Philippe Dupuis, one of the restricted free agents hoping to be signed by the Avs. (Photo by JessicaAvsFan.)

Last Thursday the Times & Transcript published a terrific article by Neil Hodge about Philippe Dupuis under the guise of his return to Moncton, New Brunswick to appear in the Moncton Wildcats Celebrity Golf Classic.

The article is jam-packed with quotes from Dupuis about his history and the change from scoring monster (he led his AHL team in scoring a few years ago) to fourth line energy/PK guy. He admits that it was difficult, but that if the transition is what got him full-time into the show, he’s more than willing to continue in the role.

The best quote, in my opinion, was this one:

“The way the coaching staff talked to me at the end of the season, they were really happy with my play…I know hockey is a business. I really want to sign with Colorado. They gave me my first NHL chance and I want to stay with them.”

Music to my ears. » Continue reading “The (Brief) Case For Philippe Dupuis”

Mothers have very difficult jobs which are thankless 364 days a year. Today is the one day we set aside, in an attempt to make up for the other 364 when we are too busy being self-engrossed, to show our mothers exactly how much they mean to us.

This means presents. Beautiful, wonderful, expensive presents.

Until now. This year, if you are short on presents, merely print out this lovely bouquet and present it to your mother.

And if you are a mother, consider this my gift to you.

Happy Mother’s Day…enjoy the view!

Happy Mother's Day!

The wedding of the century will be held at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011. An invitation to the nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton is better than gold these days; everyone wants one, yet no one seems to have one.

No one, that is, except three of our very own Colorado Avalanche players.

Ok, that’s a lie. I’m fairly sure the appearance of even one hockey player at the Royal Wedding would cause several heart attacks, a few strokes, and some sort of international incident requiring a show of military force.

It’s Britain’s loss, however.  Just look at the vision they are missing out on: three of the Avs’ resident pretty boys sporting their finest in honor of the future King and Queen. Worthy guests at any wedding, I’d say.

Though maybe not one where the Queen of England, who is reportedly offended by the word “toilet,” is a guest of honor.

Philippe Dupuis, David Jones, and John Michael Liles put their fancy foot forward in celebration of the Royal Wedding.

David Jones scores the game winning goal in overtime for Adam Foote and the Avs. (Photo by Katie Martinez.)

The Colorado Avalanche beat the Edmonton Oilers 4 – 3 in OT to close out the 2010-11 season at the Pepsi Center on Sunday afternoon.

It was an emotional day all around, as it marked not only the end of the season but the end of captain Adam Foote’s 20 year NHL career. » Continue reading “Every New Beginning Comes From Some Other Beginning’s End”

This, ladies and gentlemen, is all you need to know about the Colorado Avalanche’s 3 – 2 loss at home to the Detroit Dallas Stars:

Brandon Yip scored both goals for the Colorado Avalanche on Friday April 8. (Photo by @JessicaAvsFan.)

Welcome to the Yip show. One of his goals was even of the shorthanded variety on an assist from Dupuis, and very pretty. I’ve included the link, because apparently no one wanted to put it on YouTube. You should watch…you get to hear Mike Haynes say “Yippers!” in a gleeful squeal. Totally worth it.

Here’s Yip’s second goal, with assists from Jay McClement and Jonas Holos. Really I only put it in because you can hear Haynes say “YIP YIP YIP” and it’s hilarious.

Edit: I did, indeed, initially publish this saying the Avs lost to the Detroit Stars. Little did you know, the two cities are combining to form one massive hockey team. I am just that ahead of the reporting curve.

Or, you could go with the alternate story that I wrote this really, really early in the morning and was still delirious.

I’ll let you all decide.

The Colorado Avalanche welcome the Dallas Stars to the Pepsi Center Friday night in the second of a back-to-back, home-and-home series.

Thursday night Dallas won their last home game of the 2010-11 regular season 4 – 2, maintaining their pride as well as their postseason dreams of glory. The Colorado Avalanche Light Version left Dallas with what’s left of their pride only slightly dented; they looked decent in the loss but were clearly the inferior team. » Continue reading “Hit Me, Baby, One More Time”

The Colorado Avalanche lost in Dallas Thursday night 4 – 2. Raise your hand if you’re surprised. No, really. Don’t be shy….oh, no one? Alrighty then.

The Good:

• Brian Elliott made a few decent saves.
• Matt Duchene really does have some sick moves.
• Philippe Dupuis got some love from the Altitude broadcast boys before the game, then earned it with his hard work throughout the game (he even got an assist!). Too bad his mini-breakaway was foiled by a skilled poke check.
• Tiny, pocket-sized Olver scored a tiny, pocket-sized goal.
• Not one single person on the ice missed Hunwick. Well, maybe the guys in Stars’ sweaters.
  In the second period the Avs managed to score while holding Dallas scoreless. They won at least that part of the game!

That’s pretty much it. Oh, nope, I forgot…

BRANDON YIP SCORED!!!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, #18 still plays for the Avalanche. Tonight he remembered that fact, and decided to do something about it. Yay! (I knew there was a place he walked…)

Sorry, shameless The Who shout out. I’m better now.

The Bad:

• The Avs didn’t play well enough to spoil Dallas’ playoff hopes.
• Lake Erie Monsters call-up Shawn Belle made some pretty glaring mistakes, but I’m still wary of being too critical given his position on the depth chart.
• The Dallas Stars outshot the Colorado Avalanche Light 37 – 23.
• Ryan O’Byrne collected TWO delay of game penalties when he dumped the puck over the glass. Both came at very inopportune times, and one led to a Stars PPG. Dude should quit the gym.
• The Avs lost, which is never fun.

