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 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 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?

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 Colorado Avalanche managed to rally for a big win against the New York Islanders Thursday night and hoped to carry the momentum of that huge win into a divisional matchup against the Calgary Flames.

Colorado helped the Flames get off to a quick start when they spotted Calgary three goals – from Paul Byron, Jarome Iginla, and Curtis Glencross - in the first period.  Semyon Varlamov didn’t seem to be on his game early and the quick goals certainly didn’t help his confidence.  Defensive lapses, bad bounces, and a lack of stability in net quickly put the Avalanche in a deep hole and sucked the air out of Pepsi Center.

The second period didn’t start off much better. Lee Stempniak managed to slash the stick out of Jan Hejda’s hands and then sent a soft backhander behind Varlamov, putting the Flames up 4-0.

Colorado eventually got a fortunate goal from Milan Hejduk that just seemed to keep rolling over Miikka Kiprusoff’s glove and into the net.  This goal sparked new life into the Avalanche.

In the third period, the Avalanche found their game. Matt Duchene roofed a great shot of off an outstanding pass from Shane O’Brien, jolting the crowd at Pepsi Center, which had been pretty much anemic to that point,  to life.

Colorado squandered a few power play opportunities before finally managing to pull within one goal on a great end-to-end effort that ended with David Jones re-directing a big one-time shot from Ryan O’Reilly past Kiprusoff.

With five minutes remaining, the Avalanche were smelling blood and managed to play their best hockey of the night. They fell just short as time ran out on the Avs, who were getting chances from all over but just couldn’t manage to get one last puck past Kiprusoff.

Things to note:

The Avalanche were 0 for 5 on the powerplay during the game, which included 0 for 4 in the third period.  Calgary really did a great job killing off the Avalanche powerplay tonight and that made the biggest difference in the game, especially late.  If the Avalanche get one or two of those chances in the third period, the game is going into overtime.

Miikka Kipprusoff has now won nine straight games against the Avalanche.

Joe Sacco continues to struggle as the Avs head coach.  He can’t get his team to play a consistent game, they seem afraid to play on home ice, and the line combinations have no consistency. Line combinations continue to be shuffled as if they are being tossed into a hat and dropped. Why Duchene was ever moved off of Stastny’s wing after his break out game against Dallas makes no sense at all.  Strangely enough, as soon as Duchene was placed back that line, he scored.

Either Sacco is completely unable to prepare his team on any type of consistent basis or he doesn’t have the respect and full attention of his team.

What do you think?

The Colorado Avalanche went into Calgary with a lot of streaks riding on the game.

The Avalanche looked to extend their road winning streak to seven games and end a losing streak to the Calgary Flames that carried back to last season.

Things got off to a bit of an inauspicious start for the Avalanche though, who were absolutely dominated throughout the first period. The Avs were outshot 21-5 in the opening frame but, despite being pinned in their own zone for the majority of the first period, they managed to tally the first goal of the game on the powerplay when Kyle Quincey buried the rebound after Paul Stastny hit the post on an open net chance.

Calgary responded quickly when the young rookie Roman Horak beat Chuck Kobasew to a loose puck and put a good backhander over Jean-Sebastien Giguere’s glove hand. After a couple more shifts of being thoroughly dominated, Avalanche coach Joe Sacco used his time out and started laying into his team for being complacent.

The message didn’t seem to land as the Avalanche limped into the intermission and out of it, allowing the Flames put home two more goals. The first came from Lee Stempniak after Erik Johnson couldn’t clear a rebound out of the crease. Giguere seemed quite upset, shooting the puck out of his net at the boards. The second goal was scored on a Calgary powerplay by Rene Bourque, who hammered home a rebound to put the Flames up 3-1.

From that point on, the Flames were playing defense, allowing the Avalanche to start finding their legs and getting some chances. Unfortunately it took until they were down by two, most of the way through the second period, before they actually started to play. This is a common problem with the Avalanche.

Ryan Wilson brought the game within one goal after Ryan O’Reilly’s line really turned up the heat, finishing the rebound from a Gabriel Landeskog shot. That would be as close as the Avalanche would get though, as Bourque was credited with an empty net goal. He was hauled down on a clean breakaway by Quincey.

The Flames have now beat the Avalanche in their last six meetings, including five in a row dating back through last season. There just seems to be something about Calgary that makes the Avalanche play down and they need to find out what that is fast because there are five more games against Calgary this year.

Things to note in this game:

Even though he took a “maintenance day” on Monday, had three full days of rest, and was a full participant in Tuesday’s practice, goaltender Semyon Varlamov was not the starting keeper in Calgary. One explanation for this could be that they are really going to be playing him a lot in the coming days; and even then, Varly has been playing well and is in a rhythm, the last thing the coaching staff should do is mess with that.

Matt Duchene started the night between Kobasew and Joakim Lindström but found himself bouncing back between them and a pairing with Cody McLeod and Jay McClement throughout the match.

Joe Sacco seems to have absolutely no idea what he wants to do with this second line of his and is really hindering any possible chemistry with unnecessary line shuffling.  Duchene regularly struggles early in the season but needs to be given the best opportunity to right his game.  This mishandling of lines could really take away from what should be a break out year for Duchene, but it is too early to know for sure.  One person concerned already is Adrian Dater.

Gabriel Landeskog’s assist gives him six points on the year and ties him for second on the team in scoring with Stastny, David Jones, and Milan Hejduk. Pretty good company for the young kid to keep.  He also led the team in shots with seven. The rest of the team should be looking to this kid if they are having scoring troubles, following his lead: keep it simple and get the puck to the net.

This was definitely a bad game from the Avalanche, but it is far from time to panic as this was arguably the first of the season. How the team responds to this loss will be more telling. After a less than stellar game against the Blackhawks at home, the Avalanche responded with a solid effort and a win.  So it is very possible that the Avs are able to do the same when they play the Edmonton Oilers on Friday.

That game will be in the Pepsi Center where the Avalanche have yet to win this season. This will be just the third home game of the season for the Avs, but it is important that the third time be a charm for Colorado to get that first home victory of the season.

What do you think?

