Game 5 - What was that?!?!?!?

               To be honest, I don’t even know where to begin with this.  I thought the Avs would come out flying tonight, or better yet, hoped they would.  Not so!  They only had two shots in the first period compared to the Sharks 12.  I don’t call that a good start to a game.  Although they did get 17 shots in the third period, a bit late in the game if you ask me.

                I won’t complain too much about the officiating although there are obviously some errors being made on calls.  I’m not saying the Avs don’t deserve some of these penalties but the whole melee with Hannan, Duchene and McGinn, that was pretty weak.  I get why Hannan got the penalty but why McGinn didn’t get more than two minutes blows my mind.  He obviously took a couple of swings at Duchene’s face; I don’t really call that roughing.  But... enough of that.

                

                My question is this “Where is the offense???".  The Avs have scored 9 goals in five games.  But 5 of those came in game 2 and one was technically scored by Boyle in his own net.  The top line of Stastny/Stewart/Galiardi has a combined point total of 1 in the last three games.  That’s only one assist by Stastny!!  When you’re the top line for a hockey team, they need you to be more productive.

                Maybe it’s time Sacco changed things up a little bit.  I know he put Tucker on the second line last night but I think that’s a lack of options more than anything.  I’m sure he’s scratching his head with the coaching staff today trying to find some way to revive this team.  Its do or die tomorrow night and something need to happen pretty darn fast.   Maybe put Duchene/Yip/Galiardi back together, they were pretty good when Sacco first put them together.

                One thing I did enjoy though, and I don’t really know why, is that the Sharks scored 5 goals and this is what the stats sheet looked like.

                Talk about not stepping up big Joe.  You had zero points when your team shows up and scored 5 and you only have 2 assists this whole series.  But than again, who could have seen this coming……..ehhh…..anyone from anywhere that’s followed hockey even a little bit in the past few years, that’s who!

                As for Anderson, you can’t be superman every night, you’re only human.  Shake it off and come back with a vengeance tomorrow night.

-Frenchy

NHL Playoffs!!!

                The NHL playoffs start tonight and this is what the teams have been playing for all season long.  Nothing else matters now, it’s all about getting to the next round and finally get a crack at the Lord Stanley.  One thing I always want to see every year is a 8^th seed team knocking off a number 1 seed team.  Now, do I think that the Canadians can actually win against the Capitals….no.  Do I think that the Avs can actually win against the Sharks…yes!

                The Avs have almost no pressure in these series.  They are not expected to win and they shouldn’t win.  Maybe this is the perfect situation for them.  They can go in there and play with ease and play the game they want.  All the pressure is on the Sharks.  Let’s not forget that the Sharks don’t have the best playoff streak going.  They haven’t gotten past the second round in over 4 years even though they were one of the top teams in the West every year.  If you ask me, the Sharks have one good line and that accounts for almost 40% of their goals.  If the Avs can contain that line, they’re going to do just fine.  Also, they split the series this season with the Sharks 2-2.

                Now, I’m saying they can win if, and only if, the players get and stay healthy.  Matt Duchene said he’s going to play tonight, I hope that if he’s not 100%, that he’s pretty close.  They really need his scoring touch, Stewart and Hedjuk can’t score all the goals.  He had really good chemistry with Hedjuk and Mueller so hopefully thing will stay the same.  Speaking of Mueller, he has been a more than welcomed surprise since joining the team. He’s been great on the power play with Liles so losing him is huge at this point.  When you talk about an injury like a concussion, it’s always a bit tricky.  He didn’t make the trip to San Jose which already has me worried a little bit but I really hope that he'll make an appearance when they come back to play in Denver.  David Jones has been skating, it would be good if he could play and contribute but over 5 months off the ice is a long time.  I hope Sacco knows exactly when to use him. As for the top line, they need to keep playing the way they have been, no excuses.  At last of all, Anderson needs to bring his A game.  We need the Anderson that showed up at the start of the season.  

                The Avs have a chance to reach the second round; I’m just hoping they make it happen.  For a team that every body had finishing dead last in the West, getting to the second round would be quite the accomplishment.

-Frenchy.

Sad or Happy?!?!

I don’t know whether to be happy or sad about the Avalanche losing last night. I’m sad because they just can’t seem to get anything going. After a 5-1 win against a good Blackhawk team, I thought they would bring that momentum into last night’s game. In the end, they didn’t even score one goal. I thought they played a pretty good game, hit the post a few times but just couldn’t find a way to put anything in the net. But….. I’m happy because with every lost this teams gets at this point will only make their chances at a good draft pick better. Everybody is talking about Tavares going #1, but from what I’ve read, the draft pool this year will be pretty good. So even if the Avs don’t get the #1 pick, anything within the top 5 would be fine. Although I know that the Avs won’t go out there and lose on purpose because I doubt any professional athlete wants to do that, a winning streak right now would only make things worse for next season. So if the Avs can get something going in the last 15 games of the season, good for them, if they can’t and finish in the bottom of the standings, good for next year.

