Avalanche vs Blackhawks Game Preview

It has been a bitch of a week. I'm paying a mortgage + rent (long story), still can't get a decent sleep at night, had a ridiculous end to the work week, Joe Sakic nearly severed his fingers plus I still don't have my damn TV. Cable box but no TV. How messed up is that?

But do you know what could save it all? If the Avalanche could crush the Joel Quenneville-led Chicago Blackhawks tonight.

I don't want them to squeak out a win. I want them to annihilate the bastards. 6-0, 7-1, 8-3. Anything less than a 5-goal cushion just won't do it for me.

I want to see pain on the face of their players. I want to see rage in Quenneville's eyes. I want their fans to feel this loss for years to come. I want Wolski to undress Khabibulin the way Toews did Theodore.

I want a hug.

Lines
Marek Svatos is day-to-day with a back injury and will sit out this game. The Avs have called up Phillippe Dupuis from Lake Erie to fill the vacant roster spot.

With Darcy Tucker not at 100% yet, Dupuis could find himself in the lineup tonight which should be interesting. It's always fun to see someone play their first NHL game even if that player comes with no hype.

On defense, Adam Foote is back in the lineup and Daniel Tjarnqvist finds himself back in the press box. It's unfortunate as Tjarnqvist put in a decent relief effort while Foote was out.

Foote skated with John-Michael Liles during practice which would bump Ruslan Salei back over to a line with Jordan Leopold who was previously paired with Tjarnqvist. Man, that was a confusing sentence, wasn't it?

I'll re-word:
Foote-Liles
Clark-Hannan
Salei-Leopold

Goaltending
Quenneville is clinging to his "lose the right to play in goal" motto with an iron grip as he is starting Nikolai Khabibulin tonight.

Who cares if Cristobal Huet has won 3 of his last 4 starts. So what that he shut out Ottawa on Wednesday? Big deal that he seems to play better with more starts. What difference does it make that his confidence seems to be rising?

It's all about the competition. And healthy competition at that. right? They have to be scared to lose. They have to be afraid to make a mistake. They have to know that if they screw up, they're benched.

Because nothing inspires confidence and trust like making people scared to make a mistake.

For the Avs, Tony Granato will likely continue to ride Peter Budaj. I thought Budaj was going to tire out a bit but he appears to be going strong.

I just hope Granato and Budaj will be honest enough with each other to know when he does need a rest.

Game time
Puck drop is at 9:00 ET, 7:00 MT at the Pepsi Center.

Related Links

Avs unafraid of Sakic's absence

Tjarnqvist: Back on the pine

Avalanche report: Foote ready to return

Leading resurgent Chicago, Quenneville at peace with himself (Was he at war before? Because that could explain a lot)

Quenneville Hired as Blackhawks Scout

A Darren Dreger blog post was how I found out former Avs coach Joel Quenneville had been hired as a scout for the Chicago Blackhawks.

It took a while for coach Q to find a new home even though there was a decent amount of turnover in the coaching roles. Although the media praised him as a Jack Adams contender this season, no team was willing to take a shot at him in a head coaching position.

He should be able to learn a lot from the Blackhawks organization now that Scotty Bowman has signed up with them. Best of luck to him in his new role.

My Fantasy Draft Results

I just finished a 3-hour long live draft and I think this is the stiffest my back has been in a while. I'll give a breakdown of my team but first, some early-breaking news from Adrian Dater: Joel Quenneville has just been arrested on suspicion of DUI.

Initially, I was going to make a few silly jokes - it is late and I get in a weird mood once the moon is out. But I decided that it wasn't right to make jokes about a man out of a job who ends up getting busted for something that is insanely stupid yet done by a million people every day. Hopefully he picks it up from here.

On to the draft. It started at 6:30 and ended at almost on the dot of 9:30. Let me tell you, that's a long and painful amount of time to be sitting there drafting players.

I ended up with what I feel is a solid team. I was worried I'd be at the bottom of the barrel given it was my first time drafting in such a deep league - 2o teams with 20 players per team - but there were some no-shows on auto-draft who have brutal teams.

