By Alejo | Thursday October 05th 2006, 9:38 am
Was anyone else reminded of the beginning of last year in the game last night? I sure was.
As usual, the Avs played like superstars in the first period and somehow managed to squander away the lead through lazy second and third period play. Things were looking up after two quick back to back goals by the vet, Sakic, and his (optimistically) younger counterpart, Wolski, scored two powerplay goals in the first period. The first period was most certainly Avalanche dominated. Shots were 22-7 in favor of the Avs, and Dallas had taken a total of five penalties, while the Avs were never shorthanded. However, the powerplay was bittersweet for the Avs. Even though they converted 2/9 powerplays, they missed a second 5 on 3 opportunity and fell short when it mattered most.
As the third period closed, Darryl Sydor slashed Milan Hejduk’s stick in half, giving the Avalanche a 4 on 3 powerplay to start off OT. While the Avs cycled the puck well and got off a few shots from the circles, but nothing passed Turco, and as Sydor’s two minutes expired, Turco fired it up the ice directly to Turco, giving him a breakaway and a goal.
Though all was not as it seemed. The penalty clock had started thirty seconds late, meaning Sydor was out of the box 30 seconds early according to the clock at the Pepsi Center. Perhaps the loss as a whole cannot be attributed to this singular blunder, but it certainly could have played a part in the Avs’ awareness of the situation. In the words of Stars coach Dave Tipett, “A clock not working on a penalty time in overtime, now that seems a little wow. I’m looking up there and suddenly Syd is coming out of the box and he scores and that was that. We got a break there.”
This is the Avs’ first loss in a home opener in the Pepsi Center, though certainly not Joel Quenneville’s first season opener loss, his record standing at 0-7-2.
If anything good can be taken from this game, at least we can’t blame Jose Theodore. Theodore played some ridiculous hockey during the last 15 minutes of the third period, making numerous saves and mending some ugly defensive wounds. A .901 save percentage is tough to argue with, and when the GWG is scored on a breakaway, who can blame the goalie? Another player looking as good as I hoped is, naturally, Ian Laperriere. The man has some passion. He reminds me of Dan Hinote, but scores more goals and fights more people more often. He didn’t dissapoint last night either, fighting Matthew Barnaby and certainly playing with some emotion. So while the game was ugly, there were a few diamonds in the rough, and hey… 81 games to go.
On a less serious note, what the hell happened to Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll Part II” being played after goals? At the game tonight, they played Blur’s inferior “Song 2″, much to my dismay. The ‘woo hoo’ in Song 2 just doesn’t hold the same kickassocity as the “da dun da dun da da da, HEY” that Gary Glitter brings.
We want Glitter!
By Gabe Stein | Sunday September 17th 2006, 11:14 am
So apparently, the Avs have already started training camp - which means it’s time to get ready for hockey, again. And I’m totally ready. I’m so ready that I’m going to march down to DU and by my Burgundy and White tickets right now. So ready that I’ve already predicted the outcome of this season for the Avs: it’s going to suck.
I hate to be a pessimist, I really do. I like making stupid predictions about the Rockies and Broncos. But when you look at this team from last year to this year, there’s absolutely nothing exciting about the coming season.
We’ve traded away our top scorer for Jordan Leopold, who is in turn expected to replace Rob Blake. The result is that we’re minus one top scorer, minus Rob Blake, and plus someone who’s maybe half of what Rob Blake was. We’ve made no big pickups in the off season, unlike seemingly every other team in the galaxy, including most of the teams in our division, especially last years’ winners, the Flames, and the Stanley Cup runners up, the Oilers (Lupul is a great pickup).
If the off-season tells us anything, it’s that Stan Kroenke has finally arrived in Denver. Like the Nuggets, Stan has installed a penny-pincher at every corner in the Avs’ front office. Pierre Lacroix, who when given the money was one of the best GMs in hockey, has stepped down and now his replacement either no longer has the money to spend, or isn’t willing to spend money, and is constantly looking for bargains to replace superstars (read, Tyler Arnason, Jordan Leopold). The Kroenke Sports regime is content to have mediocre teams good enough to barely make the playoffs, but not good enough to go anywhere. One Team, One Goal has disappeared, and unlike Pat Bowlen and the Broncos, who say the Super Bowl is always on their mind, the Avs are no longer looking for the cup every year.
If we’ve learned anything from the new NHL, it’s the speed, size and youth mean everything. The Avs have done some of that in the youth and speed department, but they’ve heavily downgraded in size, across the board. There are only a few bright points to look forward to. One of them is a healthy Marek Svatos (who we signed on a minimum contract), who was among the Western Conference leaders with 30 goals before being injured in the middle of the season. Another is Paul Stastny, University of Denver standout and Avs’ first-round draft pick who’s made waves in training camp and may make the team as a true Rookie. We’ll also get to see what Wojtek Woslki, who was less than impressive in the playoffs, can do in a full season. (I think Cody McCormick, Brad Richardson and Brett McLean also deserve a nod in this area). And of course, I think we’re all looking forward to the return of quite possibly the most important off-season signing, Ian Laperriere, his antics, and his orchestra.
