Cream Puffs Anyone?

The Avs are really a bunch of cream puffs.  As I go through the lines it is rather jarring (reverse pun intended) how soft they are. 

Duchene-Stastny-Hejduk is as soft and snuggly as a Reese Witherspoon Rom-Com on a Valentine’s Day date.  Call them the softie line.  As hockey players that shoot, pass, deke, etcetera they are doing better than just okay.  Hejduk has magic hands, Stats is solid and reliable and Dutchy is fantastically creative.  But mean and gritty?

Jones-Olver-Mueller was a recent line.  Jones has long been excepted to go to the net but doesn’t seem to have the personality to do it on a regular basis.  Mueller is reputed to be a floater and Olver is just small.  That said, Jones has raw talent that clearly works at times even if he is streaky.  Mueller has a ton of talent if he can just stay healthy.  But none of these guys are going to knock an opponent to the ice hard enough to make an impression.

Individually there are guys that need a look too.  O’Reilly being the most important.  He is having a killer season and no doubt part of that is due to his steady maturation and insane work ethic.  But I think playing with Landeskog has a lot to do with it as well.  Landy makes space on the ice for O’Reilly to work.  Landy leads this team in hits and most of them are good, solid hits.  O’Reilly, despite all his gifts as a player is still a cream puff.  I can’t possibly count how many times O’Reilly has had a chance to lay a lick on an opponent and he pulls up.  His “finish your checks” hits are half-hearted and weak.  It’s the only criticism of his game I can conceivably level at him. 

None of this is meant to say that these guys aren’t what the Avs need on the ice.  Nor am I saying they aren’t tough, they take punishment and keep on playing.  They are talented but lack the latent chip on their shoulder that not only has a place in this game but is a necessary component of success for most teams.

I believe that the management of the Avs have seen that this component has been missing ever since Chris Stewart was traded away.  Perhaps it was thought that TJ Galiardi was going to fill that roll.  He was certainly given plenty of time and opportunity to do so but it just didn’t seem to gel. 

The challenge with the Stewart-type of players is that they are pretty good at too many aspects of the game for their own good.  They are just good enough with the puck that one coach/team wants them to focus on that and let the physical nature of the game take care of itself.  The next coach/team wants it the other way around.  These guys that can skate well, move the puck well, score and have a mean streak aren’t a dime-a-dozen.  They often have trouble fitting in to the lineup and yet their value can’t be denied.

With the acquisition of Downie and McGinn the Avs appear to be back on track.  The team has a big defense, upgraded goaltending and now a little more grit to go with the talent up front.  This just may be the pieces the Avs have been missing that can get them back to the playoffs.

Here's a nice cream puff recipe for ya, remember, serve with a bit of attitude and everything will be fine.

Ingredients

• 2 (3.5 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup milk
•  
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs

Directions

1. Mix together vanilla instant pudding mix, cream and milk. Cover and refrigerate to set.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
3. In a large pot, bring water and butter to a rolling boil. Stir in flour and salt until the mixture forms a ball. Transfer the dough to a large mixing bowl. Using a wooden spoon or stand mixer, beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Centers should be dry.
5. When the shells are cool, either split and fill them with the pudding mixture, or use a pastry bag to pipe the pudding into the shells.

Wings vs Sharks Prediction

Our first matchup of the Western Conference semifinals is tonight.  Frenchy and I make our predictions.

VS

From the Point
As much as it pains me to say anything nice about the Red Wings, well, I just won’t. They are, after all, the most hated team in Denver. Not even the Raiders are close anymore. Regardless, the Sharks could barely handle the Avalanche, so they frankly have zero chance against the Wings. The Wings have owned them in the regular season and that isn’t going to change here. The Wings beat the Sharks on the road this season and I think a split in San Jose is a sure thing and I’ll even bet that the Sharks drop ‘em both at home. I haven’t been impressed with Howard and Osgood is less impressive, but it doesn’t matter. They never see much rubber and they probably won’t see much from the inept first line of the Sharks. Heatley, Marleau and Thornton are sixth, seventh and eighth respectively in playoff points. None of them are positive in the plus/minus category. Dan Boyle has more points than those guys. Wow, that’s not even counting his own goal against Nabby. I can’t help it; I have to put that in there! They got away with it for one round against a very depleted Avs team, but the Wings will make them pay.