The Girou-X Factor roster:
C - Joe Sakic (Round 3)

C - Brad Richards (Round 4)

C - Paul Gaustad (Round 13)

LW - Mike Cammalleri (Round 5)

LW - Kristian Huselius (Round 7)

RW - J.P. Dumont (Round 8)

RW - Marek Svatos (Round 11)

D - Dan Boyle (Round 2)

D - Ed Jovanovski (Round 6)

D - Duncan Keith (Round 9)

D - Johnny Oduya (Round 12)

F - Jere Lehtinen (Round 14)

F - Brett Mclean (Round 15)

Util -Ruslan Salei (Round 16)

G - Henrik Lundqvist (Round 1)

G - Josh Harding (Round 10)

BN - Nigel Dawes (Round 17)

BN - Ian Laperriere (Round 18)

BN - Kurtis Foster (Round 19)
BN - T.J. Oshie (Round 20)

I was picking 14th in the odd numbered rounds and 7th in the even numbers rounds which was a decent position. Sure, Crosvechkin or MalCavalier would have been nice but it's such a long wait from pick #1 to pick #40 that your depth will suffer. At least, that's what I told myself.

Two things pop out immediately from that roster. First, I have a lot of Western Conference players and second, I have a lot of Avalanche players. I've even got an ex-Avalanche for pete's sake!

"You're crazy!", you  might say. But I'll respond with: "Go with what you know." And since this was my first draft, I figured I could manage it better by not trying to speculate on players I was unfamiliar with.

Round-by-round Analysis

Round 1: Grabbing Lundqvist in the first round was a no-brainer with the 14th pick. I had him ranked in my top 10 so to have him still sitting there gave me initial hope that I was a genious. And trepidation that everybody else knew something I didn't.

Round 2: Picking Boyle in the second round as my top-D will likely raise some eyebrows. However he should flourish in San Jose. He'll turn around his +/- from last season and spend a ton of time on the powerplay. He was also high on my list but not on everyone else's. Again: genius or idiot?

Round 3: I really wanted Paul Stastny and didn't expect him to go before my 3rd-round pick but I was wrong and Mirtle snagged him two picks before me. So I improvised and snagged Sakic before anybody else could grab him. It was a long way between the third and fourth round picks for me and although Sakic was ranked low by Yahoo!, I'm sure there were others who know he will put up 80 points this year.

Round 4: the top centers were slimming out and - again - I had Richards ranked fairly high. He was there so I took him. I have my fingers crossed that he has a big year in Dallas and the -29 was due to playing for Tampa Bay.

Round 5: Mike Cammalleri was staring me in the face saying "You need left wingers". If he plays on the top line with Iginla, he could be good for 70+ points. I'm really happy with this pick.

Round 6: I believe was my first faux pas. I don't think I should have taken Jovocop as he's getting up there in years and could be a +/- liability.

Round 7: I wanted to shore up the left wing and as Smyth had gone a round earlier, Huselius was next on the list. If he ends up on a line with Nash, look out.

Round 8: Can you believe Dumont was still around after nearly 15o picks? As someone said during the draft, someone has to score for Nashville. I think Dumont will have an excellent season and getting him in the 8th round may have been my first steal.

Round 9: I wanted a solid D who puts up points and plays well in his own end as I was getting worried on my +/- projection. Keith fit that bill to a "T". The Hawks should be a solid team this year and Keith will be a stable force on their back end. He might lose a bit of production due to Campbell coming in but what can you do.

Round 10: I needed a backup goaltender and Harding was the best of what was left. It sounds like Minnesota could be leaning towards Harding for their future which could mean more starts for him. And when he does start, he tends to get results.

Addendum: I've already got a trade offer on Keith and Harding.

Round 11: what can I say? I love the Svats-machine and have my fingers crossed for an injury-free year. If he stays healthy, he'll put up 30 goals again. He was so close last year!

