Arizona Coyotes embracing technology to help find success

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — If the calendar was inching closer to a playoff series rather than an expiration date, perhaps the Coyotes would be heaping more attention and praise on their decision to be a trailblazer among NHL teams in this area.

But since this season swerved off the tracks in the first few months, even the feel-good developments somehow became obscured by the failures and frustrations.

And that's unfortunate.

After lagging behind the other 29 NHL teams' resource pools for four years while the franchise was a ward of the league, the Coyotes are striving for equal footing. Actually, they already seem to be ahead of the curve when it comes to technology with this season being the first that each player has had his own iPad to utilize.

"I wish our record reflected that," said video coach Steve Peters. "I wish we were first place in the Pacific (Division) having this conversation saying, 'This was the key,' but I don't know where we'd be if we didn't."

This progress is best-viewed through Peters' eyes. When he started as the team's video guru in 1997, he worked with VHS tapes and notepads. It took him four-to-six hours to analyze one game.

Now, he logs more than 600 events — faceoffs, hits, break outs, etc. — in real-time during each game.

"The amount of information we provide them — it's staggering," Peters said.

It's not unusual for teams to be using iPads; many have a handful to share and some even use the device on the bench, Peters said. But no team that Peters has heard of has one device issued to each player like the Coyotes have.

The iPads are used to scout the opponent with that information being pushed to players the night before a game. Player grades are also available the day after a game.

But what the players seem to use the iPads the most for is to size up their own performance by watching their individual shifts. Those are uploaded after each game, available for players to grab once they leave the rink or board a plane, and aren't due back to Peters until the next game.

"They want to be good players just like you want them to be good players," coach Dave Tippett said. "Players now, they really take an accountability to that. It's great to see. It shows they're buying into the process of trying to get better and trying to win."

How often the Coyotes are studying varies.

Center Joe Vitale is a sporadic user, checking it occasionally after games or while his children are napping during an off day.

Early in the season, defenseman Connor Murphy's face was buried in his iPad daily and he kept it by his bed. Eventually, though, he started to cut back.

"I thought it did help, but then it started almost to work in the opposite way of being too much mentally," he said.

The youth in the dressing room definitely seems to be using the iPads more frequently than the veterans, but that discrepancy has nothing to do with the theory 20-somethings are more plugged in.

"Younger guys are more nervous probably about how they're playing and the consequences if they play bad," Murphy explained. "And an older guy, he knows how to respond and knows how he felt and how he thought he played and has a better grasp of that."

The depth of video available of the Coyotes and their opponents — the team totes a server with it wherever it go that archives every game every team has played in the last three years — didn't translate to success on the ice this season.

But the Coyotes aren't about to abandon the technology. With more teaching moments likely on the horizon, the value of this tool probably only grows in time.

"We're doing things now ahead of what we ever did before," Tippett said. "So the game continues to evolve in all facets. Electronics, the way you get your message to players, is certainly one of those ways."

Thursday's game

Coyotes at Canucks

When: 7 p.m.

Where: Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia.

TV/radio: FSAZ/KMVP-FM (98.7).

Coyotes update: The Coyotes held an optional practice Wednesday. Captain Shane Doan didn't skate and is considered day-to-day after suffering a lower-body injury in Tuesday's 3-2 loss to the Flames. His status will be evaluated Thursday morning. Even so, the Coyotes recalled W Henrik Samuelsson from their American Hockey League affiliate on an emergency basis.

Canucks update: After missing out on the playoffs last season, the Canucks — led by first-year coach Willie Desjardins — clinched a spot Tuesday when the Kings lost to the Oilers. Next on the Canucks' to-do list is to secure home-ice advantage as Vancouver sits only two points ahead of Calgary for the second seed in the Pacific Division. Despite being postseason-bound, the Canucks have only won once in three tries in April. They haven't played since Monday when they edged the Kings 2-1 in a shootout. W Daniel Sedin continues to pace the team with 72 points. Meanwhile, former Coyote Radim Vrbata has 31 goals.