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Thank the Fates hockey is here so I don't have to pay attention to our lousy fucking baseball and football teams.

Should be noted the Avs will be sharing their barn with the reigning NBA Champion DENVER NUGGETS this season. Cale Makar mentioned how excited the players were watching them win it, got them hungry for getting the Cup back after a rough, injury-riddled season.

Some minor-league notes: Both Peter Holland and Joel Kiviranta were both released from their PTOs but signed contracts with the Colorado Eagles of the AHL. So the Avs (and any other team) could sign them to NHL deals anytime, but once they play an AHL game they gotta pass through waivers to re-enter the NHL.

Didn't love last night's lines, we'll see if changes are on the horizon. Much as the fan in me would love the "Moose" line (Drouin-MacKinnon-Rantanen) to work, it leaves things really unbalanced everywhere else.

Also, I actually quite like new 4th line center Fredrik Olofsson. Didn't know anything about the guy but apparently he was born in Sweden, raised in Colorado, and played four years of college hockey just down the road from me at Omaha.

Also really, really liked Ross Colton on the penalty kill. Miles Wood didn't do a whole lot apart from his ENG, but I can see why they wanted him. Plenty of speed AND snarl.

After rampant speculation and a very prolonged negotiation, Devon Toews inks a 7-year deal worth $7.25 million AAV.

That's pretty huge. Will the deal age well? Likely not, but as with a lot of deals on the payroll, it really won't matter here in a couple years.

I'm glad he's staying as he has been far and away the best defensive partner for Cale Makar and is their best skater on the penalty kill, he's been an absolutely perfect fit for what the Avs want to do, so it makes sense.

Someone on HF said it's likely that one of Manson or Girard (please let it be Manson) will be gone next year so as to fit the new contract under the cap.

Damn. I was hoping he'd hit UFA and return to the Isles.
Happy for him though.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

With the cap room the Isles have Lou probably would've offered him something competitive with what a cashier makes at your Kum & Go.

WTF is Kum & Go? That sounds like a whorehouse/outhouse. Never heard of that.

I figure Lou is going to jettison some old bad contracts so he can give out new bad contracts.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Jesus, man, do you even live in the United States!? Those gas stations are all over the place!

To be fair, they are primarily in the mid western states.

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But still, virtually everyone has heard of them...and apparently that's by (accidental) design. The founder was interviewed once and he said he didn't intend for the name to carry a double entendre, but once he learned that people were poking fun at it and even posing for photos in front of locations for laughs he realized it was literally free marketing.

Can't tell me some angry Italian Garden Gnome King who looks like Black Francis on skates living in upstate New York did not have access to this information.

My first thought was that it sounded like a Korean massage parlour.........

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

I looked up Kum & Go info. "Established in Hampton, Iowa in 1959, the chain has since grown to employ 5,000 associates in approximately 400 stores in 11 states (Iowa, Arkansas, Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming)." I will admit I'm very coast-centric. My time in the mid-west has been limited to "keep driving and get us the fuck out of here!" Can't recall ever seeing that name on a station I filled up at. Think I'd remember that name.

Do you know which "Ray's pizza" to go to? Is it Ray's Original, Ray's Famous, Famous Ray's, Original Ray's, Famous Ray's Original, Original Famous Ray's, Famous Original Ray's...? Even non-NYers should know that, and if you don't know it now, you'll find out in like 6-8 weeks.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Avs send Trent Miner to the ECHL, so that means Justus Annunen, who's in Loveland now, is the designated starter for the Eagles. Anders Holm is the backup there.

Backup duties have officially fallen to waiver pickup Ivan Prosvetov, for now at least.

Alexandar Georgiev has been one of, if not the best goalie in the NHL in the first three games of the season, though I hope they don't burn him out too quickly here.

Avs home opener last night, a 4-0 drubbing of the Chicago Blackhawks that wasn't as close as that score might indicate. Connor Bedard held without a single shot attempt.

