GDT: WCQF: Game 2 - Avs @ Stars, 7:30 MT - "I've Heard It Both Ways" Edition

[Avs9296]

Luckily the team has a good history of rebounding after a terrible game against these same Stars. Kind of how they played last year right? Going home and protecting home ice? Just need a reminder how that went last year.

f*** you're annoying. Why do you even post here if you hate this team this much?

You only post when we lose, never post when we win. Realistically you would be described as trolling our board because you only come here after losses shit talking and trying to get a reaction.

Go be a "fan" of someone else.

 

[Avsfan1921]

f*** you're annoying. Why do you even post here if you hate this team this much?

You only post when we lose, never post when we win. Realistically you would be described as trolling our board because you only come here after losses shit talking and trying to get a reaction.

Go be a "fan" of someone else.

Your life will be better if you block the troll posters. I don’t like blocking people just because I disagree with their opinions and half the fun are the conversations with different viewpoints. But life is better when ignoring those that do nothing but complain.

 

[Alienblood]

Like I said, the second line has been a non-factor for awhile now. JB’s pigheaded insistence on sticking with what clearly hasn’t worked and isn’t working makes no sense whatsoever. That’s legit criticism and I don’t care that he has coached a SC championship team. He isn’t above it.

Avs have done nothing aside from 1 year with a stacked team.

It would be nice to get past the 1st or 2nd round

 

[Pokecheque]

I am VERY concerned that Nate is more hurt than he's letting on. We all know there was something lingering late in the season and it clearly affected his game. He just hasn't looked right at even strength, and looked way, way off in the third period. Had some utterly careless (at least it appeared that way) turnovers in his own zone that were just uncharacteristic of him. I thought maybe he was just gassed because he had to work so hard in the defensive zone corners to retrieve pucks (because the defensemen were not doing it) but...something else might be up.

Either way, Bednar cannot just keep leaning on an iffy top line and a phenomenal fourth line to carry the game. Make the f***ing changes or GTFO.

 

[the_fan]

Avs have done nothing aside from 1 year with a stacked team.

It would be nice to get past the 1st or 2nd round

Our run in 2022 was really good, but it wasn’t the hardest. We faced the Preds, Blues and Oilers with home ice against all of them to get to the finals. This year to get to the finals we have to go through Stars, then most likely the Jets and Vegas, all of them who we don’t have home ice advantage on. Much, much harder road to get there

 

[avsfan2189]

can someone in the media please ask him why he went with these lines vs the ones where nelson was actually producing at the end of the season.

like dont the players even talk to him about it? like what is nelson doing he needs to be more vocal about how he felt paired with necas vs now

 

[NOTENOUGHRYJOTHINGS]

I post stupid shit on purpose.

Some of you post stupid shit because you're stupid and miserable people.

Be embarrassed.

 

[Avsfan1921]

I post stupid shit on purpose.

Some of you post stupid shit because you're stupid and miserable people.

Be embarrassed.

Nothing you say could ever offend us, Eric. You are our national treasure.

 

[Foppa2118]

We should not have to tell JB to put Necas with Nelson. That was obvious to everyone long ago. Instead we have Bednar being a shit for brains coach. This guy is a world class dumb ass. I have no patience for idiocy.

I share the frustration, but I don't think Bednar is an idiot. He seems like a pretty intelligent and thoughtful guy. Also the only coach to have won championships in the ECHL, AHL, and NHL as head coach. That's meaningful.

If there's one thing in common with all coaches, it's that fans hate their line combos, and don't understand why they use them. I remember Wings fans would constantly give Scotty Bowman shit for his lines, but he just kept winning.

There's a reason why he's being so stubborn with his lines, especially when he's also known for using the blender. Whether that's a good reason or not I don't know, but he has to know Nelson is struggling, and Marty worked well with Nelson, and is the kind of player that helps him.

