GDT: Game #61- Avs host Kraken @7pm MT / 9pm ET/ 4am CET/ 8am ICT

[NOTENOUGHRYJOTHINGS]

Does anybody even have to guess how I feel in this?

I don’t have issues having a guy or two like EJ, Manson or others in the lineup. Dont overpay for them and don’t lock in after 30. Also, only use them as complementary forces when your team is more about tempo and pressure. If you want to build a grind it out team, sure by all means… you just build your forward group with a bunch of 2 way players and just understand 3-2 is life.

So 10 millions spent on EJ and Manson isn't actually a genius move?

 

[CobraAcesS]

Ya I wanna punch a f***ing wall daily because a team that is all about speed and skill decided to let two of those guys go without replacing them.

Seems to me there is a bit of a disconnect between front office and coach, then. Because Bednar is not the style of coach who wants his roster looking like that. Yet front office decided 91/95 could not be brought back while retaining 42/6 and bringing in Eller as their big TDL acquisition.

It is not an effort thing. They are clearly trying. They just aren't that good this season. Everyone brings A+ effort in the playoffs. In the end talent (and some luck) wins out. The Avs are sorely lacking talent this season. And I don't just mean top end. I mean line by line talent. The Avs 2nd, 3rd and 4th lines are vastly inferior this season compared to last. That is a problem.

You make a good point, but they're not machines. Winning takes an edge off you have to sort of re-sharpen, and they're all tired and injured as f***. I think they're trying to manage it so the team is the best it can be going in.

We'll see, but they certainly don't play their game every night for a lot of reasons. There is a lot of guys who would basically flip a switch in the playoffs now on this team.

The more the core wins the less they give a shit at certain times. Even when we think they should.

I don't know, I just don't trust anything they show us in games right now outside of microcosm, and individual story lines.

 

[Reparlana]

The Avs are still making the same mistakes they made in OCTOBER. They havent snapped out of nothing yet.

This is the problem I have. I believe in them and think they'll turn it on when the hockey matters. But giving up break aways, sloppy passing, pissing away games they should be winning.

 

[CobraAcesS]

You make a good point, but they're not machines. Winning takes an edge off you have to sort of re-sharpen, and they're all tired and injured as f***. I think they're trying to manage it so the team is the best it can be going in.

We'll see, but they certainly don't play their game every night for a lot of reasons. There is a lot of guys who would basically flip a switch in the playoffs now on this team.

The more the core wins the less they give a shit at certain times. Even when we think they should.

I don't know, I just don't trust anything they show us in games right now outside of microcosm, and individual story lines.

In saying this, I'm not giving them a pass. It's a flaw we all have that has to be overcome.

Plenty of elite soldiers look for easy jobs later. I did, you just don't know where people's mindset is going to go after that.

It's clear Mack, Nuke, Landy, and Mikko don't feel they're done. Makar is missing something right now, but he's not that kind of crazy. Especially for the regular season. He's chill, he's won, he is or was the best. Maybe even with scrambled brains he needs the pressure now to get back to that edge.

The human dynamic in all of this is the hardest thing to really quantify. We just don't know. I'm hopeful, and try to see what I can see. Our core is special, they'll prove if they really deserve to be in the history books.

Look at Tampa, their core pretty much knows they'll be the standard for a long time. Get those dudes to give 110 now lol.

Human nature is a bitch

 

[Grigowski]

At least "a point". San Jose should be a winnable game....Should. Last time a pacific dweller was in Denver (Anaheim) we shit the bed....

 

[The Kingslayer]

At least "a point". San Jose should be a winnable game....Should. Last time a pacific dweller was in Denver (Anaheim) we shit the bed....

Thats because the worst goalie in hockey was in the net

 

[chet1926]

He was never going to give up a first for what was available.

It's called don't wait until the f***ing deadline. This has been a problem since August. Work the phones until it's resolved. I guarantee there would have been better and/or more options had he been working the phones day 1. And maybe something that would have been worth a 1st.

