Game 4 - Avalanche VS Sharks

               I had the opportunity to go the Game 4 last night.  Although I didn’t have the best seats in the house, didn’t matter, the place was packed and there was a lot of energy.  I hadn’t seen that place that packed since Joe Sakic retirement night.

                Overall, I thought the Avs played a pretty good game, a lot better than they did in Game 3.  They didn’t get out shot like last game which to me was a big thing.  When you only get 17 shots and you let the other team get over 50 shots, you’re just making winning the hockey game a whole lot harder.  And those 50 shots were the only the ones that actually made it to Anderson, the Sharks had over 30 shots blocked.

But, I do have a few negative things to say about the game.  Sacco decided to sit Wilson and put Salei instead.  I can’t say that I totally agree with that when Clark was available.  I’m not saying Salei played a bad game but when you have a team shooting like crazy at your goalie, you might considerer putting the guy that blocks a lot of shots ….and that’s Clark.

                Another thing I noticed was that the Avs seemed kind of slow compared to the Sharks.  The Avs are the younger team that and they’re supposed to have lots of speed.  What happened?!?!?  I thought Yip looked the slowest of all, maybe that was just me but every time he touched the puck, it seemed that he had Sharks players on him pretty quick.

                And Svatos, I don’t even know what to say.  I know he probably tries hard when he’s on the ice but I’m sorry, you’re no Hejduk.  I saw him make a bunch of mistakes which was hard to watch since he’s out there with someone as talented as Duchene.  To me, that second line of Duchene, Svatos and Yip just didn’t have any chemistry.  That’s where I think not having Hejduk/Duchene/Mueller really hurts.

                I wrote a post before the series started and mentioned that the Avs had a good chance of winning…..if the got/stayed healthy.  Mission failed!!!  Losing Hejduk is HUGE.  Now both Hejduk and Mueller aren’t making the trip to San Jose, two key pieces that the Avs could have used right about now.

                One thing that I do want to mention was the play of Darcy Tucker.  I thought he looked like his old self.  Let’s be honest, he doesn’t have the scoring touch from his Maple Leafs days ( he does actually have a few 20+ goal seasons)  but his intensity last night was awesome.  Tucker is not a big guy by any means but he’s out there hitting these bigger Sharks players.   Way to go Tucker!  Of course, Anderson looked good too.  And I have to say, when the starting line up was announced, when they said Anderson’s name, the crowd went nuts; they love him at the Pepsi Center.  He’s our number 1 goalie for sure!

                Game 5 tomorrow.  Let’s hope they can pull this together and come back here for the win.

-Frenchy

Avs - Sharks Game 3 Photoblog

It starts and ends with Andy

Andy's name spelled wrong.

Playoff beard sighting!

O'Reilly dropped his breezers and got his shorts taped on, mid-game.

For the Boods fans!

Crowd rockin' it!

Picking up after the yard sale.

Tired penalty killers.

AN-DY! AN-DY! AN-DY!

-From the Point

Colorado Avalanche at the halfway mark in division

The Colorado Avalanche wrapped up the back-to-back against the Minnesota Wild this weekend in poor fashion. Limping away with a mere one point, the Avs aren’t the only ones limping. David Jones, second on the team in goals is effectively done for the season with a torn ACL. The winger has been struggling with injuries since the Avs tapped him to be Andrew Brunette’s replacement in 2008.
Off to a great start this season, Avs fans have been hoping that Jones would finally pan out to be the power forward that the team is in desperate need of , especially after trading away Ryan Smyth over the summer.
The back-to-back with Minnesota wasn’t really any different that the rest of the month of November for the Avalanche. Let me list the ways;

...please go the HockeyIndepenedent.com the read the rest of this post.

Ruutu calls, apologizes to Tucker

Cool Beans! Avs beat the Bruins

This is a penalty...

...but this isn't? Ouch!

Andy stuck his leg out because he was out of position and was going to get beat on the wrap-around. Got that Norm Jones? Sheesh, I like Anderson too, but let's back off the love fest, not EVERYTHING he does is perfect, calm, collected, etcetera. Nonetheless, this team is looking, among other things, like a team. Did I see Clark high-five Andy after a bit of chaos in front of the net? Is it my imagination that these guys are doing the post goal-scoring hug with a lot more enthusiasm than I've seen in a long time? It's like real live camaraderie!

As a result, I think we are all seeing a team that is much more resilient than the team we saw last season. The Bruins, more than once, were comin' hard and knockin' on the doorstep. The Avs weathered the storms and stepped up their own game.

Some quick thoughts about the game today;

I like Foote as capt. but dude you aren't looking real stellar out there

Anyone want to start a pool for Duchie's first goal?

Stewart scratch...yeah, had to be done, but I still have faith in this kid

Galiardi will have an ache and pain for every good play he made, what a tough day!

Quincey and Tucker still looking good!

