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PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 1:36 pm 
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I thought what he had to say about his time in the AHL was the most damning. Roy didn't control that did he?

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PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 2:35 pm 
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Fogghorn wrote:
I thought what he had to say about his time in the AHL was the most damning. Roy didn't control that did he?


No, I think he had a say in some of the signings that ended up there, but really didn't tell Chynoweth and Co. what to do.

I figured they were going to fire Dean eventually but they at least gave him a fair chance to prove himself before doing so.

Roy and Sakic deserve credit for getting the team out of their Euro-phobic funk. Fired draft guru Rick Pracey rarely, if ever, ventured outside of the OHL/WHL to make his picks. This worked out in 2009 when Duchene, O'Reilly, and Barrie just happened to be available there but otherwise left the cupboard practically bare. They attempted to bolster the prospect pool in the interim by reaching out and signing European free agents, venturing into some unconventional territory like Croatia in the process. They damn well near found some diamonds in the rough in Rendulic and Dennis Everberg, but alas, it just didn't work out. Maybe Dean Chynoweth was part of that problem, but whatever the case, they appear to have gotten a guy who should be much, much better in the role of head coach and developer of talent. Whatever the case, the team has made a big cultural shift in the acquisition and drafting/development of European talent. San Antonio essentially got gutted this offseason and the new roster appears to have some legit prospects there. Avs may finally have a real, honest-to-goodness farm team in God knows how long.

On a side note, they also re-affiliated with ECHL team the Colorado Eagles. It was pure idiocy for them to end the affiliation in the first place.

Yet another dark mark on Pierre Lacroix's legacy--Pracey was his guy. Pierre valued loyalty far more than actual competence. Sakic has more or less cleared the organization of all his cronies.

Methinks Dean may have been in "save my job" mode which ironically just hastened his demise.


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PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 3:47 pm 
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Well, that's one PTO in the books...Tlusty fails his physical before camp.


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PostPosted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 1:14 am 
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Avs had their annual Burgundy-and-White scrimmage at Magness Arena (home of such DU luminaries as Paul Stastny, Matt Carle, Tyler Bozak, and Joe Colborne--who was there of course). Bednar had all the stars sit, it was mostly rookies and youngsters playing while the vets watched from the stands. As expected it was kind of a snoozer and 1-0 final score. The Avs won it though. :Butch:

Not much to note beyond that. Bednar has, so far, been putting the kids through basic drills. I'm told by observers on HF that he's not at all averse to dump-and-chase, but it's at least a more refined version, the player is now dumping it with a good idea of where to put it so someone on the forecheck can pick it up. Roy was adamantly against any form of dump-and-chase, but was also very hands-off when it came to offense. Bednar is definitely stressing structure in all three zones.


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PostPosted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 1:56 am 
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Oh, and no one should be surprised if Varlamov is dealt during the season.

http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2016/09/23/kee ... yptr=yahoo

Only time will tell. Personally I'm not sold on Picks as a legit #1 at all, but I'm still left with a bit of a sour taste when it comes to Varly given his rather ugly off-ice troubles. I don't think by any means it's a foregone conclusion that Varlamov will be dealt, but I think they're looking to clear that contract off the books.

FTR I don't think Roy was as loyal to Varly as the writer here implies. He had no problem going with the hot hand last season in Picks, as Varlamov struggled mightily at times last year.


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 28, 2016 1:17 am 
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Avs win their first preseason contest against the Wylde with what looked mostly like an AHL lineup. Rene Bourque with a goal and an assist. Troy Bourke (yes, they have three guys at camp whose name sounds like "Bork") with an assist as well.

The funny part is, the Avs rolled out two goalies, one of whom is on an AHL contract, and the Wylde had Devan Dubnyk play the whole game.

I get it, it's just preseason, but it's always good to beat Minny.


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 28, 2016 1:07 pm 
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"Another game for Meloche" has, of course, prompted this.