Wings in five.

Frenchy
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fan of the Wings. I’m still pretty pissed they beat the Coyotes out of the first round. But…..I do think they will be able to beat the Sharks. The Sharks did not look all that impressive to me in the first round. They played a beat up Avs team and it still wasn’t a blow out. Their first line was pretty much useless, unless you count giving the Avs a good chance of scoring useful. Things are just going to get harder for them now since the Wings have a much better defensive core than the Avs did. Plus, as long as the Wings have guys like Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Lidstrom and Rafalski playing their best hockey, they’re going to be hard to beat. And another thing the Wings have going for them, they win in the goalie category. Sure Howard is a rookie and he might fall apart at some point during the series due to pressure, he still has more skills than Nabokov. And to me, Nabokov isn’t the most reliable goalie out there, he’s had some weak showings lately, Olympics anyone?!?! The guy crumbles under pressure. I hate the Wings, don’t really like the Sharks either, but I have to go with the Wings.

Wings in six.

Avs Can’t Hold off the Sharks

The Colorado Avalanche didn’t start game six the way the wanted to, allowing an early goal by the San Jose Sharks. It didn’t end the way they wanted it to either.

The San Jose Sharks came out in the third with the Thornton line reunited and buzzing around the Avs’ net. It foreshadowed the future.

The Avs scored at 4:51 of the third to give them the lead in the game, but it wouldn’t last for long.

Suddenly the game opened up with back and forth play and lost whistles. Next thing you know Boyle scored, the puck inexplicably hitting no one on the way in despite the Avs crowding the lane.

Less than two minutes later Pavelski scored on a two on one when Adam Foote lost his check along the boards.

Douglas Murray ended the Avs season, scoring the second empty netter of the night with 31 seconds left in the game.

  

Just 47 seconds into the game the Sharks Joe Pavelski scored on a wrap-around when Kyle Cumiskey couldn’t control the Avs-killer behind the net. Pavelski scored four key goals in this series, more than any of the high dollar guys on the Sharks team.

That opening goal was the seventh unanswered goal by the Sharks.

The period, though scoreless, went well for the Avs in that they managed good pressure on the Sharks in their zone. And Avs fans were shocked to see that the Avs earned the first power play opportunity of the game. It did not result in a goal but the Avs kept the pressure on and controlled the puck well.

The Avs wrapped the period with a 7-10 shot disadvantage on the Sharks.

Building on a decent first period, the Avs hit the ice in the second with more confidence and attitude. After the first period the Avs were behind in hits but closed out the second ahead of the Sharks.

At the 6:14 mark of the second period Marek Svatos came screaming down the wing with Joe Thornton checking him. Svatos got the advantage to the inside and cut in front of the net for a very nice goal to tie things up. Many Avs fans have been hoping for the Marek Svatos scoring touch to return for, well, all season.

Way to end the season on a high note, now go away.

The Avs were again controlling the puck but were not getting much in the way of scoring chances. But the confidence was back and so was the attitude.

You could see it when Chris Stewart took exception to Nichol giving Cumiskey a little bit of a late hit on an offside. A 4-on-4 ensued that ended with a penalty on Liles. A ridiculous situation with the 240 pound Murray turning in an Oscar-winning performance of being pinned to the boards by the slight Johnny Liles.

I’ve got some sea-side real estate in Colorado to sell that referee.

Avs start and end season with the Sharks, though with different results.

The Avs had a great season, better that even most (reasonable) Avs fans expected. I don’t think you will hear any complaining in this town. Sure, some well meaning advice during the off-season but we are all looking forward to a great team in the future.

I’ll be covering them as we go forward so be sure to check back in!

Well, time to shave.

See ya ‘round Avs fans!

-From the Point

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

Focus Andy! FO-CUS on the GAME!!!

