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On the eve of the first Colorado Avalanche game in far too many months, I bring you the last batch of Cupcakes pre-season! Are you pumped?
MHH is awesome, how awesome? Some nicknames we come up with players get picked up by others [link removed for some spyware worries. It's at examiner.com]
The final man to make the team was the biggest surprise (and not just because he is 6’6). Never afraid of a fight, Patrick Bordeleau has trolled the minors for a number of years. Among the last cuts in the previous two camps, the aptly nicknamed "Bordeleau of Blood" finally cracked the roster.
"It's awesome," Avs defenseman Shane O'Brien told The Denver Post. "He paid his dues in the minors, fought everybody. He makes our team a lot tougher"
In spite of names like Simon, Parker and Worrell donning the back of the team’s sweaters in the past, the Avalanche had gotten a reputation in recent years for being easy to play against, that might not be the case anymore.
The Fourth Period has a small update about Ryan O`Reilly.
O'Reilly's agent, Mark Guy, told TFP there has been "no progress" in negotiations and that is is "unlikely" the 21-year-old will be signed in time for Colorado's first game of the season in Minnesota on Saturday.
P.A. Parenteau might play on the first line.
The Colorado Avalanche made a couple of roster moves on Wednesday, putting P.A. Parenteau on the first line.
The P.A. stands for Pierre Alexander.
After spending six years in the minors and being with five different NHL teams, Parenteau spent the last couple of years with the New York Islanders where he blossomed.
He scored 121 points in 168 games developing a reputation for scoring at the biggest moments of the game.
Grantland has a NHL preview.
Other intriguing situations: The Colorado Avalanche are hoping that Semyon Varlamov can continue the sparkling play he exhibited while playing in the KHL this fall — he amassed a league-leading .946 save percentage with three shutouts and a GAA of 1.74 — while the Tampa Bay Lightning made an offseason bet on the former Predators backup Anders Lindback, a highly touted 24-year-old who stands at 6-foot-6 but was still stuck in the 6-foot-5 shadow of Pekka Rinne in Nashville.
Canada will get twice the Don Cherry serving.
Don Cherry is getting a chance to make up for lost time.
The headliner of CBC’s Hockey Night In Canada will be double-shifted this season, getting two segments of Coach’s Corner every Saturday night.
"He’s a Canadian icon," Julie Bristow, executive director of the network’s factual entertainment, said of the decision to increase Cherry’s air time.