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 3 - Rangers 1 - Prologue Edition

I am staring at my giant new 24" Samsung monitor, typing on my new Microsoft Arc keyboard, caressing my new Microsoft Arc mouse and, more importantly, sitting at my newly reconstituted desk. I'm also dreading my next credit card bill but that's besides the point.

Back in 2002, the first thing I did when I was hired out of university was to purchase a gorgeous L-shaped desk for my command center. I spent most at that desk writing programs, writing poetry and writing content. I also ate there, read there, watched TV there and at times I literally slept at my desk. It grew into an extension of myself.

Skip to two years ago and my girlfriend and I were moving back into an apartment for reasons I won't elaborate on but some of you may be aware of. Coming from a townhouse we had too many things to fit in the apartment and some things had to go. The final choice we had to make was between setting up my desk or having a kitchen table. The kitchen table won and I put the desk in storage.

Fast forward to last Friday and I was dying. Figuratively. I felt creatively dead - I had for a long time - and I had no idea what was wrong. So I started running through all the reasons this could have happened.

Had my recent health issues changed me on a more fundamental level than just physical health? Was I so burnt out from what I went through that there was simply no energy left for free thought outside of work? Was my brain already digitally re-wired and I was just a consumption machine? Was I simply past my creative prime?

None of those felt true and then it hit me - it was my desk. A cradle of creativity where I could sit, free of suffocation. No laptop buring my lap. A structure open yet contained. Inviting, comforting, secure. It's my zen garden.

So on Saturday we ditched the kitchen table and I set up my desk again. The last time I changed any hardware (monitor, mouse, keyboard, computer, lamp, etc) was back in 2003 and I felt it was time to refresh for 2010. I already had the new computer so the rest was academic.

Today, I sit here a contented man. The creativity? It's coming back.

Does this mean I will be posting more often and with more insight than the twitter-style commentary I've done recently? I hope so. But if not, we'll always have this story.

For tonight, I think I've held up your time long enough so I'll again share a few twitter-style comments on the Avalanche's 3-1 win over the Rangers and call it a blog post.

Twoughts*
*(You know, like a short form of "Twit-thoughts"...wait, I just said it out loud and that's not good...)

Johnny Liles is now 32 points away from 40. The question now isn't will he hit 40, it's will he hit 40 in 40?

Chris Stewart's expression after scoring goals is priceless. And we got to see it twice today.

Both those goals were on the powerplay. Weird.

How badly does Kyle Quincey want to forget his performance tonight?

Does the Rangers not having Marian Gaborik, Chris Drury or Vinny Propsal take anything away from tonight's victory? Hell no.

I love ice-level sounds and caught the following conversation snippet during a whistle: "...for the last 20 f'n years, bud. You won't last." I can only presume it was Adam Foote talking...but to whom? Stepan, maybe?

Have you all watched Tweet It?

Related Links
NHL Boxscore
AP Story
DP Recap
MHH Recap
Put It On Ice Recap
Burgundy Blog Recap
Aaron @ HockeyBuzz Recap

Story of the day - The Stewart-Konopka Fight

Jeff Marek unearthed the full scoop behind the Chris Stewart vs Zenon Konopka fight and it's pure gold.

Dig in and enjoy the exact type of reporting that we need more of in sports.

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!

The Purse Strings Open; Chris Stewart Signs Two-year Deal

The Avalanche offseason news has been fairly lackluster and coupled with radio silence on contract negotations, hand wringing commenced over unsigned RFAs Peter Mueller and Chris Stewart which bled into rumor and speculation.

The primary contender was that Stan Kroenke was cheaping out on us all to focus on his soccer, NBA and NFL holdings. The Avalanche were the redheaded step child so to speak. This ignored the fact that the Avalanche still needed - and do still need - to hit the salary cap floor of $43.whatever million.

Well, now that the team is in his son's hands, the Stewart signing gets done. Coincidence? I think so. But don't let that stop you from feeling otherwise.

It's a two-year deal worth $6M which is some decent scratch. I think Stewart can consider his rookie season a success now, eh? I like the guy and I have no expectation of him regressing over the next couple seasons so I'm happy.