The Colorado Avalanche managed to stay unbeaten on the road despite a very tough home and home challenge from the Chicago Blackhawks.

Early in the game it looked as if the Blackhawks were going to have the same type of performance as in the last match, when they were able to control a great amount of the game, but the Avalanche fought back and managed to put the first goal in the net when Paul Stastny deflected the puck past Corey Crawford.

The second period didn’t get off to nearly as good of a start when Erik Johnson brutally turned the puck over to Chicago’s Michael Frolik who lasered a shot past Semyon Varlamov. David Jones got the next goal in very fortunate fashion as he caught the defender’s stick while trying to center a pass, the puck jumping up and past Crawford.

Gabriel Landeskog added the next goal of the game as he came barreling towards the net and caught a great pass from Ryan O’Reilly, who continues to show that he might be the best leader on the team right now. Landeskog shoved a shot through Crawford’s legs to put the Avs up by 2 goals.

It looked like the Avalanche might get up another goal when Daniel Winnik came in on a 2-on-1 with O’Reilly but rang the puck right off of the post.  Just a little later Winnik took a short-lived penalty as Jonathan Toews put home a powerplay goal with just under one minute left in the period to start the ball rolling back for the Blackhawks.

The third period began in frustrating fashion as the Avs seemed to sit back and play a bit of “prevent” defense, which came back to bite them yet again. Jamal Mayers got a big shot on Varlamov and the rebound ended up caroming in off of Ryan O’Byrne’s skate evening the game at 3.

With just over 5 minutes remaining in the third period, a defensive miscommunication led to a chance for the Hawks that was converted when Marian Hossa redirected the puck in the air and past the Avs netminder.

At this point it seemed that all was lost for the Avs unless they could catch a big break fast, which they did when Ryan O’Reilly fed Landeskog, all alone, into the zone. Landeskog buried the breakaway, tied the game, and then dove into Winnik a la Matt Duchene.

A slashing call on Milan Hejduk with two seconds in regulation sent the Avs into OT shorthanded but the PK and Varlamov weathered the storm and got through it. Both teams got a couple more chances before going to a shootout.

Crawford managed to stop both Hejduk and Duchene’s opportunities, and Varlamov turned aside all of Chicago’s shooters. Then Joakim Lindström absolutely undressed Corey Crawford with a sick move to give the Avalanche a 5-4 shootout win.

Things to note in this game:

Matt Duchene was moved onto the fourth line between Cody McLeod and Jay McClement.  This was clearly a message sending action from Joe Sacco, who is famous for his messages, to hopefully get Duchene going again.

Duchene had a couple good opportunities in the game, but never managed to get the puck on the net. This is a problem that we’ve been seeing a lot of from Duchene to start off the season.

The Avalanche were badly outshot in this game by a total of 38 – 24, but they still managed to pull things out in the end.

Gabriel Landeskog had his first 2 goal game of his professional career, something that we will see a lot more of from him.  He gets into those dirty areas and still has the skill to bury the puck top shelf.  Landeskog is now second on the team in goal scoring just behind David Jones, with 4 goals.

Though being outshot, the Avalanche badly outhit the Blackhawks by a total of 42 – 25.  This Avalanche team is far grittier and tougher than a year ago, and their constant physical play is proving that game in and game out.  The more they can keep this up, the more likely they will be to be in the playoff conversation as the year runs down.

With tonight’s win, the Avalanche are now 6-0-0 on the road, tying the second longest road win streak in team history.  Hopefully the Avs will be able to put something together at home soon enough.

After the Avalanche gave up the fourth goal to the Blackhawks, with under 5 minutes to go in the game, there was no change in the Avalanche forecheck, highlighting the absolute refusal of Joe Sacco to make any type of adjustment when the game is getting away from the team.  The goal was more a result of the hard work of the best line on the team combined with a fortunate bounce.

This was a good response from the Avalanche to be able to fight back and win a game after having a long winning streak snapped. After successful runs end, it’s easy for a team to lose 3 games in a row, but the Avalanche didn’t let that happen.  If Colorado can respond to losses in this fashion, you can almost count on a playoff appearance for this team.

What do you think?

I like to consider myself a journalist. I cover the Colorado Avalanche because it is the team I enjoy and because they play in the city that I live in. I’m in the midst of my third full season covering the Avs and have yet to receive any financial compensation for the blood, sweat and tears that I put into my work. Still, I do it for the love of the game. I do it for the benefit of the people who read what I have to say. And I do it with my own strict set of journalistic ethics and morals, abiding by what I was taught as right and wrong during journalism classes at the University of Denver – in between Pioneers hockey games – and by what I have learned about morality during my life.

I answer to no one. There is no large company with a valuable reputation at stake. There is no conglomeration paying my salary, asking me to earn my paycheck with studious analysis and thoughtful creativity. I’d obviously like to maintain a relationship with the Avalanche so that we can continue to offer fans exciting programs and discount tickets, but I have no responsibility to maintain any rules set forth by anyone except myself – and those of the U.S. Constitution. I’m not credentialed and I am, in fact, frowned upon by Colorado Avalanche media relations executives because I am an independent journalist. Call me a blogger if you’d like, they certainly do. In case you didn’t know, the Avs don’t credential anyone who isn’t working directly for a newspaper, magazine, television station or radio show.

So I could sit in the dark, take on a pseudonym, spout whatever trivial truths or untruths that I desire, and not care about damaging the reputation of the countless other independent writers struggling to be known as legitimate sources of information in the new age of media. And yet I don’t. I am upfront about who I am and what I represent because I have integrity.

Because of this, it is hard to sit by and watch as some spoiled hack of a “journalist” mails in an insulting, uneducated diatribe that exposes his bigotry, all in the name of “news”. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Hank Siegel from Fox 31.

On the same day that had sports guru and renowned writer Bill Simmons lauding the reemergence of the NHL while simultaneously denouncing the NBA labor disputes, Siegel was busy typing away at his brilliant, Pulitzer Prize worthy darling, “Avalanche on a hot streak, but who knew?”

Everyone is allowed an opinion and no opinion is more important than another.

