Pre-Game Talk: Week of All Stars (@TOR, @MTL, @STL)

[Ararana]

We can tie STL if OTT does us a solid tonight. Come on Matty!

Hopefully FLA can beat DAL too

If the cards fall right tonight, HUGE if, we could wake up tomorrow third in the Central with games in hand over every Central team below us save Chicago. We're all Matty D fans tonight.

I've said it before but with the long weekend coming up I'd ride Bernier all the way through Thursday. Wins are too important to trust your AHL goalie right now.

 

[Foppberg]

LeBrun: One-on-one with Avs GM Joe Sakic on their surprising...

For people with a subscription.

 

[Ararana]

LeBrun: One-on-one with Avs GM Joe Sakic on their surprising...

For people with a subscription.

ohhhh yes, people with subscriptions hit us up!

 

[henchman21]

I don't doubt that, but if he's out on the ice against MacKinnon I'll be quite happy

If I was coaching the Habs, he's who I'd put out there... but yeah, MacK is a complete mismatch still.

 

[Avalanche]

It's funny to hear how much the canadian media is praising the Avs now.

Yesterday might have been their first time really watching the team

Kypreos loves Rantanan, thinks he's already a star
Colby Armstrong calls Landy a horse

 

[Freudian]

What I dislike about many of these advanced stat articles is that they don't really understand what regression is. It's not a magic rubberband that feels when a team has been overachieving or been lucky and compensates by giving them bad luck the rest of the way. It's not that uncommon to have a high PDO all through a season. There are 11 teams in the last five years that has had a higher PDO than Avs currently have. It's not a season of the ages. Over the very long run numbers tend to normalize but when you have played 56% of the season, chances are those with high PDO, successful special teams, hot goaltending and shooting will be the ones that end the season that way as well.

 

[Avsavsavsavsavs]

Bernier doesn't necessarily need the rest. Mandated break and a 2 full day break thus far in the win streak, these guys are more rested than you'd assume. Then you look over to other goalies who have 20, 25, 28 wins - all star break coming up, why wouldn't he start?

 

[hooverdam]

Corsi Hockey League: Why the red-hot Avs will come back to earth

Whatever happened to just enjoying the sport instead of diving into a bunch of stats to discredit a team? It's the thing I hate most about the whole advanced stats culture. It can be great for getting more information about a player or a team but anytime a team/player is playing great there's articles like this or people that want to cut them down that pop up like mushrooms.

This is annoying, though I'm not surprised given the writer.

Yes, I get that these stats do better over a longer sample size/period of time and predict trends, but just looking at the season as a whole before they really hit their stride ignores how they've been trending upward. Like yes, they're on a PDO bender right now but so is every top team in the league, including Tampa and Boston. Washington is 5th in PDO but has been tanking in shot shares and CF% for weeks now; same for Nashville. I'd rather be in the Avs position (lucky and playing better and better as time goes on) than those teams (lucky but playing worse and worse).

The Avs were trending upward before their PDO spiked, too. I predicted one of the goalies getting hot and really putting an exclamation point on it, and that's exactly what happened.

 

[Foppberg]

Lots of Aves talk in this too.

 

[Freudian]

Even if Friedman can be a bit too speculative at times, there is no denying the amount of hard work it must take to create that much content for his column every week.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Agreed.

His 31 thoughts are usually quite interesting to read even besides the rumors/speculation. Always has a few cool stories thrown in as well.


It's my favorite thing to read regarding the NHL right now. His podcasts for 31 thoughts are apparently very good and worth the listen now as well, but I haven't gotten around to those yet.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Speaking of 31 thoughts...


A lot of good stuff on the Avs in it this week. Definitely worth the read. Some quotes from Mackinnon, Johnson, Kerfoot, and Parkkila.

 

[cgf]

To that end, for the first time, the Avalanche put a ping-pong table in their player lounge. So, who is the best, who is the worst, and who is the worst loser? “(Nail) Yakupov is the best,” MacKinnon answered. Then, he paused and laughed. “I will take the other two. I’m not great, and I’ll snap, too. When Tyson Barrie beats me I don’t like it.

Terri should be given Bernie's job once we have enough talent to push him out of the lineup.

 

[S E P H]

That 31 Thoughts podcast is amazing piece of work. I'm on episode 2 and loving the inside tidbits of how much passion certain prospects have such as DiPietro, Tkachuk, and Barzal.

Solid article...
Avalanche have come long way since losing in lottery

 

[Ararana]

It's funny to hear how much the canadian media is praising the Avs now.

Yesterday might have been their first time really watching the team

Pretty sure it was

 

[ASmileyFace]

We got hot right before a big trip to Canada. No wonder the media is going crazy about us right now.

 

[tigervixxxen]

I'll do the GDT when I get back from lunch. I'm waiting for news if there's any but I'll get to it. So FYI.

 

[dahrougem2]

Pretty sure it was

LeBrun is one of the better media guys out there but this is why I never take anything mainstream media says seriously. They don't watch the Avs, they haven't got a clue as to what's going on in the locker room or with management. Nothing.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Lebrun isn't saying he hasn't watched the Avs. He's saying it's the first time seeing them in person. There were a few others who tweeted out last night the difference in seeing them live vs on TV.

I'm sure they don't get the attention that other teams get, but these media guys do their work. They watch hockey. I really enjoy listening to NHL radio. Those guys leave their shift and go home and watch continuous hours of hockey. If they get tired and there's a specific game on the agenda for the next day, they'll get up early and watch the game in the morning. I respect the hell out of it.

 

[Balthazar]

LeBrun is one of the better media guys out there but this is why I never take anything mainstream media says seriously. They don't watch the Avs, they haven't got a clue as to what's going on in the locker room or with management. Nothing.

That's Denver media's job. Not guys from Toronto or Montreal.

 

[Ararana]

oh boy...

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

Why would the Avs have a morning skate on a back to back? That doesn’t sound normal.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Why would the Avs have a morning skate on a back to back? That doesn’t sound normal.

My bet was that it was optional and that the purpose was to see how the goalies were feeling. I'm wrong more than I'm right though lol.

 

[S E P H]

oh boy...

Starting goalers tend to be the first off of the ice, not last, let alone a starting goaler practicing in an optional skate if that is to be true. Everyone is different though, maybe Hammond is the starting goaler and wants more preparation time.

 

[Balthazar]

I'll feel bad for Hammond if we lose our streak to Montreal and he's the losing goalie.