As you can see, 9:59 left in OT and it's time for the ice crew to work and Andy seems focused...ON THE WOMAN ON THE ICE CREW!!!!!

Just 23 seconds later the Sharks score to win the game.  Just sayin'.

After the disaster that was game #5 for the Avs, they need to keep this woman away from Andy.  It’s important to note that she is the ONLY female on the crew, so it would not be difficult to ensure that she is always working at the opposite end of the ice from Andy.  Home-ice advantage?

Another tip for the Avs in game #6.  Play some defense!  Still, on the bright side, no matter how bad the Avs looked, Jumbo Joe still looked like he was skating around with his head up his ass.  Glad I’m not a Sharks fan, though we do have a similar guy, Marek Svatos.  

-From the Point

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

Five for Fighting Monday - Avs-Sharks Playoff Edition

Something that would probably hurt the Avs more than the Sharks would be a rematch of these two in the playoffs.  Though Murray plays big minutes for the Sharks, the loss of the Avs top line winger and highest goal scorer during the regular season, for FIVE minutes would be worse than the Sharks losing Murray for five.  Blake, Boyle and Vlasic can easily cover the sin-binned Murray.

On the other hand, this endless face washing and shoving matches at every whistle is ridiculous.  And a real good fight might just clear that up.

On another note, I've already heard a ton of people start with the whole angle against fighting now that the playoffs are here.  Some claim that fighting is non-existent in the playoffs.  Others make the same claim, add a comma and a caveat.  

Either way, they phrase it as though the playoffs are better hockey because there's no fighting.

Whatever, the playoffs are better because it's the playoffs, not because there's no fighting.  Which there is...

-From the Point

Those Damn Kids, Can’t Tell Them Anything!

The Colorado Avalanche came out flying around in their first playoff game and looked great. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Did someone forget to tell the Avs they have no chance?

Was it just plain ignorance?

Maybe these guys haven’t been reading the papers? Cause if they were they would know better. They aren’t supposed to win. Sure, the Sharks have that whole choking thing to overcome. But this is the lowly Avs. The Avs that were falling apart at the end of the season. Were declared “done” after the Olympic break.

Yep, blame it on plain ole ignorance. These kids just don’t know any better. Damn kids!

I’ve been critical of some of Sacco’s coaching decisions this season, but I’ve got to say that he deserves credit for getting the team ready for game one. Ten guys on this team made their playoff debut in that 2-1 win on Wednesday night. I would say Sacco is doing a fine job of handling this team’s young guns.

Hey! Let’s play a little game of Which One Doesn’t Belong

TJ Galiardi could have lost a tooth when an errant stick hit him right in the pie-hole. He took fourteen stitches in his upper and lip and was back out there in no time.

"That's playoff hockey!"

Maybe the Avs are the wrong team to hit in the mouth. All season long everyone has underestimated this team. The playoff prognosticators even admit as much…and then STILL pick the Sharks in five.

Picking the Sharks in five is safe and could still be correct. But most of those fortune-tellers expected that one Avalanche win to be at home, so now what?

Honestly, now the expectations go up just a little in the Avalanche locker room. So even though ignorance is bliss, these guys can’t be ignorant of the fact that we as fans are expecting another stellar performance!

At the same time, the Sharks are probably starting to wonder if they hit the wrong guy in the chops.

Five Reasons I love Playoff Hockey

1. Avs are in the playoffs
2. Avs are in the playoffs!
3. I have an excuse to grow a scraggly beard
4. With this scraggly beard, I don’t have to shave and I get to work 5 minutes early
5. With this scraggly beard, my boss doesn’t suspect that I’m looking for a job

-From the Point

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.

Playoff Minutia

Stupid Denver Media

So all of a sudden every Avs player on the team is on every media outlet in town. Hmmm. I heard Stewie on the Fan and Tucker on 1510. Know why they call it 1510? Cause the odds are 1510:1 that I will be able to hear that station in my truck on any given day. Some Avs beat reporter was on the sports extra the other night. All of a sudden Les Shapiro is an expert on fighting in the NHL. Thbpthbpthbp.

