Potential Coaching Replacements for the Colorado Avalanche

Well, to the delight of some nd the utter shock of others, the Patrick Roy coaching era in Colorado is over. Unless he takes a job with the Nuggets or Broncos. That’s a joke because it is unlikely. Get it?

So, analysis on the Roy coaching era is this: One great year, the rest were terrible. Done. So what comes next? Well the Avs need a coach. Training camp is in a month. The season; 2 months.

As a team with a young, talented core, the Avs need a strong, experienced coach that can implement good defensive systems, promote puck possession (because that’s a no brainer, not because of fancy stats), and a strong strategy for offense. This is all obvious and not news to any of you reading this. But it is apparently news to the Avs upper management. So who do the Avs go for? Listed below is potential candidates with their current roles on other teams. Hopefully the Avs don’t screw this up.

Promote from within?

Tim Army: Defensive/Powerplay man on the Avs. Should he get the job? No. Avs need a new voice. Avs need change.

David Farrish: No.

Nolan Pratt: Not experienced.

Poach from other NHL teams?

Paul McLean: He has some good experience with the Senators and some minor success. He could be a good fresh voice for the Avs. He is currently the assistant coach in Anaheim.

Todd Richards: As an NHL Head Coach he had 5 winning seasons out of 7 with record of 204-183-37. He is currently the assistant coach in Tampa Bay.

Terry Murray: Murray is old. He is 65 but has a solid coaching record of 499-383-89-41. Yes, he coached when there were still ties. He is currently the assistant coach in Buffalo.

Jacques Martin: He was the long time successful coach of the senators and now has some Stanley Cup experience.  He could be great for the young Avs core. He is currently the assistant coach in Pittsburgh.

Kevin Dineen: Dineen coached Florida through one great season, a forgettable lockout shortened season, and 16 games before being fired in 2013-14. He has a losing record, but has gained more experience as the assistant coach of the Hawks.

Kirk Muller: Muller is behind the bench as the Blues assistant, an with Mike Yeo taking over for Hitchcock next year, it seems a chance at getting the top spot is lower than tree moss on a Mississippi tree stump. He coached terrible Hurricane teams to respectable seasons. He’d be a good fit.

Claude Noel: Noel coached the Jets to losing seasons and wasn’t very good. No thanks.

Adam Oates: Oates co-coached the Devils before taking the reigns in Washington. His team only lost 18 regulation games in his first year and missed the playoffs his second year. When Ovi doesn’t perform, the coach gets canned. Oates defensive style could help the Avs, but hinder the talent up front.

Ron Rolston: Rolston is coaching the Coyotes AHL team, and had unsuccessful runs in Buffalo.

Craig Berube: Berube is bench boss in the AHL for the Wolves. He coached the Flyers to a 78-58-28 record. Again, AHL seasoning could have paid off.

Dale Hunter: He has had NHL experience as another coach on Ovechkin’s hit list, but likely won’t leave the London Knights again for a big league call.

Terry Murray: Murray is coaching the Sabres in an assistant role, but has had a long coaching tenure. Since 1990 he has coached 4 teams in 1012 games, winning 499.

John Mclean: John McLean was a police officer before a bunch of crazy stuff happened to him, and made him do crazy things as a result. And he failed as a coach for the Devils going 9-22-2.

Craig Ramsay: Ramsay is a consultant with the Habs but last coached the Thrashers. Remember them? That was fun. He went 66-71-7-12 for 3 teams in 4 seasons. No thanks.

Marc Crawford: Former Avs coach, Canucks coach, Steve Moore contributor, Stars coach, and hothead that lost in on Scotty Bowman. Nostalgia hasn’t worked thus far. Let’s not go there.

Bob Hartley: See previous note on nostalgia. Old coach in New league.

Mike Kitchen: Kitchen was a head coach in St. Louis for 3 years, winning 38 of 131 games. He has since honed his coaching game as the assistant in Chicago. And they’ve been pretty good. It would be nice if the Avs played like them.

