GDT: R2G4: Avs @ Blues 9:30pm ET (7:30pm MT) **COL Now Leads 3-1 **

[Pokecheque]

One thing those of y'all pining for postseason Dermy should acknowledge is that in order for a guy who's that bad defensively to be put into the lineup, you damn well better have an elite or near-elite goalie ready to make saves when he inevitably turns the puck over at an inopportune time or just flat out misses a check or assignment. Love him or hate him, Kuemper thus far has most assuredly not been that. I can see a team like the Rangers just saying "f*** it" and putting in Reaves since they have Shesterkin back there (and don't really care about team defense anyway), but the Avs do not have that luxury.

 

[missionAvs]

He's nowhere near as bad as everyone on here seems to convinced themselves he is.

This is true.

He's still far, far worse than the guys ahead of him on the depth chart.

Unfortunately, this is also true.

 

[The Pwnerer]

I've liked Helms game over Cogliano so far. If NAK is scratched he should slot over Cogliano.

 

[jaisen73]

I am all for giving Newhook some play, regardless of who gets scratched in his place.

It is time to take a stranglehold on the series. Ignore the distractions, fire the puck from all directions at Husso, and get the win.

 

[Pokecheque]

Newhook doesn't provide anything. NAK at least moves the puck in the right direction and has limited turnovers.

NAK has had his fair share of bad turnovers. He's also doing absolutely nothing in the attacking zone offensively.

I'll agree I did not love Newhook's play the final month or so of his season, and it's readily apparent the coaches didn't either. But I'd like for the third line to do SOMETHING other than just hold serve when they're out there on the ice.

 

[The Abusement Park]

He's nowhere near as bad as everyone on here seems to convinced themselves he is.

At defense he is arguably the worst player in the entire league. At forward he’s bad but you can hide him at least a little bit.

 

[forsbergavs32]

I think I’d be ok sitting Bura for Newhook. Bura hasn’t done much other than miss the net all series, Newhook may be able to provide a bit more there. With what Bednar said about certain players slotting in at certain roles, it makes the most sense for Hook to slot in for Bura rather than one of the 4th liners.

 

[Foote8]

No it is not a game for "The Big Man" because "The Big Man" is one of the worst hockey players in the entire league. There's plenty of people who will go after anyone who goes after Kadri, who can actually play.

You use MacDermid in the regular season, you do not use him against one of the deepest offenses in the league in a postseason away game.

MacDermid was brought in so Landeskog and others don't have to get hurt going after the goons that come after Kadri in times like these. There are not plenty of players on the Avs that should be doing that - even Manson is too important to get hurt. Why would you sign him to just play the regular season? He was brought in to keep incidents like Reaves kneeling on Graves's head and making the entire team play soft afterwards since nobody could answer the bell. This is the exact game you put him in for.

 

[Crossfire Hurricane]

MacDermid was brought in so Landeskog and others don't have to get hurt going after the goons that come after Kadri in times like these. There are not plenty of players on the Avs that should be doing that - even Manson is too important to get hurt. Why would you sign him to just play the regular season? He was brought in to keep incidents like Reaves kneeling on Graves's head and making the entire team play soft afterwards since nobody could answer the bell. This is the exact game you put him in for.

I just want the MacDermid that played against Washington.

 

[NOTENOUGHJTCGOALS]

Newhook or Bura?

Why not both?

 

[Avsboy]

Moose has to make decisions faster

 

[forsbergavs32]

I’m still not getting people thinking MacDermid is the world’s worst hockey player. The first few months? Sure. But from January on he got more comfortable and found his game and played safe and limited mistakes.

He doesn’t need to be in every night, or even tonight. But if the Blues get crazy tonight I’d definitely like to see him in game 5 where Bednar can control the matchups.

 

[Pokecheque]

MacDermid was brought in so Landeskog and others don't have to get hurt going after the goons that come after Kadri in times like these. There are not plenty of players on the Avs that should be doing that - even Manson is too important to get hurt. Why would you sign him to just play the regular season? He was brought in to keep incidents like Reaves kneeling on Graves's head and making the entire team play soft afterwards since nobody could answer the bell. This is the exact game you put him in for.

This is a bullshit narrative if ever there was one.

One incident did not define that series, bad goaltending, bad and panicky defensive play, and an overall lack of depth did the Avs in. The difference is not going to be felt with players like MacDerrmid, but rather players like Lehkonen, Cogliano, Helm, Manson, and hopefully, Kuemper. Also addition by subtraction with Graves and Nemeth (and Grubauer) being gone.

The two things I will freely admit a goon does to help his team is allow for the perception that they are now "tougher" and embolden them to play with more confidence during the regular season and the energy a good brawl and/or a big hit brings to a bench, especially if you're looking to change the momentum. That's great and all for the regular season, but you don't need pickups like that for the postseason. If you ain't engaged and playing hard-nosed hockey by the time the regular season ends, no goon is gonna help that.

The last thing the Avs need to get into is a war of attrition against the Blues. That's what the Blues want. They WANT the Avs to get distracted and throw down, and form an assembly line to the penalty box. Avs just need to play their game and get to the net as much as humanly possible. They did an excellent job, especially 62 and 13, in disrupting the Blues' attacking zone cycle. All St. Louis could do was a lot of one-and-done rush attempts (which admittedly the Avs gave up way too many and need to play more aggressively in the NZ).

 

[Iceberg]

MacDermid was brought in so Landeskog and others don't have to get hurt going after the goons that come after Kadri in times like these. There are not plenty of players on the Avs that should be doing that - even Manson is too important to get hurt. Why would you sign him to just play the regular season? He was brought in to keep incidents like Reaves kneeling on Graves's head and making the entire team play soft afterwards since nobody could answer the bell. This is the exact game you put him in for.

