Bob McManaman
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 2, 2005 12:00 AM
His foot sore and swollen after getting hit with a shot during Sunday's 3-2 loss in Anaheim, defenseman Paul Mara called coach Wayne Gretzky and said he wasn't going to be able to participate in Tuesday's practice.
"He can't even get his foot into the boot," Gretzky said. "I told him, 'That's OK. This is one practice you'll probably be glad you missed.' "
Gretzky wasn't fooling. He skated the Coyotes into the ice during Tuesday's workout in Peoria. After back-to-back disappointing losses and having given his team the day off on Monday, it was time to deliver a message and dole out some punishment. advertisement
On the day after Halloween, the Great One turned into the Mean One, making the Coyotes skate in circles until they were about ready to collapse. He made them do so many sprints and "gassers," first one way around the ice, then the other, then back again, over and over, Herb Brooks would have been proud.
The players should have seen it coming when they stepped onto the ice and noticed it was devoid of a single puck.
"It is a little bit of a punishment thing - you're right," Gretzky said after the 45-minute skate-a-thon, which then was followed by 30 minutes of practice time with pucks. "I think we were getting too relaxed.
"It's easy to say, 'We're close and there's been a lot of one-goal games,' but that's not good enough anymore."
Gretzky's biggest gripe has been that the Coyotes aren't winning battles at the right time, specifically on special teams. In their 5-3 loss at home to Dallas on Saturday, the Coyotes squandered a 3-1 lead, which they could have extended had they scored on a power play.
They didn't, and what might have been a 4-1 lead was cut to 3-2 when Dallas turned around and scored with Phoenix short-handed. In an instant, the momentum of what Gretzky thought was the shifting of an early-season turnaround was laid to waste.
Another loss the following night only steamed him further, hence Tuesday's gut-buster.
"We've all been there," Gretzky said. "As hard as it is, they're in good condition now and they can handle it. Some guys don't like it, some guys understand it's part of the game, and some guys probably kind of relish it. As a player, you understand days like this are going to happen periodically over the course of the season."
As the players made their way off the ice, many of them had their heads down from near exhaustion. Others gave the look that they knew this day was probably coming. Many were too winded to even talk about it.
Gretzky hinted there could be changes on the horizon if certain players don't pick it up and aspects of the game don't improve. What his team doesn't have is a bona fide goal scorer, a player who can break a game wide open, and Phoenix might just be in the market for such a savior.
But they don't come cheaply, and teams generally are uneasy about moving star players this early in the season.
"We haven't pursued anything at this point in time, but we're not going to stand pat, I'll tell you that," Gretzky said. "We're going to make our team better."
Individually, Gretzky said the Coyotes need much more offensive production from slumping winger Ladislav Nagy, and he said of center Krys Kolanos, who has pined for more playing time.
Some changes should be recognizable during Thursday's home game against Jeremy Roenick and the Los Angeles Kings, as Gretzky plans to give more power play time to the likes of Mike Leclerc and Oleg Saprykin.
Defenseman Denis Gauthier, sidelined with a fractured pinkie finger, practiced Tuesday but still can't grip his stick effectively and probably won't return until the Coyotes' Nov. 16 home game against Colorado.
Center Petr Nedved might be eyeing the same return date while recovering from a dislocated left elbow. Kolanos, a healthy scratch in most games to start the year, will get most of Nedved's ice time.
"It's time to see if he's an NHL player or not," Gretzky said.
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 2, 2005 12:00 AM
His foot sore and swollen after getting hit with a shot during Sunday's 3-2 loss in Anaheim, defenseman Paul Mara called coach Wayne Gretzky and said he wasn't going to be able to participate in Tuesday's practice.
"He can't even get his foot into the boot," Gretzky said. "I told him, 'That's OK. This is one practice you'll probably be glad you missed.' "
Gretzky wasn't fooling. He skated the Coyotes into the ice during Tuesday's workout in Peoria. After back-to-back disappointing losses and having given his team the day off on Monday, it was time to deliver a message and dole out some punishment. advertisement
On the day after Halloween, the Great One turned into the Mean One, making the Coyotes skate in circles until they were about ready to collapse. He made them do so many sprints and "gassers," first one way around the ice, then the other, then back again, over and over, Herb Brooks would have been proud.
The players should have seen it coming when they stepped onto the ice and noticed it was devoid of a single puck.
"It is a little bit of a punishment thing - you're right," Gretzky said after the 45-minute skate-a-thon, which then was followed by 30 minutes of practice time with pucks. "I think we were getting too relaxed.
"It's easy to say, 'We're close and there's been a lot of one-goal games,' but that's not good enough anymore."
Gretzky's biggest gripe has been that the Coyotes aren't winning battles at the right time, specifically on special teams. In their 5-3 loss at home to Dallas on Saturday, the Coyotes squandered a 3-1 lead, which they could have extended had they scored on a power play.
They didn't, and what might have been a 4-1 lead was cut to 3-2 when Dallas turned around and scored with Phoenix short-handed. In an instant, the momentum of what Gretzky thought was the shifting of an early-season turnaround was laid to waste.
Another loss the following night only steamed him further, hence Tuesday's gut-buster.
"We've all been there," Gretzky said. "As hard as it is, they're in good condition now and they can handle it. Some guys don't like it, some guys understand it's part of the game, and some guys probably kind of relish it. As a player, you understand days like this are going to happen periodically over the course of the season."
As the players made their way off the ice, many of them had their heads down from near exhaustion. Others gave the look that they knew this day was probably coming. Many were too winded to even talk about it.
Gretzky hinted there could be changes on the horizon if certain players don't pick it up and aspects of the game don't improve. What his team doesn't have is a bona fide goal scorer, a player who can break a game wide open, and Phoenix might just be in the market for such a savior.
But they don't come cheaply, and teams generally are uneasy about moving star players this early in the season.
"We haven't pursued anything at this point in time, but we're not going to stand pat, I'll tell you that," Gretzky said. "We're going to make our team better."
Individually, Gretzky said the Coyotes need much more offensive production from slumping winger Ladislav Nagy, and he said of center Krys Kolanos, who has pined for more playing time.
Some changes should be recognizable during Thursday's home game against Jeremy Roenick and the Los Angeles Kings, as Gretzky plans to give more power play time to the likes of Mike Leclerc and Oleg Saprykin.
Defenseman Denis Gauthier, sidelined with a fractured pinkie finger, practiced Tuesday but still can't grip his stick effectively and probably won't return until the Coyotes' Nov. 16 home game against Colorado.
Center Petr Nedved might be eyeing the same return date while recovering from a dislocated left elbow. Kolanos, a healthy scratch in most games to start the year, will get most of Nedved's ice time.
"It's time to see if he's an NHL player or not," Gretzky said.
