GDT: Game 38: Avs @ Flames | Wednesday, January 4th, 8pm MT | Group Therapy Here

[AMDZen]

Found via google:

We should all make this our Avatars for the rest of the season

Someone needs to turn it 1:1 ratio though so that it doesn't look terrible on here. Will try to mess with it later since phone image editor doesn't seem to be comprehensive enough to do it

 

[tucker3434]

13 was bad but it was so short. It was like ripping off a band aid. This is so much worse. I don't remember ever seeing our team quit before the halfway point.

I've stopped watching the games because I don't want to sacrifice sleep to watch my team get blown out night after night. So I probably don't have he best handle on what's wrong, but I'd guess everything. Just a bit of complementary pieces with no franchise cornerstone. And of course now is when all the draft rules are changing. We need 1st overall, but this is the type of year that The lottery will give us 4th overall.

 

[Freudian]

I lasted two periods. I checked the pulse and breathing and it was nothing there so I went to sleep, knowing there was nothing to be done.

 

[forsbergavs32]

This team doesn't believe in themselves. When the most mentally fragile team in the league has an iconic, "player's coach" walk out on them, it was bound to happen.

Patrick Roy leaving has devastated the core of the dressing room it seems.

Not sure what the solution could be besides moving around a lot of the locker room leaders and bringing in a fresh new mentality.

Do you think we need to move the veteran leaders like Iginla, Beauchemin, Comeau, McLeod or some of the core? Genuinely curious.

For me, I'm not necessarily opposed to moving a core guy or 2 (which guys is a conversation for another day ) but I really think getting better complementary players is what needs to be done. These guys who are past their prime and/or aren't competing will do wonders for the core.

 

[UncleRisto]

I checked the score when it was 1-0. Didn't tune in since we had already lost.

 

[ABasin]

After the NYI game on Friday, has anyone checked the schedule for the next month? Ugly business.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Last night was the first time since I was in high school (2009) that I turned a game off before it ended. I've missed a game here and there If I had plans or simply was somewhere where I couldn't watch but that's the first time I shut a game off and went to bed. I watched the Russia/USA game which was incredible. I then watched Canada/Sweden with the sweet sweet voice of Gord Miller. I'm fired up, excited for Canada to play for gold and then I switch the TV over to the Avs game where they created absolutely nothing for two periods while listening to Haynes and McNab talk about nothing hockey related.

I shut it down after 2 periods and went to sleep like a normal human would. Expecting this to be a trend from here on out.

 

[AvsGuy]

These GDTs are certainly getting shorter.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

First Avs game I've ever left early. They look extremely out of synch, a lot of passes to no one, a lot of people leaving their lanes when a teammate is trying to pass back to them, and general lack of awareness. I can't believe we have so many more games.

 

[Ivan13]

First Avs game I've ever left early. They look extremely out of synch, a lot of passes to no one, a lot of people leaving their lanes when a teammate is trying to pass back to them, and general lack of awareness. I can't believe we have so many more games.

At this point something major needs to happen. I doubt it will happen mid season though. But if PL was still around I'd be 99% sure one of the big guys would be off the team by the deadline.

 

[missionAvs]

Easy to find on twitter...someone posts it on the Avs "final score" tweet nearly every time:

[Tweet]816886661460021249[/MEDIA]

OK this is beautiful. I might have to rock this as well as my avatar lol.

 

[henchman21]

At this point something major needs to happen. I doubt it will happen mid season though. But if PL was still around I'd be 99% sure one of the big guys would be off the team by the deadline.

I don't think this group would have made it through last season with PL.

 

[shadow1]

I'm starting to think Bednar isn't going to last long (into next season). This Avs team is shaping up to be one of the worst post-lockout teams the NHL has seen.

30th in goals for, 30th in goals against, 28th PP, 26th most PIM, 25th PK.

Club was undefeated in the preseason and started the year 3-1-0. Meaning since then they've gone 9-24-1. 1 win in the last 11 games.

Laughing stock of the NHL bad.

 

[dahrougem2]

If this team can't crack 60 points, which is looking more and more realistic by the day of not happening, I really wonder how Sakic looks at the coaching position in the summer. Especially if someone high-profile is available like Gerard Gallant

 

[Freudian]

I don't think there is any coach in the league that could make this into a playoff team. Too many passengers. I do think a Babcock could get more out of them because of the fear factor, but not 20+ more points.

Torts was a disaster in Vancouver and looks great in Columbus. It's all about the players you have to work with. Bednar wants speed, tenacity and hard work. Avs have very little off it.

 

[henchman21]

Bednar will get a second season. The Avs don't really have much of an itchy trigger finger when it comes to firing coaches. I'm not super happy with Bednar's coaching, but this isn't all on him (though this team really shouldn't be this bad).

 

[AvalancheFan19]

Bednar will get a second season. The Avs don't really have much of an itchy trigger finger when it comes to firing coaches. I'm not super happy with Bednar's coaching, but this isn't all on him (though this team really shouldn't be this bad).

