Mueller?...Mueller?...Mueller?...

I’ve been wrong before. It happens. And most of the time I have no problem admitting when I’m wrong.


When the Colorado Avalanche traded Wojtek Wolski for Peter Mueller I was skeptical that Mueller was going to contribute much and I said as much. He had a nice rookie year and it been all downhill since.

So when he started racking up assists from the point on the Avs pathetic power play, I was happy. And for now you can say: wrong. And happy to be wrong.

Mueller has the right handed shot that the Avs have been missing all season, (never mind that Tom Preissing is in Lake Erie making $2M and shoots right) and Mueller and the oft-scratched Liles have been clicking on the number one PP unit since day one.

Great!

But please, let’s not get too carried away. Yeah, he’s got 8 points in the 6 games since the trade. So are we to assume that we can start doing the hockey- geek-math that so many like to do and come up with 26 points for the Avs since the trade?

Let’s go a step further and extend this 6 game analysis to next season. Oh! That’s a 109 point season! Wow, the Avs really pulled to wool over on the 'Yotes, eh? Idiots!

Look, Wolski had some painfully long dry spells and he’s had plenty of time to get his game more consistent. He didn’t do it. I understand the economics of the trade. The reality is that the Avs traded one streaky player for another.

Anyone ever consider that Mueller is on a hot streak right now?

The Avs didn’t acquire a point a game player, his #88 isn’t destined for the rafters. So put down the burgundy Kool-aid.

Know what else bothers me? Mueller’s attitude. The guy asked for a trade out of the desert months ago. So how long till he hits a dry spell in the Mile High City and Sacco sits him for a game or two? We all know Sacco will sit just about anyone to send a message.

Sure, a change of scenery is often good for a player, but it doesn’t change their personality. If Mueller quit trying in the desert, how long till that attitude surfaces here?

Hey, I’d love to be wrong, really…I would.

-From the Point

Who is Ryan Wilson?

Let’s just get the basic data out of the way, Wilson, a native of Windsor, ON shoots left and is listed on the Avs roster as 6’1” and 207, he is 22 years old. Wilson was an undrafted defenseman playing for the OHL’s Sarnia Sting when he was signed by the Calgary Flames in 2008 and spent the season with the Quad City Flames. Look at that great pic from the Flames press release announcing his signing. Way to look alert Willie. Think the guys call him Willie? Haha, hope not.

Wilson’s time in the OHL with the Sarnia Sting was very successful; he led all defensemen in scoring for two straight seasons. His final season with the Sting saw him netting seven goals and 64 assists for 71 points in 58 games. Wilson also wore the “C” for the Sting for two years and totaled 220 PIM.

But despite a year on the Flames farm he never got a chance to play up in Cal Gary.

So how did Colorado end up with this sleepy tough guy? He came over when Colorado traded Jordan Leopold for Wilson, Lawrence Nycholat and a 2nd in the 2009 draft. Most Avs fans thought little of the two warm bodies that were thrown in to the trade. At the time I was thrilled to get a 2nd for Leopold after a pretty disappointing, injury-riddled stint in Colorado.

Wilson only played three games for the Avs farm team before being called up. He hasn’t been back ever since. Not even when the Avs had a log-jam of healthy bodies on the blue line. No, the big $$ John-Michael Liles got the healthy scratch and Sacco raised a few eyebrows with that move. But it’s hard to blame him, the kid is a player!

Looks like James Crider over at the Bleacher Report agrees with me in his midterm grades:

Ryan Wilson - B
Okay, former GM Francois Giguere did one thing right. Wilson was practically a throw in during the trade that sent Jordan Leopold to Calgary
last year, yet has established himself as solid NHLer in no time, and has arguably been better than Leopold ever was in his three-year tenure with the Avalanche.

He’s been paired primarily with Avs captain and grizzled vet, Adam Foote. No doubt he’s been learning a great deal from Foote all season.
We’re overdue to look at some stats: Wilson is 3rd in +/- and 7th in the league in rookie defensemen for points, but it isn’t just about points.
Wilson is third in the league in hits, and although he doesn’t have a lot of take-aways, he doesn’t have a lot give-aways either. I mean you look at a guy like Tyler Myers that is getting some Calder talk and the guy has twice the give-aways of any other rookie in the league.
Now compare him to a guy like Del Zotto who leads the league in hits, but has a lot more give-aways and I think you’ll see what I see: Wilson doesn’t hit guys just to hit them. He picks his spots and lays the lumber like we haven’t seen in Denver since Rob Blake left.

I think it really makes the opposition think twice about skating into the zone with the puck. Personally I don’t want the other team thinking, “Hey look, it’s Liles, I’ll just bounce off of him and keep going.” No, I want “Hey look, its Wilson…crap! I need to dump this puck!”

Steven Stamkos and Wilson played on the Sting together, here’s what he had to say in a recent interview:

If you could lay a big, clean hit on anyone in the league, who would it be?

Ryan Wilson with the Avalanche. He was my captain in junior with Sarnia
(OHL) and he hits hard. Would be nice to turn the tables on him.

I’ll bet, Wilson was recognized as one of the OHL’s hardest hitting defensemen by the annual coach’s poll.
So you want to get Wilson in your sites and line him up, eh? Good luck tough guy.

Avs fans recently voted a hit by Wilson as the play of the week.

Perfect trade!!!!

By now we all know for a fact that the Colorado Avalanche have a serious goaltender problem. Don't get me wrong, that's not the only thing that needs fixing with this team (....Arnason). The Coyote game from last night is a good example, last time I checked, it's pretty hard to win a hockey game when you don't even score a goal. But anyways, as of right now, the Avs have two back up goalies, neither one of them has proven that they are capable of handling the #1 spot. I think they should let Budaj go because he's had more than one chance at being the go to guy and has failed every time. So the question becomes who needs a back up goalie really bad so we can unload Budaj on them. The Calgary Flames, that's who!!! As of right now, the Flames are 5th in the West with 43 wins. If you look at the goalie stats, you will see that Mikka Kiprusoff has all of those 43 wins. That means that they have a back up goalie that is 0-6-1. This to me looks like a team that could use a decent back up goalie, which is all Budaj will ever be. So I came up with the perfect scenario for a trade. We will send Peter Budaj to the Flames for a bag of pucks!

I know, I know, some people might think this is a bit ridiculous but when I was talking to From the Point this morning, he made a good point. The Avs can't let Budaj go for nothing, that would not make sense. Well, he was absolutely right so I thought real hard about what a team would actually give for Budaj and a bag of pucks is the only thing that honest to god made sense. Why would a team trade a player or a pick for Budaj?!?!?! That's just crazy talk, let 's be serious here. Peter Budaj for a dozen pucks, 12 because it just feels right, would be a great trade for both teams. Plus, a team can always use a more pucks for practice, am I right? Maybe seeing that Flames logo on those pucks will motivate them to work harder, they are a Division rival after all. With Budaj out of the picture, the Avs can start thinking about getting a real #1 goaltender and no more of the "We believe in Budaj" nonsense .

Peter Budaj for a bag of pucks, crazy or brilliant?!?!?!?!


Posted by : The shocker