I get that this is commentary, but it is also extremely out of touch and disturbing when you think that this guy could request and receive a credential to any Avalanche game he wanted under the guise of “reporting” for Fox. If it weren’t for the Denver Nuggets, I’m not even sure that Siegel would know where the Pepsi Center is located.

“The Colorado Avalanche are off to their best start in years–maybe ever–but I don’t see throngs of reporters descending on the Pepsi Center to catch every word the comes off the tongue of Matt Duchene or Milan Hejduk, or local TV newscasts leading with news of their new goaltenders,” wrote Siegel. That’s interesting because the presence of local journalists and news stations at Colorado Avalanche practice yesterday was surprising. Channel 9 News, Altitude Sports with both Kyle Keefe and Julie Browman, The Denver Post’s Mike Chambers, and NHL.com’s Rick Sadowski were among those in attendance for practice.

Meanwhile, Adrian Dater -also of The Denver Post – was on local radio, 102.3 The Ticket, talking Avalanche hockey. After practice and dutifully – and cheerfully – signing some autographs for the handful of fans outside the practice facility, rookie winger Gabriel Landeskog was on the same station talking about his early success in the NHL. Susie Wargin herself has been spotted at Family Sports Center to partake in the Avalanche media frenzy as well. Mile High Sports recently published a “hockey issue” of their magazine, filled with information and pictorials of the team.

Oddly enough though, Fox 31 hasn’t been seen sniffing around.

Continuing to postulate on the lack of interest in the cool game of hockey, Siegel lists his theories:

The season is too long. 
Too many teams qualify for the playoffs. 
Nobody really understands when or why there’s a stoppage in play. 
It’s too difficult to appreciate on TV. 
Geographically-challenged Americans can’t locate some of the cities on a map. 
It’s impossible to correctly pronounce the names of a significant number of the players. 

It isn’t hard here to discern the uneducated opinion of the guy. The season is too long says a guy who recently wrote about the excitement of catching a foul ball at a baseball game. Baseball seasons run nearly twice that of the NHL at 162 games. Also, no major sports league will ever manage the corporate sponsor success of the NFL, allowing for enough money to be made in a 16 game season.

Nobody really understands when or why there’s a stoppage in play? Have you ever been to a women’s lacrosse game? This accusation is insulting to fans of any sport that have taken the time to learn the rules. How often do baseball fans witness a balk? Do die-hards criticize them for not knowing what the rare foul is? How many different penalties are called per NFL game? The point is that anyone can take the time to learn the rules of any sport, without exerting a lot of effort or brainpower. Overly complicated the NHL is not.

It’s too difficult to appreciate on TV? He’s right, I rather enjoy the 15 seconds of NFL gameplay and the subsequent 15 minutes of commercials over a game where commercial stoppages happen when available. Is there a problem with the puck being too small to notice, because it is awfully similar to a baseball. If you can’t appreciate the game on your television Hank, maybe you should go in person. Simmons thinks hockey has the best setup in sports.

“I realized something during last night’s Kings-Blues game: I have never not enjoyed myself at an NHL game. I mean, what’s not to love? It’s a sport with the best in-game format (long period, long break, long period, long break, long period, go home), best regular-season in-game wrinkle (the shootout), best secretly awesome moment (any fight), highest percentage of “most likable players” (hands down), and highest percentage of “true fans in attendance” of the four major sports (indisputable). They fixed many of the sport’s problems, made it better, and now we’re here.”

Geographically-challeneged Americans can’t locate some of the cities on a map? Now this is just ridiculous. I realize that it can be hard to create a list of reasons to support a topic, especially one as poorly considered as Siegel’s. I was recently asked to write ten reasons to be excited about the Colorado Avalanche but had to reduce it to a list of five for lack of strong supporting arguments. Assuming that ignorant Americans don’t like something because they can’t locate it on a map is a gross generalization considering the close-mindedness of this entire country.

It’s impossible to correctly pronounce the names of a significant number of the players? Small children are taught to sound out words or word pairings that they’re familiar with to help when pronouncing unfamiliar terms. Let’s practice: Peter Forsberg. P-ter Fours-berg. Sidney Crosby. Sid-knee Cross-bee. Ilya Bryzgalov. Ill-yea Breeze-gal-of. Alex Ovechkin. Al-ex O-vet-ch-kin. Of course every now and then a tricky one comes along like Patrick Roy, which is pronounced Patrick Wah or Jonathan Toews, which sounds like Tay-vz. Yet to maintain Siegel’s argument, let’s would bring up T.J. Houshmandzadeh as an example of a difficult attribution from the NFL or even Kosuke Fukodome, Marc Rzepczynski, and Jhoulys Chacin from the MLB. How about some more familiar Denver names? Dante Bichette. Andres Galaraga. Yes, I realize that Tim Tebow is pretty easy to remember. So is David Jones.

I understand that it would be hard to continue with a fledgling list of reasons why one is too lazy to watch hockey, so Siegel then shifts gears to it being a nationalistic pride thing before changing the subject to tennis. Maybe most American’s only root for their teams in the Olympics and World Cups, but I’m willing to be there is a good contingent of fans of any sport who will carry allegiances for any number of other national teams, especially after their own country has been eliminated. I’m sure it was easier for many Americans to be happy that Canada beat the United States for the Gold medal in hockey than it would have been if a country like Russia had won. At least we are all North Americans right?

However, none of the points that Siegel brings up are as important as his flamboyant and irresponsible use of the race card. “It’s still often “whispered” that the NBA’s popularity is limited by the league being more than 80-percent black. By that logic, the NHL should be the most popular league in sports since of its 690 active players, only 29 are black,” wrote Siegel. “Talk about Vanilla Ice!”

Disproving his own theory in a single sentence aside, Siegel has attempted to bring shock value to his writing by bringing up a touchy subject that has no bearing on anything else he has written. I’m sure Wayne Simmonds - a recent victim of modern day racism - thinks he is just as much a hockey player as Semyon Varlamov is, despite nationality or ethnicity.

