The Burgundy Brigade is proud to present an exclusive game of the month ticket offer for February. Join your fellow Brigadiers for ladies night as the Colorado Avalanche take on the Carolina Hurricanes on February 10th. If enough tickets are sold, there is a chance fans could be treated to a private lounge for drinks and conversation before the home team crushes the Canes.

This exclusive offer is available to members of both sexes. Unite with a growing community of passionate Avalanche fans and help cheer the boys to another victory!

The Colorado Avalanche hosted the Minnesota Wild in their final game before the NHL All-Star game break. The Wild entered Denver in the midst of an 11 game road losing streak and walked away with a victory and a spot in the playoffs, should they start today.

Minnesota, who look a lot like the Avalanche did last season, currently has several AHL players up because of recent injury troubles and still just plain outworked Colorado at the Pepsi Center. TJ Galiardi got the scoring started on a back hand shot that really should have been stopped and it looked like the Avalanche were going to be able to take advantage of a Wild team that has had everything going against it.

Sadly, penalty troubles gave Minnesota two power plays and they managed to take advantage of the second with Justin Falk’s netting his first ever NHL goal. Avalanche netminder Jean-Sebastien Giguere was left completely out to dry on the next goal as he first had to stop a partial break away and then deal with a quick one-timer from Dany Heatley, who beat four Avalanche players down the ice to score.

Former Wild Chuck Kobasew tied the goal in the second on another soft goal from Niklas Backstrom, but that would be the last real effort from the Avalanche until the game was in its last seconds.

A brutal turnover from Shane O’Brien led to a completely unmolested 2-0 breakaway against Giguere who had no chance as Carson McMillan put one home.

All around Mr. Clutch, Ryan O’Reilly, was out for this game with the flu, partially explaining the pathetic effort from the Avalanche.

What do you think?

The Colorado Avalanche made their second swing to southern California in the past month, splitting games against the Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks.

The Avalanche started off strong in L.A. and recovered well from an Anze Kopitar goal that snuck in when Jean-Sebastien Giguere couldn’t keep a rebound under control.

Cody McLeod managed to tie the game on a break away after a spectacular, long pass from Stefan Elliott and Peter Mueller put home his third goal in two games with a great redirection late in the  second period to put Colorado up 2-1.

Gabriel Landeskog later whipped a power play goal past Jonathan Quick late in the third to ice the game for the Avalanche, who took a 3-1 on the road.

The following evening Giguere was back in net for the Avs as they looked to carry on against the Ducks.

The Avalanche got off to a great start and drew an early penalty but some shoddy passing gave Bobby Ryan a clear cut break away that he buried to give the Ducks an early lead on the shorthanded goal. Colorado dominated the rest of the period but couldn’t get a puck home.

The score stayed the same through a back and forth game and into the third period when Ryan Getzlaf added to the lead with a power play goal early in. Bobby Ryan would follow up with his second tally of the evening, which ended up being the game winning goal.

Colorado got late goals from Ryan O’Reilly and Milan Hejduk, but couldn’t put home the equalizer.

The Avalanche currently sits in the eighth seed in the Western Conference and have won three of their last five games.

January has been a key month for the Avalanche as they had only three home games throughout the month.  So far the Avs are 5-4-1 and need two more strong performances this month to make it a true success.

What do you think?

The Colorado Avalanche announced Friday that the club would be honoring members of the military during Military Appreciation Night on Friday, February 10th as the Avs take on the Carolina Hurricanes at 7 p.m.

“The Avalanche organization is proud to honor those who have served and continue to serve our country,” said Avalanche General Manager/Executive Vice President Greg Sherman.  “It will be an exciting night for our team and all of our fans, but more importantly a chance for us to give back to the men and women who have given so much to us.”

The first time event will feature an avalanche of activities including an auction featuring camouflage jerseys and t-shirts, a special pre-game ceremony celebrating Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta – a Medal of Honor recipient – miniature flags for the first 8,00 fans in the doors, and more.

There will also be tickets purchased and donated to military organizations by Paul Stastny, Ryan O’Reilly, Peter Mueller, and Matt Duchene. Season ticket holders will be able to donate their seats for the game to military members and Altitude Authentics will be offering a special 15% discount to those in uniform or presenting an active military ID upon checkout as well.

Fans are also encouraged to participate in a special Twitter contest by submitting a 60-90 second video to @avalanche on Twitter – including the #AvsMilitaryNight hashtag on the tweet – or via email to avalanche@pepsicenter.com. One fan will win a pair of tickets to the game and a team-signed camouflage jersey.

For more information on the event and the promotions, or how to donate, check out the Avalanche website.

Also, stay tuned for a special Burgundy Brigade offer for the same evening.

What do you think?

In one of the most exciting games of the year, the Colorado Avalanche won in thrilling fashion over the visiting Florida Panthers last night.

Both teams seemed to be feeling each other out at the start of the game until Avalanche defenseman Ryan O’Byrne cleared a puck into his own net while on the penalty kill. Marcel Goc was credited with the goal. That seemed to open the game up.

Colorado got on the board in the second when Peter Mueller scored his first goal since 2010 on a great wrist shot between Jose Theodore’s legs, tying the game. The period ended with a somewhat controversial Panthers goal when Stephen Weiss got tripped into Jean-Sebastien Giguere, taking the puck into the net with him.  Giguere was very unhappy with the call, but the goal was upheld.

The third period got off to a terrible start when another horrible bounce sent the puck right onto the stick of Tomas Kopecky who put the Panthers up by a score of 3-1 just 20 seconds in.

