The 12 Days of Avsmus: The Christmas Wishlist For Colorado Avalanche Fans

Ahh Christmas. The time of year society forces us to spend money to express our love and care for the people in our lives. The time we used to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. The time Gary Bettman hyperventilates at all the Hockey Related Revenue being driven into the league's pockets.  

So as an Avs fan, or a friend of an Avs fan, or an Avs fans who's befriended another Avs fan, you might be thinking to yourself "What Avs related items should I get him/her?"

Well look no further. We present you the 12 Days of Avsmus. A Christmas list for Avs fans.

*Note. For your enjoyment, please read the bolded headings in the tune of "The 12 Days of Christmas". 

On the 1^st day of Avsmus my Avs friend gave to me: A hockey puck because she is cheap.

Either an official game puck, or just a puck with a great design on it. This is a very inexpensive way to tell the Avs fan in your life that you remembered his or her favorite team. Price Range: $2-15.

On the 2^nd day of Avsmus my Avs friend gave to me: A Mini stick of my favorite team.

For the child on your shopping list, or adult who refuses to grow up. C’mon guys, we’ve all played mini-sticks past 25, don’t lie to yourself. Mini sticks come blank, or with NHL team logos on them, and even feature players like Ovechkin and Crosby. Good luck finding your favorite Avalanche player on one though because they aren’t Ovechkin and Crosby. Price range: $5-30

On the 3^rd day of Avsmus my Avs friend gave to me: Some Hockey cards ‘cause he’s pretty sweet.

 Hockey Cards: Not specific to the Avalanche but hey, if you get them enough hockey cards, we’re sure a Colorado player will come up. Hockey cards are a fun hobby and a great way to represent your love for the game. Price range: $1.50-50, dependent upon if you get single packs or hobby boxes.

On the 4^th day of Avsmus my Avs friend gave to me: An Avalanche Ornament for my tree!

Looking for something more sentimental? Something more festive and special? Well Colorado Avalanche Christmas tree ornaments are fun, reusable, festive, and unique. These can be found in local sports stores during the holiday season, online, and in your neighbour’s house if they already have one. Just kidding. Stealing would put you on Santa’s naughty list, and you might get a Red Wings puck in your stalking. Price range: $2-15.

On the 5^th day of Avsmus my Avs friend gave to me: Blood Feud because I can read!

A book by Denver Post sports writer Adrian Dater. If you are a hardcore Avs fan, or even a bandwagon jumper who can read, (Sorry hockey fans from Kentucky, but maybe there is a “Books on Tape” edition) then this is a must have. This book talks about the fierce Red Wings/Avs rivalry of the mid to late 90’s and is a must read for the veteran fan wanting to relive the brawls, or the new fan yearning for a piece of history. The book can be ordered at many bookstores, it can be found online, and it is also available in Kindle form. Amazon does it best: http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Feud-Colorado-Avalanche-Nastiest/dp/1589793196. Technology eh?

Also available: Save By Roy. A good read. same author. We better get commision.

 Gotta love it. Price range: $7-24.

On the 6^th day of Avsmus my Avs friend gave to me: An Avs hat, and shipping was free!

This year’s draft hat or one of the many featured online or in hockey stores around the country, wherever you may be. An Avalanche hat is a nice simple way of being able to constantly support the team, while looking mighty snazzy as you do so. Price range: $9-40

On the 7^th day of Avsmus my Avs friend gave to me: A picture plaque for my house guests to see!

By now we hope you are reading the headings in tune of the 12 Days of Christmas. Have you ever been walking through the mall and hit the kiosk where they have absolutely amazing pictures and paintings of NHL players in a beautiful frame? Pictures like this would light up any guy’s man cave, or any girl’s recreation room. Popular players featured in these works of art include Joe Sakic, Patrick Roy, Peter Forsberg, Ray Bourque, Alex Tanguay, and the list goes on. Price range: $50-800.

