Our Future Lies With Some Of You

Here is a look at the newest prospects of your Colorado Avalanche:

The draft started great for Colorado, as they used their early 1^st round pick to draft a steal in Filip Forsbe…oh wait. Nevermind.

Mitchell Heard: The Avs were on fire come the second round however, as they picked up a promising young Plymouth Whaler (OHL). This prospect was not present at the draft, and that has Avs brass wondering if Mitchell heard he was going to be drafted. See what we did there?

Troy Bourke: With the ever popular 72^nd pick (3^rd rd), the Avs drafted Troy Bourke, a young two way forward from the Prince George Cougars (WHL). “They were my favorite team growing up, and I’m really excited” Bourke said nervously, as he frantically tried to delete his hundreds of #FireSherman #FireSacco tweets.

Michael Clark: In round 5, the Avs chose Michael Clarke of the Windsor Spitfires (OHL), a centerman. Because the Avs really need to add depth to that particular position.

Joseph Blandisi: As round six came and went, the Avs chose another centerman in Joseph Blandisi, another Ontario prospect. Greg Sherman was quoted saying he drafted so many Ontarians in an effort to get airtime on Don Cherry’s Coaches Corner.

Colin Smith was the last player taken by the Avs in the 2012 entry draft. The shy Kamloops Blazers (WHL) forward was quoted as saying he was honoured, while hiding behind…pretty much everyone because he’s only 5’10.

Good luck future Avs!

Why Landy Should Win The Calder

The Calder Trophy. We could tell you what it is, but we here at Avaholics Unanimous don’t want to talk to down to you. That’s not what we’re here for. Chances are, if you are reading this, you know exactly what it is. And why should Gabriel Landeskog win over Ryan Nugent-Hopkins? (Sorry Adam Henrique, but just enjoy the show). Because in all around hockey, Landy was better. People who voted for RNH or want him to win probably look at the two players identical point totals (52) and see that RNH (We’re just too lazy to keep writing out his name) has played in 20 less games. Well, news flash everyone on team RNH: POINTS AREN’T EVERYTHING IN A HOCKEY GAME. If you want RNH to win, then you clearly don’t appreciate everything that happens on the ice in any given player’s shift. As most should know, Landeskog is already a superb two-way player, physical beyond his years, and a leader. The extra letter on his Sweden Jersey in the 2012 IIHF World Cup of Hockey demonstrates that. Now, not to take anything away from RNH, an offensive dynamo and future superstar, but in his first full year of National Hockey League competition, he did not demonstrate all the qualities in a desired player that Gabriel Landeskog did. He was offensive. The other aspects of his game need work, especially in comparison to Colorado’s young star. Landeskog may not have had a higher points per game average than Nugent Hopkins, but what he brought to the Colorado Avalanche on the ice and in the locker room is reason enough for the young Swede to win this award. And come on people, Landeskog speaks perfect English. That’s got to be worth something too.

Who Wants 'Em?

July 1^st is coming quick, so we thought we would take a very serious look at who the Avalanche should go after when the big Free Agent Frenzy hits:

Steve Bernier (NJ): Because Kevin Porter didn’t help us lose enough games last year.

Chris Porter (STL): Double Trouble.

Jonathan Cheechoo (STL): So Paul Bissonnette won’t feel like the only one spending so many games in the press box.

Steve Pinizzotti (VAN): Just so we can hear Peter McNabb excitedly yell out his name several times in a boring sequence.

Rob Klinkhammer (OTT): Because the NHL Headline possibilities would be endless.

Cristobal Huet (CHI): Because a goalie that played the last few years in the Swiss league so obviously NHL ready.

Dustin Penner (LA): We couldn’t think of any clever pancake quips.

Alex Semin (WSH): So we can have another underachieving Russian.

Zach Parise (NJ): Just to make every reporter that ever said “He’s going to Minnesota” look stupid.

Shane Doan (PHX): To spare him the agony of having to play another year in Phoenix.

Dwayne Roloson (TB): Because J.S. Giguere isn’t geriatric enough.

Sean Avery (NYR): Who else can give Joe Sacco fashion advice when he fails miserably again behind the bench?

Jarret Stoll (LA): For the soul reason that he is why Vancouver didn’t win the Cup.

Ryan Smyth (EDM): So Cody McLeod doesn’t have to be the ugliest guy on the team.

Barrett Jackman (STL): Because one former “#1 defenseman with great potential” from St. Louis isn’t enough.

Jeff Finger (TOR): To see if Avs management can somehow manage to pay him more for his services than Toronto did.

Bryce Salvador (NJ): So the Avs can join in on the teams that are going to grossly overpay him for his once in a lifetime offensive playoff outburst.

