producing rookies.  Well my choices are about that way as well, so here are the nominees:

John Tavares, New York Islanders- When JT was selected first overall this past draft, this trophy was his to lose after being the most hyped rookie since Sidney Crosby came onto the scene in 2005.  And so far he has not disappointed leading all rookies in points and goals, something he was expected to do since June 26, 2009.  Scoring a goal in his first game must have had Islander fans breathing a sigh of relief now knowing they have got their franchise guy for the next little while.  He is making a nice 1-2 punch with Kyle Okposo so far as well, which is always the next step after releasing your franchise player into the wild, finding his partner to help wreak havoc on opposing teams.  His defensive game can use a little more work, but that’s the pleasure of having him so young, they have the ability to work with him and hope he is able to sand out the rough edges of his game.  Not to mention he is just a rookie, so it’s hard to be too critical of his game so far.

James van Riemsdyk, Philadelphia Flyers- JVR was not a shoo-in at the beginning of the season to make the powerful Flyers squad, but after a strong preseason it seemed difficult to want to send him back to college or the AHL to work on his game.  To tell you the truth, there isn’t much wrong in his game so far as he has a strong ability to play offense and also has the drive to be a strong defensive forward as well.  Currently he is second in the league among rookies in points and assists and third in goals.  But the big number to look at in his 6 goals so far this season is that 4 of them are game winners.  He has played six less games than Tavares and also plays on the third line where he sees less ice time, so his point total might be a bit different if he played in more games and saw more ice time, just something to keep in mind.  Also a quick side note: He leads all rookies in +/- with 11, the next player having 7, which I knows seems like a useless stat, but it’s still a stat that shows the difference among other rookies.

Michael Del Zotto, New York Rangers- Talk about a fast start, sort of coming out of nowhere, Del Zotto was originally expected to go much higher by TSN during the preseason picks of the 2008 draft, but slipped due to uncertainty in his defensive game.  Which for a defenseman, seems to be quite an important attribute to have, but scouts spoke highly of his offensive upside, to which he has proven them right.  He started the season getting points in four of his first five games and solidifying himself as one of the go-to guys for the Rangers power play.  He has started to cool down from his hot start, but as a rookie that is something that can be expected.  Del Zotto, along with another young defenseman in Matt Gilroy, gives the Rangers and their fans hope for a solid defense for years to come, something they have not really had since the departure of Brian Leetch.

Honorable Mention: Ryan O’Reilly, Colorado Avalanche- When the talks of a certain Colorado Avalanche rookie being nominated for the Calder this year, O’Reilly was not the player most thought of.  O’Reilly has been another bright spot in the Avalanche’s surprising season thus far and is among the team leader in points, as well as being third in the rookie race for scoring.  But O’Reilly doesn’t get an official nod due to the other three players overall impact on their squads, but keep an eye out for him the rest of the way, because according to broadcasters along the hockey world, he is gaining a lot of votes to be an official nominee.

Winner: James Van Riemsdyk, Philadelphia Flyers- The reason JVR gets the nod over Tavares is due to the fact that he has played in less games then Tavares and has put up only one less point.  While JT is the focal point of his team and currently tied for his team lead in points, I feel Riemsdyk has been better at the all around game.  The major decision maker for this choice is, again, the 4 game winning goals by Van Riemsdyk while he has scored only two other goals.  Like I mentioned earlier, this award is Tavares’s to lose due to his hype before this season started, so really it could just be the devil’s advocate inside of me looking for any reason not to choose him.  Now I do believe that Tavares will continue leading the rookies in points throughout the season and will keep getting better with more experience, right now I think Van Riemsdyk has been the overall better rookie.

I hope everyone has a swell Thanksgiving holiday (or for our Canadian readers, an enjoyable regular fourth Thursday of November) and while you are relaxing after a face full of food look for my final installment of the awards on Friday where I will discuss the Jack Adams award for best Coach and the always difficult to choose Selke Award for best defensive forward.  Let the Debating Begin!!!

The Hart Memorial Trophy- This award is given to the player adjudged the most valuable member to his team. This does not mean the best player in the league; I am choosing the three players I feel are the MOST IMPORTANT PLAYERS TO THEIR TEAM. The nominees are as follows:

Anze Kopitar, LA Kings- As of right now the Kings sit tied for 4th place with the Calgary Flames in the Western Conference and they are doing so with a goalie that is clearly not a very solid number one with a young defensive unit in front of him that has been sort of, meh this season, although they have allowed the second least amount of shots on average in the league. Kopitar is leading the league in points right now and is the main reason the Kings are in the playoffs. Ryan Smyth was having a good season before his injury and Justin Williams was playing strong hockey as well, but it is Kopitar who is the player most responsible for his team’s strong start to the season. Without Kopitar’s hot start, the Kings would easily be on the outside looking in when it came to the playoffs. Therefore, Anze Kopitar, you are the most valuable player to you team.

