Ryan O'Reilly Out for Two Weeks; Why Leaders Gotta Lead

I was out on Friday night celebrating a co-workers time spent at our company while he kicked off what will surely be a successful business venture on his own. The beers were flowing, the stories sailing and the food was plentiful (and delicious). But given our modern age, there was no way I was going to spend the whole night without following the Avalanche-Wild game.

I could have streamed the game to my Desire via GameCenter Online - and did so briefly just to prove I could - but that wouldn't have been very social. So to Twitter I turned as I relied on all the Avs fans to provide their usual great and spirited updates as the game went on.

Following a visual medium via a text-based medium requires a bit of interpretation. You see the words and then replace them with a flow of photoes to fill in the gaps. It can actually be a fun exercise in creativity. But when tragedy steps in, creativity needs to be dialed back a notch and facts need to take over.

When I saw Dater's first two tweets following the O'Reilly injury, my heart dropped into my stomach. In a selfish way, my first thought went to myself as I recalled being driven head first into the boards as a teenager. But it's easy to see why that might be my first recall based on the description.

Anytime a player goes head first into the boards your #1 thought is some form of "I hope he isn't paralyzed." And when you see a tweet like this:

OReilly not moving. Say your prayers

you start to freak out a little bit. And when Dater put up a quick blog post which reiterated that O'Reilly was not moving at all, I was extermely concerned. Perhaps somewhat morbidly, I hoped someone would post a video so I could check the play out for myself.

Over the next hour, better and better news began to leak out. It turned out that O'Reilly was moving and communicating as he was brought to the hospital, accompanied by Greg Sherman. Then it turned out there was more concern over a shoulder injury than the head or neck. Potentially season ending. And finally it has now come out that O'Reilly will be gone for a brief two weeks.

The end result is a winning outcome. The in-between period was an exercise in FUD.

After watching the video of the hit, it was clear that not only did O'Reilly move after the hit but he was also conscious. Likely in a lot of pain but conscious. They brought a stretcher out not because O'Reilly couldn't move but because it's standard procedure in a situation like that. The whole situation was much more composed than it appeared to be.

Now, I'm not the kind of person to sit back with 20/20 hindsight and tell a person what to do...but I'm going to do it anyway.

This tweet:

OReilly not moving. Say your prayers

should have said something more along the lines of:

I didn't see O'Reilly move after hitting the boards. Going to check out replay to get a better view.

The tweets about the stretcher? Maybe something like:

Stretcher coming out. Standard procedure. Paramedics and doctors doing a great job.

When tragedy strikes, people look to a leader to take control of the situation. I think Dater had the chance to step up but instead he joined in the emotional fray and made the situation worse.

Clearly Dater was very concerned about what happened to O'Reilly and I'm certainly not suggesting he amped up the drama merely for the sake of drama. But I do think he could have done more to lead the situation for all the fans - and family - who would be extremly concerned and fearful about what happened.

I hope that if AD does see this post, he'll take it as constructive and not an attack. And maybe next time there will be less speculation, even if the fanbase is actively clamoring for it.

Business Insider - 23 Best NHL Players Earning Less Than $1 Million

I sent this link off to our puck-link providing overlords and said "I didn't look at it yet b/c I'm supposed to be working!". But curiosity got the better of me and I sneaked a peek. If you're reading this boss, I swear I'll make up the time!

It turns out it was very worth it as an Avs fan. Let's move past the inclusion of Kyle Cumiskey on the list as it's a debatable point and I want to make this quick. Also, Jimmy Howard can suck it.

Instead, skip to the last entry in the list and let me know if it didn't tickle your emotion bone just a little bit.

And remember, Matt Duchene didn't make the list because he's not making less than a million.

Avalanche 6 - Flames 5; Sieve Edition

In one of the great goaltending duels of our time, the Avalache came away with what some are calling a steal of a win. I don't consider it a steal myself. It may have been a late goal that won it but it was hard work that made it happen.

What did play nicely into the hands of the Avalanche was the Flames giving Henrik Karlsson the start. I have my doubts that Miikka Kiprusoff would have let in half the goals tonight, most notably the Yip goal.

The same could be said in the other direction as Peter Budaj did not have a solid game. I tried to get on the Budaj bandwagon way back when and I'd love it if I could jump on again. Problem is I can't bring myself to do it.