And since I'm happy, aren't you all happy? And if so, maybe we should all do a little dance.

Mueller? Mueller?

Avalanche vs Leafs, Game Preview

The Colorado Avalanche (3-1-1) head to the ACC for part three of their seven part road trip to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs (0-4-1) tonight at 7:30pm ET.

This season has been going better than most Avalanche fans expected and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't expecting a win out of this game. I generally subscribe to the "the more things stay the same, the more likely they are to change" philosophy but I can't see the Leafs pulling it together after a blowout yesterday against the Rangers.

The opposition

The Leafs have yet to get one in the W column this season and I can't tell you how funny I find that. After Brian Burke was once again fellated by the media - or was that just TSN? - for his off-season signings and "toughening up" of the team, it appears the "Genius at work" sign outside Burke's office might need to be taken down.

It's all well and good to build a team that's tough to play against, but there's tough to play against and there's annoying to play against. The Leafs are simply an annoyance at the moment. The only credible threat they display is violence and it's frankly not all that credible.

They're like the bully who picks on people because they suck at everything else in life. It's not scary, it's just sad.

Backup duel?

Most people are expecting to see Peter Budaj's first appearance for the 09/10 season tonight and it would make sense. Back-to-back games heading into a weaker opponent is generally the equation for when to bring a backup in. But given how early it is in the season, Anderson getting the nod wouldn't be terribly shocking or anything to stir significant analysis.

On the Leafs side, they'll be starting Joey Macdonald after prize signing, Jonas Gustavsson, headed onto the IR and prized whipping boy, Vesa Toskala, taking the "do what he does" advice from goaltending coach Francoise Allaire to heart, ended up injuring himself as well.

But don't get too cocky as Joey Mac is the guy that helped hold the Islanders together after Rick Dipietro hurt himself...again. His stats belie the performances he put in with that squad last year.

David Jones returns, and it was good

David Jones made his return yesterday afternoon against the Bruins and Chris Stewart was the odd man out. It was a good, albeit obvious call, by coach Joe Sacco. Jones rewarded the move with a shorthanded goal plus an assist. That should easily put him on a pace to eclipse that 30-goal mark, eh?

Chris Stewart struggles

I'm not sure what is causing Stewart's early struggles but Sacco has a good comment in the latest DP column:

"We're OK; we'll work with him. He's a young player, and he kind of needs to find his niche again on our team. He'll be fine. We'll get him back in the lineup soon."

That's exactly the sort of comment a young player needs to hear. It's not heaped all on him to get better, the coaching staff is taking on the challenge as well. Who knew you couldn't just say "He needs to find his game" and hope it would magically get better?

Is tonight the night?

I think it's time for Matt Duchene to get his first goal and I think tonight is the night. The conditions are ripe for the picking and hopefully Duchene can get that monkey off his back. Hopefully I don't pull something when it happens.

Lineup

I can't see the lineup changing from last game. With Jones' display and the need for David Koci in the lineup, it would be hard to find a slot for Hensick or Stewart to slide in. Another big body like Stewart would be nice but his less-than-inspired play leaves me thinking he would subtract more than he would add.

And if anyone suggests pulling Marek Svatos out, well it's pretty tough to do that when he's scoring goals. He's not gelling with Matt Duchene well and that's unfortunate - as is thinking Darcy Tucker would work better on his LW - but there are other options to deal with that issue.

Ryan Wilson was called up due to Ruslan Salei being placed on the IR but I'm not holding my breath to see him in action. If he were to slot in for anyone, it would most likely be Brett Clark, though that would leave an under-experienced 3rd pairing of Kyle Cumiskey and Wilson, or the unnecessary shifting of Foote or Liles "down" to the 3rd line.

Game time

The puck drops at 7:38pm ET and there is a bit of confusion on where to watch the game. It's listed as being on RIS and Leafs TV but there is no mention of an Altitude feed. "Center Ice to the rescue!", right? Apparently not as nobody can find it in their listings. I see it in ExpressVu's listings down here on the farm but if anybody figures out what's happening on the US side, I'd be interested to hear it.

