Once again, Peter Budaj showed up and the rest of the team decided to take a vacation. How does that saying go? Fool me once, shame on...shame on you. But fool me can't get fooled again. Or something like that. Either way, the Avalanche are looking like fools with their latest efforts.
How is it that a team can come out with the same piss-poor effort two games in a row? Players can keep calling it an accountability issue all they want but at some point they have to *bleeping* do something about it. Talk is cheap, actions win games.
And where has Tony Granato's "up-tempo" offensive style been? I see no life from the offense. They look like they're going through the motions. The wrong motions. This is what was such a sure hire that no other candidates were even interviewed for the job?
If I was Peter Budaj right now, I'd be right pissed off at my teammates. At one point midway through the third, Curtis Glencross coasted past Scott Hannan - and it wasn't hard to do - forcing Budaj to make a big save. You'd think that would spark the team right? Nope. TJ Hensick picked up the rebound in the corner and promptly turned it back over to the Flames.
Where is the emotion? Where is the will to win? They're playing like they could give a rats ass about being in the NHL right now and it's completely unacceptable. And it shouldn't require some giant movie-style speech from the coach or captain. It requires the players to wake the hell up and play some damn hockey.
If things don't change soon, then things are going to change. Whether it's a roster shakeup, a staff shakeup or just a good, hard kick in the ass for every player in the room, this team needs something to wake them up. You'd think their pride would do it but apparently not.
And in keeping with my angered mood, I once again have to get annoyed at the Flames announcers. Not for being overly biased - they were as biased tonight as any other home announce team - but for saying things that make no sense. The ultimate one was when they stated:
"You can tell how disciplined the Flames have been by the number of penalties they didn't take".
Yeah, ok, umm...NO SUCH NUMBER EXISTS! if you really must put a number on it, your best choice is infinity. As an example, I ate 4 eggs today but there were INFINITY EGGS I DIDN'T FLIPPIN' EAT!
Damn the Avs for putting me in this foul of a mood.
Notes
- Svatos left with an abdominal injury midway through the game
- the Avalanche fired off a gigantic 18 shots on the night
- the Avalanche won 31% of their faceoffs
-the Avalanche are directly responsible for global warming
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14 Comments:
Also... The number of penalties not called at all (like Phaneuf's obvious hook at center ice of Svatos that wasn't called. Or the hold on McCormick.
The refs were downright terrible tonight. You might even say Heinous)
Embarrassing. I hate to blame coaching, but at this point...we know we have great talent, and Budaj has been amazing...who else is there to blame?!
Wow you could not be more right. I live in Calgary, went to the game on Tuesday and could not stop talkin smack about the Avs. We might be the worst team in the league right now in terms of hustle, determination, and effort. 9 of 10 games we score 2 goals or less. That is unacceptable. Solution, fire Granato now before the season is completely lost. My choice as replacement, Marc Crawford.
P.S\ Where were the fans tonight?
P.S\ Where were the fans tonight?
Who wants to pay to see the Avs play like that?
jib, I'm not sure why but Phaneuf seems to get away with a lot of stuff out on the ice. Maybe the refs are scared of him since he's the toughest thing on two skates.
tapetergoblue, there's really nothing more Budaj can do at this point. It's bizzare but it seems when Budaj plays bad, the team scores tons of goals. And when he plays well, the team completely dries up.
anon, though I'm very close to getting on board a Fire Granato train, I wouldn't want to see Crawford come back.
And yeah, what jib said. I'm not a fan of fair-weather fandom, but when your team is playing like crap, what incentive is it to cheer them on?
Some might say this is the time they need the fans the most but I don't think 18,000 screaming fans would motivate them. There's something else missing.
well said in your 1st post shane and Jay, I too am worried. Very discouraging.... I don't know where else to point the finger besides overall lack of effort and possibly poor coaching.... THE TALENT IS THERE, I don't know what else it's gonna take...I'm lost for words....
I don't think the talent is there. Wolski, Svatos, Jones, The McCody's, Cumiskey, Hensick....come on! These guys aren't good enough. Hedjuk needed to be big this year. Where is he? Smyth too. $7M for what?? Time to use some of that Cap money (Forsberg isn't coming back)and get some real players. We are wasting Joe's last season. He deserves someone great on his line to play with, if and when he comes back.
How about revealing your true self Mr. Anonymous... Also, try keeping your bias comments to yourself...You're obviously a fan of the "Flamers" I can only imagine why with a team that has a nickname as shown above. If you haven't realized this is an Avalanche blog, for Avalanche fans. Go flirt with the rest of the flamers on their blog sites...
Ryan, I'm not sure where you get the idea Anon is a Flames fans. Both anon posts were reasonable and the Avs fully deserve every word. Chill. Let's not degrade into Wild fans or anything.
ok sorry you all... just frustrated and want to take it out on people.... Maybe I'll lace up my own skates and try out for the AVS.....Just playin, I'VE NEVER EVEN PLAYED BEFORE!
Hey, focus on the positive, people. I don't think our D is that bad... they only gave up 1 against the Flamers last go, and before that they were fine until the melt down towards the end of the third. Our PK is looking tight. the obvious problem is our lack of offense. The Avs do have talent, but I think they are missing just one more top forward to make it all click. Arnason and Jones are worthless, for sure. We are top heavt in the D and we should trade one of them for a top forward. Until that happens, the Flamers will continue to have our number. It's not like they are better than us, we just aren't giving ourselves a chance (offensively). And Ryan - way to shoot first and ask questions later...
The offense is definitely the biggest problem The D has solidified though I'm still not a huge fan of their clearing or breakout attempts. Of course the offense needs to be involved to help them out there as well.
Jones needs to head down to the AHL. His confidence has been destroyed and he's doing almost nothing every game. I was really high on him coming into the season.
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