GDT: Game 39: Jackets @ Avs | January 4th, 6pm MT/3AM Finnish | The Traktor Alban edition

[AvsRobin]

Does anyone remember the Duchene from last season? The PPG center that willed this team to win on some nights, that's what i want.

He really is a player very depending on bounces going his way. When he is hot, shots hits defenseman and goes in. Trickles through pads and pings it's way in. But sometimes it's just the totally opposite for him.

 

[cgf]

Does anyone remember the Duchene from last season? The PPG center that willed this team to win on some nights, that's what i want.

I want that; or the Landeskog who dominated puck battles and could be a one man dump'n'chase to set up offensive zone possession; or the MacK that tore past defenders or took it hard at the net when he couldn't beat them wide...ROR's getting back to his best against the puck, but he's still not as sharp offensively yet and his shot has been off this season...and Landy's been getting better but none of our stars are nearly as good this year at imposing themselves onto a game and taking over the proceedings.

 

[Foppa2118]

Does anyone remember the Duchene from last season? The PPG center that willed this team to win on some nights, that's what i want.

You know what kinda bothers me a bit with Duchene from last year? He was playing pretty sound defensive hockey for the first time in his career, up until he made the Canadian Olympic team, and then it stopped, and we've never seen it since.

If it's such a mental thing that he hasn't figured out yet, then how come he had it figured out for the first half of last year?

 

[the_fan]

How do you lose that game?

Columbus plays the night before, we score within the first 30 seconds, Columbus pretty much sits back the final 10 minutes and says we're cool with going to OT and we still find a way to lose. Just pathetic.

How do you manage 3 lousy shots in the first period against a team that played last night?

Just a joke!

Badly coached, lacking leadership on the ice, bad defense, overrated talent.

All of the mentioned above are reasons Avs are losers.

 

[BoxOfChocolates]

Rendulic did NOT play well. I'm waiting for him to be taken off that top line already.

I disagree.

 

[NateTheGreat]

I want that; or the Landeskog who dominated puck battles and could be a one man dump'n'chase to set up offensive zone possession; or the MacK that tore past defenders or took it hard at the net when he couldn't beat them wide...ROR's getting back to his best against the puck, but he's still not as sharp offensively yet and his shot has been off this season...and Landy's been getting better but none of our stars are nearly as good this year at imposing themselves onto a game and taking over the proceedings.

Totally with you, it's so frustrating knowing our forwards can be SO much better, yet they keep sucking. Will the real Avs top 6 please stand up...

You know what kinda bothers me a bit with Duchene from last year? He was playing pretty sound defensive hockey for the first time in his career, up until he made the Canadian Olympic team, and then it stopped, and we've never seen it since.

If it's such a mental thing that he hasn't figured out yet, then how come he had it figured out for the first half of last year?

I've noticed this too, not quite the olympic thing, but I have noticed his defensive play has not been good. I don't know what it is with him, he went from being a strong two way center last year ( not the whole year) to sucking on both ends of the ice

 

[The Shermanator]

Solid avy by the way.

Thanks.

 

[Foppa2118]

I've noticed this too, not quite the olympic thing, but I have noticed his defensive play has not been good. I don't know what it is with him, he went from being a strong two way center last year ( not the whole year) to sucking on both ends of the ice

There was definitely a semi noticeable change last year. As soon as the announcements were made, I noticed a small drop off in his defensive compete level in the games before the Olympic break. Not a big deal at the time, and I felt it was understandable that he was playing his absolute best defensively to make the team. But then there was another drop off on top of that when he came back, and it's never really gone back up.

It's one of the biggest reasons they struggled this year IMO. You can't have your top two centers be sub par defensively. That's what they had for most the year, basically up until this most recent shift of O'Reilly back to center, and he finally brought his two way game back up to par. Even when ROR played a few games at center earlier in the year, he didn't look that good defensively.

This new era of NHL, everyone matches up one of their top two lines against the other teams top lines. You need at least one top center that is good defensively to have success in the NHL.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

I get the sense that this team is just not allowed to go above .500 this season.


We hit so many posts this game, and had such an unlucky bounce to lose the game so late. Just feels like one of those seasons the more and more we play through it.

 

[Foppa2118]

I get the sense that this team is just not allowed to go above .500 this season.


We hit so many posts this game, and had such an unlucky bounce to lose the game so late. Just feels like one of those seasons the more and more we play through it.

It's starting to become a little hard for me to keep buying the lack of confidence and unlucky excuse for this team. Just in general, I know that's not what you're saying.

I just find it a little hard to believe a team full of this much talent can be snakebite for half a season. They've literally had trouble scoring in just about every game going back to the 1st game of the pre-season.

There's something weird going on with this team this year, and I can't quite put my finger on it, but I just don't think you have confidence issues for half a season. That's played a part, but there's something else. They've had a solid run of late, they should have regained some confidence and composure to bury all those chances tonight they sent wide or hit the post with.

