Game 29: Avalanche 9, Blues 5
by Joe Dunman on Dec 10, 2007 7:01 AM MST
in News
15 comments
photo courtesy of David Zalubowski/AP
When a hockey game ends with a score of 9-5, the only real way to look at it is by the numbers. So, instead of a big, wordy recap, I'll just run down the numerical significance of last night's rout of the St. Louis Blues by the Colorado Avalanche, Harper's Index style.
Goals scored in game, both teams: 14
Points scored by all players, both teams: 39
Players with at least one point, both teams: 20
Players with multi-point performances, both teams: 11
Colorado goal-scoring percentage, game: 31
Colorado goal-scoring percentage, third period: 50
Percent of St. Louis total goals against scored by Colorado: 15
Number of teams played by St. Louis this season: 14
Number of consecutive games played by Andrew Brunette: 400
League rank of Brunette's consecutive games streak: 3
Number of career hat tricks scored by Milan Hejduk: 5
Number of wins by Colorado Avalanche franchise: 1000
Number of Colorado wins awarded to Jose Theodore: 21
Dater's recap can be found here, and Terry Frei wrote a piece about the significance of the game's score and the 1000th win for the franchise.
The most significant number for the Avs, though, is the number 2. That's the number of consecutive wins in their current streak, their longest since November 7th.
Stars of the Game:
- Milan Hejduk (3g, 3a)
- Paul Stastny (2g, 3a)
- Ryan Smyth (1g, 2a)
0 recs |
15 comments
|
Email
Print
Comments
One more number
Number of "May the Scwartz be with you" jokes in the game thread after Swartz briefly replaced Toivanen: 0
I am very disappointed in this performance
by Jibblescribbits on Dec 10, 2007 7:58 AM MST reply actions
Recap/Brunette
I was wondering how you were going to recap this one ha!
Number of consecutive games played by Andrew Brunette: 400
Wow does this mean he's never missed a game in the last 400?! I'm not sure I've done anything 400 times consecutively.
Re: Recap/Brunette
Yes, that means he's appeared in the last 400 regular season games played by whatever team he was on at the time.
good game for the Avs
in the midst of all that scoring, still nothing from the 3rd...unless you count Hlinka's pass to Stastny. Really, Hlinka's been the only thing good about the 3rd lately.
the biggest change the last few games is the consistent lines. In a shocking turn of events, chemistry is forming on the 1st, 2nd and 4th lines when they play with the same linemates! NO WAI.
Defense still looks a little lost out there. At least they're jumping into the offense a bit more. Hannan appears to have found himself too, but Finger has struggled positionally lately. Skrastins is terrible. wish this was the NFL where you can just cut guys.
looking ahead to the return of Leopold, Sakic, and Lappy Wednesday, I'm hopeful that Q will try to minimize the shakeup, and I hope he'll keep McCormick playing. Hensick has looked alright, but, he needs a bit more time, and Sakic looks better between Wolski and Bruno anyways. I see Hensick getting sent down along with Cumiskey, who has also looked great, though redundant with Liles.
I wish this 4th would stay intact and Lappy would play on the 3rd with Arny scratched and Hlinka centering, but that's probably not realistic. Hopefully we'll see Leopold and Hannan together again -- they looked pretty good to start the season. With any luck, when Sauer returns he'll make Skrastins a healthy scratch.
Drop Arnason.
Joe needs to definitely replace Arnason on that 2nd line. Woslki has made some beautiful feeds to Arnason who either shoots wide, hits the post, or flubs the shot all together. Arnason is awful this season. the RPM lines (as it now seems to be called) needs to stay together. I liked Hlinka on that line earlier, but Smyth seems to have improved it (if it is possible to improve on Staz and Duke). I also like that 4th line...hard working guys who just need to get a goal or two for all their hard work. They drew two of those power plays last night on simply that...Shear hard work.
by Americanario on Dec 10, 2007 6:24 PM MST up reply actions
fun game
to be at. I went both Friday night and last night to see two good, yet much different, performances by the Avs against two good teams. Nice to see.
The Stastny line needs a name. How about RPM, for Ryan-Paul-Milan? Sort of works for me. If you could mix and match first and last names you could go Paul-Milan-Smyth ... that would be funny.