Dominic Moore (SJ): So he can wear #36 and give Todd Bertuzzi horrible flashbacks every time we play Detroit.

Ryan Stoa (COL): We can’t even joke about how bad of an idea that would be.

Joakim Lindstrom (COL): Because that worked out so well the first time.

Matt Smaby (ANH): To see what nickname players can make for a guy whose name ends in “y”. (Smabs?)

Marty Turco (BOS): So he doesn’t have to be a guest panellist on TSN or the NHL Network anymore.

Stu Bickel (NYR): Who doesn’t want a guy who played less than 4 minutes in a triple overtime game?

And last but not least:

Tyler Arnason (Who Cares?): Reason #1: So Adrian Dater can finally upload a more recent picture of him onto his live game chats. Reason #2: To remind bandwagon Avs fans that the last 2 years could have been A LOT worse. Reason #3: So #FireSherman can actually trend worldwide.

What's the Difference? Avs/Kings Goaltending

As you may already know, the Los Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup. If you didn’t know that, please leave this blog immediately. There is probably a badminton game on ESPN 2 for you to watch. You’ve got to love those shuttlecocks. Anyways, the Kings won the Cup, showing the world that they are a deep, tightly knit hockey team with affective systems and the right pieces in all the right places. And it just so happens, by a stroke of luck, their goalie got hot at the right time (Tim Thomas/2011 Bruins anyone?). So what’s to stop the Avs from doing the same thing as the Kings next season? Well, apparently a lot. Over the course of the next few months, we will analyze the main differences between the Los Angeles Kings and the Colorado Avalanche, and what can turn a mediocre young squad into champions.

We Start With The Best Defensemen: Goalies

Semyon Varlamov is good. And he is only going to get better. We hope. And JS Giguere is also pretty good, especially for his age. But the Avs goalie tandem is not nearly as skilled as the duo who can now call themselves Stanley Cup Champions. Jonathan Quick is already an elite franchise goalie, with Olympic Starter/continuous AllStar written all over him. He was the number 1 reason the Kings won the cup. If any other goaltender had been in net for the Kings, then you might have been watching the Vancouver Canucks hoist the Cup last week. Quick makes key saves at all the right moments, has impeccably good positioning, and seems to manage his sort of kneel down butterfly style into perfection. Quick was cool under pressure, and the Kings new if they messed up, there was a good chance their goalie could bail them out.

And who better to back Quick up then an even younger Steve Bernier? Oops. We meant Jonathan Bernier. We just got those two mixed up, since Steve did so much to help the Kings win game 6. Bernier is 23, and already a noticeably skilled goaltender. If Quick was to fall to injury, or decide to randomly take an inexcusable amount of time off from hockey in order to spend time with his family and religion, the Kings had a backup that could handle the workload. Bernier is 131-87-25 in his career, all with the Kings, with a solid .916 save percentage. Thank you Wikipedia. If Quick was unavailable, you still would have had to like the Kings chances. The goaltending situation in LA is similar to that of the Canucks’, who still wield Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider. Wouldn’t that be nice Avs fans?

Semyon Varlamov and JS Giguere are good goaltenders. Varlamov, 24 years of age, is an up and coming young star, that will probably be the starter when Russia fails at another Olympics in 2014. But right now for the Avs, he just does not have what it takes to turn his team into winners. A playoff team this year? Probably. Getting past the second round this year? Probably not. Now, no one knows what kind of training Varlamov is doing this offseason. I’m sure part time goalie coach Kirk Mclean will help teach him how to lose important game 7’s him out once or twice in the offseason. ONLY once or twice. But Varly won’t be able to carry the Avs like Quick did for the Kings. Yet.

Jean-Sebastian Giguere? He’s not Jonathan Bernier. He was shockingly good this year when Varlamov wasn’t, and helped turn the Avs into winners. And by winners we mean not 14^th or 15^th in the Western Conference. But Giguere is getting older and his usefulness will soon run its course.

So to sum up the whole blog, the Avs need a full time goalie coach a solid, reliable starter, and a young skillful backup. These are the facts that separate the Avs from the Kings on the last line of defense.

Glass Half Full ending: With Sami Aittokallio, Calvin Pickard, Cedric Desjardins, Brandon Mawell, and Kent Patterson, winner of the Most Generic Name award, the Avs goalie future is looking bright. If Varlamov mans the helm for the next 10 years, the Avs have solid backup options and tempting trade bait. If Varlamov parts ways with the Avalanche sooner than expected, look for the management and coaching staff to groom any of these goalies into fulltime NHL starters.