Round 12: Johnny Oduya. It's a 007-type name, isn't it? "Hi, I'm Johnny. Johnny Oduya." The guy puts up points (6G, 20A) and was a +27 last year. For a fourth defenceman in the 12th round, I'm happy with that pick.

Round 13: It was at this point that I noticed the West bias and thought I should try and take two East players in a row to get some balance. I needed to fill in my third center spot and Gaustad was kicking around. He's a checking line center but he can also put up points and PIMs. He was about the best of what was left for centers.

Round 14: I was surprised to find Jere Lehtinen still available and snagged him within seconds. His season was shortened last year but he put up 37 points in 48 games, 19 of those on the powerplay. Dallas should be a top team in the league this year and Lehtinen should play a big role with them.

Round 15: Brettzky! A former Avalanche makes an appearance in the crew. Again, it's on the basis that someone in Florida has to score with Jokinen gone - and Horton having been picked a half dozen rounds ago. McLean went on a roll at the end of last season and could put up 40 points if he plays on one of the top lines.

Round 16: I felt this was a steal. I had my eye on Salei for a while but for some reason I felt I could wait on him. Thankfully I took him in the 16th because as soon as I did, 3 people piped up that he was next on their list. Salei will get time on the PP - if Granato knows what's good for him! - and will be a great backup D-man. Heck, he could move into my top-4.

Round 17: I've been a Nigel Dawes fan since his time with the Canadian World Junior team and this could be his breakout year.

Round 18: I felt weak in the PIM department and as Lappy gets a ton of those while kicking in the occasional point, he felt like the perfect fit. Heck, even if he isn't, I'm still happy to have him on my team. 

Round 19: I thought Foster was ready to go. Apparently I was wrong and he won't be back until December. Oh well, once he's back, he should put up some points PP points on the backend for the Wild. And as Mirtle had once again snagged someone just before I picked them - Claude Giroux - I was flustered. I really wanted my namesake on the team!

Round 20: I figured I should take a flyer on a rookie. And as someone had snagged Okposo a couple picks before I wanted him in the middle rounds, Oshie became next on my list. He could be huge, he could be a bust or he could be mediocre. Now that's some great analysis!

Any fantasy experts care to weigh in on my choices?

Two PHWA Members Voted Quenneville as the Top Coach

In further proof that being part of a professional writing organization does not mean jack squat, our beloved former-coach Joel Quenneville received two first place votes for the Jack Adams award.

Maybe one of them was the same guy who tried voting Sidney Crosby onto the All-Star team...as a right-winger.

Thanks to Mirtle for keeping us abreast of how the voting went for each of the awards last night.

And thanks to Tapeleg for giving some excellent suggestions on making the awards ceremony better than a preschool awards show.

Coach Q in San Jose

I might have a bit more to say about the Granato hiring today but in the meantime, it looks like our venerable Coach Quenneville is in San Jose at the moment. Sure, he could be just soaking up the rays but the odds are that he's interviewing for the vacant head coach position. Judging by the comments, it appears the fans are not willing to welcome him with open arms just yet.

Thanks to Puck Daddy for catching the story.

Joel Quenneville Parts Ways with Colorado Avalanche

After all that work I did this morning - and after telling myself to just wait because a decision was imminent - the decision has been made: Joel Quenneville will not return as the head coach of the Avalanche.

I like the mutual decision as it appears to mean Q is willing to realize he wasn't bringing the necessary methodology to the table.

Should Q Stay or Should He Go?

Though the NHL playoffs continue, us Avalanche fans are relegated to starting our off-season banter on who should stay and who should go. Front and center in that discussion is our venerable coach Joel Quenneville.

Since as early as last season fans have been calling for Quenneville's head:
"He juggles lines too much!"
"He won't stick with a goaltender!"
"He sits on leads!"
"He wears bad ties!"

For months those cries were heard and unheeded. At one point, fans who felt Q should go were called chuckleheads who didn't understand hockey. But even as the Avalanche snuck into the playoffs amidst injuries, many peoples still felt Quenneville was the wrong coach for the team.

