Insert obligatory reference to THE TRADE here. Photo: Matt Boulton/Flickr.

Tomorrow evening, the Avs are going to play St. Louis to finish off the home and home series between the two teams. The Avs have won all of the games at home against the Blues since April 12, 2009, but their record in their last three games in St. Louis is 0-2-1. If the Avs are serious about this spoiler role, and finishing the year out the right way, they need to come in and break that little losing streak.

Last night’s game was not a typical outing from the St. Louis Blues-they’re usually much better defensively, and their goaltending is usually superb. Let’s face it-Brian Elliott has never done well in the Pepsi Center, and the Avs, playing in front of military personnel and their families gave an exciting offensive performance. I’m expecting tomorrow to be a much tighter game, similar to the first 1-0 win for the Avs earlier this season. It will almost undoubtedly be a more physical, more nasty game (isn’t the second game in a home-and-home series always?).

There’s been no word on who the starting goaltender will be, although I would lean towards Giguere, as Sacco has been riding him for the past couple of weeks. (I would expect to see Varlamov at least one more time this season, as the final two games are on back to back nights.) Erik Johnson didn’t practice on Saturday, so even if he is back to practice today, I’m not sure he could be considered ready. Although the Avs haven’t said so, I think we can safely assume that Ryan Wilson is done for the season. If this really does turn out to be Milan Hejduk’s final season, then shame on Joe Sacco for scratching him so much during the past couple of weeks. The man has only given the franchise over 1,000 games of blood, sweat, and tears for Roy’s sake. While I like having Olver in the lineup, I’d rather see Hejduk. Hopefully he’ll be in for the next three games.

Guess who’s starting tomorrow? Photo: Bridget Samuels/Flickr

The Oilers are coming in to town tomorrow night. This will be the last time these two teams will face each other as divisional opponents, as realignment is scheduled to go forward for next season. Edmonton will win this season’s series, as they currently have won three games to the Avs single win. However, Colorado can do as they did to Vancouver last week, and make this final game between these Northwest division clubs a loss for the opposition.

To win, the Avs simply need to play in Edmonton’s zone. The Oilers defense is worse than the Avs, but there offense is probably a little bit better. If the Avs can spend the majority of time in the Oilers zone, and if the forwards can be as defensively responsible as they’ve been in the past few games, I think that the Avs will give themselves a good shot to win. Varlamov will earn his first start in six games, and Milan Hejduk is scheduled to return. According to Coach Joe Sacco, Erik Johnson and Ryan Wilson will remain out with injuries.

While Colorado has been eliminated from the playoffs, they’ve played well in these last few games, and I’d like to see this good streak continue. Ending the season on a high note (unlike last year and the year before) should hopefully lead into a good start next year.

Photo: Bridget Samuels/Flickr.

The Avs don’t play again until Friday. Hopefully during that time Milan Hejduk’s shoulder will heal up fully. The past few games he’s either been “a healthy scratch” or “day to day with a shoulder injury”. There’s been a lot of speculation that this will be Hejduk’s final season, and I’d like to see him play a couple more games before he retires if that ends up being the case.

Erik Johnson is still listed as day to day with his injury (wrist), and it’d be nice if this stretch of a couple of days could really help him heal up. The Avalanche still haven’t given a timeframe on Ryan Wilson, and I’m pretty much assuming that he’s done for the season.

There are five games left of the season, and then I’ll be reviewing each player’s season individually. Which means this a friendly reminder that even though the Avs won’t be on the ice, I’ll still be here, at least every other day, to talk Avalanche hockey.

Photo: Bridget Samuels/Flickr.

Paul Stastny blocked a shot with his foot last night, and today the team announced that he will be out for 10 days. The team didn’t give a time frame for Ryan Wilson’s return (he took an awkward fall on the ankle that has caused him to miss 17 games already), but they have already recalled Tyson Barrie from Lake Erie, so he’ll be out for at least a week.

