Avalanche 2 - Flyers 4, Quick Thoughts Edition

After defeating the Stanley Cup winning Chicago Blackhawks, the Avalanche turned their attention tonight to the Stanley Cup losing Philadelphia Flyers. Unfortunately the Avs walked away with their first loss of the season thanks in large part to an abysmally atrocious first period which included two shorthanded goals against. Two.

EDIT: As Tapeleg points out, technically the second goal wasn't a shortie. I still count it in my mind [since the giveaway which kickstarted the play occured while still on the PP] . I'd be open to settling on one-and-a-half.

The Avalanche started the game as a turnover machine and it burned them. You can't turn over the puck as many times as they did and expect to win a hockey game. It was an unbelievably frustrating thing to watch and I can only assume Joe Sacco tore them a new one during the intermission.

As per standard fare, the Avs turned it on in the second period and got within one. In fact, they nearly pulled even but Sergei Bobrovsky made a great save with about 0.01 seconds left on the board to preserve the lead.

Sidebar - Try to say "Vladimir Bobrovsky" fast. I had a heck of a time not bumbling that one. You might wonder why I was calling him Vladimir when his name is Sergei. I'll leave that for you to chew on for a while.

The third period was an exciting, wide open hockey game that had me on the edge of my seat. I subsequently fell off the edge of my seat just as Jeff Carter's game winning goal crossed the goal line, which was awesome.

What a rough way to end a game for Craig Anderson who played great in turning aside 35 shots. I understand the instinct to sweep your legs closed like that but every time I see a goal go in that way, I have to wonder why these guys aren't able to supress that urge.

Quick thoughts
John-Michael Liles had two assists on the night leaving him with just 36 points to go to hit 40 on the season.

Hey, there's Brandon Yip! Scoring a goal and taking a penalty that likely prevented a goal. I wonder what changed tonight that really lifted his spirits...

David Jones still doesn't have the explosive speed he had in seasons past. Let's hope it's not a permanent loss, just a part of his final sprint of rehab.

What the hell was Kyle Quincey doing on his shorthanded breakaway? What looked to be poetic justice turned into something more resembly a poetry recitation.

How about that Giroux kid, eh?

Ladies and gentlemen, your ice-time leader for the Avalanche tonight - Kyle Cumiskey with 22:22! Next up? T.J. Galiardi with 22:05.

Next up - the Detroit Red Wings tomorrow night. Please step it, boys. You know why.

Avalanche Defeat Sharks 2-1, Take 1-0 Series Lead

When Chris Stewart took a penalty less than 30 seconds in, you could hear the hockey nation say "Oh, here we go...". It looked like the Avalanche weren't even going to get their wheels under them before being crushed by the Sharks.

But that penalty ended up being the turning point of the hockey game.

It forced the Avalanche to calm down and focus immediately on a single task - kill the penalty. There was no time for nerves or shaky passes. There was no need to bemoan getting locked in their own zone early because now it was going to happen. All that mattered next was how they responded.

They were able to weather the storm, Craig Anderson got some early action to get into it, and the Avs walked away with the 2-1 win. So much for the sweep, folks.

The vast majority of Avalanche players played their part and then some today. I'm going to single out a few of them that I really focused my eye on, but that's no slight on the rest of the team.

Kevin Porter - Particularly in the first period, I really enjoyed Porter's play. He was physical, defensive and showed a bit of offensive flair on breakouts. He was credited with four hits but I think he had that many in the first period alone. Besides, I call BS on the hit numbers as there's no way San Jose laid more checks than the Avs did tonight.

Kyle Cumiskey - Some people thought Cumiskey should be out in favor of Clark. They wanted Clark's shot blocking and feared Cumiskey's size would be exploited. Tonight, Cumiskey showed that Joe Sacco made the right choice. He was quick, physical and extremely solid defensively. This could be his breakout series.

Craig Anderson - Playoff virgin? It sure didn't look like it tonight. He was calm, cool and collected from start to finish. But please, stay in the net.

Matt Hendricks - Eight minutes of ice-time and five hits? That's what an energy guy has to do and Hendricks did it very well tonight.

Scott Hannan - The last playoffs Hannan was in with the Avs, I really felt he was soft. He turned that right around this game. He was very strong in front of the net and punished guys behind the net, including our old buddy, Jumbo Joe Thornton. He still has no idea what to do with the puck on his stick, but if he keeps pounding bodies I'll be more than happy.

