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 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 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?

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?

If you love somebody and he or she feels the same, the distance between you does not matter. Hundreds and maybe thousands of Colorado Avalanche fans live in Europe, and none of them have given up on their love for the team. Many of them are members of the first European Avalanche fan club, called Eurolanche.

By David Puchovsky

The Eurolanche fanclub was founded in the summer of 2007 by David Puchovsky, a Slovak journalist. Now, in 2011, the fan club has entered its fifth season. Over the course of this time, its members have experienced exciting and mainly unbelievable things.

It was just a simple website in 2007. There was only a list of European fans. Nothing more. The number of them was increasing. That momentum was what made David decide to build something better. It took seven months of professional design and then Eurolanche.com was introduced. Later in 2008, lucky members met with former Avs goaltender Peter Budaj in his hometown in Slovakia. Fans had another great chance to meet a different Avalanche player in Slovakia one year later when Paul Stastny visited his father´s homeland.

Then, during the second year, Eurolanche organized two separate trips to Denver for six members from Slovakia, Czech Republic and Austria. They saw 12 games in total. Budaj helped them with game tickets and the Avalanche organization joined in as well. That was unbelievable.

The third season brought the third revision of the website and the third trip to Denver. Eurolanche Invasion III consisted of six members from Slovakia, Austria and Romania. They again got help from the team and also met with Joe Sakic.

The fourth season didn’t consist of big changes, upgrades or trips to the USA like the previous years. Members had several meetings in Slovakia where they did sports and watched live Avalanche games.

As we said earlier, Eurolanche is now in its fifth season. It has a new website which is simple, but very nice. It focuses more on stories and news. Its goal is to offer everything about the Avalanche in a complete package.

Also, at least three members from Slovakia, Czech Republic and Austria will visit Denver again between the 15^th and 30^th of December 2011, during the six game home stand. It will be another Eurolanche Invasion – but with a new face and a new message.

The fan club offers free of charge membership for fans from all around the world. It does not matter where you live, you can show your support through this project, which is absolutely unique in the entire National Hockey League.

At present, Eurolanche has almost 100 members; many of them are also from the USA and Canada. Eurolanche’s editors and staff work voluntary; it is a not profit organization. Every member has a chance to become an editor and write articles about the Avalanche in their native language.

Eurolanche has opened to the rest of the world, but the goals are the same: Support the Avalanche and help expand its fan base. Full-service and high quality coverage is available exclusively for Europe. There are annual meetings of members and trips to Denver.

Eurolanche would also like to co-operate on these goals with other all Avalanche fans and other fan club organizations like the Burgundy Brigade. Everyone in the fan club hopes for a successful personal meeting between Eurolanche and the Burgundy Brigade during this coming trip. See you in Denver, the Avalanche fans!

Eurolanche.com includes a breaking news ticker, game-by-game updated team section, current and all-time statistics, registration form, live scores, photo/video gallery and list of our partners. There is a mobile website available also.

If you have any questions about the Eurolanche project you can contact David Puchovsky at eurolanche@eurolanche.com. Follow Eurolanche on Twitter and on Facebook.

“This is a must-win for us,” Colorado Avalanche goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere told the media today after practice. “We have to stop the bleeding right now.”

As the visiting New York Islanders went up 3-0 just eight minutes into the second period tonight at the Pepsi Center, it seemed like all of the posturing from Giguere was for nothing. Fans were booing their home team, the players weren’t connecting on the ice, and it looked like the Avalanche were about to add another home loss to their dismal Denver record.

But the game wasn’t over. Time hadn’t expired. Fans hadn’t given up hope.

Just as the crowd started mustering some final, desperate cheers, the Avalanche struck for their first goal of the evening, a powerplay goal by Paul Stastny. Instantly the atmosphere seemed electrified and the fans had renewed faith in their team. Feeding off of the raucous frenzy in the seats, Colorado began to turn their game back on.

Supported by a strong, confident performance from Giguere, the Avs went on to tally two more goals. Shutting down the Islanders and smothering their game with a newfound intensity, the Avalanche managed to force overtime, where they ended the game on a beauty from Kyle Quincey. The team united together, playing a solid final 30 minutes of hockey while peppering goalkeeper Al Montoya with 51 shots in all.

