It was easy to miss, buried in the third sentence of a four-sentence recap of last Thursday’s 3-2 win over the Atlanta Thrashers: “Norris Trophy candidate Keith Yandle provided three assists…”

AROUND THE PACIFIC

Consider those the opening words of a modest PR campaign that has plenty of time to gain steam.

Yandle’s credentials are undeniable: The 24-year-old has a team-leading 51 points, the most of any NHL defenseman. His plus-4 rating is no fluke; Yandle is averaging 24:06 per game on a No. 1 pair with Derek Morris – on a team that’s only plus-5 for the season.

His case will be helped by the fact that his team is playing well. The Coyotes have won seven straight games to climb atop the Pacific Division standings with 73 points (32-19-9). They would hold the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference if the playoffs started today.

While Phoenix is fending off the rest of the division, Yandle must fend off the credentials of perennial Norris winner Nick Lidstrom, 18-goal scorer Dustin Byfuglien, and defending winner Duncan Keith, to name just a few.

The Coyotes and their top defenseman can help their respective causes quite a bit this week. Saturday’s 3-2 win in Nashville kick-started a stretch of five road games in 10 days going through Philadelphia, Tampa, Columbus and Chicago.

Fairly or not, a player from Phoenix must perform well in his limited chances against Eastern teams in bigger markets to make a dent in the voting. Take nothing away from the credentials of Keith, Lidstrom, Zdeno Chara, Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger or Al MacInnis, but the last Norris winner who played west of St. Louis was the Kings’ Rob Blake, back in 1997-98.

Young guys don’t win it often, either. The youngest, Bobby Orr, was 20 when he won his first Norris in 1968. If Drew Doughty’s candidacy wasn’t already hurt last year by the fact that he plays in Los Angeles, the “wait until he’s older” argument also dampened enthusiasm for the 20-year-old’s 16-goal, 43-assist season.

And speaking of modesty, don’t look for Yandle to toot his own horn. Asked to comment on his three-assist performance after the Atlanta game, the newly christened Norris candidate replied, “I think we’re playing well as a team.”

“Everybody else, individuals, you get more recognition for it,” Yandle continued. “When you’ve got guys like Korpi [Lauri Korpikoski], who’s having a breakout season. Marty [Martin Havlat], guys like that. It’s good for our club and obviously good for everybody else.”

The stakes of this road trip are big for the Coyotes, too.

Two other Pacific Division teams will have spent a long time in the Eastern time zone in February. San Jose went 4-2-0 on a recent six-game trip, while Los Angeles went 3-1-2. The Sharks are now just one point back in the standings and the entire division is separated by only five points. That puts an ever greater onus on the Coyotes to handle the rigors of cross-country travel.

“Every team, it’s going to be a tough game,” Yandle said. “They’re going to be tough points to come by. We just have to play every game 100 percent.”

For Yandle, that seems to be second nature these days.

He was very good in his second full season in 2009-10, going 12-29-41 with a plus-16 rating in 82 games. But a couple words from team captain Shane Doan at the beginning of this season seemed to have pushed Yandle to the next level.

“Shane told me at the beginning of the year that he wanted me to be the best player on the ice, to strive and be that,” Yandle recently told NHLPA.com. “That meant a lot to me and that stuck with me.”

The Stars made their biggest trade of the pre-deadline week Monday, acquiring 25-year-old D Alex Goligoski from the Pittsburgh Penguins for LW James Neal and D Matt Niskanen. Goligoski has nine goals and 31 points in 60 games for the Pens and was tied for the team lead at plus-20. Neal, 23, is in the midst of his third straight 20-goal season. Niskanen had struggled this season and had six points in 45 games. … Stars C Brad Richards, sidelined by a concussion since Feb. 13, said that “the biggest thing I have to have right now, just let Mother Nature fix itself with my brain and whatever is going on." … The Coyotes’ Ray Whitney revealed that a closed-door meeting with head coach Dave Tippett in November helped turn his season around. … Pierre LeBrun of ESPN.com reported that the sale of the Coyotes to investor Matthew Hulsizer is expected to close this week. … Coyotes D Ed Jovanovski is expected to miss several weeks after undergoing surgery Friday for an orbital bone fracture. The 34-year-old has five goals and nine assists in 47 games this season. … The Kings assigned F Andrei Loktionov to AHL affiliate Manchester with veteran F Marco Sturm set to return from IR for Wednesday’s game in Anaheim. … With starting G Jonas Hiller recuperating from what the team is calling a “balance issue,” Curtis McElhinney and Timo Pielmeier allowed nine goals in the Ducks’ 9-3 loss in St. Louis on Saturday. … Ducks GM Bob Murray said he isn’t planning to recall Ray Emery, who made back-to-back starts last weekend for the team’s AHL affiliate in Syracuse, NY, or obtain another goalie for the short term.

 

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/hide comments

Write comment