A Look At Former Avs Around The NHL

Johnny Boychuk (BOS)-  77 GP, 5G, 10A, 15PTS. Boychuk is a physical force on the Bruins back end and one of their best defensemen. Boychuk added 3 points in 7 playoff games.

Departure:  Colorado traded Boychuck to Washington for Matt Hendricks, who later signed with the Capitals

Cody McCormick (BUF) – 50GP, 1G, 3A, 4PTS. McCormick is a reliable 4^th line grinder.

Departure: Signed as a free agent with Buffalo

Jordan Leopold (BUF) – 79GP, 10G, 14A, 24PTS. Leopold is a key piece to the Sabres back end. This was the 3^rd best offensive year of his career.

Departure: Traded to the Flames for Lawrence Nycholat, Ryan Wilson, and the pick used to select Stefan Elliot.

Scott Hannan (CGY) – 78GP, 2G, 10A, 12 PTS. He is still Scott Hannan. Interpret that in your own way.

Departure: Colorado traded Hannan to Washington for Tomas Fleischmann. Great trade! Fleischmann already has 26 goals this year!

Tomas Fleischmann (FLA) – 82GP, 27G, 34A, 61PTS. Fleischmann was dynamite for the Cats this year. This was highest scoring offensive output in the NHL and he managed to play every game. He was definitely worth the gamble.

Departure: Colorado let him walk for nothing. But don’t fret Avs fans; we didn't need his 61 points!

Alex Tanguay (CGY) – 64GP, 13G, 36A, 49PTS. Tanguay is an integral part of the Flames second line.

Departure: Colorado traded him to CGY for Leopold, and 2 2^nd round picks (2006, Cody Burki..?), (2007, Trevor Cann….???).

Andrew Brunette (CHI) – 78GP, 12G, 15A, 27PTS. Brunette provides necessary leadership and a net presence that Chicago needs.

Departure: Signed as a Free Agent with Minnesota.

Jose Theodore (FLA) – 53GP, 22W, 16L, 11OTL, .917SV%, 3SO, 2.46 GAA. Jose is a big reason the Panthers were a playoff team.

Departure: Signed as a free agent with Washington.

Wojtek Wolski (NYR/FLA) - 31GP, 4G, 8A, 12PTS. Wolski didn't see much playing time in NY, and injuries have plagued his season, but he is turning it on in Florida, and can still score in the SO.

Departure: Colorado traded Wolski to the Coyotes for Peter Mueller and Kevin Porter.

Peter Budaj (MTL) – 17GP, 5W, 7L, 4OTL, .913SV%, 0SO, 2.55GAA. Budaj has been a solid backup for the Habs in the limited amount of time he has played.

Departure: Signed as a free agent with Montreal

Craig Anderson (OTT) - 63GP, 33W, 22L, 6OTL, .914 SV%, 3SO, 2.84GAA. Anderson has been the backbone for the Senators when he wasn't trying to chop meat off a backbone in his kitchen. Count him in as a big reason the Sens make the postseason.
Departure: Colorado traded Anderson to Ottawa for Brian Elliot

Radim Vrbata (PHX) – 77GP, 35G, 27A, 62PTS. Vrbata is absolutely tearing it up in the desert. Too bad nobody pays enough attention to notice…

Departure: Colorado traded Vrbata to Carolina for Bates Battaglia. Bates Battaglia. Here is his Wikipedia page in case you are like most people and fail to recall who he is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_Battaglia

Bates Battaglia (Karlskrona HK, Swedish Elite League).  25GP, 10G, 13A, 23PTS. That’s all we have to say about that.

Departure: Colorado traded Battaglia and prospect Jonas Johansson to Washington for Steve Konowalchuk and a 3^rd  round pick in 2004.

Kevin Shattenkirk (STL) – 81GP, 9G, 34A, 43PTS. Shattenkirk will be a staple on the Blues defense for years to come. He is a great PP defenseman, having scored 5 of his 9 goals this year with the extra man. Must be nice.

Departure: We here at Avaholics Unanimous would prefer not to talk about it.

Chris Stewart (STL) – 79GP, 15G, 15A, 30PTS. Stewart had a slow start but he has potential to be a hard to play against power forward for the Blues.

Departure: See above Departure.

Brian Elliott (STL) - 38GP, 23W, 10L, 4OTL, .940SV%, 9SO, 1.56GAA. Elliot has gone from goat in Colorado to a brick wall in the net for St. Louis. His 9 shutouts lead the NHL and he has only played in 33 games. Excellent resurgence.

Departure: After trading Craig Anderson to Ottawa in exchange for Elliot, he signed in the offseason with the Blues.

Brett Clark (TB) – 82GP, 2G, 13A, 15PTS. Clark is a stable Dman in Tampa, just as he was in Colorado, and apparently still a classy guy. -26 though.

Departure: Signed as a free agent with Tampa Bay.

John-Michael Liles (TOR) – 66GP, 7G, 20A, 27PTS. Liles missed some time with a concussion, but when he plays he is smart in his own end and an offensive threat on the blueline.

