Avalanche @ Canucks, Game 15 Thoughts

Here's a few more thoughts from last night, in no particular order.

Ruslan Salei played his best game of the season last night. I watched him more closely than any other defender as I was getting tired of seeing him underperform. Early in the first it was apparent his positioning was much better. He wasn't allowing players to skate past him while he brushed them on their side with a "check". Tonight, he was stepping in front of them and preventing them from going around him. His head was moving much better tonight as well and he always seemed to be aware of where the nearest Canucks players were.

The McLappy line had a new ingredient last night as Darcy Tucker joined the line while Cody Mcleod found himself on the third line with Tyler Arnason. Tucker ended up spending some time with Hensick including a shift during OT. The weird chemistry those two had in their past two games may be wearing off a bit. It never made much sense to begin with frankly.

If T.J. Hensick gets sent down, everybody sharpen up your pitchforks. Though he didn't get any points tonight - tough to get any in a one-goal game - he still looked good out there. Coach Granato agreed as he played him for 18 minutes which could be a career high for Hensick. Contrast that with the 8:20 Arnason played tonight in his triumphant return after being a healthy scratch.

Ryan Smyth continues to do a great job fighting in the corners and being a pain in the ass for the opposing team. He's currently on pace for a 23 goal, 53 point season which is not spectacular. Someone could certainly argue it's not worth over $7M/season. But his work along the boards is invaluable and if Granato keeps sticking him in front of the net on the PP, more points will come. He did make one bonehead behind-the-back pass in his own zone but I'll forgive him. Just this once.

Early in the first period while the Avs were shelling Roberto Luongo, Ray Ferraro said "This is what a great goalie can do for you when you struggle" Amen, Ray. We saw it from both sides tonight and it was exciting as hell to watch.

Marek Svatos has been awarded the game-tying goal that originally went to Paul Stastny. In the first view I saw, I was elated as it looked like Svatos had scored. But from the "in the net" view, it looked like Svatos had wiffed on it and Stastny put it in. I'll take this decision as I've got Svatos in my pool and he's been underwhelming so far to say the least.

Chris Cuthbert mentioned itsallaboutlappy.com on the air. Now go buy a shirt and support Ronald Macdonald House!

Now, for my main beef with the game tonight. And it's been a beef of mine since the season started. The Avalanche are running a "wide open" offensive style, right? Then why in the world do they do they try and hold hands through the neutral zone?

There were half a dozen occasions where on a breakout, the player on the opposite side of the ice would skate over and actually get in the puck carriers way. What is the deal with that? Are they trying to use the flying V?

I'm getting frustrated watching the puck carrier try to manoeuvre the puck through his teammates skates while heading into the zone so I can't imaging how the puck carrier feels. It makes negative sense to me.

Related Links
Wolski, Svatos deliver in shootout for Avalanche
Avalanche cracks Luongo in shootout

Official Colorado Avalanche Roster for 2008/2009

In a surprise move, Per Ledin didn't make the cut and has been sent down to Lake Erie along with TJ Hensick. So the Avalanche 2008/09 opening night roster is official.

As much as I'd like Hensick to stay, it would mean bumping Arnason out of the third line center spot and that didn't seem likely. I'm sure he'll get some time with the Avs during the season regardless.

As for Ledin, I think everyone expected he would make the cut so it's a bit of a surprise. He's an agitator who is able to score as well. He seemed like he would be a great fit on a line with Guite and Laperriere and, from what I've read, performed well in camp.

Ledin should be able to come up without clearing waivers - again, if I understand them correctly - so he could pop in from time to time.

As it stands, it looks like Parker will sit in the press box most nights along with one of the Cody's. And Daniel Tjarnqvist of course.

Will the Cody Mcleod lovefest continue or will Granato at least favor Cody McCormick who is much more in control of his temper and can play on the PK when necessary?

And yes, David Jones makes the roster but that wasn't really a question. The only question now is whether he'll outscore Ovechkin or Kovalchuk.

Opening night is only two more sleeps away. And I still haven't ordered Center Ice. I better get on that!

Related Links

Colorado Avalanche Roster (PDF)

Coyotes Steal One from Avalanche

(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Boy did that ever leave a sour taste in my mouth. Phoenix stole an extra point from the Colorado Avalanche when midway through OT, Shane Doan crashed the net and either gloved the puck in, or put it in with his broken stick to give the Coyotes a 4-3 victory.

This one is going to leave a sour taste for fans and players for quite some as well. There were a multitude of factors that should have led to this goal being called back but it appeared that the Coyotes clearing off the ice right away may made all the difference.

