Speed, Power, and Smart Hockey all of these describe the way the Coyotes played to open up their 12 year in the desert.  Newly acquired scoring threat Olli Jokinen spent no time in making his presence felt as he scored the first tally of the season for the Yotes in within the first five minuets and also on the very first powerplay of the season for the desert dogs.  “The move that Kyle (Turris) made, it seemed like he had been playing in the league for years, not just four games” said Jokinen following the Coyotes 3-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.  The team came out in front of a sell out crowd and flat out overmatched a very good Columbus club.  “We just came out flying”  Jokinen said “Almost all the first period was good hockey for us . . . the second not too good, but we found a way to score the third goal.”

The Coyotes were throwing pucks to the net, and getting numerious opportunities, something that they didnt seem to do much of last year.  You can tell that the speed of the youngsters has had a very positive effect on the team.  First round draft picks Boedker and Tikhonov along with Kevin Porter and Kyle Turris showed that they can hang with the big boys.  Sure mistakes will be made, but with Hanzal and Mueller this team has a very strong core of future stars.  Again this was still the first game of the season and you can not predict a season on the first game.  Much will be taken from when they play the Ducks Sunday night, but this team looks like it can hang with the elite of the league.

The overwelming star of the game was Ilya Bryzgalov.  Bryz was a beast in the net and showed that he could potentialy become a top ten goaltender in the NHL.  The turning point in the game was early in the second period when Rick Nash had not one, but two breakaways on Bryz.  When asked about how he defended Nash on the two breakaways Bryzgalov said “I just defended him and challenged him, other than that it was like I close my eyes and hope it didnt go in”.  “He came out and cut angles, but I also missed,” Nash said. “I had opportunities and missed the net.”

This was a big game for the Coyotes, it was a well played game infront of a sell out crowd.  If this team looks to make a dent in the crowded sports landscape in Phoenix, they need to play like this at home and give the fans something to be excited about.  Hockey is one of the greatest sports to watch live, and that is not comming from the fact that I am a Hockey fan.  It is pure and simple that you get the most bang for your buck at an NHL game.  It seems refreshing that this team can potentially give the Phoenix sports fans a brand of ice cold entertainment that they deserve.

written by CJ Boyle