Departure: Colorado traded Liles to Toronto for a 2^nd round pick (2012). Wait…wasn’t Quincey worth a 1^st?

Matt Hendricks (WSH) – 78GP, 4G, 5A, 9PTS. Don’t let his numbers fool you; Hendricks brings more to the table than that. And he is absolute dynamite in shootouts.

Departure: Signed as a free agent with the Capitals.

And They Don't Even Play The Trap

As brushed on in a previous blog, the Avalanche isn’t scoring when it matters most. The purpose of every game in the NHL is to score more goals than the opposing team in an effort to advance in the standings. In the case of the Colorado Avalanche, this is not what happened. The last month for the Avs, who have been on the bubble of the Western Conference playoffs since then, has been disastrous on the score sheet. It is amazing that they have even manages to win games *cough* goaltending *cough*.

Aside from a 5-4 SO victory against Buffalo and a 7-1 domination of the hopeless Wild, this is the Avs goals per game since March 1^st. 0, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 0, 3, 2, 2, 2, 1. The lone shootout goal against Edmonton on March 10^th is not counted, as it did not occur in regulation. But those are the numbers folks. And they sad. Twice the Avs have been shutout, and in the 14 games in March they have scored 4 or more goals twice. Twice. Their goals per game in March: 2.2 so far. Remove the 7-1 Minnesota game and it’s a staggering 1.8 goal per game. The Avs could very possibly miss the playoffs, and they will not have anyone to blame but themselves. Actually that’s not entirely true. Semyon Varlamov and J.S. Giguere shouldn’t blame themselves. They can blame the guys who play in front of them. Good job goalies, you gave it your best!

Post Game Avs/Coyotes: Dont Let the Score Fool You, That Was BAD

The Avalanche lost to the Coyotes tonight by one goal. ONE goal separated the Avalanche from overtime. Would they have deserved overtime? No. The Avalanche played one of their worst games this season on Thursday night, and as a result, may have seriously jeopardized their chances to make the playoffs. If Colorado fails to make the post season for the second straight year, Avs fans can't blame the referees for lack of powerplay; they can't blame the loser point for keeping them below the eight team threshold, they can't blame injuries. They can blame themselves. Performances like the one you saw against Phoenix on March 22^nd just go to show you how this squad of players is not mature enough for high intensity games where there is more on the line than just two points. Call it bad leadership, call it players slumping, call it bad coaching, call it what you want, but the reason for the loss is simple: The Avalanche are horrible under pressure.

In a game where they should have come out firing on all cylinders, taking the body, and being hard to play against, they came out slow. Their defense made boneheaded passes, they could not clear their zone, and they looked as though they just ate a whole plate of Dustin Penner’s delicious pancakes just minutes before game time.

The Dallas Stars lost tonight, and Calgary only picked up one point in their shootout loss to the Wild. The Avs knew this going into the 2^nd and third periods. Their fate was in their hands and they squandered it away with just all around bad hockey.

The first was the worst. You do not go down by two goals in the first 20 minutes to a team who is nicking at your heels in the standings, but the Avs did just that. They miraculously managed to get a powerplay in the opening frame, but only managed one real scoring chance on it. The rest of the powerplay was spent trying to gain the Coyotes zone.

The second period was better. They outshot the Yotes 15-9, but again don’t let the numbers fool you. There were a few GREAT chances on those shots, but too many of them were from the outside, wimpy little wristers from the point, or straight into the chest of Mike Smith. Yes one can argue that the Avs had some good chances this period, but even in the worst games in NHL history teams get good chances. They had nothing to show for their efforts.

The third period was the best on the scoreboard, but as the Avs seem to do when they’re behind, the late flurry wasn’t enough. A mad rush of desperation might win you some hockey games, but not all of them. Not the big ones. Jusrt as Avs fans had settled into the idea of losing, the team cruelly got their hopes up again only to deliver them with one more crashing blow of disappointment.

End result: The Avs now find themselves out of a playoff spot, which is unfortunate because when they woke up on game day they were 7th in the West. They did this to themselves, and have subsequentley backed themselves into a corner. If they lose more than two of their remaining 6 games, it is highly likely that they will miss the playoffs for the second straight season.

Heres to winning out!

Players of the Game:

The Doghouse: See “Roster” Section on www.avalanche.nhl.com

3 Stars:

1.      Kevin Porter

2.      Erik Johnson

3.      Stefan Elliot

How The Loser Point Affects The East

A recent topic for discussion around the NHL, this blog, and fans of the Colorado Avalanche has been the “Loser Point”. Teams are rewarded 1 point in the standings for losing a game in overtime or a shootout. We here at Avaholics Unanimous could go into detail about how ridiculous it is to reward losers, and how throughout history, if a hockey team scored less goals in a game than their opponent, they were given nothing. We could go on and on about how in the MLB, teams who lose in extra innings are not given extra percentages in the standings, or they do not get rewarded in the “Games Behind” category in the standings. This blog could be all about how in the Canadian Football League (Oh come on, it’s still football!) where they use the point system over the winning percentage system, games that go into overtime are either won or lost. Not won by the victor, and lost with a 1 point compensation by the loser. This blog could talk about ALL of those scenarios listed about. But we won’t. This blog will focus only on the NHL. We will try to outline how ridiculous it is that losing teams are given half the point value of winning teams when games go beyond regulation. Here is a scenario we noticed in the standings:

The Montreal Canadiens are last in the Eastern Conference. The Buffalo Sabres are 9^th, just two points out of the playoffs. The Winnipeg Jets are 10^th, just 2 points back of Buffalo

In their last three games, Buffalo won once, getting 4 valuable points in the standings. How did they get 4 points in three games with only one win? They lost the other 2 in extra time.

