Avalanche 3 - Canucks 4; Injury Edition

Short thoughts from me to close out the game:

Johnny Liles with the NHL record! 9 straight games with an assist to open the season as a defenseman and he's now in the record books. Time to trade him while his stock is high. EDIT: I really simplified that record first time out, now corrected.

What in the blue hell was Jonas Holos doing driving the puck towards his own net on the game-winning play? I've been loving what Holos has brought to the team but that was a dandy. Oh well, call yourself an idiot, shake it off and don't do it again.

Does Manny Malhotra have a gold tooth?

How about the Duke defying age and his gimpy knee? He's still got silky smooth hands. And he's a pretty good stickhandler too... Too much? Yeah, moving on.

Conversely that Duchene kid hasn't brought anything this year and I'm surprised he hasn't been sent to the AHL yet.

Daniel Winnik continues to be the best free agent signing of the year with his hard working play. He got rewarded with a goal tonight and 18+ minutes of ice time. Well done, sir.

Where's Brandon Yip?

How about those injuries and close calls tonight? Liles gets cranked from behind , Stastny ate an elbow to the face and David Jones did something to his leg/knee/foot. All of them returned to the game but there was a lot of breath being held until they did.

I feel like I'm forgetting something. What was it? Oh that's right...ohmygodIhopeAndydidn'tblowouthiskneeduringwarmup!

Dater posted the injury video (embedded below) and it looked odd. It looked more like a tweak than a blown knee but let's wait until tomorrow before we start speculating, pontificating and prognosticating on how bad it is and what it means to the team. Or freak out now. Dealer's choice, really.

Budaj played a solid game tonight and it looks like he might be needed for a couple more upcoming starts. I think the updated hairdo is providing a solid aura for him so I'm not concerned if he has to fill in for a bit.



Related Links
NHL.com Event Summary

Avalanche 4 - Blackhawks 3, Late Review Edition

It was a good start to the season last night and you can already get a glimpse at some promising -and some troubling - developments. I'm going to reel off some thoughts and forgo a more eloquent recap. But to make it seem like I did put thought into this, I'll group things into the "promising" and "troubling" categories.

Troubling
The Avs strategy without the puck still seems to be "chase the puck". It didn't work well last year and it doesn't look like it will do any better this year. Time to fix it.

Slow start, great middle, terrible end - this apparently hasn't changed from last year. It makes for nail-biting finishes but it's super stressful. Quit giving up the lead!

You remember during the MHH roundtable how a lot of us talked about how this team had toughness but nobody knew about it? Where the hell was that last night? They may not be the biggest team but they've got at least show they've got a pair. Anderson shouldn't have to defend himself, guys shouldn't be allowed to get close enough to bother him. And what was with Scott shoving Duchene around and getting away with it? I know he's a big guy but you can't let that precedent be set.

Where was Brandon Yip last night? Vacation? Did he stay at a Holiday Inn Express at least?

Promising
Johnny Liles is just 38 points away from hitting 40 on the season.

Paul Stastny owned that game~ He's always been the quiet guy who just GSD (got $#!^ done) but last night he was extremely noticeable. It looks like he's about to take a step forward in his development and possible become a dominant force.

Chris Stewart is a beast. A beast with silky soft hands. He is going to be so fun to watch this season.

Milan Hejduk is aging extremely well. If his knee can hold up, he should have a good year. It doesn't seem like he's lost much in terms of speed and he still has some of the best hands in the NHL.

Ryan O'Reilly is looking sharp early on. Can he have as good a start to this season as last season?

How about Matty Duchene taking control and setting up the game winning goal? Hell yeah!

Oh and how about the enthusiasm he showed after the goal? He was celebrating all the way to the locker room. That's going to be infectious for the team and it's clearly a good thing.


Final thought
Starting the season with a win on home ice is always nice. Against the defending champs makes it that much sweeter. Let's hope they can ride that momentum into...Monday?! Monday? Damn, that's a long wait.

To my Canadian friends, enjoy Thanksgiving weekend!

Avalanche vs Sharks - Game Preview

I was off the blogging grid for about a week and it looks like the world kept turning. Who knew!

In the time I've been gone, the Avalanche have continued winning, the bodies on the injured list have continued to pile up and the media (mainstream and otherwise) are looking for the Avs to cool off.

