Phoenix Trades Peter Mueller and Kevin Porter to Colorado for Wojtek Wolski posted by Jeff Ponder

Talks of Peter Mueller being the next best thing in Phoenix have come to an end.

“He's a great young man who loves to play the game,” former head coach Wayne Gretzky once said about the now-21 year old.  “He's good with the puck. We're happy with his progress and production.”

Mueller has seen quite the decline in offensive numbers this season, despite his team having a collective great year.  His 17 points in 54 games are less than impressive, especially when compared to his numbers the past two seasons (54 points in 2007-08 and 36 points in 2008-09). 

Wolski, on the other hand, is having a decent season in Colorado.  His 47 points ranked him second on the Avalanche before being traded.  His speed and puck-handling ability will add to an already strong Phoenix offense.

Most critics feel that this trade sways in the way of Phoenix, but I'm going to have to be in the minority.  I think that Mueller is still a top young player in the league.  He may have skipped over his sophomore slump and is just seeing it in his third year, which could mean Mueller will pick his game up fairly soon.  Wolski is a strong second-line player that adds skill, but can be lackadaisical when coming back to his own zone.  Mueller is a responsible player who is having an off-season but has plenty of time left in his young career to fix his mistakes.Continue reading "Phoenix Trades Peter Mueller and ..."

Boston Trades Derek Morris to Phoenix for a Fourth-Round Pick in 2011 posted by Jeff Ponder

In 2009 Morris gets traded away from Phoenix, and in 2010 he returns to Phoenix.

Morris, who has seen time with the Flames, Avalanche, Coyotes, Rangers and Bruins, will head back to Phoenix after being dealt at the trade deadline last season to the New York Rangers for Dmitri Kalinin, Petr Prucha and Nigel Dawes.  The Coyotes get him back for just a fourth-round pick in 2011.

Morris is known for his defensive prowess, which is why he was such a hot commodity last deadline.  Morris, who has just a -2 this season, was still matched against some top-line players in Boston.  He ranked third on the Bruins in average ice time per game with 22:00.

The trade looks fairly even when considering what Morris has accomplished since leaving Phoenix, but I think Phoenix comes away with the win in this one.  When considering what they got in return for Morris last season and what they give up this time around, the organization managed these two deals very well.  Even though Prucha is all that remains from the trade with the Rangers, GM Don Maloney and co. did their best in getting back Morris.Continue reading "Boston Trades Derek Morris to Phoenix ..."

Coyote Ugly - Deserted Dogs posted by Goon Squad

Keith Jeffries of Huntsville Sports Ventures has been the owner of the Havoc, a member of the Southern Professional Hockey League, for all six years - the longest stint of the city's four previous franchises.

Admittedly, he didn't know that much about the sport before he became an owner, but he did love watching the game.

After selling his business several years ago, it was a search "for that second career" that led Jeffries to the front office of the minor league team.

Decorating the walls of the team's main office are framed jerseys from past years. His office, off to the side of the main office, is modestly decorated with bookshelves, pictures, a couple of hockey masks, pucks and a family picture prominently displayed.

Last week, Jeffries talked about the team and the sport with Times business editor Budd McLaughlin. The conversation has been edited for space and clarity.

Q: What is Huntsville Sports Ventures Inc.?

A: It's the parent company of the Havoc and I'm the only stockholder. We called it Huntsville Sports Ventures instead of the Havoc because we may go into other promotions in sports entertainment. We owned the (Tennessee Valley) Vipers (arena football team) for a couple of years and were involved in the Arenacross (motocross) at the VBC and were a small backer of the Big Spring Jam one year.

Q: Is there a relationship between the Havoc and the Vipers?

A: No. We're tenants in the same building. That's all. We get along extremely well, but there's no business relationship.

Q: What is your relationship with the Von Braun Center administration?

Bring on the Rivermen! posted by Jeff Ponder

120:52 is an eternity for the St. Louis Blues.

That is how long it has been since the team has lit the lamp, which occurred on October 28th in North Carolina when David Perron added an empty-net goal to seal a 5-2 Blues victory.  The celebration did not seem to last long.

The next night, the Blues threw 32 shots at Phoenix Coyotes goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov, who stopped every single one in a 2-0 blanking of the Blues.  Long-time Blues-killer Tomas Vokoun displayed a similar achievement two nights later in a 34-save effort en route to the Panthers snubbing the Blues 4-0 at Scottrade Center.  Being shutout two games in a row is not something that Head Coach Andy Murray has expected out of his club.

"All losses look bad," Murray said after the Florida game. "Again, we're down 2-0 in the first period and we're having such a tough time scoring ourselves, and yet we give up two easy goals; very poor coverage decisions in our end and it's 1-0. Again, another goal with poor coverage decisions." 

So where can the Blues turn to try and nip this problem in the bud?

