Mischievious Mr. Lowe

May 17^th proved to be a shocking day for North American fans of the World Hockey Championship. Both Team USA and Team Canada were upset in the quarterfinals, as Finland edged USA 3-2, and Slovakia stunned Canada by a 4-3 score. Mired in the loss to Team Canada is the question of players neglecting invitations to play for the team (Sidney Crosby comes to mind), and the fact that Team Canada’s defense was not among the top available talent the country had to offer. Of the many questions asked by diehard (and some not so die hard) Canada fans: What is an 18 year old Junior Hockey player doing playing for his country at a world class sporting event? The player in question is Ryan Murray (not to be confused with the arguabley more attractive Ryann Murray, picture located here) of the Western Hockey League’s Everett Silvertips. Fans argue that he is too young for the tournament, inexperienced, and a liability on the back end. While those statements may be true or false, there is another itching question to ask. What was the Team Canada brass thinking putting Ryan Murray on Team Canada? The potential answer: An extra opportunity to scout a potential 1^st overall draft pick.

The defense of Team Canada looks like this: Duncan Keith (CHI), Dion Phaneuf (TOR), Jay Bouwmeester (CGY), Luke Schenn (TOR), Kris Russell (STL), Kyle Quincey (DET), Marc Methot (CBJ), Marc-Edouard Vlasic (SJ), and the aforementioned Ryan Murray (EVT). While this is not a desirable defense for, let’s say, Canada’s 2014 Olympic team, all those players are proven NHLers.  Other options included Johnny Boychuk (BOS), Former Olympic gold medalist Eric Brewer (TB), Chris Phillips (OTT), Dan Hamhuis (VAN), and PK Subban (MTL). But no. Ryan Murray was thought to be able to bring more to the team. Our reason why Murray was added: Team Canada GM Kevin Lowe wanted a closer look, and a bonus scouting period on the young defenseman.

Kevin Lowe, the General Manager of Canada’s 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship team has been well noted in saying he and the Edmonton Oilers, who occupy the #1 pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, have a heavy interest in Ryan Murray. Lowe was quoted saying Murray was “a top player” in the draft. Without the extra access to other top players such as Mikhail Grigorenko, Alexander Galchenyuk, and Nail Yakupov, this is a brilliant move by Lowe. A potential 1^st overall pick for an Oilers team that is desperate for a top tier defenseman could definitely use the extra experience playing against the world’s elite hockey players. Extra grooming for an NHL roster spot is never a bad thing. And if the Oilers still are not sure who they will use their top pick on, adding Murray to the roster provides Lowe with a firsthand look to see whether or not he is NHL ready.

Now, are we overanalyzing? Maybe. Would Steve Yzerman let Kevin Lowe tinker with a potential world championship team, for Lowe’s personal gain? Probably not. But Kevin Lowe has been known to be very persuasive. Just ask Dustin Penner and Brian Burke. And to Ryan Murray’s credit, he is a very good hockey player, and will be drafted in the top 10 of this year’s draft. We are not trying to discredit him or his skill. But if this highly likely scenario is true, then Kevin Lowe can be credited with jeopardizing Team Canada, and he can add this to the list of why he is a less than desired hockey executive.

Does Sacco Deserve To Stay?

When the Denver Post reported, with only a few games remaining in the Avs regular season schedule, that coach Joe Sacco would be returning for the 2012-13 NHL season behind the Avs bench, an outcry burst out from Avs nation on hockey forums, Twitter, and pretty much anywhere else fans could express their opinions. Left, right and center, readers of anything Avalanche could witness the utter disgust and disbelief in Avs management for bringing back the coach that was eventually going to miss the post season for the second straight season; the first time this has happened to the franchise since it moved here from Quebec.

There were of course, loyal supporters of Sacco who saw this season as an improvement over last year’s second to last finish. The supporters argue that Sacco has a young, inexperienced team that still needs to mature. They argue that it is not Sacco’s fault Colorado did not have a playoff team. In some ways, they are right. Colorado has the youngest NHL team and the lowest payroll. But, that does not mean Sacco should not cover some, or a majority of the blame.

But Sacco’s decisions weren’t all bad. The way he played the Varlamov situation was smart and effective. Varlamov was playing bad. He was inconsistent, and to add to another cliché, his confidence was shot. Sitting and watching his starting job fade to an older, wiser goaltender was just what the doctor ordered, and Sacco helped fill the prescription. Credit Joe Sacco as a huge part of the reason Varlamov got his game back.

Sacco did a lot of good with the Avs this year. He helped develop Landeskog into a future superstar, and he was keen enough to trust young center Ryan O’Reilly in pretty much any situation. But in today’s world, especially the hockey world, the mistakes made by players, GM’s and in this case coaches, gets noticed and talked about on a much larger scale than any positives.

Too many times this season, Avs fans have seen their team come out of the gate flat footed, slow, reckless, and carless. Top players were not playing like top players, and they were not producing at a rate that was deemed acceptable by anyone. And when top players were not producing, they were barely making up for it in other ways. There was no Ryan Kesler on the Avs this year, who could go through scoring slumps, but still be effective defensively, and an asset to the team. What does this have to do with Sacco you ask? Everything. Instead of trying to motivate players, and increase confidence levels, Sacco was too quick to put players in his doghouse. T.J. Galiardi is an example of this. Galiardi was coming off an injury plagued season last year, and he got off to a slow start. So when it got to the point of stick squeezing, low confidence, and a huge monkey on his back, what did the coach do to motivate him? He threw him in the doghouse, which leads us to our next portion.