Coaching
No matter how you cut that goal though, this game should have never made its way to overtime in the first place. After grabbing the lead midway through the third period, the Avalanche gave up a goal which could have been avoided.

In an offensive zone faceoff, the crew lined up were Tyler Arnason, Wojtek Wolski and Marek Svatos. Not exactly the strongest faceoff trio. It got even worse when Tyler Arnason got booted from the draw and Marek Svatos took his place. Now, I have no idea who decided Svatos should go as opposed to Wolski but that was also a bad move.

Svatos ended up losing the faceoff due to his skates being cemented to the ice and Radim Vrbata streaked to the net in what appeared to be a set play. Reinprecht fed him the puck and Peter Budaj stood there watching Vrbata put it into the wide open net.

Now, I'll give it to Q that Hlinka and Guite had just finished a shift so weren't a great option. However it's late in the game, you're nursing a one-goal lead and you put out your least defensively responsible line? In the immortal words of the Internet..WTF?

The Disputed Goal
A lot of people have already broken this one down already including DD and AD so I won't detail it too much. What I will say is what I said previously, for that puck to go in Doan had to either poke it in with a broken stick, with his hand or by shoving Budaj into the net. Last time I checked, those were not legal ways of scoring a goal.

The refs - and the Coyotes who ran off the field quicker than a doctor diagnoses Britney Spears as batsh*t crazy (sorry, the Patriots analogies were too easy) - disagreed. After a token review, not only was the goal counted but it was awarded to Radim Vrbata. Of course, there's no way they could call it Doan's goal as that would be admitting a mistake.

The other issue is the whistle heard shortly after the puck crosses the goal line. Now, this is of course speculative but on watching and listening to the replay, I have a hard time believing that the referee did not intend to blow his whistle before the puck crossed the goal line. And the rule isn't about when the whistle was blown, it's about when the referee intended to blow the whistle. Of course, that's tough to conclusively determine via a replay and you have to rely on the referee's word.

And which referee blew the whistle anyways? I never could tell but it didn't look like the ref behind the net did it. Which draws even more credence to this being a non-goal as there is no way the trailing ref could have seen the puck cross the line but he definitely could have been whistling the play dead.

Lines
Brunette-Hensick-Hejduk
Wolski-Arnason-Svatos
Richardson-Guite-Laperriere
McCormick-Hlinka-McLeod

Hensick started out centering the top line again but was demoted to the fourth line as Hlinka got promoted to the first line.

Brad Richardson has been making a case to stay with the big team as he's skating hard, hitting hard and playing some solid defense. Once the roster regains some health, it'll make for some tough decisions on who stays and who goes.

Next Game
The Avs have landed themselves in 2nd spot in the NW after Edmonton destroyed Calgary 5-0 last night. Who saw that one coming?

The Avalanche head off to San Jose to face the Sharks on Wednesday. It's a late game which likely means my head hitting the pillow once the final buzzer sounds so a recap won't be up until Thursday.

Notes
-Skrastins was a scratch tonight as Sauer took his spot with Brett Clark
- Wall was recalled to replace Tyler Weiman who injured his foot (good grief)
- the Avalanche again were penned in their own zone early and couldn't generate sustained pressure
- Leopold does a good job at not forcing a shot (and a subsequence block) and just dishing the puck to an open corner
- Jeff Finger was on the ice for every goal against
- T.J. Hensick with two straight two-goal games (could he be breaking out?)
- reading his lips during the reviewed third goal revealed a conclusive statement of "It's a f*cking goal"
- Richardson's slashing call in the 1st was karma for the call he "drew" earlier when his own stick caused Boyton's to ride up and clip him in the face
- is anybody happier than Lappy after scoring a goal?

Related Links
NHL.com Event Summary
In the Cheap Seats Recap
Denver Post Recap
Rocky Mountain News Recap

Gameday: Avalanche @ San Jose

The goalie rotation is over and Mr. Jibblescribbits has an early Christmas present as Peter Budaj is scheduled to make the start tonight against the Sharks. Jose Theodore allowed 13 goals in his last 3 games so Q must have figured it was time to let him study from the bench again.

Tonight also marks the return of Scott Hannan to HP Pavilion Arena. Not "the HP Pavilion Arena" as Drew Remanda told us last night on the Drew Remanda sports show. Why no "the"? I'm guessing just because corporate arena naming is such a crapshoot that they can do whatever they damn well please.

And as you're all aware, T.J. Hensick will be with the team in San Jose as the Avalanche recalled him yesterday. As DD notes, callups typically sit their first game in the press box so I wouldn't be surprised if he watches from above.

