Avs- Problems And Successes

Posted on April 19, 2013 by

Well the season is almost over for the Colorado Avalanche, and its safe to say that my 5th place prediction in the west is far from close.

After this blog I will only be giving updates on the goings on with trades, signings or whatever the Avs do that i think deserves some of my thoughts.

But for today I will give you my opinion on what the strength’s and weaknesses were for the Avs in this shortened season.

First of all the Weaknesses so that i can end this blog telling you the good things.

Weaknesses:

Injuries- Injuries seemed to plague the Avs again this season, starting with a guy that is hard to play against and can put up points in Steve Downie. Also players who are important pieces to the team like, Erik Johnson, Paul Stastny,Ryan Wilson, Gabe Landeskog and Milan Hejduk. These are players that need to do their best to stay healthy next season.

David Jones- He signed a nice new 4 year 16 million dollar contract last summer and probably has next season to prove that he is worth it. With 3 goals and 9 points in 32 games played so far, this is a huge underachievement for him. He’s always been a streaky player but they streak was not a good one for him this season. He needs to come out very strong next season or else a trade or buyout might be the only option for him. And personally, i was never a huge fan of him, i would of traded him instead of Chris Stewart when that deal went down a few years ago.

Defense- With Injuries to both Erik Johnson and Ryan Wilson, the leftovers of Matt Hunwick, Ryan O’Byrne (traded to Toronto), Shane O’Brien, Jan Hejda  and Greg Zanon proved they were incapable of the workload. I believe a Complete overhaul of the Defense is in order this summer, but there is promise in young Rookies Tyson Barrie and Stefan Elliot.

Im not going to bring Goaltending into this considering the players that Varly and Giggy had in front of them, but i would love to see Giggy never in net for a Shootout again, he is that bad one on one, but a great vet for Varly to learn from.

Coaching- Joe Sacco does nothing to Motivate this team, when they are playing poorly, he is busy getting caught on camera picking his nose. But when your backup goalie can spark the team to not lay down and die at the end of the season and they start winning games or getting at least a point, it reflects very poorly on the coaching..

 

Successes:

Newcomers- John Mitchell, P.A. Parenteau, Patrick Bordeleau and Aaron Palushaj have all been awesome additions to this team. John started the season scoring like a mad man and sits 5th in team scoring with 18 points, which is awesome considering he was brought here as a 3rd/4th line guy. P.A. is leading the team in points, just one point ahead of Matt Duchene with 40 points on the season, he was definitely worth his nice new contract with the Avs. Not only can Bordy fight, this guy can actually play hockey. He is not a scorer by no means but he understands his job and does it well and was rewarded last week with his first ever NHL goal. Aaron Palushaj was picked up off of waivers from the Canadiens, and I was iffy at first but i really love the energy he brings to the team, he is sitting with 8 points in 23 games played with the Avs, i expect big things from him next season if he makes the team out of camp.

Matt Duchene- This kid changed everything about his summers to come into this season and prove he wants to help this team win. He was 39 points in 42 games played, and has really ungraded his game training with Sidney Crosby and his trainer last summer. If our team is going to have a superstar caliber player, it will be Dutchy. P.A and Matt sit 22 and 23 respectively in the whole League in points. I don’t believe an Avs player has been that high in a while.

That’s pretty much it for that i think. Its been a season where nothing has gone right. It will be interesting to see how the draft goes and the free agent market, which will probably be my next blog’s unless Sacco gets the boot at the end of the season.

I had real high hopes for this team this season, thinking that the 48 game schedule would work to their advantage a little bit. But this team needs to learn to accept a loss and then come out hungry and play a full 60 every game, not just dwell on losses and all the bad things.

They play the Oilers tonight and can play a perfect spoiler game.

 

So enjoy the rest of the season and the playoffs, and lets hope they get it together next year for a playoff spot.

Until then,

 

Marc Parsons

@mercus24

 

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Avs Sign Cheek

Posted on April 6, 2013 by

Avs Sign Trevor Cheek to an entry level contract.

Who’s Cheek you say?

Trevor Cheek is a 6’2″ 198 lbs, 20 year old Left wing who shoots left. He is currently playing for the Edmonton Oil Kings. Which is his 3 team this season.

He Started off with the Calgary Hitmen and had 1 point in 1 game played.
Moved on to the Vancouver Giants
And tallied 32 points(18 goals,14 assists) in 39 games and was a – 13.

With the Oil kings he has played 31 games and has 13 goals 14 assists and improved his last +/- to a + 24.

I read somewhere that he Is a Power forward type player. And 60 points in 71 games is very impressive in my opinion.

So if he happens to make the team next year, I’m hoping he brings the game that we’ve seen with Chris Stewart, and should be having with David Jones.

I really have no idea how he plays, as I’ve never been to an Oil Kings game before, even though I only live 4 hours north. But with the WHL playoffs starting I’m going I try to catch a few games on TV. Unless the Avs decide they want him now and move him from Edmonton to Lake Erie or Colorado. I’m
Not sure how that will all work.

But make sure you give him an Avs Welcome on twitter @trevorcheekADZK

Good luck With the Organization Trevor.

Marc Parsons
@mercus24

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Trade Deadline- Avs

Posted on April 3, 2013 by

So today is trade deadline for the NHL and I’m starting this early and filling it out as the Avs make a trade.

So far the Avs have made one move, it was last night in a trade with the Dallas Stars. Trading D-man Cameron Guance to the Stars for Forward Tomas Vincour.

Tomas is a 6’2″ 205 right wing from the Czech Republic. He has 86 NHL games under his belt and 15 points. Maybe he is our new Hejduk in the making. Sounds like he will be joining the Lake Erie Monsters to start.

