The Avalanche again showed some really big flashes mixed in with boneheaded idiocy. For the 3rd straight game, the Avs dug themselves a hole they couldn’t get out of. Tyler Arnason appears to be playing with leg irons strapped to his ankles, the Avalanche lost another key player to injury (Paul Stastny) and the officiating was absolutely terrible. None of that really matters, as the Avalanche could have overcome all of that by playing smart hockey for sixty minutes. They didn’t and the breakdowns cost them. Again. The Avalanche now have lost 8 straight 2nd round games.
In the “good news for next season” department, TJ Hensick and David Jones both had terrific games. I assume we will see that pair again on Thursday and much more of the pair next season. This season, though, is all but finished.
Oh, and memo to Vs: Get a clue. That was one of the most horribly produced games I’ve ever seen, taking me back to those brutal first few games when you guys were OLN and had your graphics drawn by colorblind orangutans. Several penalties weren’t shown at all, and the ones that were had to wait until after the 70 millionth promo for some bull riding thing in Des Moines. Just because you are covering a bush league doesn’t mean your production needs to be.
[...] In the Cheap Seats [...]
The Wings are clicking and playing just great hockey.
The Avalanche are skating hard, sacrificing their bodies, mucking it up in front of the net, cycling behind the Red Wing net and skating a country mile to finally get a goal. The Red Wings dance down the ice and make three give and go passes for a pretty goal. In other words, the Avs are killing themselves for goals and Detroit is making them look easy.
My question is how much of this difference is talent and how much is coaching? Would even a healthy Avalanche team be able to click like this Detroit team?
I don’t expect to see any quit in the Avalache but it’s got to be gut wrenching to work your ass off and see your opponent succeed with apparent ease.