The Avalanche came out terribly flat footed in this game, prompting me to write a rare in-game post wondering where the real Avalanche team was. They didn't find themselves in the second period either but they finally realized they were playing a hockey game by the time the third period rolled around.
Of course, that's far too late to realize you're playing a hockey game and despite three goals in 2 1/2 minutes, they came up one goal short in the end. The only joy I got out of this game was seeing 5 goals, including a couple weak ones, scored on Dwayne "Whiny" Roloson. Seriously, does that guy ever not bitch about something?
Blame game
So who was to blame for this game? I would point at nobody in particular though I will say that this team appeared woefully underprepared and uninspired for a game of this magnitude. And that preparation tends to fall at the feed of the coaching staff and the veterans of the team. Somebody needed to step in and wake this team up and it appeared nobody felt comfortable stepping in to that position.
Bust or playoffs?
Adrian Dater put up a post during the game asking if people wanted this team to tank or to limp into the playoffs and be a first-round sweep for the Wings. I'd prefer the latter.
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7 Comments:
I think some of the problem was that Forsberg was expected to play, and the lines had to be re-shuffled as a result of his late scratch.
There are so many problems though, namely the lack of a big point shot and the fact that Hejduk is expected to be the team sniper but hasn't been doing anything but turning the puck over!
I'm not sure if Forsberg was ever truly expected to play even though he took the pre-game warmup. But either way, that's still something the team should be able to recover from.
Hejduk has seemed to be coasting this season while displaying a spurt of talent every now and again just to keep people wondering. I can't count how many times he scored a goal and saw someone say "He's breaking out of his slump!"
He's on pace for 24 goals this season, the same amount from the first season post-lockout, and that's just not good enough.
Linemates have certainly been an issue for Hejduk as he really needs to feed off of his teammates and if he can never get in a groove with someone, he just never seems happy.
Yeah, he's not coming out of it anytime soon. I don't know why he just doesn't shoot the puck. He's too fancy and turns it over constantly.
It's even so apparent how much Svatos (and even Clark, who has a decent point shot) are missed.
Yep, he's got fancy moves but if he doesn't convert, there's no point to it. Hemsky has had the same issues but he's started firing the puck and is converting. They're very similar players and I absolutely love watching Hemsky - even if he's scoring on the Avs.
Svatos is definitely missed with his clutch scoring and Clark would be a better option than Leopold has been lately.
Yeah, Leopold is pretty useless; trading Tanguay for him was just a way for the Avalanche to clear up room to re-sign Blake (and that sure worked out!).
I think one of the many problems is the coach, He lost the room a while ago. PP has been atrocious all year, PK is awful too. Even if I like Sakic, I hope he doesn't sign a 6 million/year next year, he's not the same player he used to be. Don't get me started with Hedjuk. Sure he will score a couple of goals in 2 or 3 games and then he completely disappear for the next 8 or 9. I'm not sure I want to see them having their asses handed to them by Detroit in the first round.
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