The Blues' AHL affiliate, Peoria Rivermen, are riding rough waters as well.  No pun intended.

The Rivermen find themselves sixth in the Western Division with a 4-4-1-2 record (1 overtime loss and 2 shootout losses), placing them seven points behind the division leader.  So maybe a shake up would do the AHL club some good as well.

Defenseman Jonas Junland has been very impressive thus far for the Rivermen.  His 6 goals and 13 points are tops for the team, along with his impressive +5.  The near 22-year old is on the final year of his contract, and many believe that he will return to Sweden if he cannot crack the Blues' lineup in the near future.  Bringing Junland in might spark an offensive outburst from the blue line on the power-play.
Continue reading "Bring on the Rivermen!"

A fond farewell to Roenick (mostly!) posted by Andy Charles

The National Hockey League lost one of its greatest recent players last week when Jeremy Roenick finally announced his retirement after a glorious 20-year career at the highest level.

Roenick is widely regarded as one of, if not the, best players to come out of the United States and should be a shoo-in for the Hockey Hall of Fame when his name appears on the ballot in a few years time.

The 39-year-old was not just a fine player, but one full of passion for the sport and he should have a job to walk into in some lucky organisation in the near future – most likely the Chicago Blackhawks where Roenick began his career.

Roenick recently admitted his one regret in hockey was leaving the Windy City in the first place, the move coming in a trade with the Phoenix Coyotes for Alexei Zhamnov and Craig Mills, and he is widely expected, according to hockey betting, to take on an ambassadorial role with the franchise fairly soon.

Sadly Roenick never tasted Stanley Cup glory, but he ends his career as the third highest US scorer in history, behind only Mike Modano and Keith Tkachuk, but his overall game and importance to the team he was on at the time increases his importance within the game.

Roenick scored 513 goals and added 703 assists for a total of 1,216 points with 1,463 penalty minutes in an amazing 1,363 regular-season games. He also contributed 122 playoff points and went to a couple of Olympic Games, winning a silver in 2002.

“Jeremy Roenick will be remembered as one of the most dynamic players to ever play in the NHL,” said San Jose Sharks General Manager Doug Wilson – the Sharks were the final stop on Roenick’s odyssey.

Tkachuk Signs One-Year Contract and other NHL Notables posted by Jeff Ponder

St. Louis Blues President John Davidson announced Friday that forward Keith Tkachuk has agreed to return to the club for one more year.  The Blues and Tkachuk have been having talks about a return since being ousted from the playoffs in April.  The deal is reportedly worth $2.15 million.

“Keith is a veteran leader who played a key role with our club’s success this past season,” Davidson added. “He and his wife Chantal are first class people and have been tremendous to the St. Louis Blues organization and the St. Louis community.”

Tkachuk tallied 25 goals and 24 assists in 79 games in 2008-09, along with 14 power-play goals that placed him second on the team just behind Brad Boyes.  He started the season red hot though, scoring 7 goals in the Blues' first 6 games of the season.  He was also the only Blue to participate in the 2009 NHL All-Star Game, which saw him score the first goal of the game.  His point totals have trailed off in his eight seasons in a Blues jersey, considering in 2001-02 Tkachuk netted 38 goals and 75 points.  Scoring is not what Tkachuk was brought back for though.

Tkachuk has come a long way from his days of scoring 40-50 goals with the Phoenix Coyotes and Winnipeg Jets franchise.  Not only is he still widely known as a hitter and a mule in front of the net, but he has added much depth to his game.  Tkachuk spent a good portion of 2009 as a third line center, usually between the likes of gritty wingers Dan Hinote and Brad Winchester.  When Tkachuk was on these checking lines, there was always a chance that a puck would cross the opposing red goal line.  But his strength came in when he would forecheck and pressure the other team's defenses.  Growing a little older, Tkachuk learned to adapt his game and still be a presence even though he cannot score 40 goals in a season anymore.
Continue reading "Tkachuk Signs One-Year Contract and ..."

Inbound link contest winner announced! posted by Earn Money Blogging

A big thanks to everyone who participated in the "Inbound Link Contest".  We have a winner!  A big congratulations go out to Marija.  Thank you for all your hard work on this.  While we had a lot of people participate, Marija was able to win with only 4 links!  So it wouldn't have taken a lot to win this contest!  We'll be having another contest soon so stay tuned.

The whole purpose of this contest was to get our bloggers networking with other webmasters and to start to build up their inbound links which will help their traffic.  Even a few links can help you with the search engines as they will see you as more of an authority on your topic the more inbound links you have.