Joe Sacco, like every coach in the league, has a doghouse. But unlike other coaches, Sacco uses it way to liberally. Not every player has a perfect game. Rarely do players go through an entire game without making mistakes, and when the inevitable happens, Coach Sacco is less than negotiable. Avs fans don’t need this blog to tell them anymore about the doghouse, or as we prefer to call it, the Galiardi Inn.

One highly questionable, and in our opinions, downright stupid move from Sacco, was the benching of Peter Mueller in late March. In a crucial game against the Canucks, Sacco sat #88 in order to send him a message, due his poor play in the previous game versus Phoenix. Sacco also sat Mueller the next game against the Sharks. Now we aren’t the kind of people to tell others how to do their job, but don’t you think the Avs would have had a better chance at beating the Canucks with Mueller in the lineup? They lost in overtime for those of you who forget, and that one point was a huge blow to the team. The next game, Colorado struggled offensively as they got trounced by the Sharks, another bubble team, 5-1. I’m sorry Sacco, but you do not bench one of your top 6 forwards, for Chuck Kobasew, to send him a message when your team is in the middle of a playoff hunt. That is just stupid. Sit McLeod or a bottom 6 guy. Not Peter Mueller.

Additionally, when Colorado was down 3-0 going into the 3^rd against Phoenix on March 22^nd, Sacco decided to sit both Mueller and Duchene. Colorado scored a goal early in the last frame, and another with about five remaining. Do you think Sacco played his top center and his skilled winger in an effort to comeback and gain a crucial two points? No. Dutchy and Mueller sat and watched while the Avs fell short to yet another bubble team. That was a very bad decision.

Another questionable move was the demotion of Avs Captain Milan Hejduk to the 4^th line in the last half of the season. On a team that struggled to score goals since late February, a proven sniper, and a player that can still be effective offensively should not be paired with Jay McClement and Cody McLeod.

So it all comes down to one question. Does Joe Sacco deserve to spend another season behind the Avs bench? As nice of a guy as he seems, the answer is unfortunately no. Even though this season’s end result was not entirely his fault, the coach is always easiest to blame. His inability to fire players up for big games, get players out of a slump, and his overall constant miscues and bad decisions should be looked upon as grounds for dismissal.

Prediction: If the Avs are slow out of the gate to begin next season, look for Coach Sacco’s reign on Colorado to be over. If this team underachieves again, there will be no one else for management to point fingers at.

Avs Need To Win Out, Or They're Done

Colorado has 88 points and sits in 10^th place in the Western Conference going into Tuesday night’s action, but they are only two points back of the 8^th and final playoff spot. Under many circumstances, this might look promising, but the Avs have many factors pinned against them as their quest for the playoffs is coming to a close.

To start, Colorado has only two games left, in which they can only get four possible points. If they win out, they Avs will finish the season with 92 points. In order to clinch a spot, Colorado will needs Dallas to beat San Jose tonight, preferably in regulation, and lose their final 2 games against Nashville and St. Louis, to finish the season with 91 points.

IF THE AVS WIN OUT:

Accompanied with the Loss to Dallas, San Jose will also need to lose at least one of their final two games against the Kings. If San Jose loses both, along with a loss to Dallas, they will have finished the season with 90 points, 2 points back of Colorado. If San Jose wins only one game versus the Kings, they will finish the year at 92 points, tied with the Avs. But if the Avs win out, they will have 43 total wins and 34 ROW’s, enough to edge the Sharks in the tie breaker. If the Sharks win 2 of their last three games, Colorado will miss the playoffs.

In the case of the Coyotes, who are 7^th and have 91 points, they can only pick up one possible point in their next three games. They cannot win, or they will clinch a spot, making it harder for Colorado to squeeze in. Phoenix plays Columbus, St. Louis, and Minnesota in their final three games, but if they only pick up one point, the Avs will edge them out, as the Coyotes will stay at 33 ROW`s to Colorado`s 34. If Phoenix loses out, even better.

IF THE AVS LOSE ONE REMAINING GAME:

If Colorado loses one of their two remaining games, San Jose cannot pick up any points. A Colorado loss to either Columbus or Nashville will mean they can only finish the year with 90 points, and with the Sharks at 90 already, one point (91) will single handily knock the Avs out of contention.  

The Dallas Stars have 89 points. If they reach 91 with an Avs loss, that will also knock Colorado out of the playoffs. The problem: San Jose plays Dallas tonight at 6. If Dallas wins, they will have 91 points. If San Jose wins, they will have 92. Overtime points are not a factor here as no matter what, one team will pick up two points, making it that much harder for Colorado.

So the bottom line; Colorado needs to win both games, or they will be eliminated. A loss versus the Blue Jackets on Thursday, or Nashville on Saturday, will officially remove Colorado from the Western Conference playoff race. 

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*