The Colorado Avalanche have apparently signed Patrick Bordeleau to a three year deal, worth $3 million. I am a HUGE fan of Bordy, so I am psyched to hear this news (or read it- but really, how cool would it be if someone had shouted this down the street and I learned that way?)

Bordeleau is perhaps the most talented player I’ve ever seen who’s been pegged as the enforcer. His skating has improved tremendously in the past few years, and he’s really good at working hard along the boards. He’s the biggest forward the Avs have, and he definitely uses his size on the ice.

It’s also been reported that a deal is pretty much done between the Avalanche and Francois Allair for Allair to become the next goalie coach for the team (Adrian Dater of the Denver Post believes this will be officially announced tomorrow), and also that Adam Foote may be coming back to the organization in a part time role as a defensive specialist coach.

Ryan O’Reilly’s first goal in a while was an important one! Photo: Bridget Samuels/Flickr.

The Avs earned a nice win tonight against the Phoenix Coyotes, in their final road game of the season. Considering how poorly they’ve done on the road this year, it was nice to end that part of the season on a high note.

» Continue reading “Avs Play Excellent Game In The Desert”

Thanks to GH’s LEM contributor, Todd, for this picture!

The Avs earned three out of four points on this California roadtrip, and played two excellent games. Tonight was special, as it was Sami Aittokallio’s first ever NHL start. (Not too shabby for a 20 year old kid, in his first year pro, and his first year in North America.)

» Continue reading “Bordeleau Scores First Goal In SO Loss”

It’s tradition now!

Today is Patrick Bordeleau’s 27th birthday. This is his 5th year in the Avalanche organization, and first year up with the Avs. The past couple of years, he’s been one of the final cuts at training camp, so I think a lot of us were pleasantly surprised to see him stick this year. He has two assists and 55 penalty minutes, but I know that I’ve been really impressed with how many offensive opportunities he’s created with his limited icetime.

Here is Bordy playing the piano:

And some fights…

Hope to see him score his first goal soon!

PLEASE STOP LOSING AVS I AM NOT COPING.

I’m sure you’re exhausted when you read it: the Avs have to win the game tomorrow. You’re exhausted because after the first 10 games, I think I’ve said it in every single preview (plus, I probably said it a couple of times in those first 10). The fact of the matter is though, that the team is a failing failure cascading down in a failure avalanche towards failure valley where the failure inhabitants mumble inspiring words that they fail to come through on. You could say I’m feeling a bit bitter about the past couple of losses. I just don’t understand how a team with their talent, a team with so many young players supposedly eager to win, can continue to perform at such a subpar level. I can speculate that Sacco’s message is no longer getting through, or that they are the ultimate procrastinators, thinking that “there’s plenty of time to turn this thing around”, but at the end of the day I don’t understand it.  I can’t threaten to walk away, or say that I’ll choose another team, because the I’ve been cheering for this team for 17 years. I’m in this thing for life, even though the Avs seem determined to make it a pretty miserable next 70 or 80 years. I’m sure after their next win (so long as it comes within five games), I’ll go back to a sunny attitude and start saying that there’s a chance, because I’ve seen what this team is capable of when they work hard for sixty minutes. For now, though, I’m going to a miserable old bat.

The Wild will come into the Pepsi Center with a ridiculously good record against the Avs there. Then we will all here about how the Wild like to clog up the neutral zone so we won’t see any goals. Then the Wild will proceed to have an outburst of goals (shocking everyone, even though they’ve scored three or more goals against the Avs in eight of the last nine games between the clubs) while the Avs are having their defensive failures of the night. Then the Avs will mount a comeback, which may or may not work. J.S. Giguere will be in net for the Avs, earning his fourth start this season. If I was Sacco, I’d move Palushaj in (probably for Jones, give the kid a chance on the Landeskog-O’Reilly line that’s staying together), maybe switch Bordeleau with Olver, and replace Zanon with O’Byrne. However, I’m not Sacco, and Sacco never seems to consult me for these things, so we’ll probably see the same lineup. Or O’Byrne will replace Johnson because Sacco had the nerve to blame Johnson when Zanon fell on his butt and Cullen skated around him and scored.

I’m predicting the Wild score four goals. The Avs will either score three or six. See you fellow sufferers tomorrow.

Photo: Sarah Connors/Flickr.

The Colorado Avalanche are currently at the top of the Northwest Division, and third in the Western Conference, thanks to their performance tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Of course, we’re only three games into the season, but it’s exciting to see for Avs fans nonetheless. Tonight, P.A. Parenteau got the party started just 51 seconds into the first period, with a nice wrist shot that slid past CBJ goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. A minute later, Patrick Bordeleau brought the crowd to their feet again as he dominated Jared Boll in a fight. Unfortunately, the next major event was a puck that went straight to the forehead of forward John Mitchell. He skated off, leaving a very noticeable trail of blood for the ice crew to take care of. With the Avs down a man, the lines were a bit more mixed together, but the team continued to play strongly. Matt Duchene scored his first goal of the season in the thirteenth minute of the period, giving the boys in burgundy a 2-0 lead. Ryan Wilson took a penalty 20 seconds later, but Brandon Dubinsky ruined his team’s chance at a power play with an ugly crosscheck to Captain Landeskog, (he also received an extra two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct). Of course, just 15 seconds later, Jan Hejda was penalized for goaltender interference, and what had looked to be a solid 4 on 4 followed by a power play now became a penalty kill. The Avs though, were lucky (Semyon Varlamov killed it in net), and came out of the rather confusing penalty box parade with the same score they started at. To finish the period, Jamie McGinn threw a hard check on Columbus’ Artem Anisimov. Brandon Dubinsky tracked him down and instigated a fight (something for which he was not penalized, strangely). About 50 seconds later, the period ended with some raucous cheering from the crowd.