Colorado rebounded though, making the most of a couple of power play opportunities. The Avs responded on their second chance when Joe Sacco put out five forwards on the power play.  Peter Mueller rifled a one-timer past Jose Theodore to pull the Avalanche to within one goal.

After a fantastic kill of a four minute penalty, Paul Stastny got in on the action after he put home a rebound from his own shot to tie the game in the waning minutes. Theodore gave up a pretty weak rebound on the play, something Avalanche fans remember a lot from his time in Denver.

In overtime, the Avalanche were very sloppy and gave up multiple odd-man rushes, but Giguere would not allow the Panthers to take this game as he stopped both a 2-on-1 and 3-on-1 opportunity. With just under a minute to go in the bonus hockey, Ryan O’Reilly put home the game winning goal with a great shot through a defenders legs and through Theodore’s legs as the Pepsi Center crowd exploded.

What else can be said about this game but, Mueller? Mueller?  Mueller has been one of the best players for the Avalanche since coming back, and seeing the relief on his face after he finally got that first goal of the season was electric.  Then to see his teammates rush to him and hear the crowd go nuts, that easily has to be one of the best moments of the year in the NHL.

Check out Ryan Boulding’s Mueller write-up for Mile High Sports right here.

Brandon Yip On Waivers

Yesterday the Colorado Avalanche put lackluster forward Brandon Yip on waivers. If he clears he will be assigned to the Lake Erie Monsters of the AHL. Yip has been less than stellar in the his ten games with the club this season. He has no points and just eight shots. This is a bit of a change from the 22 points he had last year and it is quite apparent that more is expected of him. He will have to lay better than David Van Der Gulik if he expects to return to Denver.

What do you think?

The Colorado Avalanche were looking to rebound on home ice after a tough loss to St. Louis Blues a couple of night ago, but the Nashville Predators had other ideas in mind.

The Predators came out of the gates smoking hot and dominated the first period, outshooting the Avalanche 13-6.  Shooting wasn’t the only thing that they were able to do as they lit the lamp three times in the first period alone. Nick Spaling, Ryan Ellis and Martin Erat all got on the board early.

Colorado’s defense did netminder Semyon Varlamov no favors throughout the evening, constantly turning the pucks over at the blue line and missing assignments.  This was not the defense that had Colorado winning eight of it’s previous ten games.

The second period was much more spirited for the Avalanche who spent a great deal of time in the Nashville end, outshooting Nashville 18-6 in the second period, but only managing one goal - a beautiful redirection from Ryan O’Reilly on a Paul Stastny shot on the power play.

From then on, the Predators and All-Star goalie Pekka Rinne shut the doors on Colorado.  A bad turnover in the Avalanche defensive zone led to another goal for the Predators late as Patric Hornqvist iced the game with the fourth goal of the evening.

After an impressive streak that got the Avalanche back into the playoff picture, Colorado has now lost two straight games and cannot keep losing if they want to keep pace with the very competitive Western Conference.

Colorado will play the second half of the home and home series on Thursday night in Nashville and need to come out strong to get the two points and stay within reach of that final playoff spot.  January is a crucial month for the Avalanche.

What do you think?

The Colorado Avalanche dropped a stinker to the St. Louis Blues tonight on the road, just 24 hours after an outstanding victory against the second place Chicago Blackhawks.

Last night the Avs played an all around solid game, attacking the puck with such fervor that the Blackhawks, who had played the night before, didn’t stand a chance. Bolstered by a standout performance from TJ Galiardi, who is quickly earning top minutes and had his first career Gordie Howe hat trick, the Avalanche scored four goals and held Chicago pointless despite 27 chances.

Avs netminder Semyon Varlamov also came to play, turning away every shot he faced while also making some outstanding saves, especially on a handful of breakaway chances, which could have changed the momentum of the game. Overlooked by Chicago, the Avalanche made them pay and hoped to carry this strong game on to St. Louis.

Unfortunately this wasn’t the case. In fact, the Avalanche found themselves on the exact other side of the coin, failing to register a point and putting up a measly 15 shots on their former teammate Brian Elliott. The Blues however, really came out swinging. They accrued an insurmountable four goal lead on a devastating 39 shots and easily outplayed the Avs in all areas of the game. Another former Av, Kevin Shattenkirk, continued to shine, scoring a goal and adding an assist against the team that traded him away. Jean-Sebastien Giguere was dealt the loss, one of his worst of an otherwise great season.

The Avalanche had won three in a row heading into tonight’s contest and look to rebound at home against the Nashville Predators before heading back out on the road for another three game stint.

What do you think?

The Colorado Avalanche yesterday reassigned forward Brad Malone to the Lake Erie Monsters, ending his first stint with the club at nine games.

Malone was brought up from the Monsters to fill in for the handful of injuries on the Avalanche roster that included Brandon Yip, Chuck Kobasew, and David Jones. Because these players are getting back to healthy, it didn’t make sense to have Malone spending time in the press box. His development is far too important for that.

Malone had two points, both assists, in his nine games and finished plus-1 with six shots. He averaged around ten minutes per game and was certainly noticeable out on the ice. Malone was given a good look by the staff and certainly seems to be flourishing nicely in his first season out of the college circuit.

The Denver Post had more good news about the Avalanche today, stating that defenseman Ryan Wilson is close to returning from a head injury suffered in Vancouver.

What do you think?

The Colorado Avalanche didn’t look like they were going to get 2012 off to quite as good of a start after being thoroughly outplayed by the Los Angeles Kings, but there was some new year magic in the air.