The way the young Avalanche team responded to the early deficit and the pressure to perform at home was inspiring, and certainly alludes to the players’ ability to rebound after a bad stretch. Colorado could easily string together a series of victories, feeding off of the four unanswered goals and multipoint performances from Stastny, Quincey, and Milan Hejduk. The club seemed to feed off of the fans, which points to the importance of creating a loud, friendly environment at Pepsi Center.

The Avs look to build upon this win as they take on division foes, the Calgary Flames, on Saturday. It will be the third meeting between these two teams this season.

What do you think?

The Colorado Avalanche are the most mystifying team in the NHL to right now and not in a good way.  The Avs are one of the NHL’s best teams when playing on the road and are the worst team when playing at home.

Colorado got off to a hot start just over 30 seconds into the game when Paul Stastny managed to score his first goal of the year at the Pepsi Center.  After such a huge scoring explosion out in Dallas, this appeared to be a sign that the Avalanche were ready to let the flood gates really open at home.

Sadly, this wasn’t the case. Just a couple of minutes later, Calgary scored the first of their two rather fluky goals when Mark Giordano took a shot from the blue line that deflected off of Ryan Wilson’s skate and past Semyon Varlamov to tie the game up at one.

In the second period, Calgary got a powerplay opportunity when Milan Hejduk was in the box for a tripping penalty.  Calgary was once again the beneficiary of a funny bounce when Alex Tanguay sent a pass off of Curtis Glencross’ chest and in for their second goal of the evening.

Colorado started to control the play later in the second period and through a good deal of the third, but once again just could not get anything by Miikka Kiprusoff.

This was yet another hapless home performance where the Avalanche outshot their opponents by a significant margin (33-23), don’t get a lot of good opportunities, can’t bury the opportunities that they do get, and only manage to score one goal.

Thing to note:

Joakim Lindström was scratched for tonight’s game in favor of Kevin Porter, who had a forgettable 11:20 of ice time, one hit, and was minus one for the game.  Even if Lindstrom is struggling right now, is putting Porter in giving the Avalanche a better chance of winning?

The Avalanche are now 1-5-0 at home and seem to just play a more nervous game at Pepsi Center. They know they have to be better there and they play like that is what they are worried about. They aren’t thinking about the game and that is a recipe for disaster.

The question that remains is when does this inability for the team to get a win at home become something that is pinned on the coach? Shouldn’t he be able to get his team relaxed and ready to play? If Joe Sacco is only able to get his team ready to play a game of hockey when they are on the road, then that should raise some questions.

The Avalanche still have no captain, and now is the time to name one. The guys clearly need something to light a fire under them, or somebody to look to for inspiration. A captain might be able to help with accountability outside of the coaching staff.

The Avalanche play in Detroit on Tuesday night and need a solid game against another floundering club, because they could definitely use a win right now.

What do you think?

The Avalanche went in to Dallas desperately needing to get their offense going while also looking to get some points to keep pace with the rest of the Western Conference.

The Avalanche absolutely dominated the first period, scoring twice. The first goal was from “Silent Jay” McClement who roofed a juicy rebound given up by Kari Lehtonen for his first of the season. A little while later the Avalanche had a powerplay opportunity and Matt Duchene made the Stars pay with a great shot from in the slot that beat Lehtonen through the five-hole.

After a strong first period, in which the Avalanche outshot Dallas 13-3, you would think Colorado was in for a cakewalk of a game, right?  Not so fast.

The Avalanche found themselves in frequent penalty trouble as the game progressed and the Stars really made them pay, scoring three powerplay goals in the third period and adding an even strength talley to go four straight against a wayward Semyon Varlamov.

Suddenly it’s 4-2 Dallas and all the momentum is on the Stars’ side.

Then Duchene puts in his second goal of the game on a bad clearing attempt by the Stars, breathing new life into the Avs. Paul Stastny quickly followed up with a flukey goal of his own from behind the net that found its way into the net, tying up the game at four.

