Speculation: AVS Proposals/Rumors/Free Agents & Related Topics 2016-17 Part XVII

[UncleRisto]

If they don't fire Bednar or Sakic by the end of the day I´m done with this team

What, is this an ICYMI post?

Oh no, anyone but PennAvs!

 

[Former Ladder]

I'd disagree about Bednar, I think he's proven that he has zero grasp of the NHL and if he wins, he wins by accident or the negligence of the other team.

But Sakic should be allowed to see this through. As far as I'm concerned, he's in his first year as GM without Roy pushing him to do dumb things. The drafting has been better and the young depth is coming, I want to see what his plan is before I call for his head. Keeping Bednar around means he wants to tank for Dahlin next year, but hey, nobody expects playoffs anyway, and if we're not going to the postseason, we should have one more year of a top draft pick before we fire him and move on.

I think the fact that Bednar only had a month to mentally prepare for the NHL level is overlooked. Imagine the amount that he has learned since being hired until now and how much time over the summer he will spend planning and reflecting and learning some more. How many hours of game tape he is going to watch. How much preparation for next season and meetings he will be apart of. Maybe even bringing in another assistant of his own.

I think we see a much more confident and capable coach next season in Bednar. I have never questioned his intelligence but I think he will become obsessive over every detail of the game and the team over the summer. I am sure he knows that his job is not guaranteed to last through the season, even if he starts here, and if he fails that he will likely not get another NHL gig.

 

[Foppberg]

I'm willing to give Bednar another shot, he was thrown to the wolves.

Hopefully we see the assistant coaches canned and bring in his guys, because if we're really going to keep Bednar let's surround him with the guys he wants.

 

[chet1926]

Really though, I know things are bad but that's sports. The vast majority of a fans fandom is about endearing the years of mediocrity for those championship years, and a lot never get that.

Leafs haven't won in 48 years and have dealt with one of the worst owners in league history. Blues have never won in their 45 year history, Buffalo is a cursed sports town. There's teams with decades worth of mediocrity, meanwhile we inherited a borderline dynasty and have 2 cups (and should probably have more honestly) in 22 years to show for it.

I get people who are just taking out frustration, but if people are actually considering ditching the team because things aren't progressing the way you had hoped, then you're not a real fan. You never know what could happen, especially when it comes to the Avs, things happen out of thin air. Latest example would be the Roy firing, if anybody said they saw it coming they'd be lying.

The way I see it, I hate the team to be the way it is now, but whenever we do become successful again, it'll be that much sweeter.

Bingo, you nailed it. We had a bad year and have had a bad run as of late. but that shouldn't stop people from being fans. And you sure as hell shouldn't say stuff like if so and so doesn't get fired I'm out. Eventually things will work out how they are supposed to work out. The Avs won't suck forever.

I will never quit on this team. Period.

 

[McMetal]

I think the fact that Bednar only had a month to mentally prepare for the NHL level is overlooked. Imagine the amount that he has learned since being hired until now and how much time over the summer he will spend planning and reflecting and learning some more. How many hours of game tape he is going to watch. How much preparation for next season and meetings he will be apart of. Maybe even bringing in another assistant of his own.

I think we see a much more confident and capable coach next season in Bednar. I have never questioned his intelligence but I think he will become obsessive over every detail of the game and the team over the summer. I am sure he knows that his job is not guaranteed to last through the season, even if he starts here, and if he fails that he will likely not get another NHL gig.

I would feel the same way if there was some improvement between game 1 and game 82. But I kept seeing the same stupid personnel decisions made again and again and again. It's not so much the tactical failures (and they are many and grievous), but scrambling the lines, alienating important guys and playing others who have no business in the NHL is not something a good head coach does.

 

[PennAvs]

I've been an Avs fan for life and I say I'm done but like a true fan, i'm not even sure it's possible to even stop liking them. You know you like a team when you get pissed when bad stuff happens to them. I'll probably be rooting for them come next season but as of now i'm just disgusted. I apologize

 

[Former Ladder]

I would feel the same way if there was some improvement between game 1 and game 82. But I kept seeing the same stupid personnel decisions made again and again and again. It's not so much the tactical failures (and they are many and grievous), but scrambling the lines, alienating important guys and playing others who have no business in the NHL is not something a good head coach does.