What can be said about Chris Stewart's hat trick? Kids a beast and has shown himself to be worth the contract extension he earned this summer. I wonder if it's time to give Stewart a shot at being that big right-handed shot from the point on power plays?

Once again, Daniel Winnik proves himself to be the best acquisition of the offseason. He's got more goals than Kovalchuk at approximately 1/100th the price and puts in 100x the effort each shift. I'll take it.

Joe Sacco told Ryan O'Reilly to get more aggressive. Result? This beauty of a forecheck leading to Stewart's second goal of the night. Three assists? Just another day at the office for O'Reilly. The kid's smart, motivated and listens to the coach? Love it.

Jonas Holos recorded his first NHL point tonight which is great. His defensive play had a few blunders stil which is not so great. Hopefully those go away as he could be a great asset to the blueline.

One person who did not record a point tonight was John-Michael Liles. Thwarted at nine in a row. What a great start to the season for Liles and here's to another 9-game streak starting with the next one! The countdown stands at 31.

NHL.com Highlights


Related Links
NHL.com Event Summary
Burgundy Blog Recap
Put it on Ice Recap
MHH Recap

Avalanche 5 - Red Wings 4 - Suck It Edition

The Avalanche marched into Joe Louise Arena tonight on the second night of back-to-back games and walked away with a 5-4 shootout win. Don't try and say that didn't sting, Wings fans.

In a back-and-forth game, the Avalanche got timely goals from Ryan O'Reilly and Daniel Winnick, book-ended by David Jones tallies to get this game into a shootout. From there, Peter Budaj locked it down and Brandon Yip drove in the winning goal to spoil the Red Wings season opener.

Long Thoughts
During last night's "recap" I said that if the Avalanche turned the puck over against the Wings the way they did against the Flyers, they'd be walking away with their asses in a bag. You know, after it was handed to them. Turns out they only needed to marginally improve their turnover rate (because the Flyers are clearly a superior team to the Red Wings) to still get the W.

The Avalance are still making small, silly plays that are really hampering the flow of their game. They are still having trouble chipping the puck out of the zone, a lot of passes seem to be getting intercepted and there's just a lot of running around. One thing that really struck me tonight was how little the Wings appeared to be moving while defending. They were just in the right position. On the other hand, the Avalanche were often racing across the ice to get in a lane or cover their man. The coaching staff needs to get them to settle down and do a better job at reading where the puck will go.

It looks like I spoke too soon in believing Joe Sacco wouldn't stray far from his "ride the Andy" strategy in goal. If this was last season, Anderson would have been in net for both back-to-back games. Instead, he put Peter Budaj in who more than held his own against the Red Wings attack. It's a good sign to get Budaj in early and show the team that it's not all about the Anderson this year.

Short Thoughts
J.M. Liles is just 35 points away from 40 on the season.

David Jones is now just 28 goals away from 30 on the season.

Did anybody else pee their pants - just a bit - every time Datsyuk and Zetterberg were on the ice?

Why were both two-goal scorers in this game on the bench during the first round of the shootout?

Why did David Jones not take a new stick before his shootout attempt?

Two games in a row with a short-handed goal against is something that needs to be addressed right away.

How about Daniel Winnik with not only a crucial goal, but a hard-working *and* skilled goal? Just for that goal alone, I'm counting his signing as the best of the offseason. For any team.

Philippe Dupuis won 100% (4-for-4) of his faceoffs tonight.

Ryan O'Reilly blasted off 7 shots tonight. Three missed, three were on net and one was in the net.

Speaking of shots, brace yourself: the Avalanche outshot their opponent 38 to 28 tonight.

Suck it, Wings fans.

Avalanche 4 - Blackhawks 3; Game Highlights

If there's one thing we should know by now about this Avalanche squad, it's that a 2-goal deficit means the game is just getting started. With five minutes left on the clock and a 2-0 deficit, a lot of fans must have been thinking "If we can get just one goal, this game will be ours." I know I did.

Look up in the sky...

Who better to reward our faith than another gap-toothed favorite, Ryan O'Reilly. In what was thought to be Matt Duchene's year, Ryan O'Reilly has shown what this team has been missing for some time - a true 3rd-line center.

O'Reilly nabbed two goals tonight and as always, was solid from start to finish in both zones. When I watched O'Reilly during Team Canada's orientation camp scrimmages, you had the feeling that this kid was destined to be an excellent 3rd-line center. That it has happened so soon is gravy on top of what has been a sweet boat ride through the first fifth of the season.