It is 2011. Human beings are human beings, end of story. Siegel’s attempt at shock-journalism, in the poorly imitated vein of Mark Kiszla, has failed completely, resulting in an outrageous spectacle that leaves the journalistic landscape in Denver tarnished. Terry Frei, Cecil Lammey and the rest of the hard working sports writers in town should be just as upset as the poor fans who read this rubbish. Fox 31 should be disappointed not only at Siegel, but also at the failure of an editor to prevent something this disgusting from reaching their hard-earned audience. This is this kind of “journalism” that would give a blogger an all expense paid trip to every black-list in town and yet, Hank Siegel will continue to earn a paycheck for spouting off nonsense and bandwagon Tebow-mongering type. He could get a credential to tonight’s Avalanche game against the Chicago Blackhawks, were he so inclined. Though I think it is apparent that he won’t.

I’m technically not part of the institution and I’m embarrassed to be considered similar. Fans of the NHL and of sports in Denver should be up in arms about articles like this.

What are your thoughts on the matter?

The Colorado Avalanche were all about setting records last season, but not in the all inspiring, proud history kind of way. Setting the longest losing streak in franchise history was just one example of how bad things were at the time.

The Avalanche have looked to right the wrongs this season and started out by winning all five games on their East coast swing after dropping their home opener to the Detroit Red Wings. Tackling teams like the Boston Bruins, Columbus Blue Jackets, the wayward Ottawa Senators, Montreal Canadiens, and, most recently, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Avalanche managed to gobble up eight out of ten free points on the road and ten out of ten total points.

Playing four teams in the Northeast Division meant that Colorado had a chance to steal points while also not worrying about giving up anything in a three-point game. It certainly seems the “never say die” attitude that the team displayed early last season is back in all of it’s glory, as the Avs came back to win against both Columbus and Montreal, winning both of those games in the shootout.

Most recently they managed to walk away with a win an overtime against the red-hot Leafs, who started their season out 3-0 at home. Both teams seemed evenly matched throughout the game, with the exception of a strong start by the Avalanche and a strong regulation finish by Toronto.

Currently sitting atop the entire NHL with ten points is nothing to marvel at this early in the season but it is nice to see after forsaking the standings all together following last year’s All-Star break. Still, the second full of week of hockey has only just begun and there are plenty of trials and tribulations ahead for the rolling Colorado Avalanche.

Firing on all cylinders, the Avalanche have seen scoring contributions from vets Milan Hejduk, Paul Stastny, and David Jones, but they’re also getting help from Joakim Lindström, Matt Duchene, Dan Winnik, Ryan O’Reilly, and rookie Gabriel Landeskog.

The Avs look to carry their momentum back to the Pepsi Center as they square off against the 2-1-1 Chicago Blackhawks in a back-to-back, home and away series. It will be important to continue a strong October, gaining points against Western Conference opponents if Colorado is looking to make a postseason run.

What do you think?

With two days of training camp wrapped up and a third underway, it is safe to say that Colorado Avalanche fans have seen a lot of hockey through six scrimmage games and numerous warmups taking place at Family Sports Center.

Ask nearly anybody for their list of standouts from the first two days of camp, let alone just the second day, and they will say that Joakim Lindström looks good. In fact, the line of Lindström – Paul Stastny – David Jones has easily been the most dominant line at camp. Maybe it is because they were always going 100% while some of the more job-secure guys were taking it down a gear. But it seemed more like they were connecting on a wavelength apart from everyone else.

They flew back and forth, wrecking havoc on any lazy neutral zone game, plunging deep into the zone and making some pretty plays. These guys made the breakout look like something they do in their sleep and they certainly scored some highlight worthy goals. They pass and connect with little effort and flow very well. Not only should Lindström be on this team come opening night, he should be starting on that line. He has easily stolen a roster spot from some other complacent player but who that player is will remain a mystery until the staff begins making cuts.

Another player who had a decent showing on the second day was Luke Walker. The guy has some serious wheels and he would easily penetrate the zone, swinging around the boards and behind the net, looking to make a play. I’d like to see him in some game situations against other opponents, but he is developing nicely. He’s not quite ready for the roster yet though.

Mark Olver was doing a great job maintaining the strength he displayed last year. He had a smart game and didn’t shy away from the physical aspect when presented with it. Brad Malone was also a name that was constantly being looked up. Playing on an energy line with Cody McLeod and Dan Winnik, Malone showed some skill not previously acknowledged when considering him to be similar to McLeod. While that line certainly bruised some players and scored some goals, the mixing doesn’t translate to an NHL level as the team only needs one McLeod or Malone and McLeod seems to have earned his spot back.

Goaltending was promising and fans were even treated to a bit of a duel between Trevor Cann and Sami Aittokallio in the last game of the day. Ending in a 1-1 tie, both netminders displayed poise under pressure and the ability to rebound from a goal to keep their team in the hunt. Cann will be carrying part of the load with the Lake Erie Monsters this season and Aittokallio is downright exciting to think about. His development will be extremely important in the coming years and the kid needs a contract either this season or next.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere looks great up high and his legwork should come together as he gets used to playing at this altitude. He was certainly sucking down water during camp but there have been no reports about his hydration issues. Semyon Varlamov had a stronger showing on day one but he certainly has superb reflexes and outstanding speed, both up high and down low. He did appear to be tired, which is perhaps due to the fact that had just returned from the funerals of his fallen comrades in Russia.

All in all it was another great look at how the team is going to play this year and one underlying description would be: physical. This team will hit. Fans might just be surprised about some of the players who will lose their spots this season as well, but they have plenty to be excited about.

Hardhitting new defenseman Shane O’Brien ran into some fans during lunch on the first day and not only did he seem generally excited to be in Colorado, but he was wholly appreciative of his new supporters. He thanked everyone for coming and promised an exciting year.

“The first two days were great. Looking back at this organization and all the success they have had – two cups and all – they have some knowledgeable fans here. They are probably not happy how last year went, but at the same time they are excited and there is a little bit of a buzz in the building,” O’Brien said of Avalanche fans in an interview with Kyle Shohara. “I ran into a couple of them yesterday when I went to grab lunch and they’re dedicated. It’s nice to play in front of fans that know what’s going on, but at the same time they have expectations and they want to see wins. As pros, that is something that we have to do.”

What do you think?

