Nick Schmaltz Give Arizona Coyotes Fans Something to Cheer About in Dismal Season

The Arizona Coyotes are in the midst of a pretty lousy season. The team is neck and neck with Seattle and Montreal in the race for the worst record in the NHL. Back in December, the team was notified that they would be locked out of their home ice, the Gila River Arena, if they didn’t pay their $1.3 million back taxes bill. The money was paid, but starting next season, and for at least the next three seasons, the Coyotes will call Arizona State University’s new ice arena home. The new ASU arena will only seat about 5000, considerably less than the 17,125 that Gila River Arena holds, and it will be far smaller than the current smallest NHL arena, the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg (15,321).

On the ice, things haven’t been great either as the team’s record indicates. The team is averaging 2.50 goals per game, second from the bottom in the league, and is allowing 3.55 goals per game, 27th in the league. The Coyotes are 31st in penalty killing, and are last in the league in Power Play goals and percentage. So, when something goes well for the Coyotes, its worth celebrating by those fans who haven’t quit paying attention to them altogether to more closely watch the Phoenix Suns terrific season.

Such is the case of center Nick Schmaltz. On March 5th, Arizona hosted Ottawa, and Schmaltz scored two goals and had five assists to lead the Coyotes to an 8-5 victory over the Senators. The seven point performance established a new team points record for a single game. Then in Arizona’s next game, at Detroit on March 8th, Schmaltz scored two more goals and added two assists in the Coyote’s 9-2 drubbing of the Red Wings. Ok, so the Senators and Red Wings are both under .500, but Arizona led off the month on March 3rd with a 2-1 win at home over the team with the best record in the NHL, the Colorado Avalanche. Schmaltz scored a goal in that one as well, which turned out to be the game winner. Schmaltz has 16 goals and 21 assists this season.

The Coyotes will put their 3-0 March record on the line on March 10th at Toronto. Here’s some highlights from that 8-5 win over Ottawa: