It's Tuesday, which means Steve Valiquette on the Real Kyper and Bourne Show at 5 PM EST.
They talked about the trade.
Valy on Georgiev: "He's going to rebound a bit in San Jose. A guy that needs high volume shot counts which the Avs don't allow, he'll get lots of rubber with the Sharks who are dead last in shots and scoring chances against. Lost the room in Colorado. Nobody really trusted him, even when he won 6 or 7 in a row for them. Lack of communication between player and his peers as well as coaches. It was a bad, bad situation."
Valy on Blackwood: "One of my favourite goaltenders in the league today. I believe he's top 10 in pure skill. Stops everything he needs to stop, top 3 in the league in save percentage for low and medium danger scoring chances against. Real big student of the game, constantly evaluating ways to improve and correct any weaknesses. Avs need to do a better job of not allowing high danger scoring chances in the first 10 minutes of the game, regardless of any goalie they got. Guys love playing for him and he'll fit in seamlessly with the Avs."
Valy on Wedgewood: "Avs are a team that are heavy into the analytics, sometimes a bit too much. Wedgewood is a battler who has great analytics against high danger chances, which while the Avs don't allow shots in volume, do allow those high quality or high dancer scoring chances. They looked into that metric for him thoroughly before acquiring him. One of the best dressing room guys you could have. Actually didn't start off great with his relationship with Blackwood in New Jersey, Wedgewood felt he was going to get a chance to be the starter before Blackwood was given the reigns. They worked through initial difficulties in their relationship and Wedgewood did a 180 to become a super supportive teammate. He wants to win, whether it's him between the pipes or the starter."
After Valy dropped off, Kypreos was asked a bit more about the Avs by Bourne/McKee.
Kyper: "That team has to be absolutely JUICED right now. They're going to steamroll Pittsburgh tonight and get a huge boost from these moves. You can't imagine how much bad goaltending weighs on you as a player, you start second guessing yourself and everything you do because any mistake ends up in the back of your net. They just saw their management take out the trash and give them two new goaltenders who can stop a puck. They've got to feel over the moon right now, I expect a big push from them."
Kyper was asked if the Avs are done: "You'd think so, but not what I'm hearing. They want a defenseman and, just like the two goalies, they won't wait until the deadline to make a move. They're willing to overpay a bit to get who they want and when they want, this team isn't waiting to see how things shake out by the deadline. They want to plug their holes and get on a heater right now, not in February or March."
