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

[NorthernAvsFan]

I’m over the loss, but one thing that upsets me is the loading up seemingly never stops with Bedner these days. It’s irritating me more and more by the game.

Has he forgotten what kind of lineup he ran during the cup run? Rantanen played on the second line.

My guess is he values the continuity of the 1st and 3rd line and just wants to keep them together through the injures, but it’s not working.

On the injuries… Nuke and Trenin being out take a lot of heaviness and defensive identity away from this group. Hopefully, one or both of them draw back in soon. I also think Kovalenko is going to put Cogs, or Parise in the press box when he’s ready to go.

 

[GeoRox89]

Matchups absolutely matter. Regardless of the ‘to be the best you have to beat the best’ and ‘no easy matchups in the playoffs’ mantras, in 01 other teams took out Dallas and Detroit for us not to say we couldn’t have beaten them but it was a preferable path. In 2022, we didn’t have to face Vegas and even though Edmonton obliterated them Calgary would’ve been a worse matchup for us than the Oilers

 

[AslanRH]

So I chose to watch the NCAA WBB games instead of this and knew by the score the GDT would be an interesting read this morning. I'll probably watch the recording tonight.

I'll just say, I refuse to decide on my final desired fate for any of these guys until the playoff performances are included. I don't think this franchise kept or brought in anybody without that being the primary focus.

 

[the_fan]

I’m over the loss, but one thing that upsets me is the loading up seemingly never stops with Bedner these days. It’s irritating me more and more by the game.

Has he forgotten what kind of lineup he ran during the cup run? Rantanen played on the second line.

My guess is he values the continuity of the 1st and 3rd line and just wants to keep them together through the injures, but it’s not working.

On the injuries… Nuke and Trenin being out take a lot of heaviness and defensive identity away from this group. Hopefully, one or both of them draw back in soon. I also think Kovalenko is going to put Cogs, or Parise in the press box when he’s ready to go.

During the cup run Avs had a healthy Nuke and Landy. We should have at least Nuke and maybe Landy too which will make a world of difference

 

[missionAvs]

During the cup run Avs had a healthy Nuke and Landy. We should have at least Nuke and maybe Landy too which will make a world of difference

Yes but we won't have healthy JTC or healthy NewJost.

 

[the_fan]

Yes but we won't have healthy JTC or healthy NewJost.

Most importantly we’re not gonna have NAK to drop and damage the cup again

 

[NorthernAvsFan]

Interesting stat from @The Mars Volchenkov

Colton has been on the ice for 9 of the last 20 5-on-5 goals against.

Makes you wonder if Trenin might be a better fit in that spot:

Wood - Trenin - Colton

Let Colton simplify his game and he and Wood can cause chaos, while Trenin provides some defensive responsibility.

 

[missionAvs]

Most importantly we’re not gonna have NAK to drop and damage the cup again

Yikes. Why are we even trying to make the playoffs?

 

[Ceremony]

I spoiled this game for myself so I watched it knowing the score and have been paying even less attention than usual but their 4th goal has just gone in and I'm genuinely having to look up if Colton was actually playing. Jimothy Timothy was usually just unremarkable, but he was there. This was something else.

Weird game. Probably a team with nothing to play for playing up the the level of their opposition, so fair enough for the result. Get Nichushkin back and get the depth sorted, please.

 

[Chileiceman]

That game was grim. It's nice to have a 6 top 6 forwards (7 if you can't Landy), but if even one of them gets hurt it throws things out of whack. I'm sorry but Brandon Duhaime (and I really like Duhaime) cannot play on the 2nd line of a Cup contender.

Where we really miss Nuke is on the power play. If Lehkonen is not on PP1, then no one will stand in front of the net. Tarasov was seeing everything last night. I feel like Rantanen views doing that as beneath him or something. He's a big body who is adept at tipping pucks, not sure why they won't tell him to go plop his rear in the goalie's face.


Our third line has been a non-factor since LOC went out. I've never seen a player waste so many breakaways or odd man rushes than Miles Wood. Good on him for getting them, but you got to occasionally make something of them.

 

[AvBuff]

No excuses for this result but . . .OK, I'll throw out a couple.

Bednar stated a couple of weeks ago that the Avs "want to win, but won't empty the tank before the playoffs to win the division/conference" . . . or something that effect.

Yeah, the Avs should have handily beaten that AHL line-up the CBJs threw out . . . but, well, I look at the standings and the Avs are safely ahead of Winnipeg in 2nd. Did the team - unconsciously perhaps - decide there's little marginal return in going into 5th gear to win the division (and more) given the potential match-ups for the division winner?

That team last night looked like a crew that was looking ahead to the playoffs and trying to avoid getting injured.

Just throwing it out. The 2022 Avs took April off in the run-up to the SCPs - I think they went 1-7 in their last few games. Last year they indeed "emptied the tank" to win the division, and had nothing left against Seattle. They just looked disinterested last night against a team that wanted to atone for getting embarrassed by the Avs a few days ago.

Enough with the excuses. Please beat Minnesota.

 

[dahrougem2]

No excuses for this result but . . .OK, I'll throw out a couple.