posted by: The Shocker

Fighting in the NHL

A fight that occurs at the drop of the puck will be considered a 'staged fight'.
This is a proposed new rule to curtail fighting in the NHL. This is sounds like an odd rule because isn't it a penalty to fight during a break in play? That is why the fighters wait for the drop of the puck, right? Apparently the refs will be granted a great deal of latitude in determining if a fight is staged. Allowing more subjectivity for the refs creates a situation like the piss-poor NFL where wildly inconsistent calls are common place, even with the help of review and often enrages fans. Justifiably so!
The subjectivity of the NFL is part of what makes it so bad. The NHL has by far the best reffing in the 4 majors as well as the best instant replay review. This will be a step in the wrong direction.
I agree that staged fights suck, that was one reason I wasn't too sad to see the Sheriff leave town. He rarely seemed to have his heart in a fight, a lot of tap dancing and not a lot of slugging.
Besides, if you keep eliminating fights between 'fighters' you are going to have "fights" like Liles' and Drury's recent pansy-fights, how is that fun?

Hmmm, Drury's fight from a week or two ago was SO lame, I can't even find a video of it. Did you know he won a Little League BB World Series? Yea, me neither.
Here is a recent fight between Wade Belak & Donald Brashear. I've always wished that the Avs had hung on to Belak, more exciting fighter than the Sheriff. Watch this fight, trust me, it's good. And it doesn't take long!

Now was that a staged fight? It started at the drop of the puck, that seems to be the criteria for the new rule. Staged or not, that last punch to Brashear was anything but staged. I don't like this proposed rule. Right now the refs have the discretion of breaking up fights, and they often do for a variety of reasons. If a couple guys aren't really into the fight and are just wrestling around, it often gets broken up, the boys sit in the sin bin, done. No need for 10 minute misconducts. That is just stupid.
Posted by: From the Point

Marketing Hockey to Old Fans & New

This week the SportsBusiness Journal has a few interesting pie charts detailing fan demographics. The NHL has the highest female fan base of the four major sports. I have to say that I am a bit surprised by this, though I probably shouldn't be. I've personally been responsible for corrupting a few females into hockey fans...hehehe. Ok, no bragging.
True story: I took a woman to an Avs game once and the first thing she asked me about was the fighting. She was of the opinion that fighting is bad. Just my luck a fight broke out and she was up on her feet before the gloves hit the ice. It was a decent fight and once it was over she rather sheepishly sat down and admitted that was pretty exciting.
I have met, by far, many more women fans of hockey that actually understand the game than any other sport. A lot of women watch football, but they know hockey.
Some people seem to be picking up on this. The Wash Caps launched a site recently called ScarletCaps.com. The page proclaims that it is the "...official Web site dedicated to the Caps' female fanbase". While I think the marketing dept has the concept right, a few things went wrong along the way. First of all, the name. Scarlet? Really? I kinda thought I was being a pig because the first thing I thought of was...um...well, the once a month, female-centric occurrence. And the second was a book called the Scarlet Letter, not a particularly flattering club membership. But my girlfriend agreed, just an unfortunate choice for the name. Next, the page looks like a romance novel. Don't women like hockey 'cause it is rough and tough?
Ok, well at least they are trying. They have a couple resident bloggers and I think the best thing that they have done is this hockey camp for women. Sounds like they get a chance to go out on the ice and learn first hand from Caps players and coaches about the game.
The Denver Broncos have offered the same sort of event for a couple years now, I don't recall the exact price but I'm pretty sure it was over $100. I think that is a bit steep. I don't know what if anything the Caps charged for this event. If you are a season ticket holder, shouldn't it be gratis?
I few more comments about marketing. The Avs have sent out their renewals and I have to say, from what I have heard, they are making a very poor choice in how they are approaching the loss of ticket holders with this recent plan. From what I hear and what has been in the news, the Avs are offering upper level patrons a couple of seats on the lower level for the killer price of < $25. But you have to purchase your uppers as well. So if you were considering cutting back on your entertainment dollar, why in the world would you spend yet another $2,000 (for 2 seats)???
Isn't that like buying something you have no use for just because it is 50% off regular price? We all know that doesn't make sense, right? In addition, this devalues the lower bowl seats to the patrons that are paying full price to sit in the attack twice corner, or where ever. I don't think the Avs have made a very savvy marketing decision. And I don't know why they think all their fans are so stupid.
The Wild are considering selling a new seat location in the box between the benches, normally occupied by photographers. Now that sounds like a good idea. And even better if they sell them in say, 2 & 5 game packages so that a lot of different people get a shot at sitting there.
Posted by: From the Point

State of the Avs

It's great that the Avs decided to show up against the Blackhawks today. Arnason played like a man relieved to still be in town(?). But giving him the #1 Star of the Game? Lame. Why couldn't the Avs have played like this against the Wings? To be fair, while the Avs played pretty well today, the 'Hawks did not. I'm sure Mr. Mustache will be running them through a tough practice after this no-show performance. Fortunately the Avs avoided going down 7 games in a row. When you are last in the standings it is the little things that count, right?