However, if as speculated, - again by myself and DD - Sakic's injury is a bit more than the Avalanche are letting on, Hensick might slot himself into the lineup tonight. The Sharks have been a less than physical team so there's no need to have our "enforcer" Scott Parker in the lineup. Then it's just a choice of which fourth-liner to sit.

Or...and this is a crazy thought, the Avalanche could roll three scoring lines and a fourth line that is full of grinders, not supplemented with players such as Marek Svatos.

As for the Sharks, they've been an enigma lately. After another loss to the LA Kings Wednesday night, on home ice no less, the Sharks faithful are a bit upset. The Mercury News is putting it at the hands of captain Patrick Marleau.

And why not? With Jeremy Roenick putting up more points than Marleau, it's time for Patrick to kick it in gear and get out of his slump. Hopefully he waits until their next game though.

Standings
Colorado - 27 points, 13-9-2, 3rd in NW, 8th in West
San Jose - 26 points, 11-8-4, 3rd in Pacific, 10th in West

Related Links
RMN Avalanche Report
Denver Post Preview

Hensick Up, Richardson Down

The Colorado Avalanche have recalled T.J. Hensick from Lake Erie. The Lake Erie Monsters are having a horrendous season - as can be expected from a new franchise - but Hensick has led them in scoring with 13 points in 18 games.

"But who's roster spot will he take up?", you might ask. To that I answer "Didn't you read the headline?" Yes, Brad Richardson is headed down to Lake Erie in a move that makes me go "Huh?"

I mean, I know last game Richardson was toiling down on the 4th line due to lack of space in the other 3 lines, but just a game before that he was skating with Sakic on line numero uno. And he's been prevalent and proficient on the penalty kill as well.

In related news, Sakic left yesterday's game with a minor groin pull. Oh, now I'm putting it together.

Sakic's "minor" groin pull may be a bit more "major" than "minor" so they called up another center. And of course with Lappy nearing a return from a tweaked knee, somebody had to go back down for him.

But why Richardson and not McCormick? In fact, why send anybody down at all? There are two healthy forward scratches per game typically comprimised of Scott Parker and the latest loser of the "toss the dart at the fourth-liner" game.

Game Preview: Avalanche vs Stars

The Avalanche host the Dallas Stars tonight as they near the end of their preseason schedule. They close out the preseason against the Phoenix Coyotes Saturday in Denver and will then wait anxiously for October 3rd. What is October 3rd you say? Ok, nobody said that because everybody knows it's the start of the regular season for the Avalanche. Joy of joys!

Heading in to tonight, the Avalanche sit atop the Northwest division for the preseason (3-0-1) and Paul Stastny sits atop all goal scorers with 5 and he and T.J. Hensick lead the preseason scoring race. Unfortunately none of this matters for the regular season but it sure does pump you up.

Tonight and Saturday will be the defining points for the Avalanche roster. After paring themselves down to 31, they now need to look at bringing themselves down to 23 (excluding injured players) before the opening night puck drop. With Richardson, Svatos, Hejduk and Theodore on the shelf for the moment, it will give extra time for players such as Hensick and Weiman to impress the club. However, once Theodore is ready Weiman will be headed to the Monsters.

To take your mind off the long wait for the game to begin, why not check out some of these interesting articles from the Denver Post and Avalanche.nhl.com websites.

Weiman Showing Promise in Goal
Top Line Searches for Chemical Bond
Stastny, Arnason Provide Scoring Punch

Media Previews
Avalanche.nhl.com Preview

Game Review: Avalanche 2 - Kings 3 (SO)

(AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)

It took a shootout to finally take the Avalanche down in the preseason as the Kings came out victorious in their annual Frozen Fury showdown. The Avalanche took a 2-1 lead into the third period but couldn't hold on as Dustin Brown tied the game at 13:19 and then proceeded to win it for the Kings in the shootout.

T.J. Hensick contributed one assist and Paul Stastny and Tyler Arnason had the two Avalanche goals. Tyler Weiman was in net the whole night with Michael Wall backing him up. Jonathan Bernier was in at the other end for the Kings.

So the Avalanche fall to 3-0-1 in the preseason with games left to play against Dallas and Phoenix. It should be interesting to see if anyone is cut before the next game or if the coaching staff is going to take it right down to the wire. It's not an enviable position at this point.

The Kings are now set to open their season in London next Saturday as they take on the Kings. I will be in Regina watching the Riders put the beat down on the Alouettes but the game will be recorded in all its high definition glory for me to watch on Sunday.

Oh, and what was with the NHL.com scores page showing no games being scheduled today? That was pretty weak.

