OffThePost.org

1-0 loss at home to the Flamers, completing the home-and-home sweep.

It's simple really. Lots of playmakers, not enough finishers. The finishers we DO have are muckers and grinders who specialize in garbage goals...or in the case of Sakic, Hejduk, and Arnason, either too old or too damned lazy to care. Problem is you still need some shooters who get the puck on net quickly and accurately. We have some powerful shots, but all of them take too damned long to get the shot off and don't get it on net accurately enough. Any team with a halfway decent goaltender and/or collapses down low to block shots can shut them down easily enough. Smyth is being wasted right now, as is Svatos.

We could fire the coach, we could change the goalie. Neither will solve the problem. Firing the GM is something I could get behind though...

Missed the last game...apparently a barnburner between the Wylde and the Avs, with Colorado coming out victorious 6-5.

Avs currently the 2nd lowest scoring team in the West. Granato is the new Dave Tippett, sans a pre-2008 Marty Turco to bail his ass out.

Wha....?

We beat Detroit?

In Detroit?

With Raycroft in net?

With Franzen PLAYING!?!?

Good on Granato to finally quit looking at forwards only like every other coach when it comes to shootouts and penalty shots. He picked the right guy as it turns out.

Apparently I need to not watch the Avs more often...

Yeah, welcome to my world... Not renewing CI has been very good for the Cannots...

I think we need a thread like this in the Habs forum.

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Injustice? Cobain died and Eddy Fucking Vedder lived to haunt us with his shitty fucking voice, trite lyrics and his Eddy Vedderness.



- Ancient Chinese Proverb

Yet another reason to hate the shootout was on full display last night against the Bolts. Milan Hejduk fails to score on his attempt, but the refs penalize Mike Smith for throwing his stick and upon review award Hejduk the goal. As no one else scores in the shootout, it stands as the game-winner.

Wha...? You mean you don't just have him do it over again? I can kinda see why--a goalie could obviously keep doing the same thing, of course one would have to wonder why the hell he would want to--but it runs counter to the very reason why the shootout was created in the first place. IMO the shootout has failed in that purpose anyway, apart from a few great YouTube highlights it doesn't do anything to raise the tension of the game. People need to get over the horror of a tie game.

You know,The funny thing is that out of the dozens of hockey fans I know,NOT ONE of them likes the shootout,I think Bettman is the only one that does like it,Personally,I say bring back the tie game and screw the OT and the SO,This is definitely my opinion but it also seems that the vast majority of hockey fans think this way as well.

I've always been against the shootout, but I'm okay with 4 on 4 OT. However, penalties in OT I'd rather see as a 5 on 4 situation than 4 on 3.... but I don't think that's really compatible. I'd be okay if 4 on 4 OT was 10 minutes in length and then call it a tie. After 10 minutes of 4 on 4 OT, you'd get a win over 90% of the time anyways.

My biggest problem is that the shootout tends to overshadow the actual hockey played in the 65 minutes before it.

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Injustice? Cobain died and Eddy Fucking Vedder lived to haunt us with his shitty fucking voice, trite lyrics and his Eddy Vedderness.



- Ancient Chinese Proverb

What was that you were saying about the Avalanche PP?

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Thanks Chuck, E.L. and Harmy!

Again, I just need to NOT watch the Avs play the Wings and they win.

Wolski is turning into the next Jussi Jokinen...here's to hoping he does a little more than just shootouts though.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=262720

Woo hoo! We beat the Pens! Not really a big deal since the Pens are pulling a Sens this year, but we'll take it.

Wolski has really stepped up since being asked to take the #1 center reins from Stastny, and it looks like David Jones is finally starting to get it.

Well, onto next year--I'm sure I'll elaborate on this more once the season is officially over.

First off, identify the core.

Joe Sakic (unless he retires which, Olympics or not, is a distinct possibility)
Ryan Smyth
Milan Hejduk (in what he has indicated will be his final NHL season)
Paul Stastny
Wojtek Wolski
John-Michael Liles
Scott Hannan (UGH...)
Brett Clark (Double UGH...)
Adam Foote
Ruslan Salei (I have a feeling he may be traded this offseason, just a hunch)

Some players who will get a good long look will be...

T.J. Hensick
Chris Stewart
Nigel Williams
Kyle Cumiskey

As for these players, who knows?

