Nashville Predators Defeat the Colorado Avalanche 4 Games to 2 and Advance to the WCSF

[Hesher]

Congrats Preds, the better team won. Good luck against the Jets, it's going to be one hell of a series. I'm just glad the Avs made it competitive and it wasn't a walkover.

 

[BLNY]

Congrats Preds, the better team won. Good luck against the Jets, it's going to be one hell of a series. I'm just glad the Avs made it competitive and it wasn't a walkover.

Playing their 3rd string goalie won them a game, but cost them yesterday. Might have gone seven if they had Varlamov the whole way.

 

[cgf]

Well that was a fun series, hope we get to see round 2 soon!

...only with the Avs healthy and having added Tavares or Draisaitl to team up with Jost on the second line

Anyways, cheers to the preds, hope you guys get P.K. his cup this year

 

[cgf]

Preds really surprised me with their physical play this series. Star played throwing some borderline hits, they’re hungry.

Avs were honestly the better team. Which makes no sense, but the Avs should try and poach Ellis. Term and money. Bring him in, Johnson, Zadarov, Ellis is a sick ass top three and you’ve got Girard as a four.

...you’re kinda forgetting our 2nd best blueliner there lol

...and that 3 of our top 4 prospects are RHD (Makar, Meloche, & Timmins)

How bad I wish the Avs had Austin Watson. Perfect playoff player.

We already do, we just need Bednar to realize A.J. Greer has more skill than a 4th line grinder

I can't remember if it was last season or the one prior he about lost his job because he thought he was guaranteed a spot for some reason. He got sat and reinvigorated his game by hitting and just working hard. He played well last playoffs and then had a career year this year and it has continued into the playoffs. Sissons hasn't been as good during the regular season this year after a really good playoffs, but seemed to find his game again in this years playoffs.

Not sure what it is but both them seem to hit a different level once the playoffs start.

Sissons uses f***ing cheat code against the Avs lol. If you only watch him against us you’d swear he was your #1C

 

[voxel]

Will Yakupov pull a Stefan and never play a NHL playoff game?

 

[cgf]

Subban still high fiving fans on the way out after booing him all series. Such a clown.

Right? How dare he be so likeable?

 

[S E P H]

GG Predators, you guys really showed why you're considered the best team in the league last night where it was almost men versus boys out there. Hopefully, Avs can get better and not be the last wildcard where we have to go against the best team in the NHL.

Colorado you guys have a lot to be excited about next season.

Nashville you have a lot to be excited about this season. Couple of exciting franchises to cheer for.

A great experience for the young Avs going forward....you guys are going in a nice direction for the future!!

Ehhhh, we heard this "you guys got a great future ahead" posts last time we lost against the Wild. Oiler fans probably heard it last year as well. After that, we were a disappointment one year after another. There will be more semi-decent clubs that should have more desperation to make the playoffs next year considering they missed it in 2018. Avs will need to have a very solid offseason of moves, drafts, and trades to build/add to this core with another level of hard work to surpass what we did this season. That's much easier said than done...

 

[cgf]

GG Predators, you guys really showed why you're considered the best team in the league last night where it was almost men versus boys out there. Hopefully, Avs can get better and not be the last wildcard where we have to go against the best team in the NHL.



Ehhhh, we heard this "you guys got a great future ahead" posts last time we lost against the Wild. Oiler fans probably heard it last year as well. After that, we were a disappointment one year after another. There will be more semi-decent clubs that should have more desperation to make the playoffs next year considering they missed it in 2018. Avs will need to have a very solid offseason of moves, drafts, and trades to build/add to this core with another level of hard work to surpass what we did this season. That's much easier said than done...

To be fair we did lose Staz after that series and responded to that by getting older and slower because the cubbards were bare. This time we’re not losing anybody (except Lake, maybe)and could be bringing in a Tavares or Stastny in UFA. While starting the season with a top 10 prospect pool (before graduations), and over the next two drafts we have 3 firsts & 9 top 100 picks to further stock that cubbard...plus we have twice as many top 4 blueliners and more than twice as many NHL caliber blueliners.

As long as we don’t abandon the younger-faster movement we should continue to progress in a way we didn’t last time, even if we can’t bolster that 2nd line for next season and take a step back because MacK misses more time than the 8 games he missed this year.

Development isn’t linear, so without a Tavares signing or Draisaitl trade I’m not holding my breath on beating Nashville next spring; but we’ve got a lot more forward momentum this time around and fewer obstacles to overcome...hell Joe may not even have to chop any of our current core players for parts assuming Barrie doesn’t pull a ROR.

 

[S E P H]

To be fair we did lose Staz after that series and responded to that by getting older and slower because the cubbards were bare. This time we’re not losing anybody (except Lake, maybe)and could be bringing in a Tavares or Stastny in UFA. While starting the season with a top 10 prospect pool (before graduations), and over the next two drafts we have 3 firsts & 9 top 100 picks to further stock that cubbard...plus we have twice as many top 4 blueliners and more than twice as many NHL caliber blueliners.

As long as we don’t abandon the younger-faster movement we should continue to progress in a way we didn’t last time, even if we can’t bolster that 2nd line for next season and take a step back because MacK misses more time than the 8 games he missed this year.

Development isn’t linear, so without a Tavares signing or Draisaitl trade I’m not holding my breath on beating Nashville next spring; but we’ve got a lot more forward momentum this time around and fewer obstacles to overcome...hell Joe may not even have to chop any of our current core players for parts assuming Barrie doesn’t pull a ROR.

