The Avalanche went 1-2 this past week, with all three games being at home. Thus far in five games on Pepsi Center ice the Avs have been shut out once and held to only 1 goal 3 times. It certainly isn't what it takes to get it done at home.
vs. Edmonton : Edmonton comes into town boasting the last two top overall picks playing on their top line and 1st place in the division behind a goalie in Khabby that is playing very well to start the year, to the tune of a .964 Save % and .97 GAA The "Lottery Line" of Eberly, Hall, and RNH are all playing at a point per game but even with that the Oilers are last in the league in scoring with less than 2 goals a game. This game will be the first contest between the first and second overall picks of last year's draft, with RNH playing top line minutes and having 9 points in 9 games and Landeskog starting on the third line which has seemed more like the first line of the Avs this season. He also is producing well while playing great physical hockey on all areas of the ice and very likely may see his line put up against the Lottery Line most of the night. Landeskog comes into the game one goal short of the Avalanche record for goals by a rookie in October held currently by Svatos and Tanguay with this and the LA game yet to play. The team won 64% of faceoffs and managed to outshoot the Oilers 41-19, holding Hall and RNH to just a combined 1 shot on goal (matched up against the O'Reilly/Landeskog/Winnik line much of the time), but the curse of the backup goalie struck again as Dubnyk stepped in and stopped 40 of the 41 en route to a 3-1 win against the Avs as the curse of ex-Avs saw Ryan Smyth score a goal and add two assists. Landeskog and Winnik tied for a game high 6 shots each, double any Oiler. Porter played for Galiardi in the game and Andy Sutton who scored what would be the game winner hit Landeskog high in the third period and was forced to miss the Oilers next game as he had a meeting with Shannahan to discuss his suspension. The Avalanche at this point have only won twice at home in their last 17 games at the Pepsi Center and only 6 times in the entire 2011 calander year. Also of note, the Avalanche had 200 5th and 6th grade students of military families at the game from Fort Carson. After bussing them to Denver and a day of games, the kids and chaperones had an early supper before getting to watch the game at the Pepsi Center. Many of the children currently have or have had a parent deployed overseas. They kids were escorted by the Avs "better halves" to their seats, recieved a gift package, and were greated by mascots of the different teams who later played in an intermission scrimage to "celebrate Bernie's birthday" .... Bernie being the mascot introduced by the Avs a year ago. http://avalanche.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=598269
Sutton commented on his hit that "maybe the league would look at it, maybe they wouldn't". This is the same Sutton that asked a reporter if he "was an expert". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmVdVJ1sRJI The league held Sutton out of Edmonton's game Sunday, and after a hearing on Monday it was announced that the decision wouldn't be made until Tuesday. When finally announced Sutton got 5 games, I thought it was a bit much where Sutton didn't really lay into Landeskog's head but when Shanny announced they couldn't consider him a repeat offender but couldn't ignore his fine and suspension history (how does that work exactly?), 5 seemed ok. I think that it was the type of hit that the league is getting rid of, and had Sutton targetted the body and not the head he could have delivered one of the checks of the year and no one would complain, but when the head is the point of impact it is hard to ignore (and the size difference arguement to me doesn't fly ... see Scott Stevens top 10 hits which were all body to body). Sutton did seem to keep his arm in and wasn't speeding through the hit, which certainly lessens the impact, but the message of the league and re-stated with the suspension is that you "can NOT target the head or make it your principal point of contact". Landeskog has been caught twice thus far this year but hasn't been hurt, but he definitely needs to be careful with keeping his head up, though on this one the defenseman didn't do him any favors either. When asked directly about the hit Landeskog placed no blame or ill will towards Sutton but rather just took it upon himself, stating "I should have been more aware out there, more aware of what was coming".
In the Saturday practice Duchene was skating primarily with Jones and Lindstrom. Could be a sign we'll see the top two lines changed up to try and get Duchene going come the Sunday game against the Kings. Brandon Yip, on the IR with a fractured forearm, skated in a non-contact jersey during practice.
vs. LA : Landeskog came into the game with a couple Avalanche rookie marks in sight. First, a goal and he would tie the mark for most by a rookie in the month of October. Second, 3 more shots and he would tie the rookie shots in one month mark set by Duchene in March of his rookie year of 45. His 42 shots coming into the game is already the Avs/Nordiques rookie record for the month of October. Just as with the Edmonton game, the Avalanche will be hosting a team that played the night before. It was reported in the Denver Post game morning that Galiardi would be getting another shot at the top line playing with Stastny and Hejduk, and with Duchene between Jones and Lindstrom that leaves Kobasew who hasn't been producing or playing like a top liner as the odd man out. Quick thus far in his career against the Avs is 7-0 coming into the game. His luck wouldn't continue though as the Avalanche used a couple of strange bounces and got great play from their third line again shutting down the Kings top talent. Duchene would score, Landeskog got an assist but wasn't able to break either mark he could have prior to the game's start, and Varly made some big saves en route to his first win for the Avs in Denver. The Kings did outshoot and for portions of the game outplay the Avs but it didn't feel quite as bad as the 32-16 shot totals would make it seem, and it is becoming more and more apparent that while the third line is going to be huge and important for secondary scoring while shutting down the other team's top talent, they are going to need scoring from the top two lines still to compete into the postseason. O'Reilly and Landeskog both played nearly 20 minutes in the game, while Duchene finished with just under 15 once again. All four Avs centers finished 57% or better in the faceoff circle as well and the team won 55% of the draws total despite the rest of the team failing to win one when called upon.