Joe Sacco: Yea. No.

These are just a few candidates. Some head coaches in the AHL or in junior hockey could fit too, but does this team really need another rookie coach? No. They need experience. 







Other Reading:

The Colorado Avalanche's situation for the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft

Tyson Jost: The Right Pick for the Avalanche?

The Avs Would Be Crazy To Sign Alexander Radulov

The Filip Forsberg Deal Sets the Precedence For A Nathan MacKinnon Contract

Transcript: How Eric Lindros REALLY Made it Into The HHOF

Below is the actual transcript taken by our very own anynomous source; an eavesdropped conversation between Eric Lindros and the chairman of the board who selects HHOF members:

Chairman: Eric, I asked you to lunch today so I could tell you some very important new in person.

Eric: I’m glad you called chairman, I’ve been waiting to hear this news since I retired from my illustrious stint with the Dallas Stars.

Chairman: Well, sorry to disappoint you but…wait…illustrious? With the Stars?

Eric: Ya?

Chairman: Eric, you scored 5 goals all year. And missed over 30 games.

Eric: Hey! It was hard playing down there! I didn’t want to go anyways!

Chairman: Why wouldn’t you want to go to Dallas? Beautiful weather, passionate fans, close to the ocean!

Eric: It isn’t the greatest hockey market. Their team was lousy at the time. And I did NOT want to learn how to speak Texan!

Chairman: Eric…you can’t just use those excuses every time you don’t want to go to a certain NHL te..oh nevermind, we’re getting off topic. Eric I asked you here today to tell you that you have not made it into the HHOF for this year’s class.

Eric: I…wait…what?

Chairman: We’re sorry, but since no one significant has retired recently, we think we might be able to get you in next year.

Eric: This is an outrage! Do you know who I am? I scored over 100 points once! I even almost scored 4 goals in a SINGLE year!

Chairman: Well actually, there are players who have actually done those things on more than one occa-

Eric: I even almost won a game in the Stanley Cup Finals! And I won tons of Eastern Conference Semi-Final games!

Chairman: Yea, but-

Eric: I was SO close to scoring 400 career goals! I mean, how many players can say they’ve done that!

Chairman: Well, 92 but-

Eric: I mean, who’s not in the hall of fame that has scored more career goals than me?

Chairman: Uhh, Stephane Richer, Garry Unger, John Orgodnik, Milan Hejduk,

Eric: Look. If I don’t make it into the hall of fame this year then I’ll holdout. I won’t play!

Chairman: But Eric, you’re retired…

Eric: I won’t play in the Maple Leafs alumni game for the Winter Classic!

Chariman: Actually I don’t think you were invited, but-

Eric: Who’s even getting in over me?

Chairman: Well, it’s really time for Dave Andreychuk. He’s scored over 600 goals, was a monster on the powerplay, ended his career with the cup, and he’s still involved in the game!

Eric: Look, if this doesn’t happen to me, I’ll make sure my Hall of Fame rights are traded to the KHL. Or the ECHL! How would you like THAT? I’ll be a HOFer for them for a year until you sort this out!

Chairman: Eric, we tried trading the rights. But there was this mixup…apparently the rights were traded to both leagues, we couldn’t figure out which deal wen t down first, or who owned you, and the Russians were going to give us Tretiak’s rights, but everything fell through!

(At this time, Lindros starting throwing a tantrum, kicking and screaming on the ground)

Chairman: Okay, Okay fine, you’re in! But if you don’t stop I’ll have to get Scott Stevens over here!

(Eric abruptly stop and sits back down)

Eric: Well I think you’ve made the right choice.

(The waiter comes with the bill)

Eric: You got this? I’m still paying Philadelphia back $15M from the trade, so money is a little tight.

Powerful stuff.


Other Reading:

The Colorado Avalanche's situation for the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft

Tyson Jost: The Right Pick for the Avalanche?

