Pre-Game Talk: Week of Home with our Heads in our Asses (Wed vs. NJD, Fri vs. MIN)

[expatriatedtexan]

I still don’t understand how can someone look at the Avs roster and say fire Bednar, specially when the team is in the playoffs. I’ll say fire him if we get a true 2nd line and help on defense and the team still underperforms

I'm not sure how anyone could have watched this season and not have some concerns about the guy.

[edit... seems like it's been hashed out a lot in the trade rumors thread as well. My thoughts are simply that he refuses to the use CMac has given him for their intended purposes. He get's outcoached because he doesn't have another way. He doesn't have another system. I freaking hate to say this but Granato and Sacco at least tried to give lines different identities based on their supposed skills.]

 

[The Pwnerer]

“This is a huge point in the season for us,” Avs defenseman Cale Makar said. “I think every single guy on this team, we’ve got to prove to management that this should be a group that they invest in. And if we keep having games like this, it’s going to be hard for them to justify it.”

“It’s going to be on us,” Makar said. “We know as a group we have a lot better than this. It’s just unfortunate that we can’t find the consistency. We played well last night, but just couldn’t find the goals. You just have to get back to it and be better tonight, and unfortunately, we weren’t.”

Cale Makar: Avalanche must “prove to management” team is worth trade deadline investment

When is the “real” Colorado Avalanche going to arrive this season, or will it?

www.denverpost.com

View attachment 982141

A once in a life time defenseman fell to our laps. Generational talent. Really hope management seizes this opportunity and he can come away with another championship or two before he retires.

 

[Jasenr]

They definitely need to take more shots but if they're not going to do jack shit if they keep settling for perimeter shots and not pay the price in front of the net. This should not require them to get Nuke back in order to do it either.

One thing that needs to stop five weeks ago is forcing centering feeds and cross-ice passes out of desperation they know damn well aren't going to make it. Those just result in turnover after turnover and sometimes an odd-man rush the other way.

Its the god awful gamesystem(for this roster) which has now been exposed heavily. 1 line and 1 dedensive pair can execute it.

None of the other lines can and still somehow they are forced to play it. Thats why it looks so awful.

Play trap with all the other 3 lines or something else more suitable to their skillset.

If Avs continue this way they are not going to playoffs...

 

[myperbixhurts]

I'm not sure how anyone could have watched this season and not have some concerns about the guy.

[edit... seems like it's been hashed out a lot in the trade rumors thread as well. My thoughts are simply that he refuses to the use CMac has given him for their intended purposes. He get's outcoached because he doesn't have another way. He doesn't have another system. I freaking hate to say this but Granato and Sacco at least tried to give lines different identities based on their supposed skills.]

I think the problem is that you guys think the Avs have a better roster than what they’re showing, but they really don’t. They are what their record is, a wildcard team.

 

[sethro109]

With our offense dead in the water, I expect maybe 1 point. I think the team will be better after the TDL, but by then, we'll most likely be in a horrible hole.

 

[AvBuff]

It took the Avs 5 years after 1996 to win a second Cup with Sakic, Forsberg, Roy, Foote, Ozo et al. Between '96 and '01 they got knocked out of the playoffs by the Wings, Dallas and Edmonton. That was pre-salary cap.

You can have an intelligent discussion about how Sakic and Forsberg equate to Cale and Nate. We certainly don't have Patty Roy. Pierre Lacroix v CMac? You make the call. Bednar v Crawford/Hartley? I''l take Bedsy.

This is a tough, unforgiving league to grind out a dynasty - or even repeat.

I'm not climbing any ledges. Yet.

 

[CobraAcesS]

Bednar did put Necas on the 2nd line in the last game, although it was for short period of time, but Mitts is dragging that line down. If you move Drouin up and put Necas with Mitts and Parssinen, the results are gonna be the same

I remember like one shift with Mitts, it looked like he put Necas with Drury.

Which is dumb as f*** because they didn't play together in Carolina. Like they're going to have chemistry because they both came from Carolina lol.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

I think the problem is that you guys think the Avs have a better roster than what they’re showing, but they really don’t. They are what their record is, a wildcard team.

Our bottom nine (especially bottom six) should be soo damn much better than they are. CMac keeps handing Bednar guys to play roles, but Bednar keeps showing if they can't play MacKinnon's, Makar's or Rantenan's Necas' role, they simply aren't worth his time. The same goes for Makar and Toews on D.

For crying out loud everyone is dying to see see Necas try to spark life into the second line, Bednar's just like nope. f*** a second line. f*** a third line. f*** a fourth line. I've got five skaters and I'm going to give them 100% of my effort and demand 3,000% of theirs. I'm going to run these specimens into the freaking dirt.

