GDT: COL @ NSH *To Catch a Predator* 8pm ET / 6pm MT

[niwotsblessing]

First let me say that it is OK to criticize your star players. They need to be made accountable like any other players on the team. I do not want Mack traded. This team needs him to win a SC.

Obviously point-wise Mack is doing very good. He is having problem scoring goals but he is still helping the team offensively and defensively he is not doing bad as well.

My problem with Mack is not his production and his lack of scoring goals. Like others have said it is better now than in the playoffs. My problem with him is that he is still not learning from his mistakes, he continuously tries plays that do not work, he continuously tries to go through 2-4 defenders, he continuously tries to force passes, etc. At some point you want your players to learn from their mistakes. You can't be mad at your teammates for making bad passes when you continuously make bad ones yourself. everywhere fans want players off their team because they keep doing the same mistakes. Star players get more leeway because they produce more but at one point you want to see improvement in those areas the player is having problem with.

It is also about him killing the momentum the team is building during crucial time within a game. Very often the PP is finally settled in the offensive zone and buzzing and BAM he tries to force a pass or a play where he loses the puck and a defender clears the zone making us lose 20-30 seconds of precious PP time. Same goes sometimes 5v5. Momentum is very important in sport.

What I want from Mack is for him to figure this out now instead of when he starts losing his speed because if he doesn't that next contract could look really bad real fast. Again I don't want him traded. I just want him to learn from his mistakes.

Very well stated, thank you.

 

[dahrougem2]

I can't for the life of me understand why EJ has gotten so much praise. He was once again one of the worst Avs last night on a night were they needed him to be better...

He's been very bad this season. It's clear he's lost a step and he wasn't the quickest guy to begin with. The Avs need him stapled to the 3rd pairing with a puck mover in the worst way.

 

[AvsCOL]

He's been very bad this season. It's clear he's lost a step and he wasn't the quickest guy to begin with. The Avs need him stapled to the 3rd pairing with a puck mover in the worst way.

And you can't afford to pay a third pairing guy $6mil. If he was making even 3mil, he'd probably be worth it, but that contract is soooo bad right now.

 

[Muffin]

Little off topic but I saw this and think it’s a pretty good deal $285 CAD shipped. I’d be happy with any of them except Kadri.

Colorado Avalanche Mystery Box

 

[Ceremony]

Who was our backup last night?

 

[Avsboy]

Who was our backup last night?

Dustin Smith

 

[Ceremony]

Dustin Smith

Who was our backup last night?

 

[Avsboy]

Who was our backup last night?

Moser had more details

 

[Ncit3]

I say this with the utmost respect. But after reading this thread. After a game where half the team was either sick or hurt.

Why are you all such miserable bastards?

 

[Ceremony]

Moser had more details

Well, hope he enjoys his jersey.

It's interesting* that our emergency backups seem to get real numbers - the Jett Alexander guy was #1, most of the time they all seem to be #90 or something

*it's not interesting

 

[MaKarter]

I can't for the life of me understand why EJ has gotten so much praise. He was once again one of the worst Avs last night on a night were they needed him to be better...

EJ is good when his role is limited. If we have him playing top pair even strength, first PK, and second PP, its not going to be a good night.

In an ideal season he would even be given maintenance days off so he stays fresh in the legs. We are about to push EJ and JJ over the edge and probably will not be able to return to where they were at the beginning of this season. Which is just steady and serviceable, nothing more or less.

 

[chet1926]

First let me say that it is OK to criticize your star players. They need to be made accountable like any other players on the team. I do not want Mack traded. This team needs him to win a SC.

Obviously point-wise Mack is doing very good. He is having problem scoring goals but he is still helping the team offensively and defensively he is not doing bad as well.