Sacco's post-game comments about O'Reilly...he's here to stay

David Jones looking good but lets wait a bit before promoting him to the first line

-From the Point

Avs Hit the Road...Road hits Back

So much for going 82-0. Of course we knew that wasn’t going to happen, right? Riiight? There has been a lot of Avalanche Kool-aid drinking after those first two games. The Colorado Avalanche has the honor of being the visiting team for two club’s opening nights in a row! Nashville and now Chicago. That can make things tougher than they already are.
And how tough is it to make 35 saves a night? Just ask Craig Anderson. You just can’t expect a guy to make 35 save every freakin’ game. You’ve got to help him out. Tonight we found out that Anderson IS human! Hornqvist completely faked him out but Andy got lucky that the puck hit his skate AND that the refs made a distinct mistake on the no-goal call. Arnott did NOT make a distinct kicking motion, sure, he knew what he was doing, but I didn’t see the kick, did you? That should have been a goal. And I know it’s only three games in but, what’s up with Duchie? Is he starting to grip? He’s getting 2-3 good chances a game, great chances, getting a ton of ice time…this kid needs a goal.
I think Kyle Quincey is looking good and making me look bad, (I said he looked lazy in camp, well he did!!) it’s cool. If he keeps sending great outlet passes up the ice...yeah, it’s cool! The Avs haven’t really had that guy in a long time.
Defense, defense, defense. What’s with Foote giving it away up the middle!?!?!?! At least twice, whew…
McLeod getting more ice time that Wolski, not a good sign.
Stewart was invisible.
O’Reilly looking lost.
Rusty was rusty.
But…
Kyle Cumiskey is so fast and looking better defensively.
Tucker is in the house!
The Duke still has those magic hands. Lookin’ pretty good on the PP.

-From the Point

Photos: AP

Colorado Avalanche 2009-2010 Pre-Season Post

Well now that the opening night roster is set, I guess I’ll look like a real stiff with some of my predictions about the team, but seriously, I did take some notes during training camp and I never got around to a post, but the relevant stuff I’ll still cover.
First let’s talk a little about this starting roster for Oct. 1st. Matt Duchene and Ryan O’Reilly will get a shot at the big time game. Well, I think everyone expected “Duchie” to get a shot. O’Reilly, not so much. Nonetheless, I do have in my notes that O’Reilly was showing some good work in traffic on day one of camp. And he showed a thing or two the next two days but nothing real outstanding.

Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

Duchie (yes I know how awful that sounds, that is why it is funny! Don’tcha think?)…as I was saying, Duchie looked very fast as well as quick. Fast on the breaks and quick through the tight spaces in traffic. He certainly seems to have a good sense of where his line mates are and where to put the puck. However, I will probably be one of the few to say anything bad about Duchene, but I swear I saw him taking it pretty easy on the back checking. Now, that wasn’t the scouting reports I heard about him going into the draft. But that is what I saw in camp. In addition, on day one he was on a line with Hejduk and Jones and he kept taking shifts about half as long as them. Now, was he tired? Coaching decision? I dunno, but it was noticeable. I haven’t seen any of the preseason games so I can’t comment on anything since camp.

AP Photo/Jack Dempsey

Who else looked good? Well, believe it or not, Tucker looked better. TJ Galiardi, Darren Haydar and on day two, Matt Hendricks got a circle and a star next to his number in my notes. Obviously he thinks he needs to show he can fight to make this team, but there was none of that during camp, I saw a guy that was playing well. Another guy that was getting a lot of my attention was Shawn Bates. Obviously Bates didn’t last long, and I’m not sure why, he was playing well and more than anything I saw him winning a lot of face-offs. A lot, including against Paul Stastny. Call me crazy but I thought the Avs could use a guy like that. So, either the coaches are blind, or I suck at judging talent. Hmmm.
Ok, so who wasn’t on the radar? Well how about Jones? Even though he was playing with Duchie and Hejduk I didn’t see anything new and improved. I still see the guy that DOES crash to the net, the guy that DOES work hard and hustle, but he still looked like that guy that isn’t getting it done, can’t finish. Now he’s hurt (again) so we’ll have to wait and see how his season works out.
I focused on Kyle Quincey a lot on day two. This guy is either a lazy bum that figures he’s already made the roster, or he is just so calm and collected back there that he LOOKS like he is half-assin’ it. Hmmm. Dater has been gushing about him in the preseason, so I hope he is right. I know I saw Quincey getting lapped during the after-practice skate and even cutting across the middle of the ice. Dude, you just got here and you are pulling that? Even the glacier-slow Foote was doing his best to move the feet around the rink.
We’ll have a post up in a couple days with the ’09-’10 predictions. This will be a dead-earnest attempt to connect with the Hockey Gods and predict the future of this team. I’m a bit of an amateur when it comes to voodoo, but how hard can it be? Tarot cards, palm reading, crystal balls. It’s all carnival stuff…I’ve been to a carnival or two.

-From the Point