But there are too many question marks that balance out the positives - something that we haven’t had to say too much in this organization’s history. How Jose Theodore will play given a full season as the starter is one of the biggest questions - not to mention how much of an effect his salary has already had on the team’s apparently limited budget. But the other literally huge gap is perhaps more important: the blue line. If anyone thinks that Ken Klee and Jordan Leopold can pickup the slack left by Rob Blake’s return to Los Angeles, let me know, because I’m not very excited. Leopold eats a lot of time, but neither of the two replacements show the scoring talent that Blake posessed, which was one of the biggest components of the team’s success last year. Match that with the loss of Alex Tanguay, and you have a real problem. The team’s leading scorer last year is being “replaced” (if you can call it that) by Tyler Arnason, a five-year pro who’s never scored more than 55 points in his career. Tyler is fairly quick on the ice, he’s young, and could still potentially develop into a scorer on a good team with some support…but he’s not going to come close to matching Tanguay’s production.
So when you look it all up and down, I can’t honestly say that the team has improved at all from last season. Our saving grace may be Jose Theodore, who can make up a lot of slack if he can return to his old form - but if he’s not perfect, it’s going to be a long season and a long few years to come.
By Gabe Stein | Wednesday August 09th 2006, 9:18 am
Nope, no we didn’t. We’ve been keeping track of Avs news (there hasn’t been much), and we have to say, we don’t like much of what we’ve seen. Everyone else around us has gone out and gotten somebody - but despite Lacroix’s assurances that we’d be able to pick up a star this offseason, well, nothing much has happened. Now the team goes into the next season minus Tanguay and Blake, and plus, well, virtually no one. Not what I expected going into the offseason.
Still, here’s what’s been happening in Avaland:
We picked up center Tyler Arnason, a center who has played for the Blackhawks but was traded late last year to the Senators. He’s a young guy with a decent amount of offensive skill, but no Alex Tanguay - Tyler had just 45 points last year in 79 games.
We signed Kurt Sauer…ok…
…signed the dynamic duo of Clark and Skrastins, good…
…agreed to terms with Liles, Budaj, and McCormik, alright….
…signed McClean for another year, avoid arbitration…good call…
…and we’ve picked up, Ken Klee and Paul Stasny! YES!!! Wait…what?
Klee, a no-namer from New Jersey is a scrappy big blue-liner, who has never scored more than 20 points in a season except in one fluke year for Toronto. He does eat up some time (18+ per game), but as a replacement for Blake, which is basically how the Avs are trying to sell this, you’ve got to be KIDDING me!
You might recognize Paul Stasny as the standout DU forward who scored 29 goals in 28 games last year. Well, he was our second-round choice, and now we’ve signed him. He’s got some talent and he’s an excitingly fast player - but it’ll take a few years to see what he develops into.
Meanwhile, Justin Leopold, the guy we acquired for Tanguay, has gone down with surgery for a hernia, which will take him…well, apparently 10-12 weeks to recover. Seems a lot for a hernia, but as long as he’s ready for the season…
So that’s what’s up for the Avalanche. No big-name acquisitions, no start-studded contract swapping…just, a lot more of the same. If anything does happen though (and we expect it won’t), we’ll keep you posted.
By Gabe Stein | Thursday June 29th 2006, 6:48 am
Today (actually, yesterday by now) it was announced that on November 13, 2006, Patrick Roy, by almost all accounts the best goaltender in history, will be inducted into the National Hockey League Hall of Fame.
Photo from the Rocky Mountain News.
Over his illustrious 18-year career, Roy won four Stanley Cups, two with the Montreal Canadiens, and two with the Colorado Avalanche. During those runs he won three Conn Smythe (Playoff MVP) trophies, an NHL record. During his second Stanley Cup run in 1993, Roy won an NHL-record 10 straight playoff overtime games to bring the cup to Montreal for the second time in his career. In 1995, he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche, where he won his third Stanley Cup in that same season.
Roy was one of the leading figures in the notorious rivalry between the Detroid Red Wings and the Colorado Avalanche. In 1997, Roy fought Red Wings goalie Mike Vernon during a game late in the season. In 1998, Roy fought Wings goalie Chris Osgood. Mike Hanes, who called both fights on the radio, said at the time that Roy won them both…this is still disputed by many Wings fans.
During the 2000-2001 season, Patrick Roy lead the Avalanche to their second Stanley Cup just five years after moving to Colorado. That year, Roy won his third Conn Smythe and helped Ray Borque win his first ever Stanley Cup - after 18 fruitless years of being one of the best defensemen in the league.
Roy played his last NHL game with the Avalanche in 2003 in the playoffs against the Minnesota Wild. Then Wild right-winger Richard Park scored the last ever goal against Patrick Roy on April 22, in overtime in the seventh game of a first-round playoff series.
