Anderson Out Indefinitely But No Surgery Required

Terry Frei fed us the news earlier today that Craig Anderson is out indefinitely but will not require surgery. He's headed back to (or likely is back in) Denver while John Grahame has been called in to back up Peter Budaj.

If no surgery is needed then there is no full tear, which is great. Hopefully the Avalanche release full details of the injury (I know, I know) to the fans and media. Better to let the facts out than to have baseless speculation running rampant.

It would seem that now might be time to get restart the "I Believe in Budaj" campaign as he's now the #1 again. Those were good times, weren't they?

It's not like Anderson was playing lights out to this point nor was Budaj playing badly. However Anderson has shown the ability to deliver consistently stellar results while Budaj has shown the opposite.

But I tell ya, there's strength in his new hairdo. I'm not worried.

Avalanche 3 - Canucks 4; Injury Edition

Short thoughts from me to close out the game:

Johnny Liles with the NHL record! 9 straight games with an assist to open the season as a defenseman and he's now in the record books. Time to trade him while his stock is high. EDIT: I really simplified that record first time out, now corrected.

What in the blue hell was Jonas Holos doing driving the puck towards his own net on the game-winning play? I've been loving what Holos has brought to the team but that was a dandy. Oh well, call yourself an idiot, shake it off and don't do it again.

Does Manny Malhotra have a gold tooth?

How about the Duke defying age and his gimpy knee? He's still got silky smooth hands. And he's a pretty good stickhandler too... Too much? Yeah, moving on.

Conversely that Duchene kid hasn't brought anything this year and I'm surprised he hasn't been sent to the AHL yet.

Daniel Winnik continues to be the best free agent signing of the year with his hard working play. He got rewarded with a goal tonight and 18+ minutes of ice time. Well done, sir.

Where's Brandon Yip?

How about those injuries and close calls tonight? Liles gets cranked from behind , Stastny ate an elbow to the face and David Jones did something to his leg/knee/foot. All of them returned to the game but there was a lot of breath being held until they did.

I feel like I'm forgetting something. What was it? Oh that's right...ohmygodIhopeAndydidn'tblowouthiskneeduringwarmup!

Dater posted the injury video (embedded below) and it looked odd. It looked more like a tweak than a blown knee but let's wait until tomorrow before we start speculating, pontificating and prognosticating on how bad it is and what it means to the team. Or freak out now. Dealer's choice, really.

Budaj played a solid game tonight and it looks like he might be needed for a couple more upcoming starts. I think the updated hairdo is providing a solid aura for him so I'm not concerned if he has to fill in for a bit.



Related Links
NHL.com Event Summary

Avalanche 2 - Flyers 4, Quick Thoughts Edition

After defeating the Stanley Cup winning Chicago Blackhawks, the Avalanche turned their attention tonight to the Stanley Cup losing Philadelphia Flyers. Unfortunately the Avs walked away with their first loss of the season thanks in large part to an abysmally atrocious first period which included two shorthanded goals against. Two.

EDIT: As Tapeleg points out, technically the second goal wasn't a shortie. I still count it in my mind [since the giveaway which kickstarted the play occured while still on the PP] . I'd be open to settling on one-and-a-half.

The Avalanche started the game as a turnover machine and it burned them. You can't turn over the puck as many times as they did and expect to win a hockey game. It was an unbelievably frustrating thing to watch and I can only assume Joe Sacco tore them a new one during the intermission.

As per standard fare, the Avs turned it on in the second period and got within one. In fact, they nearly pulled even but Sergei Bobrovsky made a great save with about 0.01 seconds left on the board to preserve the lead.

Sidebar - Try to say "Vladimir Bobrovsky" fast. I had a heck of a time not bumbling that one. You might wonder why I was calling him Vladimir when his name is Sergei. I'll leave that for you to chew on for a while.

The third period was an exciting, wide open hockey game that had me on the edge of my seat. I subsequently fell off the edge of my seat just as Jeff Carter's game winning goal crossed the goal line, which was awesome.

What a rough way to end a game for Craig Anderson who played great in turning aside 35 shots. I understand the instinct to sweep your legs closed like that but every time I see a goal go in that way, I have to wonder why these guys aren't able to supress that urge.

