GDT: Game 3: COL @ LA - Going Back to Cali 10PM ET/8 PM MT

[MartinSkoulYa]

Oh sorry. Yeah drop pass is what I was talking about

He's talking about the pass on the 2nd goal. If Kopitar reads that and steps up a second or two earlier he's on his own the other way.

 

[avsfan09]

I gotta say it’s nice to feel like we’ve finally got a dman that can actually shoot from the point. Really liking Toews so far and think he brings elements to the defense that we were missing.

Makar has a shot too.

 

[Islay1989]

Toews is a borderline top pairing D at best, more of a high-end #3 as is. He needs to show more than two very good games to be dubbed a #2 let alone #1. I even struggle to call Girard more than a #2 because of his size limitations, and Makar needs to round out defensively before he can claim the #1 mantle.

 

[henchman21]

Toews isn't a #1, but he's showing he's a legit top pairing guy. The past couple years he has looked like a high end #3 who could handle top pairing duties, but as was expected, Makar and him fit incredibly well together and it will be an elite pairing going forward. Jones-Werenski is better, but I have a hard time seeing other pairings that will be significantly better than Toews-Makar.

Might be unpopular, but I want the Avs to roll 11-7 for a while. Swap Gilbert for Byram most of the time. Limits EJ and Byram's minutes with getting more out of the top forwards. Could even rotate in Kadri/MacK to the 3 center spot from time to time to limit that problem.

 

[The Kingslayer]

Toews aint a #1D but he certainly played like one last night. Top pairing guy but not a guy you are going to build a franchise around.

 

[The Kingslayer]

He's talking about the pass on the 2nd goal. If Kopitar reads that and steps up a second or two earlier he's on his own the other way.

Girard taking advantage of the space provided to him. He doesn't do that drop pass if the PK'er is up higher on Toews. Both Toews goals there was so much ice to work with. Teams are going to eventually scout that but hopefully there is a plan b if that pass gets taken away.

 

[Ceremony]

Burgundy/blue don't work when they're placed together with no colour in between. A decade of the uniprons told us this, yet here we are. It looks like someone forgot to pack the actual uniform and we're wearing whatever the players had to hand.

 

[CharlesPuck]

Burgundy/blue don't work when they're placed together with no colour in between. A decade of the uniprons told us this, yet here we are. It looks like someone forgot to pack the actual uniform and we're wearing whatever the players had to hand.

That’s how the black looked. A generic gear set up and just randomly pulled an Avs sweater over it. At least now they are using team colors, like every other NHL team.

Imagine Montreal or New York Rangers using black gear. Why should Colorado, another red and blue team, by any different?

 

[S E P H]

Burgundy/blue don't work when they're placed together with no colour in between. A decade of the uniprons told us this, yet here we are. It looks like someone forgot to pack the actual uniform and we're wearing whatever the players had to hand.

What makes me mad is that there is someone in our organisation who thought the blue pants and gloves with the primary white and burgundy template was somehow "okay".

 

[Perratrooper]

Maybe I’m misinterpreting what was said, but in my opinion in the last two games Toews played as our best defenseman and has been given top minutes because of it. To me it you’re able to keep up or outshine Girard and Makar you’re doing something right. I understand it’s an incredibly small sample size, but the thought that he flirted with being a #1 defenseman these past two games isnt crazy to me. He gets PP, PK and top matchups while having gone point per game and at the very least played as a top pair defenseman. Again I know it’s an incredibly small sample size, but it’s fantastic to see that he was able to come in and immediately contribute.

 

[dahrougem2]

That’s how the black looked. A generic gear set up and just randomly pulled an Avs sweater over it. At least now they are using team colors, like every other NHL team.

Imagine Montreal or New York Rangers using black gear. Why should Colorado, another red and blue team, by any different?

At least make it so the colours ****ing match.

 

[henchman21]

Maybe I’m misinterpreting what was said, but in my opinion in the last two games Toews played as our best defenseman and has been given top minutes because of it. To me it you’re able to keep up or outshine Girard and Makar you’re doing something right. I understand it’s an incredibly small sample size, but the thought that he flirted with being a #1 defenseman these past two games isnt crazy to me. He gets PP, PK and top matchups while having gone point per game and at the very least played as a top pair defenseman. Again I know it’s an incredibly small sample size, but it’s fantastic to see that he was able to come in and immediately contribute.

Toews is the most polished out of the three. His defensive game is better than both by a good margin (G would be up there with him if he could handle a more physical game) and his offense is as good as G's while being below Makar. I think we will see in games where the Avs are up, he is going to pile more minutes. He can provide a high level of defense without being a blackhole offensively.