One player who was determined to get 2012 off to the right start was crease demon Semyon Varlamov, who stole the game for the Avalanche. Colorado was slow out of the gates and spent the vast majority of the first and second period in their own zone, chasing around the Kings, who were just one step ahead the whole time.

Yet, after two periods, the Avalanche only trailed 1-0 on a goal by Dustin Brown after one of those dominant shifts early in the second. The Avalanche finally got their legs going in the third period and tallied a goal after Kyle Quincey made a great play to hold the puck in the zone.  The rubber found its way onto Ryan O’Reilly’s stick and O’Reilly walked in front, made a sweet little juke move to lose a defender and then wired a perfect shot off the far post and in to tie the game at one.

After a scoreless overtime, the Avalanche and Kings went to a shootout.

Varlamov was perfect in the shootout once again, denying all comers, and Milan Hejduk scored the only goal on Jonathan Quick to give the Avs their seventh shootout victory of the season.

Colorado didn’t deserve to win the game tonight, but Varlamov did what a good goalie can do.  He stole a win on the road.

Colorado also managed to beat the Kings and the Anaheim Ducks on the same California road trip for the first time in franchise history.

The Avalanche will be in Chicago to play the Blackhawks on Friday.

What do you think?

Life has been good for the Colorado Avalanche over the past couple of weeks.  The club was riding a five game winning streak and even won eight straight games at home heading into last night’s contest against the Winnipeg Jets.

With a win the Avalanche could have moved into the eighth seed in the Western Conference, into a playoff spot.

Colorado came out strong in the first period and managed to put a lot of rubber on net, getting some good chances.  The Avalanche were simply unable to capitalize on any of their chances thanks to some good stops from Jets netminder Ondrej Pavelec.

The first goal of the game came when Avalanche defenseman Shane O’Brien made the unfortunate decision to pinch in. Nobody took his position at the point when the team turned the puck over, watching a 2-on-1 develop instead.

Evander Kane was thinking shot all the way and lasered a dirty wrister right over Jean-Sebastien Giguere’s glove hand into the top shelf.

The second period wasn’t much better. Ryan O’Bryne took a holding penalty and Winnipeg got a power play chance that they quickly capitalized on. Giguere seemed to overcommit to a slap pass coming from the point, and Winnipeg got a fortunate bounce directly over to Tim Stapleton who had all day and an open net to shoot at.

Later in the second Evander Kane found himself on a breakaway with nobody near him from the red line in. Giguere managed to save the breakaway, but another fortunate bounce sent a centering attempt right off of Erik Johnson’s skate and directly onto the tape of Kane, who put in his second goal of the night.

The Jets made it academic in the third after the Avalanche made a brutal giveaway behind their own net and left yet another Jets player, this time Jim Slater, with a wide open net for an easy goal. Kevin Porter did respond with a goal late in the third period to wreck the shutout, but the game was iced by that point.

Colorado’s win streak of five was snapped, as was their eight straight wins at home.

David Van der Gulik got another assist and played a decent overall game. It was his third point in two games.

The Avalanche played like a team that had to do an insane amount of traveling in a quick 48 hours and made some mistakes that happen when you’re tired and not thinking straight.

Win streaks end. The biggest thing to watch for the Avalanche is to make sure that they don’t take this loss too hard and get back into another downward spiral.  Five straight wins will help a team climb in the rankings, but a few losses in a row can take a team right back out.

The Avalanche need to refocus and be ready to get back to the same type of hard-working style of play that earned them that impressive win streak when they take on the Phoenix Coyotes tomorrow night.

What do you think?

After a successful home stand that saw the Avalanche win four in a row and break a franchise record for consecutive wins on home ice, the Avalanche traveled to Minnesota for a huge test.

David Van Der Gulik - Courtesy of Lindsey Akiyama

Coming into tonight’s contest, the Avalanche had not won a road game since October 22nd and were 1-9 against divisional opponents. That made tonight’s game that much more important.  With a loss the Avalanche could kill all of the momentum that they had built up but a win would put the Avalanche just one point out of a playoff position.

The game got off to a quick start and saw some good hitting from both sides, giving both teams some early power plays. The Wild managed to crack through the Avalanche penalty kill late in a Cody McLeod major penalty when Pierre-Marc Bouchard put a puck past Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov. McLeod got a five minute major and a game misconduct for his hit on Jared Spurgeon.  He’ll most likely be hearing from Brendan Shanahan in the coming days.

The Avalanche started out the second period slowly, but eventually earned a power play of their own.  Colorado would make the Wild pay when Matt Duchene, playing on the point, made a fantastic slap pass to Ryan O’Reilly who directed it into the back of the net to tie the game.

Erik Johnson helped Minnesota gain some momentum back with a turnover a little more than a minute later. Mikko Koivu centered a pass to Cal Clutterbuck who buried the puck into the gaping net to put the Wild back up by a goal.

The Avalanche would overcome this lead again with some hard work behind Minnesota goaltender Niklas Backstrom.  TJ Galiardi and David Van Der Gulik forced a turnover that ended up on the stick of Gabriel Landeskog, who quickly put the puck behind Backstrom to tie the game again.

The third period was all Avalanche.  After some hard work, Van der Gulik got the puck back to O’Reilly who made a beautiful centering pass to an opportunistic Jan Hejda. Hejda made no mistake burying the puck in the empty net, putting the Avalanche up for the first time in the game.