Quick thoughts
John-Michael Liles had two assists on the night leaving him with just 36 points to go to hit 40 on the season.

Hey, there's Brandon Yip! Scoring a goal and taking a penalty that likely prevented a goal. I wonder what changed tonight that really lifted his spirits...

David Jones still doesn't have the explosive speed he had in seasons past. Let's hope it's not a permanent loss, just a part of his final sprint of rehab.

What the hell was Kyle Quincey doing on his shorthanded breakaway? What looked to be poetic justice turned into something more resembly a poetry recitation.

How about that Giroux kid, eh?

Ladies and gentlemen, your ice-time leader for the Avalanche tonight - Kyle Cumiskey with 22:22! Next up? T.J. Galiardi with 22:05.

Next up - the Detroit Red Wings tomorrow night. Please step it, boys. You know why.

Avalanche vs Canucks - Game Preview

A grueling October finally came to a close for the Avalanche and it could not have gone any better. Well, they could have done without all the injuries. And I suppose technically they did leave six of a possible 28 points on the table. But all things considered, this was a success beyond anyone's imaginations for a team pegged for dead last in the NHL.

The Avs kick off Movember with a stop in sunny Vancouver tonight to take on Andrew Raycroft and the Vancouver Canucks. It's the tail end of a four-game road trip that has seen them go 2-1 with wins against division foes Calgary and Edmonton. Wouldn't it be nice to grab a couple more points from the division tonight?

The Avalanche are having their depth tested early in the season. With Darcy Tucker, T.J. Galiardi, Matt Hendricks and Cody Mcleod out, we've seen a quick parade of AHL call-ups. And while the Avs are still holding firm in light of the injuries, they will start to catch up with them.

Thankfully, Craig Anderson has showed no signs of slowing down. When the defense fails, Neo has been there to bail them out. When the offense is lacking, Mr. Anderson to the rescue. When the team is firing on all cylinders, there he is. He is everyone, and he is no one.

Anderson leads the league with a .930 save percentage and 10 wins and is 3rd in GAA with 2.04. Combine that with being tied for #1 in the league in games played, I think we can all sleep easy with him in net.

And sleep easy tonight might be what many people will be doing even before this game starts at 10:00pm ET tonight. Thanks to daylight savings time and Saskatchewan's rebel ways, that means a 9:00pm start time for this guy. You lucky Coloradians (I didn't look that up, just took a stab at it) at least get it at 8:00pm. But given my computer science background, I'll still be up long after the game ends. bless flexible working hours!

I might even have a thought or two on the game before I hit the sack. Or I'll be busy playing Dungeons & Dragons while reading comic books and drinking Jolt cola.

Oh, and Marek Svatos will get goal #3 tonight (hey, it worked with Matt Duchene...)

Related Links

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Jay Onrait chats with Craig Anderson
One month in the books

Jay Onrait Chats with Craig Anderson

Jay Onrait - the funniest man on TSN - just put up a blog post after not writing anything for the last 15 years (give or take a few months). In it, he has a chat with our very own Mr. Anderson.

I don't know when Jay decided to play it straight but I'll take it anyway I can get it. I was going to make joke there but decided I didn't want to touch that. Not even with a ten foot pole...

Anderson Set to Make 15th Straight Start

Wow. Craig Anderson will make his 15th straight start tomorrow against the Vancouver Canucks.

I can only presume that the coaching staff believe the hype behind the wheels coming off for this team and have decided to ride Neo while he is hot. Once our youngsters hit the wall and the losses start piling up, Peter Budaj should see some playing time.

Avalanche vs Sharks - Game Preview

I was off the blogging grid for about a week and it looks like the world kept turning. Who knew!

In the time I've been gone, the Avalanche have continued winning, the bodies on the injured list have continued to pile up and the media (mainstream and otherwise) are looking for the Avs to cool off.

I'll take 2 out of 3 of those any day of the week. The injuries however have got to stop. With the latest news being that T.J. Galiardi is out for 4-6 weeks, the franchise's organizational depth will be tested. Philippe Dupuis has been called up and joins Chris Durno and Brian Willsie from the Monsters roster and press box hound T.J. Hensick finds himself drawing in to the lineup again. Thankfully John-Michael Liles makes his return tonight which should help the powerplay pick up steam.