Ian Laperriere
Marek Svatos
The Two-Million Dollar Man, aka Darcy Tucker

Players who damn fucking well better NOT be on the roster next season

Tyler Arnason

Some free agents on my wish list, based on current lists:

Nick Boynton (currently a healthy scratch in FLORIDA of all places, still, I think he'd be a worthwhile reclamation project. Physical defenseman who doesn't mind dropping the gloves, with above-average puck skills)

Mike Knuble (we need another Steve Konowalchuk, he's the best thing available)

Mike Grier (anything to toughen up what was the softest third line in the NHL this year, plus we're a slow team, and he's fast)

Milan Jurcina

Jay Bouwmeester (hey, this is just a wish list, it doesn't have to be realistic)

But bottom line, WE NEED A GOALIE. Enough, is enough is enough with Peter Budaj. He. Is. Not. Good. Enough. The organization needs to send him on his way, maybe sign Raycroft as a backup, and move forward. To spend so much on an underachieving blueline and then turn around and go cheap with the goaltending is beyond ridiculous. And I don't care how many ignorant Avs fans keep looking at his stat sheet in Washington and say that Giggy is vindicated, letting Theodore walk was a huge, HUGE fuck-up.

So who's available? Do we take a cheap option like Manny Legace? The only team he seems to be able to beat with any consistency throughout his career is, of course, the Avs. Given the fact that he's never ever proven he can last a full NHL season and the injuries are piling up, I'd say no. So then do we go with a more expensive, but no less risky proposition in Nikolai Khabibulin? Yipes...he is the best goalie available from what I see, but he didn't play all that well in front of a vastly superior defense in Chicago, I could see him getting ventilated here.

Oh well...this should be a very, very interesting offseason. I imagine Stan Kroenke is none too happy with the financial outlook of the team and the league as a whole, as his PR crew is pulling out every stop imaginable to keep butts in the seats. Giggy is definitely on notice, and while I am under the assumption Granato will be back next season, I still wouldn't be entirely surprised if he wasn't.

Boynton is a healthy scratch for non-hockey related reasons, though the team is not disclosing what exactly.

I don't agree with your use of the term "core". There's a team's core, and then there's the players the team is stuck with. You've lumped them all together.

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Injustice? Cobain died and Eddy Fucking Vedder lived to haunt us with his shitty fucking voice, trite lyrics and his Eddy Vedderness.



- Ancient Chinese Proverb

Good point. By that definition the true core this team is building around would only be Stastny, Wolski, and Liles. The rest are vets on their way out or, like you said, guys we're stuck with.

Right now, Statsny, Hensick, and McCormick are your only returning C's... I think a C will be the Avs' primary UFA acquistion just going by what's on paper.

As for a goalie... maybe Giggy should try and get... Giggy? J.S. does have a NTC and he'll probably reject any move, but for the Ducks trying to shed payroll, going with Hiller as a #1 (with Budaj as backup, maybe) would help a lot. Other than that, Kari Lehtonen is about the only name I've heard come up in rumors. Marty Biron and Manny Fernandez will also be a UFA, but they're streaky like Khabibulin. And Conklin's a UFA as well... so is Garon.

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Injustice? Cobain died and Eddy Fucking Vedder lived to haunt us with his shitty fucking voice, trite lyrics and his Eddy Vedderness.



- Ancient Chinese Proverb

Not so sure center's a big priority. An actual checking center SHOULD damned well be a priority, but the team is actually pretty stacked in terms of scoring line centers if you count Wolski. From his days in Brampton to his brief flourish as the top line pivot this season, Wolski seems more comfortable as a center than a wing. This is also assuming T.J. Hensick will actually prove he wants to play in the NHL next season, but who knows. If indeed they get a scoring C, they can move either Wolski or Stastny to wing (Hensick doesn't seem too comfortable there) even though Stastny hasn't played there since his DU days.

In terms of needs, they go in this order:

Goalie
Defenseman
Two-way Center

Given how much payroll is already invested in the shitty D, they won't break the bank again. Still, they should at least try to bring in a proven vet, I don't think it'll set them off too much. If not Boynton, perhaps Beauchemin? He might be too expensive though.

Not sure which two-way centers are available. NO EFFIN' WAY do I want Bobby Holik though. He won't do anything to cure the crappy penalty kill.

I should also mention Davey Jones...I still think he'd be a capable 15-20 goal guy under the right coach. Granato is not that coach.

What is Colorado's cap situation like next year? Is Bouwmeester, financially, a possibility?



(Plus don't forget the entry max for Tavares when you win the &!*@#ing lottery. )

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$44m for 13 players, and no goalies. Something would have to give.

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Injustice? Cobain died and Eddy Fucking Vedder lived to haunt us with his shitty fucking voice, trite lyrics and his Eddy Vedderness.



- Ancient Chinese Proverb

The 'Lanche are lowering ticket prices next season by a considerable amount. I'm not saying they'll be pushing floor, but don't expect any major contractual acquisitions.

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No I don't see Giggy making a run for Bouwmeester, no way. He's spent way too much on defense as is and it's a crappy D. One guy isn't going to fix that no matter how good he is.

The dream acquisition at the draft IMHO would be Victor Hedman, not Tavares. He addresses a far more urgent need in the system.