On the 8^th day of Avsmus my Avs friend gave to me: A hoody, shirt, sweater or shirsey”

Less expensive than a jersey, and still a great way to sport the colors of Burgundy and Blue.  These can also be worn more in public. Unfortunately jerseys are not very versatile. Shirseys are great too. Sporting #92 or #29 (sorry dyslexic people) whithout paying $100+ would make Puddy off of Seinfeld happy. Gotta support the team. Price range: $10-150. (The really nice hoodies are expensive but worth it)

On the 9^th day of Avsmus my Avs friend gave to me: A bed spread complete with Avs sheets.

Admit it. Growing up, and probably still, you wanted your room decked out in Avs stuff, including an Avalanche bed set. Look in your Wal-Mart or Sears catalogue, or similar stores to find this. How cool would that be? Price range: $45-100

                                                                                                                                 

On the 10^th day of Avsmus my Avs friend gave to me: An Avs lanyard or tag for my keys!

Key chains, bottle openers, mini pucks, lanyards. Make starting your car, opening your mailbox, and locking your house extra exciting by having one of these many Avs themed key sets. That was perhaps the biggest over sell of key related items since Watergate. Price range: $1-15

On the 11^th day of Avsmus my Avs friend gave to me: A box that contained an Avalanche jersey!

 Blank or customized, home or away, blueberry or vintage, a Colorado Avalanche jersey will put a huge smile of the face of any fan of the team. Jerseys can be found online at the NHL store if you want to feed Gary Bettman, or in Colorado Avalanche team stores, as well as (if you do not live in Colorado) a wide array of sporting memorabilia stores throughout the United States and Canada. Price Range: $124-400. We would also suggest checking out @ColAvsJerseys on Twitter and eBay. Oh, and knockoff jerseys are a good way to get coal in your stockings. Or is it stalkings? 

On the 12^th day of Avsmus my Avs friend gave to me: game tickets for section thirty!

No you don’t have to stick to section thirty, but it rhymed. Tickets are a staple gift around the holidays, and if you have a ton of money, they make an amazing stalking stuffer.  Price range: $24-150+. You can find $24 tickets on StubHub sometimes.

Well there you have it folks. Our top 12 gift ideas for the Colorado Avalanche fan in your life. Or of you are lonely around the holidays, you can buy this stuff for yourself. We hope to have given you some ideas or some reassurance as to what to get your hockey fans. If you think we left anything out feel free to leave more ideas for the readers in the comment section below. And Happy Holidays. 

VIDEO: Daniel Briere's Buzzer Beater Against Bruins

Here is the Altitude TV’s feed of Danny Briere’s buzzer beating goal against the Boston Bruins to give the Avs their first win of the year. The goal was also Briere’s 300^th career goal. Just in case you missed that on Twitter 700 times.

Our only analysis; Mike Haynes, you are the greatest.

The Name Game: Part 2

You may remember our Name Game post from a few seasons ago, and if you don’t, you can find it here. Well, it has been a few seasons, many players have come and gone since then, so let’s do it all over again.

Hockey players are celebrities, so for this rendition we thought it wise to examine their lives if they were in a different field of being “famous”.

On TV and in the Movies

The Fresh Prince of Briere – Briere plays a misjudged kid from Philadelphia looking to make fresh start in a new city. 

Stuart Little – Orphaned from San Jose after the emergence of Vlasic, this harrowing tale speaks of Stuart’s perseverance and willingness to phase out completely in Denver.

Bernstein Berra – Reto Berra plays a huge mammoth of an animal that can’t seem to do much of anything unless he gets a ton of help and guidance from a much wiser Papa Bear (Patrick Roy).

John-Sons of Anarchy – Erik Johnson leads a rag tag, rough and tough golf cart gang of 1^st overall pick busts against rivals gangs like the Bryz lats, Devil’s trib, and Cala-varlys.

Max and Redy – Talbot and Zach Redmond act in a kids TV show raising awareness for sharp objects and trying to avoid getting them logged in your upper thigh.

Keeping Up With The Pickardians – After a leaked highlight video from Lake Erie, Pickard is thrown into stardom as a camera crew follows him and his family around to various meal outings, workout sessions, and practices, as well fully documenting the drama of who unscrewed his water bottle lid at the morning skate.

