Coyotes hoping to kickstart PP
Team focuses on special teams in latest practice
Having the one-man or two-man advantage on the ice has not been something of consistent success for the Coyotes in the 2019-20 regular season.
While the Coyotes were able to elevate their numbers by the time the season halted in March, February saw the team sitting in the bottom five for fewest shot attempts and bottom 10 in a handful of other power play stats. At the break, the Coyotes’ power play percentage was ranked 14th best in the league at 19.2.
Wednesday’s practice was focused in on special teams, running full units for the first time since March. Coach Rick Tocchet said he saw urgency in his players to improve the power play.
“We saw some video on what Nashville is doing and I saw some urgency and some guys talking after,” Tocchet said. “I haven’t seen that as much in the past and I saw more communication. You have to start somewhere I saw that there was a lot more engagement.”
Tocchet said he really saw a spark in the unit from forward Phil Kessel. Kessel, who has been a constant on the first line of the power play unit, had a team leading nine power play goals and 14 power play points with Arizona in the regular
East/West split in rookie, coach of year finalists
Columbus’ John Tortorella, Philadelphia’s Alain Vigneault and Boston’s Bruce Cassidy were revealed Wednesday as the finalists for the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year.
Colorado’s Cale Makar, Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes and Chicago’s Dominik Kubalik are the finalists for the Calder Trophy as the top rookie. All three Jack Adams finalists come from the Eastern Conference, while all three Calder Finalists play in the West.
Makar and Hughes could be separated by just a few votes of the Professional Hockey Writers Association after strong debuts as defensemen. Makar was second on the Avalanche in scoring with 50 points, while Hughes emerged as a key piece for the Canucks and put up 53 points in 68 games.
season. He had a similar presence last season with the Penguins as he tied Sidney Crosby in goals with 12 and had a team-leading 36 power play points.
“He’s a new guy coming into here, even though he’s a veteran, and he was very clear cut about what to do on the power play and you could tell it just started getting the ball rolling,” Tocchet said. “I’m a big believer in peer pressure with each other, and as coaches we’re going to be in there directing, but when players push themselves good things happen.”
At the same time as Arizona is looking to improve one facet of its special teams, the Predators are doing the same, except on their penalty kill. At the season pause, Nashville was in the bottom three for penalty-killing at 74.6%. After the firing of Peter Laviolette in January, Nashville let in only 14 goals on 72 penalty kills.
“Whenever any team is struggling in any category, the key is to stay with it and relax,” Tocchet said. “I’ve been on teams where frustration comes in and all of the sudden people are on different pages. We can’t wait two weeks from now and turn it on. Even though today [Wednesday] was a big day for us, the next time we practice power play, I hope we have the same intensity we had today because it goes a long way.”
For those on the unit, they see the postseason as a second chance to turn the power play unit into something special. Forward Derek Stepan said everything resets at the end of the season.
“In a normal season, when game 82 ends and you start game one of the playoffs, everyone’s power play and penalty kill is at zero percent and it doesn’t really matter what you did throughout the year,” Stepan said. “Power play and penalty kill are such a big part of the playoffs and it’s really easy for a power play to get hot and stay hot.”