I'll take 2 out of 3 of those any day of the week. The injuries however have got to stop. With the latest news being that T.J. Galiardi is out for 4-6 weeks, the franchise's organizational depth will be tested. Philippe Dupuis has been called up and joins Chris Durno and Brian Willsie from the Monsters roster and press box hound T.J. Hensick finds himself drawing in to the lineup again. Thankfully John-Michael Liles makes his return tonight which should help the powerplay pick up steam.

Though Peter Budaj has recovered from his bout with H1N1, Craig Anderson will make his 14th straight start tonight. I guess coach Sacco felt that with organizational depth being tested, it was best to stick with a hot goaltender. I concur.

As this week has been draining, I'm going to be splayed out on my couch in full relax mode for this one. Enjoy the game everybody. I know I will.

Oh, and Matt Duchene will get goal #2 tonight.

Avalanche 5 - Hurricanes 4; Game Highlights

A couple weeks back, I was covering a World Junior announcement regarding ticket packages at TCU Place in Saskatoon. While I was there, I decided to pick up a couple tickets to A Chorus Line. I'm not a big fan of musicals but it's a pretty famous one and I thought it would be a good way to score some points with the lady friend.

"What day?", the ticket agent asked. "How about Friday?", I said, thinking that way I could get it out of the way and enjoy the weekend. Of course, I forgot to check the Avs schedule and I was left taping the game for later viewing.

And view it I did. Most times when I record a game, I fast-forward through a lot, only checking out goals or big hits. This time, I skipped through commercial breaks and intermissions but didn't touch the remote while play was underway.

When you think about it, it's not hard to understand why I would be willing to sit through a whole game even though the outcome was already decided. This team is simply fun and exciting to watch. 2-0 deficit? No problem, I'll keep watching.

And as Peter Mcnab said, any fans at that game will be coming back to the next one. And hopefully they bring their friends because my goodness there were a lot of empty seats.

Game highlights

Did anybody have any doubt once the first Avalanche goal went in that this game was about to be tied real quick?

The Avalanche continue to have trouble clearing pucks. It was a bad decision on a clearing opportunity by David Jones that led to Carolina's third goal. They need to solve this problem.

With John-Michael Liles still injured, the Avs tried Milan Hejduk out on the point on the powerplay. The first shift, it did not go so well. But after that, things settled down and Hejduk ended up scoring a beauty of a goal after sneaking in from the left side. I'm still not a huge fan of putting a forward on the point but their options are limited with Liles out of the lineup.

After Darcy Tucker was injured - oh don't worry, I'll get to that - the lines were shuffled around a bit to fill in the gap. But the overall combos felt very solid tonight. Marek Svatos is not a first line talent but moving Milan Hejduk down to play with Matt Duchene was a solid move. Hejduk and Paul Stastny still have more chemistry than Duchene and Hejduk but it was nice to see Duchene with someone who can move the puck with him rather than seeing Duchene try to do it all himself.

Oh, and the Canes first two goals? From the left side D-men? Maybe somebody could cover that spot in the future, mkay?

Player Highlights

Paul Stastny had what could be his breakout game for this season. Two goals and one assist along with an excellent defensive showing has me hopeful that he's picked up the pace on what was a bit of a lackluster start for Staz.

Wojtek Wolski has appeared again now that the team is back on home ice. Maybe he gets lonely on the road but home ice advantage really seems to help out Wolski's game. He played on the third line with Ryan O'Reilly and Chris Stewart and I thought that was a solid combo.

And speaking of Chris Stewart, after being sent down to Lake Erie he was called right back up - notably skipping above T.J. Hensick - and put in a good showing on the night. I still wouldn't call it great, even though he did assist on two goals and had five shots. I still expect more out of Stewart and find he isn't strong on his skates and isn't throwing his body around with as much conviction as he can.

Matt Duchene has started firing the puck with a much more relaxed release. He got off eight shots on the night, four of which were on goal. While some are undoubtedly disappointed he only has one goal, it's not for lack of trying.

Ryan O'Reilly really doesn't even need explanation anymore. There is no doubt that he is the steal of the 2009 draft at this point. 10 games, two goals, seven assists. He played for 19 minutes tonight which is a new career high. It was nice to see him get some powerplay time as he's certainly earned it.

Ryan Wilson could be making Brett Clark expendable. Once John-Michael Liles is back, I wouldn't mind seeing Wilson stay up with the club and have Clark watch from the press box.

The Darcy Tucker injury

Cover your ears, kids as this one won't be pretty.