 

[MaKarter]

All 3 of them make each other better. Toews plays more with Makar even strength, Girard on PP, and others on PK.

None of them are conventional #1 D but we have all three of them so whats it matter to have a #1. We are going to have YEARS of great players on the backend.

 

[The Kingslayer]

Toews is the most polished out of the three. His defensive game is better than both by a good margin (G would be up there with him if he could handle a more physical game) and his offense is as good as G's while being below Makar. I think we will see in games where the Avs are up, he is going to pile more minutes. He can provide a high level of defense without being a blackhole offensively.

He came as advertised.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Girard taking advantage of the space provided to him. He doesn't do that drop pass if the PK'er is up higher on Toews. Both Toews goals there was so much ice to work with. Teams are going to eventually scout that but hopefully there is a plan b if that pass gets taken away.

The plan B is gonna be sliding that pass over to an open Burky for that one timer lol

I’ll die on the hill that there’s no such thing as “#1 D” on this team (and it’s an archaic term in general). Makar, Girard and Toews will absolutely have games where they are the top D for the night (ES TOI, overall TOI, impact, production, etc). Hopefully Byram be in that mix as well at some point. It’s an incredible top four and I don’t care how they are labeled.

 

[MartinSkoulYa]

Girard taking advantage of the space provided to him. He doesn't do that drop pass if the PK'er is up higher on Toews. Both Toews goals there was so much ice to work with. Teams are going to eventually scout that but hopefully there is a plan b if that pass gets taken away.

Absolutely, it goes both ways. Offense gotta read where the defense is and vice versa. Could it have gone terribly wrong, sure. But it was a sweet highlight and I'll trust our guys to make the right play.

 

[henchman21]

He came as advertised.

Yup... I think people can see why I was so thrilled that the Avs got him. He's about the perfect partner for Makar at this stage and is an enormous upgrade. Not sure if many noticed, but he was taking shifts on the right side last night too. Bednar is getting him comfortable in a number of areas which is only going to showcase the flexibility in his game that much more.

 

[Avs_19]

Toews has been great and looks like a legit top pairing defenseman. I don't know or really even care if he's a #1 D or not because him and Makar together make one of the best top pairings in the league.

I still believe Girard has been the best defenseman on the team this season. Just like he was last season.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Yeah the nice thing about what Sakic has done is that the defense doesn’t need a 1D to be successful. We have so many options that are very good players that the wealth can be spread very easily between the top 3 guys(soon 4 with Byram) and each guy on the backend fills a role. Just a real masterclass by Sakic here.

 

[The Kingslayer]

The plan B is gonna be sliding that pass over to an open Burky for that one timer lol

I’ll die on the hill that there’s no such thing as “#1 D” on this team (and it’s an archaic term in general). Makar, Girard and Toews will absolutely have games where they are the top D for the night (ES TOI, overall TOI, impact, production, etc). Hopefully Byram be in that mix as well at some point. It’s an incredible top four and I don’t care how they are labeled.

Pretty much pick your poison there haha.

 

[The Kingslayer]

Absolutely, it goes both ways. Offense gotta read where the defense is and vice versa. Could it have gone terribly wrong, sure. But it was a sweet highlight and I'll trust our guys to make the right play.

Its kinda like the bank pass off the side board to the point man after a zone entry. If a defender tries to cheat and take the boards away there any smart offensive player will just keep skating forward with the puck and use that ice to set up. A better example is probably the drop pass on a zone entry. People always say "If you know hes going to drop it off to Mackinnon why don't you just stand in that lane?" because Makar will know what you are doing and he has no problems taking it in himself if you do take the drop pass to Mackinnon away. See Anaheim game last year where they tried that and Makar nearly scored lol.

 

[Balthazar]

Might be unpopular, but I want the Avs to roll 11-7 for a while.

It becomes a problem when your 3C is playing only 8 minutes like yesterday.

 

[Freudian]

The solution to the uniform issue is obviously to force all players to wear blue skates.

 

[Balthazar]

Not sure if many noticed, but he was taking shifts on the right side last night too

One of Byram/Girard/Toews will have to play the right side assuming they'll all be part of our top 4 in the near future.

G was playing on the left yesterday with Graves on the right.

 

[Gatorbait19]

Makar has a shot too.

I actually initially included a line in my post that Makar has a good shot too, but that he’s so good at everything else, it usually doesn’t make sense for him to be taking slappers from the point.