GDT: Game 71: Avs vs. Ducks - Wabbit Season - 7PM

[Spleenless Wonder21]

It's certainly not on Kroenke. He's left the door wide open to spending and has kept his hands clean otherwise, which is a good thing considering is the the furthest thing from a hockey guy. We're actually pretty lucky in that regard IMO. Sakic certainly isn't free of blame, but I do take comfort in the fact that he has the Avs' best interest at heart. All he wants is to bring another Cup to Denver...he just may not have the chops to do it, nor the team he's surrounded himself with.

I agree that Kroenke is hands off, and left key to the safe. I’m not really advocating a full house cleaning. I would like to see Joe moved into a “President of Hockey Operations” type role, a more experienced/ruthless GM brought in, & an understanding that Sakic could resume the role after being Luke to a Yoda.

 

[Bender]

Bednar isn’t even doing a bad job but his lack of ability to keep momentum on their side is killing the Avs. Avs have such an inability to play a full 60 minute game.

Varlamovs lack of fight for rebounds gives teams such easy ass goals against. It’s brutal beyond belief.

Seriously? I think he's been awful.

* he keeps trying Colin Wilson as a Top-6 forward seemingly not realizing that he's a 4th liner at best. Doing so means he's crippling whatever scoring line he's on. He's done this practically the whole year. Atrocious.

* when Andrighetto came over from Montreal he had 16 points in 19 games played while playing with 96 and 29...yet somehow this season he's not even gotten a sniff at a Top-6 spot yet 22 is practically a mainstay???

* after finally finding line combinations that worked after our horrible Dec-Jan that saw the Avs bounce back and go 5-2-1 or whatever it was, he inexplicably breaks those lines up after being down 1-0 against San Jose even though we had played a really excellent period. I just don't get how he sees the game...it's really frikkin' weird. He relies on the Top Line way too much, it's like a crutch and when he does that, we become a 1 line team.

The only time he's even looked like a decent coach - is when the Top Line is firing on all cylinders or when our goalies are standing on their head. (Varly to start this season / Bernier last year during our 10 game streak)

It can't keep being the coach. There is something fundamentally wrong with this organization. They've been far too susceptible to mental fragility through three coaches and damn near 10 ****ing years now.

Sure it can if you keep hiring rookies with no prior NHL coaching experience that don't have a proven track record...it can continue to be the coach over and over and over again.

Joe Sacco - 0 prior NHL head coaching experience before he was hired - hell, he even had a BELOW .500 record in the AHL when he was given the job. Abysmal choice.

Patrick Roy - 0 prior NHL head coaching experience before he was hired - had a very good QMJHL track record though. Good choice at the time but they should have never given him power over player decisions.

Jared Bednar - 0 prior NHL head coaching experience before he was hired - won the Calder Cup with the Jackets farm team. Ok choice when you consider where we were but he has now proven that he's just not going to be the guy that's going to take this team over the hump. [Reminds me of Davis Payne with the Blues before they got rid of him and hired Hitchcock - and took a giant leap forward]

Does anyone really think that we'd be currently out of the playoff picture right now if we had Barry Trotz coaching this team?? I sure as hell don't.

Missing the playoffs this year will be a blessing in disguise. Sakic will have the 'excuse' to fire Bednar and we can hire Quenneville and take that next step next season.

 

[RoyIsALegend]

That last minute... so Avs-like.

Complete fkn embarrassment.

 

[Raucherhusten]

I feel bad for him the most, he's been absolutely on fire lately, but can't do it all alone.

But that's exactly what Sakic asked him to do this past 2 seasons by trading Duchene and NOT bringing in help last offseason. Not even McDavid can lift a bad team into the Playoffs - and neither can Nate.

 

[JLo217]

I hate this group

 

[drhiii]

Tyson Barrie deserves to be traded based on this game alone. Semyon should not be retained. So ****in leaky. Seriously. 3 days rest playing a team who played last night and had to travel. The effort was there the talent, execution, goaltending, clutchness was not. Had to kill that penalty and didnt. Had to score on the pp and didn't

Sir, spot on.

 

[Kosty17]

Tried my hardest to believe in bednar. But he’s just a soft coach who has no idea what he is doing with matchups or his own lines/roster

 

[Muffin]

Remember when we had a nice streak going before the deadline then decided to send down all the kids and the team became a dumpster fire again?

 

[chet1926]

What a bunch of f***ing losers. Can't lose games like this. Good teams simply don't lose games like this. We aren't good, we aren't even close. So sick of watching The same guys fail every single season.

 

[NOTENOUGHJTCGOALS]

MacGinnon and Rantanen aren't even going to hit 100 points after those hot starts.

Check out the main boards threads from November for some good hot takes from us homers.

 

[Avs]

Remember when we had a nice streak going before the deadline then decided to send down all the kids and the team became a dumpster fire again?

Good times

 

[Foppberg]

"Until we're mathematically eliminated, I still have a job."

 

[Avs_19]

I already lost all hope after the Landeskog injury and now this game should really do it. They lost the game in that awful second period.

Other than the collapse, the missed chances are so frustrating. Wilson had two in the first period and obviously couldn't bury either one with those stone stands. Kerfoot had a few that went straight into the Ducks logo, Jost on the PP, Zadorov on the breakaway, etc.

 

[Metallo]

If you look at W and L, including playoffs Bednar is 97-144 or a .402 winning %.

I think that’s enough to get fired.

 

[Bender]

Remember when we had a nice streak going before the deadline then decided to send down all the kids and the team became a dumpster fire again?

