GDT: Avalanche vs Blue Jackets @5:00PM MST 04/01/24 (Emergency GDT) I swear this isn't a joke thread. 😉

[The Merchant]

Bedsy would sooner have a stroke than to show this kind of fire in a press conference. After an OT loss, no less.

 

[dahrougem2]

LoC did so much more heavy lifting on that line than anyone realized. He basically covered all the defense, which let Colton and Wood run wild.

It isn't just LOC, it's the lack of a right handed shooter on that line. I noticed it against Nashville and today against Columbus how teams are trying to force the Avs to go up the wall to Parise when that line is on the ice because he is on his backhand.

Against Nashville his turnover resulted in Jankowski's goal, and he had multiple tonight where he has no play and tries to eat the puck on the wall but gets outnumbered and loses it.

Bednar has to figure something out. I wonder if he tries Trenin on that line to ensure it's a huge body instead of Parise out there, because that line has been and still is struggling.

Bedsy would sooner have a stroke than to show this kind of fire in a press conference. After an OT loss, no less.

He doesn't need to. When the best player on the team has come out multiple times and credited Bednar's calmness as being huge for the team, we don't need fiery outbursts for dramatic effect no less publicly.

 

[Foppa2118]

Classic Avs loss.

Control the game, but play down to your opposition. Too many turnovers. Over pass with no killer instinct, execution on plays, or shooting accuracy. Pucks into the goalie’s chest with no traffic. PP just passes around the perimeter without much traffic. Some soft defense from defenseman and a goal or two that needed a big save.

Avs need Val back asap too. He solves a lot of the problems above, and those problems are usually what lead to Avs losses in both the regular season and playoffs.

 

[Foppa2118]

I don't think Justus was the main reason they lost, I think the main reason was a lack of execution from forwards, but mad respect for what he said after the game.

"Well I played bad today, that's why we lost, so just gotta keep playing our game."

Love when a goalie is willing to take ownership of a loss, rather than how Grubauer handled losses a couple times by blaming the team when he played poorly.

 

[Hennessy]

I listened to the 2nd on the radio feed as I tried to fall asleep.
McGahey kept cleverly mentioning how Tarasov had never had a shutout.
I don't believe in jinxes or whatever, but I was laying there thinking, "You idiot, it doesn't work like that. Now he's guaranteed to get one."

 

[Vaslof]

Didn't know there was another Nylander lol. 10+3 in 17 games, not bad.

 

[Vaslof]

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We'll be 10 years into this and people will still be surprised that top heavy team plays the top guys more.

 

[Grigowski]

So after this "stinker" its safe to say we are going to play the Jets in Round 1?...So in the remaining games we better secure home ice and stay/get healthy.....

The Central is going to Dallas.

 

[Metallo]

Crazy that we lost the division title because of two stupid losses to MTL and CBJ.

 

[McJedi]

Ross Colton was a big mistake. Thankfully we drafted Gulyayev with the Newhook compensation because the 2nd we paid Tampa for Colton was insane overpay for such a worthless player.

Colton is awful defensively. He has stone hands, he can’t PK or win faceoff and he’s got the hockey IQ of a dead goat. I’d gladly take “future considerations” to dump this lousy player’s contract the moment this season ends.

Where is Kovalenko? Colton is a worthless 3C and his line is consistently losing at this point.

 

[Iceberg]

Let Dallas deal with whichever of Vegas or LAK falls into WC2

It won't be Vegas.

 

[The Pwnerer]

Ross Colton was a big mistake. Thankfully we drafted Gulyayev with the Newhook compensation because the 2nd we paid Tampa for Colton was insane overpay for such a worthless player.

Colton is awful defensively. He has stone hands, he can’t PK or win faceoff and he’s got the hockey IQ of a dead goat. I’d gladly take “future considerations” to dump this lousy player’s contract the moment this season ends.

Where is Kovalenko? Colton is a worthless 3C and his line is consistently losing at this point.

