Kachina Corner Weekly Thoughts: Something is Wrong with the Coyotes

Bjugstad's importance, arena updates, and the Coyotes' recent performances

Welcome to the first written piece of Kachina Corner, a premium article for The Hockey Writers Substack. Each week, I will share my thoughts and observations of the Arizona Coyotes on and off the ice. 

This week’s edition features a look at the Midwest road trip the team took in the past week. We’ll also take a look at what happened in the one-game homestand against the New Jersey Devils. Finally, there’s some arena news like always. The land in Scottsdale is becoming more interesting every day with more news coming as well. Let’s take a look at the thoughts.

There’s Something Wrong with the Coyotes

There’s something off with the team. Despite a two-game winning streak, there’s something weird going on if you remove the wins they’ve had. Recently, they won against the Detroit Red Wings who they beat a couple of weeks ago. The Red Wings have looked awful recently and the team has prospered off that. The team also won against the New Jersey Devils who have also looked awful as of late. They are dealing with a completely new goaltending tandem of Kappo Kahkonen and Jake Allen. They’ve also struggled under intern head coach Travis Green with a 2-3 record entering their matchup against the Coyotes.

However, the Coyotes have struggled in other games including one against the lowly Chicago Blackhawks. In those games, there have been things that haven’t looked right for the team. The goaltending outside of Connor Ingram’s big shutout against the Red Wings has been questionable and looks nothing like the goaltending we saw in November. It’s no secret that Karel Vejmelka is having a down year and Ingram can’t carry this team on his back.