The Avs Would Be Crazy To Sign Alexander Radulov

The Filip Forsberg Deal Sets the Precedence For A Nathan MacKinnon Contract

The Filip Forsberg Deal Sets the Precedence For A Nathan MacKinnon Contract

Filip Forsberg recently signed a 6 year contract with the Nashville Predators, worth 6 million dollars a year. A great price for the Preds for now, and as Forsberg continues to improve, and as the cap goes up every year, this will look like a steal.

Hey, isn’t Nathan MacKinnon an RFA looking for a new contract for this upcoming year? Our sources say yes; yes he is. So what does the Forsberg contract mean for the Avs and their negotiations with MacKinnon? It means a precedence has been set. And if the hockey contract world was perfect, the Avs could give MacKinnon the exact same contract.

The Avs can go in to negotiations citing the following:

Forsberg has been the better offensive player over the past few years. Forsberg has 60 goals in his 182 career games. MacKinnon has 59 goals in 218 career games; 36 more games than Forsberg.

Forsberg is the most important, best offensive player on the Predators, and arguably the most important player on the team. Forsberg is their number one guy. Nathan MacKinnon is very important on the Avalanche but is he the best offensive player? The player most relied upon on the team? No. The Avs have other franchise cornerstones in Duchene and Landeskog. Not to mention up and coming first round draft picks Joey Hishon, Conner Bleackley, and Duncan Seimens.

Bottom line: Forsberg is more offensively dynamic, means more to his team, and is more important to his team. Those last two actually do mean different things.

MacKinnon is good. He will get better. But for now, judging by the Forsberg deal, MacKinnon shouldn’t sign for any more than $6M. $5M for about 3 or 4 years would be a great deal. 6 wouldn’t be the worst, and it wouldn’t violate the team’s self implemented player cap.

So thank you Nashville for setting the standard at an extremely reasonable price.

The Avs Would Be Crazy To Sign Alexander Radulov

Alex Radulov is one of the most talked about NHL Free Agents this coming July 1^st. Avs fans especially are talking at large about inking this player to a contract. The real question isn’t for how long, or for how much money. The real question is: why?

Why anyone would want Alex Radulov on their team for even close to what he is asking ($7.5M) is beyond us. When Elliotte Friedman tweeted that he had been signed by a KHL team (which is apparently untrue) we actually breathed a sigh of relief. We shall now go into a fake conversation with a fake Radulov supporter to prove our point.

“Radulov is a very skilled Russian who can bring a lot of offense to any team!”

Radulov was a scoring machine in the QMJHL, racking up 152 points in his last year and breaking several records. Since then, Radulov has not scored more than 25 goals for any pro team at any level (AHL, KHL, NHL) and has scored only higher than 68 points twice, both in the KHL. Yes, they play less games in the KHL, but at the NHL level, Radulov was not dominant. He was good, but not dominant. And he wants $7.5M in the NHL, playing against more skilled competition to not score even 30 goals? And if you think he can go from an NHL has-been-league with other Russians to the actual NHL and improve his stats, you’re dreaming.

“Radulov was coached by Patrick Roy in the QMJHL”

So? So was Bodnarchuk. That worked out well. This has to be the stupidest argument out there. The game is different in the NHL. Defensive systems are different and more complex, the players are obviously more skilled, and the league isn’t full of 16-20 year olds. The QMJHL and the NHL are different, miles apart, and to think Radulov can reignite his once great 152 point season because he has the same man telling him what to do on the bench is absurd. Radulov was coached by Barry Trotz, one of the best coaches in the league and WAY better than Roy, and he could only get 26 goals out of Radulov. Not to mention to defensive play.

Also tarnishing Radulov’s reputation: In juniors, Radulov was a show boating #1 star in his own mind. When he would score goals he would taunt the opposition’s bench. He would offer up unnecessary celebrations such as doing the whole “sword in the sheath” and “the archer”. Now, this attitude usually doesn’t follow players once they reach the big leagues, as they are often tuned in by a veteran, or beat up pretty bad until they stop. Not with Radulov. His celebrations and “holier than thou” attitude would follow him to the Show.

