Coyotes

On the Outside, Looking In

With around 10 games to go in the regular season, the Coyotes were fighting for a playoff spot.  The problem, other than not really being an NHL caliber team, is that starting goalie, Marc-Andre Fluery, was on the verge of playing too many minutes.  The consensus was to sit him for most of the remaining games, and then play him in the last 4 games of the season.  Unfortunately, that didn't happen, and he sat out all of the games.  He's mad.  The players are mad.  The fans, all 4 of them, are mad.  The Coach/GM is mad at himself.  "This is unacceptable and should not have happened.  Unfortunately I have no one to blame but myself.  Some people might say that the players could have played harder, that Casey DeSmith, who was brought in to improve the back-up position, should have played better, but at the end of the day, it was my responsibility as GM to bring in players that can help, and as coach, to play the players that give us the best chance to win.  I didn't do that last one.  Flower should have played.  We missed the playoffs by TWO points.  If Flower plays the last 4 games, there's a good chance that he gets us at least 3 of those 8 points we missed out on".  Worse yet, the Coyotes don't own their 1st.  Instead, this lack of foresight will lead Steve White and the Vegas Golden Knights having another potential shot in the Bedard sweepstakes.