News Article: Colorado Avalanche Media Coverage Part V

[littletonhockeycoach]

Before he became a mindless shill, Mike Evans and Sandy Clough hosted a fantastic morning show on The Fan. Then they replaced Sandy with Lou and he was so goddamned insufferable the producer (who himself had a funny segment they called "Deep Thoughts") quit. Dude put no effort into the job and was hired by the local hockey/basketball station at the time, and yet his passion was baseball. He didn't give a damn about the Avs and Mike regularly had to keep him on-task. He abruptly quit himself to go do whatever the hell it was he was doing before. Every time he called someone "Cuz!" on the air I wanted to punch a hole in the wall.

You've been here a long, long time. I remember (and used to listen to) all that programming.

Sandy was knowledgable about hockey (and everything else in his own opinion) but as arrogant as they come. I think he was a NY/NJ guy... and his pedigree as an announcer went back to the old Colorado hockey Rockies. But he was insufferable as well......"Caller... you don't have a clue..."

During SC playoffs he would don some goalie gear and promo out at the local Conoco stations and dare callers and fan to come by and beat him with their shots. I understand he was rarely beat.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

I always loved Griffin Youngs on the Tell It Avs It Is podcast.

 

[SirLoinOfCloth]

 

[Bonzai12]

Is Sandy even still on the air?

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

wrong thread

 

[Pokecheque]

You've been here a long, long time. I remember (and used to listen to) all that programming.

Sandy was knowledgable about hockey (and everything else in his own opinion) but as arrogant as they come. I think he was a NY/NJ guy... and his pedigree as an announcer went back to the old Colorado hockey Rockies. But he was insufferable as well......"Caller... you don't have a clue..."

During SC playoffs he would don some goalie gear and promo out at the local Conoco stations and dare callers and fan to come by and beat him with their shots. I understand he was rarely beat.

Ah yes, Doctor Zero. I always wanted to take a shot and see if I could beat him, though it ain't like my shot was anything to write home about.

Sandy was indeed arrogant and rude at times but he at least seemed knowledgeable on the subjects on which he spoke (unlike Lou who just sort of half-assed everything, even baseball) and he was never a big hot take factory like so many others in sports radio. Most of his opinions IMO were ones I tended to agree with. He was definitely a NY guy because he oftentimes brought up the Knicks back in their heyday when they were actually good, which at the time was a LONG time ago.

These days I only listen to podcasts and NHL Radio, can't remember the last time I listened to sports radio.

 

[Foppa2118]

I always loved Griffin Youngs on the Tell It Avs It Is podcast.

I've never heard of this podcast. Is there a place where they can bombard me with updates even though I didn't ask for them?

 

[SirLoinOfCloth]

I've never heard of this podcast. Is there a place where they can bombard me with updates even though I didn't ask for them?

I personally like how rather than engage with a community super passionate about the topic of the podcast, they choose to use the forum as an advertising board with their copy-and-paste post template. How To Build A Fanbase 101 - by Griffin Youngs.

 

[Avs_19]

Kiszla is the only person in hockey media who has blocked me on twitter and it was very much worth it.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Kiszla is the only person in hockey media who has blocked me on twitter and it was very much worth it.

What can one say that causes Kizla to block them? He's the ultimate troll, he should have relatively thick skin.

 

[Hasbro]

Ah yes, Doctor Zero. I always wanted to take a shot and see if I could beat him, though it ain't like my shot was anything to write home about.

Sandy was indeed arrogant and rude at times but he at least seemed knowledgeable on the subjects on which he spoke (unlike Lou who just sort of half-assed everything, even baseball) and he was never a big hot take factory like so many others in sports radio.

Yeah I appreciate that he never threw out the pot stirring crap out there.

He also hates Kiszla.

Irv & Joe were flat out unlistenable.

 

[Hasbro]

Kiszla is the only person in hockey media who has blocked me on twitter and it was very much worth it.

He was on PTI a couple times and I know the crew just hated dealing with him.

And these are people who had to deal with Jay Morriotti everyday.

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

Ah yes, Doctor Zero. I always wanted to take a shot and see if I could beat him, though it ain't like my shot was anything to write home about.