Elliott Moose – An inspiring story about a young NHLer and his zany adventures with friends.

The Landeskog Before Time – Gabe and his friends Dutchy, Berra, and Street-tree, (Ducky, Sarah, Petree) engage in various shenanigans around the Pepsi center.

In Music:

Iggy Smalls – The Notorious IGG and his crew Mac-Daddy Mackinnon and DJ Ago-Z bust some serious rhymes in his début album “Ig Pappa”.

Freak On a Cliché – A song about the 4^th liner’s love of corn. (See what we did there?)

When You Hish upon a star – A touching ballad outlining Hishon’s wish to stay healthy and make it big in the NHL.

Do You O’Reilly Want To Hurt Me? – A song sung by Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy, outlining the painful contract dispute with Ryan O’Reilly.

How Borda-low Can You Go? – Big Bad Bordy drops it like its hawt in this new hit single/music video.

Hejda’s Gonna Hate – A chilling rap song that pumps the ego of the Avs best defensive defenceman.

In Other Fields:

The Ford Mustanguay – A car that, no matter how old it gets, can go from 0-60 in 5 seconds.

Brew-chene’s – A do-it-yourself beer making infomercial.

In Case You Missed It:

Colorado Avalanche Jerseys: A Look At Avs Jerseys Without The Piping

Where Are They Now? Chapter 3

The Douchebag's Guide To "Trolling" NHL Players

Semyon Varlamov: Not The Only NHL Player To Be Arrested

Colorado Avalanche Jerseys: A Look At Avs Jerseys Without The Piping

There has been lots of speculation over Twitter, forum sites, ect that the Avs may be getting new jerseys pretty soon. The Avs have since confirmed this is not the case, but that hasn’t stopped people from debating about current jerseys, past jerseys, and future jerseys. Many people like the newer EDGE style Avs jerseys, while some have pined to bring back the old style (95-07). Some fans hate the blueberry thirds while others think they should become the new home jerseys. Some fans hate the piping along the jersey, saying that the team should abandon the look as they are the last team in the league, after Edmonton, Florida, and so on have since ditched their piping. This post is made with the intent to show all the fans, lovers and haters alike, what the Avs jerseys would look like without the piping. (Click on the image for a larger view)

Our opinion, and its Unanimous, just like us, is that the jerseys look just awful without the piping. They look plain and don’t blend together as well. The lack of silver/black (home)and blue/silver (away)leave the Avs with a two-toned jersey that is boring and lacks any tying in of the burgundy and blue. Yes, Landy’s C wouldn’t look so bad, but…blah. Our thoughts: If the Avs were to ever get rid of the piping, they would need a complete overhaul on the design…but more on that later.

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Other Posts:

Nathan MacKinnon Wins The Calder Trophy. Obviously.

The 2014 Colorado Avalanche Academy Awards

The Best Draft In Colorado Avalanche History

A Numbers Game: #9

The Official Colorado Avalanche Bandwagoner's Fan Guide

The 2014 Colorado Avalanche Academy Awards

The NHL Awards are over so now it’s time for the 2^nd annual Colorado Avalanche Academy Awards! The first installment can be found here. We’re adding a few more awards and honours this year so prepared be even more mildly entertained than you were last year.

So let’s get started!

Best Picture: Nominees – Gabe Landeskog, Ryan O’Reilly, Erik Johnson

Winner: Erik Johnson. Gabe Landeskog, the dashingly good looking Swede that has every man questioning their sexuality, was in the running for back to back victories, but who can deny Johnson of these blond flowing locks and glowing excited smiles? Wow, we sound like Pierre McGuire describing every NHL draft prospect. That can’t be good. Moving on.

Best Visual Effects: Nominees – PA Parenteau, Nathan MacKinnon, Semyon Varlamov

Winner: Nathan MacKinnon. Parenteau almost won for making non-offsides look like offsides, but we have to give this one to MacKinnon. His ability to create streaking marks on our TV sets, and the way his legs look like roadrunners when he’s skating down ice is uncanny! That’s some hardcore CGI right there. The new Transformers movie could have used some of his expertise.

