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SCHEDULE: https://www.nhl.com/avalanche/schedule/2022-10-01/MT

Opening night, for the second year in a row, is against the Blackhawks. Hopefully this time around Jack Johnson will not score the opening goal like he did (very easily) last year. Y'know...because he's on the Hawks this time around.

Lots of question marks obviously, so we'll see how this roster, which is kinda piecemeal in places, will do. The most obvious question marks are at 2C and in goal. Those are...fairly important.

Game One in the books--5-2 win over the rebuilding Chicago Blackhawks. Four power play goals. Probably would've been 8-2 but Mrazek was actually pretty good IMO.

Great pregame ceremony that featured Mark Hoppus heading out onto the ice for, you guessed it, a sing-along of "All the Small Things." Hopefully they don't run it into the ground as badly as the Hawks did with "Chelsea Dagger."

The banner raising was great. Jack Johnson, suited up in CHI gear, hung out on the bench to watch all the festivities and when it came time to pose for pics prior to the banner going up, he ran out there and joined his old teammates. Good times.

Anyway, not a bad start. Because Landeskog and Helm were out some guys were playing a little higher in the lineup and it showed. Georgie looked fine, though he was hardly tested all night. Made the saves he had to make. The rather piecemeal 2nd line of Rodrigues-Newhook-Nichushkin didn't look great, but it didn't look bad either. Anytime the top line and top pairing were on they completely dominated, as expected.

My favorite part of the night is when the Hawks were on the power play and Arturri Lehkonen kept threatening to get a shorthanded break, and he spooked Seth Jones so much that he parked outside of the zone, naturally the puck made its way out easily and Patrick Kane was seen on camera looking at Jones and yelling out "What the fuck are you doing!?" Should be noted the MASSIVE extension Stan Bowman handed Jones prior to his ignominious departure officially started last night.

Well, when ya schedule an away game literally after the home/season opener that sees you raise the banner on national television (aka a double-whammy delay) and then fly out that night to arrive at 3:30 in Alberta in the goddamn morning to play a team playing THEIR home opener, well, probably gonna be a scheduled loss. And it was. Avs still made it interesting in the third and clawed back from an atrocious start, but the Avs definitely shat the bed on special teams after dominating them the night before. Couple PPGs given up, a SHG, and a goal that may as well have been a SHG (nifty move by Andersson on the breakaway though) and that was all she wrote.

Anyway, day off, then Minnesota.

Nazem Kadri scored an assist for his new team, and was presented with his Cup ring by his old team after the game.

Sorry, should've said THREE days off, then Minnesota. After a back-to-back with travel to start the season.

NHL schedule-makers, you suck.

Nice win against the Wylde in Minny, who are now 0-3.

For some reason Evason tried Tyson Jost between Kaprizov and Zuccarello, and as expected, nothing happened. Yeah, the Avs tried that and every other conceivable combo for Mr. Jost. Didn't work. Good guy, just not a great player.

Avs still sloppy as all hell and the penalty kill sucks donkey balls, but the power play and top line are getting the job done. Also a highlight-reel backhander coming out of the offensive zone corner (clowning Kaprizov in the process) from...Josh Manson? Huh. Dude had a stellar night at both ends of the ice. Loving that 2nd pairing of him with Bo Byram.

Georgiev stepped up when it mattered most and held the Avs in it after a couple absolutely atrocious defensive breakdowns. Didn't give up any soft goals. Also, I actually like him as a puckhandler, which is saying something as I usually detest when goalies wander out of the net.

Usually its Cale Makar juking people out of his shoes but last night it was Hartman handing Makar his sweaty jock....unfortunately Hartman misses an open net. Not sure about Evan Rodrigues...I thought he was going to be a good fit....but maybe that's just because he was playing with Sid.

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Cale had a slow start last year too. He's definitely not on his game at present--his shot is wildly off-target in most cases, and he even looked frustrated and rattled in the Calgary game, very uncharacteristic of him. I'm confident he'll be fine after a handful of games.

Here's the odd part about E-Rod--his underlying numbers were actually better AWAY from Sid than they were with him. I know, I found that surprising as well.

E-Rod is in a tough spot. He's not a guy who can carry a line, and while I understand why the Avs are trying it, Alex Newhook is not good enough to play at center in the NHL. He's a winger. So that 2nd line is just not working at all, and I don't think it ever will. They'll need to try either Compher or Rantanen at 2C eventually, and if those options fail, they'll have to take a look at who might be available at the deadline.