During the second period, the penalties continued to be called, as play became increasingly scrappy. 10 different penalties were called, but no one was able to capitalize on the power play. (Landeskog found himself in the box twice, as did Cody McLeod. McGinn, who started the period in the box to finish serving his fighting major, was also in the box for the final minute and a half of the second.) The Avs had some poor stretches of play during this second period, but Varlamov was there to save them. Really, the highlight of this period for me was the return of John Mitchell, with a huge bandage on his face, but healthy enough to keep playing.

By the time the third started, the penalties slowed down. (There were only two this during this frame.) Columbus dominated for about four minutes to start, but then John Mitchell raced in to score his second goal of the season. From there on out, the Avs were clearly the better team. Matt Duchene would add another goal to his name (one that was really highlight material). For the second game in three nights, the Avs were treated to a standing ovation from the crowd in the final twenty seconds.  Semyon Varlamov earned his shutout, and the Avs earned another valuable two points.

Other Thoughts

-Erik Johnson had a stellar game. He didn’t show up on the scoresheet, but all of the little things he did tonight…just wow. He was continually using his stick to deflect shots up and out of the way. He also had a really nice read on a 2 on 1 situation where he just completely shut down the shot option and then he blocked the pass.

-Jamie McGinn was this close to scoring a goal about 50 million times tonight. Maybe fate will reward him, and he’ll score a couple against his old team, the Sharks, Saturday? McGinn also had a solid physical game, with a number of hits.

-I really liked Patrick Bordeleau’s game tonight (even though he didn’t seem to get any icetime during the third). He even attempted a toe drag (not bad for a fourth line winger in his third NHL game ever, eh?)

-Stastny had a really strong game too, even though he didn’t earn any points. He’ll break through soon if he maintains the level of play he’s shown the past couple games.

-John Mitchell…man I am just happier and happier that the Avs signed this guy. He was a total beast, again, tonight, even though his face looked like this:

Mike Chambers continues to take the ugly photos of the Avs wounds and post them on via.me. I feel absurdly proud right now.

Ryan O’Reilly Update

The center and the KHL team Metallurg have mutually ended his contract. O’Reilly is heading back to North America in order to receive medical treatment for a “minor” foot injury. This doesn’t appear to have any impact on his negotiations. I suppose, if a deal is ever completed, he’ll be able to get to Colorado more quickly though.

Here’s Bordeleau, thanks for the picture, Todd!

The Avs sent down forward Michael Sgarbossa and defenseman Stefan Elliott. Forward David van der Gulik has been put on waivers and will be reassigned to Lake Erie if he passes through the waivers unclaimed. This means that Mark Olver, Patrick Bordeleau, and Tyson Barrie will be staying up with the club.

» Continue reading “Avs Trim Roster”

As of Wednesday the Colorado Avalanche placed six players on waivers to play for the Lake Erie Monsters during the lockout. Patrick Bordeleau , Bryan Lerg, Thomas Pock, Sean Sullivan, Bill Thomas, and David Van Der Gulik, cleared waivers and will be on the Monsters roster. These six were among almost sixty players sent down to the AHL from their parent clubs in preparation for the impending lockout.

There also has been no word as of 8:30 pm EST if Gabriel Landeskog will also find himself in a Monsters sweater to start the season.

Everyone, I promised you that this week would be LAKE ERIE MONSTERS WEEK AT GET HIGHER (LEMWAGH), and to kick things off, we have a post written by brand new GH contributor Todd Mathias! Todd will be helping me by bringing you Monsters information 1-2 a week. -Sarah

The American Hockey League (AHL) can be a very fluid league. It’s one where you get the chance to see future National Hockey League (NHL) players develop and become the stars of tomorrow. Being a feeder league for the NHL, the AHL is a place where faces can change at the drop of a hat. Your parent club has an injury and the player can be on a flight that day up to the show. While it is great to see guys get a chance at their dreams, it leaves holes at the lower level. This process is something one has to accept as a fan of an AHL team. The benefits though are that you do see some great hockey and again great talents as the season progresses.

Goal¬tending

This year the Lake Erie Monsters will have a totally new look in net. Cédrick Desjardins and Trevor Cann are both moving on, Desjardins to the Canadiens organization and Cann having not received a qualifying offer at the end of his contract term. There will be four goaltenders fighting for the two spots in Cleveland this year. Calvin Pickard, who played two games for the Monsters at the end of last season, is looking to make the jump into the AHL. Finnish tender Sami Aittokallio will also be poised to move to North America after playing in Finland. The Colorado Avalanche also have two goalies fresh from college. Kent Patterson comes from the University of Minnesota and Kieran Millan from Boston University. These two are very competent goaltenders but from everything I’ve seen they will be starting with the Denver Cutthroats of the CHL. Training camp will be very competitive though and there could be a surprise or two when all is said and done.

