The Week That Was the Avalanche 10/14/11-10/20/11
Holos returns to Sweden : Per the site http://www.nrk.no/sport/ishockey/1.7834245 it was revealed this past Friday that the Avalanche and Jonas Holos, unhappy with being demoted to the AHL and having been a healthy scratch there as well, agreed to "break" their contract and Holos is returning to Europe. The article states that the organization expressed an interest in heading a younger direction even though Holos himself is only 25. Later in the weekend it was announced that he had been re-assigned to Vaxjo Lakers of the Swedish Elite League.
Mueller watch : Mueller missed the game against Ottawa having "not felt well". After the game when Sacco was asked if it was in relation to concussion systems he just stated they'd have to "see how he presents on Saturday". He then also missed the game Saturday and then again against Toronto on Monday. The club and Mueller weren't talking about why, but Dater of the Denver Post has reported the club has been in contact with the specialist that has treated Mueller. Come Monday the news was that Mueller was cleared to play but he wanted to get some "good days" behind him and Sacco wanted to get him some practices before he returns to games even though he has been cleared to play. After a day off Tuesday though, he continued to skate with the 4th liners in practice Wednesday as the lines and pairings remained the same as they have been the last several games. After practice Sacco stated Mueller would not play against Chicago and it would be taken day by day. Thursday the Denver Post reported that Mueller did not take part in the morning skate and was listed as day to day with a head injury and Sacco confirmed not only would Mueller not play Thursday against Chicago but wouldn't Saturday either and that they would see how he is doing when they return from Chicago. I haven't seen or heard any quotes from the players, coaches, or organization about the issue being post-concussion symptoms returning but appearances would lead one to believe it possible, maybe even likely.
vs. Montreal : Price was denied his 100th win by the Avs (who also denied Cluade Julien his 300th win just few games ago) in a wild game. Third 'A' was McLeod's as that honor seems to be rotating between him, EJ, and McClemment (later confirmed in a press conference prior to the Chicago game), Gali was out in favor of Porter (who played just under 5 minutes) and Lindstrom was in for Mueller yet again. Sacco on Galiardi stated "TJ is a guy I feel can give us more." The third line again iced tons of time with Winnik leading the way and only Stastny with more than O'Reilly and Landeskog in terms of forwards. The game was one that the Avalanche would have likely lost last year, but this year they battled throughout and despite giving up a lead and falling behind late they rallied and not only managed to tie it up but then won it in the shootout again. Again Hejduk and Duchene were the only shooters needed for the win. Despite the score Varly can't be said to have had a bad game as he didn't give up weak goals and made several key saves, getting 38 of the 43 he faced. This is the first game where the defense looked suspect at times but overall they still appeared to be a good group and are miles ahead of where the team was last year. In this game the Stastny line finally got going with 4 goals from that line.
vs. Toronto : Duchene and McClemment, already in town for their game against he Leafs on Monday, took time out to attend the Brampton Battalion game Sunday (a 1-0 OT loss). Both players played for Brampton in their young careers. The Avs began the game against the Leafs like a team on fire. The first 10 minutes of the game they owned, but after that things were fairly even the rest of the game outside of a brief stretch in the 3rd where the Avs were outplayed. Giguere got the start against his old team and was very solid stopping 27 of 29. The Avs did allow the tieing goal late in the 3rd after a near high-stick, but recovered well and took the play back to Toronto instead of getting down and scored early in OT capping off the only 5-0 road trip the team has ever had. Given the teams the Avalanche have had in the past it is amazing that never before had the team managed a 5 road game sweep as this team has. The power play after starting off 0-10 has caught fire and since that start they gone 7-12 and lead the league in PP% (and sit 4th on the PK).
vs. Chicago : Last season's Avs had a winning streak of 6 games at one point and during that stretch was a pair of wins against the Hawks in a home and home series. Going into this game the Avs had a chance to match that streak against the same Hawks as they began another home and home series against them in Denver. During the game the Avs were holding a "Hashtag Give" on Twitter where every #GoAvsGo would result in $1 given by Kroenke Sports Charities to cancer research. The post stated "Let's get to $5000" so I don't know if that was their goal or their cap. While I'm sure Kroenke got to the $5000 mark, the Avs couldn't match their win streak of last year falling 3-1. It was a fairly even game though and both teams had some chances, the Avs hitting a post or two and getting stopped by Crawford and Varly making 3 or 4 absolutely incredible saves. It was a well played game by the Avs for the most part, however a breakdown in their own zone allowed Toews who just came on the ice in front alone for the Chicago opening score. Despite a late penalty the Avs couldn't tie it and gave up the empty netter. Still the Avalanche weren't a pushover team and Saturday's game should be a good one. The O'Reilly-Landeskog-Winnik line was again one of the best on the night (and again led the team in ice time) and are seeing the other team's top lines most nights, but still are playing dominant hockey. The power play after starting off 0-10 has caught fire, despite going 0-2 in this one, and since that start they have gone 7-14 and lead the league in PP% (and sit 4th on the PK).