Also, E-Rod should be on the third line, but because Landeskog is out he's having to play a little higher in the lineup than he should. He's a wildly streaky depth player with a good shot who happened to hit big numbers in Pittsburgh. He's not really a legit 2nd liner. I think he'll show his true value once Landy gets back and they can bump him down to a complementary 3rd line role.

If one player has been wholly atrocious for the Avs from day one, it's Sedlak. Even in a cushy 4th line role he's been abhorrent, dude should've just stayed in Russia. Not sure why Bednar likes him better than Anton "I ain't got time to" Blidh, but here we are. Darren Helm's absence has been sorely felt both on the 4th line and especially on the penalty kill.

Sedlak on waivers, Meyers sent down to Loveland.

I hope this means that Helm is ready and/or Anton "I Ain't Got Time To" Blidh will get a shot on the 4th line.

My bad that was Freddy Gaudreau giving Makar a new pair of shoes. I wasn't implying that Makar hasn't been good. In fact I think the team has been really good so far.

I was talking to the old girl about that 2nd line today. It doesn't appear to be working but its still early. I think its at least a 7-10 game experiment. But I, like you, don't think those guys are a good fit together. I thought Rodrigues would potentially steal 2nd line center duties temporarily if Newhook couldn't do it....but I am about ready to cut bait on the Indifference Makers too!

The good news about Sedlak is he's interchangeable.

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Makar's been fine but he hasn't been "Makar" yet. He's a generational talent, so the bar is always going to be high with him. Even if he's having a slightly-off night, he still gets things done. He stumbled out the gate last year too, but that was mostly due to a wrist injury and Toews being on the shelf for the first part of the season. It's fine, no biggie, especially since Josh Manson somehow channels Paul Coffey at random times in a game.

According to Bednar before the season they were going to try Newhook, Rodrigues, and Rantanen at that 2C spot, possibly Compher too, though I think we all know that ain't the answer (no offense to JTC who played quite well for the Avs in the postseason). So...it'll be 2C by committee until someone sticks.

Money's on Blidh and Jayson Megna getting the callups, and that's fine. Both guys should be able to give that flagging 4th line a boost.

Ohhhhhhhh shit, the Philly Cheesesteaks (who are undefeated BTW) get their revenge on the Avs from last year when Colorado claimed Nicolas Aube-Kubel from them, they snatch away Lukas Sedlak off the waiver wire. Hey, good luck with that Flyers!

Avs going with a slightly revamped lineup. MacKinnon gets the two two-way wingers in Lehkonen and Nichushkin, Rantanen gets moved down to play with (I assume) E-Rod and Newhook. Fourth line, like the X-Men in 1975 is all-new and all-different. Looks like Anton Blidh and Jayson Megna get their shots, not sure who the third guy is but I hope it's MacDonald.

Avs drop one in OT to the Jets, who finally figured out how to play defense. Give credit to Bones--I'm still not convinced he's a particularly good head coach, but he can teach your players how to properly defend. Terrible first period by Colorado who bounced back from 3-1 to tie it, only to drop it in the extra session thanks to the laser from...Neal Pionk? Okay.

Bednar still insists on using MacKinnon and Rantanen in OT together, even though those two are about the worst guys you can put out there in 3-on-3.

Anyway, no big deal, I was more impressed the Avs fought back to tie it after a lousy start, so that's something. This is still a very good team that has a lot to figure out yet.

Bad news is that they won't have Landeskog until 2023. Out 12 more weeks with the same knee he had surgery on last season. According to Bednar the knee was still bothering him but he didn't really notice until he started training again (and I'm guessing the copious amounts of alcohol he was consuming wore off).

Other news, the Avs new Reverse Retro dropped, and I'm...okay with them. Won't buy one of these but I think they look decent. Would be a brilliant template for the Eagles to use, who right now look like a bunch of angry Smurfs on the ice with a terrible all-blue uniform (to be fair, they didn't know the Avs were switching to blue pants/helmets/gloves until it was too late).

https://www.9news.com/article/sports/nh ... 474d953290

The stupid New Jersey Devils also adopted Colorado Rockies colors for their Reverse Retros and they look kinda dumb IMO, but whatever, I don't quite understand why they keep wanting to honor that past, it really doesn't belong to them anymore.

Avs immediately send down Megna and Blidh, claim Dryden Hunt off waivers from the Rangers.