The rapid pace continued when Daniel Winnik buried another juicy rebound, kicking it up to his stick and burying it for the lead. The Stars battled back though, netting one from the point. Varlamov had a lot of traffic in front of him and couldn’t see the puck, a play that Dallas capitalized on multiple times throughout the night.

Colorado wasn’t ready to quite though. Matt Duchene made the Stars pay again with an absolutely amazing dangle and a hard enough shot to beat Lehtonen for his first career hat trick. Jamie Benn tied the game with about four minutes remaining with a deflection, forcing overtime.

The bonus hockey started 3-on-3 because of penalties near the end of regulation. Dallas managed to end the game when Jan Hejda was caught scrambling, chasing Loui Eriksson around the net. He pulled Varlamov out of his crease and Eriksson’s shot easily went in, giving Dallas the victory.

Thing to note:

Matt Duchene was moved to left wing to try and jump start his point production. He played with Paul Stastny and Milan Hejduk and certainly seemed fired up, playing an all around sound game.

With his three goals and an extra assist, Duchene is now tied for the team lead in points with 10.

Semyon Varlamov gave up seven goals in what was really his first brutal game of the season. He should bounce back though, he’s a young guy with a lot of confidence in his abilities and a positive track record in Colorado.

Even though the defensive units had been shuffled up for the game, Sacco went back to the pairing of Johnson and Hejda in overtime. They duo were on the ice during the game winning goal, with Johnson once again on his stomach in the crease when the puck went in.

The broadcasters made a point of mentioning that the Avalanche scored six goals in Dallas tonight, which is the same amount of goals that Colorado has scored in all five home games. Hopefully the offensive explosion continues when they come back to the Pepsi Center.

With the overtime loss tonight, the Avalanche now have 15 points on the season, which puts them in 5th in the very competitive Western Conference.

The Avs gave up three powerplay goals and their penalty kill has started to slip a little,  which is a cause for concern as it really hindered the Avalanche last year.

The powerplay was much improved on the evening and watching the Avalanche carry the puck into zone to establish possession was a pleasant surprise.

Tonight the Avalanche return home to face the Calgary Flames where they hope to continue their scoring ways.

What do you think?

Coming into Sunday night’s game against the L.A. Kings, the Colorado Avalanche had the league’s best record on the road but were also the only team in the NHL that had yet to log a point on their home ice.  It was also the first game for The Burgundy Brigade to try and bring a little bit of audible excitement back into the arena.

The first period got off to an interesting start as the teams traded powerplays with the Avalanche coming out empty handed on their first. Still, both teams tallied goals during the Kings’ power play.

Chuck Kobasew drew first blood, shorthanded, after rookie rock star Gabriel Landeskog challenging a defending Anze Kopitar rather than just clearing the puck. Landeskog got past Kopitar and put a great pass right on Kobasew’s stick as he was coming through the blue line. Then with Landeskog crashing the net and drawing L.A. goalie Jonathan Quick his way, Kobasew stuffed in a wrap-around chance for the Avs’ second short handed goal of the season.

L.A. tied the game 27 seconds later when Scott Parse made a great play by batting a loose rebound out of mid-air and past Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov. Had Parse let the puck come back to the ice, Varlamov would have been in position and would have easily stopped the puck. It was a great play by Parse.

The second period began with the teams even at 1 goal apiece.  Things stayed that way until the Avalanche got a very fortunate bounce during another powerplay.

On a dump in, Quick moved out to try and play the puck behind the net only to have it take a funny bounce off of the boards and land in the vacant crease. Avalanche sniper Milan Hejduk made a great adjustment, spinning himself around fast enough to shovel the puck by a diving Quick for a powerplay goal and a 2-1 lead.

The Kings then evened the game on a 5 on 3 power play that saw Kopitar bang home a rebound to even the game at two.  The Avalanche managed to kill off the second penalty, but spent most of the period in their own zone, going into the third period trailing dramatically in shots 24-9.

The Avalanche remained vigilant in the third period and Matt Duchene fired a great shot through Drew Doughty and past Quick’s glove hand to give the Avs a 3-2 lead that they would never relinquish.