There is absolutely no f'n room in hockey for bullshit hits like the one Tuomo Ruutu put on Darcy Tucker tonight. I don't care that Ruutu is not a dirty or overly aggressive player or that he didn't mean to hurt him. I don't care if he was sainted by JC himself, it's a complete brainfart of a move and Ruutu deserves a suspension and fine to prevent his brain from farting again.

The concept is so braindead simple that I could teach it to a monkey in about 20 minutes. IF YOU SEE THE NUMBERS, YOU DO NOT HIT THAT PLAYER. No exceptions. No "Oh, he turned his back to me." No "I thought he was turning into it." No "The game is so fast it was just a 'bang-bang' play". Bullshit. Those are all excuses that players use because they couldn't pull their head out of their ass.

It happened to me once and I still feel the effects to this day and I'm one of the lucky ones. Others have suffered serious injuries including broken necks and paralysis due to completely avoidable hits. Are we really waiting for a poster child from the NHL to be paralyzed before people start raising hell about this problem? Won't somebody think of the children?

And I'm serious about the children. To get this completely out of the game, you have to start at the lowest level and drill it into their heads from day one. Coaches teach kids to "finish their man", which is great and I 100% agree with that, but it has to be tempered with the caution that you never finish a player who has their back to you.

If a player turns and gives up their back, you let up. I don't care what sort of insults you hurl at the player who pulled a coward move like that, but it can not be an excuse for delivering a hit from behind. Do you really want to be the person who injures someone because your coach will yell at you if you don't?

While watching Team Canada's U20 squad practice in Saskatoon over the summer, I noticed they all had "STOP" signs on the backs of their jerseys. Maybe that needs to be there from day one all the way through to the show.

Related Links

NHL.com Game Summary
Update on Tucker from AD
MHH Recap
Video and thoughts from Puck Daddy on Ruuto hit on Tucker

Matt Duchene Staying with the Avalanche

I don't think anyone will be surprised by the news that Matt Duchene is with the Colorado Avalanche for the season.

And I'm not even surprised that Jori scooped everybody on this one and had the news up on her site before any other Avs related coverage did.

She also found an article hinting that O'Reilly is staying with the team for the season. That would have been surprising at the start of the season, not so much after seeing his play through 8 games.

So two 18-year olds, one 21-year old and one 23-year old will patrol the middle for the Avs. Youth, enthusiasm and skill. I'm loving this season so far.

Avalanche 4 - Red Wings 3; Game Highlights

That ending was so unexpected and yet so damn heartwarming. It was like a cheesy Hollywood movie but it's one I could get behind. After falling behind 2-0 and being absolutely dominated in the first two periods, the Avalanche came out in the third, tied it up, fell behind again, tied it up one more time and won it in the shootout.

Highlights

Cody Mcleod and Ryan O'Reilly are going to stick on a line for a while with the chemistry they showed tonight. Cody Mac had 2 goals + a fight against Brad May while Ryan O'Reilly had 2 assists including a sweet, sweet feed to Mcleod for the second tying goal.

There is no way O'Reilly is going back to juniors. Good news for Avalanche fans, bad news for Team Canada's junior squad.

TJ Galiardi was aching to make himself the next healthy scratch after a weak performance today. He turned it up a bit in the final two minutes but that's nowhere near good enough. His only saving grace will be that the entire team stunk it up in the first two periods.

Wojtek Wolski was planted on the bench in the 3rd period and only had four shifts in the 2nd. He is on a really short leash with Joe Sacco this year. While I'm all for sending messages, it's tough to send a message to just one player on a night like tonight.

Milan Hejduk still has some sick, sick hands. He was smooth as silk out there today and had some moves that made Detroit defenders look silly.

Craig Anderson made some stellar saves in the third period to keep the team in it and if it wasn't for him, the Avs would have been heading into the third down 10-0.

And finally, Matt Duchene got his first goal of the season. It was so quick that it took a second to register. He flew down what would be his off wing and sniped a wrist shot to the top corner, making Chris Osgood look silly, though not as silly as he looked in the shootout. Hopefully with that monkey off his back, Duchene will open up and start potting more of his opportunities. Lord knows he's had enough of them.

Suck it, Wings.

Avs 3 Stars

1) Cody Mcleod
2) Ryan O'Reilly
3) Matt Duchene

Highlight Video

Poll time

Related Links

NHL.com Game Summary
Paul Stastny - "We're just four lines playing with confidence"

Avalanche 4 - Leafs 1; Game Highlights

The Canadian Press

I've got to make this quick but I had to get out a few thoughts.