These two teams will see each other again Friday night in the second of a back-to-back, home-and-home series. Maybe home ice will be kind to the Avs and the game will have a slightly better outcome.

Yeah, I know it’s a longshot. But I’m an Avalanche fan; I’m nothing if not optimistic.

Sure, the Colorado Avalanche haven’t had much luck with stopping the Calgary Flames this season. But they are fresh off another shootout win (with HUGE attaboys to Ryan O’Reilly, Philippe Dupuis, and Jay McClement) and surely in the mood to play playoff spoiler to the team that slaughtered them 9 – 1 on Valentine’s Day. The Flames currently sit at 9th in the West, three points behind the 8th place Chicago Blackhawks with three games (including Sunday night) remaining.

And to that sentiment, I say a resounding GO AVS!

Series Record: Avalanche 1, Flames 4

The Calgary Flames have outscored the Avalanche 26 – 13 in their five games. The Avs haven’t beaten the Flames since October 28, 2010, and they had to score 6 goals to do so.

The good news is that the Avs have actually scored 13 goals against the Flames this season. Not bad. The men still in the line up who have come up big for the Avalanche include Brandon Yip, Daniel Winnik, Mark Olver, and Cody McLeod.

The Flames have pretty much scored at will against the Avalanche, with everyone getting in on the action. Niklas Hagman, Tim Jackman, Matt Stajan, Olli Jokinen, Alex Tanguay, Curtis Glencross, Mikael Backlund, David Moss, Tom Kostopoulos, Jarome Iginla, David Moss, Anton Babchuck, Mark Giordano, Rene Bourque, and Ales Kotalik have all scored goals in the season series.

The most often-seen goaltenders in the series are Peter Budaj for the Avs and Mikka Kiprusoff for the Flames.

Keep an eye on Ryan O’Reilly, Philippe Dupuis, Brandon Yip, Matt Duchene, and Jarome Iginla.

Ryan O’Reilly had an absolutely killer game on Friday night. A goal, an assist, and the shootout winner. I’m so happy that this hard working kid is finally getting some offensive production and the recognition that goes with it. O’Reilly has earned every single ounce of it and more. I’m sure the competitive O’Reilly will want to keep this swing going against the Flames tonight.

Philippe Dupuis has found himself in a bit of an awkward place this season. He played too well in camp to not make the team, and his grinding style of play has certainly improved the team. But with a plethora of centers and Dupuis’ low offensive numbers he has found himself in the press box a lot lately. Perhaps scoring the first goal against Phoenix on Friday night will get him the ice time his play deserves.

To call Brandon Yip invisible lately is only a little bit of an understatement. He has scored a mere 5 points since January 1. He has been productive against the Flames, however, scoring two goals in the season series. If he would like to show up and maybe put one in the net tonight, that would be terrific.

Matt Duchene was not a scoring part of the Avs’ win over the Coyotes on Friday. In fact, he only had one shot on net all night. My guess is he will not be happy with this and look to turn on his game tonight against Calgary.

Jarome Iginla just hit the 1000 career point mark Friday night when the Flames won in St. Louis. The guy is an obvious offensive threat and he has done more than his share of damage in Colorado. Iginla will be fighting extra hard to get his team to a playoff berth as well as getting his 40th season goal. I fully expect him to be putting on a show against Colorado tonight, probably co-starring ex-Av Alex Tanguay, who has scored 1 goal and 4 assists in the past two games.

For your viewing/listening pleasure:

The puck drops at the Pepsi Center at 6:00 pm MDT. The television broadcast can be seen on Altitude, and the Altitude radio broadcast will be on Denver radio at AM 950 and online through NHL Game Radio.

The 2010-11 Colorado Avalanche season is rapidly drawing to a close. It has been somewhat of a train wreck leaving fans all over the world feeling a little defeated. The players surely feel the same way, now playing merely for pride and next season’s opportunities. It would be excellent to see the boys come out skating hard and playing to win, giving themselves a true chance to spoil the playoff hopes of a division rival.

Just in case you didn’t catch it before…GO AVS!

Thursday night the Colorado Avalanche welcome the Nashville Predators to the Pepsi Center for the last time this season.

I’m sure Avalanche fans will all join me in issuing a simultaneous “it’s about time.”

Nashville has roundly dominated Colorado so far this season. As they currently hold a playoff spot by a mere two points, you can bet they will come to the Pepsi Center determined to score on the Avs as often as Finch hoped to score with Stifler’s mom. (Any guesses as to which movie I watched last night? Anyone?) » Continue reading “Smashville Looks To Complete Season Domination of Colorado”

Ryan Smyth ran a scoring clinic on his old team in the 4 - 1 domination of the Avalanche Saturday afternoon. (Photo by Bridget Samuels.)

Well, one of my teams won today. It just wasn’t the Avalanche. The L.A. Kings looked like the big brother allowing the Avalanche to play just well enough to feel like they were keeping up, but before the end of the game affirmed their true dominance and put it out of reach. The Kings won by a final score of 4 – 1 and now have 92 points on the season.

First Period:

Even though the Avalanche didn’t come out with spectacular speed or effort or energy, they managed to keep it scoreless for almost ten minutes. Then in a goal initially credited to Willie Mitchell, Anze Kopitar squeaked it past Budaj to open the LA floodgates. A few minutes later Ryan O’Byrne went to the box for high sticking and Michal Handzus put a wrister into the Avalanche net with assists from Drew Doughty and Dustin Brown. The period would end 2 – 0 in favor of the Kings, and honestly the Avalanche were lucky to only be down by two. » Continue reading “Avalanche Outclassed And Outworked By Kings In Matinee”