Colorado continued to play solid defensive hockey in front of Varlamov and Galiardi helped the club pull away when he picked up a puck in his own zone and carried it all the way into the Minnesota’s.  Gali showed great patience, streaking across the attacking zone and allowing his teammates to get to the front of the net to provide a screen for the shot that he buried over Backstrom’s blocker.

Colorado put the clamps on the rest of the way to end their road losing streak and gain their second divisional win of the season.

Minnesota has now lost seven games in a row and have come crashing down to earth after leading the NHL in the standings for a decent portion of the season.

Colorado is just one point out of the eighth seed in the West and looks to move into playoff position when taking on the Winnipeg Jets at the Pepsi Center tomorrow night.

What do you think?

The Colorado Avalanche have been great at home of late and have managed to beat some very solid teams on home ice.  Teams like the Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals, San Jose Sharks and Detroit Red Wings lie in the wake of the Av’s win streak at home.

The Avalanche got off to a flying start last night, getting a goal from Paul Stastny a little less than four minutes into the period.  Stastny got his stick on a shot from Matt Hunwick and redirected it right off a St. Louis Blues defender’s skate and into the net.  This was Hunwick’s first point of the season.

A little more than a minute later, Cody McLeod was the recipient of an early Christmas present when St. Louis netminder Brian Elliott misplayed a the puck, dumping it right onto McLeod’s stick.  McLeod made no mistake and fired it under Elliott’s pads before he had a chance to set up, giving the Avalanche a quick 2-0 lead.

Colorado then started to sit back a bit and ended up taking a few penalties in the first period.  Thanks to strong penalty killing and great goaltending from Jean-Sebastien Giguere, the Avs escaped the period with their two goal lead intact.

The second period was less positive as the Avalanche really sat back and let the Blues dictate the majority of the play. St. Louis got a jolt of life when David Backes got a fortunate bounce, putting a wrister right off Shane O’Brien’s stick and into the twine.

The Blues tied the game after former Av Chris Stewart picked up a loose puck as he was going to the net and put it by Giguere’s left pad. However Giguere made a few more big saves to keep the game tied.

Jay McClement got a lucky break as he tried to feed a pass on an odd-man rush but caught a sliding Blues defender with the puck. St. Louis knocked the puck into their net and gave the Avalanche a lead they would never relinquish.

The third period was about one thing from the Avalanche, defense. Colorado managed only one shot on goal, but did have a couple of golden opportunities that were just missed shots. Colorado played a tight game and kept shots to the outside, allowing very few quality scoring chances.

With their seventh straight win at home, the Avalanche have tied a franchise record and look to break it with a win on Friday against the Tampa Bay Lightning, who were trounced by San Jose last night.

What do you think?

After a strong showing against the Sharks at home, the Avalanche traveled to San Jose looking to keep their good fortunes going. Unfortunately, this wouldn’t be the case.

The game got off to an inauspicious beginning when Avalanche goaltender Semyon Varlamov made a horrible clear attempt straight to the stick of San Jose’s Logan Couture.  Varlamov managed to make the first save, but gave up a big rebound to Ryan Clowe, who buried the puck.

The Avalanche managed to bounce back with authority once on the power play. Paul Stastny cleanly won a face-off right back to Erik Johnson, who put a beautiful shot on net. Stastny deflected the wandering puck right over Antti Niemi’s blocker to tie the game.

The Avalanche got another power play chance a bit later when TJ Galiardi drew a penalty late in the period.  Some great puck movement and a spectacular shot from Stefan Elliott led to a rebound landing right on Ryan O’Reilly’s stick. O’Reilly buried the second power play goal of the period and the Avalanche took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

San Jose got another early goal in the second period after a bad turnover in the defensive end. A couple of quick passes later and Michal Handzus put it by Varlamov to knot the game at two goals.

The Avalanche swiftly retorted when Matt Duchene turned on his A-game.  He drove hard to the net and one-handed a pass out to the front of the crease that bounced off of Daniel Winnik and onto Stastny’s stick.  Stastny buried a beautiful backhander for his second goal of the game.

Later in the period, Winnik would be rewarded for going hard to the basket as he took a pass from Stastny and put it top shelf to give the Avalanche a 4-2 lead heading into third period.

Then the wheels came off.

After dominating the entire game, Colorado was suddenly passive and unable to clear the puck. Jan Hejda made a horrendous clear attempt that ended with Brent Burns potting the puck and putting the Sharks within one.

A little more than a minute later, Avalanche killer Joe Pavelski finished a rebound, unmolested. Goals don’t get much easier than that one. Not longer after that, Couture easily deflected a shot past Varlamov for the eventual game winner.

For as outstanding as the Avalanche played in the first 40 minutes of the game, and they were spectacular, they were equally bad in the third period when the game was on the line. Varlamov was hung out to dry.

The Avalanche need to build on the positives of the game and bring that into Saturday’s home game against the Washington Capitals.

What do you think?

The Colorado Avalanche today recalled two more players from the Lake Erie Monsters in order to fill in the gaps in a shrinking roster.

Both David Van Der Gulik and and Evan Brophey have been selected to join the Avalanche in action, beginning with a game against the San Jose Sharks on the road. Due to injuries to Chuck Kobasew (head) and Brandon Yip (groin) and coupled with the lingering suspension of Kevin Porter, the Avalanche quickly found themselves in a bit of a pinch for players.

