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PostPosted: Mon Jan 29, 2018 11:17 pm 
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https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/col-vs-v ... te=preview

Brock vs. Nate for the Fate of the Universe!

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Avs getting a few warm bodies back from the Non-Vegas flu, but it doesn't look like Tyson Barrie will be one of them. And despite winning 10 straight without him, they desperately need him, especially on the road.

Hopefully a fun game for all. Bednar has gone top line against top line, but Green is in charge of matchups this go-around so we may not see the Boy from Burnsville against the (Other) Kid from Cole Harbour to start.


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PostPosted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 7:28 pm 
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Other Avs news and notes:

Barrie is IN for tonight, skating on the third pairing with Anton Lindholm. He's actually going to QB the 2nd power play unit, leaving Girard where he is.

This is a homecoming of sorts for Alexander Kerfoot, who is a Vancouver native. Lot of family will be in the stands.


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 31, 2018 1:50 am 
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The Bird is the Word, yet the Word ≥ the Bird

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Not exactly a heavyweight tilt like bygone years but a pretty exciting game on the whole. Loads of mistakes and some very weird goals with many scoring chances on both sides.

Edler was a heart attack on a plate out there for the Canucks. Markstrom battled but looked shaky at times. Boeser and Horvat lead they way and were re-united in the third. Their PP looked very dangerous all night and potted one goal.

McKinnon collided with Edler in the 2nd and missed the rest of the game with what looked to be a shoulder injury. Kerfoot had a very solid game and Landeskog was a beast. Bernier average.


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 31, 2018 2:25 pm 
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Agreed 100% with your assessment. The Avs top pairing of Zadorov-Johnson got absolutely railroaded in their own end last night, especially whenever Horvat was on the ice, they struggled even more with him than they did with Boeser. And as always, the Twins just have Colorado's number.

What's really frustrating is that I can pinpoint right exactly where the Avs lost this game. In the closing seconds of the 2nd and with no pressure on him whatsoever, rookie Dom Toninato completely panics and sends the puck over the glass for a needless penalty. During the ensuing kill to start the 3rd, Nikita Zadorov makes an equally brainless move and cross checks Henrik into the ice behind the net, right in front of the ref. And then...with 5-on-3 about to expire, Patrik Nemeth has time to clear the puck, only to put it right on the stick of the point man, who sent it down and eventually to Henrik who put in the tying goal.

Nemeth in particular might've had his worst game for the Avs last night. I sure hope they don't think he's a long-term option, because he can be good in stretches but occasionally reminds everyone why he was on waivers to start the season.

Anyway, this isn't the Avs forum so let's talk about the Canucks. Bo Horvat is the complete package. He's fast, smart, and what's more, he's powerful. He can just plow right through guys and not get knocked off the puck. It's no surprise they're a completely different team with him in the lineup. The Avs more or less kept Boeser at bay (it was as much luck as it was defensive coverage)

Overall I'm actually surprised Vancouver looks so fast. I figured a team with Vanek, Eriksson, and the near-40-year-old Sedins would be abysmally slow, but I'm reminded that skating ability is one thing, your ability to move the puck quickly is another. The Avs rely heavily on the former, the Canucks appear to strike a balance between the two. Whatever the case I think Vancouver has found their ideal bench boss--he obviously knows what he's doing.

Nate is listed as day-to-day. Hopefully it's something that'll just keep him out for a few games and not a ton of games. He also has some maturing to do. He's been roughed up a lot the last few games and hasn't responded the way you want an elite talent to do. He retaliated with a slash and took a dumb penalty when Gudbranson took a run at him in the corner, killing the team's momentum, then tried to lay a hit on Edler, who saw him coming. That was borne of frustration--the cool, confident MacKinnon would never have done that, when he's at his best he uses his speed and power to create space, he doesn't try to plow into guys. Just some not-smart play and hopefully this lesson isn't a costly one.