I think part of it is he wants a heavy forechecking 2nd line with Val and Nelson. This exact line with Val and Drouin on Nelson's wings played outstanding their first game together. Problem is a lot of that was because Val was in beast mode, and he seems to have lost his inner beast. Make of that what you will.

I also think Nate has a big say in this. He likes having another highly skilled winger to work plays with.

Hopefully Bednar realizes the lines haven't totally been clicking the first two games and switches them up for Game 3.

 

[SirLoinOfCloth]

I share the frustration, but I don't think Bednar is an idiot. He seems like a pretty intelligent and thoughtful guy. Also the only coach to have won championships in the ECHL, AHL, and NHL as head coach. That's meaningful.

If there's one thing in common with all coaches, it's that fans hate their line combos, and don't understand why they use them. I remember Wings fans would constantly give Scotty Bowman shit for his lines, but he just kept winning.

There's a reason why he's being so stubborn with his lines, especially when he's also known for using the blender. Whether that's a good reason or not I don't know, but he has to know Nelson is struggling, and Marty worked well with Nelson, and is the kind of player that helps him.

I think part of it is he wants a heavy forechecking 2nd line with Val and Nelson. This exact line with Val and Drouin on Nelson's wings played outstanding their first game together. Problem is a lot of that was because Val was in beast mode, and he seems to have lost his inner beast. Make of that what you will.

I also think Nate has a big say in this. He likes having another highly skilled winger to work plays with.

Hopefully Bednar realizes the lines haven't totally been clicking the first two games and switches them up for Game 3.

I agree with this. Bednar is not the type to just refuse to put lines that work well together without some (or several) underlying reasons. You can't be emotional about these things, he has to be methodical and objective.

Nelson is struggling big time, but we also have several other players underperforming right now, it's just that Nelson hasn't really earned any good will from this fanbase yet. We let Nuke off the hook, and Makar, because we know the beasts they have been for this club, Nelson hasn't done shit for us - yet.

 

[Vaslof]

We should not have to tell JB to put Necas with Nelson. That was obvious to everyone long ago. Instead we have Bednar being a shit for brains coach. This guy is a world class dumb ass. I have no patience for idiocy.

I'd still trust the coach over posters here.

Most people are yelling at Bednar for being dumb for not running Drouin - MacKinnon - Nichushkin.
If you can't find it, it's the line at the very bottom with the worst numbers.

 

[MacKaRtin]

Like I said, the second line has been a non-factor for awhile now. JB’s pigheaded insistence on sticking with what clearly hasn’t worked and isn’t working makes no sense whatsoever. That’s legit criticism and I don’t care that he has coached a SC championship team. He isn’t above it.

Here's a thought...Nuke has looked not great and Drouin also meh. Maybe he wants to put the two wingers who are playing well with MacKinnon instead of the disappointing (so far) Brock Nelson? So there is at least one high performing line or there instead of two problematic ones?

 

[flyfysher]

I share the frustration, but I don't think Bednar is an idiot. He seems like a pretty intelligent and thoughtful guy. Also the only coach to have won championships in the ECHL, AHL, and NHL as head coach. That's meaningful.

If there's one thing in common with all coaches, it's that fans hate their line combos, and don't understand why they use them. I remember Wings fans would constantly give Scotty Bowman shit for his lines, but he just kept winning.

There's a reason why he's being so stubborn with his lines, especially when he's also known for using the blender. Whether that's a good reason or not I don't know, but he has to know Nelson is struggling, and Marty worked well with Nelson, and is the kind of player that helps him.

I think part of it is he wants a heavy forechecking 2nd line with Val and Nelson. This exact line with Val and Drouin on Nelson's wings played outstanding their first game together. Problem is a lot of that was because Val was in beast mode, and he seems to have lost his inner beast. Make of that what you will.

I also think Nate has a big say in this. He likes having another highly skilled winger to work plays with.

Hopefully Bednar realizes the lines haven't totally been clicking the first two games and switches them up for Game 3.