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PostPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 2:30 pm 
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Another preseason win, again coming from a deficit, 4-2, against the Dallas Stars. Bednar seemed disappointed in the team's play, said they relied too much on the goalie, which is something I don't think Roy ever said in his three seasons behind the bench.

I've been told we should expect a little more dump-and-chase from the Avs, which on the surface seems bad, but someone on NHL Radio pointed out that dump-and-chase isn't really done anymore in the NHL (unless Randy Carlyle's your coach). It's dump-and-retrieve, putting the puck in a place a forechecking forward will be sure to get it. Roy seemed against dumping the puck to a fault. His system had a lone d-man sitting back and looking for the right pass. If it wasn't there he actually cycled/skated it back and tried again. I suppose that worked in juniors but all it did in the NHL was increase the time the puck stayed out of the attacking zone, and there were a lot of times a forechecker could force a turnover, leaving only one or two guys able to defend the goalie.

Either way, the Avs may or may not be successful this year, but they at the very least will look more organized. That's something at least.

Another thing to get excited about amongst the Avs faithful--top D prospect Chris Bigras is already making a major push to stay with the big club. The numbers are still against him (Wiercioch, Gelinas, and Zadorov are ahead of him on the depth chart in addition to Johnson, Beauchemin, Barrie, and Tyutin), but if he's ready, then he's ready.

I'm guessing opening night defense will be

Beauchemin - Johnson
Zadorov - Barrie
Bigras - Tyutin

Gelinas/Wiercioch

Lastly, I just read former Avs farmhand (from that miracle 2009 draft) Stefan Elliott is headed to Ak Bars Kazan of the KHL. A shame, I don't think the kid ever got a fair shake at the NHL level. He should do quite well overseas.


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PostPosted: Sat Oct 01, 2016 12:32 pm 
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Avs remain undefeated in the preseason, winning 3-1 last night against the Kings. 2 goals from Grigorenko, 1 from MacKinnon. I know it's the preseason but this is a welcome change from the Avs playing like garbage around this time the last two years and Roy just shrugging his shoulders, only to scramble at the last minute before the regular season starts.

And lo and behold, Rene Bourque came to camp determined. Dude is likely gonna earn himself a contract.

One of the lines last night was Bourque-MacKinnon-Bourque. I wish Bednar was feeling like having a little fun last night and iced a line of Bourque-Bourke-Bourque.

No surprises in terms of cuts so far. If both Bourques make it (and they very likely will) then Norwegian Andreas Martinsen is likely the odd-man-out. Chances are very good the Avs start the year with 8 defensemen.


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 03, 2016 3:38 pm 
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Shitty.

http://www.denverpost.com/2016/10/03/ma ... avalanche/

But hey, Avs fans who still doubt his resolve should just STFU for good.


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 03, 2016 3:51 pm 
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https://twitter.com/Avalanche/status/78 ... wsrc%5Etfw


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PostPosted: Fri Oct 07, 2016 1:43 am 
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He's being very careful with his comments but this along with some other stuff I've heard make me think Gabriel Landeskog isn't entirely sad to see Roy go.

http://www.denverpost.com/2016/09/29/ga ... ed-bednar/

Same with Iginla. I think we'll see better from both players this year.

Not that I'm shocked but despite the fact the Avs are 5-0 in the preseason, their possession numbers are still not very good. It's gonna take some time, and it certainly wasn't all Roy and his bad system.

Avs are predicted to finish near the bottom of the standings. I'm not sure they'll be quite that bad, but when I ask myself which team will be there instead of Colorado, I draw a blank.


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PostPosted: Fri Oct 07, 2016 11:57 am 
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Roster down to 27. Two prospects with rather high expectations, Chris Bigras (defense) and J.T. Compher (defensive winger acquired in the O'Reilly trade) were sent down. Neither is a big surprise, Bigras was actually quite impressive but the consensus is that he's not quite ready. He will likely get a callup sometime during the season.

