GDT: Game 43: Avs @ Ducks | 8 PM MT | Ah, The Hell With It

[The Merchant]

How could they?? Those are AHL level players, they will not get moved for anybody now, maybe over the summer for a minor leaguer the way McLeod was.

Tainted meat, the lot of them

 

[Murzu]

What a beautiful way to finish the game.

 

[Ivan13]

I thought the same, until I watched his energy, positioning, jump, speed in pre-season this season. When we were up as a club, he was a little wasp. As soon as the culture started to sway, so did he.

Completely understand where your coming from though. He is only 22 though. I'd keep him as the depth player for one more year, with hopefully a much more youthful and energised roster.

He can look better when the other team is playing at 50%.

 

[dahrougem2]

He can look better when the other team is playing at 50%.

And icing 50% AHL/ECHL players

 

[The Kingslayer]

Wow. Gelinas played less than 5 mins haha. Knock it off already and call up Woody.

 

[Foppa2118]

Bednar didn't even blame Z in his post game. Said it was a bad bounce and that wasn't even Z's intended play, and the ice was getting choppy at the end.

First sign I've seen that Bednar's learning how to coach Z. You can't pile on him, you have to do the opposite. You have to pump his tires like EJ, so he knows how good he can be.

 

[Murzu]

Someone with the skills and time should make Zadorov smash highlight video. That would make us all happy.

 

[katfude]

Even with the sloppy play that cost us the game, I just love the way Big Z is playing the game right now. Straight up murders people with a clean hit, then just straight up rips their teammate's clothes off. He's the TF2 Heavy or our team.

 

[Avs71]

cgf brings up a good point about Zadorov fighting, and his reputation. If Zadorov is going to fight, I'd prefer it be this season. That way if he ends up breaking a hand or something, it doesn't matter in the standings.

He will certainly have a reputation by the seasons end. Hopefully by next year, it is like when Byfuglien throws a huge hit, and there are just scrums after because no one really wants to fight him.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Wow. Gelinas played less than 5 mins haha. Knock it off already and call up Woody.

Ridiculous. I thought he played well too. In the second period I counted three successful passes moving out of the zone from him. That's probably more than Beauchemin had all year.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

I've looked everywhere for a video but couldn't find it, but for those family guy fans out there, this was the arena crew in Anaheim last night.

Kevin Swanson: My dad always said, "Measure twice, cut once."

Cleveland Jr.: My daddy always says, "Cleveland Jr., quit jumping on the bed!" [laughs; starts cutting the wood]

Kevin Swanson: We didn't measure! We didn't measure!

 

[Ararana]

I was at the game last night. Z was awesome, sucks the GWG bounced off his stick like that. You could tell he was pissed about it.

Beauch is horrible.

I was in the section next to Eurolanche and they had a 'Lets go Avalanche' chant going the entire game. lol ducks fans were really getting pissed, it was hilarious.

 

[AvsGuy]

It's good to hear Zadorov has leveled up his play, and its an unfortunate way to end a game, but I'd like to eventually see some composure here. On watching the game winning goal, I don't see that as a puck-bouncing play - that's not the direction he should be playing that puck, period. It's a tie game, it's late in the 3rd, your goalie has been bombarded all night - don't throw the puck anywhere near your own slot. That's not attributable to bad ice, that's poor decision making.

Below is the moment where it came apart - he should be corralling that puck on his forehand, he has a clear lane to take it to the corner or around his own net. Instead, he corrals it on his backhand and attempts skating it through a crowd of players. Why is he even trying this?

 

[RoyIsALegend]

Zadorov will never make the intelligent play. Everything he does, and does effectively, will be a result of sheer strength, size, and mobility. There's not much going on upstairs, just my opinion. Hopes of him being more than a very good 2nd pairing defenseman are far-fetched. Will always be a wildcard, just doesn't have the hockey IQ to play composed, mistake-free hockey for stretches at a time.

 

[Ivan13]

It's good to hear Zadorov has leveled up his play, and its an unfortunate way to end a game, but I'd like to eventually see some composure here. On watching the game winning goal, I don't see that as a puck-bouncing play - that's not the direction he should be playing that puck, period. It's a tie game, it's late in the 3rd, your goalie has been bombarded all night - don't throw the puck anywhere near your own slot. That's not attributable to bad ice, that's poor decision making.

Below is the moment where it came apart - he should be corralling that puck on his forehand, he has a clear lane to take it to the corner or around his own net. Instead, he corrals it on his backhand and attempts skating it through a crowd of players. Why is he even trying this?

This is a fair analysis, he choose a high risk play instead of the obvious and low risk one.