It is an unfair stereotype to say ALL Russian players are a flight risk to head back to Russia. Remember when it was the other way around, and USSR players couldn’t wait to leave? Remember when RAdulov still had 2 years left on his deal with Nashville and bolted to the KHL, leaving the Preds wih a HUGE hole in their top 6? The Preds tried to do everything to get Radulov to stay, but alas it was no use. And then, when Radulov wanted to return, the Preds actually took him back, acting like the desperate ex-girlfriend that takes her old boyfriend back after he cheated on her. And true to that narrative, Radulov betrays trust again, partying with teammate Andrei Kostitsyn at 5AM, before a playoff game, leading to a suspension for game 3. Classy guy.

After this, Radulov bolted back to Russia on a $9.2M(RUS) contract. Or, wait, did he bolt? Well, the Preds decided not to extend Radulov, for obvious reasons, so that helped in his decision making.

And now Radulov wants back in the Show. The guy who showed time and time again he disrespects the NHL, and cares more about himself than the game or his team. Has he changed? I think his huge contract demands answer that question for everybody. How Radulov can come back, after all his wrong doings, and think he is worth more then Thornton, the Sedins, Rinne, Bergeron, Backstrom, Karlsson, (the list goes on) is stupefying. Even if his demands are mis-reported, Radulov is worth no more than about $4-4.5M on a very short deal of one to two years.

So should the Avs try and sign this guy? No. See above. 

Tyson Jost: The Right Pick for the Avalanche?

The Avs went into this draft with great depth down the middle, needing some young skilled wingers, size, and prospects on the back end. So why not draft a 5’11 center? This pick is confusing for 3 reasons. 1). Jost is a tier 2 junior player. In Canada, tier 2 is the level below the WHL, OHL, and QMHJL. Lots of players who don’t make those 3 leagues play Tier 2, or Junior A as it is also known as. So, Jost is good against players who aren’t good enough to play with the best teens in Canada. Tier 2 players who are drafted into the NHL rarely make an impact. Since 2009, 13 players have been taken from Canadian Junior A in the first 3 rounds of the draft. Here is the full list: Dylan Olsen, Brandon Pirri, Reilly Smith, Beau Bennett, Alexander Guptill, Julian Melchiori, Brennan Serville, Devin Shore, Jujhar Khaira, Colton Parayko, Adam Tambellini, Brandon Hickey, and Jake Walman.

Out of all these players, Colton Parayko (2012, 3^rd round) and Reilly Smith (2009, 3^rd round) are the only successful ones. But look at their draft dates. Smith was drafted in 2009 and has just started to make an NHL impact the past few years. Parayko has taken 4 years to crack the league, but as a defenseman that isn’t too bad.

Jost scored almost a goal per game against other Tier 2 players. He outskated Tier 2 forwards, beat out Tier 2 defenseman, and sniped pucks past Tier 2 goalies. This does not mean his accomplishments are worthless; it just means that we have not seen how he can play against better players.

Yes, he played and dominated in the IIHF U-18 tournament, but again, that was against players 18 and under. How can he play against the worlds best 19 and 20 year olds? These concerns aren’t just mad Avs fans being cranky that the Avs didn’t pick who they wanted. These are legitimate concerns.

Jost is done with Tier 2, and will take his talents to the NCAA for hockey. This means the Avs won’t see Jost for about 4 years, unless he just kills it in college and de-comits for the Avs. In our opinion, the Avs should have drafted a player that could make the team a little earlier, and have more of an immediate impact. At the 10^th overall pick, the Avs could have improved the team for right now. Instead, they drafted a center, who will play behind Duchene and MacKinnon when he makes the team, in 4 years. The Avs weren’t a playoff team last year. The Avs are not any better than they were when they played their 82^nd, and last, game of the season. So have they settled for mediocrity over the next few years?

