Pre-Game Talk: 2023/24 Training Camp

[MarkT]

I'll only add the Lehkonen was never even given a shot at the top 6 in Montreal. He was used purely as a defensive forward. Occasionally in a pinch he would be put with Danault to form a super defensive line, but he was never given the chance to play with skilled offensive players.

Personally, I think he's much better suited to the role of doing the dirty work for skilled players, rather than playing with other grinders. The thing that sets him apart from most 3rd liners is his ability to score goals.

Nichushkin on the other hand, when healthy, can singlehandedly dominate shifts. So while I don't think line combos really matter with a coach like Bednar, I'd want things to look something like this (once the Drouin experiment is over)

Lehky - MacKinnon - Rantanen
Tatar - RyJo - Nuke

I'd of course be fine with Rantanen playing on the 2nd line, but I really like Lehkonen with MacKinnon, so any ideal combination I think should keep those two together.

 

[Freudian]

Anyone else got Kozun fever?

I don't really need to hear Nishuskins version of what happened. Partly because it will probably not be true anyway.

I just want to know that he apologized to his teammates for the distraction and that he'll make it up to them this year (on the ice).

 

[Foppa2118]

Ha, no one tells us anything. All we have is guesses.

Cale's got CAS. Chronic Avalanche Syndrome. The longer it goes untreated the worse it gets.

Landy's the longest tenured Av at this point and he's got it real bad. EJ was before him. Coincidence?

 

[Foppa2118]

What's makars injury?

He said he's been rehabbing some lingering things from last season all summer, so the speculation is it's his hip still, which is what he was reported to have been dealing with last year.

"But defending that championship proved difficult for the Avalanche thanks to personnel changes and a swath of injuries, including a hip ailment for Makar that he has nursed this offseason."

NHL 24 cover athlete Cale Makar on Bobby Orr comparisons, the Olympics, and what's next

The Avalanche superstar is the latest player to feature on EA Sports' signature hockey game, the most recent achievement in a wild NHL journey thus far.

www.espn.com

 

[JoeSakic13]

We have procedures in place for people who complain on the Nu-Choo Train.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

We have procedures in place for people who complain on the Nu-Choo Train.

View attachment 745105

No ticket

 

[missionAvs]

It's incredible to me that people still care about this.

I expended the last of my anger towards Nuke when I eliminated him from the elimination game. As far as I'm concerned now, if Nuke's not doing lines out of a hooker's asshole then he's not ready for the season.

 

[MarkT]

Okay guys, here's the deal:

When was Nuke at his best? When he was inches away from being out of the league and had to prove himself, we all fell in love with his play. Then, when he combined this hunger to prove himself with a boatload of self-confidence, he became a freaking monster on the ice.

So, where are we with him now? Well, he just let down the whole team, his coach, and the fanbase at the most important time of the year. Surely he feels he needs to prove himself all over again, especially given how much of the salary cap he's taking up. But he also now knows exactly how good he is, so he has that combination of hunger and confidence. Moreover, this might even mean a new level for him, because the last time he had this motivation, he kept improving each year. Don't forget the start of last season before he got hurt; he had 7 goals in 7 games. I expect nothing less from him to start this season.

Meanwhile, what is MacKinnon? He's the emotional engine that drives this team. Landeskog may be the leader in almost every other sense, but the team goes where MacKinnon takes them. And when is MacKinnon at his best? When he's pissed off and out to prove something. Well, what could ol' Nate Dogg have to be pissed off about? Well, maybe it's his frequent line mate missing the most important games of the year. Maybe he's pissed that his team lost game 7 by only one goal - a goal that could easily have been supplied by Nichushkin. Now, he can't be angry with Val directly - that would be counterproductive at this point - so he's got to channel those emotions somewhere else. And what does he have to prove? There are probably people out there who think that because of the loss to Seattle, the Avs are one and done. They might believe the Avs probably don't have the same drive and desire that the cup team did. Thoughts like that must drive Nate mad. So you take that pride and that anger and you've got a recipe for MacKinnon to have a monster year. And where Nate goes, the rest of the team follows.

So in summary, Nichsushkin's little incident may end up being the driving force behind our 2024 Stanley Cup victory.

 

[Richard88]

It's incredible to me that people still care about this.

... says the guy who's posted about it more than anyone

 

[Balthazar]

I'll only add the Lehkonen was never even given a shot at the top 6 in Montreal. He was used purely as a defensive forward. Occasionally in a pinch he would be put with Danault to form a super defensive line, but he was never given the chance to play with skilled offensive players.

This. His reputation in Montreal was that he had hands of stone (sounds familiar?) and would miss the net all the time despite getting golden opportunities.

Now he seems to have adopted the Brendan Gallagher style so he can score goals despite not having the best finishing skills: get in front of the net, be a pain in the ass for the goalie and defense, work harder than everyone else, push puck in net.

 

[Azrael89]

Lehkonen was such a beauty of a trade for Joe Sakic. Nothing but a solid two way game and key goals from Lehky.

 

[LOFIN]

Lehkonen could score 30 points and still be worth every penny of that contract, he does so much away from the puck. Obviously hoping he can continue at the pace he's been on with us.

 

[Bender]

If that -- "personal/family matter" -- is what had made it out, fine. But that's not what happened, and therefore this response is insulting and frankly weird. It's like a super old school Iraqi PR minister meme.