Colton and Wood just have no chemistry. Both are very much North-South shoot first players. LOC really carried the load on that line.

 

[Metallo]

At least we don't have a goalie controversy anymore.

 

[Bender]

LoC did so much more heavy lifting on that line than anyone realized. He basically covered all the defense, which let Colton and Wood run wild.

Personally I wouldn't go that far. I think for the most part, the Wood-Colton-LOC line carried a heavier workload than they should have - especially in December and January - and helped keep this team near the top of the West and now with LOC out, they just don't have that same mojo. I believe that both those guys have another gear to get to once the playoffs begin but it would be nice if Bednar found a better fit on that line before the start of the post-season.

It's been a few games and I don't think Parise works there. I'd like to see Bednar try Trenin or Duhaime for 3-4 games and see which is the better fit. It would have been great if we could have tried Kovalenko as well but that doesn't seem to be in the cards for now.

To me, the forward lines should look like this for Game #1 :

Drouin-Mack-Nuke
Leks-Mitts-Rants
Wood-Colton-Duhaime
Cogliano-Trenin-Parise

***Bednar has to give Mittelstadt 3-4 games with Rants to see if it works and they can develop some chemistry and spread the offence around.

For these last 7 games of the season, I'd like to see the Avs bring up Malinski, put in Caleb Jones and maybe Kovy or Wags and give Manson, JMFJ and Cogliano a bit more rest so that they are fresh for the playoffs.

Manson specifically has me wondering what he's doing at least 2-3 times per game with some awful decisions defensively that leads to scoring chances against. I'd like to see him get a bit of a reset because we're going to need him in the playoffs.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Ross Colton was a big mistake. Thankfully we drafted Gulyayev with the Newhook compensation because the 2nd we paid Tampa for Colton was insane overpay for such a worthless player.

Colton is awful defensively. He has stone hands, he can’t PK or win faceoff and he’s got the hockey IQ of a dead goat. I’d gladly take “future considerations” to dump this lousy player’s contract the moment this season ends.

Where is Kovalenko? Colton is a worthless 3C and his line is consistently losing at this point.

How is a winger going to fix the supposed 3C issue?

 

[LOFIN]

I know it isn't what people want to hear, but let's worry if we play like shit and lose against other top teams with our remaining schedule.

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

Saw lowlights/replay. Was gobsmacked at those first two goals. Agree with ya. Gots more to say but, naw.

A goalie always knows.

Ya know? lol

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

I think their legs were just fine. They got a bunch of shots and attempts. I'm just pissed that they never tried anything new. It was the same all night. Shuffling the top two lines would have done wonders imo.

I do agree that the Avs hubris came into play tonight. That extra effort for loose pucks was not there, and they didn't battle enough physically.

We agree on the outcome/results. Perhaps differ on "A" (?) possible cause.

Besides who is going to admit they didn't have their legs tonight? You know that extra gear? Middlestadt? Girard? Colton? Manson? They should. But they won't.

Columbus overall, out positioned and outskated the Avs. Particularly along the boards and in the corners.

 

[chet1926]

Crazy that we lost the division title because of two stupid losses to MTL and CBJ.

Honestly I'd rather take my chances on the 2/3 matchup with Nashville or Winnipeg. Vegas and LA are teams that are matchup nightmares for the Avs. Slow playing heavily reliant on defense teams are an Avs nightmare. Not too mention if it is Vegas you'll be fighting a 100M team not a cap compliant team.

Winnipeg is scary due to Hellebuyck. But overall I think we match them well. And if Nashville squeaks out the 3 spot Saros is good but if we are healthy (meaning at minimum Nuke playing) we are simply deeper.

 

[LOFIN]

I don't really give a crap about what specific matchups we end up having. If you want to win the cup, you need to go through some good teams eventually. If we can't beat any team in the 1st round, then we are not good enough.

