Advertising Opportunities

head coach: Jim Schoenfeld

roster: C - Jeremy Roenick, Craig Janney, Cliff Ronning, Bob Corkum, Mike Stapleton, Juha Ylonen, Daniel Briere. LW - Keith Tkachuk, Darrin Shannon, Jim McKenzie. RW - Rick Tocchet, Dallas Drake, Mike Gartner, Brad Isbister, Jocelyn Lemieux, Shane Doan, Jim Cummins. D - Teppo Numminen, Oleg Tverdovsky, John Slaney, Norm Maciver, Murray Baron, Deron Quint, Gerald Diduck, Keith Carney. G - Nikolai Khabibulin, Jimmy Waite, Scott Langkow.

injuries: Juha Ylonen, C, suffered a fractured tibia March 19, sidelined two weeks; Craig Janney, C, suffered a mild MCL sprain March 14, sidelined day-to-day; Jim Johnson, D, suffering from post-concussion syndrome Nov. 11, sidelined indefinitely; Darcy Wakaluk, G, underwent knee surgery Sept. 17, sidelined indefinitely.

transactions: April 13 - Returned Daniel Briere, C, to Springfield of the AHL. April 14 - Rick Tocchet, RW, suspended by NHL for two games without pay, including one game already served, and fined him $1000 after a match penalty for deliberate intent to injure with a high-stick against Scott Pellerin of the St. Louis Blues on April 11th. April 18 - Jeremy Roenick, C, fined $1.50 by Blockbuster for not returning 'Porky's Revenge' on time.

standings:

Western Conference - Central Division
Team         GP   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA   
p-Dallas     82  49  22  11   109  242  167  
x-Detroit    82  44  23  15   103  250  196  
x-St Louis   82  45  29   8    98  256  204  
x-Phoenix    82  35  35  12    82  224  227  
Chicago      82  30  39  13    73  192  199  
Toronto      82  30  43   9    69  194  237  

x - Clinched playoff spot
p - Clinched President's Trophy

game results:

4/07 at Pittsburgh    W 2-1
4/09 at Detroit       L 5-1
4/11 at St. Louis     W 4-3
4/12 at Chicago       W 2-1
4/14 Detroit          W 2-1
4/16 Dallas           W 3-2
4/18 St. Louis        L 5-4

team news:

by Matthew Secosky, Phoenix Correspondent

WhiteOut in the Dessert

I hate when I get WhiteOut in my dessert. It taste kinda pasty like glue, not quite Elmers but close.

Well, Phoenix is in the playoffs and will face Detroit in first-round competition. So what will the Coyotes do? Chances are lose. After all, check out their past playoff experiences:

1997 - Lost to Anaheim in first round (4-3).
1996* - Lost to Detroit in first round (4-2).   
1993* - Lost to Vancouver in first round (4-2). 
1992* - Lost to Vancouver in first round (4-2). 
1990* - Lost to Edmonton in first round (4-3).
*as Winnipeg Jets

Phoenix Coyotes vs Detroit Red Wings Schedule of Events

 Game 1: April 22, at Detroit, 7:30 p.m. ET
 Game 2: April 24, at Detroit, 7:30 p.m. ET
 Game 3: April 26, at Phoenix, 3:00 p.m. ET
 Game 4: April 28, at Phoenix, 10:30 p.m. ET 
*Game 5: April 30, at Detroit, 7:30 p.m. ET 
*Game 6: May 2, at Phoenix, 9:00 p.m. ET 
*Game 7: May 4, at Detroit, 7:30 p.m. ET 
* -if necessary

For those of you going to a game in Phoenix, remember to wear something borrowed, something blue, something used and something new. Gotta stick with tradition. Oh yeah, I guess white would be nice, too.

Ronning Buys Junior Team

Cliff Ronning is one of the newest owners of a Tier 2 junior league team that will begin play next season in Cliffy's hometown of Burnaby, British Columbia. The team will play in the BCHL, a league that developed such NHL stars as Glenn Anderson, Brett Hull, Paul Kariya and Ronning himself.

"Our intention was just to give something back to the community and get that community feeling going in Burnaby," Ronning said. "We've got a brand new arena ready, and the people are pretty excited up there. It only seats 2,500, but it's perfect for this style and caliber of hockey."

So what is the name of this new franchise? Well, Cliff just won't cut that information loose.

"I can't say right now because they're going to announce it in the next couple of days. But the logo is real nice."

Wakaluk Kulakaw

There was no big news conference or press release, but Phoenix goalie Darcy Wakaluk has announced his retirement from hockey.

After five surgeries on his knee and endless rehab over the past 15 months, the 32-year-old Wakaluk decided it was time to call it quits.

