Pre-Game Talk: Week to Forget (@MIN, TOR, @CHI)

[tigervixxxen]

I'm sure our heroes get the day off in balmy Minnesota but just in case something happens we care about.

Click to read more...

 

[tigervixxxen]

News this week probably doesn't get better than that

 

[Ceremony]

I will trade more 10 (Ten) goal deficits to beat the green filth this week

I want triple figures in the Bruce "Plate Glass" Boudreau Locker Room Profanity Count please

 

[Freudian]

Team | Pace
Tampa Bay Lightning | 85
Florida Panthers | 85
Calgary Flames | 84
Detroit Red Wings | 82
New Jersey Devils | 82
Winnipeg Jets | 80
Dallas Stars | 80
Vancouver Canucks | 74
New York Islanders | 74
Arizona Coyotes | 71
Colorado Avalanche | 63

The bottom fell out in a hurry, didn't it?

 

[ABasin]

Team | Pace
Tampa Bay Lightning | 85
Florida Panthers | 85
Calgary Flames | 84
Detroit Red Wings | 82
New Jersey Devils | 82
Winnipeg Jets | 80
Dallas Stars | 80
Vancouver Canucks | 74
New York Islanders | 74
Arizona Coyotes | 71
Colorado Avalanche | 63

The bottom fell out in a hurry, didn't it?

A 30th place finish with a top 10 (ish) salary cap spend, would be the worst performance this organization has ever had. When the Avs finished near the bottom of the league in 08-09, 10/11, and 12/13 (Granato and Sacco were s**tcanned after two of those) - they were in the bottom third of league spend.

No matter how much Sakic wants to call this a "transition year", it's still a monumental failure. The team is the midst of utter collapse.

 

[Goulet17]

A 30th place finish with a top 10 (ish) salary cap spend, would be the worst performance this organization has ever had. When the Avs finished near the bottom of the league in 08-09, 10/11, and 12/13 (Granato and Sacco were s**tcanned after two of those) - they were in the bottom third of league spend.

No matter how much Sakic wants to call this a "transition year", it's still a monumental failure. The team is the midst of utter collapse.

Yeah, it is bad. I looked at the NHL salary cap levels for the teams and it is sobering how much the Avs are spending for this type of product. Toronto and the NY Rangers (two historically crazy spending teams) have less of an overall cap hit this year.

You couple the spending with what appears to be a quick decline in attendance and fan interest, and you have an organizational problem that is not consistent with the tag line "transition year." The bottom is falling out more than Sakic or anyone could have anticipated.

 

[Goulet17]

News this week probably doesn't get better than that

Hey, well that is a glimmer of sunshine.

 

[Nalens Oga]

Oh gosh Toronto again? With no Varly to save us this time, dammit. Not gonna bother with that game, I was hoping the day of seeing us outshot almost 2:1 were over this off-season.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

As long as we beat Wild I'm happy.

 

[dahrougem2]

@ min: L 5-0
v tor: L 4-2
@ chi: W 2-0

 

[tigervixxxen]

Oh gosh Toronto again? With no Varly to save us this time, dammit. Not gonna bother with that game, I was hoping the day of seeing us outshot almost 2:1 were over this off-season.

Martin was sent back so Varly is ok. I'm surprised, only a week for a groin injury?

 

[Pokecheque]

I don't care if the Leafs and Hawks ventilate them, but man I'm going to puke if Minny has their way with 'em.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Makes no difference to me who they lose to whether it's somebody like Buffalo or if it's a supposed "rival" in Minnesota. We all may act like there's a rivalry there but there's no rival when one of the teams are as irrelevant as Colorado are right now.

I know there's some hatred there but the Wild see this as the last place team coming to town in a should win game. Not some kind of rivalry that means something.

 

[the_fan]

Safe to say that's 3 L's, or they might somehow manage to beat the Leafs

 

[Ceremony]

Makes no difference to me who they lose to whether it's somebody like Buffalo or if it's a supposed "rival" in Minnesota. We all may act like there's a rivalry there but there's no rival when one of the teams are as irrelevant as Colorado are right now.

I know there's some hatred there but the Wild see this as the last place team coming to town in a should win game. Not some kind of rivalry that means something.

Don't care. Eviscerate them.

 

[Pokecheque]

Makes no difference to me who they lose to whether it's somebody like Buffalo or if it's a supposed "rival" in Minnesota. We all may act like there's a rivalry there but there's no rival when one of the teams are as irrelevant as Colorado are right now.

I know there's some hatred there but the Wild see this as the last place team coming to town in a should win game. Not some kind of rivalry that means something.

Agreed wholeheartedly. I still hate losing to the Wylde though.

 

[dahrougem2]

Makes no difference to me who they lose to whether it's somebody like Buffalo or if it's a supposed "rival" in Minnesota. We all may act like there's a rivalry there but there's no rival when one of the teams are as irrelevant as Colorado are right now.

I know there's some hatred there but the Wild see this as the last place team coming to town in a should win game. Not some kind of rivalry that means something.

Just because of our position in the standings this season does not mean that the rivalry doesn't exist. Even the players acknowledge their dislike of one another.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Just because of our position in the standings this season does not mean that the rivalry doesn't exist. Even the players acknowledge their dislike of one another.

