Ryan Smyth what ifs...

As you know from my Real Denver Sports Helmet Awards, I'm still PO'd that Ryan Smyth was traded from this team.  More likely he was a salary dump.  Terry Frei of the Denver Post has said more than once that he is pretty sure that Greg Sherman would not have traded Smyth if he had had a clue that this team was going to be so good.

Shift to the post season and getting a chance to see a lot of Boston games and I have to say that Johnny Boychuk looked like a decent defenseman. Obviously Boston thinks so as well.

What the heck does that have to do with Ryan Smyth? You’ll see.

Here’s the time-line:

June 24th, 2008 – The Colorado Avalanche traded Johnny Boychuk to the Boston Bruins for Matt Hendricks.
July 2nd, 2009 – The Colorado Avalanche traded Ryan Smyth to the Los Angeles Kings for Kyle Quincey, Tom Preissing and a fifth round pick in 2010.

The Avs and the Bruins swapped players, Boychuk for Matt Hendricks. Let’s say that trade never happened.

And let’s say the Smyth trade didn’t happen either. The Avs would not have Preissing or Quincey. Preissing is a non-factor as he was sent down after a mere 52 minutes of playing time, never to see an Avs jersey again.

Quincey was an asset for most of the season, but there were a few knocks on him as the season went along and he “earned” some doghouse time with Sacco late in the season. I don’t have a beef with Quincey, just pointing out he was no more than a decent defenseman.

On trade day the Avs swapped Wolski for Mueller and found a missing link in the power play. And a right handed shot for the power play as well.

However, the second unit PP was still weak.

Guess what folks: Boychuk plays on the #1 PP unit for Boston and he shoots right.

Imagine if the Avs had kept Boychuk and Smyth.

By late season the team would have had a nice looking power play with two units that had that elusive right hander that has a good shot from the point. And Boychuk kills penalties too.

Boychuk’s play on D would be virtually indistinguishable from Quincey’s over the course of the season.

The Avs would have had another strong leader in the room with Smyth, and a guy that produces on the ice as well, including on the power play.

And for that we would have to imagine the Avs with OUT Hendricks and Quincey. I could have lived with that. Quincey was good and Hendricks was a great gritty guy that made a difference on this team, no doubt. But I think this team would have been better off with my scenario.

Five for Fighting Monday - The Gordie Howe Hat Trick

Since I am such a big fan of the Gordie Howe Hat Trick I feel obligated to put the latest such feat up on the blog this morning.  But I'm not happy about it.  And why would any Avs fan be happy about seeing our Avs taking a beat down?  I couldn't find a video of all three aspects of the GHHT so here is just the fight.
If you look closely you will see that besides a half dozen punches that Pyatt delivers, he also takes Stewie's lunch money.



That right there is about how the whole game went.  About how the whole last week has gone for our Colorado Avalanche.
Who would have thought the stupid desert dogs would be spanking the Avs with a 6-2 win at this time of the year? 
Oh, and Wolski has scored twice on the Avs since the trade, but why the hell is he getting some much space out there on the ice?  Both of those goals, Wolski had all day to put that puck right where he wanted.  Terrible!
As you can tell I'm a bit frustrated with the Avs right now.  I think I just knew the game was going to go downhill once I saw Pyatt beat up Stewie.  Pyatt has about one fight a year.  ONE!  And he made Stewie look like a punk.  No one has beat Stewie all year so I'm sure that it affected the Avs mentally to see him get popped like that.
I don't care what other Avs fans say, this might have been a good time for David Koci be out there exacting a little revenge to get the bench fired up. 

-From the Point

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

Great Christmas Story about Wojtek Wolski

from: Good4Sports Blog

by: Jennifer Haynes of CBC Sports

Next month’s Hockey Day in Canada on CBC TV Sports will feature a profile of Wojtek Wolski, of the Colorado Avalanche. It’s being produced by my colleagues Bryan Gardner and Jennifer Haynes. In this guest post, Haynes gives us a behind-the-scenes peak at a special shooting day from the production. Read on and leave a comment about athletes acknowledging their roots.
“The shot worth taking”

Any way I looked at it, our Christmas Eve shoot seemed like a long shot to go off as planned.

First, we needed to get an ice pad. Then we had to assemble over twenty kids, aged nine to 11, to take part in a Christmas Eve practice. We needed their parents to get them to the arena and cheer them on. And we had to have five or six volunteer coaches transport the kids’ hockey bags the night before, and supervise the practice. If that wasn’t enough, I still haven’t mentioned the key ingredient: one NHL superstar, who was back home to celebrate the holidays with family for just 36 hours. We needed him to give a talk to the kids, run the practice and present them all with gifts. It’s the kind of visit the NHLer has wanted to do for a long time, but has never been able to pull off before due to the demands of his schedule
read the whole stort HERE!

Avs New Years Resolutions

Did you see Attitude doing those lame locker room interviews before the Wings game? Asking the guys what their New Year’s resolutions are? I mean, you gotta have some connections, like me, to get straight answers outa these guys. So I sat down for a beer with each and every one of the guys, all in one night, so I might not remember all this correctly, but here we go;

Stats said he is gonna give up the wooden twig – the highest paid guy on the team is playing with the cheapest stick. So maybe Dad’s advice isn’t always gospel.

Svats said he is gonna fight more often, if he ever gets back in a game.

Budaj resolves to play no more games for the Avs this season, thereby making him the highest paid player-per-game for the Avs.

David Koci gave Boods a look on that and said, Whatever, I’ll still be the highest paid player-per-minute! Koci’s reso is to find time to read more books.

Milan Hejduk: I recall he told the Altitude crew last year that he didn’t think he had any personal improvements to make, therefore no resolutions! That’s some funny stuff Milan. Ok, I agree, you have been one of the most consistently producing Avs for a long time, don’t change! I really have no idea what he told me, I was pretty drunk by then and he is pretty tough to understand sober!

WW said he is going to live up to your expectations no matter how unreasonable they are!  And he reminded me that he dated her,  so how is that for a start?

Liles said he is going to stop growing that pathetic looking beard until the Avs make the playoffs.

Dater is going to give the attendance issues a break till next season, wait, how did that get in here???

David Jones said he is gonna stop getting hurt so much…then promptly slipped in my vomit. If it wasn’t for bad luck, he wouldn’t have any luck at all.

McLeod said he is gonna throw more octopi, more punches and more pucks at the net.

Andy said he is gonna be the #1 star at home more often so he can give those great interviews that the crowd loves.

Stewie said he is going to get more Gordie Howe hat tricks Trivia, how many Gordie Howe Hat Tricks did Gordie have? Leave a comment with your answer!

-From the Point