Though Peter Budaj has recovered from his bout with H1N1, Craig Anderson will make his 14th straight start tonight. I guess coach Sacco felt that with organizational depth being tested, it was best to stick with a hot goaltender. I concur.

As this week has been draining, I'm going to be splayed out on my couch in full relax mode for this one. Enjoy the game everybody. I know I will.

Oh, and Matt Duchene will get goal #2 tonight.

Avalanche 3 - Red Wings 1; Game Thoughts

This morning as soon as I woke up, I said to the gf "Hey, the Avs are tied for 1st in the league" (yes, I said it with a hyperlink). She said "Maybe Sakic was bad luck. Good thing he's gone!" After she cleaned up the glass of water I dumped over her head (kidding...probably), she said "Well what's the difference?"

My answer was simple: goaltending and youth.

Sean at Anyone But Detroit has a good article up this morning about how Craig Anderson might be flirting with greatness. It certainly is all right for Avalanche fans to get excited about Mr. Anderson, especially after a 48 save performance against the Red Wings. Without Anderson, there is no doubt that the Avs would be flirting with .500.

As for youth, well just take a look at the team scoring stats. Ryan O'Reilly is tied for the team lead with Wojtek Wolski and Paul Statsny. So two 23-year old players and an 18-year old rookie are leading the team in scoring. And it's not even the 18-year old we expected to be up there. How's that for surprising?

Game Highlights

I was hosting a UFC party last night but recorded the game and kept up-to-date on it via Twitter. It's not likely I'll watch it as I've got things to do today, but I am curious to check out Anderson's full performance, particularly in the penalty-filled ending of the game. I wonder how many Detroit fans are claiming a conspiracy today after what sounds like a farcical amount of penalty calls against the Avs?

Next game

The Avalanche head out on another road trip, this one for a mere four games. However, three of those four games are against division rivals in Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. Stay excited folks, it could end any given Sundaymoment.

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The after party

Avalanche @ Red Wings; Game Preview

The first place Colorado Avalanche head to Detroit to take on the 11th place Red Wings tonight. I got joy out of writing that sentence. First place. 11th place. Mmmm...tasty.

Tonight will be the penultimate game of the Avs seven-game road trip which has seen them capture seven of a possible 10 points so far. I think that's far beyond what anybody's expectation of this trip would be so the only thing the Avalanche can do now is color us even more surprised.

Lineup

Chris Stewart and TJ Hensick have been the scratches recently and I don't see a need to inject one of them in the lineup at this point.

John-Michael Liles is still out so Ryan Wilson will draw in again. Wilson looked solid in his debut against the Canadiens on a pairing with Brett Clark.

Kyle Cumiskey slotted up to take Liles spot on the pairing with Foote against Montreal and will likely do so again today as he had his best game of the season on Thursday.

Johan Franzen is out of the Wings lineup for a few months after undergoing knee surgery while Pavel Datsyuk is sitting out this game as well. As much as I enjoy watching Datsyuk play, I'm more than happy to see him in the press box tonight.

Our old pal Brad May will be in the lineup tonight for the Wings and already fans are predicting a David Koci-May square off. Dario is taking it up a notch and hoping for an Adam Foote-Todd Bertuzzi showdown. Hard to argue with that.

Goaltending

Craig Anderson gets his eight straight start and there is absolutely no way you can argue that call. Anderson has been lights out this season and has fans, coaches and players alike marveling at a world without goaltending worries.

Time for the first?

Ryan O'Reilly got his on Thursday. Will Matt Duchene get his tonight? Wouldn't it be poetic for the Avs great white hope to score his first goal against the Wings? We all know it's only a matter of time but could time run a bit quicker, maybe?

At least he's enjoying the travel in the meantime.

Game time

The puck drops at 7:08 ET. This is a can't miss so put away whatever else you had planned and settle down in front of the TV or computer.

Avalanche 3 - Montreal 2; Game Highlights

No, O'Reilly!

I'm late to the party so hopefully nobody has used that one yet.

A few thoughts:

Montreal's second goal should have been blown dead. The Avalanche's third goal should have seen a penalty on Cody Mcleod. The Canadiens had seven players on the ice in the final seconds of the game. They got more breaks, the Avs still won. Suck it.