Sandy was indeed arrogant and rude at times but he at least seemed knowledgeable on the subjects on which he spoke (unlike Lou who just sort of half-assed everything, even baseball) and he was never a big hot take factory like so many others in sports radio. Most of his opinions IMO were ones I tended to agree with. He was definitely a NY guy because he oftentimes brought up the Knicks back in their heyday when they were actually good, which at the time was a LONG time ago.

These days I only listen to podcasts and NHL Radio, can't remember the last time I listened to sports radio.

Me neither..... The Avs have never had anything quality and knowledge-wise equivalent post game or daily/weekly programming to what I grew up listening to in Buffalo. And pulled in from Toronto and Detroit.

I recall when I was an Avs season ticket holder trying to listen to post game caller shows (originally moderated by Moser) on the way home in the car and just clicking them off. The callers were terrible and usually demonstrated absolutely no knowledge of the game. Or Moser would just talk endlessly spewing his ignorance with the sparse audience.

P.S. Agree that Lou from Littleton is terrible. I always turned him off when came on the radio. When he was on KOA - Bronco's flagship station - that's ALL he ever talked about. So stinking boring.

 

[Pokecheque]

What can one say that causes Kizla to block them? He's the ultimate troll, he should have relatively thick skin.

Ohhhhhh no, trolls and morons like Kiz are among the most overly-sensitive people you'll ever encounter.

I served up some harsh critiques of Kiszla's writing, so I know why I got blocked.

 

[Avs_19]

What can one say that causes Kizla to block them? He's the ultimate troll, he should have relatively thick skin.

I honestly don't even remember because it was years ago. I imagine it was pretty good though to get blocked and it was worth it because he no longer shows up on my twitter feed at all. Even if someone retweets/quotes him, I can't see it now.

 

[Bonzai12]

So how are ya’ll planning on hacking the internet to watch some Avs game this year? I’m considering throwing out some $$ for a Euro VPN

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Will there even be an out of market bundle similar to NHL.tv anymore or will ESPN3 be it? I didn't think ESPN3 was carrying every game (minus nationally syndicated on TNT or the ESPN/ESPN2) but rather a smaller number of games.

 

[shadow1]

I listened to part of the Jose Theodore episode of Spittin' Chiclets and he said the biggest regret of his career was leaving the Avalanche. His reasoning was mostly because of the goalie coach at the time (Jeff Hackett) and liking a few other people in the org, and that he shouldn't have left over money.

The interesting part was how the negotiation went down. Theodore said Colorado had offered $3.5 x 3 and he told them he'd sign for $4, which was less than Washington was offering ($4.5 x 3). He thought Francois Giguere (who he described as a lawyer and implied didn't have the same negotiation skills as Pierre Lacroix) would come back with $4, but never did. Lacroix was battling health issues at the time so couldn't be apart of the negotiation, but he did get a call from Rene Angelli (aka Celine Dion's husband and Lacroix's friend) asking him why he wasn't taking the deal and Theodore responded that the gap between them and Washington was too big.

Ultimately not signing Theodore is what kicked off the ill-fated Duchene rebuild. Colorado had a ton of injuries in 2007-2008 but made the playoffs (largely because of Theodore) and upset Minnesota in the first round. That off-season they lost a ton of players (Brunette, Forsberg, Sauer, Theodore), brought in two guys Toronto had just bought out (Raycroft, Tucker), and it all went to hell. Even though that club was overdue for a tear down, it obviously wasn't the goal considering they handed huge free agent contracts to Scott Hannan and Ryan Smyth the off-season before.

 

[henchman21]

Will there even be an out of market bundle similar to NHL.tv anymore or will ESPN3 be it? I didn't think ESPN3 was carrying every game (minus nationally syndicated on TNT or the ESPN/ESPN2) but rather a smaller number of games.

It will be an extension of ESPN+.... so a streaming sub. Which ESPN has the toughest VPN detection in the game, so that will be interesting.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

It will be an extension of ESPN+.... so a streaming sub. Which ESPN has the toughest VPN detection in the game, so that will be interesting.

That sucks about their VPN but since I live in Alaska, I imagine the only blackout games for me will be the Kraken.

