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PostPosted: Tue Oct 03, 2017 2:11 pm 
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I briefly thought about prefacing my previous post with "Barring a last-minute change..." but thought, "Nah."

Well, we have a last-minute change. The Avs claim defenseman Patrik Nemeth on waivers from Dallas.

https://www.milehighhockey.com/2017/10/ ... llas-stars

Dude is big, and sounds like he's around average in all areas. Not too fast, not too physical, not too great but not too bad with the puck. He's a lefty so I suppose they want him playing top-four minutes, likely alongside Tyson Barrie or even Erik Johnson.

Not sure which rookie gets sent down now. I don't think Mironov will accept an AHL assignment, and I think Bigras has secured a roster spot with his play thus far. That leaves Lindholm, whom I'm still skeptical about.


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PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 1:02 pm 
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Well, won't post yet another lineup list, but the roster is pretty much set. Lindholm, after practicing on the top pairing for the better part of 2 weeks, draws the short straw and gets sent down. That means Chris Bigras has made the team. Gabriel Bourque (who IMO is still a better 4th line option than PIM machine Blake Comeau) also gets sent down.

Season starts tomorrow against the Rangers.


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PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 1:48 pm 
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Well this is weird. I thought Joe Colborne was hurt. But he's on waivers today so I guess not, not sure what they intend to do with him once he clears. I'd be shocked if someone claimed.


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 05, 2017 2:06 am 
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Say what you will about Nail Yakupov, he's a pretty easy guy to root for.

https://twitter.com/Avalanche/status/91 ... 9312401408


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 05, 2017 2:03 pm 
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Hoo boy...Bednar already doing some weird shit. Zadorov will be the healthy scratch on D, Mark Barberio slots in on the top pairing with EJ. :?

Don't like that move at all...but whatever.


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 05, 2017 4:36 pm 
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My God...it's like this coach and front office are going out of their way to stir up drama.

While I'm okay with the Avs demoting Lindholm and playing Nemeth in the top four (not thrilled, just okay with it) it was strange they'd take a waiver pickup and insert him into the lineup at the expense of a guy who was slotted on the top pairing for the better part of two weeks.

Now it appears Nikita Zadorov will be a healthy scratch, Mark Barberio, ANOTHER waiver wire pickup, will be on the top pairing with Erik Johnson. Zadorov will sit in the press box while two rookies (Bigras, who technically isn't a rookie but close enough, and Mironov) make up the third pairing. Reportedly Zads was told yesterday at practice and smashed his stick in frustration. Can't say I blame him. This decision should have come WAY fucking sooner. Bednar said when asked that he cited Zadorov's absence from camp and conditioning as factors. Frankly I don't care if he's not quite up to speed, he's still worlds better than everyone on the blueline save for maybe EJ and Barrie. Scratching him appears to be an attempt at "sending a message" but I'm not sure what in hell that message is.

I've been defending Bednar for quite some time now but I can't defend this. And the Avs will likely not be doing much defending tonight period.


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 05, 2017 9:59 pm 
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Dear Avs,
Thank you for tonight.
Chris

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 12:54 am 
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Well, a mix of good and bad, which overall is a great thing.

I'm actually surprised at how well a passer Yakupov is. I expected a pure shooter, he certainly unloaded a TON the few times I saw him as an Oiler. Didn't get to see his signature cannon because Bednar is yet another NHL coach who just doesn't see fit to give a guy like Yak power play time. I just don't get it. If I had a guy like Yak I'd put him on a power play unit every time.

Also, the decision to play Barberio and Mironov over Zadorov proved to be as bad as many thought. Barberio was okay, but Mironov was an outright disaster tonight. Chris Bigras looked fantastic when he wasn't having to clean up his ES partner's many, many mistakes.

Overall though, Avs looked...okay. All I can really ask for at this point. Once again, Varly bailed them out, I'm hoping they can actually succeed without him having to do that every time though.

Matty Duchene with the team's first goal of the season. Looks good on the 2nd line with Yak and Kerfoot. Kerfoot himself had a fantastic cross-ice pass to Barrie for what ended up being the GWG.


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PostPosted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 2:03 pm 
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Ah, well now we know why Colborne was waived and demoted. Defenseman Anton Lindholm has been recalled from San Antonio just after being sent down, so now the Avs have 8D. In this scenario Zads better not continue to sit, especially not after Mironov's performance last night.


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 5:16 pm 
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So far it's been one okay game, one awful game, and one really good game.

Colorado, believe it or not, has depth to spare up front and Jared Bednar is using it to roll four lines. The "4th line" of Wilson-Soderberg-Comeau is very effective as a shutdown trio, but also insanely expensive as far as 4th lines go.

The defense is not looking horrible. Tyson Barrie is rounding back into form after a forgettable 2016-17. He and EJ are, no surprise, leading the team in ice time. Patrik Nemeth has thus far been a very solid, if unspectacular pickup. "Rookie" Chris Bigras has been a revelation thus far and could be getting an even larger role as time goes on.

Still not sure why Bednar won't put Teriyaki on the power play, but that's kinda being nitpicky at this point.