I'd like to hear Minnesota's opinion of t right now. I bet it's a completely different feel compared to last year when both teams were fighting for that playoff spot.

If the boys go into town and are fired up because of who they're playing I'll love it. I want to see some passion. I'm just saying the "rivalry" part is probably pretty one sided right now.

Plus I get embarrassed when fans say we have a rivalry with another team and the fans of that team really don't know the Avs exist because it's so irrelevant. A few years ago when we sucked but OWNED Chicago our fans used to talk about the rivalry when Chicago fans just used to be like "wait, what? They think this is a rivalry?"

Rivalries exist when teams play each other often and fight for the same thing. When one of those things changes the rivalry usually dies. The Wild are fighting to be the best team in the conference while the Avs are fighting to keep their fans from falling asleep each game.

 

[dahrougem2]

I'd like to hear Minnesota's opinion of t right now. I bet it's a completely different feel compared to last year when both teams were fighting for that playoff spot.

If the boys go into town and are fired up because of who they're playing I'll love it. I want to see some passion. I'm just saying the "rivalry" part is probably pretty one sided right now.

Plus I get embarrassed when fans say we have a rivalry with another team and the fans of that team really don't know the Avs exist because it's so irrelevant. A few years ago when we sucked but OWNED Chicago our fans used to talk about the rivalry when Chicago fans just used to be like "wait, what? They think this is a rivalry?"

Rivalries exist when teams play each other often and fight for the same thing. When one of those things changes the rivalry usually dies. The Wild are fighting to be the best team in the conference while the Avs are fighting to keep their fans from falling asleep each game.

Sure, it's one-sided right about now but there is a rivalry that exists even with our placement in the standings and the Wild's fight for the division crown. The games clearly have more intensity than your average game, fans from either side seem to get into it more, the players don't like each other.

It's not Wings/Avs by any stretch of the imagination but the rivalry is there. Now if the Wild are a top team for the next 5+ years and we're a bottom-5 team, then the rivalry will die. But it's not at that point yet.

 

[JoemAvs]

The only really fun thing about beating the Wild is getting to watch Russo cry on twitter about something Avs related

If that does not happen, it will feel like anyother game to me.

Probably even more boring than usual...

 

[Tommy Shelby]

I can't wait to see who Tyson "killer goon" Barrie demolishes vs the Wild.

Russo's crying is always good for a chuckle. I miss when Dater used to troll him

 

[ArWKo]

Honestly I'd be happy enough with the rest of this season if all that they did was just beat the Wild every time they play them.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Question about X's and O's stuff...

Hoping y'all might be able to chime in on this...

After Bednar was named HC and throughout pre-season and the first 10 games or so there was a lot of talk about the break-out structure being changed for the better. 5 players working as a team in a controlled manner to bring the puck up...

Do y'all still see this? I thought maybe I had a general idea of this happening early in the season but to be honest, I really don't see a huge difference. In a vague way, I don't get the impression the AVs are hemmed in their own zone as often as last season but it's been hard for me to pay a lot of attention this year.

Not sure if this was the right place to ask but thought it would be better than tagging into an article on Barrie not being used properly since it is more an overall x's and o's thing...

Thanks in advance for any insight.

 

[Tweaky]

Seems to me that the breakout has slowly reverted to the chip and pray scheme a lot of times. There are some plays that you can see the short passes to guys that are moving...but not nearly often enough. Not sure why...probably some combination of D that can't make the correct decision quick enough AND make the pass, plus forwards that cannot skate well enough to get back in time to help the D and/or cannot receive the passes AND make the correct decision quick enough AND make the pass to the next forward...and so on. Too many points of failure for a team that has played a totally different style for too long. Some of the guys get it, and have the skill to pull it off. Many are missing either the skill, the skating, or the effort. For those missing the skill and/or skating only, they are the ones being utilized incorrectly. Bednar needs to identify those, group them, and give them a different mandate (dump/chip and chase, coast to coast, bull in a china shop...whatever works for each). Those lacking effort need to be motivated somehow...scratch, waive, buyout, trade...again, whatever works for each.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Hoping y'all might be able to chime in on this...

After Bednar was named HC and throughout pre-season and the first 10 games or so there was a lot of talk about the break-out structure being changed for the better. 5 players working as a team in a controlled manner to bring the puck up...

Do y'all still see this? I thought maybe I had a general idea of this happening early in the season but to be honest, I really don't see a huge difference. In a vague way, I don't get the impression the AVs are hemmed in their own zone as often as last season but it's been hard for me to pay a lot of attention this year.

Not sure if this was the right place to ask but thought it would be better than tagging into an article on Barrie not being used properly since it is more an overall x's and o's thing...

Thanks in advance for any insight.

In short, no. They really seem to be gone back to something closer to what they were doing last year. A lot more stretch passing, leaving the zone early looking for a quick break, etc.


I really dont know why they've started doing this. What they were doing earlier in the season was working well and you could see progress was being made(Slowly, but it was being made) towards becoming a more coherent unit on the ice. Now they seem like they've gone right back to being individuals on the ice, especially on the offensive rushes.