Even if the plan was give Newhook a shot, we could tell by Dec 1, it wasn't going to work. That's still 3.5 months to figure out a solution.

 

[Grigowski]

Look at Tampa, their core pretty much knows they'll be the standard for a long time. Get those dudes to give 110 now lol.

..they were.

 

[chet1926]

Not sure what people are expecting with this team.

They simply don't have the adequate depth on a nightly basis to be consistent. Be it injuries or the f***tard GM who didn't bother getting us a real 2nd line, we just aren't really a great team. We have great players and solid players but outside a couple guys they are all playing slightly higher than they should.

Take tonight, Nieto was playing 2nd line, missing Manson and Landy, Nuke probably not 100% after missing yesterday because he was sick probably didn't get better overnight. Hunt is playing big minutes. Makar is just coming back from scrambled brains.

 

[Raucherhusten]

After the shitshow that was the past week with 3 losses and a lackluster deadline i'm almost ready to

or even

I'm not quite there yet. But it's getting close!

This team is better than that. Time to show it boyz.

 

[Muffin]

There's really no point in panicking, it's not like the team is in danger of missing the playoffs. All we can do is how this team does in the playoffs. All I know is we have a huge upgrade in net going into the playoffs.

 

[Grigowski]

There's really no point in panicking, it's not like the team is in danger of missing the playoffs. All we can do is how this team does in the playoffs.

Also partly thanks to Calgary shitting the bed and Nashville (although they put together some wins lately) is a seller this year. It´s not that our team is that sovereign on all fronts. The wildcard-race in the west is pretty "boring", compared to the east.

But at least we got some luck on that front. But still i wouldn´t be so sure yet that we make the playoffs with ease. Not with this bandaid-team. Whenever i see a new comment on our injury thread panic rises who might be the next one out. That´s not funny anymore.

And if we do get in, well, if not healthy to a certain degree, we wont go far this year. Even if the west seems "weak" (which isn´t quite true). I just can´t see this team suddenly getting healthy. Imagine Landeskog being not able to play at all this year, which can´t be ruled out either......

All I know is we have a huge upgrade in net going into the playoffs.

Yes, we have. But Georgie has never entered the playoffs as clear No. 1 and so far has played 2 playoff-games (!!) So we don´t know if he can handle it. That´s, at least, a question mark.

And even if Georgie stands on his head, if the men i front of him are not healthy enough or can´t stay healthy even if there lives depends on it, it will be a short run.

 

[Alienblood]

So you mean the Avs should have attached a 1st to EJ last summer to move him & ditched Manson while re-signing Kadri and Burakovsky?

Kadri sucks.......you gotta move on lol

 

[Mr Zappalanche]

I am sad watching Nuke play like this. He was terrible.

 

[missionAvs]

Nice. Wasn't able to watch the game all the way through last night but I'm glad to wake up to see we got the Dallas point.

 

[forsbergavs32]

San Jose should hopefully be a good game to get back on track. Bottom dweller that sold and play in Winnipeg the night before.

 

[dahrougem2]

San Jose should hopefully be a good game to get back on track. Bottom dweller that sold and play in Winnipeg the night before.

Watch us lay an absolute egg lol

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

We really need to go 4-0 in this next stretch. Worst case should be 3-1. If We can't do that we are likely to struggle the rest of the way and barely slip in in a wild card slot. I think we need to finish into 2-3 slot for best chance for a run.

 

[henchman21]

The only team the Avs play in the next 4 where the Avs have an excuse to lose is LA.

 

[RockLobster]

The only team the Avs play in the next 4 where the Avs have an excuse to lose is LA.

This is true.

On my drive in, I could not help but think "You know what, can we honestly say this is a CUP contending team?" And by that, I mean they're obviously going to the playoffs, and we obviously know that once in the playoffs anything can happen.