Basically there's 2 optimal paths here -- communicate as much as you can, or communicate nothing. On this one, the Avs were forced off their usual silence by some particularly egregious stuff, and now they're compounding it by not communicating more.

Standard old school shit. I love the team, I like a lot about management, but I hate the 50s PR/fan relations mentality.


Except this one DID get out, and pretending it's what you said above just makes the org look utterly ridiculous (yes, I know you're speaking tongue in cheek).

Lol sounds like YOU know exactly what happened, right?

HE WASN'T f***ING CHARGED by the Police! He wasn't even suspended by the league or by the team!

But no, let's believe the rampant speculation that Nuke is a Russian Crackhead druglord who is the head of the human-trafficking division of a crime syndicate and he should be made to answer for his crimes against humanity!!

I have a little story for you before I put you on ignore forever because this is the most amount of time I will allow to someone who doesn't understand how life works :

This is like 5 years ago. I have a friend who once told me she HATED Justin Timberlake. I thought that was a bit odd, so I asked her why? She said "I hate Justin Timberlake for what he did to Janet Jackson during the Superbowl (back in 2004). I said "you mean when he ripped off the thing to expose her boob?" She said "yeah". I responded "you realize that this was OBVIOUSLY staged and that she agreed to this before hand, right?". She was speechless.

The point is that she hated that guy for no-good reason thinking it was one thing when it was in fact another.

I think it's HILARIOUS the idea that someone would believe that something nefarious really went on but everyone was in on it : The Police Department, The NHL, The Colorado Avalanche organization -> everyone just decided that he was above the law and could get away with this horrible act.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

If Kovalenko can be a Lehky-lite our wings are going to be pretty solid. Nuke, Lehky, Kovalenko would give us three wings that are just puckhounds that can chip in offensively. Those guys do well in this system.

 

[Ararana]

It's incredible to me that people still care about this.

Seriously. Never meet your heroes kids, they're assholes. Every single one of them.

 

[the_fan]

If Kovalenko can be a Lehky-lite our wings are going to be pretty solid. Nuke, Lehky, Kovalenko would give us three wings that are just puckhounds that can chip in offensively. Those guys do well in this system.

Don’t forget Landy

Then you throw in Mikko and Tatar which doesn’t hurt

If or when Landy comes back, that’s a pretty good wing depth

Mikko
Landy
Nuke
Lehky
Tatar
Kovalenko
Wood
LOC

Edit: oh and Drouin too.

Damn, we’re deep on wing

 

[Bender]

Seriously. Never meet your heroes kids, they're assholes. Every single one of them.

Except Riku Hahl

 

[AvsGuy]

Most adults are assholes. Those who say they're the exception likely aren't honest with themselves, which is by far worse.

 

[Chiarelli]

Seriously. Never meet your heroes kids, they're assholes. Every single one of them.

In general I agree. However, I met Jarome Iginla and he was a top notch individual to a complete stranger.

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

 

[Ceremony]

View attachment 745043

I think I need a few more worms on that hook.

 

[Muffin]

Most adults are assholes. Those who say they're the exception likely aren't honest with themselves, which is by far worse.

I wouldn't say most adults. Most profession athletes for sure.

 

[MacKaRant]

Okay guys, here's the deal:

When was Nuke at his best? When he was inches away from being out of the league and had to prove himself, we all fell in love with his play. Then, when he combined this hunger to prove himself with a boatload of self-confidence, he became a freaking monster on the ice.

So, where are we with him now? Well, he just let down the whole team, his coach, and the fanbase at the most important time of the year. Surely he feels he needs to prove himself all over again, especially given how much of the salary cap he's taking up. But he also now knows exactly how good he is, so he has that combination of hunger and confidence. Moreover, this might even mean a new level for him, because the last time he had this motivation, he kept improving each year. Don't forget the start of last season before he got hurt; he had 7 goals in 7 games. I expect nothing less from him to start this season.

Meanwhile, what is MacKinnon? He's the emotional engine that drives this team. Landeskog may be the leader in almost every other sense, but the team goes where MacKinnon takes them. And when is MacKinnon at his best? When he's pissed off and out to prove something. Well, what could ol' Nate Dogg have to be pissed off about? Well, maybe it's his frequent line mate missing the most important games of the year. Maybe he's pissed that his team lost game 7 by only one goal - a goal that could easily have been supplied by Nichushkin. Now, he can't be angry with Val directly - that would be counterproductive at this point - so he's got to channel those emotions somewhere else. And what does he have to prove? There are probably people out there who think that because of the loss to Seattle, the Avs are one and done. They might believe the Avs probably don't have the same drive and desire that the cup team did. Thoughts like that must drive Nate mad. So you take that pride and that anger and you've got a recipe for MacKinnon to have a monster year. And where Nate goes, the rest of the team follows.

So in summary, Nichsushkin's little incident may end up being the driving force behind our 2024 Stanley Cup victory.

Or....MacK burns with a white hot anger all year towards Nuke for his lack of professionalism and it becomes a huge conflict, and Nuke gets ostracized in the dressing room and retreats to his comforts of choice

 

[niwotsblessing]

This sums up my thoughts on “the dead”

All the good riffs in this song were ripped off from The Airplane, QMS, and the Dead. And nobody will ever care about "The Templars." And that's the real key to the whole thing.

 

[Bender]

All the good riffs in this song were ripped off from The Airplane, QMS, and the Dead. And nobody will ever care about "The Templars." And that's the real key to the whole thing.

Dude! I'm in that band...