Pre-Game Talk: Week to Half (WPG, CBJ, MIN)

[tigervixxxen]

For the news challenged

- Greer called up
- Andrighetto ok, day to day but probable tomorrow
- Varly starting

Click to read more...

 

[CobraAcesS]

Woohoo called that STUFF last night.

Now my prayers go to Bednar not playing him in a 4th line grinder role.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Very interesting 3 game stretch coming up here.

3 Really tough teams to face and normally I would say getting 1 Win out of this week would be a success. But this team has played some damn good hockey against some very good teams over the last few weeks already.



This has the potential to be a huge make or break week for the team. On the one hand, if we can win 2/3 or dare I say 3/3 of these games, we go into our break in the thick of the playoff picture. On the flip side, if we only win 1 or 0 games this week, we could find ourselves in the bottom 6-7 teams again by the time our break is over.



Optimist in me again but I'm saying this week goes extremely well. Win against the Jets, OTL against the Jackets, and a Win against the wild. Mack with 5 points in the 3 games.

 

[CobraAcesS]

Very interesting 3 game stretch coming up here.

3 Really tough teams to face and normally I would say getting 1 Win out of this week would be a success. But this team has played some damn good hockey against some very good teams over the last few weeks already.



This has the potential to be a huge make or break week for the team. On the one hand, if we can win 2/3 or dare I say 3/3 of these games, we go into our break in the thick of the playoff picture. On the flip side, if we only win 1 or 0 games this week, we could find ourselves in the bottom 6-7 teams again by the time our break is over.



Optimist in me again but I'm saying this week goes extremely well. Win against the Jets, OTL against the Jackets, and a Win against the wild. Mack with 5 points in the 3 games.

I'm actually looking at the next five or so with three division games, and Anaheim against us in that bubble fight.

 

[dahrougem2]

Gabe Landeskog on pace for 37 goals and 71 points. Not holding out hope that he hits both of those marks, but his play is very encouraging for this team moving forward.

 

[CobraAcesS]

Gabe Landeskog on pace for 37 goals and 71 points. Not holding out hope that he hits both of those marks, but his play is very encouraging for this team moving forward.

I really believed Landy had a couple peak seasons like that in him, but I've lost that hope the last couple years. It would be amazing for him to finally hit what I feel was his idea potential when he was drafted.

You know what his season is reminding me of though? Kesler's 40 goal season.

 

[Avs_19]

Gabe Landeskog on pace for 37 goals and 71 points. Not holding out hope that he hits both of those marks, but his play is very encouraging for this team moving forward.

Avs are 6th in the NHL in GF/G almost half way through the season and there are a few guys on pace for career offensive seasons. Some young players seem to be on the right development path and are coming on as well. It's not all sustainable but it's definitely good to see.

I guess players can put up points and develop on a Bednar coached team after all. How about that @henchman24?

 

[McMetal]

I think we beat Winnipeg. They're still a dangerous team, but being down Shief, Buff, and Enstrom will hurt them too much to beat us the way the team's been playing. Columbus is tough, I think their depth vs. our depth will probably end with a loss, and I think with the energy of the jersey retirement ceremony the Avs beat the hated Wild.

 

[dahrougem2]

I think the opposite. I think we'll lose to the Jets but beat the Jackets. Bobrovsky has looked very off lately.

 

[McMetal]

I think the opposite. I think we'll lose to the Jets but beat the Jackets. Bobrovsky has looked very off lately.

Bob is going to rebound sooner or later. He's been awesome this year, it's early yet to think that this is a slide instead of a slump.

 

[jetsv2]

Im a jets fan, but i thought i would just give you guys a heads up that it looks like Buff will be returning against you guys.

 

[S E P H]

Avs have had weird injuries this year; a player is either out for a couple of games or quarter of the effin season.

 

[cgf]

AJ coming back up right in time to play the Jets? Yeah he's definitely not getting 0...

These are the kinds of games Greer was born to play, I'm expecting a gordie howe hattrick.

Mack with 5 points in the 3 games.

Nah, the Jackets won't shut MacK out.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

AJ coming back up right in time to play the Jets? Yeah he's definitely not getting 0...

These are the kinds of games Greer was born to play, I'm expecting a gordie howe hattrick.

Nah, the Jackets won't shut MacK out.

I'm expecting a Blake Comeau hattrick. 3 minor penalties.

 

[henchman21]

Avs are 6th in the NHL in GF/G almost half way through the season and there are a few guys on pace for career offensive seasons. Some young players seem to be on the right development path and are coming on as well. It's not all sustainable but it's definitely good to see.

I guess players can put up points and develop on a Bednar coached team after all. How about that @henchman24?