Overall, the team needs to be better at even strength, avoid dumb penalties, find a way to get Nathan MacKinnon going, and, well, make certain the special teams disaster against NJ never happens again. But overall, not a bad start. Fans of other teams are already reacting badly to losing to the Avs, even though nearly half the roster from last season is gone. Not the same team!


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 11:19 pm 
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So what do you think of Foppa saying they should bench & trade Duchene? I don't see why he deserves to be benched.

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PostPosted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 11:56 pm 
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Chris18 wrote:
So what do you think of Foppa saying they should bench & trade Duchene? I don't see why he deserves to be benched.


Honestly could not care less. Opinion of a guy who has nothing to do with organization these days. I like the way Duchene responded though.


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PostPosted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 9:14 am 
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Pokecheque wrote:
Chris18 wrote:
So what do you think of Foppa saying they should bench & trade Duchene? I don't see why he deserves to be benched.


Honestly could not care less. Opinion of a guy who has nothing to do with organization these days. I like the way Duchene responded though.


Yeah, I meant to ask what you thought of that too. Getting too old to remember to ask a follow up question. :lol:

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 1:10 pm 
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Pokecheque wrote:
Mark Barberio slots in on the top pairing with EJ.


The Cult of the Puck Moving D

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 2:14 pm 
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E.L. wrote:
The Cult of the Puck Moving D


That didn't last long. :lol: Mironov was so bad Bednar broke the cardinal coaching rule of never changing your lineup after a win. Barbs wasn't really good either, but it was kinda ridiculous to shove him onto the top pairing like that.

I guess the Avs are okay with having 8D for now. Mironov should be in the AHL but it sounds like he'd just bolt for the KHL if that ever happened, so he sits.


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 5:11 pm 
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Someone on HF was kind enough to remind everyone of last year's opening night lineup.

Bolded players are now gonzo:

Freudian wrote:
This is who played game 1 last year.

Landeskog MacKinnon Iginla
Söderberg Duchene Grigorenko
Bourque Colborne Bourque
Martinsen Smith Comeau

Zadorov EJ
Beauchemin Barrie
Tyutin Weircioch


Uh, yeah, that might not be quite 48-pts bad, but it's bad.


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 17, 2017 12:57 pm 
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A pretty listless performance vs. the Stars the other night on the other end of a B2B, which should be outlawed anyway, especially when travel is involved. Even then they weren't a complete disaster.

Big test vs. Matt Duchene's ideal destination the Preds tonight. The bad news is that as time has gone on the Avs' victories against the Rangers, Ducks, and Bruins (X2) don't look nearly as good since those teams are struggling big-time. Whatever, a win is a win right? A victory tonight would be huge but the Preds are by far the superior team.


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PostPosted: Wed Oct 18, 2017 1:16 am 
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On an otherwise rotten night for the Avs, I'm reading on Twitter that they make a pretty awesome hire: Dawson Sprigings, AKA @DTMAboutHeart on Twitter. He joins Arik Parnass in Denver. I believe the other guy they had working there has since moved on.

Ryan Stimson set off rampant speculation with the tweet "The Avs are about to get a lot smarter" which had all of Avs fandom abuzz.

Good...still a TON of work to do with this organization but that's at least a step in the right direction.


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PostPosted: Wed Oct 18, 2017 2:47 pm 
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Avs mixed up their lines at practice.

Yak - Dutchy - Ghetto
Jost - MacK - Rants
Landy - JTC - Kerf

Fourth line will be any mix of Wilson/Soderberg/Nieto/Comeau


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PostPosted: Wed Oct 18, 2017 5:39 pm 
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The question is looming, and it may be high time to finally address it: Just what kind of player is Nathan MacKinnon?

When he started as amazing as he did everyone thought he was bound for superstardom. But that was as a right wing alongside two very good two-way players (Stastny and Landeskog) on a ridiculously hot Colorado team. Since then we've seen diminishing returns.

It's not at all a question of speed, athleticism, or talent. He has these in spades and we all know it. What seems to be lacking is the hockey smarts. It's almost as if his mind doesn't work as fast as the rest of him.

That's not to say he's a bust or anything close to that simply he hasn't followed through on ludicrously high expectations. But it is time, even though he is still very, very young, as to whether he will ever be a truly elite talent. Is he untouchable? This was never a question before, but then again it wasn't a question when Matt Duchene first came onto the scene, and now look where we are.

You can't continually keep recycling players or risk becoming laughing stock franchises like the Oilers or Panthers (though the Avs pretty much went "hold my beer" last season when it came to that).

Nevertheless, it's frustrating that this team has loaded up on some amazing talent up front in Duchene, MacKinnon, Landeskog, Rantanen, and now Jost, and yet the team still appears to lack that One Guy who just takes over games. None of these guys have hit the same heights as Matthews, Tarasenko, or Kucherov, or even a Barkov. Part of that is the franchise's embarrassing failure to surround these guys with talent...but at some point it's amazing to see that roster and think that none of those guys may ever be elite.

One thing's for sure...if Cale Makar busts Colorado fans will be in full-blown panic mode.


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