Once Colorado got the lead in the third period they managed to shut down the neutral zone, play solid defense, and still create some good chances for themselves at the same time.  This was a welcome change to seeing the team just try to sit on a lead and play the unstable “prevent” defense. The best defense, as they say, is a good offense and the Avalanche really played that out during the third period of this game.

Things to note:

TJ Galiardi found his way back into the line-up on Paul Stastny’s line across from Hejduk. He played a very solid game and may have a home with Stastny and Hejduk for the near future.

Kobasew had been demoted to the fourth line for this game, but seemed to respond to the challenge with his shorthanded goal. While he wasn’t particularly spectacular throughout the rest of the game, he wasn’t noticeable in a negative sense either.  Hopefully this is a change for the positive for Kobasew, who hadn’t logged a single point since he scored in Montreal, because he definitely hasn’t done a lot to meet expectations.

Duchene had probably his best game of the season thus far and not just because he notched the game winning goal.  Over the past couple of games it really looked like Duchene was trying to get out and score instead of doing what he does best: creating chances for everybody.  Against the Kings, Duchene really seemed to have his touch back.  He was both shooting and passing, so it wasn’t predictable what he was planning to do. Plus, his goal on Quick was one of those amazing shots that only a greatly skilled player could make.  Hopefully this will open up the floodgates for Dutchy.

Varlamov continues to shine for the Avalanche in net as he stopped 30 of 32 shots. Varly should have been the first star of Sunday’s game.

The Avalanche were actually outshot very badly overall, 32-16, but managed to pull out a W thanks to good defensive support and great goaltending.  Colorado was particularly physical in their own end, rubbing out Kings forwards close to the net on multiple occasions.

The absolute highlight of the evening was the presence of The Burgundy Brigade.  For not having a ton of them out for the first time, they certainly had quite the impact on a half empty stadium.

Sporting some awesome Uller helmets and a whole lot of passion, the group made a lot of noise with some original chants and organized leadership that the crowds at the Pepsi Center have been lacking. Probably the loudest moment of the night was during the third period when The Burgundy Brigade started a “Let’s go Avs!” chant that was picked up by the rest of the arena.  It was absolutely amazing.  It even got to the point where other sections started some cheers as well.

It was truly beautiful to hear noise returning to the Pepsi Center, and this is just the beginning of what is going to be a fantastic revolution.

The Avalanche will play the Phoenix Coyotes tonight at Pepsi Center. Here’s hoping for another great crowd and another strong performance.

Check out who Ryan think’s should be team captain before it is too late.

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?

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?

It was an electric atmosphere to start off the night as all the members of the current Colorado Avalanche roster lined the ice in honorary Peter Forsberg jerseys as Peter The Great, himself, walked along a red carpet around the ice to a long lasting standing ovation during his jersey retirement ceremony.

Forsberg’s heartfelt speech brought the crowd at Pepsi Center to its feet several times as he thanked former teammates, ownership and the fans in Denver for the great times he had in the league.

The crowd continued to roar as #21 rose to the rafters to take its place next to Patrick Roy’s, Ray Bourque’s and Joe Sakic’s as the fourth number in Avalanche history to be retired. It would have been a perfect way to end the evening right there, but there was still a game to play.

The Avalanche began their quest of ridding themselves of the ghosts of last year’s monumental collapse against their arch enemy, the Detroit Red Wings.

As one would expect after such an emotional beginning to the night, the Avalanche jumped out of the gate fast and put a lot of pressure on the visiting Wings, shooting the puck any moment they had the chance. What made this quick barrage of shots even better was the fact that a lot of them were on goal from the beginning, forcing the Red Wings goalie, Ty Conklin, to make a lot of early saves.

Paul Stastny had the best early chance when he nearly chipped home a backhander off a rebound that ended up trickling just wide.

Unfortunately for the Avs, not a single shot managed to get through Conklin all night long, and the frustration began to show as the game moved on.

The Avalanche showed much improved defensive awareness and penalty killing over last season, blanking the Red Wings on each of their power play opportunities and keeping their shot totals down through much of the first period.

The Avalanche started off the second period quite a bit slower than they did the first, but they were also starting on a penalty kill and they did manage to get a few more chances throughout the period as time went along, with several flurries that Conklin was able to hold at bay.