» Continue reading “Stastny, Wilson Injured”

Oh gosh, really? Do I really have to preview the Avs game tomorrow? The Blackhawks are coming into town. Last time these two teams played, the Avs ended “The Streak”. Since that time, they’ve gone 1-3. I really hope the boys can come out with a full effort, but I’m not feeling too optimistic, considering the way the last three games have gone. Yesterday, the Hawks beat the Stars 8-1, and I’m fearing a similar fate tomorrow night.

The Avs haven’t said anything more about Ryan Wilson, and while I’m hopeful that they only held him out of the last game because his ankle was hurting and they wanted to rest it for a couple days, I’m preparing for the worst. And this is really the worst, because I LOVE RYAN WILSON. I mean I love all of our other guys (and I sort of tolerate Zanon), but Wilson has a special place in my heart.

Milan Hejduk missed yesterday’s game too, and I don’t think Sacco would have really made him a healthy scratch, so I fear his injury is flaring up again. Then again, Sacco has been acting even more strangely than normal, so maybe he did make Hejduk a healthy scratch.

So, let’s just list all of the buzz words and phrases that need to describe how the Avs come out tomorrow…

-This is a MUST WIN situation!

• I mean maybe if you don’t win it’ll be okay
• but probably not

-Full, 60 minute effort!

• not 59 minutes
• not 58 minutes
• if it goes into OT we’re expecting 65

-Best players need to be the best players!

• but feel free to step up even if you’re on the fourth line
• especially because one of the best d-men, Ryan Wilson, appears to have re-injured his ankle

-Defensive errors need to be minimized!

• keep an eye on your man
• get the puck out of the zone quickly
• oh and maybe protect Varls a little bit

-Varls needs a shutout worthy performance!

• I mean you can let in one goal Varls
• but we’re looking for one of those 50 save efforts
• I’m sorry man, but the team just needs this
• I know it’s not fair
• but I will buy you icecream and take your little doggies on walks for the rest of the season if you can do this

-Score the first goal, it’s hard to play catch-up hockey in this league!

• but if you don’t score the first goal, score the second!
• but if the second goal is still the other team, it’s okay, you can do it!
• if the other team scores three goals in a row YOU CANNOT GIVE UP
• even though all of the fans will be crying and smearing chocolate all over their faces as they try to aim for their mouths

-No stupid penalties!

• especially you, O’Byrne and Zanon
• No one else needs to take their place as typical dumb penalty takers either

-Relax!

• stop gripping sticks
• have fun
• but really you need to win
• so remember that when you’re at the end of a 45 second shift and feeling too tired to backcheck
• do you want to be the guy who makes that crucial mistake?
• so basically, relax but
• don’t make any freaking mistakes
• but really
• there is no panic button
• it does not exist

-Woohoo we can do this!

• I mean we can
• but will we
• JUST DO IT

I think that about sums things up. Cheers, everybody!

The Avs were booed off the ice tonight, and rightfully so. (I’m not a fan of booing in general, and I don’t like booing my own team, but when they lose 4-0 at home after a paltry effort like tonight’s, they deserve it.)  As a team, they played well for the first five minutes, and after that they seemed to take turns sleeping, leaving only one or two awake players to man the ship. It was disappointing, and it was ridiculous. I don’t understand how they can go out, have four stellar efforts in a row, and then come out totally flat in their own building. I know that the Pepsi Center wasn’t very full, especially in the beginning, but that is no excuse. Fans are fickle, and 12th place isn’t going to fill the barn. There are plenty of us out here, but lets be honest: every sporting event gets filled when it can draw those bizarre creatures who have loud voices, a loose idea of the rules, and money to spare.
Honestly, a proper recap is too painful to write; if you didn’t see the game, consider yourself lucky (unless you’re an Oilers fan). Suffice to say, Edmonton scored four goals, including one on the power play.

-Varlamov didn’t play well tonight, and if you read this blog, you know that I’m a huge Varls fan girl, so you know I don’t say something like that lightly.

