The day after getting blasted 6-1 by the Islanders
and holding a closed-door,
players-only meeting, the Phoenix Coyotes made some roster moves
by sending Lucas Lessio and Chris
Brown to AHL Portland, recalling
veterans Brandon Yip and Tim Kennedy. Yip, 28, has 172 games of
NHL experience on his resume and Kennedy, 27, has 125, a far cry from
the 20-year-old Lessio (three) and 22-year-old Brown (eight). The
moves are in accordance with what ‘Yotes head coach Dave Tippett
said following the defeat on Long Island.
“We don’t have enough players playing with
the right identity right now, We will fix that.”
It’s no secret Phoenix likes its veteran
players. Traditionally, the club’s free agent activity has been
marked by signing experienced skaters, this year it was Mike
Ribeiro; last year it was David
Moss and Steve Sullivan, and the organization has taken a patient
approach by not rushing highly-touted draftees Brandon Gormley,
Connor Murphy, Henrik Samuelsson and Max
Domi into the NHL. So the hope now is that Phoenix finds its
identity, and finds it fast. The team has been outscored 10-2 in
consecutive losses to San Jose and New York, wildly uncharacteristic
for defensive-oriented team that finished tied for fourth in the NHL
last year with six shutouts.
“It’s completely unacceptable,”
Tippett said following the Isles loss. “We have a lot of work to
do as a team. We just weren’t good enough.”
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