Not even a year ago it was quite shocking for some to see the Colorado Avalanche organization implementing social media as a means of promotion. Starting with a Facebook page and a Twitter account, fans began wondering if they’d ever see an Avalanche player take on a social media role.

The NHL caught up with former players Craig Anderson and Chris Stewart earlier in the season and asked them about their thoughts on using social media. At the time it seemed quite the long shot that any Avalanche player would end up engaging with fans or sharing their life as a professional athlete.

Then Matt Duchene emerged. Talking with Adrian Dater about joining Twitter, Duchene said:

“Growing up, I was always wondering ‘what was Joe Sakic like or what was Peter Forsberg like as a person, or Patrick Roy. This way, anybody who is a fan of the team – or me, I guess – would get to see that more, and make them feel closer.”

The tweeting was few and far between, about what you’d expect coming out of the media controlled state of the Colorado Avalanche, but it provided some nice glances into what made Matt Duchene tick. A scandalous comment about vodka during the All-Star Game and Duchene all but vanished for the second half of the season, yet he reappeared, more talkative than ever in the off season.

Duchene joined quiet Norwegian defensman Jonas Holøs, who’s largely inactive Twitter account saw less than once monthly action.

Conspiracy theorist’s suspicions about the Avalanche organization stifling individual voices reignited anew as almost immediately after Chris Stewart was traded to the St. Louis Blues, he was tweeting all of the time – despite his above comments about not intending to use the service.

Less than a month after the season ended, two new additions to the Avalanche roster also joined their fellow NHL comrades in using the social media service to spread the gospel of themselves. The first was Dan Winnik, who likely gave in to peer pressure from his friend and social media sports icon Paul Bissonnette from the Phoenix Coyotes. With a enjoyably refreshing twist, Winnik was the first of the current Avalanche roster to consistently interact with fans and frequently responds to questions while also leaving his opinions on the current Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Winnik also called out fellow teammate Ryan O’Byrne, exposing his presence on Twitter before O’Byrne had even sent his first message out into the interwebs. O’Byrne, who is moonlighting as an analyst for the NHL Network, is likely to pick up tweeting more consistently, though it will be hard to beat out Winnik in instant social media popularity.

But it isn’t just current players who are active online. There are both prospects and alumni using the medium as well. Colorado’s 2010 first round draft pick Joey Hishon is somewhat present on the service, as is up and coming goaltender Calvin Pickard. They are joined by alumni Marc Denis, Matt Barnaby, Curtis Leschyshyn, Theo Fleury, Shjon Podein, and Rick Berry, and John-Michael Liles.*

Wouldn’t it make sense to have Joe Sakic be the online face of the front office? It could be similar to how local football hero John Elway behaves in regards to his work with the Denver Broncos. Who wouldn’t listen to every word Joe had to say?

*More prospects have joined the Twitter game as well as some new draftees including: Tyson Barrie, Stefan Elliott, Brad Malone, Duncan Siemens, Garrett Meurs, and Dillon Donnelly. Fan favorite and current Lake Erie Monster Greg Mauldin has also joined.*

*Newly signed defenseman Shane O’Brien and recently signed forward Joakim Lindström are also on twitter.*

*TJ Galiardi is the latest comedian to join the online crowd and he hit the ground running. He has been joined by the newly married David Jones as well.*

What do you think? Who will be the next to join Twitter? Who would you want to see active on the site?

With only two days left before free agent frenzy begins, the Colorado Avalanche are tying up some loose ends before seeking out any missing talent.

David Jones | Courtesy Zimbio.com

Among those loose ends is about half of the entire team roster, most of which was given offer sheets just this week. As of now, forward David Jones is the first to have accepted his offer sheet and signed with the Avalanche for another year. The Denver Post is reporting that Jones has signed for one year at $2.5 million, a $1.65 million raise over the previous contract.

“We are pleased to have David under contract,” said Avalanche General Manager/Executive Vice President Greg Sherman.  “He was one of our top offensive players a year ago and is part of the young nucleus of this team.”

Jones had 45 points in 77 games last season, which was also the longest season he’s had in the NHL. Once considered fragile and susceptible to injury, Jones seems to have gotten stronger and was definitely more reliable when team production began going down the tubes in the second half of the year. Jones may have hit his stride and it will be exciting to see what he does after finishing a season healthy.

The team has yet to sign a goaltender to either spot in Colorado nor have they filled the two keeper positions with the Lake Erie Monsters.

What do you think?

Following the 2011 NHL Entry Draft last weekend and the news that Matt Hunwick had been re-signed, the Colorado Avalanche had ten players who had yet to be signed or, for all we know, offered a deal at all.

Well Adrian Dater from The Denver Post has just confirmed that a handful of players have been given qualifying offers. Defensemen Kyle Cumiskey, Ryan Wilson, Ryan O’Byrne and forwards David Jones, TJ Galiardi, and Kevin Porter are among those that have been given offers. However, the team has not offered goaltender Brian Elliott or forward Philippe Dupuis a contract.

Restricted free agents, which all of the aforementioned players are, that have been given a qualifying offer have the ability to accept the offer and play or deny the offer, remaining a restricted free agent with the club until December 1st. On December 1st the RFA must sign a contract or he will lose NHL eligibility for the remainder of the season.

Unsigned players can ask for salary arbitration which forces a hearing intended to settle contract disputes. It is often used by restricted free agents as a bargaining mechanism and was used recently by former forward Marek Svatos against the Avs. If the team refuses to meet the arbitration amount, the player then becomes an unrestricted free agent. The deadline for arbitration is July 5th.

Even more perplexing is that both of the Lake Erie Monsters’ goaltenders from last season have yet to been offered anything either. Both Jason Bacashihua and John Grahame are unrestricted free agents come Friday. That leaves prospects Trevor Cann and Calvin Pickard as two keepers between four vacant positions. Obviously it is expected that the Avalanche make firm offers for goaltenders, including Tomas Vokoun, on July 1, but they better hope they make the correct offers or the team is in serious hot water.

Other potential goaltender options include Dwayne Roloson, Jose Theodore, Mathieu Garon, and Josh Harding among many. Still no word on a legitimate goalie coach joining the ranks.

What do you think? Who would you go after?

