GDT: Preseason game 2: Avs @ Mild 6:00pm ET/4:00 MT

Foppberg

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Nov 20, 2016
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What a waste of time, for both teams. Preseason is about prepping for the season and evaluating young players/prospects. How are you supposed to do either of those things when you send out your NHL roster against essentially another teams AHL team? Stupid.
 
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TatteredTornNFrayed

very angry indeed
Jan 15, 2008
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Also, this is the Wild's 4th preseason game, so they've had more time getting things going. And they lost the first 3, and B0udreau was on them, so they were really wanting a win.
 

the_fan

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Avs look bored of preseason, they're waiting for the real season to start
 

Avs_19

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Totally agree and understand, but I don't get what the club is getting out of this? Marching out kids to get slammed night after night, hanging our starting goalies out to dry.
We appear to have 0 effort, 0 system, 0 defense, 0 offense, and are at LEAST 2-3 gears behind the rest of the league to date.

Can't read much into these games so far. First game had some vets with junior and low end AHL guys. Tonight was even fewer vets and AHL guys against the Wild's NHL team. If the Avs ice the type of lineup the Wild did tonight and get blown out then it might be time to wonder what's up but right now I couldn't care less.
 

The Kingslayer

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Aug 26, 2004
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Totally agree and understand, but I don't get what the club is getting out of this? Marching out kids to get slammed night after night, hanging our starting goalies out to dry.
We appear to have 0 effort, 0 system, 0 defense, 0 offense, and are at LEAST 2-3 gears behind the rest of the league to date.

The staff is evaluating the younger players. The vets are trying to stay healthy. Im not worried at all although I don't like Bednar keeping grubs in for all 7 goals. Thats not gonna help his confidence much but then again Mason Gaertsen plays in front of him haha
 

El Travo

Why are we still here? Just to suffer?
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Just got the notification about the result, checked the line-ups and things make sense. Make cuts and get the NHLers out there to build some team chemistry. No need to have Girard as the only NHL defender out there when everyone else is being a bunch of try-hards.

Also, when the hell did Hjalmarsson join the team?
 

McMetal

Writer of Wrongs
Sep 29, 2015
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I refuse to panic until game 4 of preseason. That's when the meaningful cuts are starting to be made out of camp. Games 4-5-6 are the ones that actually start to be relevant to the season.
 

Avs_19

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I don't know if it's because of a Russian stereotype or something else but I wasn't expecting Igor to come in and start trying to throw his weight around and finishing checks. That was nice to see along with a couple of solid defensive plays. The offense should be there with him so if he continues to do the other stuff, he should make the coaches pretty happy.
 
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The Kingslayer

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I refuse to panic until game 4 of preseason. That's when the meaningful cuts are starting to be made out of camp. Games 4-5-6 are the ones that actually start to be relevant to the season.
I might be the only guy who doesnt care at all about preseason lol. Games 4,5 and 6 in preseason mean nothing to me. Games 1-82 mean everything to me.
 

Avs44

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May 16, 2011
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Meh, unsurprising result. Considering the talent gulf being blown out was kind of expected.

- Hope Bednar and co take the pre-season a little more seriously from here on out. It was basically an AHL level squad tonight, nobody can really shine in that scenario considering what they were up against. Kind of surprised Minnesota basically rolled out their entire starting night roster.

- Having said that, I think we could still see tonight just how badly this team lacks guys who can put pucks in the net outside of our top line. I thought they had some good chances out there and some good looks, but often just struggled to even get it on goal. Particularly obvious when 2/3rds of our 2nd line / 3rd line, Jost and Kerfoot, were out there. The effort those two put in is pretty obvious, but neither are talented enough to go out there and single handedly create chances for themselves. Really need a somewhat experienced bigger bodied presence with those two who knows how to consistently score and win puck battles. I really think getting that right player could change the secondary scoring outlook of the club and create something resembling an actual second line.

- I liked Kamenev, honestly. Played the most of the Avs' forwards tonight, Bednar seemed to have some trust in him. I thought he hustled pretty well on the PK especially. He's clearly a significantly more talented player than his competition for that 4th line spot, e.g. like Toninato. If he keeps it up for the rest of the pre-season I hope he gets a roster spot.

- Really dissapointed in Greer tonight. He could be the exact sort of player the Avs need, but he just doesn't seem to get it together. Not an intimidating presence at all, invisible most of the time.

- I'd rather not see Geertsen ever again. Lindholm is not good. Alt is AHL fodder and hopefully not the first call up in case of injury. Girard had some rough moments but his talent and confidence, as it was all of last year, is spectacular to watch.

- Thought Grubauer was great in the first, really calm in net, and then sort of started giving up / losing focus as he realized the team was just getting shelled.
 
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S E P H

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- Whoever made our preseason schedule is deranged AF. Only our second game with four days off? How the hell can you accurately judge players when this the second group's first effin' game? The first one should've been a split-squad game at the very least.