Other teams in the league, especially the Central Division, are getting better; Either through the draft, development, trades, or signings.

So who SHOULD the Avs have taken?

The Avs need help on defense. They should have taken the best defenseman available, whoever that player was in their opinion. Sakic already said they won’t splash in Free Agency, so the draft is really the only other way to acquire players. If the Avs want to wait 4 years to get a roster player, they might as well help out their defensive depth going forward. Chychrun?

If Jost turns into the great 2 way player he is expected to be, then it is a good move, and of course this is all speculation, so you never know. Another Ryan O'Reilly? Another Soderberg? That would be decent. But at #10 in the draft, the Avs needed to land a franchise talent. You just can't bust at #10, so hopefully Jost can prove all the doubters wrong.

                     

The Colorado Avalanche's situation for the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft

Draft rules have been released for the new Las Vegas franchise that will probably fail faster than the Cleveland Barons, Atlanta Flames, Atlanta Thrashers, and so on. For the other 30 NHL teams, they need to start thinking about who to protect. This can be difficult for all teams, especially those with many top prospects, and a strong core/depth chart. Fans of the Wild, Flyers, Blue Jackets, New Jersey, Ottawa, and Vancouver can probably stop reading here.

For fans of actual competitive NHL teams, Avs included, here are the rules for protection, if for some reason you haven’t already heard them:

There are two protection options: 

1) 7 Forwards, 3 Defensemen, 1 Goalie (11 players)

 2) 8 skaters (forwards and defensemen), 2 goalies. (10 players)

Other important rules: No-movement players must be protected, 1^st and 2^nd year players, and unsigned prospects can’t be taken and won’t count against the protection limit for teams,

So who should the Avs protect, and which option should the Avs take? Here are some thoughts: The Avs can take option 1 and only protect 1 goalie, which means they can protect an extra player. This means they would need to protect 3 dmen and 7 forwards, no exceptions, and one of Varly/Pickard.

If the Avs take option 2, they can protect 8 forwards, 0 dmen, and both goalies, or any other combination of forward/dmen skaters.

Here is what we know: When the 2017-18 season hits, the Avs will have Erik Johnson and Beauchemin as players who MUST be protected due to no-movement clauses. Iginla has no contract for the 2017-18 season so the Las Vegas team may not want to select him, and the Avs may not want to protect him.

Our picks for protection for option 1:

7 Forwards: Duchene, Landeskog, Soderberg, MacKinnon, Grigorenko (assuming he’s signed) Comeau, and anyone who they have at the time worth protecting. Depending on the rules, Iignla may need to be the 7^th player. Note: Rantanen will be finishing his 2^nd professional year (AHL included) so he is exempt.

3 Defensemen: Johnson, Beauchemin, Barrie

1 Goalie: Varly or Pickard, depending on how this season goes.

Players left open: McLeod, Mitchell, Martinsen, Aggozzino, Stuart, Holden, Gelinas, Zadorov Varly/Pickard. Bigras will have finished his 2^nd professional year, so he will be exempt, we think.

Option 2:

8 Skaters: Duchene, Landeskog, MacKinnon, EJ, Beauchemin, Barrie, Zadorov, Soderberg

Goalies: Varlamov, Pickard.

Players left open: McLeod, Mitchell, Martinsen, Aggozzino, Stuart, Holden, Gelinas, Zadorov, Grigorenko.

The verdict: As of right now, option 2 looks better for the Avs. They get to protect their Dmen, Zadorov included, and their main forward core, excluding Grigorenko.  With option 1, the Avs leave the bottom 3 defensemen open and the bottom 6 forwards, none of which would not be catastrophic losses. If the Avs take option 1, they leave Barrie or Zadorov open, which one of whom, given the other players open, would get scooped up by the Vegas team.