Game 5 Highlights: Avalanche vs Bruins

WTMF? Here I was relaxing at home, eating some sweet potato fries and turkey and while I was doing that, the Avalanche were busy beating the Boston Bruins.

I was able to tune in to the last five minutes on Center Ice and will likely check out most of the game via GameCenter Live. But first, a few thoughts in my limited viewing.

The Avalanche still cannot clear the zone, even if death were on their tail. In the last five minutes of the game, the puck was in their zone for four and a half minutes. Of course, that was skewed by a terrible call on Paul Stastny for "interference", but still. I don't know why it's such a trouble spot for this team but hopefully Sacco turns that around real quick.

Chris Stewart sat today with David Jones' return and that was 100% the right call. Stewart has been less than mediocre this season after a great run to finish up last season.

Milan Lucic buys into his own hype just a little too much.

More to come. Or I'll grab a nap and miss the replay too.

Avalanche Schooled by Blues, Lose 5-2

A 5-2 loss. To the Blues. Good grief.

I was so pumped about this game that I missed the first 30 minutes because I was shopping. That's right, shopping enthralled me more than the prospect of a game against the St. Louis Blues.

I'm so emotionally exhausted that I don't even have the energy to get upset about the game.

I'm in the "meh" zone.

Here are a few thoughts on the game to end your night/start your day with. And then I'm going to sleep and wait for the predicted near-zero temperatures tomorrow. T-shirt weather!

Darcy Tucker is still getting powerplay time based on what results? Wojtek Wolski, Milan Hejduk, Ryan Smyth, Marek Svatos, Chris Stewart and Cody Mcleod are all scoring at a better rate than Tucker. They were all in the lineup. So was the slumping T.J. Hensick who might benefit from a little boost to his playing time.

It's time to wave goodbye to the Tucker love train, Mr. Granato. We all got off a looong time ago.

Chris Stewart is a beast. He pummelled Tyson Strachan tonight and looked cool as a cucumber doing it.

"Who's Tyson Strachan?" you all ask? It doesn't matter. All you need to know is that he is from Melfort, Saskatchewan. In other words, dude knows how to fight.

Peter Budaj needs to become a bit more of a prude and keep those legs tight together.

He didn't have a great game tonight and the back-breaker fourth goal was a classic five-holer that Budaj is prone to giving up.

But hey, T.J. Oshie had a three point night while Patrick Berglund notched a goal. All was well in fantasy land for me this game.

Related Links
NHL.com Boxscore

Chris Stewart Assigned to Lake Erie

Chris Stewart has been sent down to the Lake Erie Monsters after a terrific rookie camp. It was unexpected as Stewart had been racking up points since rookie camp began. However the coaching staff felt he was too inconsistent and sent him down quicker than some, and likely Stewart himself, would have suspected.

Matt Hussey and Ken Roche were also assigned to Lake Erie as the Avalanche pared their roster down to 35 in advance of their upcoming preseason game against the Kings.

It was also announced that Curtis Leschyshyn, who has the hardest last name to spell in the history of last names, has declined to take up the color commentary/analyst spot on the radio with Norm Jones. If you listened to the radio calls of the games, you would realize he doesn't seem cut out for that position. He will likely end up somewhere else within the organization in the future.

Chris Stewart Assigned to Lake Erie

Chris Stewart has been sent down to the Lake Erie Monsters after a terrific rookie camp. It was unexpected as Stewart had been racking up points since rookie camp began. However the coaching staff felt he was too inconsistent and sent him down quicker than some, and likely Stewart himself, would have suspected.

Matt Hussey and Ken Roche were also assigned to Lake Erie as the Avalanche pared their roster down to 35 in advance of their upcoming preseason game against the Kings.

It was also announced that Curtis Leschyshyn, who has the hardest last name to spell in the history of last names, has declined to take up the color commentary/analyst spot on the radio with Norm Jones. If you listened to the radio calls of the games, you would realize he doesn't seem cut out for that position. He will likely end up somewhere else within the organization in the future.

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.