The first goal of the game came on a well set up 3 on 2 situation for the Wings. Johan Franzen blasted home a laser over Semyon Varlamov’s glove hand. Varly was partially screened for just long enough that he was unable to react fast enough with his glove.

The third period was downright dismal to watch. The Avalanche started out the period close to even in shots with Detroit, but some sloppy play in their own end, coupled with an inability to set up anything in the offensive zone and an incredibly passive forecheck soon led to a rather lopsided shot count and another Detroit goal from Henrik Zetterberg on another beautiful shot. Pavel Datsyuk later added an empty netter.

All things considered, this wasn’t a bad game by the Avalanche. They got off to a hot start, were responsible defensively, seemed to find some good chemistry on their lines and Varlamov looked very solid.

The big downside of the game was the third period. Truly an abysmal period of hockey from the Avalanche. It looked like last season all over again with their inability to make a decent pass out of their own defensive zone, blatant turnovers and the abandoning of their goalie.

Plus, the Avalanche didn’t make any type of adjustment in their game when their lone forechecker trap wasn’t yielding any turnover opportunities. They refused to get more aggressive until there were about five minutes left and things were pretty much out of reach. An early sign that Joe Sacco may have missed the lesson from last year about changing strategy, especially when you’re down in the third period and desperately need a goal and haven’t been generating any offense.

Still, there are a lot of positives to take. Varlamov looked great, Jan Hejda continues to play smart and be involved all over the ice, Kyle Quincey looks solid and very mean, Shane O’Brien may be a very underrated signing, the PK was solid, and Gabriel Landeskog played with intensity and great intelligence throughout the night as the line of Ryan O’Reilly, Dan Winnik, and Landeskog was easily Colorado’s best.

There is a lot for this team to still work on and it might be hard to see from a 3-0 loss on opening night, but the Avalanche actually did put a decent foot forward tonight.

The next couple of weeks will see the Avalanche playing on the road until October 20th and it will be a huge measuring stick as to how this team is going to perform this year.

Count on several ups and downs this year, but the Avalanche are finally back and hockey is running again! Let’s make it a great year Avs fans!

What do you think?

Welcome to a new segment counting down the days until the Colorado Avalanche open the season against the hated Detroit Red Wings next Saturday night, October 8th. We will take a look at five reasons why you should be excited about the Avalanche this season.

Local Sports.

It has been no secret that sports professional sports have had a falling off in Denver over the last year(s). The Denver Broncos seem destined to follow in the footsteps of last season. They’re 1-3 and appear to be making the wrong calls, both on the field and with personnel decisions. I won’t even mention yesterday’s performance against the Green Bay Packers. The Colorado Rockies displayed a vapid, hollow game this season, winning only enough to get fans hopes up before falling into abominable losing streaks. They even traded away struggling star pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez.

Then there is the Denver Nuggets. They certainly went through ups and downs, trading away their once lauded superstar Carmelo Anthony and fan favorite Chauncey Billups before bowing out of the first round in the playoffs last season. None of that really matters though, as the NBA has all but locked out of this season and it is very likely there will be no basketball at all this year.

While the Colorado Rapids saw glorious victory last season, winning the MLS Cup, they are currently fifth in their conference with a handful of games to go and there is no saying how they could finish given the parity in the league.

It would be safe to say that the Colorado Avalanche were second on the list of biggest local disappointments last year as they famously fell off in the second hand of the season, setting team records for things like longest franchise losing streak. But that was a different team.

Colorado has undergone a bit of a roster overhaul, adding massive size to the defensive game and multitudinous depth to their offensive attack. Six of the top eight defensemen on the team weigh more than 200 pounds, making the Colorado blue line a mean, treacherous place be venture for an opposing player. Needless to say the Avs won’t be pushed around this season.

Anyone that complains about the lack of recognizable names like Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, and Adam Foote are clearly out of touch with the state of hockey in Colorado. The Avs boast a roster of talent for years and years to come, including bankable stars like Matt Duchene, Paul Stastny, Erik Johnson, Peter Mueller, and newcomers like Gabriel Landeskog and Stefan Elliott. Let’s not forget that they’re anchored by the outstanding and lethal Milan Hejduk.