Bednar stated a couple of weeks ago that the Avs "want to win, but won't empty the tank before the playoffs to win the division/conference" . . . or something that effect.

Yeah, the Avs should have handily beaten that AHL line-up the CBJs threw out . . . but, well, I look at the standings and the Avs are safely ahead of Winnipeg in 2nd. Did the team - unconsciously perhaps - decide there's little marginal return in going into 5th gear to win the division (and more) given the potential match-ups for the division winner?

That team last night looked like a crew that was looking ahead to the playoffs and trying to avoid getting injured.

Just throwing it out. The 2022 Avs took April off in the run-up to the SCPs - I think they went 1-7 in their last few games. Last year they indeed "emptied the tank" to win the division, and had nothing left against Seattle. They just looked disinterested last night against a team that wanted to atone for getting embarrassed by the Avs a few days ago.

Enough with the excuses. Please beat Minnesota.

"Won't empty the tank" yet he rides the top guys like crazy.

Bednar is saying one thing and doing another.

 

[AvBuff]

"Won't empty the tank" yet he rides the top guys like crazy.

Bednar is saying one thing and doing another.

Yeah, it's weird.

Frankly, I'd feel better if he just rested the top guys for a week and rolled the dice with the Colorado Eagles for a bit. But as coaches and players, you can tell yourself you won't "empty the tank" but . . . these are competitive SOBs. And when a 75% effort isn't cutting it against the CBJ's, I suppose you tell Nate and Cale to take over.

 

[S E P H]

If Avs lose in the playoffs, it will be due to goaltending and away form. Even though I believe Georgiev has been classified as a scapegoat at this point, a lot of that negativity is also true and I am just not confident in him or Annunen at this point. I can handle Annunen's lack of foot speed, but getting beat on like every single shot, 1v1 yesterday is not good.

If MacKinnon wanted to win the Art Ross and have a good chance for Hart, he needed at least 3 points today against a basement dweller.

Awful game all around, it was like Avs had a chance offensively that would miss and then CBJ would come the other way and score. A lot of bad mistakes defensively giving them a ton of odd-man rushes, but one of the worst was the one-and-dones. And the plays Avs did get a lot of zonal time, they just passed it around.

 

[S E P H]

"Won't empty the tank" yet he rides the top guys like crazy.

Bednar is saying one thing and doing another.

I think I stated it around 2-ish years ago that Bednar is just another Coach Q at this point; "ride the core into the sunset."

 

[dahrougem2]

Yeah, it's weird.

Frankly, I'd feel better if he just rested the top guys for a week and rolled the dice with the Colorado Eagles for a bit. But as coaches and players, you can tell yourself you won't "empty the tank" but . . . these are competitive SOBs.

I wouldn't outright rest them but I would like to see the top guys playing 18-20, 2nd line playing 16-18, 3rd line playing 14-16, and 4th line playing 8-10 minutes.

 

[S E P H]

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.

You have a weird obsession with these below-average to mid-average height offensively gifted defencemen, don't you?

In the cup year, Avs went 1-6 in the last 7 regular season games
View attachment 844864

The reason for this is because Avs rested a ton of players, like a ton.

 

[Avsfan1921]

I think I stated it around 2-ish years ago that Bednar is just another Coach Q at this point; "ride the core into the sunset."

Agreed, he’s a great coach and will hopefully one day replace Q at #2 in all time wins and win%!!!

 

[henchman21]

I think Bednar wants to rest guys, but he simply can't stop himself in games. The Avs really need to get away from the top line playing 24+ a night. It is honestly just too much.

 

[Chileiceman]

You can tell that Makar is not himself. That man needs to be capped at 19-20 minutes per night until the playoffs

 

[benzino]

I’m over the loss, but one thing that upsets me is the loading up seemingly never stops with Bedner these days. It’s irritating me more and more by the game.

Has he forgotten what kind of lineup he ran during the cup run? Rantanen played on the second line.

My guess is he values the continuity of the 1st and 3rd line and just wants to keep them together through the injures, but it’s not working.

On the injuries… Nuke and Trenin being out take a lot of heaviness and defensive identity away from this group. Hopefully, one or both of them draw back in soon. I also think Kovalenko is going to put Cogs, or Parise in the press box when he’s ready to go.

Bednar is keeping Mack and Rants together to give Mack a chance to be top scorer. I expect it to be different in the playoffs I at least hope so since we have more forward depth compared to our team last season so he can afford to split them up.

 

[Pokecheque]

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.

Absolutely he did. I’ve said it before but Colton reminds me a lot of O’Connor earlier in his NHL career, running around down low too much in the defensive zone, soft and directionless coverages, etc. I think they could put a decent defensive-minded winger on that line to make things better but Parise is the absolute WORST possible guy to have there right now.

 

[Pokecheque]

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

I like Torts for the entertainment value but are we saying he’s better than Bednar because he yells more during and after games?

 

[niwotsblessing]

Bednar needs a large infusion of Al Arbour right about now.

 

[RECKLESS]

We were top of the west in our cup run despite going 1-7 in the end.
Same thing in-game; our problem is we're always behind.
You don't get to rest your top guns trailing, you rest them leading.