 

[Foppa2118]

I listened to part of the Jose Theodore episode of Spittin' Chiclets and he said the biggest regret of his career was leaving the Avalanche. His reasoning was mostly because of the goalie coach at the time (Jeff Hackett) and liking a few other people in the org, and that he shouldn't have left over money.

The interesting part was how the negotiation went down. Theodore said Colorado had offered $3.5 x 3 and he told them he'd sign for $4, which was less than Washington was offering ($4.5 x 3). He thought Francois Giguere (who he described as a lawyer and implied didn't have the same negotiation skills as Pierre Lacroix) would come back with $4, but never did. Lacroix was battling health issues at the time so couldn't be apart of the negotiation, but he did get a call from Rene Angelli (aka Celine Dion's husband and Lacroix's friend) asking him why he wasn't taking the deal and Theodore responded that the gap between them and Washington was too big.

Ultimately not signing Theodore is what kicked off the ill-fated Duchene rebuild. Colorado had a ton of injuries in 2007-2008 but made the playoffs (largely because of Theodore) and upset Minnesota in the first round. That off-season they lost a ton of players (Brunette, Forsberg, Sauer, Theodore), brought in two guys Toronto had just bought out (Raycroft, Tucker), and it all went to hell. Even though that club was overdue for a tear down, it obviously wasn't the goal considering they handed huge free agent contracts to Scott Hannan and Ryan Smyth the off-season before.

That's interesting. It did seem like Theo and Hacket had a good relationship.

This was when they barely cared about goaltending coaches though. Hacket was only part time and they let him go a couple years later to bring in Kirk McLean part time. Then they brought in Francois Allaire, who was also part time, though consulted with the team a lot on decisions.

I don't think they ever had a full time goalie coach until they brought in Parkilla. Which always drove me nuts because the team didn't have a legit reliable starter for like a decade after Roy. This team always has a blind spot when it comes to goaltending. I don't understand it.

 

[Foppberg]

I always had a soft spot for Theodore.

Although he shoulda never won the Hart, that was all Iggy.

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

That's interesting. It did seem like Theo and Hacket had a good relationship.

This was when they barely cared about goaltending coaches though. Hacket was only part time and they let him go a couple years later to bring in Kirk McLean part time. Then they brought in Francois Allaire, who was also part time, though consulted with the team a lot on decisions.

I don't think they ever had a full time goalie coach until they brought in Parkilla. Which always drove me nuts because the team didn't have a legit reliable starter for like a decade after Roy. This team always has a blind spot when it comes to goaltending. I don't understand it.

Seriously weird for an organization whose two Cups came thanks to the final missing piece being an elite goalie in Patrick Roy who he credits Francois Allaire with...and then after Roy leaves have the resources for goaltending be at a minimal. Goaltending has always felt like something the organization always reacts to with very little thinking ahead. They have been absolutely unprepared for the team to be contending and have a stable goalie backstopping the team. Their highest goalie draft picks have both been 3rd rounders. That would be acceptable if they had some sort of quantity. They don't though. Goaltending has been a rather large mess in this organization and we keep having to spend multiple assets to temporarily fix the hole for 2-3 years.

 

[Richard88]

Seriously weird for an organization whose two Cups came thanks to the final missing piece being an elite goalie in Patrick Roy who he credits Francois Allaire with...and then after Roy leaves have the resources for goaltending be at a minimal. Goaltending has always felt like something the organization always reacts to with very little thinking ahead. They have been absolutely unprepared for the team to be contending and have a stable goalie backstopping the team. Their highest goalie draft picks have both been 3rd rounders. That would be acceptable if they had some sort of quantity. They don't though. Goaltending has been a rather large mess in this organization and we keep having to spend multiple assets to temporarily fix the hole for 2-3 years.

They've had opportunities to draft goalies, but off the top of my head the last decade or so they've spent two 1st's (Varlamov and Kuemper) along with 2 2nd's (Berra and Grubauer) on goalies, so clearly they're more comfortable trading for goalies rather than drafting them high. Had they wanted to they could have made moves to select Knight, Askarov, Cossa, or Wallstedt, but alas the merry-go round continues.

 

[Bonzai12]

hard to believe that the best goalie we've ever drafted (and hung on to for his success) is Aebi