The season has yet to start and yet the Colorado Avalanche are easily the most promising professional sports team in the state at the moment. Poised to attack from a convenient shroud of mystery, the Avs will be a team to witness from the start of the season through the playoffs. That’s right – playoffs. Remember those.

The Colorado Avalanche announced another three roster reassignments today, following a spectacular 3-0 victory against the Dallas Stars last night.

Cameron Gaunce, Jonas Holøs, and Ryan Stoa were all returned to the Lake Erie Monsters. Gaunce had a quiet but strong camp, playing the body and hardly giving an inch. He is being groomed for a solid future in Colorado and will likely see time this season when injuries get underway. Holøs didn’t quite stand out during camp and the preseason the way he did last year, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t developing. He had a nice game last night including a few shots form the point, though none of them made it on net. Stoa ultimately failed to earn a full-time roster spot once again, and was a little slow getting going at camp.

Stoa has been a disappointing case for Colorado. Drafted higher than current center Paul Stastny, Stoa has failed to display the NHL prowess required to keep him in the big leagues. He managed a goal in last night’s preseason contest, but ultimately it was a Joakim Lindström shot that hit Stoa’s body and deflected down and under Stars stellar goaltending prospect Richard Bachman. Perhaps sensing his time in Denver might be short, Stoa even stepped up to defend Matt Duchene after a hard hit later in the game.

Unfortunately for him, it was too little to late and he will spend some time with the Monsters. This demotion will really call into question how much longer Colorado should continue to wait for Stoa to finish developing.

A Nice Win

Despite a somewhat impressive performance by soon-to-be-married Stars keeper Bachman, the Stars were simply overpowered by a tenacious Avalanche squad. Standouts included Brad Malone, Gabriel Landeskog, and Patrick Bordeleau. Malone was especially impressive, showing hunger while playing a calm, sophisticated game. He didn’t force the puck and made some surprising plays. Bordeleau was a hard-hitting, energy type last night and could find himself filling a fourth line role if he continues to work hard. At this point, it would be detrimental to the team to send Malone back down.

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?

Last week Mike Chambers, all around resident hockey bamf, announced that the Colorado Avalanche would again be partnering with the University of Denver Men’s Hockey team for a pro camp this season.

Semyon Varlamov's Goalie Camp | Courtesy of Dmitry Chesnokov

Scheduled to take place at the University of Denver next Monday, August 22 through Friday, August 26th, the pro camp will see players from both sides hitting the ice and eventually scrimmaging with and against each other.

“The camp made its debut a year ago, and it was a big-time success for players and fans alike,” writes Chambers. “The Avs were represented by Paul Stastny, Kyle Quincey, Peter Mueller, Cody McLeod and David Koci, among others, and pros such as former Pio great Tyler Bozak of the Toronto Maple Leafs, former Avs forward Ben Guite and 408-game NHL veteran D-man Garnet Exelby also participated.”

The camp is open to the public and should feature a great look at not only the Colorado Avalanche, but past and present talent from the University of Denver. You might see some of these guys in the NHL in a few years.

Speaking of camps, check out the above picture of Semyon Varlamov at a goalie camp he hosted in Russia recently.

New Mask In Town

Courtesy of 25Stanley.com

Check out the new mask being painted for Jean-Sebastien Giguere. The mountains are awesome and the yeti foot badge in the front is great. Don’t get me wrong, it looks better than Craig Anderson’s ugly mask, but what is with the team logo running up the chin these days? We’ll have to wait to see what Varlamov has over his head.

Courtesy of Paul Bereswill, Ronald Martinez, Doug Pensinger - Getty Images

Also, if you haven’t had the chance, be sure to welcome our newest additions to the team!

What do you think? Going to pro camp? What would your mask look like?

The Colorado Avalanche are locking up their remaining players before the buzz of free agent frenzy begins tomorrow.

Ryan O'Byrne | Courtesy of Zimbio.com

The latest renewal is defenseman Ryan O’Byrne, who was shockingly signed to a two year deal worth $3.6 million. Originally reported by Adrian Dater, the deal for O’Byrne is surprising only in the sense that nary more than a small handful of players have contracts running through next season. The team is admittedly concerned about the financial landscape of the next Collective Bargaining Agreement, so it is good to see important characters signed through the changing times.

