Stronso

By Sergey Kocharov




Before this season commenced, the Phoenix Coyotes’ brain trust felt that in order for them to be successful this year and remain in the hunt for a playoff spot in a tough Western Conference, they will need Slovakian born Ladislav Nagy to take his game to another level.



Well, consider it done.



The 5-foot-11, 192-pound forward scored his fifth goal of the season on Friday night, as the Coyotes fell to the Vancouver Canucks 4-1 at America West Arena._ After nine games this season, Nagy has 5-5-10 totals and is on pace to score 40 goals – a remarkable feat, considering he is only 24 years old.



“The pucks are going in for me right now, and when that happens you just want to shoot the puck even more,” said Nagy, who was acquired with Michal Handzus, Jeff Taffe and the first round choice in the 2002 Entry Draft (Ben Eager) for Keith Tkachuk in March of 2003.



“We are playing hard right now and I’m just trying to do my job and contribute._ Sometimes, the puck will go in for you and sometimes it won’t._ You have to find a way to stay positive and continue to work hard._ Hopefully, I will continue to have this success all season long.”
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Entering his third full season with the Coyotes, the fifth year pro has shown signs of sheer brilliance on the ice._ Whether it’s his remarkable skating ability, vision on the ice or his accurate shot -- which is now starting to find the back of the net on consistent basis – Nagy is starting to look more and more like a prolific sniper in the National Hockey League.



“Ladislav is a goal scorer and he’s provided that aspect of his game,” said Francis._ “Nowadays – (referees) call so many penalties – it’s tough for a guy like Lads (Nagy) to stay in the game. We’ve been discussing about getting him involved in the penalty kill. We don’t want to take him out of the game, because he is such an offensive force.”



Francis also believes that if Nagy remains consistent in his overall production, he will ultimately hit the 40-goal plateau sooner rather than later.



“He is already a very good player in this league,” said Francis._ “He has the ability to be an elite player if he works on his consistency._ If he shows up on a consistent basis with the intensity he has when things are going well, he is going to be a 40-goal scorer.”

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