Last year, with nearly a month to go before the 2010 Entry Draft, the Colorado Avalanche announced the signings of what they believed to be two key parts of their rebuilding plan. On the same day, both enforcer David Koci and goaltender Peter Budaj re-signed with the team.

Brian Elliott | Courtesy of Zimbio.com

There was no hesitation or contemplation about the necessity of these moves. While suspect to some at the time, the curiousness of those signings comes in retrospect, as the Avalanche have yet to sign a single goaltender to their 2011-12 roster. With Budaj apparently on his way out of Denver, one would think that Brian Elliott would be sufficient enough to sign while the team hunts for a true, competitive number one contender.

Yet that doesn’t seem the case. Despite trading away a potential career goalie in Craig Anderson for what many believe to be a clone of Budaj, the Avalanche hardly seem to be a team that would give up one player and then let the new guy walk for nothing. Still, there has been no hint of contract negotiations between Elliott and the Burgundy and Blue.

While the Avalanche have signed veteran Milan Hejduk, Lake Erie Monsters pugilist Patrick Bordeleau, and newcomer Swede Joakim Lindström to one year contracts, one has to wonder if they aren’t hesitant to round up their remaining 8 rostered restricted free agents and two unrestricted free agents until after the draft.

Sure, it would be a lot easier to make a trade if the guy doesn’t have heavy contract baggage. Colorado could easily sell off the rights to a few players and let the new teams settle their contracts. With the draft nearly a week away, it would appear that the Avs, who admitted that a goaltender was their top priority, are looking to wheel and deal.

Avs General Manager Greg Sherman has come out and said that he isn’t interested in trading away the team’s second overall pick. This doesn’t mean that the 11th overall pick is safe, certainly if the right offer comes along. It’s no secret that eyes are on current backup goaltenders such as Jonathan Bernier and Corey Schneider and with names like TJ Galiardi, David Jones, Kevin Porter, Matt Hunwick, Ryan Wilson, Ryan O’Byrne, Kyle Cumiskey, Philippe Dupuis and Tomas Fleischmann all awaiting new contracts, it is certainly possible that Colorado is looking to deal.

But is there a deal worth making? With uncertainty about the landscape following a new Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL and the NHL Players Association, the Avalanche have been hesitant to lock down any player with a large contract. In fact Paul Stastny is the only player on the team with a contract past the 2012-13 season.

And still there is another problem that needs solving. Even if the Avs were to land an Ilya Bryzgalov or Tomas Vokoun, what could these players accomplish with largely no goaltending staff available? It was no surprise that netminding was such a weakness last season, as Colorado opted to roll with a largely absentee goalie consultant in Kirk Mclean instead of a full blown goaltender coaching staff. Keepers are precious, mentally robust creatures that need to be catered to constantly.

The fact that Colorado has yet to sign anyone between the pipes for this season is a red flag, gears are working and a plan is in motion. But what will happen? Will Elliott continue to play in the Pepsi Center or is he just another pawn in the franchise’s chess game?

What do you think?

Colorado Avalanche captain Adam Foote laced up his skates for the final time yesterday afternoon to help his team take on the Edmonton Oilers in the final game of the season.

The Oilers put their mark on the scoreboard early, just 1:26 into the game on a power play. Not to worry though, Ryan O’Reilly and Philippe Dupuis scored 50 seconds apart to give the Avs a 2-1 lead heading into the second.

The second period wasn’t so kind to the Avs as the Oilers scored twice, taking a 3-2 lead into the third while the fire the Avs had initially seemed to fade.

The one goal lead lasted a total of 30 seconds in the third period. Milan Hejduk popped in his 22nd goal of the season for the tie. The Avs and Oilers fought back and forth in a mostly defensive period. The teams would have little rest and the fans were able to see Adam Foote in old form during his final shift in overtime.

Foote spent a lot of time in the corner toward the end of the game shoving Oilers to the ice time and time again. The refs were kind to the soon to be retiree as they turned the other way and Avs fans went crazy.

David Jones was able to pop the puck in to win the game and end the season on a high note. The fans never stopped cheering and Adam Foote got to say goodbye to all.

Notes: Milan Hejduk tallied an assist on Jones’ game winner, bringing his career assists to 400. Matt Duchene had two assists, bringing his season point total to 67.

Final thoughts?

The hits just keep coming for the Colorado Avalanche, with word that two more players are out with injury.

Adrian Dater from the Denver Post is reporting that both David Jones and Matt Hunwick were injured during last night’s game against the St. Louis Blues and that neither are likely to play tomorrow as the Avs take on the Dallas Stars.

Dater also mentioned that defensemen Shawn Belle and Ray Macias have been recalled from the Lake Erie Monsters to fill in for the wounded Avalanche.

The Lake Erie Monsters clinched their first ever playoff birth last night, so the loss of Belle and Macias aren’t enormous blows. In fact, this opportunity means both players can try and improve their game to the faster paced NHL before heading back to Erie for the playoffs. Both the Monsters’ and Avalanche’s seasons end this Sunday, so Belle and Macias won’t miss any playoff time.

For more information on these two prospects, and all the others in Colorado’s system, be sure to check out the Avalanche Guild Monthly Journal.

What do you think? Will this season ever end?

The Nashville Predators got the best of the Colorado Avalanche for the fourth time this season, completing the series sweep with a 3-2 win in Denver last night.

For a majority of the match, the Predators had the Avalanche on a strictly defensive game. Colin Wilson lit up the scoreboard with nearly five minutes left in the first period for the first tally of the night. After receiving the puck off a sweet pass from Matt Halischuk, Wilson was able to quickly pop the puck top shelf on Brian Elliot.

The pounding continued in the second period, the Preds pelting Elliot with 18 shots in total. Yet only a tip-in by Jordin “Rat Face” Tootoo was able to make it past an otherwise solid Colorado goaltender. The Avs were able to turn away back-to-back penalties courtesy of David Jones and Ryan O’Byrne as well.

The third period saw a power play goal from Nashville, with Cody McLeod in the box for roughing. Late in the period, Paul Stastny took Pekka Rinne’s shutout chance away and shortly after that David Jones was able to deflect in a shot from John-Michael Liles, which in turn deflected off the skate of Jonathon Blum to beat Rinne on the right side.

