I'm not sure what to say right now, to be honest. I'm pretty much speechless. That game against the Ducks, they of 35 points - well, 37 now - and almost dead last in the West, was just amazing. Amazingly bad, I mean. And this was on HOME ICE! Home Ice and the Avalanche give up four goals in half a period to blow another two goal lead and blow their best chance at winning three in a row in a long time.

No words can describe what I saw out there tonight except perhaps "train wreck". Even then, most train wrecks are more organized than the Blahvs looked in that third period. So whose fault was that? There's a LOT of people we can stick the blame on, but who is the winner? (loser?)...

A couple players had good games, mainly Andy and Yip... But there were some stinkers out there as well.

* THE REFS - This is a popular choice. After allowing that amazingly bullshit call to go through and give the Ducks their first goal, the momentum was 100% Duck the rest of the way through. Even then, they decided to review a goal immediately afterward that nobody could even find the transgression on. If that goal call wasn't reviewable - and I 100% believe that EVERYTHING should be reviewable in Hockey to avoid shit like this from going down - the Refs should have realized it was a bullshit move by the Ducks to start with and called no goal the second they saw Anderson getting pushed into the side of his cage.

* KYLE QUINCEY - Quincey was unfortunately the player who shot the puck down the ice with 30 seconds left, causing an icing and basically handing the Ducks a free go-ahead goal against the tired Avs players in their own zone. Before that he wasn't exactly having a stellar game either. 

* JOE SACCO - It all comes back to the coach sometimes, could it be possible that he made some really screwy line decisions throughout the game that didn't help the offense out? Maybe he gave the defense some bad pairings. Maybe he even told the Avs to sit on the lead instead of trying to go for the Jugular! That seems to be the easiest way to beat them after all. Just let them get a two goal lead and it's a cakewalk! To be especially sour, it doesn't help Sacco's image to watch his power play unit fail so hard and so miserably night in and night out. Just one power play goal and this game is probably a 3-0 or 3-1 Avalanche victory.

On another note, Sacco might have completely dropped the ball forcing Andy into yet another start against a supposedly weak Duck team, even with Budaj playing his best hockey in ages recently. If Anderson is dead by the time the playoffs start, it's ALL on Sacco.

* THE OFFENSE AS A WHOLE - The Avs managed a paltry two goals in the game, one of which was on a lucky deflection. Part of the reason that they only managed those two goals is a repeat of what must seem like the theme of the year; the Avalanche just weren't shooting the puck. It wasn't even a case of getting all their shots blocked! The Avalanche just refuse to shoot the puck enough to get great chances out of it. The fact that the O only managed around 20 shots for yet another game is never a good sign.

* THE DEFENSE AS A WHOLE - Another popular choice I'm sure, the Avs defense let over 40 shots get through to Andy tonight. No goaltender, no matter how hot he may be, deserves to go through a game facing any more than 30 shots. No good defense in hockey should even allow 40 total chances on the night, let alone shots that get to the net. If Andy wasn't so hot to start the game it would have been over approximately halfway through the second.

* THE SMURFIFORMS - The Avs just can't seem to win in these god damn uniforms. And the losses that the Avs get in them seem to be the worst kinds of losses. Getting blown the hell out at home by the Nucks and the Caps and now giving up 4 goals in 7 minutes to the Ducks... Even if they were prettier to look at, I'd have no problems.

* PETER BUDAJ - Because he is teh suxxorz and thus is obviously to blame for this awful showing. (Levity, people!)