GDT: Game 39: Avs vs Hawks | 7 PM MT | December 29, 2018

[CobraAcesS]

The coaching staff played not to lose in the third. That’s on them.

All the ref blaming is so annoying. The Avs gave up 37 shots to a bad team and have now lost two in a row at home to them. There are bigger issues and blaming the refs continues to be a lame excuse.

Chicago does not suck right now. I don't really think you can throw the team they're facing into the bag of coal in this game. They should have been better about staying out of the box, and some other details though. A 5v3, and then some crushing penalties at the end of the game killed them.

We're a flawed group, and the middle of the roster couldn't hang beyond playing a mostly responsible game. Soda's chances, Compher's chances, Calvert, Dries, the 4th, all of those lines had chances they couldn't finish.

One f***ing forward would have changed the entire dynamic IMO. I thought Sakic was dumb to not get one in the off-season and I was right. Bednar has no real options right now to create anything beyond the first line and that is on Sakic IMO. Get it the f*** done, and get us some help before this season swirls the toilet.

I hate the idea that Sakic is going to sit on his hands and say, well, if the team proves they are ready for help maybe I'll make a move. No you f***ing made a bet at the start that failed you and there is an obvious flaw you failed to address in the off-season. Fix that shit now and in the future as best you can. Give this coach and team the best shot you can. Recognize your mistake in relying on Jost to be a #2C, and do not put it on the coach and team to scrape themselves to a position you feel comfortable paying to add. Sakic f***ed up, and it's on him to fix it now, not later IMO.

It's crazy obvious right now how much one forward would do for this offense. Lets just sit back and let it bleed though. I f***ing hate this time of year where GMs sit back an evaluate if it is worth while to make a move. The team is just bleeding out slowly and you are sitting there watching it. The f***ing trade deadline is toooooooooooooo LATE of a move.

 

[The Merchant]

On one hand it's respectable that Sakic believed so heavily in his youth that he felt he could stay pat and let this team grow together...but it's become abundantly clear that some guys have been given too much too quickly (Jost) and others are purely complimentary (Kerfoot) so far into their careers. This unproven forward depth just ain't gonna cut it in a playoff hunt, let alone a run. Period.

 

[Spleenless Wonder21]

I’m not hockey smart enough to definitively declare OMG, fire Bednar. That said, Who do I have to kill for the Avs to hire a proven NHL level coach? They urinated away at least 1 more Cup in the glory days due to inexperienced coaching. Doesn’t seem like they’ve learned from that mistake.

 

[Avsboy]

I don’t pin this on lack of scoring depth or better team coverage. I pin this on the shoulders of the best players of the team. MacKinnon looks off. EJ and Girard not good enough. Rantanen is meh.

 

[chet1926]

I don’t pin this on lack of scoring depth or better team coverage. I pin this on the shoulders of the best players of the team. MacKinnon looks off. EJ and Girard not good enough. Rantanen is meh.

Yet at the end of the day, MacK and Rantanen are the only two that scored. That can't do it all they need help. And they aren't getting it at so right now.

 

[hawk30]

Team played well tonight.

 

[crue7]

I don’t pin this on lack of scoring depth or better team coverage. I pin this on the shoulders of the best players of the team. MacKinnon looks off. EJ and Girard not good enough. Rantanen is meh.

Rantanen is the furthest thing from "meh" he basically created all the scoring chances on his own on the PP. Hard to generate off the rush when you have guys like Nemeth who are unable to send a pass in transition 5 on 5.

 

[CobraAcesS]

I don’t pin this on lack of scoring depth or better team coverage. I pin this on the shoulders of the best players of the team. MacKinnon looks off. EJ and Girard not good enough. Rantanen is meh.

Uh MacK and Mikko scored, Landy had like four or five prime chances, and EJ was very good tonight in general pushing the play and playing physical. Even Barrie was great at both ends tonight.

The loss in on the GM thinking Jost could be a top six forward this year. Well f*** like 75% of us with half a brain knew that was a bad bet. Fix it f***er

 

[The Merchant]

I don’t pin this on lack of scoring depth or better team coverage. I pin this on the shoulders of the best players of the team. MacKinnon looks off. EJ and Girard not good enough. Rantanen is meh.

lol this is an interesting take

 

[Ararana]

Watching this combined with Daters report that Sakic doesn’t want to make any big deals right now is pretty frustrating but it fits right into Sakic’s ‘patient as a stone’ persona.