Best Disappearing Act: Nominees - PA Parenteau, Corey Sarich, Semyon Varlamov.

Winner: PA Parenteau. The new Habs forward wins this award, his last with the Avs. Sarich almost won it for his ability to never be seen again after the first half of the season, and Varly was a close 3^rd for being able to make pucks just vanish from thin air, but alas, Parenteau’s ability to disappear on the powerplay, on the back check, an in pretty much any offensive situation lands him the prestigious award. He must be so proud. Good luck Montreal!

Best Original Score: Nominees-Nathan MacKinnon, Patrick Bordaleau, Gabe Landeskog

Winner: Gabe Landeskog, with this beauty.

MacKinnon’s goal that broke Jared Spurgeon’s ankles was a nominee, and any Bordaleau goal is a nomination because he hardly ever scores. But we all remember the tic tac toe goal in game 2 against the Wild and that is something you don’t see every day. Enjoy the visuals!

Best Outbreak Performance: Nominees – Nathan MacKinnon, Patrick Roy, Joey Hishon

Winner: Patrick Roy. Bruce Boudreau and the Anaheim Ducks got to see this outbreak performance first hand. Remember the between the benches incident? It can he found here. That is a clear cut winner. What a great outbreak performance in his outbreak game.  Joey Hishon’s strong playoff performance, and MacKinnon’s entire rookie season were strong runners up.

Best Actor: Nominees – Nate Guenin, Ryan O’Reilly, Matt Hunwick.

Winner: Ryan O’Reilly. Guenin and Hunwick were nominated for their ability to act like they actually belong in the NHL when they, in fact, do not. But the Oscar goes to Ryan O’Reilly for being able to act, for a whole season, that he cares about this team more than he cares about his paycheck. Great performance!

Best Script: Nominees – Semyon Varlamov’s girlfriend for fabricating that ridiculous assault charge, Patrick Roy’s Jack Adams rookie season, The Avs turnaround.

Winner: Semyon Varlamov’s girlfriend for fabricating that ridiculous assault charge. Because she was a money hungry liar. You can pick up the Oscar on all the modelling sets that people aren’t going to call you to because you’re a joke.

Best Director:  Nominees – Patrick Roy, Joe Sakic, Greg Sherman.

Greg Sherman was nominated because of the solid offseason moves and excellent roster transactions he has performed during the season. Oh, he just balanced the chequebooks? He didn’t really do anything except accepting a paycheck? Wow, who is he, Rick DiPietro? But alas, the winner is Patrick Roy. Jack Adams. Great coach. Enough said.

Enough with the awards. Here are some honours to hand out.

Most Likely to be a Healthy Scratch: Nominees – Stefan Elliott, Paul Carey, Ryan Wilson.

Winner: Ryan Wilson. Because Patrick Roy hates him. Just trade him already!

Most Likely To Be Traded At The Deadline: Nominees – Nate Guenin, Cody McLeod, Jamie McGinn.

Winner: Cody McLeod. Teams are going to want a guy like McLeod heading into the playoffs. The other two have a good chance too.

Most Likely to Score a Ton of Goals Against The Avs: Nominees – Paul Stastny, Kevin Porter, Radim Vrbata.

Winner: Radim Vrbata. He always does. Paul Stastny won’t be scoring any goals against the Avs, especially if he gets the majority of defensive zone starts, AND because the Avs are going to be too busy lighting up the Blues awful goaltending and porous defense. 7 million dollars? Ha!

Nathan MacKinnon Wins The Calder Trophy. Obviously.

Well, as many have speculated, Nathan MacKinnon has won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year. Kudos to Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson on their nominees, but lets be serious. Was there any doubt Nathan MacKinnon would win the award? Let’s take a look at the stats:

	Goals	Assists	Points
MacKinnon	24	39	63
Palat	23	36	59
Johnson	24	26	50

Check it out. We used a table. Stick tap to my mom’s boss who showed us how to do that on Microsoft Word 2003.