Avast thar

Twice I've predicted David Jones to have a 30-goal season. Once, I was wrong. But this time, it's looking good. Jones' shorthanded goal in the 2nd period was the exact goal I expect him to score. That he did it by making Dustin Byfuglien look pedestrian on the point is all the better. If he can stay healthy, he's going to hit it.

Miscellany

I love Duncan Keith and can't wait to see him play for Team Canada in Vancouver. There's no way they can't put this guy on the squad.

What the hell was Andrew Ladd doing all alone in front of the Avs net on that third goal? Taking advantage of the Avs losing assignments again, that's what.

Cody Mcleod came back and laid out 6 hits. I think it's clear what the Highlander brings to this squad, eh?

Brett Clark with 12 blocked shots? I'm still not a fan of his defensive positioning but the man has brass balls.

Kyle Quincey broke the 30 minute barrier tonight. Beast! Adam Foote played 26 minutes. That's too much for him at his current speed. The Liles injury put them in a tough spot but Foote shouldn't be playing more than Scott Hannan.

Next game

The Edmonton Oilers are in town tomorrow night at 8:00pm ET. I think the Avs 6-0 winning streak at home will continue on.

Related Links

Advertising ABCs
MHH Recap
NHL.com Event Summary

Avalanche 3 - Red Wings 1; Game Thoughts

This morning as soon as I woke up, I said to the gf "Hey, the Avs are tied for 1st in the league" (yes, I said it with a hyperlink). She said "Maybe Sakic was bad luck. Good thing he's gone!" After she cleaned up the glass of water I dumped over her head (kidding...probably), she said "Well what's the difference?"

My answer was simple: goaltending and youth.

Sean at Anyone But Detroit has a good article up this morning about how Craig Anderson might be flirting with greatness. It certainly is all right for Avalanche fans to get excited about Mr. Anderson, especially after a 48 save performance against the Red Wings. Without Anderson, there is no doubt that the Avs would be flirting with .500.

As for youth, well just take a look at the team scoring stats. Ryan O'Reilly is tied for the team lead with Wojtek Wolski and Paul Statsny. So two 23-year old players and an 18-year old rookie are leading the team in scoring. And it's not even the 18-year old we expected to be up there. How's that for surprising?

Game Highlights

I was hosting a UFC party last night but recorded the game and kept up-to-date on it via Twitter. It's not likely I'll watch it as I've got things to do today, but I am curious to check out Anderson's full performance, particularly in the penalty-filled ending of the game. I wonder how many Detroit fans are claiming a conspiracy today after what sounds like a farcical amount of penalty calls against the Avs?

Next game

The Avalanche head out on another road trip, this one for a mere four games. However, three of those four games are against division rivals in Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. Stay excited folks, it could end any given Sundaymoment.

Related Links

Dear Excluding Zetterberg
It's all about Andy
The after party

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

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 3 - Montreal 2; Game Highlights

No, O'Reilly!

I'm late to the party so hopefully nobody has used that one yet.

A few thoughts:

Montreal's second goal should have been blown dead. The Avalanche's third goal should have seen a penalty on Cody Mcleod. The Canadiens had seven players on the ice in the final seconds of the game. They got more breaks, the Avs still won. Suck it.

You know everyone has confidence in a goaltender when Craig Anderson makes a huge save and Mike Haynes doesn't even mention it. Last year? "HUGE SAVE BY BUDAJ! WOW! DID YOU SEE THAT, PETER? AMAZING!" Now? Business as usual.

I should be back in full force after a week off due to unfortunate circumstances so be prepared for some gloating after the victory over the Wings tomorrow.

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

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

Avalanche Draft O'Reilly, Elliot

Day two of the draft is already underway and the Avs have made two picks as I write this.

With the 33rd overall pick they chose Ryan O'Reilly, a forward with the Erie Otters. He's put up some decent points in his two seasons with them and he was a beast during the combine. (midway down)

With pick #49 the Avalanche went with Stefan Elliot, a defenseman with our very own Saskatoon Blades. Elliot can put up points but he's certainly not deficient in his own end. He's one of those players that's so smooth, you don't even notice how he's contributing. Elliot will be a big part of the Blades this season and I'll be watching him closely now that he's part of the mother organization.

And a nice job by Hockey's Future to already have those players linked up with the Avs!

Related Links
Hockey's Future Prospect Profile - Ryan O'Reilly
Hockey's Future Prospect Profile - Stefan Elliot