Peter Forsberg to Announce Retirement

I just got a text message from TSN's alert service that Peter Forsberg is going to announce his retirement.

I hadn't seen this anywhere else and thought it may have been a mistake. But lo and behold, it's up on TSN's website as well.

So long, Foppa. We will always love you.

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.

Taking a Pie in the Face for Prostate Cancer

Some of you may recall my post in the aftermath of the great hashtag battle of 'ought-10. In it, I said I would donate my estimated contribution of $100 had I attended the battle to a charity. I even hinted that a donation to prostate cancer research might be in line given that Movember was coming up.

Well, it's happening. Today, in fact.

My workplace today held a bake sale and as part of it, you could by a pie and deliver it to someone. Sounds nice, right? Until you hear the next part.

That person then had the choice of either doubling what was previously paid and sending it to someone else or taking that pie right in the face. There was no "eat it" option.

I had gone home for lunch today rather than eating at the office. I thought an unintended benefit would be avoiding a presence which could lead to me taking a pie in the face. As I arrived back at work after a long lunch, I headed up to my office and was greeted with an option of paying $80 for a pie or taking it in the face.

Since I had just finished lunch I didn't really like the thought of more food near my face. So I sent it right back to the person who sent it to me, thinking there's no way they would pay $160 for a pie. Turns out, I was wrong.

She sent it right back to me and since there's no way I'm paying $320 for a pie - even for a good cause - I decided that I'll take it in the face.

I have no idea when it's going down but I promise to share pictures when it's done. And though $80 is less than $100, I think the karma of taking a pie in the face while doing so balances out.

Call it even?

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.

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