 

[CobraAcesS]

If Sakic watches this team swirl the toilet this season and does nothing I'll never forgive him as a GM. He took a calculated risk going into this season, and it's been obvious from day one even when they were winning that it was a mistake.

This league is based on such a margin, and watching Bednar try to find a top six group for months has to make it obvious. Yeah I think Bednar should use Soda higher, but even if that was any kind of plan Sakic didn't add anyone Bednar could use in that defensive role either. He added Calvert instead of a guy like Nash..

Nash makes 2.75M per year, Calver makes 2.85M.

 

[Avsboy]

I was speaking about this 5-10 game stretch, not this one game. The best players must keep producing 4+ points combined a night as they have been to win games. It’s what we’ve come to expect from this group and it’s what we need.

 

[The Merchant]

Uh MacK and Mikko scored, Landy had like four or five prime chances, and EJ was very good tonight in general pushing the play and playing physical. Even Barrie was great at both ends tonight.

The loss in on the GM thinking Jost could be a top six forward this year. Well **** like 75% of us with half a brain knew that was a bad bet. Fix it ****er

I legitimately cannot get over how poorly they've handled Jost's development. It's like they took every single lesson they learned from Miko and decided to go in the opposite direction with Jost for...uh...****s and giggles?

 

[Pokecheque]

I don’t pin this on lack of scoring depth or better team coverage. I pin this on the shoulders of the best players of the team. MacKinnon looks off. EJ and Girard not good enough. Rantanen is meh.

Jim Lites is that you?

 

[MacBradley]

Can anyone tell me why Toews wasn’t kicked out of the OT face off for his false start?

"Intangibles"

 

[UncleRisto]

Jim Lites is that you?

This Avs team is deeper than ever.

 

[CobraAcesS]

I legitimately cannot get over how poorly they've handled Jost's development. It's like they took every single lesson they learned from Miko and decided to go in the opposite direction with Jost for...uh...****s and giggles?

It's called overly protective asset management. If Jost could do it then they wouldn't have to pay any kind of price for that player. Believe what you want about ROR ever playing here again and take a step back. What if we had paid that price to bring him in?

Fine.. Sakic made a bet and he lost. Admit it and don't make us as fans suffer for it, and the players suffer for it while you sit back and think another month and a half is going to answer the question as to if you should pay to add to this team or not.

I feel like it is complete bull shit that we sit here on the f***ing line of mediocrity.

 

[The Merchant]

I was speaking about this 5-10 game stretch, not this one game. The best players must keep producing 4+ points combined a night as they have been to win games. It’s what we’ve come to expect from this group and it’s what we need.

You go back and tell me how many Cup-winning or even Cup-contending teams won with a single line. It's not realistic to expect 4+ point nights from the same guys night in and night out. The start of this season was a blast and caught plenty of teams off-guard...but now they know what to prepare for and how to shut us down. They know that if they manage to limit the top line, they're probably gonna win the game. If we had an inkling of legitimate depth that forced teams to game-plan around them then this wouldn't be a conversation and this team probably wouldn't be looking at four wins in the month of December.

 

[The Merchant]

It's called overly protective asset management. If Jost could do it then they wouldn't have to pay any kind of price for that player. Believe what you want about ROR ever playing here again and take a step back. What if we had paid that price to bring him in?

Fine.. Sakic made a bet and he lost. Admit it and don't make us as fans suffer for it, and the players suffer for it while you sit back and think another month and a half is going to answer the question as to if you should pay to add to this team or not.

I feel like it is complete bull **** that we sit here on the ****ing line of mediocrity.

What do you mean, man? A 20 year-old prospect with a whopping 5 AHL games under his belt is due to break out as a top-6 forward any day now! Any day!

 

[Avsboy]

This will all be fixed next year. Add Stone, Makar, Ott 1st and Kaut. No point in losing an asset, and if this past summer no top FAs wanted to bite that’s ok too.