 

[cgf]

It's starting to become a little hard for me to keep buying the lack of confidence and unlucky excuse for this team. Just in general, I know that's not what you're saying.

I just find it a little hard to believe a team full of this much talent can be snakebite for half a season. They've literally had trouble scoring in just about every game going back to the 1st game of the pre-season.

There's something weird going on with this team this year, and I can't quite put my finger on it, but I just don't think you have confidence issues for half a season. That's played a part, but there's something else. They've had a solid run of late, they should have regained some confidence and composure to bury all those chances tonight they sent wide or hit the post with.

You can when you're that young, just lost the elder-statesman of the core in UFA and are unsure if another one of the core is going to follow him next summer. While coming off of a season were everything went right that gave everyone a little too much confidence/comfort/complacency over the summer which made this season's struggles all the more difficult to overcome. Especially without the security of Varly being back there deserving the vezina in every game.

 

[Foppa2118]

You can when you're that young, just lost the elder-statesman of the core in UFA and are unsure if another one of the core is going to follow him next summer. While coming off of a season were everything went right that gave everyone a little too much confidence/comfort/complacency over the summer which made this season's struggles all the more difficult to overcome. Especially without the security of Varly being back there deserving the vezina in every game.

One or two players sure, but not an entire team. Tanguay's the only one in the top 9 who hasn't struggled offensively this year. They're not that young any more either, apart from Nate.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

It's starting to become a little hard for me to keep buying the lack of confidence and unlucky excuse for this team. Just in general, I know that's not what you're saying.

I just find it a little hard to believe a team full of this much talent can be snakebite for half a season. They've literally had trouble scoring in just about every game going back to the 1st game of the pre-season.

There's something weird going on with this team this year, and I can't quite put my finger on it, but I just don't think you have confidence issues for half a season. That's played a part, but there's something else. They've had a solid run of late, they should have regained some confidence and composure to bury all those chances tonight they sent wide or hit the post with.

I definitely agree about the confidence.


I've never questioned confidence as a potential issue with this team. Confidence might hurt a player for 3-4 games, but certainly not 40 games like this team has struggled for.


However, I do think we're having an abnormally high number of bad bounces this season. I mean look at tonight alone. Dubinsky's goal in the 2nd period, the 4-5 posts we managed to hit, and then the last minute own goal deflection.


As someone who believes in Karma to an extent, I feel like these bounces are balancing themselves out from the lucky bounces and fortunes we had last season.


To me it just feels like its a season where nothing goes right. Were certainly not playing our best hockey as a team, but I do feel like this team has played well enough in general over the past 1-2 months, that we should be above .500 right now and right around the playoff threshold, but it just isn't meant to be.

 

[tigervixxxen]

One or two players sure, but not an entire team. Tanguay's the only one in the top 9 who hasn't struggled offensively this year. They're not that young any more either, apart from Nate.

And even if they have experience, ~23 is still very young from a human standpoint. Even ~26 is fairly young and those are all the guys we are depending on.

I still think once the O'Reilly situation is solved they'll play much more like a team. It many not even be a conscious thing but it hangs over OUR heads on a daily basis and the guys aren't idiots cut off from the world.

edit: Oh look, Groke wrote a story about asking ROR about trade rumors. He said the right things in that article but it left me even more cold.

And some of the things from before were taken out of context. Seems that always happens. One person has a reaction based on what they think they heard and everyone then has a reaction about that. Roy never said he was most disappointed in the second and third, he didn't say anything like that. Also, Iginla didn't say they needed one more minute, he said they were one more minute away from OT and then liked their chances 4 on 4, to which Julie then turned into they needed one more minute.

 

[JLo217]

All I know is Mack looks like a 4th liner.

 

[the_fan]

On the bright side for Roy, he can use injuries as an excuse when they miss the playoffs.

And he probably will. End of the season interview with Roy...

Reporter: Patrick can you comment on the season and why your team missed the playoffs?

Patrick: Well I think we played well for the most part, we gave it a good run, but we had too many injuries to overcome.

Then players will make all kinds of promises for next season, how they are gonna be a better team, and have another mediocre season.

 

[avspatti]

I wouldn't mind Hejda/Briere/Tanguay being traded. Use the spots that open up to give some of the AHL players an audition, especially Elliott and Hishon. I think the mix of the team right now is off. There is a lack of puck skill and a lack of intensity/hunger. Rendulic/Everberg aren't that skilled but they at least try to play the right way.

Some extra picks wouldn't hurt either, seeing as Sakic and Roy have added one extra in most of the trades they've made.

No to trading Tangs. He is so skilled and experienced - something we don't have that much of.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

All I know is Mack looks like a 4th liner.

I thought he looked pretty good for the last half of the game. I may be alone in that. He drew a penalty with his speed and created a few other chances.

On the bright side for Roy, he can use injuries as an excuse when they miss the playoffs.