He does not have much say on who is on the roster but he does have a say on who plays. I actually think he did pretty well [later in the season] about giving ice time to those that try harder and have the skill to be impact players. His Bednar Blender saw less use later on as well. Early on there were so many games that only 3-4 people at a time were trying to win at the same time (hence the "tugging on the rope" line he's used a few times). Yes, the players' effort is something that can be partially on him but that is more on the players than anyone. We've seen games were they could be an effective team playing Bednar's system early on; it was just extremely infrequent.

This is partly me being a hopeless optimist and partly me wanting to see what a more prepared Bednar does with a better/more uniform roster. We had way too many players that simply could not play the way the core can play and the way Bednar wanted to play (i.e. skating).

 

[tucker3434]

I could have handled bad. It was kind of expected. My issue is that, for most of the season, we didn't look like we belonged in the same league as the other 29 teams. We were bad in all three phases. There werent really any redeeming qualities of this team. We need vast improvement in multiple areas to even resemble an NHL team. I just don't see it happening with roughly the same team and coaching scheme as last year.

 

[Avs44]

Really though, I know things are bad but that's sports. The vast majority of a fans fandom is about endearing the years of mediocrity for those championship years, and a lot never get that.

Leafs haven't won in 48 years and have dealt with one of the worst owners in league history. Blues have never won in their 45 year history, Buffalo is a cursed sports town. There's teams with decades worth of mediocrity, meanwhile we inherited a borderline dynasty and have 2 cups (and should probably have more honestly) in 22 years to show for it.

I get people who are just taking out frustration, but if people are actually considering ditching the team because things aren't progressing the way you had hoped, then you're not a real fan. You never know what could happen, especially when it comes to the Avs, things happen out of thin air. Latest example would be the Roy firing, if anybody said they saw it coming they'd be lying.

The way I see it, I hate the team to be the way it is now, but whenever we do become successful again, it'll be that much sweeter.

These are my thoughts as well...I know there are some fans on here who were fans of the Nordiques before they came to Colorado, and some of the Rockies, but I think some members of this fanbase are awfully spoiled...those who adopted this club when it came to Colorado got to enjoy a cup contender and two cups right from the start. It was all success. As you said, the Blues have been waiting 45 years, the Canucks have been waiting 47 years or something like that... sometimes you see articles about older fans of teams, but there was one about a Canucks fan a couple years ago that stuck out to me about a guy who'd been a fan of the team since Vancouver got a franchise and he passed away in his 90s without ever seeing a cup win. His big wish was that he'd get to see them win one, and yet many of us watched a cup contender waltz into the city and achieve immediate success, and here this guy spent half of his life waiting and never got to experience any of that.


I get the frustration, and I get stepping back from the team a bit, maybe not spending your money on tickets...but if you want to jump ship altogether then just do it, get off the board, and please don't come back whenever the club does turn it around. If you've had enough, fine, but do the rest of us a favour and don't come over here and loudly announce that you're "quitting" your fandom.

 

[Foppberg]

These are my thoughts as well...I know there are some fans on here who were fans of the Nordiques before they came to Colorado, and some of the Rockies, but I think some members of this fanbase are awfully spoiled...those who adopted this club when it came to Colorado got to enjoy a cup contender and two cups right from the start. It was all success. As you said, the Blues have been waiting 45 years, the Canucks have been waiting 47 years or something like that... sometimes you see articles about older fans of teams, but there was one about a Canucks fan a couple years ago that stuck out to me about a guy who'd been a fan of the team since Vancouver got a franchise and he passed away in his 90s without ever seeing a cup win. His big wish was that he'd get to see them win one, and yet many of us watched a cup contender waltz into the city and achieve immediate success, and here this guy spent half of his life waiting and never got to experience any of that.


I get the frustration, and I get stepping back from the team a bit, maybe not spending your money on tickets...but if you want to jump ship altogether then just do it, get off the board, and please don't come back whenever the club does turn it around. If you've had enough, fine, but do the rest of us a favour and don't come over here and loudly announce that you're "quitting" your fandom.