 In the Montreal Canadiens’ last two games, they lost. They did not score as many goals as their opponent, and therefore, according to National Hockey League rules, they lost. But: they lost in extra time both games, and as you all know, they were rewarded 1 point in each of the games. Why is this relevant?

Because in the Jets last two games, they also lost. Like the Canadiens, they lost by only one goal in both games. But UNLIKE the Canadiens, they were not awarded any points because they did not go to extra time. Do you see the flaw? The Winnipeg Jets lost both of their last 2 games by the same goal differential as the Habs. Two points for the Jets would have tied them for 9^th with the Sabres, and they would only be 2 points out. Instead, Montreal, last in the East, got 2 points. For losing. Not to over belabor that though.

This is just one of the many unjust scenarios in the world of three-point NHL games. Swedish reader Mattias Bostrom (Twitter account @mattiasbostrom) produced this often talked about scenario:

"The system of today is supporting the defensive teams. You can play defensivly, take one point and then win an extra point in the shoot out. That can't be the thought from the beginning.

My idea, as I'm from Sweden, is to do like we do in our Swedish Elite Series.

Regular win: 3p

OT win: 2p

OT loss: 1p

Regular loss: 0p

By this way you get rewarded by an offensive way of playing and the standings would change more rapidly. A winning streak would give you a boost up while a losing streak would give you the same effect but downwards. It would have been nice to see how the conferences would have looked like if it all was like this."

This could work in the NHL but it would be a drastic change. I like it, as do others. The bottom line though, is that something needs to be done. Too many well deserving teams are getting screwed. *Paging Gary Bettman*

Do The Colorado Avalanche Have A Scoring Problem?

If Colorado wants to continue being successful, they need to score some goals. They did not get a single puck past Martin Brodeur in New Jersey, and just 2 pucks behind Henrik Lundqvist. Now, one can argue that those goalies are 2 of the best in the league, but only 2 goals (with a goalie in the net) in 2 games, AND they still managed to pick up 3 of 4 points; that’s remarkable. But it is not going to last. They are doing a very good imitation of the Vancouver Canucks of last year in the Stanley Cup Finals, and we all know how that ended.

The Avalanche have BIG games coming up against the Coyotes, Sharks, Canucks, and Flames. These low scoring games will not produce points night in and night out like is has recently. Aside from the 5-4 victory in Buffalo (in which only 4 actually goals were scored), and the 7-1 slaughter against Minnesota, March has been a low scoring month for the team. The Avs have lost 2-0 (CBJ), 5-1 (PIT), 4-2 (NSH), and 1-0 (SO/NJ). They were shutout twice, and did not score more than twice. They won 5 other games by scores of 2-0 (MIN), 3-2 (SO/EDM), 3-2 (ANH), 3-1 (NYR), and 2-1 (OT/CGY). They only scored 3 goals on two occasions, and the third goal against the Rangers was into an empty net.

These numbers are reminiscent of the last year the Avs made the playoffs in 2008, where they rode the hot goaltending of Craig Anderson into the post-season. Colorado only has 8 games left in the regular season, and if the hot goalie tandem of J.S. Giguere and Semyon Varlamov cools down, the Avs will be in serious trouble if they don’t find their scoring touch. These 2/3 goal games will not produce W’s forever. The Minnesota Wild are proof of that.

It is no wonder the Avalanche are scoring so few goals. Milan Hejduk has just 2 goals in his last 33 games, Matt Duchene only has 1 goal and 4 points in 14 games, Ryan O’Reilly has just 2 goals in his last 18, Paul Stastny has potted 2 goals (one, an empty netter in New York) in his last 13, and the only goals coming from our blue line are at the hands of Matt Hunwick. MATT HUNWICK!

Morale of the story: The Avs need to score. They need their “top guys” to produce, and with consistency. If things do not change, the Avs could start losing games. If Varlamov gets tired because he has to work so hard day in and day out then look for the Avs to drop in the standings. 

Post Game Avs/Rangers: What The Players Did

At the end of the 1^st period in MSG, who here were surprised the Avalanche were in a tie game with the New York Rangers? We were. After being outshot 16-6 in the opening frame, the Avs found a way to beat the potential Vezina Trophy winner, Henrik Lundqvist, once on those 6 shots. And what a goal it was. Matt Hunwick showed off is fantastic skating ability, and lightning speed, along with a good set of mitts on him as he snuck the puck past the Rangers star netminder for his 3^rd goal of the season. Random stat: Erik Johnson, who has played 3 times as many games than Hunwick, has 4 goals.