To learn more about marketing your blog check out this post: http://www.nbabasketballonline.com/sports_content-rev_share_faq.html#my_faq_2971

Marija's blog can be found here.  If you're a Knicks fan, check it out: http://www.newyorkknicksnews.com/marijak

The original post announcing the contest can be found here: http://www.nbabasketballonline.com/bloggers/weblog/2984.html

And if you're not already signed up with Google AdSense and making money from your blog, check out our Revenue Share FAQ page: http://www.nbabasketballonline.com/sports_content-rev_share_faq.html

Inbound link contest - Win $100! posted by Earn Money Blogging

To try and motivate our bloggers to get inbound links we're going to have a contest to see which blogger can get the most inbound links to their blog. The contest begins now and ends July 31st, 2008. To be entered in to the contest all you have to do is go out and get as many websites to link to your blog as you can and at the end of the month send us an email listing all those links. All links must be active from August 1st through August 7th when we'll be judging the entries - a winner will be announced on August 7th. All entry emails must be received by Midnight on July 31st, 2008. You can email them to sportsfan@nbabasketballonline.com

We're going to impose some restrictions on the types of links you can get so please see below for the full list of links that do NOT count.

To get started simply go to Google and find other websites and blog that are about the sports and teams that you write about. Email the website owner and ask them for a link by explaining that you think your blog would be a good resource for their readers. Or offer to write a guest post for them with your by-line and URL at the bottom of the article. Or offer to exchange links with them by writing a quick write up of their site and a reciprocal link back to them. Some webmasters will be happy to add you to their blog roll even if you don't give them a link back (which is ideal) but some may want you to link back to them - you can easily do this with a quick blog entry on your blog about their website.

To learn more about inbound links and marketing your blog in general check out this post:

Past and Present Players: Kyle Turris and Steve Yzerman posted by F

In the second installment of my Past and Present National Hockey League player comparisons, I'll take a look at two B.C. boys with the make-up and toolset that any coach in the right mind would want on their team.

New Westminster, British Columbia is about a nine and a half hour and 953.72 km drive to Cranbrook, British Columbia. It is a long and grueling ride in which you would pass many different cities on the way including Seattle and Spokane from below the 49th parallel. Cranbrook has been already put on the map by ten-time National Hockey League all-star Steve Yzerman. And if it hasn’t already, New Westminster will soon too be put on the map by a nineteen year-old NHL prospect who wears number nineteen in honor of Steve Yzerman, who is listed as his all-time favorite player.

This nineteen year-old I speak of is Kyle Turris, who currently plays for the University of Wisconsin Badgers in the NCAA's Western Collegiate Hockey Association. After completely ripping up the British Columbia Junior “A” Hockey League with the Burnaby Express last season, Turris was drafted 3rd overall this past summer by Wayne Gretzky and the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2007 National Hockey League Amateur Entry Draft. Over the course of Turris’ fresh start to his career; he has drawn many rave comparisons to Steve Yzerman, and justifiably so.

The biggest similarity between Turris’ and Yzerman’s game is the character they play with on the ice, along with the natural leadership ability they have off of it. Yzerman retired as the longest-serving captain of any team in North American major league sports history, and in Detroit is often simply referred to as "The Captain." How’s that for leadership? Turris hasn’t been named captain on any prominent teams thus far, but that’s not because he’s not a commendable leader. The only explanation is that Turris has always been one of the youngest players on almost every team he’s played on because of his immense skill set, which is the case right now with the University of Wisconsin Badgers. Don’t be surprised if Turris will be donning the “C” on his jersey a couple years down the road with Wisconsin, well that’s if Wayne Gretzky and the Phoenix Coyotes haven’t snatched him up by then. And in that case, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if Turris was named captain with the Phoenix Coyotes soon after his anticipated arrival with the big club.
Continue reading "Past and Present Players: Kyle Turris ..."

Coyotes' Bryzgalov gets seventh shutout (AP)

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From Yahoo! Sports

Coyotes' Wolski beats Avs with late goal (AP)

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From Yahoo! Sports

Coyotes make 7 trades for playoff run (AP)

Broke or not, the Phoenix Coyotes did some serious beefing up for their playoff run. The team, purchased out of bankruptcy by the NHL as the league tries to work out a deal with a potential buyer, made seven trades shortly before Wednesday's deadline. In the most significant move, Phoenix acquired left wing Wojtek Wolski from the Colorado Avalanche for forwards Peter Mueller and Kevin Porter. [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Coyotes get Avs' Wolski for Mueller, Porter

The Phoenix Coyotes have acquired left wing Wojtec Wolski from theColorado Avalanche for forwards Peter Mueller and Kevin Porter. [read full article]

From FOXSports.com News for NHL

Bruins trade Morris, acquire Seidenberg (AP)

The Boston Bruins have traded defenseman Derek Morris to the Phoenix Coyotes and acquired defenseman Dennis Seidenberg from the Florida Panthers in separate deals before the NHL's trade deadline. Morris has three goals, 22 assists and 26 penalty minutes in 58 games for the Bruins this season. Morris finished the 2008-09 season with five goals, 15 assists and 40 penalty minutes in 75 games for... [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports