GDT: Colorado Avalanche@ Winnipeg Jets 10/26/14 1 PM MDT

[ICdave]

Avs post-game audio: Coach Roy, Duchene, McGinn and Redmond.

To listen click here.

 

[Nihiliste]

But they played with greater desperation than Avs did and that's why they won so many 50/50 situations. Only the bigger Avs players seemed to do well in puck battles (Landeskog, Stuart, Iginla). O'Reilly is listed as 210 pounds and he's had one, possibly two, hits this year. I get that poking with the stick is his thing but he's needs to play the body more. He has guys lined up and pulls on the breaks and starts poking. Ridiculous.

People will say what they will about size queens but the current western conference is a tough place for a team built like the Avs to sustain success. The vast majority of teams physically outmatch us which wouldn't necessarily be a problem in the regular season if we're playing well but will definitely continue to be a problem when we make the postseason, the way it was against Minny last playoffs.

 

[Foppa2118]

Most of Jets shots came from the outside. They had 34 shots blocked, which is good for corsi but also an indication that they take a lot of low percentage shots from the points.

But they played with greater desperation than Avs did and that's why they won so many 50/50 situations. Only the bigger Avs players seemed to do well in puck battles (Landeskog, Stuart, Iginla). O'Reilly is listed as 210 pounds and he's had one, possibly two, hits this year. I get that poking with the stick is his thing but he's needs to play the body more. He has guys lined up and pulls on the breaks and starts poking. Ridiculous.

I'd like to see O'Reilly play the body a little more, but I'm not that worried about it. I think his problem is that he's working like just a normal hockey player. He's not busting his butt making lots of second and third efforts that catch players off guard, and then quickly moving the puck or taking a shot. That's how he has to play to be his best. He has to play that relentless style, and he's not really doing it.

I can't even remember the last takeaway he had. That's a sign that he's not reading the play the same, or being tenacious enough.

 

[Pokecheque]

Also, the Avs got absolutely TORCHED in the faceoff circle. Unacceptable, especially when ROR is taking draws regularly and MacKinnon isn't. I'm not expecting them to be wizards on FO's (they never seemingly are) but that's just no good.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Also, the Avs got absolutely TORCHED in the faceoff circle. Unacceptable, especially when ROR is taking draws regularly and MacKinnon isn't. I'm not expecting them to be wizards on FO's (they never seemingly are) but that's just no good.

They both took 6 today. And why does Iginla regularly take like 4-6 of them?

 

[frog]

Seems like theres something wrong with this team. Obviously the defence sucks but these are my other observations:

Stastny seemed to make mackinnon and landeskog faster by hitting them with passes full stride... oreilly isn't that type of playmaker and isn't doing that.

There isn't any energy guys like bordeleau or downie were last year to stir the pot and bring up the adrenaline within the team.

Our guys are getting pushed around a lot more, maybe bordeleau meant more to the team then we thought.

Iginla is a great shooter but is about average in everything else. Tanguay is the same except with passing.

I think Duchene made Oreilly better offensively than he actually was.

Hejda and Sarich helped out the defence at times last year with Sarich at the beginning and hejda around the middle of the season. Hejda's slowed down this year

 

[Freudian]

Also, the Avs got absolutely TORCHED in the faceoff circle. Unacceptable, especially when ROR is taking draws regularly and MacKinnon isn't. I'm not expecting them to be wizards on FO's (they never seemingly are) but that's just no good.

Faceoffs is also an effort thing, since it's as much the wingers as the center who helps win it.

 

[Pokecheque]

Most of Jets shots came from the outside. They had 34 shots blocked, which is good for corsi but also an indication that they take a lot of low percentage shots from the points.

But they played with greater desperation than Avs did and that's why they won so many 50/50 situations. Only the bigger Avs players seemed to do well in puck battles (Landeskog, Stuart, Iginla). O'Reilly is listed as 210 pounds and he's had one, possibly two, hits this year. I get that poking with the stick is his thing but he's needs to play the body more. He has guys lined up and pulls on the breaks and starts poking. Ridiculous.