Lastly, Victoria native Tyson Barrie returned last night and had an okay game, but made a terrible, terrible choice in OT when he got the puck after a very nice setup and tried skating through three guys to score. He promptly turned it over and Baertschi rifled it past Bernier. We'll see how this team responds but this was a very bad loss to take at a very bad time.


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PostPosted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 11:36 pm 
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Yeah - from my side, the tables turned when MacKinnon was hurt. He's an elite talent and drives that team. The Avs would have won had he finished the game. Totally agree with your breakdown on speed. Green has been harping o speed generated from puck movement versus speed via skating fast all season long. The Canuck's early season success was clearly based on the latter. They seem to be slowly rounding back into that form.


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PostPosted: Fri Feb 02, 2018 10:56 am 
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Logical Progression wrote:
Yeah - from my side, the tables turned when MacKinnon was hurt. He's an elite talent and drives that team. The Avs would have won had he finished the game. Totally agree with your breakdown on speed. Green has been harping o speed generated from puck movement versus speed via skating fast all season long. The Canuck's early season success was clearly based on the latter. They seem to be slowly rounding back into that form.


Not sure I agree...MacKinnon has struggled a bit of late, mainly because he's getting frustrated because the opposition is taking liberties with him. He actually wasn't really that effective and took a dumb penalty not long before getting hurt. He needs to grow up a little if he wants to be one of the Greats. Alex Kerfoot took the center spot and had himself a hell of a game.

No, the team scored three quick goals without MacKinnon factoring in at all IIRC, they still could've won this game had they not done stupid shit down the stretch. The one thing I disagree completely with Avs fans is that this was somehow an "easy" game. What it was was a trap game. They thought this would be an easy win against an easy opponent, and that's just not true. The Canucks are much better than what their record indicates, though they need to get rid of pluggers like NotGoodbranson to take those next steps.


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PostPosted: Fri Feb 02, 2018 11:24 am 
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Pokecheque wrote:
Logical Progression wrote:
Yeah - from my side, the tables turned when MacKinnon was hurt. He's an elite talent and drives that team. The Avs would have won had he finished the game. Totally agree with your breakdown on speed. Green has been harping o speed generated from puck movement versus speed via skating fast all season long. The Canuck's early season success was clearly based on the former. They seem to be slowly rounding back into that form.
Not sure I agree...MacKinnon has struggled a bit of late, mainly because he's getting frustrated because the opposition is taking liberties with him. He actually wasn't really that effective and took a dumb penalty not long before getting hurt. He needs to grow up a little if he wants to be one of the Greats. Alex Kerfoot took the center spot and had himself a hell of a game.

No, the team scored three quick goals without MacKinnon factoring in at all IIRC, they still could've won this game had they not done stupid shit down the stretch. The one thing I disagree completely with Avs fans is that this was somehow an "easy" game. What it was was a trap game. They thought this would be an easy win against an easy opponent, and that's just not true. The Canucks are much better than what their record indicates, though they need to get rid of pluggers like NotGoodbranson to take those next steps.
Sorry that should have read "former" re: speed. But yea point taken. The Canucks really suffered with their depth when the injury bug hit after 14-10 start but seem to be rounding back into form. They are a very hard working team but need to out work their opponent every night just to stay competitive. They simply don't have enough elite talent to take parts of the game off. Green has been driving this message home all season.

As far as Gudbranson is concerned, totally agree. The game has passed him by. That was a bad trade period. He is slow and has very little puck moving skills. Usually his zone one exit passes involve banging the puck off the boards - painful. Talk in this market has emerged via management that they were upset with the lack of push back by the Canucks when Boeser was hit from behind by Trevor Lewis in the Kings game. And presto -- they are talking about now re-signing Guddy because he provides grit and accountability. This greatly concerns me. Media spin to increase his deadline trade value or cover their asses for a bad trade? Or are they actually serious???

Dude is a 3rd pairing defenseman at best. If they pay more than $3M per for 2 years for him they are just plain stupid and only have themselves to blame. I would say get whatever you can for him at the deadline, but he appears to carry very little trade value at this stage.

Even though that was a Benning trade, it is Linden who is the total gong show.


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