Smyth played like he has been playing for weeks now, like the guy that is the new leader in the club house. Obviously I have no idea what goes on in the locker room but it seems as though Smyth is taking this team on as his own. I know that a lot of people think that Stastny is the default choice as the captain when Super Joe decided to hang 'em up, but I'm not so sure.
Why not make Captain Canada, Captain Colorado? Sure, there are a lot of very young captains in the league, mostly on very young teams that are going through a rebuilding, or were when the captain was named; the Kings, Chicago and of course Crosby.
But perhaps Stastny could learn a thing or two from Captain Canada? Give him time to grow into it. Besides, who is leading this team on the ice? Smyth. Ah, don't cry Smitty! Really, those are tears of joy, Captain? Me? I'm so flattered!
Well you should be, this team has only had one captain, the next one should not be chosen without careful consideration.
Posted by: From the Point

Lappy Gives Cancer Patient Birthday Gift

Lappy just keeps on giving to this community. If you saw his recent appearance on Altitude's One on One you know that he realized the power he has as a pro athlete and decided to try to use that power to help other people. For what ever reason the Avs did not trade Lappy at the deadline. There is little doubt that Lappy would make this effort in any community, he just happens to be in ours. A rare bright spot in a rough season.
Thanks Lappy.


Watch the video
Visit Tristan's Blog
Posted by: From the Point

Dater Watch

Tonight's edition of Dater watch features a couple of posts where Dater breaks the news that Peter Forsberg is in Denver to do a surprise retirement announcement at the Avs/Wings game. This from what he says is a "reliable source".

The story begins to deteriorate as Dater posts that Avalanche PR man Jean Martineau is unaware of any such retirement announcement.
This is followed within the hour by another post announcing a false alarm.
This is followed by the two posts being deleted off the Post's website. That tends to crank some people off and since I managed to capture the posts I thought I would throw them up here.
I would assume that said source will no longer be considered reliable.
Forsberg to retire tonight in Denver?
Today, March 04, 2009, 7 hours ago Adrian Dater

Just learned from a reliable source that Peter Forsberg, along with his parents, are in Denver right now and that Forsberg will “make an announcement” at the Avs-Wings game tonight.
That announcement is expected to be that he will officially retire from the NHL.
I’ll have more on this as it develops. I talked to Forsberg’s agent, Don Baizley, about this just now and he didn’t want to offer a comment of any kind.
This would be the kind of appropriate game to make such an announcement, no?
*Avalanche PR man Jean Martineau just told me that he is “unaware” of anything in place for Forsberg tonight at the game, and did not even know whether he is in town or not.So, this is why I put the question mark at the end of the blog header. But I’ve talked to people who say they have eyewitnesses of seeing Foppa’s parents last night at a hotel, and that they are saying Peter will make an announcement of some kind.We’ll see if this happens or not, but as now the Avs are claiming ignorance.
No Foppa retirement tonight Today, March 04, 2009, 7 hours ago Adrian Dater Sorry for the false alarm folks. No Forsberg retirement announcement here tonight. While a retirement is likely to be official at some point soon, it won’t be tonight at the Avs-Wings game. Comments
Posted by: From the Point

Avs will beat the Red Wings Tonight

And here is why:
Simple statistics!
Avs unlikely to lose six in a row.
Wings have lost all of their back to back road games this season.
And I won't be at the game to curse them.
UPDATE: I'm a bit worried now due to the score, 3-1 and the fact that the Avs traded Leopold this morning, the Wings Killer this season.
Final: Wings, 3-2. So much for stats! Avs lose 6 in a row, first time this season. Wings win second of back to back road games, first time this season.
Avs have never swept the Wings in a season series.
So much for a perfect season.
Posted by: From the Point

Altitude's One on One with Ian Laperriere

This road trip has been brutal for Avs fans. What could possibly cheer me up? I know! Tune into catch Lappy, One on One! Should be good!

First show airs on March 2nd at 10:30PM. Might want to watch it or record it before the March the 4th...cause if they trade him it might get pulled from the schedule.

But that is just me being paranoid...right?

Here is the schedule on Altitude

Posted by: From the Point

Avs Host Second Charity Event of the Season

It's nice that Stewart, McLeod and Smyth decided to show up for the game.

The rest of the team decided to take pity on the Rangers and hand them their first win under the new coach. Not to mention the charitable contribution to the Chris Drury isn't a Bust Fund. The guy breaks a 17 game drought against his former team, which might have meant something to him, if his former team had bothered to show up. They didn't.

The Altitude guys were originally told that Lappy's late game 2:00 penalty was for abuse of officials. If you saw Lappy's face tonight...well I think you know it was 2:00 for ugly mug.

Tonight, the Avs couldn't even win a fight.
On the bright side, the Wings were beaten by Nashville, 8-0, and that's an even worse beating than Lappy's face.
Posted by: From the Point