And he probably will. End of the season interview with Roy...

Reporter: Patrick can you comment on the season and why your team missed the playoffs?

Patrick: Well I think we played well for the most part, we gave it a good run, but we had too many injuries to overcome.

Then players will make all kinds of promises for next season, how they are gonna be a better team, and have another mediocre season.

He hasn't mentioned anything about injuries for a while.

 

[El_Loco_Avs]

lol. McLeod almost murdered the ref after his goal.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Are you really suggesting Landy wasn't decent today?

No I was replying to the comment about Roy rewarding players who have been playing well lately. Landeskog had a good game but he has had a rough couple of weeks. If Roy's plan was to put out the guys who played well last night we would have seen Mackinnon and Stuart on the ice over Barrie and EJ.

All I was trying to argue was that if it's going to take 2 months for Roy to decide to try to teach a lesson to Mackinnon and Duchene, he can wait for the next game to do it. Aside from putting the 4th line on the powerplay a few times last month he hasn't done anything negative to them. Why start in the final minute of a one goal game you're trailing?

 

[Skip2myBordyloo]

Where are the individual efforts that he showed off last year in spades? He just loses the puck every time or falls down. You can't blame Mitchell, who has actually played damn well, or Briere, who sadly enough has more goals than the kid, for EVERYTHING that's going wrong. Where does the buck stop?

Mackinnon and Duchene rushes from our zone to the net come to mind. Seems like we don't have much odd man rushes or breakaway's this year compared to last.

I'm not really blaming Mitchell he's been everything we could ask for from a guy at his skill set and salary but he's not going to be the cog to help Mackinnon turn the page. Same with Briere they are fillers in a top 9, last year a huge reason why Mackinnon was so successful was Stastny would deliver him the puck on a silver platter.

Sometimes it's hard to realize what you can and can't do at the NHL level, seems D are playing Mackinnon tighter and boxing in his speed quick rather than giving him room.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Mackinnon and Duchene rushes from our zone to the net come to mind. Seems like we don't have much odd man rushes or breakaway's this year compared to last.

I'm not really blaming Mitchell he's been everything we could ask for from a guy at his skill set and salary but he's not going to be the cog to help Mackinnon turn the page. Same with Briere they are fillers in a top 9, last year a huge reason why Mackinnon was so successful was Stastny would deliver him the puck on a silver platter.

Sometimes it's hard to realize what you can and can't do at the NHL level, seems D are playing Mackinnon tighter and boxing in his speed quick rather than giving him room.

I've said this a few times before but defenseman aren't hitting out quick players in stride like they did last year. We're used to seeing Mackinnon and Duchene come out of the zone getting hit with a pass on their own blue line allowing them to fly up the ice and gain the zone. This year there is a lot more spinning and turning from our D and a lot more garbage flicked through the middle of the ice. I honestly feel like there's something going on between Barrie and Duchene since he refuses to give him the puck.

 

[Iceberg]

I've said this a few times before but defenseman aren't hitting out quick players in stride like they did last year. We're used to seeing Mackinnon and Duchene come out of the zone getting hit with a pass on their own blue line allowing them to fly up the ice and gain the zone. This year there is a lot more spinning and turning from our D and a lot more garbage flicked through the middle of the ice. I honestly feel like there's something going on between Barrie and Duchene since he refuses to give him the puck.

Maybe it has somenthing to do with teams clogging up the neutral zone more this year??

And don't you know that Barrie is friends with ROR and therefore hates Duchene??

 

[madman]

I've said this a few times before but defenseman aren't hitting out quick players in stride like they did last year. We're used to seeing Mackinnon and Duchene come out of the zone getting hit with a pass on their own blue line allowing them to fly up the ice and gain the zone. This year there is a lot more spinning and turning from our D and a lot more garbage flicked through the middle of the ice. I honestly feel like there's something going on between Barrie and Duchene since he refuses to give him the puck.

We've always known that none of Stuart, Hejda, or Guenin can make a breakout pass to save their respective lives. I swear, everytime Stuart gets the puck in his own zone with strong-side wing support, he manages to somehow put the puck on edge and just slings it off the boards for a routine icing. It happens every single game. Beyond Barrie and sometimes EJ, our D are idiots when it comes to natural hockey sense and participating in re-group/breakout transition plays.

 

[m0ngr31]

We've always known that none of Stuart, Hejda, or Guenin can make a breakout pass to save their respective lives. I swear, everytime Stuart gets the puck in his own zone with strong-side wing support, he manages to somehow put the puck on edge and just slings it off the boards for a routine icing. It happens every single game. Beyond Barrie and sometimes EJ, our D are idiots when it comes to natural hockey sense and participating in re-group/breakout transition plays.

The problem with both is they'd rather just take the puck themselves and start the rush instead of passing it. They are both pretty good about gaining the zone, but our F do nothing on the breakout right now. It's killing me.