But the difference in this game wasn’t Hunwick’s goal, a Landeskog tip, or a Stastny empty netter; it was, once again, the solid and spectacular goaltending of Semyon Varlamov. He kept the Avs in the game when they didn’t deserve to be, yet again, and he should get most of the credit for the huge win. In fact, Colorado goalies should get most of the credit for the Avs picking up 5 of a possible six points.

Players of the Game:

Gabriel Landeskog: Landeskog had another solid game. He scored his 21^st of the year, on just his only shot on goal. He played 19:01 and was a physical force. He was great on the backcheck, and was instrumental on the penalty kill. This guy just reeks of Calder.

Ryan Wilson: Wilson had 2 assists in last night’s victory, but he deserves to be a Player of the Game for reasons other than points. He played a solid defensive game and was not afraid to jump up into the rush. He has shown some great offensive potential over the last few games, especially in the OT against New Jersey.

Semyon Varlamov: As previously noted, Varlamov stole another game for the Avalanche. A great game from the young goaltender. The trade with Washington doesn’t hurt AS much anymore!

Jan Hejda: Hejda had another quiet game for the Avs going about his business. But he was good tonight in 23 minutes of action, as he has been for most games this season. You don’t notice him much out there, but that just means he isn’t screwing up.

The Doghouse:

Nobody stood out tonight with an awful game. But there were a few players that did not play as well as they should have:

Matt Hunwick: He scored a great goal in the 1^st, and made some good plays, but the rest of the game for him was bad. He was often caught standing around, letting Rangers players skate circles around him for lots of shots on goal. #22 needs to be better in his own end.

Erik Johnson: See above (ix-nay the nice goal)

Milan Hejduk: still not enough from our captain. His game wasn’t horrible, but he could have contributed more.

Avaholics 3 Stars:

1.      Semyon Varlamov

2.      Gabriel Landeskog

3.      Jan Hejda

The Loser Point: What Would The Standings Look Like Without It?

This string of three point games is killing every team stuck in the potential fun and excitement of the Western Conference playoff race; The Avs included. Here is a look at the current Western Conference standings in comparison to what they would look like if teams didn’t get a point for losing. The head honchos at NBC Sports, and the guys who pick teams for the Winter Classic may want to close their browsers now, as there are no mentions of anything Eastern Conference. Hockey Blasphemy anyone?
(By the way, we are aware of the awkward alignment on different browers, we'll see what we can do about fixing it)

Current Western Conference Standings                  Standings Without the Loser Point

Team                                     PTS                                          Team                                PTS

1. St. Louis Blues                     103                                          1.  St. Louis Blues               94

2. Vancouver Canucks             98                                            2. Vancouver Canucks        90

3. Dallas Stars                          87                                           3. Dallas Stars                     82

4. Nashville Predators              96                                            4. Detroit Red Wings           90

5. Detroit Red Wings                95                                           5. Nashville Predators          88

6. Chicago Blackhawks            92                                            6. Chicago Blackhawks       84

7. Phoenix Coyotes                  87                                            7. Colorado Avalanche     80

8. LA Kings                             86                                            8. San Jose Sharks            76

9. San Jose Sharks                   86                                            9. LA Kings                      74

10. Colorado Avalanche        86                                            10. Phoenix Coyotes        74

11. Calgary Flames                  83                                            11. Calgary Flames           68

12. Anaheim Ducks                  75                                           12. Anaheim Ducks              64

13. Minnesota Wild                  72                                           13. Minnesota Wild              61

14. Edmonton Oilers                 71                                          14. Edmonton Oilers             62

15. Columbus Blue Jackets       55                                          15. Columbus Blue Jackets    48

As you can see, seeds 1-4 and 11-15 do not change with the removal of the loser point. The situations change however. The Red Wings are only 2 points back of the Blues for the Central Division lead, and the Dallas Stars have an 6 point advantage over the San Jose Sharks and an 8 point lead on Phoenix Coyotes in the Pacific Division without the loser point. In today's NHL, Dallas and Phoenix are tied with 87 points. The only thing keeping the Coyotes out of the lead is the fact that Dallas has played 1 fewer game. San Jose is also close to the division lead now, trailing by only one point. 

There is also a minor difference in the 4^th and 5^th seeds. The Predators currently have a 1 point lead on the Detroit Red Wings, but in the second column, without the loser point, Detroit still leads by 2 points. Extra breathing room for the Red Wings would be huge. Home ice advantage in the Joe Louis Arena is a great advantage.

The real difference occurs with seeds 6-10. LA and Phoenix currently occupy the 7^th and 8^th seeds in the West, with Colorado and San Jose looking in from the outside. The roles are completely reversed in the revised standings. Colorado and San Jose sit in 7^th and 8^th respectively, and the Coyotes and Sharks find themselves out of the playoffs, with a larger point margin.