Home ice would be nice though, that's why winning the division/conference/league should matter. Especially when the Avs have a legit advantage with high altitude.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

I don't really give a crap about what specific matchups we end up having. If you want to win the cup, you need to go through some good teams eventually. If we can't beat any team in the 1st round, then we are not good enough.

Home ice would be nice though, that's why winning the division/conference/league should matter. Especially when the Avs have a legit advantage with high altitude.

True and I think this team is the most motivated vs good teams

 

[GeoRox89]

Did he go outside during sunlight?

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Glow in the dark club: burn never tan chapter is very exclusive

Maybe he too can go to Mexico and have a random cab driver tell him that meeting him was the first time he ever understood where the term white people came from

 

[henchman21]

I don't think the Avs played as poorly as portrayed in here... they deserved to win the game. It wasn't their best game and a few players need to take a step forward. We are just on the down cycle of the sine wave.

It should be time now to shake up the lines a bit and experiment with some different things. Move one of Drouin or Rants with Mitts (I'd say Rants). Push Duhaime to the 3rd line. Move up Parise until Nuke is back, but could also experiment with Wood up.

Ross Colton was a big mistake. Thankfully we drafted Gulyayev with the Newhook compensation because the 2nd we paid Tampa for Colton was insane overpay for such a worthless player.

Colton is awful defensively. He has stone hands, he can’t PK or win faceoff and he’s got the hockey IQ of a dead goat. I’d gladly take “future considerations” to dump this lousy player’s contract the moment this season ends.

Where is Kovalenko? Colton is a worthless 3C and his line is consistently losing at this point.

Colton (and Wood for that matter, just at a lower level) is a weird sort of tweener. He's at his best playing a 4th line style game where north/south heavy hockey is the name of the game. Just over power opponents and then us the chaos to score goals where his shot is a legit plus asset. He isn't smart enough to tone that back or play a much different style. Asking him to sit back and defend is just asking for trouble. Setting him up with linemates that can't play the chaos style will set him back. So he can't play a typical middle 6 style of game, but he's too impactful to be limited to 4th line minutes.

The third line just really misses the IQ that LOC brought... he could play that style, but he elevated the whole line because he covered up the dumb mistakes. Right now with Parise, he's got the IQ... but doesn't have the legs. Wood and Colton are complete fing donkeys, but need a guy to keep up and play the appropriate style. I think it hurts the 4th line, but when Trenin is back, he should be stapled to their wing. Right now, Duhaime should be there instead of Parise.

 

[chet1926]

I don't really give a crap about what specific matchups we end up having. If you want to win the cup, you need to go through some good teams eventually. If we can't beat any team in the 1st round, then we are not good enough.

Home ice would be nice though, that's why winning the division/conference/league should matter. Especially when the Avs have a legit advantage with high altitude.

I generically agree with this. However there is no denying that the Avs match better with some teams over others.

If you aren't scraping to get into the playoffs, then you need to be paying attention to potential matchups and putting your team in the best spot to succeed. Being number 1 in the division doesn't necessarily provide the Avs the best chances.

I'm not advocating throwing games to get a specific spot, but maybe blowing your load to get 1st in the division isn't always super important. The Avs put way too much emphasis on getting 1st last year. Then came out tired and flat in playoffs and got beat by a mid team.

We are already in the playoffs, no matter what you have to win 4 series to win. Every team in the playoffs is good. And if you have the luxury of clinching the playoffs with 10ish games left, then focus on going the right things and however things play out then go from there. But simply don't need to focus on winning the division. If it happens, great, if not no big deal.

 

[henchman21]

I think matchups matter... facing a bunch of heavy forechecking teams in a row would limit the chances the Avs get through healthy and confident. Facing Vegas-Dallas-Edmonton-Florida on the path to the Cup would be a heavy burden on a defensive core that doesn't handle that physicality pressure all that well. Yeah you'll have to face good teams eventually, but if given an option for a lighter round, I'd take it.