Cody Mcleod's penalty was not a weak call, it was a 100% illegal hit. See the numbers? Don't hit. Simple.

The hit that took out John-Michael Liles was a very similar play and is the reason the boarding penalty is in place. A push/hit at that distance from the boards is very dangerous and if anybody feels otherwise, ask Liles' separate shoulder and see what it tells you.

Jeff Marek nailed it on his twitter last night - Ian White starts in net Saturday for Ron Wilson.

And it was White who denied me going 2-for-2 on predictions last night. Matt Duchene had his first goal looking him in the face while family, friends and former coaches looked on but White made a huge save to put that milestone off for at least one more game.

When the Avalanche signed Darcy Tucker, I had very mixed feelings but mostly on the negative side. He's wiping a few of those away with his points but I still can't help myself...I'm just not a big fan of the guy.

David Jones keeps pushing for his 30-goal season. I was all over this guy as soon as he came in during 07/08 and it looks like this could be his season.

Adam Foote may be slow, but he's still one strong SOB.

The Avalanche will have two 18-year old centers on their roster for the full season.

Oh, and the Avs are first in the West. In case anyone was curious.

Game 4 Preview: Avalanche vs Blackhawks

The Colorado Avalanche continue their seven game road trip tonight with a game against 20-cent and his Chicago Blackhawks. Unlike the last game against Nashville, I'll be able to watch this one in HD. It's amazing what an HD-snob I've become. I recently downgraded my cable package to drop non-HD channels because every time I tuned in to them, I got annoyed that they weren't in HD. And hey, I'll save myself $30/month whichs sounds like the amount of money you need for a trip to Vegas! The flight + hotel part, that is. I can't be held accountable for the rest of the money I might spend (lose) there.

So now that you know even more about me, how about I get back to the hockey talk, eh?

Last two games

I haven't provided a full recap of the last two games but they weren't terribly impressive. Those last two games felt more like the Avalanche I expected. Some defensive gaffes, some blown leads and some exciting play from Matt Duchene.

Seriously, what does the kid have to do to get himself a goal? I'm worried that all these close chances are going to frustrate him, leading to more missed chances. Hopefully he's getting some good psych counselling in the locker room!

Last game against Nashville saw T.J. Hensick and Ruslan Salei draw in the lineup at the expense of David Koci and Brett Clark respectively. With Jordin Tootoo out of the lineup for the Preds, it was an easy choice for Joe Sacco to give Hensick some ice time. As for Salei, it was likely an attempt to figure which of the overpaid third-line defensemen were more valuable to the team. I'd say Clark is winning so far after a rusty performance by ol' Rusty.

Hensick surprised me with his speed and physical play. Could it be that coach Sacco is instilling a sense of work ethic in a player who was labelled as "Arnason 2.0"?

In the end, there's nothing to be disappointed about by this team starting 2-1-0 with 10 goals for and 5 goals against. Even with a blown lead against Nashville, Sacco is ensuring the team will learn from their mistakes. And that's the number one thing for a squad like this to do.

This game

I haven't given this game much thought as I had some bad news on Friday which took up most of my brain power. Well that and me deciding to re-read the whole Final Crisis series today to take my mind off things. Yes, that includes all the direct and indirect tie-ins. And in case you were curious, it's much better the second time around.

So tonight, I'm going to sit back, relax and enjoy an Avalanche win. That's right, I'm calling it.

Game 2 Preview: Avalanche vs Canucks

(Photo by Garrett W. Ellwood / Getty Images)

Skyrockets in flight....peeewwww....afternoon delight. That's right, it's an afternoon game today as the Colorado Avalanche take on the Vancouver Canucks at 3:00pm ET.

It's also the last home game before the Avs embark on a 7-game road trip that will test their testicular fortitude pretty early in the season.

If they want to head out on a good note, what better way than to beat
Bobba Lu and the Canucks and still be home in time for supper?

Last game

The ceremony brought tears to everyone's eye's, the puck dropped and the Avalanche walked away with a "W". I expected the first two but not the last one. I'm not sure anybody expected the last one. The team was fast, energetic and had a will to win. Sure, they coughed up 19 shots against in the third period but those first two periods were lights out. If they keep playing with that energy, it's going to be a fun season.

The forwards

We finally got to watch the up-tempo play we were promised last season and it was about darn time! Fast breaks, crashing the net, utilizing the entire offensive zone to cycle rather than just below the goal line. Be still my beating heart.