Yup. Hell the leafs had to endure Ballard for almost as long as the Avs have been in Denver, things are bad now but the sky is not falling. We have solid prospects coming up, a top 4 pick in this draft, and guys like Rantanen/Jost/MacKinnon/Zadorov/Compher that are already making an impact. Things could be a lot worse.

 

[McMetal]

Yup. Hell the leafs had to endure Ballard for almost as long as the Avs have been in Denver, things are bad now but the sky is not falling. We have solid prospects coming up, a top 4 pick in this draft, and guys like Rantanen/Jost/MacKinnon/Zadorov/Compher that are already making an impact. Things could be a lot worse.

Agreed. I'd rather be an Avs fan right now than a Canucks, Devils, or Coyotes fan. Those franchises are definitely in worse long-term predicaments.

 

[RockLobster]

I get the frustration, and I get stepping back from the team a bit, maybe not spending your money on tickets...but if you want to jump ship altogether then just do it, get off the board, and please don't come back whenever the club does turn it around. If you've had enough, fine, but do the rest of us a favour and don't come over here and loudly announce that you're "quitting" your fandom.

Agreed. I personally feel that it's become something of a common practice to make that type of "threat" (to stop watching) for one reason or another. My thought process (and I posted this a while back) was to just go ahead and do it.

 

[Nalens Oga]

Agreed. I'd rather be an Avs fan right now than a Canucks, Devils, or Coyotes fan. Those franchises are definitely in worse long-term predicaments.

This is a low

 

[cgf]

Having watched my favorite team playing in the 4th division against semi-pros not that long ago; it is hugely amusing reading posts about how people are ready to quit supporting their NHL team. It makes sense given how North American fandom works, but it's still hilarious for me to read.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Bingo, you nailed it. We had a bad year and have had a bad run as of late. but that shouldn't stop people from being fans. And you sure as hell shouldn't say stuff like if so and so doesn't get fired I'm out. Eventually things will work out how they are supposed to work out. The Avs won't suck forever.

I will never quit on this team. Period.

What if they decide to keep Landy forever? And announce it tomorrow?

There's a difference between not following a team on a daily or hourly basis and waking up one day a Rangers fan. While voicing a particular line in the sand is mostly just venting, everyone will eventually have a breaking point.

 

[chet1926]

What if they decide to keep Landy forever? And announce it tomorrow?

There's a difference between not following a team on a daily or hourly basis and waking up one day a Rangers fan. While voicing a particular line in the sand is mostly just venting, everyone will eventually have a breaking point.

Lol, if that is what they choose to do then fine, I'll support that decision. I'm not sure I'd like it but I trust that management/ownership is doing what is best for the team.

I guess I've never had that breaking point, and if I can survive this year I don't think I'll ever hit a breaking point. I don't see a scenario in which I don't cheer for the Avs, unless they relocate and aren't the Avs anymore.

 

[Foppberg]

Yeah, I honestly can't see myself ever having a breaking point. Maybe one day if they continue to be awful for 20 + years then I'll follow them much less and not care as much, but they'll always be my NHL team.

Nothing would be a bigger kick in the nads then saying " I've had enough, I'm going to start following x team now" only to see the Avs get the next McDavid, or become the next Blackhawks. Karma from the hockey Gods.

 

[Ceremony]

I have seen the Avalanche through three rock bottom moments in the past decade and seen no legitimate difference result from whatever horror caused it. I have no reason to believe we can expect any from this new barrel-scraping escapade.

 

[SaltySkywalker]

In a team who's 20 points behind the second to last in the league, yes.

In a playoff team, probably not, but we don't have to worry about that for the next few years.

See, I don't understand this rationale. Regardless of how ****** your team is, if you are producing like a 1st liner on the 1st line against other teams 1st lines....then it really doesn't matter where you are in the standings or how bad your team is.

 

[member 116861]

Nothing wrong with quitting on a sports team. If you aren't enjoying it anymore plus you have priorities in your life, quitting is smart. Unfortunately I still smiled whenever someone other than Iginla scored so I don't see myself quitting. Plus I'm a Toronto Raptors fan so I understand that nothing is permanent.