You know everyone has confidence in a goaltender when Craig Anderson makes a huge save and Mike Haynes doesn't even mention it. Last year? "HUGE SAVE BY BUDAJ! WOW! DID YOU SEE THAT, PETER? AMAZING!" Now? Business as usual.

I should be back in full force after a week off due to unfortunate circumstances so be prepared for some gloating after the victory over the Wings tomorrow.

Craig Anderson Named NHL's Second Star of the Week

Craig Anderson has been named the second star of the week by the NHL, bested only by Alexander Ovechkin and his 6 points in 2 games.

Mr. Anderson has started his Avalanche career with a 2-0-0 record, a 1.00 GAA and .973 save percentage. All that for the low, low price of $1.5M for the year.

Well done, Mr. Anderson and well done Greg Sherman for snagging this guy.

Denver Sports Radio Interview

My 10-minutes of radio fame is up! In case you missed it you can listen to the replay below. I'm big on data storage and don't like anything to vanish into the tubes, never to be seen again.

I'll have a follow-up post later tonight or tomorrow to finish off a few thoughts I had. The 10 minutes went by quick and I had more to say but wanted to make sure we covered all the topics they wanted to discuss.

Did anyone catch my two slip-ups? First was calling Budaj "boody" but there was another one in there that I kind of adjusted mid-sentence so it wasn't a total screw up. Just a partial one.

Blogger doesn't do audio uploads but it does do video (?!?!?) so I had to convert it before uploading. Enjoy staring at the Avs logos while listening to my babble on!

Do the Avalanche have room for Super Joe?

The Avalanche are likely done with the free agent signings after nabbing Craig Anderson (good stuff) and David Koci (WTF?) on the first day. And since I believe Joe Sakic is coming back, we should take a look to see how much cap space is left for his contract.

I've put together a quick Google spreadsheet which includes a couple projections to fill out the Avs 2009/2010 roster. I've got T.J. Galiardi making the team while Ryan Stoa and Matt Duchene do not. I also put in some projected numbers for David Jones and Kyle Cumiskey, who both received qualifying offers but no contract has been signed. I believe both will re-sign and neither should be getting any large increase in salary, but I did give them a modest bump because I'm nice that way. And finally, I brought back Daniel Tjarnqvist as a 7th defenceman, but you can slot in any serviceable name in that 7th-D slot.



With all the dust settled, there is enough space to give Sakic a $5M contract. I went conservative and gave him a $4.5M contract, leaving some flex in cap space. Of course, this is complete conjecture on whether Sakic would take "just" $4.5M for what would undoubtedly be his final season. And it's still conjecture on my part that he's coming back but let's not ruin the entire point of this post.

Would it be disappointing for Matt Duchene to not get a chance to skate with his idol, Joe Sakic? Absolutely, but I'd be willing to bet that even if he doesn't prove NHL-ready during the development and/or training camps, he'll stick around for at least one game to start the season so he can say he skated with Joe.

There's also plenty of time for Greg Sherman to work on unloading a bloated contract or two to some sucker GM out there - maybe Burke would take Darcy Tucker? - to open up more space for youth. Of course, the odds of that happening are slim to none but one can hope, right?

If you notice a mistake in the spreadsheet or think I'm flat-out wrong, feel free to either comment below or open up the spreadsheet and make a change.

Avalanche Sign Craig Anderson

Greg Sherman starts off his tenure with a solid pickup, signing goaltender Craig Anderson to a 2-year deal, rumored at $1.8M/year. Anderson was one of the top-3 goaltenders available and likely the best bang for the buck, though we've yet to see what Nikolai Khabibulin and Martin Biron sign for.

Anderson played very well for the Florida Panthers in his limited playing time, posting 15 wins, 7 losses, a 2.71 GAA and .924 save percentage. On a non-lethal Panthers team, those are very good numbers.

Anderson and Peter Budaj will jockey for the #1 position in training camp, but it's quite possible this is another 1a/1b situation. Anderson is not the Avs goaltending savior, but Anderson/Budaj is more solid than Budaj/Raycroft.

Nice scoop, AD!