Mike's Miscellany™ Vol. X - Early Season Rumblings
by Mike @ MHH on Nov 2, 2011 9:33 AM MDT
in Avalanche News & Notes
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It's been a while since I did one of these things and I know we got the Preview Thread up around 12:01 am Greenwich Mean Time to keep the malcontents at bay, but what the hell...
- Cool Timmy Thomas-related story that speaks to my own personal belief on developing goalies both in their early stages and as they progress through their (hopefully) professional careers.
- Another goaltender-related article for your perusal. This time talking about perception.
- Blog-friend Aaron manages to summarize my feelings about the Duchene/trade/bust/slow-start/linemates conversations we seem to be having around here daily.
- Cee-Lo Green and Discover are gonna make Turkey Day puck-tastic for the inaugural Thanksgiving Showdown.
- We've mentioned the Burgundy Brigade a couple of times on the site and they are part of the Avs Guild family of Avalanche-related shenanigans. Take a look and see if this is something you might be interested in.
- The results of the investigation into the Lokomotiv tragedy point to pilot error.
- He asked my opinion on his NHL-as-niche-sport piece, so here it is: I'm not interested in the NHL growing (money-wise) so large that it swings a big stick in the sports marketplace similar to the NFL. I'm interested in the NHL shedding it's regional moniker and expanding its geographical fanbase in the US. I don't think that a capitalist march to big $$ is the only way to do that. However, wanting to restrict or hoard any growth of the sport for fear of corruption isn't a position that will result in anything positive.
- Five For Howling's link-dump for tonight's game.
- And last but not least, a quick-read article summarizing the plight of the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers Div. 1 hockey team. As a southern transplant this is disheartening to say the least.
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the malcontents at bay
Sweet.
A man who stole my whisky used the defense that no one could resist a bottle of Scotch. I had no choice but to testify on his behalf.
malcontent. Don’t know why he pluralized it.
Chip, I'm gonna come at you like a spider monkey!
by An Unmitigated Disaster on Nov 2, 2011 10:22 AM MDT up reply actions
Not a big fan of the Aaron article
the team is 6-4, That’s only 10 games, give them some time. It seems like Sacco has figured it out by going with Gali-Stas-Hej and Jones-Duch-Lindstrom, Thirst, and some type of combination of McLeod-McClem-Kobasew (I forget who is lw and who is rw). This seems like it can work. It’s not Sacco’s fault that he doesn’t have many real wingers, he has to do with what he has. Right now he has an absent mueller, gali who is naturally a center, jones, hejduk and lindstrom. I think Lindstrom has started to get some chemistry with Duchene and he seems to be happy with the same 2 linemates. I think Sacco has done an alright job with what he has.
I agree with Aaron. Sacco is only an average coach who doesn’t make his matchups work well. Don’t get me wrong, I know he’s not going to get fired anytime soon (unless they swoon again for the 3rd straight year). But I never get the feeling he’s going to develop into the next coming of Scottie Bowman.
Chip, I'm gonna come at you like a spider monkey!
by An Unmitigated Disaster on Nov 2, 2011 10:35 AM MDT up reply actions
He is average. An article in the Denver Post where Duchene gave odd remarks makes me think he is also losing respect and credibility among the players (Duchene at least).
Maybe it’s just me, but my AVS have a way better group than stats show in the last couple years. Add the modified “D” and Varlamov, and this team must be 7-4 so far this season if not better. What other teams would have conflicts with such a record? Not much, only teams with really high expectations, wich we’re not yet. Trouble with your star player, goalie pulling at the start of a PP with SOME time left to TRY something else before, line juggling with wrong pieces (although he did cut down a bit from past years… so far), line matching, etc….
I’m not calling for Sacco’s head, but people in position should start to realize that the missing pieces for a truly great team isn’t only a couple of wingers, but a different coach.
Wish they kept Roy’s number on speed-dial. He may be more interested with this team now than he was in the past. And Imo, he’d be the perfect fit.
He is average. An article in the Denver Post where Duchene gave odd remarks makes me think he is also losing respect and credibility among the players (Duchene at least).
Well, if anyone’s qualified to call out a bad head coach in the NHL, it’s the 20-year-old who’s only played for that one head coach and who he happens to be butting heads with at the time.
Ryan O’Byrne last year said that Sacco is the best head coach he’s had in the NHL.
Maybe it’s just me, but my AVS have a way better group than stats show in the last couple years. Add the modified "D" and Varlamov, and this team must be 7-4 so far this season if not better.