So the stats tell this kind of story: MacKinnon isn’t a runaway points wise. The goals are as even as they can be, and apart from Johnson’s lack of comparable assists, the points are pretty even as well. So let’s look a little deeper into the situation: MacKinnon’s corsi and fenwick are just so much be-…..just kidding we hate advanced stats.

But look at the way these players have played. Palat had a horrible start, points wise, to his season. It took until December 10^th for him to score his 5^th goal of the season. Granted, at this point in the season he was mostly being used as a 3^rd/4^th line guy. But the Calder trophy isn’t an award for best January-April. Sorry Palat, but your new contract extension should cheer you up.

Tyler Johnson. You scored a Hattrick against the Avs. So that’s why you lost. Now go sit in the corner and think about what you did.

Ok fine. Apart from that, Johnson was pretty inconsistent throughout the year. He went through long scoring droughts, even though he was consistently getting over 17 minutes a game, playing on the top line at time and with Steven Stamkos. Come on Johnson, you’re 5’9. You should be more like Martin St. Louis. Yea, it’s that easy.

So, you’re welcome for that expert analysis. Look out Mike Milbury and Jeremy Roenick, we’re coming for you.

Our 2014 NHL Awards Picks

Our #NHLAwards picks:

Hart: Nominees: Crosby, Getzlaf, Giroux

Winner: Crosby

By far the worst trio to be picked for the Hart in a long time. None of these guys really deserve it but we’ll give it to Crosby.

Vezina: Nominees: Bishop, Rask, Varlamov

Winner: Varlamov

Varly all the way on this one, and not because we’re biased. Rask played behind a great defense and awesome team, and Bishop had a good year but people seem to confuse breakout seasons with a Vezina worthy campaign. Varly played with a not so strong defense and was a HUGE reason the Avs finished third in the league.

Norris – Nominees: Chara, Keith, Weber

Winner: Chara

Weber didn’t do enough to help his team be successful. Keith got ot play with a great defensive forward corps, and Chara is getting old and is still absolutely unbeatable.

Calder: Nominees: Johnson, Palat, MacKinnon

Winner:MacKinnon

Again, no bias here. Johnson was good this year as demonstrated in his games versus the Avs. Palat was OK but nothing special. MacKinnon was an explosive game changer that could make the difference between 2 points and a loss. The Lightning pair were just to overshadowed and under exposed for us to give them the nod, and we think the same will go for the voters of this trophy.

Lady Byng: Nominees: Marleau, O’Reilly, St. Louis

Winner: Marleau

The sportsmanship award. St. Louis requesting a trade because he was left off team Canada. O’Reilly is being a greedy little snob. And Marleau is who is left. Congrats.

Jack Adams: Nominees: Babcock, Cooper, Roy

Winner: Roy

Again, NO BIAS. Babcock coached his team to a solid limp into the playoffs. Why is he here? Why not Therrien or Boudreau? Cooper has done a great job in Tampa Bay even though they missed the playoffs. But Roy turned a 29^th overall team into a 3^rd place team, and you can’t just credit that too the players starting to develop. Roy’s new system and demeanor with the players snags him the first of many Jack Adams awards.

Selke: Nominees: Bergeron, Kopitar, Toews

Winner: Bergeron

Toews was a close 2^nd in our books and Kopitar was a far away third. But Bergeron takes the cake as the best 2-way man in the league.

Bill Masterton: Nominees: Jagr, Malhotra, Moore

Winner: Malhotra

Malhotra suffered that eye injury and many thought his career was over. But after successful rehab and a stint with the Charlotte Checkers has him back in the big leagues. Jagr is just old and defected to the KHL for a bit. Moore is a close 2^nd.

These next awards are kind of…well, pointless, so we’ll just give a quick rundown.

Mark Messier Leadership: Nominees: Brown, Getzlaf, Toews

Winner: Toews. Duh.