"This experience has gotten me to put things in perspective. I love the game. It was never a job. I was always the first to the rink and the last to leave because I loved being with the guys, the trainers and working out. But I also have two young boys, and I want to do a million things with them. And if you can't walk, what good is the money?"

Darcy plans to retire to a small cattle ranch in his native southwestern Alberta where he, his wife Dawn and two sons will live off the land in harmony with nature.

"I'm not looking to get rich off it," Wakaluk said. "As long as it pays for itself, fine. I want to raise my kids in a situation where they can learn good values, know about a good eight hours work and the value of a dollar."

English Grammar This

RW, Rick Tocchet said his recent two-game suspension was unfair...much like he said about his last one. But this time he may have a point.

"I'm not thinking very positive things right now about the NHL office," Tocchet said. "To miss a game of this magnitude for that? I mean, the guy only got a fat lip. I just slapped him a bit with my stick. Of course, it's going to look a lot worse in slow motion."

And let me tell you, a lot of things look worse in slow motion if you catch my drift.

The eight games Mr. Tocchet has missed represent nearly a tenth of the season and have cost him $209,756 in salary which, by the way, is $209,723 more than I've made in 23 years.

C, Craig Janney became the ninth Phoenix player this season to become a father. His wife, Kim, gave birth to a 7-pound, 2-ounce girl, whom they named Barrette. I once named my socks Skippy and Pete.

C, Jeremy Roenick is all kinds of angered at the corporate weasels that produce the Hockey News for a recent article that list him as one of the top five declining players in the NHL today. Basically they say he doesn't pay the price around the net, is more into cashing paychecks than scoring goals, and has a big ole ego.

In reply the Great JR said: "I do have an ego, but the rest of what they wrote was nonsense. They obviously don't know me, because that's absolutely crazy. Saying I don't want to score goals? I've lived my whole life scoring goals. That's what got me to enjoy this game in the first place."

Extremely Brief Game Recaps and the Women Who Love Them

04/07/98 at Pittsburgh, Won 2-1 - Bob Corkum gave the Coyotes a 1-0 lead 2:05 into the game and Rick Tocchet won it with under five minutes remaining when he scored his 25th of the season. Mr. Khabibulin made 29 saves for Phoenix.

04/09/98 at Detroit, Lost 5-1 - Doug Brown scored twice and Steve Yzerman had a goal and assist as Detroit won their 5th straight game. Phoenix well...ummm...uhhh. Bob Corkum scored again don't ya know. The Coyotes only managed 20 shots on Chris Osgood.

04/11/98 at St. Louis, Won 4-3 - Phoenix decides to make a final push for a playoff spot with Cliff Ronning, who had two goals and an assist, leading the way. Rick Tocchet and Mike Stapleton also scored for the Coyotes. Pierre Turgeon had three assists for the Blues. Also, St. Louis goalie Grant Fuhr left the game after the first period with a bruised knee and was replaced by Jamie McLennan.

04/12/98 at Chicago, Won 2-1 - Jeremy Roenick blew a 30-foot shot past Blackhawks goaltender Jeff Hackett with 7:20 left in the third period to lead the Coyotes to a 2-1 victory. The goal also secured a spot for the Coyotes in the playoffs and led to the destruction of 24 acres of rain forest in Brazil. Many not as-of-yet discovered plants and animals inhabit these rain forest, some of which scientists believe may hold the cure for many illnesses such as cancer and extreme dizziness.

04/14/98 vs Detroit, Won 2-1 - Keith Tkachuk, Dallas Drake and goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin took the night off for Phoenix and youngsters Brad Isbister and Shane Doan made the most of it by scoring goals. Jimmy Waite got the call for the Coyotes and made 25 saves. Isbister also had an assist.

04/16/98 vs Dallas, Won 3-2 - Win win win. We love to win says Phoenix. The Coyotes locked up sixth place in the standings and earned the right to face Detroit in the playoffs. Of course, that isn't exactly good news, but it beats playing Dallas or Colorado...well maybe not Colorado but it's a tough call either way. Gerald Diduck, who only has 56 goals in 847 career games, scored twice for the Coyotes. Dallas goaltender Roman Turek only stopped 8 of 11 shots before being replaced by Eddie Belfour early in the third period.

04/18/98 vs St. Louis, Lost 5-4 - Hey, they won their last four. Give the guys a break. Phoenix didn't play many of their stars since the game didn't mean anything to anybody anyhow.

[ issues | web extra | stats | nhl archive | home | chat | mailing list | about us | search | comments ]

1998 © Copyright LCS Hockey All Rights Reserved