The biggest change, and we’re not just saying that because this is an Avs blog, comes at the hands of the Avalanche. The Avalanche are currently in 10^th spot in the Western Conference, with their schedule fighting against them. They are only 1 point out of the playoffs, but they have the least remaining games. In the second column, the Avs are in a more comfortable 7^th place, and have a 6 point lead on 9^th place Los Angeles. They have a 4 point lead on San Jose in 8^th, and are only 4 points back of the Phoenix Coyotes for 6^th spot in the conference. The difference is huge in the eyes of the Avalanche. It will be fun to see how the standings play out at the end of the year, as it always is, and it will be fun to see how much the loser point can influence who makes or misses the playoffs. Wouldn’t it be something if a team won the Stanley Cup after making the playoffs because of accumulated loser points?

The Avs Playoff Picture: A Numbers Game

This blog was not created to rip on the Avs or to get the hopes down of its readers. It was created to give Avs fans and whoever else a non-biased perspective of the team. And this is an example of that. As we said in an earlier blog, a write up on the Avs playoffs chances was in the works. So here it is; A look at the Avalanche's playoff chances and the bubble teams they are fighting against:

Colorado Avalanche: The Avs, as of VERY early March 16th, sit in the 8th and final playoff spot. They lead the San Jose Sharks and the Calgary Flames by 1 point, and the Los Angeles Kings by 3 points. Colorado has 9 games left. Their opponents: The Rangers, the Flames (Twice), the Canucks (Twice), the Coyotes, the Sharks, the Predators, and the Blue Jackets. A relatively difficult schedule and they play 4 of the remaining 9 games against the other bubble teams. If the Avs make the playoffs, they need wins against them. And NOT in the OT/SO periods. The Rangers, Canucks, and Predators are going to be tough. Oh and did I mention, the Avs have played 1 more game than Phoenix, 2 more than Calgary, and THREE more than San Jose and LA?

The hard part of making the playoffs this year for the youngest NHL team does not necesarily lie in the Avs' schedule. 

Phoenix Coyotes: The 'Yotes have 10 games left, only 4 of which are against bubble teams (one vs. Colorado. They have a game at hand against Colorado and play the Oilers, Ducks, Blue Jackets, and Wild as well. Not exactly powerhouses these days. The Coyotes have more point, more games, and possibly the easiest schedule of all the bubble teams. Avs fans need to hope for a meltdown. Avaholics prediction: Phoenix squeezes into the playoffs.

San Jose Sharks: This might depress some Avs fans. The Coyotes, as I am sure most of you have heard, have 3 games at hand on Colorado. What makes it worse? They are only one point behind after a SO win against the Predators last night. What makes it even worse? They have 3 games left against the Kings, 2 against the Stars, 2 against the Ducks, and one each against the Avs and Coyotes. The problem with these games is that even if the Sharks lose, the Kings, Coyotes, and Stars will get valuable points. Cue Jaws music here. Avaholics prediction: Sharks make the playoffs. Ahead of Phoenix.

Calgary Flames: The Flames are a less of a threat. They have a somewhat tough schedule, playing the Avs twice, and Canucks twice. But in their remaining 11 games (2 at hand on the Avs, only 1 point back) they play the Stars twice, and the Kings once. They also have easier games against the Oilers, Blue Jackets, and Wild. Avaholics prediction: Flames miss the playoffs again.

Los Angeles Kings: The Kings chances are slim. They are 3 points behind the Avs with 3 games at hand. They have to play the Sharks 3 times, Oilers twice, and matchups against the Preds, Blues, Bruins, Canucks, Flames, and Wild. That is a fair chunk of games against bubble teams, so as previously stated, some teams with inevitably get points. Avaholics prediction: The Kings will lose most of their remaining games, and miss the playoffs.

So what the Avs need to do is simple. Win 7 of their 9 games, and pray to the hockey gods that there are no 3 point games. The only teams with more ROW`s (Right Out Wins) than the Avs (29) is Phoenix (30) and Calgary (31). The Sharks and Kings each have 28, so as long as the Avs don't keep winning shootout games. It will take a small miracle for the Avalanche to make the playoffs, but we have seen miracles happen on this team before (See Jamie McGinn's 18th goal of the season). No matter what the outcome, it is going to be a fun ride. It doesn't matter when Round 1 actually starts. For the Avs, THIS is playoff hockey.

Post Game Avs/Devils: What the Players DIDN'T Do

A team fighting for their playoff lives should not go 65 minutes AND a shootout without scoring a goal. Sure, they are playing against a future Hall of Famer in Martin Brodeur, but he is not the goalie he used to be. He isn't Marty of the 90's. Tonight like so many other nights, the Avs made the opposing goalie look like a God. Brodeur made some huge saves, but the Avs need to score some goals. 

Players of the Game: 

J.S. Giguere: Again, the Avs netminders are the reason Colorado leaves the game with more points than when it started. When the Devils peppered him with shots late in the third, he stood tall. He was great in the overtime too, making a key pad save in the last 2 minutes. He let 2 shootout goals in, maybe he should have had both of them, but for those who say Varlamov should have played in the shootout, you can say that after every game any goalie gives up 2 in the circus time. 

Ryan Wilson: He had a solid defensive game. He made great plays, good outlet passes, and jumped into the rush. He was especially dangerous in OT.