Then the Avalanche dispatched of the Minnesota Wild in a series where Quenneville appeared to outcoach an excellent coach in Jacques Lemaire. You started to wonder if maybe we'd been too hard on Quenneville. Then the Detroit Red Wings rolled in, swept the Avalanche out of the second round for the second time in Avs last two playoff appearances and we were back to square one. Granted that the Wings are playing amazing hockey and the Avalanche had a decimated lineup, but there didn't seem to be much of a gameplan in effect and the team was playing uninspired hockey.

Once the playoffs were over for the Avalanche, the question became primary on everybody's mind. Will Quenneville stay or will he go? Will he leave of his own accord or will Giguere tell him his services were no longer necessary? Will he stay but with a fashion consultant?

Joe over at MHH has been blogging faster than most people talk as more and more details on the Q's status trickle in. But today, the breaking point on the Quenneville saga may have been reached. In Rick Sadowski's blog at the Rocky Mountain News, Sadowski reports that Francois Giguere has headed out east to observe the World Championships.

You could say Giguere is going to enjoy some hockey but for the most part, when a GM heads halfway across the continent in the offseason, he's doing it as a business trip. And who's at the Worlds that Giguere could be interested in? Pat Burns of course. Back behind the bench, Burns is an assistant coach for Team Canada - 4-0 so far TYVM - and appears to still have the coaching fire in him.

Would a 3-time Jack Adams award winner - the only 3-time award winner in history - be the right fit for the Avalanche? Well, I certainly can't see him being any worse. Sure, you could claim his 88-89 win came on the back of Patrick Roy but my goodness, the man won the award while coaching the friggin' Leafs! You find me a coach who can win an award while coaching a team in Toronto and I'll show you a man who deserves a job.

But reegardless if Pat Burns comes aboard, my feeling is that Joel Quenneville has worn out his welcome with the Colorado Avalanche and Francois Giguere is echoing that sentiment by not extending his contract.

Related Links
Offseason Playbook: Forwards
Offseason Playbook: Defense
Offseason Playbook: Goaltending
Dater's take on Quenneville
Better know a free agent: Joel Quenneville

Joel Quenneville Not a Jack Adams Finalist

The Jack Adams finalists are out and our very own coach Q did not make the shortlist.

So the Capitals remarkable resurgence under Boudreau, the Habs meteoric rise to the top and the Red Wings pesky ability to keep winning the Presidents Trophy was all it took to put them above a coach who - amongst injuries mind you - had his team literally limp into the playoffs?

Shocking.

Jose Theodore to Start Game 3 for Avalanche

UPDATE: Another pasted blog comment below.

I said this earlier on A2Y and I'll just repeat it verbatim here as I don't have the time to formulate any more thoughts on the topic.

I think starting Theodore is going to blow up in JQ’s face. All it’s going to take is an early goal by the Wings to completely deflate the Avalanche.

If Budaj was in net and an early goal was scored, it’s easy to write off as jitters and push it out of your mind. With Theodore, his psyche and the team’s confidence in him seem to be at the point just before the straw breaks its back.

If Theodore does end up coming through and playing out of his mind - which he’ll need to for the Avs to win - JQ will look like a genius but I’ll still assume he just got lucky wink

It’s mildly ironic that most Avs fans pissed and moaned - myself included - when Q would swap goaltenders willy-nilly through his tenure with the Avalanche and now we’re pissing and moaning that he won’t do that. However it’s two completely different scenarios as there is no more margin for error.

UPDATE:
I made this comment at ITCS where DD feels Theodore is the only logical choice. And since I'm lazy (actually in a meeting where I'm half paying attention) I'll do another paste job.

I don’t think starting Theodore is a terrible idea. But I do fear that one goal is all it will take to break this squad. With Budaj in, an automatic one-goal buffer is added to that breaking point.

That’s my main concern over starting Theodore. I could be overestimating the teams fragility but based on game 2, they didn’t appear to have anything left in the tank after goal number 3.

When it was announced Theodore was starting this game, I certainly wasn’t upset. I think either goaltender is a reasonable choice at this point but if Theodore is still feeling the effects of the flu, he simply should not be playing. And certainly should not have gone in the dressing room.