The leader in forward ice time per game for the team isn't Stastny (who is 2nd) or Duchene (6th), but Danniel Winnik at 18:34 a game. His 3rd line linemates are 3rd (O'Reilly) and 5th (Landeskog) as well. Landeskog leads the team in shots with 27, followed by Quincey with 23 and Stastny with 21. Landeskog is also 2nd on the team with 15 hits (following McLeod's 21 hits) ... so it is apparent that he is ready for the NHL and won't be getting sent down and he is already a big part of the team. O'Reilly, Duchene and Stastny all still remain above 50% on faceoffs as well and O'Reilly has taken 1/3 of all team faceoffs thus far and as a team are 2nd in the league in that statistic currently.
Dater commented yet again on the DP website about just how dedicated O'Reilly is with this... "After the Avs/Habs game last night, I’m walking around the hallways around the team dressing room and there I see Ryan O’Reilly – after a game in which he played 19:25 – vigorously, and I mean vigorously – throwing a heavy medicine ball repeatedly against a concrete wall"
The Avs have surprised a bunch of people in how they have played thus far, and while it is still early this is a team that looks as if they can contend for a playoff spot this year. The goalies have played very well and the team has three lines with scoring touch including a third line that has been surprisingly dominant in terms of puck possession and play to start the year. The bigger stronger defense has made a very noticable difference in their own end and the fans are loving the toughness and willingness to not allow anyone near the goalie that O'Brien and Quincey have shown this year ... even if it has resulted in a penalty or two thus far. The defense has also supplied a good amount of offense from the blueline, something I was honestly concerned with before the season started but Quincey and O'Brien especially have surprised me thus far on that end of the ice as well.
Down on the farm the Monsters still struggle being the only AHL team without a PP goal thus far, and their lack of offense has led to an 0-5 start. Their top 4 centers are out, including Hishon who has no time frame on a return from concussion symptoms. Seimens and Muers are both still playing strong, as are Millan and Patterson (who recently had back to back wins after stopping 46 of 50 shots in each win). Calvin Pickard has bounced back after 3 losses to win the next 3 but he still faces tons of shots against and has started every game for his team again this season thus far. Beyond that the Avalanche should be greatful that they have tons of young talent on the team now because there isn't a lot in the system outside of defenders to come up and they could use a few seasons to stock the forward cupboards. (Hockeysfuture.com has the Avs top prospect at forward after Landeskog and Hishon as Olver who saw some time with the Avs last year and Malone, a bottom 6 guy.)
According to Kevin Porter's twitter his car was broken into Wednesday night. Hope they are caught (just as I do with anyone who breaks the law). Gali also does a lot of talking on Twitter, this one a comeback to a Taylor Hall tweet... "Oh
Peter Forsberg will headline the 2012 class of Colorado Sports Hall of Fame inductees. http://www.9news.com/news/local/article/225153/345/Forsberg-headlines-Colorado-Sports-Hall-of-Fame-
Adam Proteau of the Hockey News has taken every chance he could to proclaim how he thinks the Avalanche could fall flat on their faces, from his standings predictions where he stated that he and another writer wondered how they escaped the glue fumes to be the only ones to see the Avalanche would be last in the West to responding to an email in the THN mailbag, and I believe even making an appearance on a radio show and stating such (though I can't remember the show off the top of my head). The latest is an entire article in the latest Hockey News on the topic. What irritated me as I'm fine with him stating his opinion (even if he has dragged on with this one over and over) is that his writeup for Lindstrom later in the team section was incorrect in his statement that Lindstrom "began the season on Stastny's line" when Lindstrom was scratched before finally playing on Duchene's line. It's one thing to strongly believe your opinion, it's another to show your lack of knowledge about that team by putting out incorrect "facts". Of course perhaps he wrote it before the first game of the season but for someone to repeatedly comment on how poorly a team will do his errors will be more visible to those fans.
Many people have commented on how the Avs organization is "cheap". Given that they sit with the third lowest payroll they may have a point but I don't think so. The Avs have made it known they wanted to know what the new CBA would bring and they wanted room to sign their young stars. While they may have plenty of contracts to work out after this year they won't be handicapped like after the lock-out when they saw some big name stars move on, and they will have the space to sign guys like Duchene, O'Reilly, EJ, Quincey, and the rest of the crew.
Another complaint often heard is that the team really didn't change much from last year's team ... and while that may be somewhat true upfront it certainly couldn't be further from the truth elsewhere. Both goalies changed and both are significant upgrades over last year's tandem as long as they remain healthy. Right there the team improved noticably, but then look at the blueline. Wilson and Quincey are the only ones that started with the team last year and Wilson and EJ the only ones that finished it. In the off season they got Hejda and O'Brien and they could count a healthy Quincey as an addition. From last year to this year they added tons of toughness and size, icing a blueline a couple inches taller and 20-25 lbs heavier on average than last year's squad. The forwards may not have changed a lot, but the squad did add a couple guys including 2nd overall pick Landeskog. They may not have gone out and got a "big name" guy, but they certainly improved in the offseason and noticably so.
On a non-NHL related story, the Tri-City Storm (Kearney, NE - USHL) will be honoring Team USA goalie Jim Craig during their game October 21st.
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