What goon the Blues have? There is no Reaves there...

 

[The Abusement Park]

I’m still not getting people thinking MacDermid is the world’s worst hockey player. The first few months? Sure. But from January on he got more comfortable and found his game and played safe and limited mistakes.

He doesn’t need to be in every night, or even tonight. But if the Blues get crazy tonight I’d definitely like to see him in game 5 where Bednar can control the matchups.

It’s because he played forward more later on in the season and it’s far easier to have less of an impact up there. But every time he plays defense he gets burned horribly a couple times a game. And against one of the deepest forward cores in the playoffs is just to big a risk.

 

[Pokecheque]

I’m still not getting people thinking MacDermid is the world’s worst hockey player. The first few months? Sure. But from January on he got more comfortable and found his game and played safe and limited mistakes.

He doesn’t need to be in every night, or even tonight. But if the Blues get crazy tonight I’d definitely like to see him in game 5 where Bednar can control the matchups.

Never said THE worst (he definitely was to start the year though), but even improved he is still an atrocious player. For all his vaunted physicality he's still got one of the weakest sticks in the league and doesn't have the skill or hockey sense to really make any plays. He's mostly there to hit people and that's it. That's fine and dandy for a regular season game--not good enough for playoffs, and besides, Avs have plenty of guys who can lower big hits if necessary.

It’s because he played forward more later on in the season and it’s far easier to have less of an impact up there. But every time he plays defense he gets burned horribly a couple times a game. And against one of the deepest forward cores in the playoffs is just to big a risk.

He's still a liability even at forward. Just don't put him in the lineup. There are at least two players both at wing and at defense (THREE on defense if you also count MacDonald, which I absolutely do) who should play before he does.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

I thought Macdermid became a much better hockey player as the year went on. Probably impossible not to when you’re chasing around this team and have the work ethic he does. However I still wouldn’t be comfortable having in a game like this.

If all 3 games were like game 1 and the Avs were heading into game 4 looking for an easy sweep I’d probably consider putting him in after last game’s shenanigans but no way I put him in tonight. Blues are playing well. They can very easily tie this up tonight and Dermy isn’t a good enough option as a player.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

Yeah… I would not be a fan of scratching Burakovsky.

I get that the Avs have better depth than they used to, but not to the point of scratching Burakovsky.

 

[Foote8]

This is a bullshit narrative if ever there was one.

One incident did not define that series, bad goaltending, bad and panicky defensive play, and an overall lack of depth did the Avs in. The difference is not going to be felt with players like MacDerrmid, but rather players like Lehkonen, Cogliano, Helm, Manson, and hopefully, Kuemper. Also addition by subtraction with Graves and Nemeth (and Grubauer) being gone.

The two things I will freely admit a goon does to help his team is allow for the perception that they are now "tougher" and embolden them to play with more confidence during the regular season and the energy a good brawl and/or a big hit brings to a bench, especially if you're looking to change the momentum. That's great and all for the regular season, but you don't need pickups like that for the postseason. If you ain't engaged and playing hard-nosed hockey by the time the regular season ends, no goon is gonna help that.

The last thing the Avs need to get into is a war of attrition against the Blues. That's what the Blues want. They WANT the Avs to get distracted and throw down, and form an assembly line to the penalty box. Avs just need to play their game and get to the net as much as humanly possible. They did an excellent job, especially 62 and 13, in disrupting the Blues' attacking zone cycle. All St. Louis could do was a lot of one-and-done rush attempts (which admittedly the Avs gave up way too many and need to play more aggressively in the NZ).

I never said we should go out of our way to turn this into a Detroit all out brawl. I have watched the Avs since they came to Colorado and they almost always turtle to teams that play them physical - Dallas, Vegas, etc. I don't want to have Landeskog out for the playoffs with a broken hand because there is nobody else to fight if things go south. There is no perception other than protecting your players - There are mind games played all over. I am tired of the Avs always having to be the meek ones in times like these. The Avs have enough talent to keep MacD on a limited basis on the 4th line than to have to worry about him. In my opinion, Reaves single handedly destroyed their swagger and their aggressiveness in one game last year - I don't want to see that happen again. You call it bullshit, I saw it happen.

 

[Vaslof]

It's just crazy to me why he was signed in the first place and why he was extended for 2 years if they're not gonna play him specifically when it is the time you want a guy like him on the team.

 

[Foote8]

What goon the Blues have? There is no Reaves there...

Which Avs player currently in the line-up do you think can fight and don't care if they get hurt if the game goes in that direction? What do you think will happen if the Avs get up 4-0 in the 2nd? Sure Manson can fight as well, but what does our D look like if he gets hurt with G out as well?

 

[forsbergavs32]

It's just crazy to me why he was signed in the first place and why he was extended for 2 years if they're not gonna play him specifically when it is the time you want a guy like him on the team.

I won’t be surprised if Bednar tries to keep Manson out when Kadri is on the ice as much as possible. We’ve already seen him come to defend Naz to keep him from defending himself and getting suspended for it.

 

[TanguaySauce]

I'm fine scratching Bura if we were up 3-1 but with only a 1 game series lead, I feel like you need to still put your regular horses out there. Bold move by Bednar if confirmed.

 

[Iceberg]

Which Avs player currently in the line-up do you think can fight and don't care if they get hurt if the game goes in that direction? What do you think will happen if the Avs get up 4-0 in the 2nd? Sure Manson can fight as well, but what does our D look like if he gets hurt with G out as well?

Respect Adam Foote, please!

 

[Mighty Makar]

Respect Adam Foote, please!

My fav dman of all time.

I bet that idiot Bortuzzo does something stupid tonight.