Manning up in this situation is completely different for a goaltender. A forward/defenceman can slack off a bit while on the ice but a goaltender cannot have any slack, especially against the Wings. When the flu takes you down, you can’t will your muscles to move that glove hand faster or push across the crease with more speed.

And it seemed pretty evident that this was the problem in game 1. His movements were sluggish, he was slow to react and his head didn’t appear to be in the game.

While I appreciate that Theodore is the #1 goaltender, there is no loyalty when it comes to winning. So I hope Q made this choice based on performance, not based on loyalty.

Related Links
Avs' Quenneville firm: Theodore will start
There is no goalie controversy
Avs seek balanced approach

Coach Q Doesn't like Parker Penalty

Adrian Dater has an article up where Joel Quenneville commented on the bad timing of Scott Parker's penalty against Florida last night. There was only 10:27 left in the game and the Avalanche were up by 1. Of course Olli Jokinen scored to the tie the game and send it - eventually - to a shootout which the Avalanche thankfully won.

Now, granted that it was a tough time to take a penalty, the question that stands out in my mind is "Why was Parker even on the ice?" The guy plays 5 minutes or less per game and it should be at the outset to set a physical tone and then a bit more midway through to ensure the other team remembers he's still there waiting...watching...

I'm not going to start debating whether Parker is necessary for this team but he's certainly not necessary when nursing a one goal lead midway through the third period.

Related Links
Parker Penalty Doesn't Quite Please Coach Q

Hitch Tells Team "Wake Up"...and they Listen

As I was subjecting myself to more articles and videos on last nights game, I came across this article linked from Kukla's Korner entitled What a Period.

I found myself a bit deflated that it had to be the team I cheer for who was on the receiving end of the third period beatdown that's the talk of Internet town. However the first thing that came to my mind was that their coach told them wake up...and they did.

Wouldn't it be nice if the coach for the Avalanche could tell the team to wake up, dig in their heels and pull out a win...and they would? It's becoming apparent that Q's tactics just aren't working and you can't continue to blame the goaltenders or the players. The coaches have a job to do and it's simple. Get the team to buy into a system of play and make the players accountable for mistakes while instilling confidence in them at the same time.

So far in all of Q's tenure here, the players haven't bought into the system being preached. And really can you blame them? You can't call "try to score more goals than the other team then cross your fingers once you have the lead" a "system."

The PP has struggled this year and Q's idea to remedy things was to take Sakic off the point and put Wolski there. Ok, Wolski hasn't looked too bad there but why is Quenneville so adamant on having a forward play the point? We've got Liles, Cumiskey and Clark who are all capable of playing an offensive role. Put Hannan out on the second unit as a filler and shot taker and there you go.

The PK hasn't been terrible statistically but at 81.5%, 17th in the league, they should definitely be looking to improve. I'm still not a fan of the "no pressure" style of penalty killing as it gives the other team far too much time to pass the puck around. With PKers like Hejduk, Stastny, Richardson and Sakic, they should be pushing the other team for a turnover at the blue line to take advantage of.

And the defense. Where to begin. Well actually, it's simple. The first thing I was ever taught when playing defense was that you took the man first and the puck second. From novice all the way up, that's what the minor hockey coaches preach. So why is it that in "the" league, all the defenseman on this team tend to go for the puck? And I'm not talking taking a swipe at the puck and missing. It's more this idea of flopping to the ice to break the pass/block a shot. If you lay the opposing player flat on his ass, he's not about to pass or shoot the puck. It's a much more efficient system.

Oh, and just to throw one in for offense. What in the holy hell is Ryan Smyth doing taking shots from the outside? What happened to the in-your-face, garbage goal scoring, goaltender interfering, heart and soul player that he was in Edmonton? He's shown flashes of those abilities but he's also shown flashes of trying to be a bit of a finesse player. And that's a fault of the coaches.

When are the coaches going to wake up and take responsibility?

Related Links
Q'Nundrum
The Coach Q Factor
Pair of Goalies is None