Van Der Gulik currently leads the Monsters in points with 19 and had a decent showing at the beginning of the season last year before being sidelined with a knee tear. He sits above both Greg Mauldin and Ryan Stoa in points tallied so far this year. Brophey is second on the team with eight goals and has four assists as well. He has only played one NHL game in his career, for the Chicago Blackhawks, and will be looking to stay up as long as possible.

More interesting than the choice to call these players up is the decision of who not to recall. While Mauldin has been out recently due to illness, the fact that Stoa didn’t get a nod could be more significant than most realize. Long has Stoa failed to capitalize on his opportunities and overlooking him now, while most likely related only to current play, could imply that Stoa will be on his way out of the franchise when his contract expires at the end of the season.

There has been no announcement as to who will play tomorrow night against the Sharks.

What do you think?

The Colorado Avalanche just returned home from a horrendous road trip through Western Canada, losing all three matches against divisional opponents. They came into tonight’s contest against the San Jose Sharks really needing to bounce back before things got out of hand.

The Avs got it tonight, playing a tough game from start to finish.

The first period was very even and nearly ended scoreless but Stefan Elliott went coast to coast and lasered a shot past Antti Niemi’s blocker to give the Avalanche a one goal lead going into the first intermission.

Colorado came out strong in the second period as well, but ended up shorthanded a couple of times.The Sharks would make the Avalanche pay after TJ Galiardi took a penalty for high-sticking Patrick Marleau. Dan Boyle made a strong play to keep a puck in the offensive zone and sent a fantastic feed to Jamie McGinn who redirected the puck through Semyon Varlamov’s legs to knot the game at one.

After another strong flurry by San Jose, and the Avalanche being unable to clear the puck out of their zone, Boyle caught Matt Duchene napping and took advantage. He snuck right behind Duchene and buried a loose puck past Varlamov’s blocker.

The Avalanche began to turn the tide in the third period which saw the play begin to open up. With both teams down a man, Daniel Winnik made a nifty backhanded wrap-around to tie the game up at two, Niemi unable to control the rebound off an Erik Johnson slap shot.

Not long after that, the Avalanche converted on their only power play opportunity of the evening when Duchene received a sweet pass from Milan Hejduk and roofed the puck. It looked like the Avs were going to take the win home until Logan Couture laid a beautiful pass on Marleau’s stick. With just 22 seconds left in the game, Marleau managed to squeak one by Varlamov.

After an uneventful overtime, the Avs and Sharks went to a shootout. Neither team had lost in the shooting contest coming into tonight’s match.

Milan Hejduk and Joe Pavelski managed to pot goals, extending the shootout through the first three shooters. After a series of missed chances and stellar saves Gabriel Landeskog buried his first ever shootout opportunity allowing Varlamov one last save to give the Avalanche their fourth straight home win.

The Avalanche play in San Jose on Tuesday in the back half of a home and home series. Let’s hope that the Avalanche are able to put together another a similar effort.

What do you think?

The NHL today announced that Colorado Avalanche forward Kevin Porter has been suspended for four games.

Czar of Discipline Brendan Shanahan brought down the hammer, making an example of Porter’s knee to knee hit on Vancouver Canuck David Booth. While there has been debate about whether or not it was misconduct worthy, let alone suspension deserving, the NHL decided it was time for a Shanaban.

Porter will be inactive for tonight’s game against the Calgary Flames, tomorrow night’s game against the Edmonton Oilers, and for both games versus  the San Jose Sharks – December 13th and 15th. He will likely return for the Burgundy Brigade Game of the Month on December 17th to face the Washington Capitals. Porter will lose $18,378.30, which will be donated to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

Some are wondering how Porter can be suspended for such a dangerous play while Oiler Ryan Whitney made a more intentional play on Minnesota Wild pawn Cal Clutterbuck and received no further discipline.

The Colorado Avalanche have recalled Brad Malone from the Lake Erie Monsters to fill in while Porter is absent.

Another One Bites The Dust

While it is somewhat old news now, Avalanche forward Joakim Lindström has opted out of the remainder of his contract. Following a demotion to the Monsters – in order to pave the way for Stefan Elliott – Lindström decided he’d rather return to play in Sweden, where he lead the Swedish Elite League in points last season. Lindström was given a chance but couldn’t manage to make the most of it, opting to give up instead of work his way back to the Show. He became a father to his first child this summer and familial considerations likely played a part in his decision as well.

What do you think?

The Colorado Avalanche laid an egg in Vancouver last night, failing to step up to the streaking Canucks.

The score is slightly deceiving as the Avalanche actually seemed to be pretty on their game through the first period with Vancouver getting a pretty fortunate bounce when Daniel Sedin managed to bank a goal in off of Semyon Varlamov.

In the second period the Canucks scored a great goal, taking advantage of the Avalanche being a bit too aggressive in their defensive zone.  They just whipped the puck around so well that Colorado had no chance.

Despite the 2-0 deficit, the Avalanche had actually outshot and outchanced the Canucks through two periods.

It wasn’t until the third period when the wheels all came off.

During a 4-on-4 situation, Varlamov lost his stick and was handed the stick of defender Stefan Elliott.  Daniel Sedin saw this and took advantage of the stickless defender, roofing a shot over Varly’s glove..

From then on, the Canucks just outskilled and outperformed the Avalanche the rest of the way and added from Jannik Hansen, a hat-trick goal from Daniel Sedin, and a powerplay goal from Alex Edler.

This loss snapped the Avs’ three game win streak.

Things to note

Gabriel Landeskog knocked Roberto Luongo out of the game in the second period in a scary moment. Landeskog shot a hard puck that hit Luongo in the neck under his mask.  He had to replaced by Cory Schneider.