Final score: Avs – 2, Preds – 3.

Notes: Jordin Tootoo left the game in the second period after getting tangled up with John-Michael Liles.

What did you think?

The Colorado Avalanche gave up a two goal lead to lose their final match against the Anaheim Ducks this season.

Coming off of a disappointing loss against the Los Angeles Kings, the Avalanche were hoping to pull a win out in Anaheim. That seemed possible after a stellar first period found the Avs leading the Ducks 2-0 heading into the second.

Goals by Ryan O’Reilly and Matt Duchene gave the Burgundy and Blue hope that they could win this one. O’Reilly’s tally came off a great pass through the slot from Milan Hejduk that caught Ducks keeper Ray Emery off guard during a powerplay. Under two minutes later, Matt Duchene was able to put the rebound in off a shot from the Duke, sending Anaheim to the locker room down by two.

The second period saw a different team of Ducks. They were aggressive offensively and hit a lot in their own zone, taking the Avs off the puck and giving them little room to function. This method generally seems to work on the young team from Colorado and Anaheim was able to net three goals. The first from a Teemu Selanne penalty shot, awarded after John-Michael Liles put his hand on the puck in his own crease.

With just under five minutes left in the second, David Jones put an exclamation point on the period by tying it up. Daniel Winnik made a sweet spin pass to get the puck to Jones, who buried it top shelf on Emery.

Cam Fowler and Selanne would each notch power play goals in the third period, putting the Ducks up 5-3 over the Avalanche. Selanne’s last goal completed his 22nd career hat trick. The Avs pulled Brian Elliott in the final three minutes, but were only able to tally a single goal from Paul Stastny. Ducks took this one 5-4.

Notes: Hejduk had 3 assists and Duchene had a goal and an assist. Selanne had five points.

What did you think?

A John-Michael Liles-less Colorado Avalanche took on the Anaheim Ducks last night, dropping another in a long series of losses.
Hopes were high after the first period for the Avalanche as they lead the Ducks 1-0. Ryan O’Reilly was in the right place at the right time as he received the puck off the skate of an unsuspecting Ducks defenseman. He was able to pop the puck behind Dan Ellis for the 1-0 lead after one period.

The Ducks, however, realized they played a pretty poor first period and came back with a vengeance for the second. The mighty feathered opponents from Anaheim easily scored against the Avs four separate times in the second, swiftly overpowering the lone goal from Colorado. David Jones connected with a great pass from Paul Stastny to score Colorado’s second and final goal of the game.

Two more goals from the Ducks in the third period sent a dreary rendition of Taps throughout the Pepsi Center as the Avalanche dropped their 16th of their last 17 games.

Notes: Milan Hejduk left the game after the second period with a shoulder injury. Matt Hunwick and Paul Stastny aslo left the game injured. Cody McLeod and Brad Winchester had one fight and nearly 60 minutes back and forth shoving and roughing.

What did you think?

After a west coast road trip, the Colorado Avalanche returned to the Pepsi Center to face the Edmonton Oilers. Much like their last meeting, the Oilers mopped the floor with their division rivals.

The Oilers power play, the worst in the NHL, managed to score twice on the Avs in the first period. Goals went to Sam Gagner and Ryan Jones.

The second period opened up with another goal from the Oilers, this time from Shawn Horcoff. Another Oilers goal eight minutes later would send Brian Elliott to the bench in favor of Peter Budaj. The Avs perked up a bit after the switch, scoring a single goal before the end of the period, as Ryan O’Reilly pounded away at the loose puck in front of Devan Dubnyk. Eventually, O’Reilly was able to pop in the garbage.

The apparent up and down of the offense could be seen at this point. Colorado was outshot in the first period 14-6, yet  turned around outshot the Oilers 20-8 in the second. Inconsistency is a hard way to win games and the Avalanche have been finding this out the hard way.

Twenty-nine seconds into the third period, the Avs were a second away from being off a power play when Andrew Cogliano was able get the shorty, sealing the deal with another 5-1 win.

Notes: John-Michael Liles tallied another assist tonight, bringing his point total to 42. Worst defensive combo tonight was Adam Foote - Matt Hunwick.

What did you think?

After a painful loss at home to the Edmonton Oilers, the Avalanche looked to redeem themselves a bit in Los Angeles as they began their west coast road trip against the Kings.

Anze Kopitar opened the scoreboard by popping the puck into a practically open net. Jonas Holøs was in the crease and in Brian Elliot’s way, so the goaltender wasn’t able to slide across to attempt a save.

The second period saw two goals, the first a slap shot at the point from Alec Martinez. The second from Drew Doughty on the power play with 1.1 seconds left on the clock. Throughout the first two periods, the Avs couldn’t seem to get near a Kings player without a penalty being called. The Burgundy and Blue spent two stints with two men in the box, but were able to kill both. Doughty’s late second period goal came on a 5-on-4 advantage.

The third period saw much of the same, except for a bit of a resurgence of the Avs, but it was too little too late. With the Avs not being in this game for 50 minutes, the guys from Colorado attempted to rally the troops. David Jones scored two goals within forty seconds of each other and Paul Stastny topped it off by taking advantage of Jonathan Quick and banking the puck off a Kings player to bring the score within one.

Yet, when the final buzzer sounded, the Avs fell to the kings 4-3. The one thing the Avs did that the Kings could not was score two goals while on a 5-on-3.

Notes: David Jones is now the lead scorer for the Avalanche, passing up Matt Duchene by one goal. John-Michael Liles has surpassed 40 points for the season, receiving an assist on each of Jones’ goals.

What do you think?

The Colorado Avalanche have finally succeeded in crushing a 10 game losing streak, defeating the St. Louis Blues mere days after the two teams made the blockbuster trade of the year.

The first period started with a goal, mere minutes into the game as Paul Stastny and David Jones crashed Ty Conklin in the net. Stastny tapped the puck through the crease to Jones who stuck it home. Seven minutes later, Milan Hejduk popped in a power play goal for a 2-0 Avalanche lead.