The players have bought in to Sacco's system right from the start so there will be no struggles to identify roles. Everybody knows what they have to do and appear willing to do it. If the first game is any indication - and let's be honest, it often isn't - the Sacco hiring was a good one.

The one thing I still want the wingers to do is cover their defenseman better. Wingers have a tough assignment in the defensive zone in that they have to be ready to receive the first breakout pass, but also have to watch that the opposing D aren't getting free for point shots. Last season, I harped on it a lot. Last game, the D were still too open for my liking.

The defense

Ryan who? Kyle Quincey seems to have eliminated any doubts anyone - including myself - had about the Ryan Smyth trade. I know Detroit is deep on the blue line but how did they let this guy slip through waivers?

The first two defensive lines were solid Thursday but the third pairing of Brett Clark and Kyle Cumiskey was questionable. Cumiskey seems to be having trouble making puck decisions and ends up holding it too long, which led to San Jose's first goal Thursday night. And everyone's favorite overpaid D, Clark, continues to play a perimeter game and constantly looks to block shots as opposed to stopping players from shooting.

I'm curious is Sacco will swap out Clark for Salei today, showing that vets have to pull their weight too, or if Cumiskey will sit showing that rookies are held to the same standard as the vets. From what I understand of Sacco, he'll give Cumiskey some more rope before tying him to the press box.

The goaltending

How pleasant was it to not cringe/cross your fingers/pray to vishnu/cover your eyes on a shot from beyond the hashmarks? Or on a scramble in front? I found myself very confident with Craig Anderson between the pipes.

Anderson stopped all 19 shots he faced in the third, earning chants of "Anderson" from the Pepsi Center faithful, to pick up his first win in the burgundy sweater. I like Anderson's style as he looks like he's willing to do whatever it takes to make a save. And it looks like this team might need a lot of them.

The lines

With Ruslan Salei and TJ Hensick as healthy scratches, coach Joe Sacco went with the following lines:

Wolski-Stastny-Hejduk
McLeod-Duchene-Svatos
Tucker-Galiardi-Stewart
Koci-O’Reilly-Hendricks

Quincey-Hannan
Foote-Liles
Cumiskey-Clark

It's tough to say if Sacco will try and inject Hensick into the lineup and if so, who would come out. Although he played well on Thursday night, it's entirely possible that Ryan O'Reilly will sit this one out to let Hensick work his stuff. Whatever that may be.

The return of howler

Howler is coming home! At least, I hope he is. The Avalanche said they were bringing back a mascot this season and they currently have a teaser splash page up on their site with a silhouette that looks an awful lot like a comical yeti. Anything less than Howler will bring out two thumbs down from this guy.

Game 1 Highlights: Avalanche 5 - Sharks 2

I'll try and get up an actual post tomorrow, but for now here are some quick hits.

Sakic ceremony had me pinch out a couple tears, particularly the locker stall enshrinement. Well done by the organization.

Matt Duchene is ffffffast, but he needs to strengthen up to fight in front of the net and along the boards better.

Wolski looks awake more so than in previous years. I'm liking it.

Who figured "crash the net" could be sound strategy? I was almost getting to like the cycle-but-don't-score strategy.

Galiardi was out a lot on the PK, the most of any forward by far. Sacco is showing confidence in the kids and I'm liking that, too.

Seeing Kyle Quincey play makes me feel much better about the Ryan Smyth trade. Dude was a beast! Ice-time is indicating #1 d-man status and he deserved it.

Was anybody else reminded of this goal on Cody Mac's goal off the rebound from Stewie?

Stastny pulled a Forsberg with his behind-the-back from behind the net out to Wolski. I was getting reminded of a lot of things tonight it seems.

Ryan O'Reilly got his first NHL point before Matt Duchene did. Oh snap!

And hey, Craig Anderson didn't let in any weak goals! Huzzah!

Check out the game highlights below from NHL.tv.

Denver Sports Radio Interview

My 10-minutes of radio fame is up! In case you missed it you can listen to the replay below. I'm big on data storage and don't like anything to vanish into the tubes, never to be seen again.

I'll have a follow-up post later tonight or tomorrow to finish off a few thoughts I had. The 10 minutes went by quick and I had more to say but wanted to make sure we covered all the topics they wanted to discuss.

Did anyone catch my two slip-ups? First was calling Budaj "boody" but there was another one in there that I kind of adjusted mid-sentence so it wasn't a total screw up. Just a partial one.