Kevin Porter was ejected from the game after a questionable knee-on-knee hit with David Booth.

Ryan Wilson left the game with a head injury after being hit from behind by Max Lapierre.  There was no call by the officials, though it’s likely that Brendan Shanahan will have a look at this one.

The Avalanche still have only one win within their division this year and will go to Calgary next to face a Flames team that they haven’t beaten in eight games.

What do you think?

The Avalanche went into Sunday night’s game with two superb wins under their belts and needed to have a strong performance against the Detroit Red Wings if they wished to push that streak to three.

Detroit came in to Denver red hot, winners of their last seven games, and were hoping to continue their winning ways.

The first period was rather inauspicious for the Avalanche who didn’t really start fast out of the gates.  Detroit spent a lot of time in Colorado’s zone, and though Colorado had an early powerplay, it didn’t result in many chances.

The Wings soon ended up with a powerplay chance of their own and capitalized on it when Johan Franzen received an excellent pass from Pavel Datsyuk and had the entire net to shoot at.  Varly never had a chance, attempting to slide across his crease.

The second period saw the Avalanche jump right out of the blocks and absolutely smother the Red Wings. Gabriel Landeskog made a great individual effort on the fore-check to gain a turnover behind the Detroit net. He made a perfect pass to Ryan O’Reilly who roofed the puck stick side to knot the game at one.

Not long after that, Colorado found themselves on another powerplay. Paul Stastny finally buried one when Matt Duchene alertly threw the puck at the net from a strange angle, catching Red Wing netminder Ty Conklin out of position. Stastny beat Nicklas Lidstrom to the puck and buried it to give the Avs a 2-1 lead.

The Avalanche completely dominated the second period, outshooting Detroit 19-4.

The third period saw some pretty good action back and forth, with Detroit tying the score at two just past the five minute mark of the period.  Danny Cleary managed to get a nifty deflection through the smallest of holes short side on Varlamov.

The Avalanche would not be denied, though.  On a penalty kill, their second of the period, Gabriel Landeskog found a chance to break out offensively and ended up with a partial 2-on-1 break with TJ Galiardi. Landeskog fed Galiardi a perfect pass which Gally rifled past Conklin far side for the Avs’ fourth shorthanded goal of the season.

Ryan O’Reilly added an empty netter for his second of the game to seal the deal for the Avalanche late, and give the Avalanche their third straight win.

Things to note

Though Stastny scored, Mike Chambers is reporting that Paul Stastny went out of the game in the third period with what the Avs are calling a torso injury.  Chambers also says that Adrian Dater will have more on this at practice tomorrow.

The Avalanche are now tied for the second most short handed goals in the league, with 4.  It’s nice to see this type of aggression from the penalty kill.  This was Gabriel Landeskog’s second short handed point of the season, both assists.

Semyon Varlamov continued his stellar play, stopping 27 of 29 shots tonight.  With his third straight win, Varly has allowed no more than two goals in each of his last six starts.  He is playing with confidence and making some big saves.

Though he isn’t showing up on the stat sheet, David Jones played a very strong game tonight.  He worked very hard in the corners and was strong on the puck most of the game.  This is nice to see out of Jones and hopefully the goals will start coming again for him.

Stefan Elliott saw just under nine minutes of ice time, partially because the Avalanche welcomed back defenseman Erik Johnson tonight and played with seven defenders and partially because he gave up a turnover that lead to a breakaway.

Shane O’Brien and Kyle Quincey led the Avs with a +3 rating.

The Avalanche are on the road next against the Vancouver Canucks to kick off a vital swing of three divisional games right in a row. Let’s hope the Avs can keep things rolling.

The Avalanche came into the game against the St. Louis Blues hoping to put together back to back wins for the first time since their five game win streak in October, and ended up playing one of the most exciting games of the season.

St. Louis came out with the most jump and really took it to the Avalanche.  Their hard work paid off as they got the first goal of the game on the powerplay from none other than ex-Avalanche defender Kevin Shattenkirk.  Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov was completely screened and never saw the shot.

Up to that point the Avalanche had looked pretty flat and were being outshot by a 9-3 margin.  It looked like fans were in for another underwhelming home performance until Ryan O’Reilly’s line put together a great shift that ended with O’Reilly feeding a beautiful to pass right to Milan Hejduk who evened the game.

The second period saw a combined total of 27 shots and some spectacular goalie play. Both Jaroslav Halak and Semyon Varlamov performed some absolute highway robbery throughout the game.

St. Louis was the only team to find the net in the second period as Patrik Berglund slipped one past Varlamov after the Avalanche couldn’t clear the puck out of their zone.

In the third period the stellar goalkeeping continued until the O’Reilly centered line once again stepped up and found a way to put on some sustained pressure.  This resulted in O’Reilly squeezing a puck past Halak as Hejduk provided a fantastic screen in front.

The game finished with a series of unbelievable flurries in front of Halak, one where the puck bounced off the top of the net and landed right on O’Reilly’s stick in the crease.  O’Reilly went to bang it home but Halak’s reaction was just amazing and he stopped the point blank shot as time expired.

In overtime the Avalanche nearly ended it as Ryan O’Byrne squeaked one past Halak who managed to swing around and swoop the puck out just before it crossed the goal line.  The officials initially called it a goal, but the correct call was made as it was overturned.

In the shootout, Varlamov stoned all three St. Louis shooters, and Ryan O’Reilly notched the only goal for the Avalanche to lift Colorado to their second win in a row.