But this roster just isn't up-to-snuff. That's why I was frustrated with Friday's inaction. That's why I chalk this up to them wasting a year of this core. For this year, it doesn't matter that they won last year. It's all great that they won, and I'll cherish the memories forever. But when your window of contention is open, you should be going all-out.

We'll see if they can get righted before the end of the season / the playoffs.

 

[chet1926]

We really need to go 4-0 in this next stretch. Worst case should be 3-1. If We can't do that we are likely to struggle the rest of the way and barely slip in in a wild card slot. I think we need to finish into 2-3 slot for best chance for a run.

They really need to finish in the 2 slot in the central to have the best shot. I find it hard to envision us winning 4 out 7 against most likely Minnesota, if we have to play 4 out of 7 in Minnesota.

Sadly I think we'd be better off finishing in one of the wildcards and matching Vegas or Dallas.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

I’m still fairly hopeful. The team goal should still be to finish first in the West. I don’t think that’s out of the question.

In general they bleed shots more with Compher at Centre instead of Naz and aren’t as equipped to handle injuries this season. Doesn’t mean they’re not still really good, but those are challenges.

At least in the playoffs, players only miss time when they have a serious injury. I think the Avs are pretty conservative in holding guys out in the regular season to try and be as healthy as possible when the playoffs come. It’s the Tampa model and they follow it.

 

[chet1926]

This is true.

On my drive in, I could not help but think "You know what, can we honestly say this is a CUP contending team?" And by that, I mean they're obviously going to the playoffs, and we obviously know that once in the playoffs anything can happen.

But this roster just isn't up-to-snuff. That's why I was frustrated with Friday's inaction. That's why I chalk this up to them wasting a year of this core. For this year, it doesn't matter that they won last year. It's all great that they won, and I'll cherish the memories forever. But when your window of contention is open, you should be going all-out.

We'll see if they can get righted before the end of the season / the playoffs.

This is my thoughts pretty much to a T. They'll squeak in, and most likely get killed 1st or 2nd round. Honestly I'm betting 1st round as they'll more than likely have too be the road team.

This roster had one major hole that didn't get addressed and has not shown the ability to even play 1 game with a healthy roster. I think the best they've done all season is 2 key guys out.

They might get on a hot streak if 29, 96 and 8 all play to their best ability at the same time. But it won't be enough to do anything of significant value.

CMac straight up wasted a year and it's incredibly frustrating.

 

[henchman21]

This is true.

On my drive in, I could not help but think "You know what, can we honestly say this is a CUP contending team?" And by that, I mean they're obviously going to the playoffs, and we obviously know that once in the playoffs anything can happen.

But this roster just isn't up-to-snuff. That's why I was frustrated with Friday's inaction. That's why I chalk this up to them wasting a year of this core. For this year, it doesn't matter that they won last year. It's all great that they won, and I'll cherish the memories forever. But when your window of contention is open, you should be going all-out.

We'll see if they can get righted before the end of the season / the playoffs.

My thoughts on this are pretty clear at this point. In the end, the Avs are taking a risk by being conservative and only time will tell if it was the correct decision or not.

With regards to the results, IMO the Avs are clearly in the Cup or bust realm. I wouldn't consider a run to the WCF or even the Cup finals a successful season. It is Cup or failure right now. Mostly because you only get a few finite chances at winning a Cup with a core. If you don't capitalize on them when you can, it ends up a waste. This isn't the 18-19 Avs where there are many years in the future... this is a team with a horde of cap issues, players starting to age and build up injuries, and the asset pool getting thinner and thinner.

 

[Ararana]

Is anyone just finding themselves apathetic after MacFarland's big no show at the deadline? They're not winning a cup with JT2C, rooting for playoff seeding seems pointless to me ATM. I don't even see this team coming out of the West.

I might be more excited if they missed the postseason and end up with a higher pick because apparently we're keeping that damn thing.