 

[AvsGuy]

What a bunch of babies, go cheer for another team. Go bandwagon on Chicago or Washington or something so you can cheer for a winner.

Don't expect me to welcome you back when the Avs actually get better, not every year is going to go well. And this year flat out sucked, but I'm going to rally behind my team and hope for the best going forward.

I mean I've never seen such fair weather fans. I get it, this team this year sucked. It was no fun for anyone involved with the team. That includes us fans, the coaches, the players, management and ownership.

I can't imagine what you all are like in real life, do you just quit the second something doesn't go your way at work or school? Do you say immature stuff like if my boss doesn't quit, I'm going to quit? Or the only reason I failed was my teacher didn't like me so I'm going to complain to the school to get them fired?

Please go cheer for other teams if you are going to say stuff like I'm done if so and so doesn't get fired.

Ehh, for me as an inexplicable Avalanche fan living in central Canada, it's both a blessing and a curse: I don't have any financial ties or obligations to this franchise, I never get to see them play, and win or lose the impact on my life is generally pretty low.

Your analogies are pretty flaccid and off-base though, so here's a better one: if you're dating someone who never gets off the couch and absolutely refuses to change, do you dump their lazy ass? Of course you do. That's what it's like being an Avs fan this season. I'd have a lot more optimism if they did even one single thing to indicate they might get off the couch. Sakic has to know that keeping Bednar at this stage is a gigantic middle finger to his paying fanbase. He's investing more time and more patience in an experiment that went historically wrong.

Why not cheer for another team? There's no Peter Forsberg here, there's no Patrick Roy here, the only Joe Sakic here is the completely wrong version, Hejduk and Drury are long gone... what allegiance am I supposed to have for a roster full of lazy deadbeats that has nothing to do with the franchise I started cheering for at 13 and shows minimal interest in turning it around?

 

[SaltySkywalker]

One things for sure, the_fan certainly ain't no liar when he said he was done with this team! I'll give him that.

I could never quit on this team short from the team being relocated and as others have said, if we can make it through this year, eventually things will come around and look brighter.

 

[Foppberg]

Ehh, for me as an inexplicable Avalanche fan living in central Canada, it's both a blessing and a curse: I don't have any financial ties or obligations to this franchise, I never get to see them play, and win or lose the impact on my life is generally pretty low.

Your analogies are pretty flaccid and off-base though, so here's a better one: if you're dating someone who never gets off the couch and absolutely refuses to change, do you dump their lazy ass? Of course you do. That's what it's like being an Avs fan this season. I'd have a lot more optimism if they did even one single thing to indicate they might get off the couch. Sakic has to know that keeping Bednar at this stage is a gigantic middle finger to his paying fanbase. He's investing more time and more patience in an experiment that went historically wrong.

Why not cheer for another team? There's no Peter Forsberg here, there's no Patrick Roy here, the only Joe Sakic here is the completely wrong version, Hejduk and Drury are long gone... what allegiance am I supposed to have for a roster full of lazy deadbeats that has nothing to do with the franchise I started cheering for at 13 and shows minimal interest in turning it around?

That's an incredibly over the top analogy. At the end of the day sports is entertainment, that's it. It has no real impact on your life outside of enjoyment, unless you were to get involved in the sports industry. Dating/Marriage has real, life long impacts on many aspects of your life.

I get the rational, but IMO it's a copout. So you don't like Bednar staying, or management in general, and because we no longer have a superstar roster you're questioning your allegiance to the team? This right here is an example of either a spoiled fan or venting frustration, I hope it's the latter though.

 

[dahrougem2]

I could never quit on this team permanently but I don't blame people if they want to take a break from the Avs so long as Sakic/Bednar are still around. They inspire zero confidence in this thing ever getting fixed.

 

[AvsMakar08]

Avalanche will be contenders in a few years. They just need to draft correctly in the next 2 years, get rid of the dead beats on this team and make a few smart RFA signings with their salary cap and if a trade for Dutchy in along the lines like top dman, 1st overall pick and a top prospect come along. I know Sakic will not disappoint us and take anything less then he told us.