- Also Boudreau is an effin' coward, playing 99% of your regular team with two more weeks of preseason is pathetic. This guy is a joke of the league and won't ever win a Cup with this garbage attitude. Yeah we murdered them last season, he was looking like he was trying to get some sort of weird revenge today. Pathetic.

- Won't judge too harshly on the players today since it was the first real action against Wild's A- team. I am not even going to talk about what I thought of Grubauer because it was so unfair to him. I thought that was a good learning lesson for our players to see what they need to do to get to the NHL.

- Avs had their chances, but majority of them missed the net so nobody could've capitalized on them. Another problem I saw is how soft we were with the likes of Geertsen, Greer, Bass, and Meloche. Not good enough.

- Alt was pretty decent.

- Kerfoot looked really bad.

- Dries had some nice plays, but you saw his limitation against NHL players. Awful defencively.

- Jost was the most disappointing player out there today. You wanted to see a tad more NHL skill, but he floated.

- I liked Wilson's work ethic today and just seemed to miss some good chances here and there.

- I liked what I saw from Graves again, he was responsible for some of the ****'s goals, sure, but in a limited role I think he would look a lot better.

- Meloche played too soft for me today, but he was overall good. Another season in the AHL should really expand his game because the talent is there.

- Shvyrev looks like he's adjusting to the North American style of hockey. Don't get me wrong, Russia has a way better version of hockey instead of the trash dump'n'chase, but sadly he's going to have to learn how to play it if he wants to be in the NHL/Bednar's camp. He didn't look too bad.

- Not only was that Toninato line by far the worst of the game, he was up there as being one of the worst players out there. Yikes, that was bad from him.

- Holy ****, Girard, that was a wonderful game by him. Yeah getting trashed 7-0 might not seem like and I think Samuel has a lot more to display (offencively), but he absolutely owned Parise out there every freakin' shift. Shot still sucks though.

- Lindholm probably edges Toninato out for last star if there was an award. He was running around all the over the ice like his head was cut off. Every decision he made with the puck ended up as a disaster. Every positioning on the ice was a disaster. Him being on the ice was just a disaster. The dude is done.

- Kaut was solid considering the position he was in and how that was his first game ever.

- Lewis looked really jittery through the whole night. You see the talent, but I am quite disappointed that he didn't bulk up more over the summer.

- Kamenev was actually really solid. Considering how peeps here were calling him Grigorenko 2.0, he looked like an NHL player with his puck skills, smoothness, and IQ.

- Worst aspect is how the team quit in the middle of the second period. The refs sucked, but Avs didn't do any favours themselves by quitting to move their feet and compete.
 
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Avs_19

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Not a whole lot of positives to take out of this one. One small positive is Jost went 8 out of 15 on face-offs, for 53%.

MacKinnon went 8/15 last game as well. Hopefully the Avs aren't going back to being a bad team that's good on faceoffs after being a good team that's bad on faceoffs last season. :D
 
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Foppa2118

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Oct 3, 2003
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I'm disappointed in Greer as well. Had a really nice first shift, where he back checked hard and saved a goal, but then lost his man on a similar play and gave up a goal. Then didn't make up for it the rest of the game. Unforauntely, I'm not sure he's a great fit for Bednar's system. He just doesn't seem to confidently play his game and know what to do out there. Just reacting too much.

Weird game from Grubauer. Looked great early on, but then seemed to lose focus and look a little shaky. Hopefully that's just some pre-season rust and not a sign of things to come. Looking forward to seeing Francouz soon though.

Lindholm not looking like an NHLer anymore. Too bad for him, but I have a feeling this run in NA might be coming to an end for him.

Geertsen probably played his last game in an Avs sweater. Wish him luck in the future.

Girard was easily the best Av out there. So smooth, and smart with the puck. Great stick defensively as well. Almost want to bubble wrap him until the season starts.

Jost and Kefoot looked good early, but then seemed to dial it back as the game went on. Want to see them put in more of a full effort next game. Liked the way Jost was moving around the ice though. Looked quicker, more fluid, and at times showed a higher top speed than we saw from him last year. Looked ok on face-offs too, going 8 out of 15 for 53%.

I don't know where Wilson fits in this lineup. I have a hard time seeing him playing above the 4th line. He just doesn't have the legs to play Bednar's system, doesn't quite have the hands to contribute much in a top six role, and isn't quite good enough defensively either. Maybe he finds a way to step it up, but I have a feeling he'll either be traded at some point for a low level prospect, or find himself as a regular scratch.

I think Kamenev was ok for the most part, but still showed a little too much inconsistency. He needs to really stand out more in one of these pre-season games. If he had any sort of meaningful competition, this kind of game wouldn't be enough IMO. Needs to take hold of a game and show he wants it. He's got the talent to do it.

Toninato looked ok for the role he plays. Might need to show a little more offense though. Purely defensive roles don't seem to exist any more. He works hard, but he also has a bad habit of turning the puck over at his own blue line. Seems to get over anxious about going up ice with the puck and loses it.