Forwards

The Lake Erie Monsters corps of forwards is once again on the younger side of things. With the loss of veterans like Greg Mauldin and Ryan Stoa, the influx of players such as Paul Carey, Michael Sgarbossa, and a healthy Joey Hishon will have to step into the AHL ready to go. Again this year one gets the feeling that it will be a scoring by committee type team where each goal will be a hard fought one. Fan favorite Patrick Bordeleau will also be returning this year and will hope to improve on his AHL career high 4 goals while being a welcomed presence on the ice. Another player that will be returning this year is David Van Der Gulik. After splitting part of last season with the Avalanche, and receiving an extension this offseason Van Der Gulik will be looking to keep on pace for another solid season.

Defense

Defense for the Lake Erie Monsters this season will have some familiarity, with Cameron Gaunce, Tyson Barrie, and Stefan Elliott at least starting the season here in the AHL. All three cut their teeth in the AHL and are well on their way to breaking into the Avalanche roster eventually. One new face to look for will be Duncan Siemens. Duncan brings with him size and a physicality that will have to adapt to playing in a league with men as it will be his first full season out of the WHL. Some veteran signings will also bolster the defensive end of the Monsters. Sean Sullivan and Thomas Pöck will bring more size to the team as well as 512 combined games of AHL experience.

We are deep in the thralls of summer now, with only the occasional trickle of news reaching us from the Avalanche camp. However, a few contracts have been signed between the Avalanche and several prospects.

First, Sean Sullivan (defensemen) was signed to a one-year, two-way deal. Sullivan split last season between the Worchester Sharks and the San Antonio Rampage, the AHL affiliate teams of the San Jose Sharks and the Florida Panthers. He earned 34 points in 61 games. Next is Bill Thomas (right wing), another player who played for the San Antonio Rampage. He did play a seven game stint with the Florida Panthers, wherein he scored one goal. Another defensemen, Thomas Pock, was signed to a one-year deal. He spent his past year playing in Europe, spending some time with Avalanche legend Peter Forsberg’s MODO. Patrick Bordeleau has re-signed, a move that makes many fans, including myself, happy. Bordeleau is more of enforcer, but he does have some skill as well. I don’t expect him to make the Avalanche, but he is a good option if the Avs find themselves in need of a third or fourth line player to call up. Finally, Michael Sgarbossa was inked to a three year, entry level contract. Sgarbossa, along with Jamie McGinn and Mike Connolly, was acquired in the trade between the Avalanche and the Sharks that sent TJ Galiardi and Daniel Winnik to San Jose. Sgarbossa led the OHL in scoring last season, and is one of the prospects whom I feel very excited about. Once again, I don’t expect him to make the team out of training camp, but in the next year or two, I think fans will get to see him play in a few games at least.

Here Sgarbossa accepts the award for leading scorer in the OHL from Steven Stamkos, a former winner and current NHL All-Star. Source: Avalanche twitter feed.

Here is a short little article by Adrian Dater of the Denver Post about another Avalanche prospect, Mitchell Heard.

And, finally, here is my projected lineup for next season.

McGinn-Stastny-Jones

Landeskog-O’Reilly-Hejduk

Downie-Duchene-Parenteau

McLeod-Mitchell-Kobasew

O’Brien-Johnson

Wilson-Elliott

O’Byrne-Hejda

Varlamov

Now of course, the forward lineup is subject mostly to the Milan Hejduk who shows up at camp. If he looks to be his old self, the scorer, he should be on a line with O’Reilly and Landeskog. Should he shows up with the seemingly lost touch he displayed through much of the second half of the season, I am not sure where to put him. I also slotted Downie into a left wing hole because out of the five players who play on the left wing, he seems the most able on his off side. Another option for that left wing hole is Mark Olver. (Also, I put Stastny-O’Reilly-Duchene as 1-2-3 in the same sense that Crosby-Malkin-Staal were 1-2-3. They should really each get about the same amount of playing time in even strength situations.) As for the defensemen, I know I put Elliott with Wilson rather than Zanon or Hunwick, each of whom is considered a safer bet to make the team out of training camp. However, I still think that the Wilson-Elliott pairing is the best match. Those two players, when they played together, worked fabulously. And of all the defensemen on the team, Shane O’Brien seemed to fit the best with Erik Johnson. If Hejda’s wrist should delay his start to the season, I can see the pairing of O’Byrne with either Zanon or Hunwick, though Zanon seems a more likely choice, as he and Hejda’s styles are much more similar.

As for the goaltending, I think it would be good to see Varlamov start about 60 games this season, leaving 22 for J.S. Giguere. Of course, if either finds himself on a winning or losing streak, the number may fluctuate slightly. However, I think this is the best recipe to keep both goaltenders fresh and healthy.