In all of the good last night, the great night by the RPM line, Wolski's two goals, the great pass by Hlinka, the continued strong play of the BBC 4th line, the only three negatives I took out of the game were:
- Poor play by Theo, especially by letting in the two quickies in the 3rd to put the Blues briefly back into the game.
- Poor play by Skrastins. He hasn't looked good this year, period. Wonder what happened to his game?
- Poor play by Arnason. If they could trade him for a decent checking forward I'd be happy. Do you think they could convince anyone, maybe a team without access to game film or scouts, that Arnason is a skilled, hard working 2nd or 3rd line center?
You mean?
Do you think they could convince anyone, maybe a team without access to game film or scouts, that Arnason is a skilled, hard working 2nd or 3rd line center?
You mean the Maple Leafs? Get JFJ on the phone!!
Re: fun game
I already beat you to the whole "RPM Line" name. In this post, I mentioned that:
Milan Hejduk will take the night off with a sore back, and Marek Svatos will take his place on the lethal RPM line with Paul Stastny and Ryan Smyth.
Great minds think alike!
And yes, the Ryan Smyth-Paul Stastny-Milan Hejduk line is hereby officially called "The RPM Line."
Marek Svatos can substitute for Hejduk if necessary (but only then).
RPM Line
Yes, we do think alike. Even if I am a little slow.
I have another idea that I wish fans would get going at the Can, maybe for a playoff game when they hand out white pom-poms to everyone. You know how some fans in some arenas do the wave? Av fans should do the Avalanche, starting at the top of the arena and going down. It would be pretty cool if they could get it going around the entire arena at once, and very appropriate given their name.
Maybe for the first Detroit game in the Can?
by Bob in Boulder on Dec 10, 2007 5:42 PM MST up reply actions
RPM?
Kind of a stretch huh? I guess I just hate Acronyms after dealing with them all day at work.
I have always liked the lines that took their nickname from other stuff... My favorite of all time was "Legion of Doom".
What about Cerberus, the 3-headed dog that guards the gates of Hell...
Let's at least do a google search on famous Trios or something, or famous groups.
by Jibblescribbits on Dec 11, 2007 11:20 AM MST up reply actions
My thoughts
...the biggest change the last few games is the consistent lines. In a shocking turn of events, chemistry is forming on the 1st, 2nd and 4th lines when they play with the same linemates! NO WAI.
Defense still looks a little lost out there. At least they're jumping into the offense a bit more....
Great points.
I wonder if Q finally turned to chapter 2 of "Coaching Hockey for Dummies" and read the keywords, which must have included 'consistency', 'chemistry', and 'winning'.
I heard Johnny Torterella say the other day that their defense feeds the offense because they basically don't play D. They have a VERY aggressive forecheck and neutral zone scheme that is intended to prevent them from having to play much in their own end due to a lack of skilled blueliners and goaltenders. To quote "When we skate backwards, we're the worst team in the league." or something like that. Maybe the Avs should take a page from that mentality and keep the pressure on for an entire game. They didn't do it last night until St. Louis scored those two quick goals in the early moments of the third.
Note to Q.: DON'T TAKE YOUR FOOT OFF THE GAS!!
Re: My thoughts
I never really understood why teams "took their foot off the gas" anyway. But it happens all the time. A team will get a decent lead (2-3 goals) going into the third period and all they do is dump the puck until the end of the game.
Sure, it's possibly more dangerous to keep attacking because it increases the chance of a turnover, but the turnover would be in the opponent's zone, whereas playing just defense makes it more likely that any turnovers will be in your own zone.
I concur: Q, don't take the foot off.
Let's not forget
Scott Hannan had another 2 assists. WTF? Why is he contributing offensively?!? LOL, we got him to play defense, not more offense! Oh well, as long as he keeps the assists coming; it's all good.
by Mike the Avs Fan on Dec 10, 2007 9:35 PM MST reply actions
Playing behind the Stastny line
Playing behind the RPM line, all the defensemen have to do is clear the puck past the red line. Hannan did have a fantastic play to hold the play in the offensive zone last game and he deserved every bit of that point (if he got one on that play, I can't recall). Defensemen can get a lot of garbage second assists if their forward line in front of them plays well.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Mile High Hockey
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