My problem with Mack is not his production and his lack of scoring goals. Like others have said it is better now than in the playoffs. My problem with him is that he is still not learning from his mistakes, he continuously tries plays that do not work, he continuously tries to go through 2-4 defenders, he continuously tries to force passes, etc. At some point you want your players to learn from their mistakes. You can't be mad at your teammates for making bad passes when you continuously make bad ones yourself. everywhere fans want players off their team because they keep doing the same mistakes. Star players get more leeway because they produce more but at one point you want to see improvement in those areas the player is having problem with.

It is also about him killing the momentum the team is building during crucial time within a game. Very often the PP is finally settled in the offensive zone and buzzing and BAM he tries to force a pass or a play where he loses the puck and a defender clears the zone making us lose 20-30 seconds of precious PP time. Same goes sometimes 5v5. Momentum is very important in sport.

What I want from Mack is for him to figure this out now instead of when he starts losing his speed because if he doesn't that next contract could look really bad real fast. Again I don't want him traded. I just want him to learn from his mistakes.

First, agree it is ok to criticize a star player, they need to be accountable just like anyone.

Don't agree with rest of your take. It's not that he doesn't learn, its that he is unconfident and pressing too hard, which leads him to put too much pressure on himself and make dumb mistakes by doing too much. He just needs some confidence, and suddenly this will no longer be an issue. Not sure how he gets this confidence going but that's it will take.

As for yelling at teammates I don't like that look either, but watch all the top end guys they all do it to an extent. 29 does need to dial it back though when he isn't playing his best.

I've seen every star player on this team make countless "momentum" killing plays. Especially when a star is in a funk. It happens just have live with it.

29 hasn't been his best the year but overall team is doing fine, and that's more important. I'm not worried about 29 it will eventually click for him again, and when it does the league should be concerned.

 

[The Abusement Park]

I can't for the life of me understand why EJ has gotten so much praise. He was once again one of the worst Avs last night on a night were they needed him to be better...

It’s not a coincidence he’s looked his best when he’s the 5th best dman on the ice.

 

[The Merchant]

The MacK criticism is not unfounded. He's the Avs' best forward and one of the best players in the world. He has 3 goals. He has to start scoring, period. It's not an unreasonable ask for someone of his caliber.

 

[El Travo]

The MacK criticism is not unfounded. He's the Avs' best forward and one of the best players in the world. He has 3 goals. He has to start scoring, period. It's not an unreasonable ask for someone of his caliber.

That's 100% a valid critique. The problem is we have people who will claim he's not contributing enough while he's putting up multi-point games which includes setting up game winning goals. It's apparently not good enough if he's not competing with McDavid for the top player in the league.

 

[AvsWraith]

Not to mention that we all saw how the team played when MacK was out. They played a better team game, IMO, especially on the PP.

 

[Pokecheque]

The MacK criticism is not unfounded. He's the Avs' best forward and one of the best players in the world. He has 3 goals. He has to start scoring, period. It's not an unreasonable ask for someone of his caliber.

By no means is the criticism of MacKinnon unfounded, it's just the odd yahoo who wants him traded for Josh Norris and change whom I find extremely annoying (yet also entertaining in a reality show goofball kinda way).

But I'd advise anyone who is just outright trashing him keep in mind that there were times, even stretches of games, where Peter Forsberg completely unraveled. He went from a guy who couldn't be knocked down with a Peterbilt Truck to a surly rage-beast who flopped like a koi who lost his pond the moment he even got touched. I remember one time he got so angry at the refs after getting called for a penalty Milan Hejduk had to skate over and not-so-gently escort him to the penalty box.

Also, I'd like to say that we used to (and still do) criticize Joe Sakic for being too sanguine, we also get on Jared Bednar for not displaying more anger, especially toward the officiating, yet we also get all over MacKinnon for showing that anger and passion and for being a guy who absolutely f***ing HATES to lose. Sorry guys, I'm not sure we can have it both ways.

Frankly, I've been way more critical of Landeskog when he loses his cool because it's resulted in bad penalties and suspensions thus far. Say what you will about MacKinnon, but he never seems to really let that happen to his game.