The Doghouse

Matt Duchene: Duchene seemed afraid to get into the dirty areas tonight. He wasn't awful but he was not as effective. He said he was playing even though he still had some pain, which leads me to this statement. If you are going to play hurt, and be ineffective, DON'T PLAY. Mind you, the alternative in Kevin Porter couldn't have been much worse. 

Milan Hejduk: Invisible again. He needs to step it up.

Not a lot more to say about this game. We got a point. Not the best outcome, not the worst. God help us against the Rangers.

The Avaholics 3 Stars: 

1.      J.S. Giguere

2.      Ryan Wilson

3.      David Jones

Post Game Avs/Sabres: What the Players Did

What an exciting game put on by the Avs and Sabres! Jamie McGinn, are you kidding me? They should not have won this one. Varlamov was an absolute stud between the pipes tonight. If it was not for his first period heroics, the Avs would have found themselves in a hole way too big to fight their way out of. The Avs did not start with the passion they needed to take a strangle hold early. With the playoff race as close as it is, and the Avalanche clinging to their last life, every game, and every two points is so crucial. The defense was slow out of the gate and they failed to make outlet passes out of the zone when they needed to most. Too much north-south hockey gave the Sabres a good number of scoring chances in the first period. If Varlamov did not stand on his head, Colorado could have been down three goals quick. But the boys in white pulled it off. Jamie McGinn’s miracle goal with 0.7 seconds remaining shocked everybody in the Avs community. What a rush by Landeskog. Great on ice awareness and sense of mind to realize how much time was remaining. Varlamov was solid again in the shootout, and Mueller’s snipe was all the Avs needed. A big two points in a game they should not have won. But I think I speak for everybody when I say they’ll take it!

Players of the Game:

Gabriel Landeskog. What a game by the 19 year old. AGAIN! All I can say is Calder for this guy. He is the reason we won the game. What a last second rush.

Jamie McGinn: 2 goals by the newest member of the Avs. His second 2 goal game of his young career. Both have been with Colorado. McGinn for Winnik and Galiardi? Great move Sherman.

Semyon Varlamov: As previously stated, the Avs lose the game big without Varlamov. He let 4 goals in, but they weren’t all his fault. The Avs still overpaid for him, but these clutch performances are helping to shoulder the blow.

Steve Downie: No points for Downie, but he played over 21:00 minutes of ice time, and was a physical FORCE. I don’t know about you, but I loved watching him rough it up with Patrick Kaleta. Downie had some great chances, had good hustle, and was dangerous in front of the net. You don’t need numbers to have a great game and Downie’s contributions are proof of that.

Avaholics Doghouse:

Milan Hejduk: Invisible again. People say “well he’s only playing 4^th line minutes”…so? He can still be a difference maker on the ice, get some good chances and generate scoring. He has done virtually nothing the past 20 games. Time to step it up captain.

Paul Stastny: He had a couple of good shifts, but again was not a difference maker on the ice. He disappeared in the last half of the game. He is letting the new kids on the block take over. Don’t be surprised to see him shipped out of Colorado by next season.

Kevin Porter: uhhhg….

Matt Hunwick: Bad game from #22 in white. Poor defensive plays, made some awful passes, just an all-around bad night. But don’t lose your faith in him yet, he has played some very solid hockey. One bad game shouldn’t make him lose all the praise he has garnered since his return to the lineup.

Lets talk Peter Mueller. His giveaway that led to the Sabres SH goal was brutal. That was a bad play by Mueller. BUT. It would not have happened if the Avs abandoned that STUPID neutral zone drop pass. There will be more on the drop pass in a future blog. But, tough break Mueller, you made up for it in the SO!

Avaholics Unanimous’ 3 Stars:

1.      Gabriel Landeskog

2.      Jamie McGinn

3.      Semyon Varlamov

The Name Game

Hockey players are notorious for their uncreative bad nicknames for teammates. The Avalanche players are no different, squeezing out such gems as “Landy”, “Dutchy” and “Jonsie”. Maybe players keep nicknames short and sweet as an easy way to call out to a fellow line mate on the ice. Saying “Yea Dutchy!” in an effort get a cross ice pass would be a lot easier than saying something like “Yea Pizza the Hut!” (if Matt Duchene really liked pizza, we’re really not sure), but still. If these players weren’t hockey players, what would their nicknames be? We here at Avaholics Unanimous spent an outrageous amount of time thinking about it, and here is what we have come up with: We’ll go alphabetically:

Tyson Barrie: Barrie Bonds (If he worked at a financial institution)

Mike Connolly: Conner the Spawner (After starting a huge family)

Steve Downie: Downs with Webster (If he worked at a dictionary company)

Jan Hejda: The Swag from Prague (After sweeping numerous women off their feet)

Milan Hejduk: The Duke of Earl (If he worked in a Gene Chandler cover band)

David Jones: DJ Jonesy D (After fake tanning for years and standing in front of a high powered fan for 6 hours with wet hair)

Gabriel Landeskog and Ryan O’Reilly. The Young and the Restless. (Because nothing keeps these guys from working hard night in and night out)

Jay McClement: McClementine (After he became chief foreman of a Nuclear Power Plant) ((Clementine was a code name for the world’s first fast neutron nuclear reactor)) jeez, keep up people.