Blogger doesn't do audio uploads but it does do video (?!?!?) so I had to convert it before uploading. Enjoy staring at the Avs logos while listening to my babble on!

I wish I was in Denver

Did you hear it? Yep, that's what you thought you heard. A fresh set of rookies taking their freshly sharpened skates onto a fresh sheet of ice. I wasn't there, but I heard it.

Colorado Avalanche rookie camp got underway today and following along on Dario's twitter feed had me wishing I was in Denver catching the action first-hand rather than through the Inter-tubes.

There's nothing quite like seeing hockey players heading onto the ice. And when that group includes some promising rookies in Matt Duchene, Ryan Stoa, T.J. Galiardi, along with the returns of Steve Konowalchuk and Sylvain Lefebvre? Invigorating. And that's from 1700+km away. I can only imagine what it felt like to be there.

Is it Oct 5th yet?

Related Links
Training Camp Day Discussion (thoughts from mfrured20)
First day of rookie camp, with video (AD brings back the blog)
Rookie Camp Roundup - Day 1 (Angelique gathers it all up for us)

My how time flies

It's been a month and a day since I last blogged. And it only took two words to kill my spirit.

Ok, that's a lie. Joe Sakic retiring didn't kill my spirit - though it sure didn't pump me up - but what has really kept me away from blogging the last few months is that I was cooked. No bones about it, I needed a break and blogging was the easiest to step away from for a while.

And while I'm not back quite yet, the spirit is returning. It's partially been fueled by my coverage of Team Canada's development camp here in Saskatoon and partially because the rest of the Avalanche bloggers keep churning out content in a dreary offseason while I sit stagnant.

But I've been twitting (yes, I twit, not tweet) and blogging the Team Canada practices as well as the Red-White game last night and watching the Avalanche prospects in action warmed the cockles of my heart.

Kelsey Tessier banked an assist while Ryan O'Reilly had a goal and an assist and was the player of the game. Matt Duchene was held off the scoreboard but he is one smooth skater and stick handler and managed the only goal in the shootout tonight. Cameron Gaunce did his job perfectly and never made a mistake that I noticed.

Tessier has been the surprise of the camp for me. I knew nothing about him coming in other than being drafted by the Avalanche but once I watched him practice and play, he really grew on me.

He's not the biggest guy on the ice but he's fast, fearless and has some good hands. Every shift he's on the ice, the puck finds him at some point and he makes something happen. It could be something small or big, but nonetheless he's working hard every time he's out there. He won't be in the NHL this coming season so I think he's got a really good shot at landing on this squad in a 3rd-line role.

And there's nothing like seeing four of your team's prospects shooting for a spot on a stacked Canadian squad to get you excited about the future.

But before I talk too much about the future, I've got to slay my white whale: the "farewell Joe" post. I fear that by now, I won't have anything to say that would live up to the lead-in time I've given it.

I'll still give it a shot, but let's lower our expectations about 20% before I get it out.

Related Links
2010 Juniors Blog
TSN.ca World Juniors Coverage\
2010 Juniors unofficial Twitter feed

The Rebuild Begins

It was the trade heard 'round the world. The Ryan Smythtrade signaled the end of an era for the Avalanche. An era that included greatness, dominance and glory coupled with a steep fall from grace which included shame, ridicule and frustration.

Now, it's time for Paul Stastny. Time for Chris Stewart. Time for T.J. Galiardi. Time for Matt Duchene. Time for Kevin Shattenkirk. Not all this year of course, but these players will be the new face of the Avalanche.

But was it time to let Ian Laperriere walk after offering him less than he deserved? Was it time to trade Ryan Smyth for Kyle Quincey + two bags of pucks? Was it time to keep Darcy Tucker knowing they would be shedding salary so would have the cap space to eat his buyout. No.

And if it turns out Sakic told Sherman "I'm retiring" and he still got rid of Smyth, then heaven help the man because I think he might get beat down by a crazed fan.*

So prepare yourselfs, Avs fans because it's going to be a rough couple years in terms of standings. But the joy of watching these young kids grow and cheering them on is untouchable. New leaders will emerge, new stars will blossom, and the organization will have a new identity when all is said and done. And I (have to) believe that identity will be a good one.

But I've got concerns with Stan Kroenke's ownership recently. A rebuild is one thing, but cutting costs is another. And the cost-cutting isn't coming just in the player salary department, but throughout the organization. I'm a penny-pincher by nature but you can't let that blind you to your surroundings.

