GDT: Game 1: Colorado Avalanche Vs. St. Louis Blues - Quest For the Covid Cup - 8:30 PM MT

[Forceberg]

If the AVS need to get tougher, it wasnt the best idea to trade Z.

 

[Shinjuku Calling]

honestly I just care less this year because of the horrendous ugly blue equipment.

 

[UncleRisto]

honestly I just care less this year because of the horrendous ugly blue equipment.

Do you mean the great awesome blue equipment?

 

[Richard88]

Still super early and I still expect the Avs to contend for the cup, but if they don't at least make it to the 3rd round, next year Sakic needs to do what Tampa did, get tougher and better on the 3rd line and probably get a better goalie than Gru.

Why not be proactive and fix the 3rd line now, instead of waiting until after yet another 2nd round disappointment?

 

[SD Avs Fan]

Just a comment on the notion that the Avs need more grit and toughness. I understand that but only to a point. The Avs skill and speed is what makes them the odds on favorite to win the Cup. If they add more grittness than most likely they lose skill and speed which is what they are built around. The Blackhawks and Penguins both won multiple Cups based on their skill and not on their toughness. The Lightning won based on skill as well but they did have to get more gritty. There are always going to be teams like St. Louis but there are just as many examples of skill winning out especially with the way the NHL is trending.

 

[SD Avs Fan]

What the Avs need is MacKinnon to ragdoll a player like he did to that Dallas player in the playoffs. This team is capable of being gritty, they just have to have the right mindset to do it. If I had to trade the skill on this team for more grittiness I would pass. It is nice to have both but I am taking skill first and grittiness second. If we want this team to get to gritty then we would lose what Sakic wants to build around.

Lets not forget that the Avs should have probably beaten Dallas with many injured players including both goalies. Dallas ended up beating a fully healthy Vegas team in 6 games. But Tampa who would basically be similar to a healthy Avs team with a better goalie ended up beating up on Dallas.

The Avs are gonna be just fine. They are built to win and they are built to be fun to watch. I will take that any day over having to watch a team like St. Louis for an entire regular season.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

I wouldn't be worried if this was just a 1 game problem, but for years now the Avs can't compete with biggger clubs. We get bullied and pushed around. We can't get in proper position or crate space when large clubs play us tight. We need some more grit on the bottom 6 and someone like Cole was in his prime on the back end. Current day Cole is nothing but a liability. Hopefully Helleson can become that for us.

Well, to the credit of the Avs... I dont exactly see a tonne of crates on the ice they could squeeze into to begin with.

 

[Richard88]

Just a comment on the notion that the Avs need more grit and toughness. I understand that but only to a point. The Avs skill and speed is what makes them the odds on favorite to win the Cup. If they add more grittness than most likely they lose skill and speed which is what they are built around. The Blackhawks and Penguins both won multiple Cups based on their skill and not on their toughness. The Lightning won based on skill as well but they did have to get more gritty. There are always going to be teams like St. Louis but there are just as many examples of skill winning out especially with the way the NHL is trending.

You can add some grittiness without sacrificing much if any skill. For example, swap Donskoi/Compher/Bellemare/Jost out for someone who can bring a similar level of skill but with more physicality. That's for example what Tampa did by adding Coleman - they added more grit but without necessarily having a drop in skill.

Adding someone like Bonino to the lineup instead of one of Donskoi or Compher wouldn't really be a downgrade in skill, but there would be an increase in grittiness.

 

[sethro109]

Well, to the credit of the Avs... I dont exactly see a tonne of crates on the ice they could squeeze into to begin with.

What? You've never boxed up space while playing ice hockey before? It's the bee's knees. I would suggest all teams start doing it....

 

[Balthazar]

If the AVS need to get tougher, it wasnt the best idea to trade Z.

He wasn't tough at all. He lost pretty much all his fights until he started declining them and skating away when things were getting heated.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

He wasn't tough at all. He lost pretty much all his fights until he started declining them and skating away when things were getting heated.

Literally had a broken Jaw and played most of the season with a frozen hand. I ragged on him for the backing down thing last year too until his injury news came out.

The team is fine without Zadorov. He’s a pretty bad player overall and would likely have spent most of this season as a healthy scratch. But I’ve always been of the opinion that we should have kept him and traded Graves.