Peter Mueller, from Bloomington, Minnesota. The Bloomington Blur (After post-concussion symptoms left him with blurred vision. Congrats on the recovery though Peter!)

Mark Olver: Olver and Company (If he was CEO of a corporate franchise)

Kevin Porter: The Im-Porter (After opening a latex manufacturing company. They do imports, no exports)

Ryan Wilson: Brian Wilson (After lying in bed for days on end)

Daniel Winnik: Winny the Blue (After the depression of playing for the tanking SJ Sharks kicks in)

After retirement, hockey players often start small businesses with their money. Here is what we think some of the Avs players might get into after they hang up the skates.

Matt Duchene: “Goin’ Dutch” A restaurant where everybody pays for themselves.

T.J. Galiardi: “The Doghouse” A pet supplies store. Given his recent benching’s by new head coach Todd McLellan, this seemed fitting.

Milan Hejduk: “Hedgie’s Hogs” A motorbike company

David Jones: “The Jonses Furniture Warehouse” He sells the furniture that everybody wants.

Chuck Kobasew: “Chuckie Squeeze” An adult oriented establishment

Cody McLeod: “McLoud 9’s” A mental hospital to help the severely depressed.

Ryan O’Byrne: “Oh Burns!” A treatment center for burn victims

Ryan Wilson: “Wilson Genuine Undrafted” A beer company (Because we was never drafted into the NHL)

David Van Der Gulik: “Van-DerLay Industries” A rival latex manufacturer of Kevin Porter’s business. They import AND export.

By the way, we realize how awful Mike Connolly’s nickname is. The guy who thought that one up is clearing out his desk as you read. If you think you can do better, feel free to share and we’ll include them in a future blog.

Post Game Avs/Ducks: How The Players Did

This will be the first of many post-game blogs analysing how certain Avs players did in the preceding game. This feature will aim to praise and/or criticize Avs players for their hard work or awful plays. So let’s get this party started!

Semyon Varlamov: If it was not for Semyon Varlamov, the Avs would not have left the Pepsi Center that night with 2 crucial points. He made key saves when the Avs seemed to sit back after gaining the lead. The Selanne goal was not his fault at all. Lazy defense on the PK by Paul Stastny and a defensive breakdown by the Avs, coupled with a beauty pass by Matt Belesky led to a sure goal that no one can blame #1 in Burgundy and Blue for. Bottom line: Varlamov was solid when the Avs needed it most, and was my 1^st star for the Avs.

Kevin Porter: Porter scored his 4^th goal of the season on a great tip in. Good shift by #12. Other than that, he had a poor game. He could not keep the puck on his stick for the life of him, he was lazy on the back check, and his defensive play was noticeably subpar. Oh and Kevin, when you skate into the corner with a member of the opposition, it wouldn’t hurt to ACTUALLY HIT HIM. If I had a nickel for every time Porter lightly grazed a Ducks player along the boards or in the corner instead of actually laying a solid hard check on him, I would probably have about 45 cents. There were at least 9 times I noticed, without the help of rewinding my PVR, that Porter either hit the boards beside his man, or brushed against him so lightly and harmlessly that the opposing players probably thought he threw a feather duster at their bodies. Porter needs to be better. He scored, yes. And that goal helped the Avs win the game; no one can knock him for that. But one goal does not excuse a player from a game full of mistakes and lazy play. Mike Connolly is waiting for a chance to play again and Chuck Kobasew won’t be hurt forever. Matt Duchene will return and Porter will once again be in the press box. He had a chance to show the team, the coach, and the management why he deserves a roster spot on this young blossoming team, and he has done nothing but fill everybody’s heads with reasons to let him walk in the summer. Sick tip in though.

Matt Hunwick: Another great game from the once dark horse of the Avalanche back end. He deserves to stay in the lineup and he should be given a big pat on the back for his poise and class after being a healthy reserve most of the regular season. His play to keep the puck in the attacking zone just before the Landeskog OT goal was key.

Paul Stastny: not playing up to his bloated 6.6 million dollar salary. He needs to be better offensively, better defensively, keep his stick on the ice, get to the dirty areas, and not FLOAT so much. The goals aren’t just going to come to you Mr. Stastny; you need to work for them.

Jamie McGinn: Every time the puck went to net, or a player made a powerful move around the Ducks D-men, it seemed #11 was the man doing the work, or was close by waiting for a key scoring chance. McGinn could have had 2 or 3 goals tonight. Solid effort, great pick up by Greg Sherman. (I can’t believe I just typed that!)

Erik Johnson: EJ could have had 2 goals as well. He played a good defensive game, and even though he is in a bit of an offensive drought (0 G’s in 12 games) his play tonight did not suggest that. He was rushing the puck left right and center, creating offense and generating scoring chances. He almost squeaked one by Hiller in the 2^nd and had another quality chance in overtime. Solid game by Johnson. Remember how many awful games he had earlier this year? Those are few and far between in the second half of the season. 

I would love to hear some comments, questions, and input of your own! Comments can now be added by anybody, and we will do our best to answer them and get back to you! Thanks for reading Avaholics!

