It’s come to this.
The Hockey News picked the Phoenix Coyotes to finish 15th in the Western Conference, but we’re certain any excess egg on our face could quickly find a home elsewhere thanks to the Coyotes’ shocking rise to first place in the Pacific Division.
Their nine-game winning streak also has them atop this week’s Power Rankings.
Better late than never.
Phoenix’s leading scorer, Wojtek Wolski, is on pace for a whopping 60 points and has played just nine games with the team. Adrian Aucoin is 5-for-5 in the shootout with five game-deciding goals. Ilya Bryzgalov could end up the league leader in both wins and shutouts. If the team wins Tuesday in Chicago, it will have set a new record for consecutive victories with 10.
There’s a lot of numbers to mull in there, but what all those digits add up to is some new language – as in it might be time to consider changing the hardware handed out for coach of the year from the Jack Adams Award to the Dave Tippett Trophy.
What a season in the desert.
The Hockey News ranks the teams 1-30 each Monday based on a combination of last week’s play and a squad’s overall outlook.
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