Comments on: Recap: Avalanche 4, Panthers 3 (SO)

By: pingu

pingu — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:19:21 +0000

I think you may have the nail on the head there.

By: jibblescribbits

jibblescribbits — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 20:40:03 +0000

They suck?

By: Dario

Dario — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 20:25:49 +0000

Excellent point DD. I still can’t figure that one out.

By: David Driscoll-Carignan

David Driscoll-Carignan — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 18:47:05 +0000

“I will say that Arnason is good in traffic against teams that haven’t seen him before. Other NW defensemen who have him scouted will just body him off the puck and that will be that”

except for the Oilers, of course.

By: jibblescribbits

jibblescribbits — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 18:36:31 +0000

I will say that Karlis hasn’t let me down with my favorite drinking game of “take a shot every time he falls down”.

Other than the time he went to take a slapshot and fell flat on his face as the puck came outside the zone this weekend, right? (I can’t remember which game this was in because I watched them nearly back-to-back)

By: Dario

Dario — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 18:15:51 +0000

Although it’s pained me greatly, I’ve been watching some Red Wing hockey (recording and FF to the best power play in the NHL). Their power play is just so dynamic because they are changing angles all the time. The defenseman are almost never parallel to each other up top of the blue line. The Avs have set up their power play like a five on a dice. Two up top, one in the middle and two down low. The Red Wings on the other hand are like a five on a dice but turned so it’s point up with one guy on the point and four guys lower down. They constantly rotate that thing back and forth. Of course Holstrom is one of a kind on that PP but Lidstrom is all over the place and puts pucks on net.

Finger has a good, accurate shot. It’s not a howitzer by any means but it’s usually on net. He took that shot from a great angle. With the defensemen out on the point, things have been a lot more dynamic and I think it will get much better. I think they have a lot of work to be one of the better PPs but if they keep that up they shouldn’t be competing for one of the worst PPs in the NHL.

With Arnason you do have a guy that puts the puck on net, I’ll give him that. He can’t give you anything on the PK and he’s garbage in the face off circle. He’s not going to forecheck and he’s not really going to fire anyone up on the bench. Could Hensick, Richardson or Jones do these things for you and give you other benefits? I think so, but I will say that Arnason is good in traffic against teams that haven’t seen him before. Other NW defensemen who have him scouted will just body him off the puck and that will be that. In the playoffs it would be even worse.

I’m kind of surprised I haven’t had anything to yell at Skrastins about lately. I will say that Karlis hasn’t let me down with my favorite drinking game of “take a shot every time he falls down”. I’m not getting quite as plastered as when I was on the Tyler Arnason face shot game. It took me two Comas to figure out that Arnason always wears the Tyler Arnason face.

By: jibblescribbits

jibblescribbits — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:09:48 +0000

I thought one of Bruno’s goals came just as the PP expired. While it doesn’t count statistically, it’s worth mentioning because it was, in essence, a PP goal. Maybe more time had gone by than I thought, but i thought he scored 2-3 seconds after the PP expired.

By: americanario

americanario — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 16:53:09 +0000

The power play finally scored. It was an ugly goal, but it happened due to the point guys (Finger in this case) shooting the puck on net and two guys (Wolski and Svatos) crashing the net for rebounds. On the shift right before the goal, Clark had three blast that hit Vokoun, but the Avs just couldn’t get on the rebounds. If we can keep this style of play going the power play is going to get going.

I was surprised to see Theo in net. Part in due to playing the night before and having less than 24 hours between games. Partially because he had played four straight games and three in 5 nights. And lastly because two of the goals scored by the Hurricanes were pretty soft goals (the goals by Cole and Stillman). He was better last night, but the weaknesses in the armor are reappearing; with the exception of the shoot out.

Good to see Brunette, Stastny, and Hejduk giving Svatos and Wolski a little help with the offense the last two games as well.