I’ve got some thoughts on what you mentioned about overpayment. If I can get off my lazy behind at home one night this week, I’ll bang out a post over at MHH to continue the discussion. As for your first point, I agree, but I’m not sure there is any size in the system with the chops to not be a break-even proposition on this roster. I still think they are wasting a hot hand in Erie by keeping Hensick down though.

I kinda liked the new top 2 lines — Svatos was actually useful when paired with 2 other puck-control masters, and I thought Sakic’s line had some decent pressure. The 3rd remained a debacle, but it was useless before, and the 4th was still solid. I hope he gives them a couple games/practices to try and gel.

I’m starting to wonder if the issues facing this team are more a lack of speed and size. Quick, who on this team is above average in either category? Chicago skated circles around us, SJ outmuscled us…what exactly do the Avs answer with when facing fast or big teams…besides lose?

We have some size and speed collecting dust, and I’d like to see it used. It’s time for Hensick and Jones to be played in favor of the totally average or below Tucker and Arny. But we’ll never see that, because that’s an admission we’re overpaying them. *sigh*-

I see your point about the coaching, and I agree to an extent. I think we were all excited about the up-tempo style making a comeback in Denver, and then we were left scratching our heads over some of the offseason moves. Still, I think for this roster, Tony G is just as culpable. He’s stood behind Arny unwaveringly with nothing to show for it, and the rumors of him being a players’ coach are gaining momentum when the guys on the ice don’t appear to be invested in winning games.

I’ve been a strong proponent of Budaj since his amazing streak at the end of the 2007 season, but last year and this year he hasn’t helped himself. Yes he’s had very poor support but he also can’t be let off the hook either.

I am going to use the phrase ‘testicular fortitude’ at my beer league game tonight at least 6 or 7 times. I hope you don’t mind!

Thanks for the mutual understanding. I’m not trying to say that Boots is playing awesome, great, or even very good. I think he has looked pretty good (even approaching very good at times) in the last 6 or 7 games, and has shown some improvement in areas, while still having some things that need some work. My beef is that nobody is talking about his post coverage (which I think needs work) or maybe even his depth control, but they throw around crap about “rebound control” and “positioning.” I’ve got no beef with Dater on a personal level, he makes my friends happy, what with their committed relationship, and really, all I want is for my friends to be happy. But on this one, I think he’s extremely wrong. Budaj controlled the rebounds in the SJ game pretty well, but the Avs didn’t do anything to control SJ players in the slot, behind the net, or next to the crease. I even joked that maybe he SHOULD start kicking out huge (15-20 feet) rebounds, because then the Avs might be able to clear the zone on occasion.

IMO, the saves Budaj has to make, night in and night out, are coming from some ridiculously high percentage shooting areas off of the sticks of some pretty good players, and his team seems to both unwilling and unable to do anything. Not only that, he isn’t being asked to make two or three saves in a sequence, but more like 7 or 8 because the puck just stays in the Av’s zone. Defensive zone coverage is wretched, forward don’t cover their man, and when they do happen to get the puck on their stick, they can’t elevate it or clear it with enough testicular fortitude to get it out of the zone. Defensemen seem to have forgotten how to win one-on-one battles, make more bad decisions than good, and have now (outside of Liles and Leopold) given up on contributing in the other end. None of that is related to confidence in the goalie as some of the more misguided commenters on AD’s blog seem to think. It’s coaching and accountability. And lack of talent (or talent evaluation) in some cases.

AD and his chum-swallowing followers want to lay this one goal-tending as the #1 problem with the Avs, when the truth is the other five guys on the ice at the same time as Boots are proving to be minuses in their own end rather than pluses. Very few of them are bringing anything to the table defensively and now the high-flying offense is the RPM line and Lappy’s bunch. I count both of those as WAY bigger problems than Budaj.