First, the good news.
Welcome back, White Out. We’ve missed you.
The Coyotes will roll out the white carpet for the NHL playoffs this week, their first postseason berth since 2002.
Considering all that the franchise has been through in the past year or so, the run the Coyotes have made this season has been nothing short of magical.
All season, the Coyotes have used a combination of youngsters and veterans like fan-favorite Shane Doan to provide a very entertaining brand of hockey in the desert for the first time in recent memory.
They have gotten solid goaltending from the tandem of Ilya Bryzgalov and Jason LaBarbera and have had a knack for winning shootouts. They made excellent moves at the trade deadline to all but secure their spot in the playoffs.
Now, the bad news.
Facing the Detroit Red Wings in the first round couldn’t be what the Coyotes had in mind.
Granted, these aren’t quite the big, bad Red Wings from the past two seasons. The ‘Yotes finished with a better regular-season record and have home-ice advantage. They split with Detroit during the regular season, including a dramatic 5-4 overtime win the last time they played in January.
But it’s still the NHL’s version of the Evil Empire. Not to mention, a lot of Red Wings fans live in the Valley after transplanting from the Midwest, and they will surely flock to Jobing.com Arena.
Better get those white pom-poms ready, Coyotes fans, because this is about the worst first-round draw you could have asked for.