Good points about the cubbards and all of that. However, all that depth is still a couple years down the road. I think we'll eventually see a point in time where the Avs will continue to make the playoffs at a consistent rate, but I also wouldn't be shocked if we miss it next season because that's just the beast of the NHL. It's one of the few sports where like 9 teams can make the playoffs one season and miss it the next. The best thing we got going is that Bednar is fully aware of this and will do the required actions to make this team into a perennial playoff club.

 

[cgf]

Good points about the cubbards and all of that. However, all that depth is still a couple years down the road. I think we'll eventually see a point in time where the Avs will continue to make the playoffs at a consistent rate, but I also wouldn't be shocked if we missed it last season because that's just the beast of the NHL. It's one of the few sports where like 9 teams can make the playoffs one season and miss it the next. The best thing we got going is that Bednar is fully aware of this and will do the required actions to make this team into a perennial playoff club.

I can totally see us missing next year if we can’t woo Tavares or sucker Chia into trading us Drae. Even if we have better luck with injuries. But we do still have a whole offseason ahead of us; and I think that getting Staz back is a likely target that would really help

...plus I’ve been banging away about how another offseason working on his skating and adapting to the things he learned this go around, are priming Jost for a huge Sophomore season. And playing with Staz could really help him unlock that even if we don’t give him a big time star on his line.

Then there’s also that this time next year (at least) one of Meloche / Timmins / Makar should have joined EJ, Barrie, Nikki & Samwise. So though the scoring depth is likely to be further off if we don’t make a big move this summer, our blueline should soon actually be prepared to fully withstand the annual EJ injury.

So though I probably do expect us to miss the playoffs if we don’t get that 2nd star Center this summer, I also think that will be the last time we miss the playoffs for a good long while...even in the Thunderdome, where we all just now that Chicago is going win one of the lottery picks, and that it’ll probably be Dahlin to rejuvenate their blueline and convince Tavares to sign with them instead of us, letting Bowman sell Toews to Montreal for all of their picks until 2030.

 

[NeverBeNormal]

Loved the comments from Subban about Mack deserving the Hart this year. I don't love everything about how he plays the game on the ice but off ice the guy continues to be total class. I'll be cheering for him to win the Cup and bring it back to the hospital in Montreal.

 

[tony d]

Very good series. I think the Avs gave the Preds a real run for their money. If Colorado can get some impact defenseman and a better goalie they could become a contender soon.

 

[cgf]

Very good series. I think the Avs gave the Preds a real run for their money. If Colorado can get some impact defenseman and a better goalie they could become a contender soon.

Yeah, we really could of used some dudes like Erik Johnson & Sam Girard in this whole series

 

[The Kingslayer]

Very good series. I think the Avs gave the Preds a real run for their money. If Colorado can get some impact defenseman and a better goalie they could become a contender soon.

You mean not an injured back up and a Hamburglar haha Avs should be playoff contenders. Cup contenders still a little while away

 

[cgf]

You mean not an injured back up and a Hamburglar haha Avs should be playoff contenders. Cup contenders still a little while away

I love reading posts like that cause to many of us Avs fans our blueline is the last thing we’re worried about keeping us from becoming cup contenders in the 2020s. We have a legit top 4 for the first time since Sakic was on the ice, and the old men of that group are the 30 year old EJ and the 26 year old Barrie, while 22 year old Nikita Zadorov and 19 year old Sam Girard are just starting to shine. With competent third pairing guys in Nemeth & Barberio to hold the fort for Makar, Meloche, & Timmins; things are truly bright on the blueline front.

I really like a lot of our middle 6 forward prospects (Greer, Bowers, Compher, Kamenev, Kerfoot, Morrison, Lewis, Smirnov); and bottom 6 prospects (Beaudin, Toninato, Henry, Barron). So I’m not worried about our down roster depth moving forward either.

But I do worry about that second line. I’m sold on Jost becoming a Parise-esque winger even if he doesn’t make it as a center, and if Joe can get Shvyryov over that would certainly help alleviate some of my worries, but we really need 1 more super stud to anchor that second line and make it a true pick your poison situation for the opposition. If we could sign Tavares or get someone like Draisaitl, then we’d have all of the pieces in place to become a contender...

...if the goaltending held up...

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Very good series. I think the Avs gave the Preds a real run for their money. If Colorado can get some impact defenseman and a better goalie they could become a contender soon.

The defense isn’t going to be an issue. Zadorov was insane all season. The national media got wind of his impact throughout that series. He was a true difference maker. EJ is great. Girard is already really really good. Makar and Timmins are on the way. Nemeth is a solid shutdown guy. Tyson Barrie was the most productive (points per game) defenseman in the NHL this year. The Avs D is getting there, they won’t be taking any shortcuts along the way. What they have is already there. It’ll blossom over the coming years.


Congrats to the Preds. A great team that’s perfectly built for playoff hockey.

 

[cgf]

The defense isn’t going to be an issue. Zadorov was insane all season. The national media got wind of his impact throughout that series. He was a true difference maker. EJ is great. Girard is already really really good. Makar and Timmins are on the way. Nemeth is a solid shutdown guy. Tyson Barrie was the most productive (points per game) defenseman in the NHL this year. The Avs D is getting there, they won’t be taking any shortcuts along the way. What they have is already there. It’ll blossom over the coming years.


Congrats to the Preds. A great team that’s perfectly built for playoff hockey.

...y'all are just trying to set me off at this point lol

 

[tshack]

As much as I love the Avs, I can't wait to see the Preds and Jets beat the absolute dogshit out of each other in round 2.