Tippett, King, and Yotes Training Camp 9/25/09

On the 25th of September, I went to Desert Schools Coyotes Center to watch the Coyotes skate. Just the day before, Wayne Gretzky, The Great One, resigned as the Head Coach of the Phoenix Coyotes. Later that day, the Coyotes held a press conference to announce the new coach. General Manager Don Maloney announced that the new coach was Dave Tippett, the former Dallas Stars coach. He had an excellent record with the Stars. I think he will be a good coach. Tippett won his first game as coach against the San Jose Sharks on September 26th.

Earlier this week, the Coyotes also signed Dave King as Assistant Coach. It seems that he has millions of years of experience. He will probably work with the younger guys.

During practice on the 25th, Tippett had the guys doing lots of drills including face-offs, quick passes out of their own zone, and quick passes through the neutral zone. He worked the guys very hard. They were also having fun.

I have a good story about the practice on the 25th. Just before the players went on the ice, David Schlemko came out of the locker room wearing everything but his jersey. He asked the equipment manager if they had any extra jerseys. The equipment manager told Schlem that they did not have any extra jerseys, and that he would have to go skate with just his pads, unless the man standing in the bleachers would give Schlem the jersey he was wearing. The man in the bleachers the equipment manager was talking about is my dad. Dad let Schlem borrow his jersey. Schlemko said he really appreciated that Dad let him borrow the jersey. After Schlem skated 7 or 8 laps around the ice, Shane Doan came out of the locker room with Schlemko's jersey. Doan had been hiding the jersey from Schlem. Schlemko got his jersey back, and the equipment manager gave Dad his jersey.

When we went to the morning skate the next day, Schlem gave Dad his stick as a "Thank You" for using his jersey.

9/19 Training Camp

Yesterday, I went to Jobing.com Arena to watch the Coyotes skate. I got two pucks. I must have at least twenty now.

Of all the guys, Zbynek Michalek looked the best. He is a good shooter, and a great shot blocker. He broke the league record for blocked shots last season with 271. I wonder if he do the same thing this year. I hope he will.

Ulf Samuelsson was torqued about the loss to the Anaheim Ducks the night before. Saturday's practice was the hardest one yet. Ulf had them doing suicides, windsprints, serpentines, laps, puck handling, and many other drills. By the time practice was over, the guys were beat!!

9/18 Training Camp

I went to Jobing.com Arena yesterday to watch the guys skate. I got three pucks. I have 18 pucks now.

Jason LaBarbera looked the best. He made some really good saves. I think he will serve us well. He snowed Petr Prucha, and Colin Long. Daniel Winnik also looked very good. He was skating very hard and fast. I hope he will make the team. I like him a lot. When you talk to him he sounds very nice.

Ulf Samuelsson worked the guys pretty hard. He had them doing suicides, puck handling, shooting, 2-on-1's, 3-on-1's, and 4-on-3's.

9/15 Coyotes Training Camp

I went to the Coyotes Training Camp at Jobing.com Arena today, and got five pucks! The whole squad was there this morning. Some of the players will be going to LA to play the Kings tonight, and some of them will stay in Arizona to play the Kings at Jobing.com. Since the game will not be on TV, I will listen to it on the radio.

Matheiu Brodeur seemed to be feeling better today. Matt Jones still was not there. The next time I see Mr. Maloney, I will ask him if he is still with the team.

Tikhonov was looking good today, as was Zbynek Michalek. LaBarbera has a very cool design on his mask. It has monster teeth, human heads, and a weird, curly green plant.

Taylor Pyatt crashed into the net and fell down. Francis Lessard was checking everyone. Turris is looking really good this camp. The guys were practicing face-offs today. Vern Fiddler is looking great on face-offs. We need to be A LOT better on face-offs this year!

There are a lot of fast skaters this season. Lombardi, Upshall, and Prucha were paired today, and they looked really good. Pyatt, Mueller, and Boedker also looked great together.

I hope the Coyotes win against the Kings tonight. GO COYOTES!!!!

9/14 Coyotes Training Camp

Today, I went to Jobing.com Arena to watch the guys skate. I got six pucks! I got one puck from Mitch Fritz and one from Viktor Tikhonov.

Daniel Winnik looked the best of all the players. He was working very, very hard. He said he was fighting for his job.

Joel Gistedt looked very tired. He might be down in San Antonio this year. Jared Stall had very slow feet.

Matt Jones was not there both days. I wonder why he isn't there.

Mathieu Broduer was sick, and during windsprints he was hanging on the net, sucking air.

Ulf Samuelsson was filling in as Head Coach for Wayne Gretzky. He worked the players extremely hard. He had them doing windsprints, suicides, and many other drills.

Team A played a game against Team C. I can't wait for the season to start. The first preseason game is tomorrow against the LA Kings.

9/13 Training Camp

I went to the Coyotes Training Camp at Jobing.com Arena on Sunday, September 13th. I got two pucks. I saw Al Montoya, Keith Yandle, Sami Lepisto, Joel Gistedt, Nick Ross, Ed Jovanovski, Justin Weller, Aaron Downey, Viktor Tikhonov, Francis Lessard, and Mitch Fritz. Downey and Fritz were there on Professional Tryouts.

On defense, there are fifteen guys fighting for one spot. It will be a tough race for spots. The guys who didn't have guaranteed spots on the roster were working the hardest.

General Manager Don Maloney said that 90% of the roster was set.

I am going back tomorrow to watch practices and the scrimmage.

DSCC Rookies

Today, I went to Desert Schools Coyotes Center to watch the rookies skate. There were a lot of players there. Mathieu Brodeur and Lucas Bloodoff looked really good. I think Bloodoff and Jonas Ahnelov have the best chance of making the team this year. The trainers put the guys through a pretty hard workout, and they had a scrimmage at the end. I bet the players were worn out!

Hockey, hockey, hockey!!!

Yay!!!! It's almost time for hockey season!! Last week, my dad, brother, and I went to Alltel Ice Den to watch the players at voluntary workout camp. I got two pucks! I saw Jonas Ahnelov, Kurt Sauer, Nick Ross, Sean Burke, Dusty Collins, Nick Boynton, Adrian Aucoin, Lauri Korpikoski, Ulf Samuelsson, Shane Doan, Kyle Turris, Kevin Porter, Todd Fedoruk, Zbynek Michalek, Peter Mueller, Grant Fuhr, Joel Gistedt, Al Montoya, Nikolai Khabibulin, Keith Yandle, Marty Hanzal, Billy Thomas, Petr Prucha, Ed Jovanovski, Stefan Meyer, Vernon Fiddler, Sean O'Connor, and Ross Lupachuck. All of the players looked very good. Of course, Doaner was skating great. I had fun talking to Doug Moss and Don Maloney. They are both really nice, and always talk to me at events.

Yesterday and today, we went to Jobing.Com Arena to watch the Coyotes Rookie Camp. All the rookies looked great, especially Mathieu Brodeur. They had a really hard workout! Evan Bloodoff, one of our draft picks this year, was not skating because of a strained knee. We will be going to Desert Schools Coyotes Center tomorrow to watch the rookies skate, and get autographs.

I can't wait 'til the season starts!!!

Baseball, baseball, baseball!

The Arizona League Indians (rookies) practice and play games just a few miles from my house. In August, they had a bunch of free games. My dad, brother, and I went to several games, and had a lot of fun. I caught four balls! We sat one row behind home plate, so we had a great view of all the action. We also heard some language from the players that was not so family friendly.