I really want to know what happened. I mean, in the first maybe dozen games of the season we saw structure. We won some games, lost some games. Saw somethings we liked and it was shaping up to be the season more or less we all expected. I understand we went through the injuries but this lack of urgency and will to compete is ... alarming to say the least.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

I really want to know what happened. I mean, in the first maybe dozen games of the season we saw structure. We won some games, lost some games. Saw somethings we liked and it was shaping up to be the season more or less we all expected. I understand we went through the injuries but this lack of urgency and will to compete is ... alarming to say the least.

I've never seen the structure to be honest. Bednar talked about it in training camp. Players talked about it. I was super excited to see the team break out as a whole but it just hasn't happened. The 4 or 5 times it happened this season I nearly applauded.

I don't know if it's on Bednar or on the players. I'm usually pretty good at picking apart coaching and systems but with this team I really cant because there's just so much wrong. Nobody does anything. I've never seen anything like it.

 

[dahrougem2]

I've never seen the structure to be honest. Bednar talked about it in training camp. Players talked about it. I was super excited to see the team break out as a whole but it just hasn't happened. The 4 or 5 times it happened this season I nearly applauded.

I don't know if it's on Bednar or on the players. I'm usually pretty good at picking apart coaching and systems but with this team I really cant because there's just so much wrong. Nobody does anything. I've never seen anything like it.

I hate to cherry pick because who knows if it was something Bednar was preaching, or just an anomaly where the players' brains worked for a night lol, but the game vs Tampa Bay where we shut them out and gave them virtually no scoring opportunities was a game where I thought to myself "alright, I can live with this if they're learning to play this way"

Then **** hit the fan and the season was lost

 

[Avs71]

I think a big reason it is getting worse is because there is absolutely nothing to play for. Money is guaranteed, so why risk injuring yourself if there is not even a point in winning. The team will look brutal till the end, but I don't think it's as bad as it should be. They've just checked out.

 

[henchman21]

I really want to know what happened. I mean, in the first maybe dozen games of the season we saw structure. We won some games, lost some games. Saw somethings we liked and it was shaping up to be the season more or less we all expected. I understand we went through the injuries but this lack of urgency and will to compete is ... alarming to say the least.

What was there got on tape and the NHL figured it out. It is tough to come up with something the NHL coaches can't figure out. It has to be super exotic for them to take more than 5-10 games to figure out. The 13-14 Avs did some of those exotic things, but the Wild playoff series finally showed the NHL how to shut it down and the rest with that system is history.

I've never seen the structure to be honest. Bednar talked about it in training camp. Players talked about it. I was super excited to see the team break out as a whole but it just hasn't happened. The 4 or 5 times it happened this season I nearly applauded.

I don't know if it's on Bednar or on the players. I'm usually pretty good at picking apart coaching and systems but with this team I really cant because there's just so much wrong. Nobody does anything. I've never seen anything like it.

I see what they are trying to do and it is designed to take 3-4 quick passes with a player not having it for more than 2-4 strides. The problem is that the book is out and it is very easy to stop. Once you disrupt the timing on one element it completely falls apart. In the words of Elway, there is no plan b on the breakout.

 

[AvsGuy]

I seriously wonder what's going through the head of someone like, for example, Joe Colborne on most nights. Signs with a new team who took a chance on him, gave him a juicy multi-million dollar contract, he comes in and scores a hattrick his very first game... and then vanishes? Does it not occur to him to try something different? Does he not see his own career going speedily down the toilet with every lazy play he makes?

Honestly, for this team to go downhill as fast as it has, there have to be a lot of individuals making decisions on and off the ice that I just can no longer fathom. Losing streaks happen, but to be this incapable of changing your own path and direction - I really can't comprehend it.

I'm constantly reminded on these boards that hockey players are just people too - what in the hell is wrong with this group of people?

 

[The Kingslayer]

We have to do what Shannahan and Lou did in Toronto. We have to get rid of the fat and get a bunch of picks in return. This is honestly the worse team I have seen play. Not the worse Avs team. The worse team. There were some horribad teams in Edmonton especially during Eakins time but those teams were still able to generate offense. They were just terribly coached and they lacked any sort of blue line skill/goaltending. We have players on this team who can play. Something is terribly wrong inside that room and we will never know what it is. We need to go full youth movement. Eradicate the old ****s and build this team off speed and puck movement. This team doesnt have an identity and hasnt had one since 2005.

 

[henchman21]

Does it not occur to him to try something different? Does he not see his own career going speedily down the toilet with every lazy play he makes?

He's never been the hardest worker, but why try when the coach won't even give you a shot? Bednar clearly doesn't like Colby and I think the feeling is 100% mutual.

 

[AvsGuy]

He's never been the hardest worker, but why try when the coach won't even give you a shot? Bednar clearly doesn't like Colby and I think the feeling is 100% mutual.

Because you're being paid millions of dollars to try, that's why. Even if that was the only reason, that is more than enough.

Rookie NHL coach he may be, but Bednar has been around hockey longer than Colborne has been alive - if your coach doesn't like you, put your ego aside, trust the judgement of someone more experienced than you, and DO SOMETHING DIFFERENTLY.