Challenges

While there are vets on this team, none of them are really at the top of their game. Ok that is a little harsh, but seriously, when was the last time Tucker connected on a check? The boards are more afraid of him than the opposition. He’s been flying into the boards with no mercy all season! Yelle, sure he provides those intangibles, and I’m not saying those things aren’t important. But man, these aren’t guys that are going to score the game winning goal. Foote hasn't scored since Dutchy moved into the room under the master bedroom.  But Hejduk is still a good player, thankfully he got that knee taken care of over the Oly break. So all that means is that the guys that are low on the playoff experience need to be high on the productivity.

Rob Blake is a Penisloaf

There I said it. That guy left town with a comparable offer on the table from the Avs and even collected a $1,000,000 bonus that first year of the salary cap. That really screwed this team. All the while pretending that he wanted to go home. Horse-pucky! Now he is in SJ and I’m sure that has nothing to do with the fact that he thought the Kings were going down the tubes.

So now he knocks Mueller out of the solar system with a hit that looks a LOT like one that got Ovie a two game suspension. So he helped bring a Cup to Colorado, he’s still a mercenary. He reminds me of Shannon Sharpe when he left the Broncos, it was all about the money. And not really THAT much money. I’m big on loyalty. Both those guys earned my disdain with that crap. I can totally understand why the LA fans used to boo him so much. I won’t have any problem with booing Blake in game three, I hope you will join me.

More Challenges!

How is one of the youngest teams in the league going to fare when it comes to the playoff beards? Well first indications are that some of the guys are going to try to distract you with Mohawks. The problem with that is…well you gots ta wear a lid on the ice surface. Don’t know if these guys thought of that. But no worries! Peter Budaj has been preparing for this playoff run for months! Have you noticed him over there on the bench? For weeks that guy has been growing a beard, shaving it off, repeat. At first I thought he was growing it between his opportunities between the pipes and then shaving it. But that didn’t pan out. No, I think he has been growing them, shaving them and then making beards out of them for all the guys. Whew, this is going to be tricky, I just hope none of the guys have an Andre Agassi-like rug malfunction during a post game interview. Ya gotta worry about that glue coming lose with all that sweat!

Five for Fighting Monday - Playoff Edition

Shortly after the Olympics were over, Terry Frei at the Denver Post wrote about the lack of fighting in the Games. His point was that most fans probably didn’t miss it. Now that it’s playoff season we will see a significant drop in fighting versus the regular season. Frei has a problem with all the pre-planned fights, the “gotta go” fights between the guys that play a mere two minutes a game.

Well, I didn’t really miss it during the Olympics but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t have been fun. I like fighting in hockey, it’s entertaining! You just can’t compare the NHL regular season to tournament hockey, as Frei does concede.

And I agree that some of the gratuitous regular season fighting is tiring. The problem is that if team A signs a slug that can’t skate but is 6-6, 250 pounds and can and WILL beat the crap outa your guys, team B is forced to return fire. Could it be better? Of course, but it’s really easy to say that about anything. If it was completely ruled out of the game I would miss it.

Ideally all teams would always have a bench full of guys that can actually play hockey. And I include guys like Ian Laperriere in that list. He is a responsible defensive forward and rock solid on the penalty kill. Scott Parker, not so much. Does Lappy drop ‘em on occasion to fire up his team? Of course he does. Eighty two games is a grind. Completely different from the win or go home stakes that are on the line in the Olympics and the playoffs.

Not that there isn’t ever fighting in the playoffs. Here is Joe Thornton dropping the gloves with Ryan Getzlaf in game six of last years first round match up. That was a great series to watch last year, very entertaining. Now despite all the talk preceding this game about how it was time for Thornton to take a stand I’m not sure anyone was expecting them to go at the opening face off.

So, was it contrived?

Was it planned?

Was it entertaining?

Well THIS is entertaining! Hehehe...er, lets hope the Sharks are the usual goldfish in the playoffs.

-From the Point