During his career, Roy won three Conn Smythe awards, five William M. Jennings trophies (given to goltenders whose teams have the league’s best goals-against number in the regular season), and three Vezina trophies (given to the league’s best goaltender as voted by the league’s General Managers). Roy played in the NHL All-Star game eleven times in his career, and was selected to the NHL’s All-Rookie team after his first year. Roy holds the NHL’s all-time record for most wins (551), and most playoff wins (151). During his career, he played in 1,029 regular season games, and 247 playoff games, placing him at the top of both lists all-time. On October 28, 2003, Roy’s number, 33, was retired by the Colorado Avalanche. Roy was the second player to have his number retired by the Avalanche, after Raymond Borque (77), who retired after the 2000-01 Stanley Cup-winning season. In 2004, Patrick Roy was selected to the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, and in 2005, the National Hockey League announced on their website that Patrick Roy was the best goaltender of all time.
Despite his temper and his tendancy to mis-handle the puck, Roy unequivocably deserves this honor. He will always be in the minds of Coloradan’s, as the man who brought the state its first national championship in any major sport, and a man who established himself as the leading figure of the best franchise in all of hockey for eight years. Among his achievements, perhaps what he should be most remembered for is the effect he had on Colorado hockey. He made the games exciting to watch, was at least partially responsible for the Avs’ incredible success, and was one of the reasons the Avs have sold out every game they’ve ever played at home. Now, three years after his retirement, Roy is still a legendary figure in Colorado, and the continuing devotion of Colorado hockey fans to the Avalanche can be attributed to him in the same way that two Stanley Cups can. Long live the King!
By Gabe Stein | Wednesday June 28th 2006, 9:07 pm
It’s true, everything you heard is true. The Colorado Avalanche recently traded Alex Tanguay, 78-point man, to the divisional rival Calgary Flames? In return, they get Jordan Leopold, a decent, time-sucking (I mean that in a good way) defenseman and a second round pick. Now I know what you’re thinking, because it’s the same thing I was thinking: WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!?!
Before you jump off a cliff or something, think about this: In last year’ playoffs, the Avs finished at number 8 in goals for, posting 22 goals in the post season. That seems pretty good, especially for just making it to the fourth game of the second round…until you look at goals against, where the Avs allowed 31 goals, making them fourth-worst in the league. By comparison, Edmonton allowed just less than 50% more goals (61) in almost 3 times as many games, and Carolina’s numbers are similar. Both Stanley Cup finals teams were positive in Goal Differential, whereas the Avs are a stunning -9. When you break it down, the Avs were doing just fine on offense, scoring 2.44 goals a game, despite being shut out numerous times. But the defense allowed 3.44 goals a game during the playoffs. Every single Conference Finals team let in less than 3 goals a game.
Now let’s look at Alex Tanguay’s contributions to the team during the playoffs. Six points in nine games. Now, he was fabulous during the regular season, and we really would have missed his production - but when you get right down to it, when it really counted, we weren’t missing any offense. We were missing defense. And that’s why this trade makes some amount of sense.
Looking at Jared Leopold, he was a 20-pt. defenseman last year, scoring only two goals. But everyone says he’s capable of 10 or 15, and as a bonus, he’s only 25, so we actually gain a year in the trade. (Tanguay is 26). Plus, Leopold is exactly the sort of defenseman we need to secure the blue line. Like Blake, he eats up a ton of minutes (avg 22:19 minutes last year), which means he’s obviously very solid defensively.
Our defense core was quite honestly very weak last year. We had two good lines of defense, in Blake/Liles (Liles actually had his fair share of troubles, however) and Skarstins/Clark, but beyond that, Vaananen was streaky, and obviously a non-factor in the second half, and Patrice Brisebois, though good at times, also had a lot of bad moments. This now gives us a dominant third line of defense, with either Brisebois/Leopold, or probably more likely, Vaananen/Leopold making up a very good line. Now assuming this isn’t a move attempting to replace Blake, it gives us the defensive core we desperately needed last year.
And even despite Tanguay, the offense will be fine. We still have Sakic and Brunette (140+ points combined on the first line), Hedjuk, who is capable of having a way better year than he did last year, Laaksonen (34 points) and Laperriere (21 goals). Plus, Wolski will be with the Avs for the entire season, and Svatos (50 points in about half a season) will be back and healthy, as will Konowalchuk (who had 22 goals in the last NHL season three years ago). And don’t forget, our defense can put up a lot of points too.
So if Leopold can add 20 solid minutes of defense to a game, I actually think it’s a…decent trade. It accomplishes two things: first, it takes a lot of minutes off of Blake, who gets real tired by the end of a season, and second, it keeps our shakier defenders off the ice. Meanwhile, even though the Avs finished fourth in scoring last year, a lot of it due to Tanguay, the Avs actually underachieved like crazy, when you consider that Hedjuk had a horrible season, their leading goal-scorer at the time was injured halfway through the season, and Konowalchuk, a very good playmaker and a bit of a scorer himself, was out nearly the entire season.
The only thing that really bugs me about this trade is that it went to a divisional rival. Seeing Alex Tanguay more than once or twice a year is not going to be fun - I know it wasn’t fun for the Flames when they were the ones trying to contain him.
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