Ryan O’Byrne was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 4th round pick. He is going to be a UFA this summer. Good move to make sure they don’t lose a player for nothing.

That seems like all the Avs are going to do. There is still time for late deals to get sorted through. I’ll update if anything else happens.

Marc Parsons

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Avs Still Struggling

Posted on March 21, 2013 by

Well, it’s been a while since I blogged. Mostly due to the fact that the Avs have been stinking it up since, well all season really.
With an 11-14-4 record and 26 points 29 games into the short 28 game season, the Avs sit at 15th in the west, but only 6 points out of the final playoff spot. That’s how tight the Western conference is.
Last night’s game against the Dallas Stars snapped a 4 game losing streak for the Avs. A losing streak that if avoided could have put the Avs in or close to a playoff spot.
Why are the Avs losing so much? Well, I believe Joe Sacco nailed it on the head tonight by scratching David Jones and Jamie McGinn for last nights game, and inserted a few players who want to prove they belong by out working the guys who do not work as hard. Guys like Mark Olver and Aaron Palushaj.
Another reason they are losing is because of atrocious Defense in front of Goaltender Semyon Varlamov. He does his best night in and night out, but cannot be blamed for the amount of goals hitting the back of
The net. The defense get caught standing around and not moving their feet.
Last nights game was an example of the Avs getting a few lucky bounces for once, with one goal scored Shorthanded by Gabriel Landeskog, which is his 2nd shorty in as many games. And a shot that hit off of Stephan Robidas head and landed the perfect spot for Chuck Kobasew to bat it in the net. Kobasew was a +4 and Olver was a +3, and both were the best players for the Avs last night.
It seems like a dream to think the Avs can get a win streak going and get back into the race. Heck, even just winning consistently will be a big jump forward.
I look at the team and see nothing but a solid group of guys that aren’t playing to their full potential, and I’m blaming coaching for that. Lindy Ruff is now looking for a Job right? Get on it Sherman.
I’m not the type of person to accept losing in order to get a great draft pick. It’s backwards thinking with a team that “should” be better then the current standings show.
April 3rd is the Trade Deadline for this season, and it will be interesting to see what Greg Sherman has up his sleeve. Overhauling the Defense seems like a goal they should be trying to meet at the deadline.
In other News, considering I haven’t blogged in a while. The Avs will be Part of the Mid-west Division next season gaining a whole new set of rivals in their division.
Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators, Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota Wild, Dallas Stars and the St. Louis Blues will be part of the Mid-west division as well. To me it looks more like a Division that the Avs can keep up with, were the teams they play aren’t one sided games where the odds are in the other teams favor all the time.

Well that’s all I have for now.
Until next time,

Marc
@mercus24

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Avs Claim Aaron Palushaj From Montreal

Posted on February 5, 2013 by

I awoke this morning and checked my Facebook to see that hockey tracker posted that the Avs have Claimed forward Aaron Palushaj from the Montreal Canadiens through the waiver wire.

Aaron is a 23-year-old, 5’11″, 187 lb right-winger from Livonia, MI. Drafted in 2007 with the St. Louis Blues in the 2nd round. He has played a total of 41 NHL games with the Canadiens tallying 1 goal and 4 assist’s.

From what i have read on twitter so far, he is a career AHL’er who only gets bottom 6 minutes in the NHL, and would need top 6 minutes to develop into anything special. His numbers in the AHL are very nice, but making that jump to the NHL slows him down, probably due to ice time.

It will be very interesting to see what the Avs have in store for him, if he is just a fill in guy while guys heal, then he gets punted down to Lake Erie.

We have all seen a change of scenery do wonders for some players though, he may surprise us yet.

Until then

Marc Parsons @mercus24

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Avs Play A Full Sixty Minutes

Posted on February 3, 2013 by

Oilers come to Denver and leave with a 3-1 loss to the Avs.

The Avs realized from the last game against the oilers that they needed to play a full 60 minutes the same way they played the third period in their 4-1 on monday night. Although the Avs continue to be struggling on their Powerplay, in which they went 0-6 today against the Oiler Penalty Kill, they managed to get 2 deflection goals past Devon Dubnyk, who by the way is playing fantastic in net for the young oiler squad.

Goals by P.A. Parenteau and Jamie Mcginn brought the Avs to a 2-1 lead in the second period, and a long lead pass from Matt Duchene to Paul Stastny coming out of the Penalty box sealed the deal with an empty net goal with just over a minute left in the third.

Coming off of a 6-3 win on thursday night against the flames, tonight was another must win situation for the team, who need to be better when playing division rivals. Avs are now 2-3 against division opponents.

Colorado is now perfect at home with a 3-0 record, and not doing so well away from pepsi center with a 1-4 record. Avs have not been to overtime as of yet.

Avs are now without Gabe Landeskog, Steve Downie, David Jones, and today we seen Ryan Wilson leave the game with a leg injury, Downie is the only one out for the season, with no timetable on the others.

Next game is against the Dallas Stars on monday night at 7.

Until then.

Marc Parsons @mercus24

 

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Ovi In An Avs Jersey?

Posted on January 30, 2013 by

One thing I’ve been thinking about lately is “Do the Avs have a superstar?”

I believe that we have a great core of guys playing for our team, but what we do not have is that player that can be called upon to go make something happen.

So Ryan O’Reilly isn’t happy;  Alexander Ovechkin doesn’t seem to have his spark going very well for him anymore, well at least 5-6 games in.

What If, the Avs made an offer on Ovechkin? Do you think its plausible at all?

Just so you know, i did not read this scenario anywhere. It was just something i thought about. It would be the Avs that Superstar Status player to make things happen when it’s not going so well.

Just a thought,

Marc Parsons

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