It appears Kroenke is being blinded and possibly distracted by his many other sporting endeavors. Given that he's pouring more money into Arsenal, the cost cutting can't be due to tanking Wal-Mart shares or real estate holdings. Something else is behind his apparent disregard for the Avs and it is concerning.

This rebuild could be spectacular. But it could be hamstrung by an owner not willing to open his pockets for his former favorite child while still expecting fans to open theirs. A rebuild is mutual, as is the partnership between a team and its fans.

Let's hope we can work this out together.

*I'm not implying I would do it. This was not a threat. Please stay away from me, FBI. I'm also not saying I wouldn't do it...

Do the Avalanche have room for Super Joe?

The Avalanche are likely done with the free agent signings after nabbing Craig Anderson (good stuff) and David Koci (WTF?) on the first day. And since I believe Joe Sakic is coming back, we should take a look to see how much cap space is left for his contract.

I've put together a quick Google spreadsheet which includes a couple projections to fill out the Avs 2009/2010 roster. I've got T.J. Galiardi making the team while Ryan Stoa and Matt Duchene do not. I also put in some projected numbers for David Jones and Kyle Cumiskey, who both received qualifying offers but no contract has been signed. I believe both will re-sign and neither should be getting any large increase in salary, but I did give them a modest bump because I'm nice that way. And finally, I brought back Daniel Tjarnqvist as a 7th defenceman, but you can slot in any serviceable name in that 7th-D slot.



With all the dust settled, there is enough space to give Sakic a $5M contract. I went conservative and gave him a $4.5M contract, leaving some flex in cap space. Of course, this is complete conjecture on whether Sakic would take "just" $4.5M for what would undoubtedly be his final season. And it's still conjecture on my part that he's coming back but let's not ruin the entire point of this post.

Would it be disappointing for Matt Duchene to not get a chance to skate with his idol, Joe Sakic? Absolutely, but I'd be willing to bet that even if he doesn't prove NHL-ready during the development and/or training camps, he'll stick around for at least one game to start the season so he can say he skated with Joe.

There's also plenty of time for Greg Sherman to work on unloading a bloated contract or two to some sucker GM out there - maybe Burke would take Darcy Tucker? - to open up more space for youth. Of course, the odds of that happening are slim to none but one can hope, right?

If you notice a mistake in the spreadsheet or think I'm flat-out wrong, feel free to either comment below or open up the spreadsheet and make a change.

Matt Duchene Tribute Video

I found a link to a Matt Duchene tribute video in a post I'd done back in April. I'm not sure how I found it but damned if it didn't get me fired up again. You can see some Joe Sakic in him in terms of the wrist shot but after watching it, I see a ton of Peter Forsberg in this guy as well.

Matt Duchene Tribute Video

*sighs dreamily*

Post-Draft Thoughts - Avalanche Look to Major Junior

Once the smoke had cleared, the Avalanche got their guy - Matt Duchene - and added an additional forward, three defencemen and two goalies.

Round 1 (3) - Matt Duchene (C, Brampton Battalion)
Round 2 (33) - Ryan O'Reilly (F, Erie Otters)
Round 2 (49) - Stefan Elliot (D, Saskatoon Blades)
Round 3 (64) - Tyson Barrie (D, Kelowna Rockets)
Round 5 (124) - Kieran Millan (G, Boston U)
Round 6 (154) - Brandon Maxwell (G, US National Team)
Round 7 (184) - Gus Young (D, Noble)

In the first three rounds, the Avs strayed from US college hockey and went to Canada's major junior leagues in the CHL, grabbing two forwards from the OHL and two defencemen from the WHL. High-fives all around for those choices. Nobody likes to stereotype but gun to my head, I'd say it's the O that pumps out snipers, the W that pumps out D and the Q that gives us our lovable Francophone goaltenders.

Round-by-round Compustrike numbers
Round 1 was a no-brainer. A chimp could have got up and eeked out something sounding like "uchie" and everyone would assume he meant Duchene. But still, high-fives for not f'n it up!

In Round 2, the Avalanche made two excellent choices. I've watched Stefan Elliot and think he will grow into a solid top-four defenceman who can play on the #1 PP unit. In fact, some have labelled him as a Brian Rafalski-type player. He's got a shot at being on Team Canada for the 2010 World Junior tournament here in Saskatoon, which may be the first time an Avs prospect has played for Team Canada at the U20's. I've never seen Ryan O'Reilly play but I like the sounds of the scouting reports. Sure, he's not going to step on the ice this year and tear it up, but it sounds like he could mature into a top-six forward.