Things to note:

All of the lines were exactly the same from last game against the  New Jersey Devils to tonight’s game. I think it is safe to say that the Avalanche have found their real first line with O’Reilly, Landeskog and Hejduk. This line was responsible for all of the goals tonight, including the shootout winner.

Jan Hejda continues to improve and has posted a plus five in his last two games.  He has found a great home on the blue line with Ryan O’Byrne.

Semyon Varlamov hasn’t allowed more than two goals in a game since he came back from Joe Sacco’s doghouse.  He made 35 more saves tonight to help improve his save percentage. His confidence is clearly back and it showed as he pumped his fists after stopping the final shootout attempt.

The Avalanche play Detroit tonight at the Pepsi Center to close out this long home stand and would love to end it the right way.

What do you think?

The Colorado Avalanche laid a serious beat down on the New Jersey Devils at the Pepsi Center in what was one of the more complete games that they have played all year.

The Avalanche jumped all over the Devils in the first period, getting goals from Milan Hejduk, TJ Galiardi and Jan Hejda.  Each of those three goals came in the first five shots that the Avalanche got on future hall of famer Martin Brodeur.

The Avalanche seemed to sit back a bit during the second period and paid a price for it as Ilya Kovalchuk managed to put a puck past Semyon Varlamov for his 5th goal of the season.

Colorado’s defense was strong enough to hold the Devils at bay and Varlamov played strong for the entire night, keeping the Avalanche up by two goals at the end of the second period.

The Avalanche started the third on a penalty kill that would set the tone for the rest of the game. After the Avs killed the Devils’ power play in a very impressive fashion, Ryan O’Reilly fluttered a puck past the outstretched glove of Brodeur after a great check by Milan Hejduk of all people. This Devils turnover led directly to O’Reilly’s goal.

The Avalanche didn’t let up again, this time going for the jugular as Jay McClement added a shorthanded goal and Stefan Elliott lasered a beauty of a wrist shot right over Brodeur’s glove hand to push the score to 6-1.

Semyon Varlamov stopped 18 out of 19 shots for the win.

Things to note

Milan Hejduk tallied his 8th goal of the season for the Avalanche, and more importantly, his first goal since being named captain.

Ryan O’Reilly continued his strong season and is behind only Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings when it comes to takeaways this season.  Could O’Reilly’s name be in the mix for the Selke Trophy, given to the league’s best defensive forward?

Stefan Elliott continued to impress and tallied three points in his first three games. Not half bad to get your second career NHL goal against one of the best goalies to ever play the game.  This kid is impressive and is here to stay.

With the win, Semyon Varlamov pushed his save percentage back over .900.  Varly has been very solid for the Avs since he came back from “the doghouse.”

The Colorado Avalanche came into last night’s game desperately needing a good showing in order to pull off a divisional win for the first time this season.

It looked like that wouldn’t be the case after Shane O’Brien made a bad turnover at his own blue line allowing Sam Gagne to pull Semyon Varlamov out of his net. Gagne fed a pass to Ladislov Smid for his first goal of the season.  Varly was unable to regain his crease tripping over O’Brien.

The Avalanche were quick to respond as Ryan Wilson laid an absolute bomb of a hit on Taylor Hall.  Upset about the hit, the Oilers wanted to have words but Matt Duchene kept playing, sending Chuck Kobasew on on a breakaway.  Kobasew was stopped by a fantastic poke check from Devan Dubnyk, but the sprawling Dubnyk fell out of the play. Jay McClement managed to clean up the rebound to tie the game.

Early in the second period Jan Hejda made a very foolish attempt at a pinch that led to an Edmonton odd man rush.  Varlamov made the initial save on Eric Belanger, but a big rebound squeezed through his arm and sat right in the crease. Ryan Jones was there for the tap in to put Edmonton up by one.

Colorado finally got things going with some good effort in the third period, drawing a few penalties, one of which led to some Shane O’Brien redemption when he tied the game on the power play.

Less than two minutes later, and shortly after he made a brilliant play to break up a 2-on-1 in his own zone, Stefan Elliott put the exclamation mark on his NHL debut by scoring the game winning goal on a perfectly placed wrister from the point.

Later in the period David Jones made a great hustle play to beat out an icing call that led straight to a goal from Jan Hejda, also hungry for a bit of redemption. Hejda’s shot found its way through a screen and some legs and moved through Dubnyk’s five hole to give the Avs a much needed two goal lead.

Paul Stastny would later bury an empty net goal from center ice, giving the Avalanche a 5-2 victory and their first divisional win of the season.

Things to note:

Stefan Elliott made his NHL debut tonight and was absolutely everything the team could hope for. Forgetting his game winning goal, Elliott was frequently involved in offensive rushes but was still very responsible defensively.  With this type of play, it’s going to be a tough decision on who the odd man out is on the Avalanche blue line.

Semyon Varlamov got his first victory since October 30th against the Los Angeles Kings, stopping 31 shots.  He played well against Vancouver in that loss, and seems to be regaining his confidence in net.

Line juggling continues, but the OWL line (Ryan O’Reilly, Dan Winnik, Gabriel Landeskog) was back together tonight, as was the Stastny, Milan Hejduk, Duchene line.  The best line of the night, however, was McClement, Kobasew, and Kevin Porter.

The Avalanche are now 2-2 halfway through this homestand and will play the Kari Lehtonen-less Dallas Stars on Monday. Colorado beat Dallas 3-0 last time the two teams played.

What do you think?

