Pre-Game Talk: Week of Saadness [vSJ | vSJ | @MIN | @MIN]

[Belgican]

There is no question Girard got faster and stronger.

Seriously Girard has been the best Avs to start the season, Grubauer and Rantanen not far away

 

[Richard88]

LOL was not expecting to read that

He's also the team leader with -5 in the +/- to balance it out

 

[Richard88]

I can watch this all day....

I was surprised to see that Girard only has 1 assist at 5v5 so far. His playmaking so far is definitely worthy of more than that.

Makar only has 2 assists at 5v5 as well. Thought it would be higher, but I guess he picks up the bulk of his points on the PP.

 

[Richard88]

He has been noticeably more aggressive this year and has taken the most shots of all Avs defenceman. He is also a step faster too.

At some point I’d like to see the Avs try this top-4:

Byram - Makar
Toews - Girard

Byram/Makar seem to have great chemistry and with Girard’s more assertive play this year, I think he’d fit really well with Toews.

The Toews-Makar pairing has been solid, but Byram-Makar has just been crazy good. Their Corsi as a D pair is 2nd in the league, and their Fenwick is 1st. Utter domination, and so exciting to watch.

Girard-Toews also seems like a good match. The combination of Girard's mobility and Toews' big slapshot works really well on the PP too. The Byram-Girard pairing seems to give up too many odd man breaks against, so perhaps giving Girard someone a bit more experienced could help cut that out a bit. Toews is also a bit stronger than Byram which would help with puck retrieval in our zone, which is something Girard sometimes struggles with due to his size.

 

[Richard88]

Seriously Girard has been the best Avs to start the season, Grubauer and Rantanen not far away

I would stop short of saying that Girard has been the best Av this season (that would be Makar or Rantanen imo), but I would certainly say that he's the most improved. He's added a lot of power to his skating which is taking him places.

 

[Steerpike]

It's super refreshing to see Rantanen healthy and fast. He was a decent sniper while injured, but adding his forechecking motor back into the game is huge.

Now he just needs to believe in his caboose and its ability to smother anyone trying to get the puck away from him.

The moose is in heat.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

 

[Foppa2118]

It's super refreshing to see Rantanen healthy and fast. He was a decent sniper while injured, but adding his forechecking motor back into the game is huge.

Now he just needs to believe in his caboose and its ability to smother anyone trying to get the puck away from him.

The moose is in heat.

That seems to be what he's learned this year. That he can and should use his size to his advantage more often.

He's been battling really hard on the forecheck, giving second and third efforts, and throwing his weight around a lot. He's shown spurts of it before but never this consistently.

When Mikko's on his game he's like Malkin, right up there with anyone in the league.

 

[tucker3434]

I... did not realize this. I guess I haven’t looked too closely at the schedule. That sucks. We should pick up 6 of 8 points though.

 

[The Kingslayer]

Biggest difference with Mikko this season and last? Hes moving his feet while also being strong on the puck. He relied only on his strength last season while not moving his feet.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

I... did not realize this. I guess I haven’t looked too closely at the schedule. That sucks. We should pick up 6 of 8 points though.

I dunno, I think the Wild are pretty solid this year. They have the same record as the Avs. I’d be really happy if Colorado could take 3 of 4.

 

[Belgican]

Defensive duties improved a lot too, frankly he looks more valuable than Mack now

 

[Ararana]

 

[redandyellowcametobe]

Delete

 

[NOTENOUGHJTCGOALS]

Looks like Fiala could be in line for a suspension after this hit against LAK:

Read the main board thread. Wild fans seem to think it was a fine play and the league is out to get them. It's bizarre.

 

[tucker3434]

I dunno, I think the Wild are pretty solid this year. They have the same record as the Avs. I’d be really happy if Colorado could take 3 of 4.

They have solid D, as always. Otherwise, mediocre roster/bubble team. If we’re cup contenders we should be doing better than splitting series with teams like them.

 

[Avs_19]

Read the main board thread. Wild fans seem to think it was a fine play and the league is out to get them. It's bizarre.

I don't think anyone cares enough about the Wild to be out to get them.

 

[The Kingslayer]

Read the main board thread. Wild fans seem to think it was a fine play and the league is out to get them. It's bizarre.

Piece of shit organization with piece of shit fans.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Biggest difference with Mikko this season and last? Hes moving his feet while also being strong on the puck. He relied only on his strength last season while not moving his feet.

I think health is the big one. He looks like he did a couple years ago when he had his breakout season but I don't think he was able to play like that last year where he got hurt so much.

 

[Avs9296]

I would stop short of saying that Girard has been the best Av this season (that would be Makar or Rantanen imo), but I would certainly say that he's the most improved. He's added a lot of power to his skating which is taking him places.

Girard has been much better than Makar so far this year.

 

[Avsboy]

Girard has been much better than Makar so far this year.

More consistent, but not better

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

Read the main board thread. Wild fans seem to think it was a fine play and the league is out to get them. It's bizarre.

Faila literally threw Roy into the boards. The very definition of boarding.

If Roy doesn't extend his arm in front of him, he probably suffers a broken neck.

The "State of Hockey' (isn't that what they call themselves?), is populated by hockey morons.

 

[McMetal]

No Fiala for 3 out of 4 games with the Avs is fine and dandy with me.

 

[5280]

Read the main board thread. Wild fans seem to think it was a fine play and the league is out to get them. It's bizarre.

It’s cold and dark up there in the winter.

 

[McMetal]

It’s cold and dark up there in the winter.

Brains get frozen.