“Ryan brings size to our defense,” said  Avalanche General Manager/Executive Vice President Greg Sherman.  “We are pleased to have him under contract for the next two years and look forward to him continuing his career with our organization.”

O’Byrne had ten assists and finished minus seven after 64 games with the Avalanche last season. He proved to be an effective, shut-down defenseman and was paired with offensive oriented parter and former Avalanche John-Michael Liles. It is possible that O’Byrne could be paired with a new face such as Stefan Elliott - until his natural counterpart, Duncan Siemens, is ready. That is if O’Byrne is trusted to mentor a young player.

Excited to re-sign with Colorado for 2 more years. Great city and great organization. Can’t wait to get started in the fall. – O’Byrne on his Twitter account

O’Byrne joins only Paul Stastny and Cameron Gaunce as the few currently rostered players signed with Colorado through the 2012-13 campaign.

What do you think? Was this a good move? Who would you pair O’Byrne with now?

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?

The Colorado Avalanche continue to set franchise records this season. This time the honor goes to man games lost to injury.

According to Avalanche radio guru Marc Moser, the Avalanche had a total of 425 games missed this season due to one injury or another as they entered last night’s match with the Calgary Flames. With only a handful of skates left in this abysmal season, it didn’t seem like things could get any worse.

That is until the team announced yesterday that center Paul Stastny would miss the remainder of the season with a stress fracture in his leg. While it is unclear how long Stastny had been injured, it is apparent that a more in depth look at some lingering problem lead to the discovery of the injury.

“Further examination revealed a stress fracture in his leg,” said Avalanche team physician Dr. Andrew Parker.  “At this time, the decision was made to shut him down for the rest of the regular season.”

Stastny had been having a pretty good season with the lowly Colorado club. He is currently second on the team in points with 57 and is third on the team in goals with 22. Stastny was even averaging .77 points per game and was consistent both at home and on the road. Luckily this injury is at the end of a terrible season and not in the midst of a playoff push.

Adding insult to injury, Avs Head Coach Joe Sacco announced today that defenseman John-Michael Liles suffered a concussion in last night’s game and is out, likely for the season as well. Liles has a team high 40 points and has been a pivotal piece of a blue line system in search of a consistent identity. In the midst of a three game point streak, Liles was just three points away from tying his career best in points. He had already surpassed his personal best in assists at 35.

Liles was averaging 22 minutes of ice time per game, so his absence is going to be noticeable during the final stretch this week as well.

What do you think? Will this season ever end?

Despite the recent role of spoiler to many teams as they push for the playoffs, the Colorado Avalanche couldn’t finish the season for the Calgary Flames, who won in Colorado 2-1 last night.

The Avalanche came out and played a largely well rounded game, bolstered by an uncharacteristically off-book performance by netminder Peter Budaj, hot off his 100th career win. Budaj was sliding, diving, and moving all over the ice, making some huge saves and doing his best impersonation of opponent Miika Kiprusoff, who was above and beyond on top of his own game.

Colorado found it nearly impossible to beat the Flames goaltender, who used his name-brand, flailing, flare to keep his team in the playoff hunt by bringing them behind the Chicago Blackhawks by just one point. The Avalanche were largely aggressive in the offensive zone throughout the game and arguably won the first period though both teams entered the break tied at zero.

The second period found Colorado with two man advantage opportunities, which they failed to convert on. Taking their cue from the ineptitude of the special teams unit, Calgary took the lead on an Olli Jokinen goal. Former Avalanche Alex Tanguay would notch the assist as well as the go ahead goal in the third period, capitalizing on some lazy back checking with team captain Jarome Iginla.

Continuing on the tradition of making it a game in the final five minutes, the Avs managed to ruin Kiprusoff’s shutout bid when Milan Hejduk picked up a John-Michael Liles rebound and sent it home. That is all the Avs could muster though, dropping the decision 2-1.

Notes: Paul Stastny was announced as out for the season with a stress fracture in his leg.

What do you think?