Craig Anderson, Colorado Avalanche- Another team of to a more than surprising start is the youthful Colorado Avalanche, who many experts predicted another lottery pick season. That was before the superb and underrated goaltending of Craig Anderson propelled the Avs to the top of the standings for the first month of the season. With the exception of the last two games against Vancouver, Craig Anderson has been so spectacular this season that some analysts are saying he should be considered a lock for Team USA this Olympic Year. Anderson boasts one of the best save percentages among goalies with more than 15 games played, while facing the most shots by a 40 shot margin. The Avalanche are not a team with bona fide superstars as they were in the past and don’t have a very strong defense, thus making Anderson’s performance that much more important to their place atop the Northwest Division. Without Craig Anderson, the Avs wouldn’t even be getting a whiff of the playoffs right now.

Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabres- This is the first year of Miller’s five year contract extension he signed before the start of last season and there is a reason the Sabres decided to lock him up for that long. Ryan Miller leads the league in goals against average as well as being second in the league in save percentage (first among players who have played in more than 15 games). The Buffalo Sabres have a good group of players who have been a major help in the team’s strong season thus far, but Ryan Miller is the goalie that has been in net for all 12 of the teams wins. He is making a case to be the number 1 goalie for Team USA this year and if he can keep it up, it would be hard to choose last year’s Vezina winner, Tim Thomas, over Mr. Miller. The Buffalo Sabres would have a very hard time competing for the top of their division with Lalime in net for the majority of the games, much less making the playoff cut, proving that Ryan Miller has been the most valuable player to this team.

Honorable Mention: Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning- When your franchise superstar and former MVP of the league combining for 9 goals so far this season, and your team is in the playoffs, it is usually due to another player’s success. And that player is Steven Stamkos. Last year’s first half no-show rookie has started this season the same way he finished last season, by lighting up the scoreboard and proving the doubters wrong about him being good enough for the NHL. The Lightning have done a lot to turn around another lottery pick season last year to become a competitive team this year, and major factor in their success this season is the first overall pick from last year’s draft Steven Stamkos and his 15 goals, good enough for fourth in the league.

Winner: Craig Anderson, Colorado Avalanche because the Avs are a very young and inexperienced team who allow the fifth most shots per game. The other four teams who allow more shots then Colorado are not in the playoffs. As mentioned earlier, The Avs don’t have that superstar player that is carrying the scoring on his back or even a group of great players, like the Sabres have. Nor do they have a very good defensive corps that can prevent shots to get through, like the Kings have. Thus the reason for the Avs success is purely on their goaltenders tremendous performance thus far, and that is why Craig Anderson is the most deserving player for this award.

The Norris Trophy- This award is given to the defenseman who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position. ALL-ROUND ABILITY being the key words there. The nominees are as follows:

Dan Boyle, San Jose Sharks- Dan Boyle has emerged as an on ice leader for the Sharks after Captain Rob Blake went down with injury and has contributed both offensively and defensively to the Sharks top record in the league thus far. Boyle is among the league leaders for defensemen in points, being one of only four others that have notched more then 20, and on the defensive end is one of the top defensemen that blocks shots, with 45 this season. With the Sharks already having three players in the top five for points and a goalie among the league leaders in goaltending stats, Boyle fits right in with this team of all stars and is solidifying himself more and more as a player to be on Team Canada’s blue line this Olympics.  Contributing both offensively and defensively with spectacular numbers on both ends, Dan Boyle is one of the league’s best defensive players and it is proven with his top notch numbers.

Duncan Keith, Chicago Blackhawks-This is a big season for Keith as he has a lot to be playing for. He is a RFA at the end of the season, though it is being reported that a deal has been reached, but the team needs to clear cap space for next year, and Keith has been one of the candidates for Team Canada’s defensemen this season. But those important aspects have not had a negative effect at all on DK as he has put up top numbers in almost all defensive categories including points, average time on ice, and plus/minus. And to add to the defensive aspect of his game, he is also, like Boyle, among the league leaders in blocked shots for defensemen. Keith’s numbers are very similar to Boyle and plays almost as vital a role as Boyle does which is why both men are nominated for this award this season, and is also why you will almost be guaranteed to see the two of them, along with nominee number three, on Team Canada’s blue line this Olympics.

Chris Pronger, Philadelphia Flyers- Everyone can agree that when Pronger was traded to the Flyers this year, that it was a perfect fit for one of the league’s most hated players to become a member of the Broad Street Bullies team. But Pronger was brought it to help solidify a defensive corps that was already quite strong and help the younger players mature into future stars. Pronger has done nothing short of that and has had an all around great year both offensively and defensively. He is in the top five in just about every defensive category on the board from points, blocked shots, time on ice, and plus minus. He has helped the Flyers become a scary team to play against and thus making the amount of players, picks and prospects given up for him seem worth it.

Honorable Mention- Ed Jovanovski, Phoenix Coyotes- If anyone has read my past blogs from Bleacher Report, you will know how difficult it was for me to write this as I have never been a fan of ‘Oh, No’ Jovo since his arrival to the desert. But before he went down with injury, Jovo was having a great all around season scoring important goals and refraining from making peewee-esque mistakes. Who knows if when he returns from his injury he will be able to continue he surprising play and actually earning his bloated contract, but as of now he is definitely worthy of an honorable mention.