Ruh-roh...Devon Toews missed a few shifts in the Jets game but came back to finish, but they're being very cryptic about his status for tonight's contest against the Kraken.

Unfortunately Jacob MacDonald, who'd be the perfect replacement, is not yet ready. That means...ugh...it might be Kurtis MacDermid back there if DT can't go. MacDermid IMO was actually okay in his few shifts at forward to start the year. Underlying stats were of course abominable, but he was actually doing things with the puck on his stick other than turning it over or whiffing on shot attempts, and he was forechecking rather effectively. I'd much rather have him out there at forward, if he's to be out there at all.

Well, according to the Altitude broadcast, Avs currently have the league's best power play and the league's worst penalty kill.

Good win against the Vegan Golden Knights (made a typo but I decided to keep it) on the second of a back-to-back after essentially embarrassing themselves on home ice against the Kraks the night before.

Injuries continue to pile up, but they're piling up all over the league so what can ya do?

Gonna post this before it's no longer the case, but at present the newly re-signed Valeri Nichushkin is the 2nd leading scorer in the NHL (also scored an amazing end-to-end goal against the Vegans), and currently outscoring both Leon Draisaitl AND Connor McDavid. I have no idea what in God's name Jim Montgomery did to this guy in Dallas but I cannot believe a player that talented once made it through an entire NHL season without scoring a single goal.

Avs win in a shootout against the Rangers thanks to an absolutely brilliant performance by Alexandar Georgiev, who was clearly pumped as all hell he not only beat his old team, he outdueled the young netminder who replaced him in New York.

Avs look pretty bad defensively right now, mostly because they just don't hold onto the puck nearly as well as they did the past couple seasons. Most of that is due to injuries and loss of depth this offseason. We'll see if it improves but this Avs team is very much a work in progress.

The coaches clearly had a discussion with MacKinnon about his play in OT--he wasn't as determined to drive it down the opposition's throats like he usually is, even veered off and exited the zone when he had the puck, and backchecked when the Rangers had the puck instead of trying to force a turnover. He still tries just a little too hard to make the big play, but it's nice that he's finally learning to utilize the space around him in 3-on-3.

Absolute heavyweight matchup. Would not be surprised to see this in the Cup final. Adam Fox did give Mackinnon the business in the 3rd for the tying goal. I think that dude is clearly the best D Man in the league.

IMO that was Georgiev's arrival game.

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Well...fuck.

Valeri Nichushkin, leading scorer and by far the team's best player to start this year, is out with a lower-body injury. Day-to-day.

And of course the Avs are heading into Jersey to face off against the best puck possession team in hockey AINEC. I expect the "second" line of Rodrigues-Newhook-Kaut to get their doors completely blown off, especially if they end up facing off against Jesper Bratt and Jack Hughes.

Avs get out to a 3-0 lead, give up 5 unanswered goals in a 5-4 loss. The empty-netter ends up being the game-winner for the Isles. Now a VERY long break as they begin their journey to Finland for two games against the Lumbus Blue Jackets.

So in the end Colorado has yet another mediocre October, much like the last season. And obviously that season ended okay.

Unfortunately, last season's so-so start was the result of bad goaltending. This year, the goaltending has been fine, not stellar, but more than good enough to win games. Now the huge issue is depth. The loss of two-thirds of last season's 2nd line, plus injuries to Landeskog, Helm, and now Nichushkin, has the Avs running basically one line. Defensive depth is okay although Makar and Toews aren't quite looking right at present. Toews is definitely battling through something, Makar just seems a bit off. 2nd line, apart from Nichushkin, has basically been a disaster.

Concerning, yeah, a little, but definitely not gonna worry too much. They're good enough to make the playoffs. What happens after that is anyone's guess. I think they'll likely have to furnish some kind of trade in-season, hopefully before the deadline. I don't think they'll be able to adequately address the center ice issue in-house.

In hindsight, Colorado probably should have just made the tough choice and found a way to send Erik Johnson on his merry way. He has one more year left at $6 million, after which I'll be absolutely floored if he doesn't retire. But right now he's not playing at an NHL level. The Avs also chose to bring back Josh Manson, who has had a pretty rough start and was bumped to the third pairing last game. That's basically $10 million on the third pair. Not good.

Anyway, I'm not that concerned about this somewhat mediocre start because to me, the stakes have never been lower. I saw them win it and I'm good for the time being. Just going to watch for fun and not get stressed out like I used to.