Avalanche Drown Penguins, Win 5-3

(Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

What the hell is with the Rocky Mountain News byline in their game recap?

"Crosby, Malkin combine for 4 points"? Really?

Why not "Jones, Wolski combine for 5 points"? Doesn't that feel just a tad more appropriate for a Denver-based newspaper?

They did cover David Jones' and Wojtek Wolski's excellent games with this nice segue:

"But a couple of Avalanche youngsters had pretty good games, too..."

Sure, it was a bit tongue-in-cheek but when the home team hits a three-game winning streak on the backs of two of their young "stars", shouldn't you use that as the angle for the story?

I know, I know. "Sidney Crosby saved the NHL" as the Altidudes tried to convince us all game long.

No, he did not. It was the huge infusion of young talent - Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Ryan Getzlaf, Mike Richards, Dion Phaneuf, Shea Weber, Mike Green, Carey Price...need I continue? - that helped redefine the NHL post-lockout.

Crosby did not pick up the NHL, put it on his back and ride into town with guns blazing.

And now I've gone and made Crosby the focal point of my recap. Fudgsicles.

Wolski wunning with the ball
Why was Wolski not playing center since day one? Or to reword - since he did play center on day one - why did he not continue to play his natural position?

Having Sakic, Stastny and Wolski down the middle would have given the Avs one of the best best trios in the league.

Had Sakic and Stastny not gone down with injuries, Wolski would still be stuck at left wing with his maddenly inconsistent play. I don't want to say those injuries "happened for a reason" but at least some good came of it.

On the flip side, if Wolski hadn't stepped up to the #1 center role, Tyler Arnason might have been shipped out of town by now.

Though Francois Giguere would probably have needed to package up Wolski in any deal with a reasonably sane GM.

The great balance of life, eh?

Jones swimming to shore
Jones has been impressing me on a consistent basis with his intensity and it paid off big tonight with two goals and one assist.

Both goals came on rebounds in front of the net, proving once again that good things happen when you head to the net.

With his deceptive speed and power, I'm looking for Jones to become a real force on this squad. As I have been since the start of the season, proving once that you can't win 'em all.

Hannan shuts down Malkin
Saying a player got "shut down" when they notched a goal and an assist might make me sound like an idiot.

But if you saw the frustration that Scott Hannan caused Malkin today, you'd realize that I'm less of an idiot than you think I am.

Hannan was in Malkin's face all game long and if there's one knock on Malkin, it's that he can get frustrated easily.

Of course he'll still score 10 goals on you while frustrated, but imagine what he would do if he was happy?

That ought to restore the idiot level nicely.

Raycroft wins again
Andrew Raycroft is now 9-1-0 on the season with seven straight wins.

Is there anything this man can't do?

Raycroft actually presents a striking resemblance to Jose Theodore.

Ostracized by his former team (or the fans at least), won an award many years ago which their reputation is still based upon, pseudo-restored by Jeff Hackett, patchy facial hair, Canadian.

Of course Theodore catches with his right hand, is French, allegedly hooked up with Paris Hilton and has way more money.

But still...

Playoff bound!
The Avs are back in the playoff picture! And if the playoffs started today they would face the Detroit Red Wings.

But they don't so they won't. The playoffs are a long ways off and a lot can happen over the next 615 games.

For the trivia lovers, today's game was the exact halfway point of the 1230 game season.

I don't recall where I read that this afternoon but a glove tap goes out to someone on the ol' Interweb.

Game Highlights


Related Links
Avs beat Penguins, push win streak to three
Jones, Raycroft lead Avs to win
Raycroft, Top line leading the way
MHH Recap

Sakic More Likeable than Crosby?

I've been shocked once already this offseason. Then shocked again after hearing about Forsberg skating in Sweden (because there was no "He's injured!" followup story). I fully expect the trifecta of shockingness to come into play at some point, but today is not that day.

The National Post is running an article titled "Sidney Or Sakic: Who's More Likeable?" and the results are as un-shocking as they get. Joe Sakic had a "Q score" of 26 while Sid the Kid fell behind with a 22.

Poor Sid, for all the hype and marketing - and his 3 full seasons in the NHL -, is less likable than one of the quietest players to ever play the game. Who knew?

Honestly, I didn't need a survey to tell me that people would think more highly of Joe Sakic than Sidney Crosby. Crosby came into the league as a whining 18-year old, was given an "A" in that same year, had the captaincy foisted upon him at the age of 20 - to which they called a press conference to announce -, and has been anointed as the next Great One since he was a young teenager.

In other words, he's been shoved in our faces. Contrast that with a man such as Joe Sakic, who has quietly gone about his business and proven himself a winner at every level and you might get an idea why Sakic is more likable.

Now, I have nothing against Crosby. The problem is that he was so darn good at a time when the league - and the Penguins - needed it. Coming out of the lockout, they needed a face to market the game on. They needed a savior. An icon.

Ok, I don't actually believe that but nonetheless, many people - including the NHL and most of the mainstream media - did and they began shoving him down our throats. And nobody likes anything being shoved down their throat.

For a quick refresher on how the media treats their golden boy, look no further than the end of the National Post article:
"Crosby's numbers should jump once he gets his first ring."

Sigh. There is no guarantee that Sidney Crosby will ever win the Stanley Cup. He's not guaranteed to win another Art Ross. He may never again win the Lester B. Pearson. But the way people talk, it's as if he's entitled to everything just because his name is Sidney Crosby.

See, it's not so much that people dislike Crosby. It's that they dislike the hype that goes along with his name.

Related Links
Case-in-point #2