 

[henchman21]

This is a fair analysis, he choose a high risk play instead of the obvious and low risk one.

Yep... hopefully he learns from it. That is just situational hockey. Tied (that late in the game) or up, make the simple play. These things will happen with him and it is unfortunate because he played a decent game... he just needs to learn from it. With the season lost, I'm not even upset about it.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Yep... hopefully he learns from it. That is just situational hockey. Tied (that late in the game) or up, make the simple play. These things will happen with him and it is unfortunate because he played a decent game... he just needs to learn from it. With the season lost, I'm not even upset about it.

**** the season...this is type of play that has some questioning his hockey IQ. I didn't watch the game but judging by those pics it's a simple play and he managed to screw it up.

This could be coached out...a guy like Tippet or Lemaire would turn Z into a beast.

 

[Ivan13]

**** the season...this is type of play that has some questioning his hockey IQ. I didn't watch the game but judging by those pics it's a simple play and he managed to screw it up.

This could be coached out...a guy like Tippet or Lemaire would turn Z into a beast.

Jacques Martin.

 

[henchman21]

**** the season...this is type of play that has some questioning his hockey IQ. I didn't watch the game but judging by those pics it's a simple play and he managed to screw it up.

This could be coached out...a guy like Tippet or Lemaire would turn Z into a beast.

As they should question it. It is up to Bednar to coach him through. Z has never been known for stellar hockey IQ, so he is going to have these moments. When he makes the mistake, it is going to be about coaching these moments out of him. This is how Z is going to learn because that is the type of defensemen he is... high risk/high reward. I'm just saying on a bad team, and with the season lost, this is the time to coach these mistakes out of him. If this team was playing for a playoff spot, he'd get benched for decisions like that.

 

[cgf]

Zadorov will never make the intelligent play. Everything he does, and does effectively, will be a result of sheer strength, size, and mobility. There's not much going on upstairs, just my opinion. Hopes of him being more than a very good 2nd pairing defenseman are far-fetched. Will always be a wildcard, just doesn't have the hockey IQ to play composed, mistake-free hockey for stretches at a time.

What the f*** are you talking about?

 

[RoyIsALegend]

**** the season...this is type of play that has some questioning his hockey IQ. I didn't watch the game but judging by those pics it's a simple play and he managed to screw it up.

This could be coached out...a guy like Tippet or Lemaire would turn Z into a beast.

You and me seem to be the only Tippett supporters around here. A lot of people think he's an average, offensively-suffocating coach, but I find him to be an excellent x's and o's guy, his teams give unreal effort, and he really is a stud at developing solid D. Always found it weird he stuck around in Arizona with the ownership and relocation problems, felt he could have gotten a top gig. Still do.

 

[RoyIsALegend]

What the f*** are you talking about?

I'm talking about Nikita Zadorov, the beautiful bull in a china shop on our defense.

 

[JoemAvs]

Claude Julien would be the dream right now..


I agree that it might be time to stop messing around with those rookie coaches and get a proven "retread" like Dallas did with Ruff, Edmonton with McLellan, Toronto (certainly not a retread but still) Babcock or LA with Sutter.



I mean it is quite remarkably that all those young bottom feeders with an abundance of talent couldn't get anywhere unless they got that great coach they needed.

Hawks with Q.
LA was a mess before Sutter.
STL couldn't consistently make the playoffs before Hitchcock.
Pens needed two coaching changes (although I am not a fan of Bylsma) to win their two cups right afterwards.
WSH needed Trotz to get them to another level.
EDM needed McDavid but also McLellan to finally get out of the bottom.

Coaching is key. I mean Bednar had no chance from the start basically with this roster and situation but a guy like Q would have never allowed this team to fall apart the way they did. Terrible roster or not.
He would atleast have gotten 10-15 extra points out of this group till now.


@TPS:

Tippett is not bad. But I don't think you want him around for longer than 3-4 years. You need him to establish a defensive mentality and coach up your Ds and instill a defensive mindset in everyone. Afterwards you want to fire him asap before he can ruin your top talent offensively.

 

[Foppberg]

If Julien were to be fired.. I couldn't see it but I'd love to have Sakic hire him ASAP. I wanted him last summer too when it was rumoured he was going to be let go by Boston.

 

[AvsGuy]

What the f*** are you talking about?

I don't think his comment was off-base - Zadorov appears to be one of those players who has all the tools and consistently still makes the wrong play.

Then again, if Zadorov tops out as a very good 2nd pairing defenseman I think we should be happy. I consider Niklas Hjalmarsson to be a very good 2nd pairing defenseman, and I'd be happy with a player who reaches that level.