18.11.2006 von Coyote.

Im Training mussten die Spieler der Coyoten genau hinsehen: Wayne Gretzky trainierte mit. Hier der Artikel aus AZCentral + Ausblick auf das Spiel heute gegen Los Angeles:

Gretzky fills in at practice

David Vest
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 18, 2006 12:00 AM

LOS ANGELES - Coach Wayne Gretzky resumed his playing career, sort of, for about an hour at Friday’s practice in Peoria after he realized he gave too many veteran players the day off.

“When I did that we had six defensemen and I was short a forward, so I just thought, well, all the drills we had set up were for four lines . . . so I just jumped in there on a line to keep the squad pretty even.”

Memo to rumor starters: Gretzky, 45, is not planning a comeback.

“That’s the first time I’ve actually been in a practice in six years,” said Gretzky, who wore a regulation practice uniform except for a helmet. “It was fun to be out there.”

He added, “It’s a good thing I retired when I did. I’ve kind of lost a step.”

Gretzky said he misses playing “immensely.”

“Anybody who retires and says they don’t miss it is crazy,” Gretzky said. “Just the camaraderie with the guys; it was a different feeling being out there with those guys and not as a coach. It reminded me of my days as a player. I’ll always, until the day I pass, I’ll always miss playing and miss being around it . . . You can play pick-up hockey, and I have my fantasy camp every year for my foundation and that’s fun, but it’s still not the same as being out here with guys at this level.”

Defenseman Ed Jovanovski did a double take after he first saw Gretzky doing the drills.

“It was pretty neat,” Jovanovski said, “and it looks like he’s still got it.”

Roenick’s return to LA
Center Jeremy Roenick will play in a game at Staples Center today for the first time since leaving the Kings after one disappointing season in which he notched nine goals and 13 assists in 58 games.

“I loved playing here; unfortunately, I didn’t do anything or perform the way I wanted to, and I’m sure that I disappointed a lot of fans here and that disappointed me,” Roenick said. “And by no means do I just say ‘whatever’ about the whole situation. I really feel bad that I didn’t perform for those fans, but I’m past that and if they want to boo me and all that stuff because of my poor performance, that’s fine. That’s understandable.”

Asked if he would boo him if he were one of the Kings fans, Roenick smiled and said: “Yeah, I probably would.”

Ice chips
David LeNeveu will start in goal today, and Gretzky said if he plays well LeNeveu might start Sunday’s game at Anaheim, too.

LeNeveu (2-1, 3.73 goals-against average) has not played since relieving Curtis Joseph on Nov. 4.

• PGA golfer Fred Couples accompanied the team here for today’s game and plans to travel with the team to Anaheim for Sunday’s game, too.

Couples, who lives in the Valley and often comes to games at Jobing.com Arena, is a good friend of Gretzky’s and a hockey fan.

Today’s game

Coyotes at Kings
When: 2 p.m.
Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles.
TV/radio: AZ-TV/, KDUS-AM (1060).

Kings update: Today’s game is a matinee because the Los Angeles Clippers are hosting the Philadelphia 76ers tonight at Staples Center. This will be LA’s 14th home game, a league-high. Left wing Alexander Frolov leads the Kings with 10 goals and 18 points. Rookie Anze Kopitar is the top assist man with 12. Goalies Mathieu Garon and Dan Cloutier each have three victories. Lubomir Visnovsky ranked 10th among league defensemen with 13 points before Friday’s games.

Quelle: http://www.azcentral.com/sports/coyotes/articles/1118yotesnb1118.html

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18.11.2006 von Coyote.

Jetzt hat es die Cooyten auch in regulärer Spielzeit erwischt: auf eigene Eis gab es eine 1:2 Niederlage gegen Atlanta. Wie shcon in den letzten Spielen agierten die Coyoten ein wenig planlos, Torgefahr entstand nur selten. Einzig Steve Reinprecht konnte erneut überzeugen - er erzielte den Treffer zum 1:0 für Phoenix.

Steve Reinprecht ist die Überraschung bislang in dieser Saison bei den Coyotes. Er scheint sich in einer Reihe mit Mike Comrie und Mike Johnson sehr wohl zu fühlen. Da nun adislav Nagy wieder Fit ist wird es jedoch Konsequenzen im Kader der Coyotes geben.

Erik Westrum wurde nach dem Spiel wieder nach Sarasota geschickt um zum Einen Platz im Roster für Nagy zu schaffen und zum Anderen um am Camp der Manatees teilzunehmen. Da man die RCJ - Reihe nicht sprengen will wird es eine Umbesetzung im Kader geben. Ladislav Nagy wird in die erste Reihe auf die Centerposition mit den Flügelspielern Patrik Elias und Shane Doan berufen. Rod Brind’Amour rückt damit in seine “alte” Reihe um Michal Handzus und Jere Lehtinen zurück. Großer Verlierer dieser Umstellung ist damit Brendan Morrison, für den “nur” der Spot als Center Nr. 4 bleibt. Für Morrison sollte dies eine Art Weckruf sein - seine Bilanz ist in dieser Saison nicht wirklich überragend.

In der Defensive wird zudem Ossi Vaananen in den nächsten Spielen die Chance haben sich zu beweisen. Damit wird das Lineup vorerst wie folgt aussehen:

Elias - Nagy - Doan
Reinprecht - Comrie - Johnson
Handzus - Brind’Amour - Lehtinen
Isbister - Morrison - Sjostrom

Morris - Zubov
Mara - Boynton
Vaananen - Michalek

Belfour

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