Bednar has done a good job letting his best players go a bit and be more creative. That said, how much of this is MacK and the first line just beasting it? MacK has a part in 38% of the Avs' goals with points, and I'm sure that percentage is higher when you look at other impacts... probably to the tune of 42-44%. Bednar should get some credit for MacK turning the corner, but I think players like MacK can elevate beyond any system they play in. It took a bit longer for it to click for him, but it obviously has. If MacK was operating at a ~55 point pace instead of his ~100 point pace... the Avs would have ~20 less goals on the season to this point. That would put them in the mid 20s. If you look past the 1st line, the forward production is still pretty mediocre. Only Kerfoot and Soda are on pace for more than 40 point seasons. Soda's should be higher as his play is at a better level than that, but Nieto is letting that down. Kerfoot is slowing a bit, but should still crest 50. There are a number of forwards in the 30-40 point range (Ghetto, Comeau, Nieto, Compher, and Yakupov), but I'd only expect Comeau and Ghetto to crest it for the season (Compher has too many injuries).

The Avs forwards have collected 105 goals on the season. Landy, Mack, and Rants have 44 of those goals. Duchene has 4. The other 14 forwards on the team combine for 57 goals. The team is very top heavy right now, and with the way MacK is playing... the Avs can afford that for now, but at some point, Bednar will have to get some scoring down the lineup.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

I know I'm in the minority, but I have no problem whatsoever with Nieto continuing to be a part of the Soda/Comeau line. I think it works.

 

[GeniusSuperior]

Good analysis Hench.
I feel like the biggest hole on the team right now is at the second line center position. I feel Soderberg could capably (though not ideally) fill that role with better offensive wingers but we don’t have any really and he is admirably filling a tough defensive role.

Actually, I would really like to see some stats or analysis on the difficulty of competition faced by the Avs, both forwards and defense.

 

[Balthazar]

The Avs forwards have collected 105 goals on the season. Landy, Mack, and Rants have 44 of those goals. Duchene has 4. The other 14 forwards on the team combine for 57 goals. The team is very top heavy right now, and with the way MacK is playing... the Avs can afford that for now, but at some point, Bednar will have to get some scoring down the lineup.

Jost, Ghetto, Kerfoot and Compher need to score more but it's not Bednar's fault. The Mack line and Soda line are delivering pretty much to maximum capacity.


As for Yak, I barely consider him part of the team anymore.

 

[henchman21]

I know I'm in the minority, but I have no problem whatsoever with Nieto continuing to be a part of the Soda/Comeau line. I think it works.

I think it depends how you want to use the line... as a 3rd, it is plenty fine. As a 2nd, there just isn't enough scoring punch.

 

[henchman21]

Jost, Ghetto, Kerfoot and Compher need to score more but it's not Bednar's fault. The Mack line and Soda line are delivering pretty much to maximum capacity.


As for Yak, I barely consider him part of the team anymore.

Get all the credit, and none of the blame? Sign me up for that job!

I wouldn't say the Soda line is at capacity... put better LW on that line and it should improve the scoring rate. Soda is a ~50 point center when used well.

The offense has drastically improved, but it is mostly a factor of the 1st line. The secondary scoring has a long ways to go.

 

[Freudian]

Bednar is overplaying the Söderberg line because the other two third lines aren't consistent defensively. Compher is reliable and Jost will be. If Wilson plays at the level he has for the last few weeks, it's another player that's somewhat reliable. Avs probably hoped Kamenev would provide two-way play as well, but that lasted for four minutes or so.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

So I've been reading the GDT's of other teams we play in recent weeks. Something I've never really done before. I'm noticing a funny trend of teams complaining about their top players/lines "not showing up" every time they play the Avs. Tavares, Matthews, Crosby, The Panthers top line. Yeah that's funny how those guys conveniently don't show up to play only against the Avs. Has nothing to do with Zadorov and Mackinnon.

I think it depends how you want to use the line... as a 3rd, it is plenty fine. As a 2nd, there just isn't enough scoring punch.

I agree. But Nieto being there isn't the only reason that line wouldn't cut it as a 2nd line lol.

 

[Foppberg]

Yak for me at this point is just entertainment, as in the loveable always smiling guy and scores the occasional goal and you're like ehhhh! Yak! What a goof.

And then forget about him until he scores again in 10 games.

 

[Balthazar]

The Soda line could produce more offensively but it's used as a defense-first line. If Bednar had a reliable defensive center other than Soda things could change but he doesn't. Compher isn't there yet and I'm not sure we want him there anyway.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

I get how loveable Yakupov is, but I'd prefer he never played on the Avalanche. He's bad.