In Round 3, the Avalanche decided to go with Len Barrie's - yes, he of Lightning ownership fame - son, Tyson Barrie. He was partnered with Luke Schenn in Kelowna which gets my seal of approval. He put up some solid numbers in the Rockets run to the Memorial Cup and I'll be sure to be at the Blades-Rockets games to watch two Avs prospects duke it out on defence.

The Avs need more goaltending prospects and they looked to the late rounds to fill those up by grabbing Kieran Millan in Round 5 and Brandon Maxwell in Round 6. I could have sworn earlier today that Millan's stats were on hockeydb and showed a GAA of 1.67 in 28 games played this year, but I must have been off my rocker as . Maxwell would appear to be a longshot but there's something about Millan that has me slightly hopeful. EDIT: The Avs draft page say he posted a GAA of 1.94 while leading Boston to the NCAA championship.

And in Round 7, they grabbed another defenceman, Gus Young. I won't even attempt to say if this was a good choice or not. But he's got a good name, so I like him.

He won't know how successful this draft was overall for a few years, but on paper it looks pretty good. An argument could be made that we've got a lot of offensive defencemen waiting in the pipes and limited blue-chip goaltending prospects. But blue-chip goaltenders are tough to find and defensive defencemen often come out of nowhere to surprise you. I think the cubbard (intentional) is looking good.

Now we enter the free agency waiting zone where the Avs should be relatively quiet, unless they're able to offload some salary. And I wouldn't get my hopes up on that front if I were you.

Related Links
Avalanche.com Draft Wrap-up
Matt Duchene Post-Draft Interview (via MHH)
Duchene fist-pump knowing he was going to Colorado (via Jib)
5 Questions with Matt Duchene

The Avalanche Draft Matt Duchene #3

Welcome to the Colorado Avalanche, Matt Duchene!

I'm so excited. More thoughts later but for now, back to enjoying the new office!

Oh and Sherman? No french.

EDIT: TSN says "Comparable: Steve Yzerman"

Come on, guys. "Comparable: Joe Sakic"

Draft Day Begins in 10 Minutes

Our wonderful IT crew has our Internet up and running, I found a TV with a cable connection and I'm good to go!

Rumor is Duchene is going #1. I don't believe it. I still think the Islanders are crazy to not take Tavares. He's ready to play. Duchene might not be.

Nonetheless, the intrigue has spiced things up!

Buckle down, folks. Garth Snow should be up at the podium in about 10 minutes.

Draft Day is Upon Us

Draft day is upon us and it would appear I've been in hibernation for the past two weeks. Well, I have reasons and they're work related - not in a bad way, in a very, very good way - but I won't bore you with that. What I will bore you with is some thoughts on the upcoming draft.

There has been a lot of controversy, so to speak, around what order the top three - John Tavares, Victor Hedman and Matt Duchene - will be selected in. But the smart money should still be on Tavares going first, followed by Hedman and then Duchene. The Islanders would be crazy not to take Tavares, the lightning need defence so bad it's tearing the owners apart and the Avalanche need to replace Joe Sakic, who has been silent as a monk since the season ended.

If the Avalanche are forced to take Tavares or Hedman, there will certainly be no tears shed, but I've got my hopes riding high on Duchene. Possibly unreasonably high, but can you blame me based on the last couple seasons? I'd grasp at anything right now to feel good about this franchise.

Heck, I started falling in love with the guy during the OHL playoffs and when Greg Wyshynski noted that Duchene was wearing a short-sleeve dress shirt + tie combo, the man crush was in full effect. Then Chris Pope fired me an email with a link to an interview he had with Duchene and damned if I wasn't ready to propose right then and there.

When the draft goes down tomorrow, I may not be able to be part of the breaking news. At noon tomorrow, we will be shutting down our office and shifting about ten blocks southwest to some swanky new digs. I will also be working on rolling out some internal system changes to coincide with the shrink wrap completely coming off on Monday morning.

I'm disappointed I won't be able to sit on my duff with my new netbook on my lap, but this move was a long time coming. It will just add to me elation tomorrow when the Avs snag Duchene. So if you don't hear from me, don't worry. I'm around and I'm happy. And I promise, I've got some thoughts I need to get out so you'll be hearing them soon.

Ah, the rallying cry of bloggers everywhere.