Agreed. I think the Jets were taking shots so much because the Avs were leaving those guys wide open. They had a ton of room to operate.

 

[bohlmeister]

Lost a lot of puck battles today. Jets seemed to always be on the right side of the puck.

Mackinnon needs to play the body more and compete for the puck better. He did a lot of reaching today.

I thought Cliche was really good on the PK today.

We did pretty darm well to take that to overtime. Jets should have won that in regulation.

 

[Foppa Frossa]

I'll take a point on the road against a team that played very well.

 

[Pokecheque]

I thought Cliche was really good on the PK today.

Yeah, I am actually okay with his play so far this year. He's been a lot harder to knock down than he was last season, which isn't the best compliment in the world since I felt like a warm breeze could knock him around last season, but he seems a lot more solid and aggressive now...for whatever reason.

 

[AvalancheFan19]

Seems like theres something wrong with this team. Obviously the defence sucks but these are my other observations:

Stastny seemed to make mackinnon and landeskog faster by hitting them with passes full stride... oreilly isn't that type of playmaker and isn't doing that.

There isn't any energy guys like bordeleau or downie were last year to stir the pot and bring up the adrenaline within the team.

Our guys are getting pushed around a lot more, maybe bordeleau meant more to the team then we thought.

Iginla is a great shooter but is about average in everything else. Tanguay is the same except with passing.

I think Duchene made Oreilly better offensively than he actually was.

Hejda and Sarich helped out the defence at times last year with Sarich at the beginning and hejda around the middle of the season. Hejda's slowed down this year

This. Shop and trade him while his value is still high.

 

[avsfan09]

Last year it felt like Avs were the ones carrying play in OT and it was only a matter of time until they were going to score. This year Avs are not having the puck a lot and when they do, it's one and done and play goes the other way.

I still get the feeling that the team bought the idea that they're awesome and they're a little bit confused why it's not easy to play. They show flashes but that's not enough. They need to go on a run in the coming month to not have ****ed the season away by late November.

They need to learn to play all shifts with intensity and focus on all details for all 60.

 

[PAZ]

The issue this year is that we don't have as much chemistry, so it's easier for the other teams to read the play and be more physical. Any game that happens (Winnipeg, Toronto, Minnesota), you can see the difference it makes on our top 6. We don't have any players that can dish it back to players like Buff, Komorov, etc. or even make them wary like Bordy.

Sure the top 6 needs to be better, but realistically not every player is going to be on their A game every game. Players have down games, and you can't win like that.

 

[freeboy]

Duchy looks good, helping his line mates look good
Lando MAck and Ror continue to struggle...
Our d without EJ looks Terrible, even worse after he left after the bad fall.
We are not a team that has its stuff together, we have lots of great pieces....

Solutions?
Not sure what to say if LAndo and Ror mack dont get out of the funk we are hurting.
IF we lose Ej I cannot see how we compete against better teams...
so
We need at least one better d man
we need offensive chemistry from what should be a line that destroys opponents
otherwise its going to be a long season with lots of ups and downs....
this was a very revealing lose... I hope it spurs the management to put a trade together

 

[Pokecheque]

Well...yeah, O'Reilly put up big offensive numbers because he was put in a primarily offensive role when he was Duchene's LW. That, and a lot of defensive duties were put on Stastny's shoulders. He also got a ton of power play time.

This is the result of the Avalanche not going out and getting a semi-decent defensive center to replace Stastny. This is also the result of underestimating the ability of both Stastny and Parenteau to create offense in the dirty areas around the net. A guy like McGinn can score garbage goals, but he does it more by crashing the net than actually parking his butt in the slot and battling for rebounds. Parenteau is no Dino Ciccarelli, but he could do that to a certain degree. Right now I'd say the only guy proving capable of scooping up rebounds and scoring is Briere.