T.J. Galiardi - Finally, we get to the man of the hour. Tonight, he got beat up, high sticked and probably kicked in the junk at some point. Yet it was Galiardi who drove the net, got knocked down, got right back up and stayed in front of the net, leading to the winning goal which banked off ol' Rob Blake's skate as Blake unsuccessfully tried to remove T.J. from the crease.

I don't know what Adam Foote said to this team in their closed door meeting before the game, but he should say it again on Friday.

And all of you should follow the same routine Friday that you did today. You don't want to jinx the team, do you?

Avalanche vs Blues, Game 21 Preview

Is it time for another game? So soon? Have the Avalanche had enough time to fix what ails them? Doubtful unless calling up Kyle Cumiskey and possibly playing him at forward counts as "fixing".

Joe Sakic is "probable" tonight, just as he was before the Ducks game. Let's hope he doesn't come down with rickets before game time.

If Sakic plays, Wojtek Wolski doesn't and Granato wants to play Cumiskey at forward...which player will sit out?

Brian Willsie drew in last game and frankly I didn't really notice he was there. Of course if you read my recap, you'll notice I wasn't really paying attention.

But was Granato going to play Willsie regardless of Sakic's status? If so, who had he originally planned on sitting? David Jones? Tyler Arnason?

Or will Cumiskey end up sitting in the press box his first game up?

Unfortuantely we won't find out until about five minutes before puck drop unless AD drops some inside knowledge on us.

In the meantime, we can be intrigued by the Stastny-vs-Stastny matchup tonight as Paul squares off against his older brother Yan. Maybe not as intrigued as DD but intrigued nonetheless.

Goaltending
It's Peter Budaj vs Manny Legace (courtesy of goaliepost.com).

I'm a bit worried for Peter Budaj. If the team craps the bed again and needs him to bail them out, well it just might send the guy over the edge. He needs a rest at some point. You'd think resting him against a depleted Blues lineup would be an ideal time.

An alternative line of thinking is that this is an ideal game to play Budaj in as he likely won't face many shots and stands a solid chance of pulling out a win.

As for Legace, I think everyone is well aware of what he tends to do when facing off against the Avs.

Scouting
I caught the end of the Predators-Blues game last night as I was in disbelief that it was 0-0 with just five minutes left in the third. Chris Mason was playing superbly and more than making up for the Blues having little to no offensive support.

And that's key for the Avalanche tonight. The Blues only fired 17 shots on Dan Ellis last night and the ones I saw weren't very dangerous.

Now is not the time for mercy. Now is the time to take it to an injury-depleted team.

Video
Paul Stastny Pre-game comments
Ian Laperriere Pre-game comments
Tony Granato Pre-game comments

So even Lappy has to weigh in on the brother-vs-brother thing! But he's spot on with his comments of how to turn things around. Be hungry and win battles. At both ends.

Related Links
Avs lag behind in hit parade

Cumiskey up, Hannan out, Tjarnqvist double out

Kyle Cumiskey is on his way up along with T.J. Hensick. Why? Scott Hannan has flu-like symptoms (ie. a broken leg) and Daniel Tjarnqvist can't sub in as he has a foot injury (ie. a concussion).

To make room on the roster, David Jones has been "loaned" to Lake Erie (ie. demoted)

Have the injury floodgates started to buckle?

Avalanche Add Muscle, Recall McCormick

Cody McCormick has been called back up to the big club. In a move that can only be designed to add some muscle and toughness to the lineup, McCormick will rejoin the team with spark plug Ian Laperriere out for at least another week due to a knee injury.

At 6'3", 215lbs, he adds some size that the Avs desperately need. Aside from Parker, he's the biggest forward the Avalanche have on the roster at the moment.

Karlis Skrastins has also been activated from the IR after some shoulder troubles. To make room, Jeff Jillson was sent down after watching a couple games from the press box. It would have been nice to see Jillson in for at least one game but what can you do.

It's doubtful that McCormick will be in the lineup tonight but Skrastins will likely make his return. Draft Dodger thinks Cumiskey will sit and I doubt he's wrong. Clark and Sauer are the top pair, Finger is the guy who generates some physicality, Hannan is the shutdown/defensive roleplayer and Liles is the powerplay man.

Cumiskey is a Liles clone but with less experience so he could be finding his way back to Lake Erie soon. The Avalanche tend to enjoy having 7 d-men on the active roster with one watching from above though so he could stick around a couple more games.

