Honestly, I’m not thrilled with the Sakic line, either. I would like to see Svatos moved up to that line in place of Wolski or Tucker, take your pick (I’d pick Tucker).

I thought Salei was excellent since he came last year. He doesn’t look like the same dude this year. Isn’t Leopold supposed to have offensive abilities? Becuase he really doesn’t show them nearly often enough.

I feel bad for the Flamer fans that bought tickets to that game, they should get 2/3 of their money back.

In Arny’s defense, he’s not the reason the Avs lost that game. He’s certainly not helping but he’s not the scapegoat for that loss. This was a game where the Avs effectively shut down one of the hotest lines in hockey with Iginlia and Bertuzzi (Foote and Clark did the same thing against Buffalo and the Vanek line). However, Calgary did a very effective job against the RPM line. When that happens the other lines have to create the momentum instead of just feeding off the momentum that the Stastny line generates. The Sakic line was just really lethargic last night. Wolski had some nice puck possessions and Von Wolski curls but there was nothing to pass to. My hope was with Tucker we would have a guy who could read the pulse of a game and ignite some passion when the game needed it. It was Tuckers chance to do that last night and he failed miserably. Even McLeod went out there and got a little buzz going with a near boarding call. Has anyone been remotely distracted by Tucker this year? I haven’t seen it.

I think there are certain kinds of players that can engergize your whole team with a given play. It can be done at any position. Your goaltender can make a spectacular save, a forward like Svatos can dance in a make a big goal, a defenseman like Salei can lay down a huge hit or a guy like Lappy can get in a timely fight. No one on the Avs made a big play to change the energy in that game. I think Jones tried to make a big effort last night by dancing around a check and charging the net and also by beating out an icing call but his centerman wasn’t there to support the effort. If he did that on Sakic’s line I think it might have been more effective because Sakic would have supported the puck carrier.

Salei and Leopold don’t look real comfortable out there, I’m not fan of that pairing. I’ll give Cloutier some credit though, he’s one of the best I’ve seen at making sure his defensemen shift out against the lines he wants. I don’t think Iginla saw much ice time that didn’t include Foote. In fact, the Avs have been effective in shutting down most of the top lines in the last four games, starting with Kopitar in LA.

Something MUST be done to make that line viable again. We’re wasting Marek Svatos, and we’re wasting a good start to the year from Jones too. I’m not sure is it’s swapping Jones and Tucker, or getting a better playmaker at center (Hensick), or even going to a harder worker like Guite there. I honestly think a Jones / Guite / Svatos line might work better than a Hensick centered line, just because it’s got more want-to and size.