Because the Avs lost a big part of their defense up front in Stastny, O'Reilly has to take up a lot of that responsibility again, therefore his offensive totals won't be anywhere near what they were last season. I don't mind the fact that the Avs let Stazz walk, but doing so and not making any effort whatsoever to replace what he brought to the table has brought us to this season, and surprise, the Avs are struggling at both ends of the ice.

The Vancouver Canucks were in a similar situation with Ryan Kesler. Instead of getting another scoring center and keeping Kesler in a shutdown role, they went and got one of the best faceoff/defensive centers in the league in Manny Malhotra, which freed Kesler up to take on more of a scoring role. No surprise that year the Canucks led the leagues both in goals for and fewest goals against, and no surprise it all fell apart when Malhotra suffered that horrific eye injury.

 

[SnipShow]

I know that we are only a couple games in but the lack of offense we are creating is getting me nervous. Mackinnon 5 on 5 has not created any offensive chances for the caliber player he is. I am on the fence with what lines we should but the Landeskog-Mackinnon- O'reilly line has not created much of anything for how good they should be. I think the biggest question is whether Mackinnon should remain at center. I know Roy and Sakic insist on him being a center but maybe we should let him develop more on the wing before moving him to center. I think letting him focus more on offense while slowly developing his defense may be something we should look at.

I know Mackinnon and Duchene didn't have great chemistry last year but I would like to see if anything is there.

Lines I would like to at least take a look at would be

Landeskog-Duchene- Mack
Tanguay- O'reily- Iggy
Mcginn-Mitchell- Talbot
Mcleod-Cliche- Briere

 

[AvalancheFan19]

Lines I would like to at least take a look at would be

Landeskog-Duchene- Mack
Tanguay- O'reily- Iggy
Mcginn-Mitchell- Talbot
Mcleod-Cliche- Briere

I agree the 92-29-90 line has been bad but we cannot split up Iginila and Duchene. They look good together. In my opinion this makes the most sense..

O'Reilly-Duchene-Iginla
Landeskog-Mackinnon-Tanguay
McGinn-Mitchell-Talbot/Briere
McLeod-Winchester/Cliche-Briere/Talbot

Mackinnon needs to be hit in stride in the neutral zone. Hopefully Tangs can help him with that.

 

[tigervixxxen]

I agree the 92-29-90 line has been bad but we cannot split up Iginila and Duchene. They look good together. In my opinion this makes the most sense..

O'Reilly-Duchene-Iginla
Landeskog-Mackinnon-Tanguay
McGinn-Mitchell-Talbot
McLeod-Winchester/Cliche-Talbot

Mackinnon needs to be hit in stride in the neutral zone. Hopefully Tangs can help him with that.

They need to go with this, it makes the most sense. Set it and leave it for a while.

 

[Pokecheque]

I dunno how you jumpstart this lineup. Right now there are simply way too many players underachieving.

And frankly, Briere on the 4th line is just a waste of time. Either play him in a scoring depth role or scratch him.

 

[Pokecheque]

Oh, and since everyone knows I love beating a dead horse, Holden has no business playing in away games where Roy can't shelter him. None.

Redmond was not great today, but frankly I thought him being paired with Holden was a huge, huge mistake. Guenin would have been a better option since it's clear in that case which guy handles the puck and jumps into the play. It may have been the fact that the Canucks were just awful the other night, but he looked way more comfortable alongside Stuart.

 

[The Kingslayer]

When are Winchester and Bordeleau due back?

 

[tigervixxxen]

When are Winchester and Bordeleau due back?

This week maybe and at least December.

 

[Balthazar]

Can we please create a thread for the "lets draft Hanifin/McDavid/Eichel" idiocy? We're still in October and it's already old.

I'm really, really sick of it as well.

 

[Balthazar]

I know Mackinnon and Duchene didn't have great chemistry last year but I would like to see if anything is there.

This. People are talking like they played half of last year together and it didn't work. That's not the case at all. If Mack isn't going to play center, let them play with each other. I don't care if it takes many games to get some chemistry and I don't care about Iginla either. The team is going nowhere at the moment and one of our most talented player is doing jack ****. Let him play with Duchene.