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PostPosted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 12:54 pm 
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It's home opener time! I can't imagine Tuukka Rask is gonna lay a big egg like he did the other day in Boston, so the Avs better be loaded for bear.

Lines will probably remain unchanged.

Andrighetto - MacKinnon - Rantanen
Kerfoot - Duchene - Yakupov
Landeskog - Compher - Jost
Wilson - Soderberg - Comeau

Zadorov - Johnson
Nemeth - Barrie
Bigras - Lindholm

Varlamov/Bernier
Extras: Barberio, Mironov, Nieto

Bruins lines:

Marchand - Nash - Pastrnak
Debrusk - Krejci - Army of Me
Beleskey - Spooner - Vatrano
Schaller - Kuraly - Heinen

Chara - Carlo
Krug - McQuaid
Miller - McAvoy

Rask/Khudobin

It appears Bergeron and Backes are still on the shelf. Not good for Boston.

Hopefully the Avs have as much jump as they did the other day. I really hope Bednar starts giving Yakupov some power play time. We have yet to see him unload that one-timer of his.


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PostPosted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 1:44 pm 
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Anything I should be aware of on the Avs side of the house tonight? Any player I should be watching closer than usual? This is my first time seeing McAvoy and some of the younger B's. Should be a full house of drunk Boston fans and angry AVs fans that don't like being invaded.....good times!

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 2:24 pm 
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harmfuljays wrote:
Anything I should be aware of on the Avs side of the house tonight? Any player I should be watching closer than usual? This is my first time seeing McAvoy and some of the younger B's. Should be a full house of drunk Boston fans and angry AVs fans that don't like being invaded.....good times!


There are a few youngsters worth watching:

#3 Chris Bigras, defense - Has played solid on the back end in a third-pairing role. Some have compared his style to Jay Bouwmeester. He ain't quite THAT level, but he's that type of blueliner. No big hits and no flashy offensive plays, just quietly effective.

#37 J.T. Compher and #17 Tyson Jost - Both currently on the "checking" line with Gabriel Landeskog. Both have been asked to be the top shutdown crew for the Avs as there's simply no one else who can do the job. As a result they've struggled a bit to start but both look to be very good players going forward. Jost is an Avs draft pick (10th overall) while Compher was, along with Zadorov, Grigorenko, and a pick (A.J. Greer, who's injured), part of the haul for Ryan O'Reilly.

#13 Alex Kerfoot - So far the most exciting rookie to watch, on a line with Duchene and Yakupov. Ace playmaker, with plenty of speed and surprisingly hard to knock off the puck for a little guy. The points haven't started piling up yet but I think they will soon.

May not see this one--tell me how McAvoy does.


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PostPosted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 2:54 pm 
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Thanks. I'll try not to get assaulted by the score board tonight. Instead I'll get assaulted by the beer and parking prices!

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 5:16 pm 
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harmfuljays wrote:
Thanks. I'll try not to get assaulted by the score board tonight. Instead I'll get assaulted by the beer and parking prices!


Yeah, I'm still not used to the HD screen monstrosity. I kinda miss the old days at McNichols when the scoreboard screen was akin to this:

Image

Oh and I'm reading that Lindholm is out, Barberio is in. That's fine, I'm still not sold on #54. Projects to be a Mike Weaver-type--Undersized stay-at-home defender. He's one of those passes-the-eye-test-but-his-fancy-stats-suck kind of players.

Additionally, this is from Friedman's latest 31 Flav...Thoughts:

Quote:
“We were fragmented,” he said last week. “There’s a responsibility on all of us, most importantly me, to make sure that does not happen again. Is everyone doing enough to help each other to get through tough times and make it easier? I liked our pre-season last year, we were undefeated. Then, as soon as the season started, when things went wrong, we were not a close team. There was a divide between old and young, we didn’t stick up for each other.” Bednar paused. “The word gets used a lot, but we had to change our culture. Be more of a family. Don’t point fingers. (Last year), young players weren’t as willing to put themselves out there as much as they are now. This year, there is a big difference. We have a different dynamic, the young players more in charge. I told them, ‘Embrace being the underdog.’”


They went and got guys like Beauchemin and Iginla for "veteran leadership" but it's kinda hard to be a leader when you're a liability on the ice. I remember reading about Beauchemin screaming at the younger players at practice. Uh, dude...worry about yourself first.

Ironic of all the many Avs castoffs, he is currently the only one still in the league.


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 1:58 am 
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Well how 'bout that, despite a bit of a lull that let Boston back in it in the 3rd.

I am trying to temper my excitement about Nail Yakupov but he's making it very difficult. Dude's exuberance and personality are too much.

Here's some things you don't often hear mentioned about the Avs: 9 shots given up through two periods, and Zadorov had a score-adjusted CF% of over 60.

And the players that make up the Kerfoot-Duchene-Yakupov line accounted for 4 goals tonight.

I haven't forgotten what this team did last season but I'm quite happy with this start at least.


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 9:35 am 
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Well....that little push back came as I was headed out the door! No longer do I stay until the end anymore. Traffic just sucks.

Good call on the Kerfoot.....Yakupov was good too. Its good to see the Avs turning the page and going with youth. Zadorov had a spirited bout with McQuaid (that seems to be all that McQuaid does now).

On the other hand....the Bruins are in trouble. Chara is ponderous and is playing like an old man....I would assume that difficult discussion is coming this year being he is at the end of his contract.

Torey Krug's D was f'n terrible. But it was his 1st game of the season and he did have a late goal.

Rask isn't looking particularly good either. Far side.......5 hole....bounce off the boards, it was wide open last night! Either way the B's are having even more problems with speed this year. That was very apparent.

I was dead sure I was going to win the 50/50......that didn't happen. :argh:

I can't begin to understand what is going on with Duchy but he shows up and puts up numbers. Maybe winning can repair it until the kids figure out the team is punching above their weight or Varlamov gets hurt....whichever comes first.

Fortunately I was on the south side of the monstrosity and the beer was FREE (thank you large conglomerate).

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PostPosted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 2:48 pm 
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Hey, free beer, can't argue with that!

I'm still astounded someone as big (and now as old) as Zdeno Chara can move that fast. He didn't seem like a problem to me out there, but of course I wasn't watching live. If anything I think having Adam McQuaid partnered with Torey Krug on the 2nd pairing is much worse. Either way, Krug, Carlo, and McAvoy are the future of that blueline.

And let's face it, the B's have started the season without their best defensive player and best player period--Patrice Bergeron. He's such a rock for that lineup that losing him is making a huge impact. And Cassidy's interim solution of having Riley effing Nash log 20-plus minutes a night ain't working. Losing Backes doesn't help either but I think the impact is negligible.

Good to see Zads stick up for his teammate after McQuaid's cheap shot but McQuaid definitely showed who was the more experienced fighter. :lol: Whatever, just don't get hurt, Z.


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