I definitely think it’s just you. Many, many journalists, both MSM and bloggers, picked the Avs to be at the bottom or near the bottom in the Western Conference this year. You might not have noticed, but that’s why there have been a few stories written lately that include the words Colorado+Avalanche+surprise+start. Check it out on the Googles when you have a minute or two.
I’m not saying that Duchene’s right, i’m saying it’s not a good sign when you publicly see players talking in a certain way about/or to a coach.
I think I know hockey enough to know that the AVS aren’t bottom feeders. Apart from the meltdown last year, they have a good record. Most analyst were wrong 2 years ago and will probably be again this year, so…..
Could you please quote here exactly what Duchene said? I fear you (or Dater, as I believe that is the source) might be reading into things.
The 2011-2012 Colorado Avalanche: a mean, junkyard dog looking for revenge
by Cheryl Bradley on Nov 2, 2011 12:48 PM MDT up reply actions
In what has become an uncomfortable annual tradition, Sacco recently spanked Duchene in the most public of ways, demoting his talented center to the fourth line for a game against Chicago. “It was a message. He’s done it to me three or four times in my career. Actually, about five times,” Duchene said.
How is Duchene supposed to build chemistry with a never-ending carousel of wingers? For how long have the Avs been messing with his line?
“Three years,” said Duchene, who joined the team in 2009.
Kiszla’s article. But maybe your right, maybe it’s the way it’s presented. But this shouldn’t be a factor this early in a season with a winning record.
not much really negative there
The majority of “messing with his lines” means ppl getting injured, or traded, or lost to free agency. None of those three are Sacco’s fault. Duchene has had consistent line mates for a few games, and has been working fairly well.
This is the part where I doubt that when Kiszla posed the question that the actually used the word “messing.”
And then there’s the other part where I’d like to point out that occasionally changing lines is quite common in the NHL and that Duchene’s experience isn’t a whole lot different than most other centers in the league.
by DiD on Nov 2, 2011 2:03 PM MDT up reply actions
The only “uncomfortable annual tradition” here is Kiszla writing his yearly hockey column. Go back to snooping around Dante Bichette’s locker, you hack.
by DiD on Nov 2, 2011 2:06 PM MDT up reply actions
Also remember that Duchene has probably never had this happen before to him. He might be feeling defensive. Like Dan said, immaturity.
The 2011-2012 Colorado Avalanche: a mean, junkyard dog looking for revenge
by Cheryl Bradley on Nov 2, 2011 2:07 PM MDT up reply actions
I’m not saying that Duchene’s right, i’m saying it’s not a good sign when you publicly see players talking in a certain way about/or to a coach.
I agree. I think it’s confirmation that Duchene is pretty immature that he would go public with that. Definitely not a good sign, absolutely think you’re right.
by DiD on Nov 2, 2011 2:02 PM MDT up reply actions
What’s funny about Aaron’s article is he bitches about
-Kobasew on the top 6; he was moved out after that was written.
-Kobasew with one goal, he scored a legit one after that was written.
-Gali being asked to produce from the fourth line, he was on SoS’s line after that was written.
-Duchene getting yanked around, he got stable linemates and has looked pretty good since that was written.
Ball’s in your court, Aaron.
It's all about the O'
Not a big fan of Aaron’s piece since it a) ignores Duchene’s part in getting himself moved around a bit (he hasn’t been very good for at least half a season and wasn’t playing defense), and b) conveniently fails to point out that the Avs have had sub-par NHL talent in all of Sacco’s 3 seasons as head coach.
There is not a single person on the face of this planet who has more interest in having the Avs do well than Joe Sacco. For all our chatter about how Galiardi is getting jerked around or Duchene hasn’t skated consistently with the same wingers ever since he’s been here, or Kobasew sucks or Holos should be playing or blah blah blah, no one knows the players any better than Sacco, and no one has his professional reputation and hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line if things go wrong more than Joe Sacco.
I’m sure we’ll get into this more and more as the season moves along, but pointing to Galiardi and Duchene – both of who shoulder much of the responsibility for any doghouse treatment they received – as something that’s Sacco’s fault is just plain lazy to me.
Yeah, if you’re gonna toss around accusations and speculations at least put in some effort!
that’s only half snark as I agree with what you’re saying, it just sounds funny put bluntly.
It's all about the O'
by SteveHouse on Nov 2, 2011 12:50 PM MDT via mobile up reply actions
From the second link about Pekka Rinne, here is a link to the ‘Top Goals’ of last week.
http://video.thescore.com/watch/top-goals-of-the-week-oct-31
I can’t wait til we see one of Duchene, O’Reilly, or Landeskog up there every week.
Thanks, Joe... Thanks, Peter.... Thanks, Adam....
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