NHL Foundation Player Award: Nominees: Bergeron, Burns, Keith

Winner: Burns

GM Of The Year: Nominees: Bergevin, Lombardi, Murray

Winner: Bergevin. Murray with those Perry/Getzlaf contracts…LOL.

Ted Lindsay Award: Nominees: Crosby, Getzlaf, Giroux.

Winner: Crosby. Pointless award.

The Best Draft In Colorado Avalanche History

Off the top of your head, what do you think is the greatest draft in Avalanche history? Is it the 2001 draft where they got Budaj, McCormick, and Svatos? The 2005 draft where they picked Hensick, Cumiskey, Stastny, and Stoa? 

No.

This would have been a much harder task had it not been for the Avs recent debauchery from 2009-2012 where they got all those high picks in the draft. So, according to us, and we hold some pretty big clout in the Avs community (we were once mentioned by a casual fan during an Avs practice, so that’s a pretty big deal) the best draft in Colorado Avalanche history is the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. We’ve outlined the top 5 draft busts, but let’s focus on the positive for a short while. Let’s take a look at the players:

2009 Draft	Rd.	Pick	Pos.	HT	WT	Shot	Cause for departure	Currently
Matt Duchene	1	3	C	5-11	200	L	-	Colorado Avalanche
Ryan O'Reilly	2	33	C	6-0	200	L	-	Colorado Avalanche
Stefan Elliott	2	49	D	6-1	180	R	-	Colorado Avalanche
Tyson Barrie	3	64	D	5-10	190	R	-	Colorado Avalanche
Kieran Millan	5	124	G	6-0	190	L	-	Wheeling Nailers (ECHL)
Brandon Maxwell	6	154	G	6-0	195	L	Not Extended A Contract	Medvescak Zagreb (KHL)
Gus Young	7	184	D	6-2	190	L	-	Yale University (NCAA)

 (Stick tap to AvalancheDB . Go there. Best site on the internet)

That is just money in the bag. Matt Duchene 3^rd overall. Duchene is one of the leaders on this club and arguably the best player. Despite some injuries, he can be counted on for almost a point per game. His blistering speed and totally ungreedy money hungry attitude makes him a little bit more valuable and respectable than the next player drafted.

Ryan O’Reilly, all joking and contract disputes aside, is probably the best 2^nd round draft pick in recent memory. Everyone knows about his heart and work ethic as well as his two way play. In a first round that featured Zack Kassian, Magnus Paajarvi, Louis Leblanc, Jacob Josefson, and Philippe Paradis, most teams will be kicking themselves for not locking this dynamo down. He made the Avs right out of training camp, unheard of for someone taken in the 2^nd round. Now let’s hope the Avs can lock him for a decent prize and for a long time. Fun Fact: Carl Klingberg, Joonas Nattinen, and Scot Glennie were all ranked a lot higher than O’Reilly by Central Scouting.

At this point, with these two players, this could already be considered the best draft for the Avs. But just like every slap chop, mighty putty, and Sham-Wow commercial, wait! There’s More!

Enter Stefan Elliott. He has not been as great for the Avs as some people would have hoped, but in his last few showings, as well as down in Lake Erie, Elliott has really developed into a strong young defenseman. Look for him to be a 2^nd/3^rd pairing dman on the Avs in the next couple years. Elliott is a nice little pick at 49^th overall.

Enter newest NHL stud and Matt Cooke’s best friend Tyson Barrie. Anyone who watched an Avs game this year knows that his solid puck moving, OT loving, defenseman is going to be great, as long as players stay away from his MCL’s. Scratched frequently/minor league bound at the beginning of the year, Barrie found his confidence and gained Coach Roy’s trust and this allowed him to blossom into one of the great young defenseman in the NHL.

Out of all the bad that Avs management was doing in 2009, this draft was one saving grace for the scrubs who ran this team. The rest of the draft featured the usual late round busts in Keiran Millan, Gus Young, and Brandon Maxwell, but that’s ok because as of right now, the first 4 players the Avs selected are still with the team, and they’re still going.

So if you think we’re wrong and there is a better draft in Avs history (Not Nordiques) we’d love for youto tell us why!