Of course this could all change. If Barrie leaves, Varly has a bad year, the Avs resign Boedeker, or a big trade/signing could change the whole outlook of the expansion draft situation. Regardless of what happens, the Avs MUST protect EJ and Beauchemin, and SHOULD protect Landeskog, Duchene, MacKinnon, and Barrie. It is kind of good, but also kind of sad, that the Avs do not have more then 8 players, that if lost in the draft, wouldn’t be missed very much. McLeod may be the only one, and who knows what will happen with Skille, Aggozino, Martinsen, and Matthias. If the goalies have a good year, they should both be protected, and Rantanen/Bigras should be safe.

What would you do?




Other Reading:

PATENT PENDING: THEY DO THIS SO MUCH, THEY MIGHT AS WELL OWN THEM

NEW ALL-STAR GAME FORMAT: WHO MAKES IT FOR THE AVS? OTHER TEAMS?

NEWS FLASH: THE AVS HAVE BEEN JUST AS BAD AS THE OILERS SINCE 2008

ALSO:

THE 5 WORST CONTRACTS ON THE COLORADO AVALANCHE

Ryan O'Reilly for the Masterton? How Ridiculous!

Note: The following is an assessment of Ryan O'Reilly's recent nomination for an NHL Award. We realize he has no control over being nominated for this award, and it really isn't his fault, so we are just stating why he should not be considered, using past bitterness and disappointment that he isn't on the team anymore for inspiration.

The Masterton Trophy is a prestigious award given to the player in the NHL who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.

This award has been won by several deserving candidates, both historically and recently: Bobby Clarke (diabetes), Charlie Simmer (knee injuries), Tim Kerr (injuries), Jose Theodore (death of son + successful season), Ian Laperriere (forced to retire due to concussions, but still served the team), Josh Harding (Plays through MS), Dominic Moore (wife died from cancer), and last but not least, Devan Dubnyk (sucking for a long time before finally having a good season).

These players are heroes who persevered and showed dedication to the game they love, and suffered tragedy only to show why they still belong in the NHL; which is why it is so confusing that the Sabres have nominated Ryan O’Reilly. (* quick note, the writers who cover the Sabres in the PHWA chose ROR, not technically the team itself). Every team nominated a player every year, so there are the usual players that you think have no chance. Some teams are just lucky enough to have a roster full of players that never have to persevere, so they nominate the 5^th year guy who finally finds a full time spot with the big club.

To keep this short, out of all the Buffalo Sabres players, what has O’Reilly possibly done to deserve this prestigious award? We won’t go into the time he crashed his car into Tim Hortons after getting drunk, that speaks for itself.

But really, what has O’Reilly persevered through? Not being named captain of the Avalanche? Yea that must have been rough. Maybe next time a child doesn’t get a toy in a toy store, we can all pitch in and make sure he gets reparations.

Or maybe it is because of that terrible, awful, contract holdout he went through, trying to get an absurd amount of money. Poor guy, choosing not to play the game he is potentially getting rewarded for being dedicated to, because he feels he is worth a few more million dollars.

His amount of dedication is something to be admired though. How hard he works, how he creates drills for his teammates after practice, how he is the last one off the ice all the time. But it’s not an award given to people who are dedicated after being paid the amount of money they think they are worth, after going through a hellish ordeal.

When it’s all said and done, this is a terrible nomination and O’Reilly is not the most deserving Sabre by far. Seriously. The guy was so desperate to get his money he almost started playing hockey with the Calgary Flames! Actually, if he wanted to play hockey that bad, maybe they should give him the award.

Other Reading: *Disclaimer - This is strictly for the readers. We don't get ad click revenue or any kind of revenue, so we're not trying to shamelessly plug our articles!

PATENT PENDING: THEY DO THIS SO MUCH, THEY MIGHT AS WELL OWN THEM

NEW ALL-STAR GAME FORMAT: WHO MAKES IT FOR THE AVS? OTHER TEAMS?

NEWS FLASH: THE AVS HAVE BEEN JUST AS BAD AS THE OILERS SINCE 2008

ALSO:

THE 5 WORST CONTRACTS ON THE COLORADO AVALANCHE