 

[the_fan]

I think Sakic has a big decision to make. Does he make trades at the trade deadline to make sure the team doesn't fall anymore behind and miss the playoffs or just ride out the season hoping that 1st line can keep carrying the team.

And how mad was Landeskog in the interview when he was asked about the 1st line. Basically he was upset about keep on being called a one line team, says it's not just the 1st line, they are a team and he wont answer anymore questions about the top line LOL..

Sorry Landy, I know truth hurts, but the Avs are a very much a one line team.

 

[Pokecheque]

I still don't think this team is one center away from really making waves. It's not the lack of a 2nd line that's alarming me right now, it's the complete and total implosion of Erik Johnson. He's picking a REALLY bad time to suddenly forget how to play. The play of guys like Cole, Zadorov, Girard, and yes, even Barrie was covering up for it for most of the season up to this point. But now that Cole's come back to earth, Barrie still not quite putting it together, Z hurt, and Sammy struggling, there's no hiding from it. And the coaches are acutely aware of it too, but they had no choice but to play him mad minutes tonight. I don't get what his problem is, I don't think it's just age setting in, he genuinely looks uncomfortable out there.

At least Graves is just out there doing his job. Dude takes some risks but I like the aggressive play. Bednar needs to start trusting him a little more.

 

[Pokecheque]

Can anyone tell me why Toews wasn’t kicked out of the OT face off for his false start?

I think the refs finally got sick of his incessant whining every time he got kicked out.

 

[Balthazar]

Chicago does not suck right now. I don't really think you can throw the team they're facing into the bag of coal in this game. They should have been better about staying out of the box, and some other details though. A 5v3, and then some crushing penalties at the end of the game killed them.

We're a flawed group, and the middle of the roster couldn't hang beyond playing a mostly responsible game. Soda's chances, Compher's chances, Calvert, Dries, the 4th, all of those lines had chances they couldn't finish.

One ****ing forward would have changed the entire dynamic IMO. I thought Sakic was dumb to not get one in the off-season and I was right. Bednar has no real options right now to create anything beyond the first line and that is on Sakic IMO. Get it the **** done, and get us some help before this season swirls the toilet.

I hate the idea that Sakic is going to sit on his hands and say, well, if the team proves they are ready for help maybe I'll make a move. No you ****ing made a bet at the start that failed you and there is an obvious flaw you failed to address in the off-season. Fix that **** now and in the future as best you can. Give this coach and team the best shot you can. Recognize your mistake in relying on Jost to be a #2C, and do not put it on the coach and team to scrape themselves to a position you feel comfortable paying to add. Sakic ****ed up, and it's on him to fix it now, not later IMO.

It's crazy obvious right now how much one forward would do for this offense. Lets just sit back and let it bleed though. I ****ing hate this time of year where GMs sit back an evaluate if it is worth while to make a move. The team is just bleeding out slowly and you are sitting there watching it. The ****ing trade deadline is toooooooooooooo LATE of a move.

Very well said. I agree 100%.

 

[CobraAcesS]

I still don't think this team is one center away from really making waves. It's not the lack of a 2nd line that's alarming me right now, it's the complete and total implosion of Erik Johnson. He's picking a REALLY bad time to suddenly forget how to play. The play of guys like Cole, Zadorov, Girard, and yes, even Barrie was covering up for it for most of the season up to this point. But now that Cole's come back to earth, Barrie still not quite putting it together, Z hurt, and Sammy struggling, there's no hiding from it. And the coaches are acutely aware of it too, but they had no choice but to play him mad minutes tonight. I don't get what his problem is, I don't think it's just age setting in, he genuinely looks uncomfortable out there.

At least Graves is just out there doing his job. Dude takes some risks but I like the aggressive play. Bednar needs to start trusting him a little more.

I think EJ was good tonight personally, but other than that I agree. I really liked EJ stepping up, pushing the play, and being physical. I think tonight was an example of him sacrificing the body in ways he has not for most of this year. It wasn't mistake free, but it was much more indicative of his fearless type of game that makes him a force on a lot of nights, and a leader on this team.

Honestly I don't think EJ has ever played a mistake free game when hes been at his best. Some of his best games have come when hes pushing hard sacrificing both offensively and physically.