Kaut looked good for the most part, especially early. I think he would really benefit from a full year in the AHL, but there's definitely something to work with there. Seemed to read the game well with skilled players in Jost and Kerfoot. That's a good sign. If he can work with Tracy to find another gear, and work on his conditioning (seemed to lose his legs halfway through some of his shifts), look out. He could be a nice fit as a right handed RW somewhere in a middle six role.
 
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Avs_19

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- I liked Wilson's work ethic today and just seemed to miss some good chances here and there.

He works hard and provides something you need in the bottom six but he has stone hands. Like I said earlier, I can't believe he once scored 20 goals at the NHL level.

- Shvyrev looks like he's adjusting to the North American style of hockey. Don't get me wrong, Russia has a way better version of hockey instead of the trash dump'n'chase, but sadly he's going to have to learn how to play it if he wants to be in the NHL/Bednar's camp. He didn't look too bad.

I liked what I saw from him overall. Not a ton happened offensively but he did some of those little things NA coaches look for and appreciate.

- Not only was that Toninato line by far the worst of the game, he was up there as being one of the worst players out there. Yikes, that was bad from him.

He was sooooooo slow.

- Kamenev was actually really solid. Considering how peeps here were calling him Grigorenko 2.0, he looked like an NHL player with his puck skills, smoothness, and IQ.

Agreed,
 

Rumplesnipeskin

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Nov 30, 2011
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Not much to say after this one, an expected result when you look at the lineups. I will mention a couple things:

Kamenev looked good, the guy belongs in the NHL (if he puts forth the effort).

NHL regulars looked like they belonged, no surprise there. Jost didn’t look “strong” as we might have hoped. Greer... sigh

Meloche looked tired, he might still be getting his legs back (hopefully). Underwhelming, though (also note the lack of support he often had from forwards).

Liked what Kaut showed, he looks like he will tear up the AHL if that’s where they put him. It was my first time watching him play, as I’m sure it was for many (beyond highlight reels), but I can see why our staff liked him and drafted him.

Our “depth” defense is prettty bad. I know it’s early, but man do we need our D core to stay healthy while our prospects have another year to develop. Can’t have Alt/Graves/Lindholm seeing any substantial ice time and expect to compete with the top teams in the league.

Grubauer let in a softie on the first goal, but was hung out to dry on most of the others. Hopefully he got some good conditioning in, and some work on tracking the puck in a game situation. Get him back into the flow. Can’t pass any judgment based on this one.

Agozzino skated well, I liked what he showed.

Fin
 

S E P H

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I don't know if it's because of a Russian stereotype or something else but I wasn't expecting Igor to come in and start trying to throw his weight around and finishing checks. That was nice to see along with a couple of solid defensive plays. The offense should be there with him so if he continues to do the other stuff, he should make the coaches pretty happy.
Yeah, he was one of the more physical guys at camp...take that as a good thing or a bad thing, lol.
 
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S E P H

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Why'd they leave Grubauer in for this?
No doubt, Bednar knew the roster he was putting in there and knew how strong the Wild's were. These are games that tend to get out of hand and not sure Grubs deserved that. The shots were like 30-12 somewhere in the 3rd period, Francouz could've relieved the plain a lot more if he got to play one period.
 
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Foppa2118

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Oct 3, 2003
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No doubt, Bednar knew the roster he was putting in there and knew how strong the Wild's were. These are games that tend to get out of hand and not sure Grubs deserved that. The shots were like 30-12 somewhere in the 3rd period, Francouz could've relieved the plain a lot more if he got to play one period.

Or he could have got lit up in his first NA game. I'm ok with Bednar protecting him a little bit. Grubauer's a vet. He can handle it.
 

Avsboy

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Dec 12, 2006
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I liked Kerfoot, Kamenev, Wilson, Girard of course. Jost was less impressive this game.

The major problem this game was the D - couldn't get the puck out of the zone and up the ice, handled passes like grenades. That means Geersten, Meloche, Graves, and Lindholm was particularly bad.

Dries looked quite good. Kaut wasn't so great IMO, out-muscled in the corner a lot. First game.
 

Ambisextrous

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Nice to see Hjalmarsson go 40% on the faceoff. Pretty good as a defender
 

dahrougem2

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Or he could have got lit up in his first NA game. I'm ok with Bednar protecting him a little bit. Grubauer's a vet. He can handle it.
Grubauer is the new acquisition that is going to be fighting Varlamov for the starters gig and is looking to make an impression with his new teammates.

Francouz is obviously new, too, but I wouldn't have left Grubauer in there like that.
 
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dahrougem2

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Dec 9, 2011
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Idk if it was this thread or some other thread that I said it in but A.J. Greer just doesn't have "it". Maybe that'll change. He is, after all, still 21 and doesn't turn 22 until December yet it feels like he's been in this organization forever.

The talent/physical tools (aside from his skating) are there to be a solid 3rd line player. I don't know if the mindset/consistency is past AHL level, though.
 

Balthazar

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Just got home and saw the score. Glad to read that Girard did well but disappointed to read about Jost's performance. I didn't expect much from the rest of that lineup, including Kerfoot.
 

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