I'm sure I'm going to jinx everything by posting this but Logan O'Connor is a man on a mission right now and he's a big reason the Avs' penalty kill has been perfect to start the season. From dropping gloves with Jordan Eberle in response to his dirty hit on Andrew Cogliano in the playoffs to scoring two shorthanded breakaway goals, he's been an absolute beast on the ice. Just love the fourth line with him, Cogliano, and Freddy Olofsson.

Bednar may have also finally found his line combos. After trying and failing to get Jo Drouin to click in the top six, he got demoted to the third line and Tomas Tatar got bumped up to the top unit with Rantanen and MacKinnon. The move paid off, even though the nifty Miles Wood goal that Drouin set up got called back because of a stupid offsides review, the third line finally looked dangerous, and Tatar finally looked comfortable doing the dirty work alongside the team's two best forwards.

It was a tired Hawks team on the end of a long road trip (and it ain't like they're really that good to begin with, they're still rebuilding) so I shouldn't jump to too many conclusions here, but so far the Avs look good to start the year.

One guy reeeeally struggling however is Bowen Byram. Bednar is using him on the right side with Sammy Girard and it's just not working. Bo is taking too many penalties and just can't seem to get going offensively. I get that the Avs don't want to use Manson on the second pairing, I'm guessing because he's probably not fully healthy, but they gotta try something different.

I don't think Tatar shied away from the dirty areas much in Detroit.

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Thanks Chuck, E.L. and Harmy!

No, that's not what I meant, he's built to do that very thing--it's that when he was with Colton and Wood he seemed a bit redundant, with MacKinnon and Rantanen he's able to be the "Landeskog" there and dig pucks out for them to create scoring chances. Conversely, Drouin shies away from a LOT of dirty areas so he just wasn't effective alongside 29 and 96, but looked a lot better on the third line with two grinders.

Moot point anyway because Bednar appears to have liked the additional tinkering he did around mid-game against and so we'll be seeing this lineup against Chris's Islanders tomorrow:

Lehkonen - MacKinnon - Nichushkin
Tatar - Johansen - Rantanen
Wood - Colton - Drouin
Cogliano - Olofsson - O'Connor

Apart from Toews-Makar I'm not sure what defensive pairings will be. The one guy really struggling right now is Bowen Byram. They have him on the right side paired with Sam Girard and it's just not working. He's taking a ton of penalties and just isn't looking good at either end of the ice. Unfortunately even when they bumped him down a pairing, he still had to play the right side with Jack Johnson. Not sure what the solution is there because, while Girard is better on the right side than Byram, he also seems to take a step back when he's over on that side.

Avs also called up Corey Schuenemann from the Eagles for the road game. Kinda odd considering that they signed Caleb Jones right before the start of the season to be the 7th defenseman, but I suppose they want him playing for now.

Drouin making his way down the lineup.....

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Well…I think a 3rd liner is all he really is at this point.

I know you didn't mean it that way. Just reiterating that he doesn't shy away from it and I really liked that part of his game. Just an enthusiastic guy who went hard and was a fun player in Detroit.

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Thanks Chuck, E.L. and Harmy!

Ah, gotcha. I do like his game a lot as well, especially now that he's on a scoring line. Drouin is way more of a perimeter guy and I don't love that, so hopefully he'll find his groove on the third line with two players who are pretty good at digging for pucks.

Apart from some angry Italian guy with a heavy Upstate New York accent calling to talk smack before the game, it was a good night of hockey viewing. His voice was really muffled, I think he said his name was Crib Contradicto or something.

Anyway, Avs dominate the shot clock but the game was a lot closer than the 7-4 final score would indicate. Too many penalties and a couple really bad defensive zone breakdowns, but apart from that the Avs played well. Both goalies looked good for the most part but both also let in at least one they definitely would like to have back.

Eat a whole bag of dicks covered in ghost pepper sauce.


Actual question for you- any fallout from Nishkushin's hooker OD situation? Or did that all get swept under the needle covered carpet? I was surprised to see him playing last night, but that's my renewed ignorance to the sports world.

Both teams took terrible penalties. Barzal's in the middle of the 4 minute PP was just moronic.
Isles can score, they just can't play D in the same game. It's either/or.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.