UPDATE: Rather than sitting the Liles clone, Liles himself is the odd man out. Source: Rocky Mountain News

Skrastins Injured; Avalanche Recalls Cumiskey

First, let me saw that although I understand the grammar behind it, it still feels weird putting "Recalls" instead of "Recall" in that headline.

The Avalanche announcers stated during last night's game against the Wild that Karlis Skrastins was back in Denver with an injured shoulder. So our iron man has been hit with a streak of injuries dating back to the knee injury which ended his streak.

In his place in the press box - well, Finger's place I guess - will be young Kyle Cumiskey who the Avalanche recalled today. Cumiskey put on a great showing in training camp but he's primarily an offensive defenceman and the Avalanche (supposedly) have enough of those. So off to Lake Erie he went.

He should get to watch at least one game from the press box but I've yet to hear if Skrastins is a long-term injury or not.

Cumiskey was called up once already this season when Jordan Leopold went down with a brief hip injury.

Rookie Camp Roundup

The Avalanche rookie camp came to a close today with minimal fanfare. But that doesn't mean the anticipation isn't lingering in the air! Camp got underway Saturday as the rookie lineup hit the ice from 9:30 until 11:30 in the morning. As with most hockey practices, the day started out with drills and ended with a scrimmage. The main difference from your typical practice scrimmage is we're talking a full-on game - refs, fights and all!

Day 1 - Cumiskey, Hensick, Stewart and Jones were the most impressive in Day 1 by most accounts. Stewart was strong on the puck and notched 2 goals in the scrimmage. Hensick appears to be living up to his billing as the Avalanche top-ranked prospect, notching one goal and looking impressive. Stewart will give him a run for the money with his power game plus goal-scoring abilities.

Recaps
Avalanche.com Day 1 Report
Avsprospects Day 1 Report
Woodchub's Day 1 Report

Day 2 - Hensick and Stewart continued to impress in Day 2 with Stewart finding the back of the net twice and Hensick putting one home as well. Mitch Love continued to show his feisty side as he and Brandon Straub dropped the mitts. Wall and Weiman both made some good stops and are, as expected, standing out as the #1 and #2 goaltenders at the rookie camp. Cumiskey, benefitting from his 9 games with the Avalanche last season, has improved his positioning and overall game.

Recaps
Avalanche.com Day 2 Report
Avsprospects Day 2 Report
Woodchub's Day 2 Report

Day 3 - Chris Stewart continued to find the twine today. Stewart tallied a hat trick as did Cody McLeod during the scrimmage. Tyler Weiman did not take part in the scrimmage and was reportedly working with Peter Budaj. So there may be a clear cut #3 coming out of rookie camp and Wieman should be chosen to play with the big boys once they take the ice this week for training camp.

And speaking of the big boys, they made a surprise appearance today and played a game of pickup hockey on the other side of the arena. This made rookie camp reports a bit sparse as most fans understandably flocked over to watch names such as Sakic, Smyth, Hannan, Stastny and - yes - Parker, step onto the ice publicly for the first time since April.

Recaps
Avalanche.com Day 3 Report
Avsprospects Day 3 Report

Day 4 - Rookie camp came to a close today with no scrimmage. It was nothing but drills for the youngsters in their final chance to impress the coaching staff. Cuts will be decided later today to select the group of rookies who will attend the Avalanche training camp,

Recaps
Avalanche.com Day 4 Report
Woodchub's Day 4 Report (on Avalanche forums)


With the conclusion of rookie camp, it's time for the veterans to take the ice. The veteran roster reports to the arena for physicals and medicals on September 13th and will take to the ice on September 14th and 15th. The Burgundy/White game concludes training camp on September 16th followed by the first preseason game against Phoenix on September 17th.

Yes, NHL hockey action has begun and the season is less than a month away! To pass the time, check out some of these interviews and articles relating to the Avalanche's promising youngsters.

Rookie Interviews
Avalanche.com Q&A - Ray Macias
Avalanche.com Q&A - Trevor Cann
Avalanche.com Q&A - Kevin Montgomery
Avalanche.com Q&A - Kyle Cumiskey

Related Articles
Avalanche.com - Weiman Keeps Working
Sports Illustrated Camp Coverage
Gazette.com Camp Coverage
Denver Post - Chris Stewart Article
Denver Post - JD Corbin Article
Gazette.com - Brendon Straub Article
Stewart and Hensick Beat The Odds

If anyone comes across other articles, let me know and I'll add them to the list.