Winner: Chris Pronger, Philadelphia Flyers- The reason the nod goes to Pronger is because he is in the top five in a number of the major categories for defensemen. While the other two players are strong defensemen, they arent up to par with Pronger’s all around defensive superiority he has displayed so far this season.

Later this week I will have my choices for the Vezina and Calder award winners. Let the great debate begin and share your thoughts on who should be nominated and win!!

The scoring got started early in the second period by Radim Vrbata on the power play thanks to a phantom slashing call against Owen Nolan, a call that did not sit well with the home crowd.  Nolan gave a feather tap to Sami Lepisto’s thigh as he tried to clear the zone and had his stick break in the process.  Obviously from the referee’s point of view it looked as if Nolan was the cause of Lepisto’s stick breaking, but farther from the truth, the ref could not be.  This occurring with less then five seconds remaining in the period allowed the Coyotes to discuss the ensuing power play in detail during the intermission.  Vrbata took advantage of a perfect screen by Martin Hanzal by sniping his sixth of the year short side on Backstrom and giving the Coyotes the all important first goal of the game.

The Wild were able to come back to tie the hockey game on two different occasions only to have their efforts thwarted with a Coyotes team hungry to prove they aren’t as bad as the expert hockey analysts predicted them to be.  The game winning goal was scored by Scottie Upshall just 19 seconds after the Wild had tied the game up for the second time.  Upshall was able to squeak a rebound shot through the legs of Backstrom after a rushing shot but the young Keith Yandle and the Coyotes never looked back from there.

Having watched the Coyotes play a great deal over the past three seasons as a ticket holder, this team is much more excited to play the game and doesn’t let a goal scored against them seemed to bring down their spirits.  In the past three seasons the Coyotes seemed to become distraught when giving up a goal and never really had the fight to want to come back.  Last nights game showed that this team did not want to lose and wanted to do everything they could to trail in the game.  With new coach Dave Tippett now implementing a system for the Coyotes to play, something that seemed to be lacking with Wayne Gretzky as the coach, the team has risen to expectations nobody could imagine.

Even with a defense core that is missing three of its top four player in Ed Jovanovski, Zbynek Michalek, and Kurt Sauer, the team doesn’t appear to be missing a beat too much due to a superb group of young guns in to fill the void.  One in particular, Sami Lepisto, has been a pleasant surprise thus far.  Acquired from the Capitals for a 5th round pick, Lepisto has been, I’m sure, more then the Coyotes ever thought he could be.  He makes smart plays with the puck and is almost always in the right position on the defensive end.  Starting off the season as the number 6/7 defenseman, he has shown why it was smart of the organization to keep him up, getting full time minutes with Kurt Sauer being hurt for the majority of the year so far.

Another surprising start to the year thus far is a player I had never been to keen about, but have sort of come around to due to the realization that he is a young gun who has only played two seasons of NHL hockey, Keith Yandle.  Yandle basically taking over as the number one defenseman with Jovo being out with injury has had no problem standing up to the pressure and test of being a number one defenseman logging over 20 minutes of ice time since Jovo went out with injury four games ago.  My beef with him as a player in the past was that he would make careless mistakes in the defensive zone and rush the puck up as if he were Bobby Orr more then what was necessary, but that is what can be expected from a player who is only 23 years young.  There is alot of upside to Yandle and he has matured into his NHL role faster and better then any other prospect on the Coyotes line up now, and even in the past.

One player the Coyotes are really hoping snaps out of last season’s sophomore slump is one Peter Mueller, who the team has high hopes of becoming a go-to goal scorer for the team for years to come.  After a remarkable rookie season, Mueller has only seen the back of the net and has been a healthy scratch twice so far this season, something he has not been since the eighth game of his rookie season.  Mueller has plenty of upside with one of the hardest wrist shots in the league, but is just not getting the bounces that will help turn his season around.  Mueller seems like the type of player that lets bad games get to him and go to his head, which is not something that helps get out of a slump.  Mueller just needs to play his game get himself open and help his team bury the puck.  He played better then usually when Coach Tippett put him on a line with Robert Lang and Shane Doan a couple of weeks ago, which resulted in his first goal of the season.  Hopefully, Mueller stops trying too hard to be the all-star forward and just lets it come naturally to him by finding his spots on the ice.

This weekend I will post a first quarter analysis of how the team has performed thus far, including imaginary awards that I will be handing out to the players.  But until then the Coyotes will continue their back to back road stand tonight against the St. Louis Blues, who were the surprise of the 2nd half last season, squeaking their way into the 6th seed of the playoffs.  The Coyotes have beaten the Blues twice this year, the first time being an exciting overtime victory at home that ended with a reviewable goal scored by Ed Jovanovski of the butt end of his stick.  The Coyotes are 2-1 on second games in back to back match ups so far this season and are hoping to make put themselves further up the standings with a win against a young and talented St. Louis team, who are 2-5-3 in their last 10 games and are currently tied with the Coyotes most recent victim, the Minnesota Wild, for 13th in the Western Conference.  Ilya Bryzgalov is expected to start again for the Coyotes and the same injured players from last night against the Wild are not expected to play tonight either.