A Coyote ugly shootout

Very rarely do we lose after having a lead going into the third period, but last night was one of those rarities. There really wasn't any specific thing to blame this one on. Niemi did a god job early on, the defense did a good job early on, and so did the offense (I especially liked Kaner and Ladd's goals). We still ended up outshooting them (except in the first period and OT). So I suppose the only thing that made a big difference here was the shootout.

If you were the best shootout leadoff man last year, your coach is going to have you shoot first. That's just how it is. The Captain is that guy, but for some reason he did not come through last night. However, neither did Kaner or Sharpie. Niemi made a good effort as always in the shootout but the winning shot was a pretty one by Radim Vrbata. I think Tazer has earned the right to be the first person in the shootout because of his sucess last year, and this year although he hasn't been as solid, he still is around 50%, the highest on the team. Something just hasn't been on with the Hawks lately, and I understand that as Captain it is his responsibility when the team struggles. But if you see the way he carries himself, his body language, you can tell how bad he wants this. There's really no way to tell if he yells at his teammates, because of all the sports, Hockey seems to be the mst inaccessible when it comes to locker room interviews. He just tells us what he's thinking, without being pissed off about it, because that's not going to help the situation now is it? He's not going to make excuses, in fact he always says so. He accepts the responsibility and just because it isn't automatically fixed doesn't make him any less a Captain.

This relates to me on a personal level too, which is why i guess i get so intense about it. Things take time to get fixed, that's just how it is. If people aren't patient then the process just takes longer. I know how this feels at the moment and it shouldn't make me any less respected amoung my peers. I promised myself i wouldn't get my personal life involved in this blog so that's all i'm going to say about that, and probably all i'll say about myself ever again if I can help it. It's just crazy sometimes how sports directly relate to me at times.

The Hawks are still consistant, it's just different. i'm not sure what is going on, really. All I know is, hat Phoenix team is tough, and Tuesday will be a challenge like last night was. I hope the home crowd (myself included ^_^) will help them out.