One thing about hockey: these long offseasons are unbearable! We last saw the Avs on May 1st and now, finally, after a long 5 months (yes, I'm kidding)...hockey is back.
The Avalanche host the Boston Bruins on Thursday night. The game will be on Versus. As some of you are aware, this is a double header game. Last year on opening night, the early game went to a shootout and didn't end until 9:48 eastern, so the Avs-Stars game was joined in progress about 10 minutes in. Thankfully, someone has finally figured out that 2 ½ hours is not enough time and the Avs game this year is starting a half hour later. And that's good, because there's NO reason for any game to get pre-empted, especially the first game of the year. Joe Beninati and Andrew Brickley will be in the booth (warning: Brick is a good color guy, but he is a big time homer when he covers the Bs).
As of this writing, the Bruins are still above the 23-man limit. One guy who I assume will be making the cut is former Avalanche Stephane Yelle - one of the last free agents to find a home this summer.
I talked about the Avs projected lineup yesterday.
Who's Hot? Ryan Smyth, Paul Stastny and David Jones have been hot in the preseason.
Who's Not? The Avs defense (6 points in 6 preseason games) and former Bruin Andrew Raycroft.