Not to be undone, Patrik Berglund tipped in a T.J. Oshie shot to end the period with a 2-1 score.

In the second period, with under three minutes left, Chris Stewart tied it up for his new team. Kevin Shattenkirk received the first assist on that goal, shooting from low down on the point and again supporting the theory that former Avs players will always score against them.

The third period started off with a lot of back and forth play, but the Blues were able to let loose 18 shots on Peter Budaj. The backup goaltender from Colorado had a strong night despite three goals against, tossing 42 shots aside to help the Avs get the win.

Of the nine shots the Avs were able to put on Conklin, two made it through to meet the net. The first came from Erik Johnson, who broke through from the left side to shoot from between the circles to give the Avs a 3-2 lead. Shortly thereafter, Stastny sealed the deal with an awesome backhander from the top of the crease.

Despite the Stewart and the Blues scoring 22 seconds after Stastny, the Avs were able to keep the lead for the win thanks to a few great saves by Budaj.

Notes: John-Michael Liles notched two assists, his point total now at 38. Stastny had a three point night with one goal and two assists. Matt Duchene had his wheels on for the first period, and the rest of the game, after a hand injury kept him out for two games.

What did you think?

While it may be hard to accept when you’re favorite player, someone you have grown fond of, is shipped away from your local team, fans of the Colorado Avalanche need to remind themselves that they enjoy winning.

The Avalanche have been on an abysmal spiral, arguably since the team rang in the new year, unless you want to go all the way back to the Chris Stewart injury in November. Since then, players have underwhelmed and the team has struggled to believe in itself. In one week, they set franchise records for the longest losing streak and the most goals allowed in a game since the Avalanche rolled into Denver.

Craig Anderson didn’t perform the way he did last year. Stewart, while off to a hot start, was largely absent since returning from his broken hand. TJ Galiardi, Jonas Holøs, Kyle Cumiskey, Adam Foote, Matt Duchene, Peter Mueller, David Van Der Gulik, Craig Anderson, Kyle Quincey, Ryan O’Reilly, Paul Stastny, Tomas Fleischmann, Cody McLeod, David Koci, David Jones, Brandon Yip, Chris Stewart, Scott Hannan, and Kevin Shattenkirk have all been out this season with an injury. Some players have even had multiple injuries.

While you can’t blame a season on injuries, as the Vancouver Canucks are trying to prove, you can’t deny that nobody enjoys losing. The players don’t like losing, the fans don’t like losing, and certainly the management doesn’t like losing. With the state of the game in Colorado, the only thing that could be done to right the wrongs was to make moves.

Players in Denver have long since known that trades are an inevitable part of the game.

“When you lose this many in a row, there are going to be changes. It’s part of the business. You hate to see a teammate like Andy go, especially after what he did for us last year,” said Stewart to Terry Frei yesterday.

“When you’re in a slide like this, this time of year, something has to be done, whether a trade or a callup,” said Stastny.

Giving up fan favorites is tough, certainly, but giving up young talent is even harder. Shattenkirk immediately earned his spot on the Avalanche roster and was tagged as a burgeoning blueliner to keep an eye on. Without him, the Avalanche wouldn’t have gotten Erik Johnson.

Yet, if this team is going to compete, either this year or next, something needed to be done and General Manager Greg Sherman deserves some applause for refusing to sit by while the Avalanche melted away into the coming Spring. Instead of sitting quietly, the Avalanche stood atop the mountain and shouted.

It remains to be seen whether these moves are the sort of jump start that the team has been looking for, but losing isn’t part of the Avalanche tradition and the team needed to pick itself up off the ground, dust itself off, and get back in the game. If it cost a few lovable players to bring in the right talent, then so be it.

What do you think? Are the Avs on the right track for the future? Are they done making moves?

For the first time in franchise history, the Avalanche have lost seven games in a row. After the game, the torches and pitchforks were pulled out of storage and fans began cursing Joe Sacco’s name. Unnecessary? Maybe but they’re understandably frustrated.

With a 4-3 lead late in the third period, Peter Budaj was pulled for the extra skater but David Legwand was able to beat John-Michael Liles and put the puck in the empty net to solidify the win.

Before the fall, the Avalanche had a 3-2 lead on the Nashville Predators until 4:11 of the third period. Matt Duchene had given his team the lead just over a minute previously. Nearly every goal in the game was closely followed by an opposing retaliation.

Kevin Porter opened up the scoreboard at 11:05 of the first, followed eleven seconds later by a Shea Weber response.

In the second period, Martin Erat tallied a power play goal for Nashville and just under five minutes later, David Jones evened the score.

Cody Franson put Nashville up 4-3 with 2:30 left in the third and then Legwand’s empty netter sealed the deal.

Notes: Joe Sacco played the Not-So-Merry-Go-Round of Offensive Lines tonight, which seemed to spur some production. John-Michael Liles sat on the bench during the entire first period and Cameron Gaunce played in his first NHL game.

What did you think? Is it a bit premature to call for Joe Sacco’s head?

David Jones scored two goals in the Avalanche’s 3-2 loss to Northwest Division rivals, the Minnesota Wild.

With three goals scored within 51 seconds during the first period, the Avalanche dropped the chance of losing three games in a row by way of shutout.

Antti Miettinen was able to beat Craig Anderson during the first power play of the game to give the Wild a 1-0 lead, but the lead only lasted eleven seconds. Enter David Jones, the man who broke a 135 minute scoring drought for the Avs. Jones received the puck off a face off, popped it in the net, and surprised every single Minnesotan in the Xcel Energy Center.

Forty seconds later, Anderson let in a weak goal as Martin Havlat easily beat the Colorado goaltender stick side, on the ice.

John Madden put a third past Anderson nearly half way through the second period, unfairly sending him to the bench in favor of Peter Budaj.

Twenty-three seconds into the third period, Jones banked the puck off of Nick Schultz and over Niklas Backstrom to bring the Avs within one. Yet, try as they might, the Burgundy and Blue weren’t able to tie the game to force overtime. Avs dropped this one 3-2.

Notes: Kyle Cumiskey was hit during the first period and left with a head injury. He did not return to the game.

What did you think? What do the Avs need to spark some offense?