Landy For Calder

Lets go back to the Avalanche's OT win at home against Anaheim. What is the main thing you can remember from that game? What a shot by Landeskog! For a guy who was too sick to take to the morning skate to go into overtime and blast the winner behind hot goalie Jonas Hiller, he is making it awfully hard for the generally east-biased Calder Trophy voters to peg Adam Henrique with the coveted first year prize. If I had a vote, I would put a big fat checkmark in the box beside LANDESKOG on the ballot sheet. He deserves it, and this game was the perfect example as to why. And on national television nonetheless. Great nationwide exposure for the rookie who plays on a team that seems to have been forgotten by those out east.

Landeskog was kind of invisible throughout the game. He played just under 17:00 and was a +1. He had three shots on goal, and played 1:12 on the powerplay. He had an extremely solid game with no defensive miscues. He absolutely destroyed Ducks Lubomir Visnovsky then went through the rest of the game without any flashy plays, huge chances in front of the net, or thundering body checks. But this is what makes him so special. He was not the center of attention as he has been so many nights before. He was not one of McGuire’s Monsters, and he did not reach the score sheet until overtime, but he was an effective player for the Avs and his play made a difference.

This is why Landeskog has my vote for the Calder. He doesn’t need a huge offensive game to be one of the biggest difference makers on the ice. He makes those around him better even when he does not reach the score sheet. He plays hard, smart, responsible hockey. He hits hard, and often; he always gets pucks to the net (just one SOG away from breaking the all-time franchise mark for shots on goal by a rookie, set by Peter Stastny in Quebec), and he just doesn’t stop. Now if someone were to read this and have no knowledge of any player on the Avs, they would be absolutely shocked to find out that he is only 19 years old!!!!! He can’t legally have a beer at a steakhouse in Denver and he is one of the most effective players in the league!

Landeskog will more than likely go up against Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (EDM) and Adam Henrique (NJD) for the Calder. Henrique and Hopkins won’t win. But we will save that blurb for another blog.

A Must Have For Avalanche Fans

This is not a "plug", a "tire pumping" or a paid advertisement from its author. This is just a courteous mention of a piece of literature that any Avs fan, young or old, should own.

The book – “Blood Feud: Detroit Red Wings v. Colorado Avalanche: The Inside Story of Pro Sports' Nastiest and Best Rivalry of Its Era.” The reason you should own it, or at least read it: Because this is the best piece on non-electronic reading on the Colorado Avalanche ever published. The Avs have books written on them, such as “Colorado Avalanche” by Gary Olson, and various articles, stories, blogs, and online sources, but nothing offers such an in depth, non-biased look at the franchise, and one of the early defining moments, and most famous brawls in hockey history. I won’t give away parts of the book, such as interviews and specifics, but the book is obviously about the rivalry between the Red Wings and Avalanche, among other lightly touched subjects.

The author, Denver Post employee and Avs beat-writer Adrian Dater had first-hand access to the events and was in the perfect position for getting post-game analysis as well as opinions and thoughts by players well after the event.

Bottom Line: I bought this book in early 2009 and I read it in 2 days. I could not put it down and have read it 3 times since. Any Avs fan should have this. Older Avs fans should read the book to relive memories, and younger Avs fans should read the book to get a great sense of what this franchise used to be.

The book is available on amazon.com at this link: http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Feud-Colorado-Avalanche-Nastiest/dp/1589793196

It is very reasonably priced, and for you techno-literate Avs fans out there, you can even buy it for your kindle. Anyways, enjoy the Avs/Ducks game tonight. As always, this is a MUST WIN for the Avs. Make some noise for the boys.

When the Final Buzzer Sounds, The West Will Look Like...

When the season ends early April, What will the final seeding look like in the Western Conference? This is what I think will happen when the final buzzer rings in the final game of the 2011-12 NHL season.

1.       St. Louis Blues

2.       Vancouver Canucks

3.       Phoenix Coyotes

4.       Detroit Red Wings

5.       Chicago Blackhawks

6.       Nashville Predators

7.       Dallas Stars

8.       Colorado Avalanche

9.       San Jose Sharks

10.   LA Kings

11.   Calgary Flames

12.   Anaheim Ducks

13.   Minnesota Wild

14.   Edmonton Oilers

15.   Columbus Blue Jackets

In this highly likely scenario, two potential powerhouses, San Jose and LA, miss the playoffs. That would send a surprising shock through the NHL, especially California.

The Sharks have a better chance than anyone to make the playoffs, as they have 3 games at hand on Colorado, and 2 on LA, PHX, and CGY, and are only 1 point out of 8^th. 9 of the Sharks remaining games are against LA, PHX, COL, CGY, and Dallas, pivotal games that will definitely decide the outcome of the season. They end the season with a home-and-home against the Kings. If these games are the typical 3 point games that bubble teams seem to like to play these days, this could mean big trouble for the Avs. But in the end, if the Avs stay hot, and San Jose stay cold (3 wins in their last 15), then I believe in their chances.

There will be a blog outlining why the Avs could very well miss the playoffs after the game against the Ducks tonight.