-The Avs did score one goal, but it was taken away due to a crease violation from Aaron Palushaj.

-Ryan Wilson, David Jones, and Gabriel Landeskog each had particularly rough games, but it’s not as though anyone had a good night.

-Officiating was bad too.

Back at it Thursday. I hope they come put with a much better effort.

It doesn’t look like Wilson missed a beat, even though he missed 15 games. Photo: Bridget Samuels/Flickr.

The Oilers will be visiting Pepsi Center tomorrow evening. It’ll be another important game for the Avs (really, they’re all important from here on out). The Avs are 1-2 against the Oil this season. Both of Edmonton’s wins came at home, including a crazy 6-4 comeback win. The Avs only really played well in the game that was at home, a 3-1 win. They’re going to need a similar effort to beat the high-powered Edmonton offense.

I’m not sure who will be in goal for the Oilers. Devyn Dubnyk was run into pretty severely by Marian Hossa in last night’s game against the Blackhawks, and had to leave the game.Dubnyk practiced today, and sounded optimistic, although he was feeling sore. Yann Danis came in to relieve Dubnyk (Khabibulin is on IR). I only saw a few highlights (the Avs were busy giving me heart palpitations), but he did make some nice saves in the final minute to preserve the Oilers lead. I’m guessing that Dubnyk will want to be in the net, because he made some…odd…plays in yesterday’s game. Semyon Varlamov should be in the net tomorrow for the Avs. I don’t expect Sacco to change the lineup from Sunday.

If you’ve watched the Avs at all the past couple of seasons, you’ve probably heard about the forwards Edmonton boasts. They’re good, they’re offensive, they can score a lot of goals. The Avs are heating up right now, but they need to continue with the gameplan that has made them the most successful at the past couple of games. The Avs are at their best when they’re playing in the offensive zone, and so are the Oilers. Both teams are fast, and because of that, I think the Oilers really try and push for a run-and-gun game when they play the Avs. Colorado CANNOT get into this style. While the Avs can beat teams like Nashville in that sort of game, they can’t beat the Oilers (last time they tried, they lost two three goal leads and allowed 56 shots). They need to play a quick transition game that leads to sustained pressure in the offensive zone-that’s how they can beat the Oilers.

Edmonton is only a point behind the Avs, so earning two points will really be crucial. Looking at the Avs final 24 games, they need to have one of three possible records to get to 56 points and into the playoffs. 16-8. 15-7-2. 14-6-4. Those are the only possibilities to get the Avs to 56 points. If they can earn a few wins in a row here, the record they’ll have to maintain becomes that much easier. They need to keep teams like Edmonton below them, so that they can keep climbing.

The face of frustration. Photo: Bridget Samuels/Flickr

The Colorado Avalanche are hosting the Nashville Predators tomorrow afternoon for the third afternoon game of the season. The Avs are 1-1 in these affairs so far, and are hoping to improve the record to 2-1.

» Continue reading “Preview: Nashville At Colorado”

:’( Photo: Sarah Connors/Flickr.

As soon as I saw Martin Hanzal’s elbow smack into Erik Johnson’s chin, I knew he was out. EJ somehow managed to stay standing, to glide to the front of the net and try and maintain his position on the penalty kill. When the Varlamov froze the puck for a whistle, EJ slid over to the bench with a strangely blank look on his face. Just as he entered the bench, he exploded. He whacked his stick against the glass, he slammed the door leading down the tunnel open, and he pounded his stick against the tunnel wall for good measure.

» Continue reading “Erik Johnson Out Indefinitely”

Sorry I didn’t post yesterday-I’m sick and my cat has an ear infection, and so we spent yesterday sleeping and moaning together.

There wasn’t a lot of information to come out of Avs practice today. The team did say that they think Gabriel Landeskog will be able to start skating again soon. Hopefully they’re right, and his return, while not imminent, is forthcoming.

» Continue reading “How Can Avs Create Blueline Offense?”