Quick Notes

Last year the Avalanche were defeated 3-2 in the Frozen Fury showdown

The Avalanche missed out on a 2-man advantage late in the third

ESPN.com's photo page has lots of errors (mis-spelled names, incorrect names) and an obsession with using "puck" - particularly airborn ones - in every caption.

Media Reviews
Avalanche.nhl.com Recap
ESPN.com Recap

Game Review: Avalanche 6 - Stars 3

(AP Photo/Tim Sharp)

The score was a repeat of last night with the Avalanche doubling up on the Stars 6-3. It took an unanswered 4-goal outburst in the 3rd to put the Avalanche over the top, mostly thanks to a 3rd period outburst of penalties by the Stars.

T.J. Hensick put up a goal and 2 assists, J.M. Liles had 3 assists, Eric Healey had 2 goals and 1 assist, Leopold had a goal and an assist and Hlinka tallied 2 assists. Budaj and Wall split time with Budaj saving 7 of 8 and Wall saving 12 of 14 for the win.

Joe Sakic, Ryan Smyth, Andrew Brunette, Scott Hannan, Brett Clark and Paul Stastny sat this one out. Hejduk, Svatos and Jones continued to rest their injuries. Hejduk's groin injury has been changed to a hip flexor injury.

Quick Notes
The Hlinka-Healey-Hensick line was dynamite with a combined 8 points and a +8 rating.

Jordan Leopold and J.M. Liles got the bulk of the playing time on D with nearly 24 minutes each.

Rycroft and Barch dropped the gloves with Rycroft getting the worse end.

Media Reviews
Avalanche.nhl.com Recap
Denver Post Recap
TSN.ca Recap
NHL.com Recap

Game Preview: Avalanche vs Stars

The Avalanche look to continue their huge preseason winning streak tonight as they head into Dallas to take on the Stars. Paul Stastny looks to keep up his torrid pace (6 points in 2 games) and T.J. Hensick and Jaroslav Hlinka will continue their argument for staying on the roster once the puck drops on Oct. 3.

I'd look to see Weiman in action again tonight after sitting out last game. Milan Hejduk, Marek Svatos and Tyler Arnason will likely sit out again tonight as they rest groin pulls. The usual groin epidemic is happening with all teams as per usual under the new CBA-shortened training camp schedule.

Media Previews
Avalanche.nhl.com Preview

Roster Moves
Dale Purinton and David Jones were reassigned to the Lake Erie Monsters as the Avalanche trimmed their roster to 33.

Game Review: Avalanche 6 - Kings 3

(AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

The Avalanche defeated the Kings 6-3 in their first home preseason game which saw Ryan Smyth and Scott Hannan make their hometown debut. Joe Sakic, Andrew Brunette, Brett Clark and John-Michael Liles were also in the lineup while Milan Hejduk, Marek Svatos, Tyler Arnason and Jordan Leopold were the big names sitting out.

Michael Wall backed up Peter Budaj but did not see any action as Budaj saved 17 of 20 shots for the win. J.S. Aubin and Jason Labarbera split time for the Kings.

Paul Stastny notched 2 goals and 2 assists and T.J. Hensick also lit the lamp twice. Andrew Brunette put up 1 goal and 3 assists, Ryan Smyth scored once and Joe Sakic had 2 assists. Hlinka put up another assist as he continues to impress.

Sakic, Smyth and Brunette played together most of the night on the number 1 line and put up 7 points in total. It's almost a lock now that this will be the #1 line combo come the season opener.

Ian Lapperriere and Dale Purinton both got into scraps tonight. Purinton got the quadruple smash with 2 minutes for instigating, 5 for fighting, a 10 minute misconduct and a game misconduct.

Media Reviews
Avalanche.nhl.com Recap
Denver Post Recap
NHL.com Recap
TSN.ca Recap

Team Burgundy Defeats Team White

Team Burgundy pulled out an exciting 7-5 win in the annual Burgundy/White game to close out training camp. 4 goals were scored in the final 2:30 of the game, concluded by an empty-net marker from Ken Roche, his second of the game, to seal the deal for Team Burgundy.

T.J. Hensick was the star of the game as he recorded two goals and two assists for Team Burgundy. Ian Laperriere showed his offensive flair with 1 goal and 2 assists and the Duke tallied two goals as well.

Weiman, Penner, Budaj and Wall all saw action in the crease. Budaj/Penner was the Burgundy combo and Weiman/Wall were in the net for Team White.

Brad Richardson, Jose Theodore and Cody McCormick were all spotted watching from behind the glass while they tend to their injuries.

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.