vs. Phoenix : The Coyotes shut out the Avs twice last season in four meetings and this year's Avs have had trouble scoring goals at home thus far. Another thing they did was shut out the Avs PP last year (0-12). Not much different would happen this game as while the Avs did manage a goal, they went 0-4 on the PP and lost 4-1. I think most people are starting to see that the Coyotes team and coaching contributed a lot to their success and the loss of Bryz while not great hasn't been a killer. The Avs managed to again get 40 shots on a goalie playing really well, though they didn't look overly dangerous all night. Again however the top two lines for the Avalanche aren't generating offense and the best line night after night is that of O'Reilly, Landeskog, and Winnik who were again responsible for the only Avalanche goal of the night. O'Reilly now leads the team in points through the first 12 games. The Avalanche are going to have a long season if Stastny and Duchene's lines don't start contributing and soon as the rest of the team is playing pretty well overall. The Coyotes got a pair of goals including the game winner from another former Av (the curse of ex-Avs has to be taken seriously) with one of those having Hejda in perfect position to get the puck out of danger but failing to leading to a goal and then an empty netter. The back breaker though had to be a goal 30 seconds into the third period where the puck was dumped in from center ice on Varly who put the puck back out in front of him. Quincey perhaps let up just a bit expecting Varly to corral and cover the puck but it it came out and when he saw that he did his best to knock Korpikowski down but as the Coyote fell he got his stick on the puck and put a perfect shot past Varlamov. Many of the Avalanche players' fathers were in the building for the game as the Avalanche prepare for the annual father-son trip. On the road trip to Dallas the Avalanche are treating the fathers of the players to travel with the team and their sons, to see what their kids go through and get to know the team and organization, and then to see them play in Dallas. Hopefully that game will produce better results than games in the Pepsi Center have this year.
The struggles at home, and in general, can certainly be put on the top guys of the team. EJ has had some struggles and was upset with himself following the Phoenix game knowing he has to be better. He is yet to have a goal in the year, is a -8, and has yet to record a point at home. Paul Stastny while good on the road is another guy that hasn't scored a point at home. Hejduk has only a single point. It is like that throughout the top two lines for this team right now and as long as that continues this team will struggle and lose games.
Practice on Thursday saw Sacco shake up the lines again in an attempt to get things going, stating that he wasn't "going to keep things the same when it isn't working, when they aren't getting the production they need." Going into Friday's game Duchene is being moved from Center to Stastny's wing where they will be joined by Hejduk. Galiardi will take the open center spot (I don't want to call it the 2nd line because O'Reilly's line has been one of the top lines all year) and center Jones and Lindstrom. It was also announced that Varly would start in goal against Dallas as the team prepared to make the trip to Big D with their fathers along. Duchene and O'Byrne and perhaps others have tweeted today already as they boarded the plane that they were excited to have their dads along and morale appears high because of it. Hopefully it brings good things on the ice.
On Friday the 28th the Avalanche placed Cedrick Desjardins on waivers. Perhaps even though he was injured he still has to clear to play for the Monsters now? Would be a shame if the Avs lose him before he can even play for them or their AHL team ... but it didn't happen as he has cleared and will be available for the Monsters. Saturday Cedric got his first start, and making 29 saves in the shutout got off on the right foot for the team.
Gabriel Landeskog held an on-ice clinic with the U14 Boys Arapahoe program on October 29 as part of the Avalanche Player Clinic Program, in which Avs players visit youth hockey practices throughout the season.
Ryan O'Reilly, as mentioned before is regularly working on his game and his physicality, but he is also helping improve other teammates games as well. Previously the Post had a bit of video of a drill he set up at the end of practice where a puck was passed to a player who had to get the puck over a stick into a grouping of sticks the player stood in before shooting the puck. (Poor explanation I know...) Today he was last off the ice but had another drill where a tire and stick represented a d-man and the player recieving a pass around this tire/stick-man then had to fire the puck on net, which was blocked off by another net on its face in front of it leaving only the top shelf to hit. Video of it can be found here... http://blogs.denverpost.com/avs/2011/11/01/ryan-oreillys-latest-puck-drill/8716/
The day of Halloween Ryan O'Reilly and Cody McLeod visited "Trick or Treat Street" at the Children's Museum of Denver. Here is one of half a dozen or so pics posted by the Avalanche twitter account. http://twitpic.com/78yao3
Mueller's status looked bad when I went to the Denver Post early in the week. It was reported on the site that he at this point hasn't skated in days and no one is talking about it. However Thursday there was a new article that stated that he resumed skating on his own and would do so again before the Thursday practice. Mueller and his health are a wait and see situation it appears.
Brandon Maxwell, previously an Avs prospect in goal until he wasn't re-signed this past year, has started off the season 10-2-01 with a 2.09 GAA and a .929 Sv%.
Duncan Siemens and Calvin Pickard will represent the Western Hockey League in the upcoming Subway Super Series where Canada's Major Junior Leagues play against Team Russia in a six game series. The WHL contests will be November 16th and 17th.
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