My issue is that this problem was obvious long ago. Dealing with fixing shit now in the POs is maddening. JB may like his reasoning but his lineup isn’t working and hasn’t for weeks. Being pigheaded now and refusing to change is definitely idiotic. First to four wins in this series is what counts now. JB shouldn’t be squandering opportunities. So immediately fix it so it works. Close out the series and go back to his lineups in practice. But not now.

 

[Foppa2118]

I'd still trust the coach over posters here.

View attachment 1020108

Most people are yelling at Bednar for being dumb for not running Drouin - MacKinnon - Nichushkin.
If you can't find it, it's the line at the very bottom with the worst numbers.

I think they should try Drouin and Lehky with Nate. It's not that high on the list here, but they've worked well as a trio before.

Go with these lines IMO.

Lehky - MacK - Drouin
Val - Nelson - Necas
Landy - Coyle - Kivi/Wood
Kelly - Drury - LOC

 

[flyfysher]

Here's a thought...Nuke has looked not great and Drouin also meh. Maybe he wants to put the two wingers who are playing well with MacKinnon instead of the disappointing (so far) Brock Nelson? So there is at least high performing line or there instead of two problematic ones?

You saw Necas with Nelson. You know it was successful. So the failure to have at least tried it again has been inexcusable. And that extends to pre-POs. With the personnel that JB has been given, he should be able to roll four effective lines from the outset of the POs. That’s his job. JB has already failed on that account so he better get his head out of his butthole right quick.

 

[flyfysher]

I'd still trust the coach over posters here.

View attachment 1020108

Most people are yelling at Bednar for being dumb for not running Drouin - MacKinnon - Nichushkin.
If you can't find it, it's the line at the very bottom with the worst numbers.

Now post the numbers for the second line brilliance.

 

[Vaslof]

Now post the numbers for the second line brilliance.

They haven't really had enough ice time for the numbers to mean much, but here:
Necas - Nelson - Nichushkin xG 75%

 

[Pokecheque]

I don't understand why Drouin and Nuke are joined at the hip. I don't recall those guys having any sort of great chemistry together.

Swap Nuke and Necas, keep the LW's the same.

 

[Foppa2118]

I don't understand why Drouin and Nuke are joined at the hip. I don't recall those guys having any sort of great chemistry together.

Swap Nuke and Necas, keep the LW's the same.

I think it's more to keep Val with Nelson as a heavy forechecking line, and split Necas and Drouin as playmakers on different lines.

Drouin isn't the same type of playmaker though. Nelson needs someone to carry the puck ideally. Jo is a quick give and go guy.

He just needs to swap Necas and Drouin though. That's why I'm hopeful he can try that next game.

 

[NOTENOUGHRYJOTHINGS]

Probably still be tied 1-1.

Feel free to f*** off.

I'll f*** right off after game 6. At least until next October.

My summer will be as long as the Avs summer.

 

[the_fan]

I wonder how the Avs would do against a healthy team that wasn't on a 10 game losing streak heading into the playoffs.

Well the boys got a win and held a lead for parts of a second game.

That's basically our Stanley Cup.

Pack it up and hit the driving range boys! You did your best.

The way I see it is the difference between Dallas having Heiskanen and Robertson is one game. Meaning without those two, we should win this series in 6 games, with them healthy, we should win it in 7, or the other way around. If we lose to Dallas without Heiskanen and Robertson, it will be a major disappointment. Like @JoeSakic13 said, we’d still split in Dallas if they had those two players

 

[double minor]

Shouldn’t be a consideration

 

[the_fan]

Drouin-Nate-Val
Lehky-Nelson-Necas

Both lines have defensively responsible players

 

[BobRossColton]

Shouldn’t be a consideration

He'll just ruin what we've been wanting, after it works for one game.

 

[AvsCOL]

I see the mood is very reasonable in here lmao.

Will be nice to have Gabe back. Morale-wise, and skill-wise they need him.

I think a lot of people were spoiled in 2022 when the Avs went 16-4. This is a harder road than that.