OffThePost.org

Well...he's a...goalie?....at least.

Avs are reportedly finalizing a deal for Buffalo netminder Jonas Johansson. I don't love this deal, as Johansson has, like everyone else in Buffalo, struggled mightily. But it's just impossible to tell who in Buffalo truly sucks and who is just being pulled down into the muck by the organization. But I think I'd rather they try Adam Werner or newly-signed NCAA netminder Peyton Jones as opposed to...this.

Funny enough, this will be the second "Jonas Johansson" the Avs have had. The first one was a forward drafted in the first round of 2002 (the Rick Nash draft), and was then flipped the next year as part of the trade for Steve Konowalchuk. He's 36 years old now and played a grand total of 1 game in the NHL.

Well now they're saying the deal hasn't happened. Also, the more I read about this guy the more I really don't want it to happen. He sounds abjectly horrible, only a very minor upgrade on Miska.

The Sabres might be re-entering COVID protocol soon but I don't know if that's what's holding this up.

Oh. Yep...COVID.

https://www.milehighhockey.com/2021/3/1 ... alo-sabres

This might be a blessing in disguise. This is not a good idea.

Still absolutely drives me nuts the Avs could've just claimed Alex Nedelkovic on waivers and that would have been that. But no...they're needlessly scrambling now.

Reportedly the Avs were pursuing Friend of the Show Jonathan Bernier, but of course, he just got hurt.

Man, the Sabres really are fucked.

But I agree it's tough to tell who there really sucks and has been sucked into the suck vortex. It would be such a cool experiment (that I know would never happen) to trade every single player from a last place team and see how they do with new teams, and how the guys traded to said last place team perform.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Closest thing to that to ever happen was the 2014-15 Sabres team that threw everyone overboard they could. Pretty sure they dealt away BOTH goalies that season in what ended up being a vain attempt to get McDavid.

So the deal finally went through, Avs get Jonas Johansson 2.0 for a sixth rounder. Dude is BIG, but so far, according to Sabres beat writer John Vogl, can't stop a puck to save his life, in practice or in games. Calls him the worst goalie he's ever seen in his time covering the team. Yeesh.

Whatever, Miska unfortunately was a giant bundle of nerves back there and he was only getting worse. Had to do something. The other two goalie options had a whopping TWO GAMES of NHL experience between the two of them.

In other news, insiderrrrrs say that the Avs and Devils are circling one another, sure looks like Sakic really wants him some Wood. Miles Wood that is.

Also, Avs have themselves far and away their two best games of the season in an absolute curb-stomping of the Minnesota Wylde. Kaprizov was held completely off the scoresheet. In two games the only goal scored by the opposition was by Victor Rask. They were outscored 11-1 over that stretch, and the shot clock was insane...you can look up the numbers if you care enough.

*sigh*

Well, 8-1-1 in their last 10 games. I shouldn't get greedy but tonight's shootout loss was frustrating as hell.

Avs newest goalie was...not good, but I guess he wasn't Hunter Miska-bad either.

Okay then, 5-2 win over the Ducks at home. Philipp Grubauer only had to face 15 shots on goal and let in two, so he posted an .867 save percentage on the night. Kinda weird that the few shots he did face, a majority were really good scoring chances. The Avs defense didn't have many breakdowns, but apparently when they did the Ducks had some absurdly good chances. Grubauer was up to the task--neither of the goals he gave up are ones anyone would consider "bad".

Cale Makar with three assists and something like 83% of the shot share whenever he was on the ice.

Well, obviously the one thing everyone is talking about in the wake of the Avs' throttling of the Coyotes last night was this.



Nate ended up getting tossed from the game with a 10-minute misconduct (that's fine) for the antics (also got a $5,000 fine, which I think he can afford), which birthed a wide array of fun meme-worthy posts. This one's by far my favorite.

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status ... 60002?s=20

Officiating as usual was...questionable. I fail to understand why Tyson Jost gets a penalty for getting checked from behind into the goalie, but hey, that's game management for ya!

Anyway, hat trick and four-point night for Joonas Donskoi.

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I thought the same thing about Wii bowling when I saw that clip. Strike!

I wish someone would edit the video to have everyone else jump when it hits.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Heh...reminds me of the game I played against Haydar in net. One of our best players accidently high-sticked and cut their best player outside of Haydar(former D1 and just lives to play hockey and try his hardest at it), so he chucked his helmet at our guy.

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Thanks Chuck, E.L. and Harmy!

Soderberg back!

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Nemeth and Soderberg, two guys well familiar with the Avs system under Bednar, and goalie depth in Devan Dubnyk. No roster players given up, no first rounders, and no prime prospects. That’s fine with me. The real work was done during the offseason with the acquisitions of Toews and Saad, and Jonas Johansson has turned into a perfectly good third goaltending option after Hunter Miska’s disastrous stint at the #2 spot.

If by chance Bo Byram can get healthy by the playoffs this’ll be one hell of a roster. Right now the issue is just staying engaged, Avs look a little disengaged of late but that’s understandable—I’m just counting the days until the postseason.

Admittedly the Dubnyk deal sits funny with me. After mocking him mercilessly the last two or three seasons, seeing him in Avs gear is just...weird.

Another day, another COVID pause. I heard on NHL radio that they're aiming for Thursday to start things up again.

Three players had to quarantine: Byram, Grubauer, and Donskoi, Byram just got cleared so hopefully he's finally ready to play again. Grubs and Donk still remain. The good news is no one else has been reported to have

Avs received their first vaccination shots recently--apparently Donskoi received his while infected. Now he'll be a walking antigen factory.

Well...I never should've posted this. Mikko Rantanen lands in protocol today right before the team was set to resume practices.

Okay now they're saying Mikko DID NOT test positive, he's merely in contact tracing, so I guess that means he was exposed to someone with the virus. The good news is that he may not have to quarantine for the full two weeks if that's the case.

If the Cannots are an example, the players (if managed appropriately) seem to be able to bounce back in decent shape during that time... I worry for their families, who probably aren't in peak physical condition as their hockey-playing partners...

Well I certainly would worry like hell about the children for sure.

I just wish we'd start outright canceling some of these games and just go by points %. I get that there's a TV deal to fulfill but a lot of these games down the stretch are going to be meaningless.

There's that and perf bonuses, too... But I agree; couldn't there be some accommodation for this generational pandemic?