What actually IS surprising is former Saskatoon Blade, Duncan Siemens, is still around. Siemens has not been exactly spectacular since the Avs took him with the 11th overall pick in 2011, stumbling through three injury-riddled AHL seasons. In fact, everyone was kind of surprised when the Avs elected to re-sign him to a one-year deal rather than trading him or declining to QO him.

Plus, it doesn't help that the guy looks like a frickin' axe murderer.

Image

Image

From what I'm told, Siemens is a big body with good wheels, but lacking severely in the puckhandling department. I don't know if the Avs are looking to salvage something, ANYTHING with him and hoping he plays well enough for a minor trade or something, or they just don't think he'll pass through waivers, but as of right now he's the 8th defenseman on this team.

Also some decisions to make up front. No doubt Trent Vogelhuber and Mike Sislo will be sent down, which leaves one more roster spot (if they elect to keep 8D) to decide between a handful of players. There's the non-related Bourques (Rene and Gabriel) both on PTOs and recently-signed Ben Smith (two-way deal). The only factor I could see playing a huge part is whether or not rookie Mikko Rantanen and 4th-line danglemaster John Mitchell are good to go once the season starts. Rumors abound that the Avs are trying very hard to move Mitchell, but obviously if he's hurt that can't happen. Rantanen got hurt at rookie camp and was expected to miss all of preseason, not sure if he misses the opener as well. We'll see.


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PostPosted: Fri Oct 07, 2016 3:27 pm 
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Still some careful quotes from players, but Matt Duchene also weighs in on the team's defensive struggles.

http://www.thehockeynews.com/news/artic ... or-a-reset

Quote:
“When you’re just chasing it around all game, like we have been the past couple years, you definitely feel that way,” said center Matt Duchene. “Stats aside, it’s tough to stand in the defensive zone – I played wing a lot of the year – and watch it just get buzzed around down low. You (finally) get it out and you get off…that’s tough. That’s not winning hockey.”


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PostPosted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 1:39 pm 
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Welp, never mind all that, Dunk got waived today.

Frozen Fury in the new _________ Knights arena against the Kings tonight. Preseason finale, and the roster is pretty much set. Two more cuts looming but it's pretty clear who those will be. I'll be pretty shocked if both PTOs are released.


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PostPosted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 1:51 pm 
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Av-merican wrote:
Welp, never mind all that, Dunk got waived today.

Frozen Fury in the new _________ Knights arena against the Kings tonight. Preseason finale, and the roster is pretty much set. Two more cuts looming but it's pretty clear who those will be. I'll be pretty shocked if both PTOs are released.


Siemens going down?




:laugh:

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PostPosted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 10:37 pm 
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Ah yes, forgot, this will be the final Frozen Fury. Good times.

Here's a fond farewell from the Kings' brilliant marketing team. :lol:

https://twitter.com/LAKings/status/7848 ... wsrc%5Etfw

Needless to say, most Avs fans will not miss this yearly clubbing.


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PostPosted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 11:09 pm 
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Interesting. Not a single Avs fan I've talked to thought of the possibility of pairing Zadorov and Johnson, but Bednar is going with it for the 2nd game in a row after promising returns in the previous preseason game. We might be seeing this D lineup for opening night.

Zadorov - Johnson
Beauchemin - Barrie
Wiercioch - Tyutin
Gelinas

Y'know, that's...not bad!


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 10, 2016 1:12 am 
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Avs go undefeated in the preseason with an OT winner to close out the Frozen Fury series at 8-8-1.

Will post more but now it'll be a maddening wait until the puck drops for real. I'm trying very hard not to read into preseason results but at the very least things are at least starting on an optimistic note.


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 10, 2016 12:28 pm 
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Strange, Gabriel Bourque is on waivers, which makes no sense unless the Avs signed him and it was never announced. Or he has to pass through waivers before being signed but again, I'm still trying to figure out how that works since I thought it only applied when a player played in another professional league and was being signed during the season.

Anyway, now there is an interminable wait until Saturday, October 15. And I'll be hosting a work party that night so I'll either be sneaking away to watch the game or DVR'ing it, which I have never done for a sporting event.


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