Yeah, that's another one. In one of those games, Greer played really, really well as he was hitting everything, getting into people's faces and making things happen on the ice. Oh sure, he didn't play that way the entire time he was up with the team but at least it showed a glimpse of how he was 'sometimes' capable of playing.

Then he got sent down.

The thing that Bednar just doesn't seem to get is that ONE GAME of having Greer play like that, is much, MUCH better than the 43 f***ing games that you've gotten from Gabriel Bourque all year long!!

 

[PAZ]

Missing the playoffs this year will be a blessing in disguise. Sakic will have the 'excuse' to fire Bednar and we can hire Quenneville and take that next step next season.

I'll be more than happy missing the playoffs if it means Sakic calls up Frankie and gives him the majority of starts down the stretch, let Varly eat popcorn unless he wants to re-sign for peanuts (aka a 3 year x 4 mil contract). Send Varly/Grubs down if they're concerned about making the AHL playoffs. If someone claims him then he's not our problem anymore.

 

[Spleenless Wonder21]

Yeah, that's another one. In one of those games, Greer played really, really well as he was hitting everything, getting into people's faces and making things happen on the ice. Oh sure, he didn't play that way the entire time he was up with the team but at least it showed a glimpse of how he was 'sometimes' capable of playing.

Then he got sent down.

The thing that Bednar just doesn't seem to get is that ONE GAME of having Greer play like that, is much, MUCH better than the 43 ****ing games that you've gotten from Gabriel Bourque all year long!!

But, empty net goals!

 

[crue7]

Yeah, that's another one. In one of those games, Greer played really, really well as he was hitting everything, getting into people's faces and making things happen on the ice. Oh sure, he didn't play that way the entire time he was up with the team but at least it showed a glimpse of how he was 'sometimes' capable of playing.

Then he got sent down.

The thing that Bednar just doesn't seem to get is that ONE GAME of having Greer play like that, is much, MUCH better than the 43 ****ing games that you've gotten from Gabriel Bourque all year long!!

Just f***ing LOL. Go on a run and change the entire makeup of the 4th line. This dude is in way over his head. Ghetto obviously plays way better given top 6 minutes and soon as he's given that tonight, he scores a goal. A goal Wilson would of missed 9 times out of 10. He looked great before Bednar decided it would be a good idea to jettison the 4th line to the AHL and put him back on this WHATEVER 4th line that does NOTHING.

Bednar needs to go and he's a huge problem with this team IMO. The leeway he gives certain players is unbearable and he shows zero emotion during a game. f***ing get your players AMPED and willing to battle.

 

[kchan9]

This team makes me so f***ing angry

 

[crue7]

@The Kingslayer
I know you hate Ghetto but you have to admit, he performed much better in the top 6 than kerfoot has this year. Or Wilson for that matter

 

[AvsMakar08]

Yeah, that's another one. In one of those games, Greer played really, really well as he was hitting everything, getting into people's faces and making things happen on the ice. Oh sure, he didn't play that way the entire time he was up with the team but at least it showed a glimpse of how he was 'sometimes' capable of playing.

Then he got sent down.

The thing that Bednar just doesn't seem to get is that ONE GAME of having Greer play like that, is much, MUCH better than the 43 ****ing games that you've gotten from Gabriel Bourque all year long!!

There is politics behind it Bender, you know this.

 

[Raucherhusten]

The only good thing that is coming out of this season is that we don't have to protect Makar in the ED. Oh and that the Ottawa pick will bring us a damn good player no matter what.

Other than that it was a wasted season with career years of Mac/Rants/Landy being flushed down the toilet because ... everything else not being good enough.

 

[Mules]

I don't want them to tank again. We had tanked for the last couple years. And its hard to get rid of the tankin mentality

 

[The Abusement Park]

This is why I don't want them to tank again. Once losing culture sets in, its hard to get rid off.

Too late.

 

[S E P H]

I think I about had it with ****ing Tyson "skank" Barrie. 90% of all the odd-man rushes that happen on this club is due to Barrie throwing himself forward trying to keep the puck into the zone. 9% of the rest is because Cole stupidly pinches and 1% is the rest of the defencive core combined. He's a piece of **** player. Mikko took a weird ass penalty because guess what? He had to cover the point so Barrie can stat-whack to another secondary assist, so he can ultimately force his way to an 8 million year contract because total offence is what brings money....but it doesn't bring Cups that's for sure. Avs won't be going anywhere until this shit player is off the team. Just good riddance in all honesty, draft Byram at 3rd and Makar can hopefully make Barrie expandable and waste another team's roster. If I had the chance of having my defencive core either have 1 Barrie and 0 Coles' or 0Barrie and 3 Coles' I easily take the latter option. Terrible player.

Now with that rant over, season is done. I am not expecting them to win a lot of games done the stretch, there is no clutch, no consistency, and just no magic compared to last year. I am not saying we could replicate another ten game streak like last season, but the tops of this season currently was six games back when the cheat code line was playing ridiculous. And even though six is actually a very decent winning streak, Avs followed that up with an 8 game losing streak in December.

Additionally, no way does Avs even come close to the playoffs when you have Erik Johnson playing like Erik Gudbranson today. No way in hell. Once again your best defenders were Zadorov and Girard and even then Nikita was at fault for the GWG and took responsibility for it.

Then you have Varlamov giving up easy goals because he doesn't want to dive on rebounds like Grubauer does. Now Philipp has his own demons, but his never give up for a loose puck attitude should be the reason why Bednar makes the decision to play Grubs for every remaining game.

Seriously? I think he's been awful.

I was giving him benefit of the doubt. Oh there are things I think he's contributing to losses a lot more than playing freakin' Colin Wilson too much.