Coming off of a 1-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild, the Colorado Avalanche looked to establish dominance against the Dallas Stars, starting an eight game home stand on the right foot.

Playing a solid all around game, the Avalanche managed to ride another evening of superb goaltending to a 3-0 decision, just their third home victory this season. On the second night of back to back starts, netminder Jean-Sebastien Giguere turned away a paltry 24 shots, remaining strong in the crease again.

Chuck Kobasew got the Avs on the board early, scoring what would be the game winning goal off a tip from a Ryan Wilson rocket from the point. Stars keeper Kari Lehtonen did his best to keep his team in the game, stopping a 42 shot barrage overall. He couldn’t do it alone though, surrendering a late third period powerplay goal to Paul Stastny that served as the nail in the coffin. Matt Duchene would get the empty net goal, on another powerplay, with just five seconds left in the contest.

A disciplined, straightforward game by the Avalanche yielded positive results, as Colorado took just one penalty during the game yet also managed to convert on two man-advantage situations. Dallas had five minor infractions during the game, including four in the final frame and two in the last five minutes that resulted in Avalanche tallies.

Some may be concerned that a goaltending controversy is brewing in Denver, with the young Semyon Varlamov struggling to perform as of late. Giguere doesn’t see it that way, claiming that he’s just making the most of his time in net.

“The future of this team belongs to Varly, there’s no doubt about that,” Giguere said. “Just like any young guy on this team, you can have ups and downs. It’s just the way this game is. It’s the toughest league and sometimes it gets to you. You know he’s going to bounce back. My job, meanwhile, is to take over and try to do as best as I can and try to give the team a chance.”

Colorado has a day off before facing the San Jose Sharks. Be sure to get your tickets to the Burgundy Brigade Game of the Month on November 23rd, against the Vancouver Canucks.

A Change In Venue

Adrian Dater is reporting that the Avalanche will begin practicing more regularly on their home ice while the Denver Nuggets remained locked out, pending contract negotiations in an ongoing NBA labor dispute. There has been no announcement from the Avs regarding fan attendance at practices in the Can.

What do you think?

Coming off of a 6-3 loss to the Pittsburg Penguins, the Colorado Avalanche went into Minnesota looking to turn their recent slide around.

Unfortunately, they didn’t find much success, dropping a 1-0 decision to the home team after giving up a goal to Devin Setoguchi with just 2:31 remaining in the game on a defensive breakdown.

While the goal was controversial to some – Jay McClement was hit in the face with a potentially intentional high stick from Cal Clutterbuck – it was unfortunate for the Avs who had played a sound, defensive game against the recently successful Wild until that point. As with most games against Minnesota, it was a defense first, grind it out low kind of hockey game that seemed dull but certainly didn’t lack any intensity.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere got the start and played a solid game, coming up with some big plays to keep his team in the game. He didn’t get much help at the other end of the ice though, as the Avalanche were unable to figure out Niklas Backstrom, who didn’t seem to exert himself at all while stopping the Avs cold.

Unable to catch a break, Colorado returns to Denver for an eight game home stand, starting tonight against the Dallas Stars.

Be sure to get your tickets to the Burgundy Brigade Game of the Month on Wednesday, November 23rd, as the Avs take on their division rivals, the Vancouver Canucks.

On a night that actually saw the Colorado Avalanche start the game on time, the boys in burgundy were still unable to walk away with a win.

The Avalanche lept to life against the Pittsburgh Penguins last night, playing a fast, aggressive game of puck, largely smothering the surprised home team early. Colorado got on the board first, with goals from Jay McClement and Matt Duchene. Dutchy had the goal of his career, passing the puck to himself, between his legs, before burying the backhand.

The club entered the second period leading 3-1 after goals by Jordan Staal and David Jones, but we’re unable to maintain the ferocious play from the start of the game. They gave up a goal midway through the frame when Ryan O’Byrne knocked the puck from under Semyon Varlamov while jumping over him to avoid a collision. Ultimately it was here that the momentum began to shift.

Colorado was unable to step up to the in-game adjustments of the Penguins, who took over in the third, scoring five unanswered goals in all to win 6-3. What started out as an awe inspiring steamrolling by the Avalanche ended in typical fashion, as the flame burned out.

The Avs have struggled with playing a full effort and have only won three games in regulation this season. This was their first loss to an Eastern Conference team. They look to turn the tides tomorrow as they take on the Minnesota Wild, in Minnesota.

Whatt do you think?

The latest episode of Two Guys 1 Puck is now online for you listening pleasure.

This week, the gents discussed the Colorado Avalanche’s inability to play well at home and how struggling to find their game early on is hindering their performance. There is also some discussion surrounding a recent article about the failure of the Avalanche’s dump and chase system. From here, the guys break down the roster, analyzing who should play where and why Matt Duchene needs to be a permanent left winger.

TJ Galiardi and Kevin Porter also find their names in the conversation, as a potentially healthy Brandon Yip and Peter Mueller bring up certain questions about line pairings. An unexpected change in direction finds the talk shift to the future of Joe Sacco and Greg Sherman in Colorado and local fans are called out for not providing enough support to their most favorite of teams.

TG1P wouldn’t be complete with some talk of the madmen in the crease, and, joined by Justin Goldman, there is talk of playing Semyon Varlamov vs. Jean-Sebastien Giguere against the Pittsburgh Penguins and whether or not Ryan Miller is at fault for getting steamrolled by Milan Lucic.

Give it a listen. Two Guys 1 Puck is also available for download on iTunes.

What do you think? Have something to say? Tell us below.