Avs Talk - A Colorado Avalanche Blog

The sub-.500 Avalanche are set to face the Joel Quenneville-led Blackhawks tonight and I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to "stick it" to coach Q a little bit.

But after last nights performance against the Sharks, I'm not riding a wave of optimism.

Sleep on it
I don't think the defensive issues will be fixed within the span of a plane ride and morning skate so look for more of the same tonight.
Of course, Ian Laperriere's tongue lashing of the the team's defensive efforts might be enough to fire the team up for at least one game.

Line it up
As mentioned in the comments of the Avs-Sharks recap, it would be great to see Svatos move up to one of the top-2 lines - preferably with Sakic to keep the RPM unit together - while moving Tucker to the third line.

So far Tucker really hasn't contributed anything when playing with Sakic so why keep going back to him? Or continually backing Arnason to the press when everyone and their dog feel he is underperforming?

Ok, I understand that one to a degree because you don't hang a player out to dry to the media. But saying he's an important player is incorrect. His role is an important one and there's a big difference.

Pipe it in
Peter Budaj will be back in the pipes after a horrendous performance last night. The giant rebound he tossed out all night long were a key component in the Sharks win. If he doesn't pick up his play, he could find himself riding the pine in favor of Andrew Raycroft.*

Game time
The puck drops at 8:30 ET, 6:30 MT and will likely be to another sellout crowd at the United Center.

*Just seeing if I can rile Mike up again.

Related Links
Avalanche-Blackhawks Preview