Never Have I Left the Pepsi Center Faster…
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!
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1. Kels - October 9, 2006 @ 8:33 pm
Have you serious not heard what happened with the Gary Glitter song?
2. Alejo - October 10, 2006 @ 4:32 pm
Yeah, I heard it has to do with his notorious child molesting ways. I don’t care though, it became sort of an Avs tradition, and it’s not like the Pepsi Center is advocating child molestation by playing his song… but I see where it could be a problem.
3. Kels - October 10, 2006 @ 4:38 pm
The problem was that he receives royalties every time it played. The song was banned by the NFL and most Pro teams took it out of services since the negative publicity regarding the financial backing of child molester.
I miss the song, but I can see how people would be upset.
(nice sentence by me last night, looks like the boozes was working doing the Bronco game)
4. Alejo - October 10, 2006 @ 5:22 pm
Yeah, I’ve heard that too. Basically, it’s a shame, but I guess worse things have happened.