These are Bednar's philosophies as I've come to understand them....
1. You will skate hard, or you will skate harder. You will do the later until I say otherwise.
2. You shall be able to pick a pocket, skate the five man unit against you solo and beat the goalie or you suck. Do that better.
3. In the event that you must pass... continue to do so until the opposition gains pocession of the puck. Which leads us to #4...
4. Do not put yourself in front of the net. Not only could you generate a scoring opportunity but more importantly I don't know... it make the other goalie feel bad?
5. Do not remove a player from the puck. If you can not take the puck from the player, just let them go and hope someone else is better at stick checking. Actually transfering any positive kenetic energy into impact damage or collisions effects only result in a decrease in pace. When in doubt... we are not skating fast enough. Do nothing to slow down.

 

[RoyIsALegend]

I remember like one shift with Mitts, it looked like he put Necas with Drury.

Which is dumb as f*** because they didn't play together in Carolina. Like they're going to have chemistry because they both came from Carolina lol.

I remember when Necas was acquired, one of the reporters asked him about Drury. He sounded like he didn’t know who the guy was and gave the most generic answer ever. “Yeah, he’s a great guy and a good teammate.”

 

[myperbixhurts]

Our bottom nine (especially bottom six) should be soo damn much better than they are. CMac keeps handing Bednar guys to play roles, but Bednar keeps showing if they can't play MacKinnon's, Makar's or Rantenan's Necas' role, they simply aren't worth his time. The same goes for Makar and Toews on D.

For crying out loud everyone is dying to see see Necas try to spark life into the second line, Bednar's just like nope. f*** a second line. f*** a third line. f*** a fourth line. I've got five skaters and I'm going to give them 100% of my effort and demand 3,000% of theirs. I'm going to run these specimens into the freaking dirt.

These are Bednar's philosophies as I've come to understand them....
1. You will skate hard, or you will skate harder. You will do the later until I say otherwise.
2. You shall be able to pick a pocket, skate the five man unit against you solo and beat the goalie or you suck. Do that better.
3. In the event that you must pass... continue to do so until the opposition gains pocession of the puck. Which leads us to #4...
4. Do not put yourself in front of the net. Not only could you generate a scoring opportunity but more importantly I don't know... it make the other goalie feel bad?
5. Do not remove a player from the puck. If you can not take the puck from the player, just let them go and hope someone else is better at stick checking. Actually transfering any positive kenetic energy into impact damage or collisions effects only result in a decrease in pace. When in doubt... we are not skating fast enough. Do nothing to slow down.

We don’t have a 2C, 2nd line is none existent, and Drury should be a 4C and he’s playing 3C. We really don’t have a roster to do better than how they’re doing right now. We’re completely a one line team, and have bunch of holes on defense as well

 

[wayninja]

So Bednar is still around huh

 

[EdAVSfan]

The Avs are basically running a roster that’s 15M+ under the cap.
The Landeskog delay continues to loom large. There needs to be finality to his future on this team by the end of the season. The short term and long term handcuffing it creates needs to be finally solved.
He either needs to be able to play regularly in the regular season or he needs to be LTIRed for good. This in-between stops them from being able to fully ice a team.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

[this space reserved for future use.]

 

[RoyIsALegend]

Nate and Landy

 

[GirardIsStupid]

Remember when we didn’t have a 2nd line and we weren’t good? We don’t have a 2nd line now and we’re not good.

Coincidence?

That really is the issue. Bednar doesn't know what do with Middlestadt and GM should have known that he's not a Bednar type player. A good coach would still be able to get the best from him. Why not try improving his strength and conditioning? In fact, the entire team needs strength and conditioning. Get Barca's conditioning to show them how it's done.

 

[CobraAcesS]

Nate and Landy

Avs hockey right now. Hit unmute



*I had no idea Tiktok auto embedded

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Avs hockey right now. Hit unmute



*I had no idea Tiktok auto embedded

I had no idea turkeys couldn't fly. Or that the modern Bronco could withstand an impact at greater than 1/4 MPH. That plastic looking piece of junk needs to get off the road as soon as possible. Bronco's should look like this:

not this...

One is utilitarian, rugged and actually useful. The other is supposed to make a soccer mom look cool.

 

[CobraAcesS]

I had no idea turkeys couldn't fly. Or that the modern Bronco could withstand an impact at greater than 1/4 MPH. That plastic looking piece of junk needs to get off the road as soon as possible. Bronco's should look like this:

not this...


View attachment 982242

One is utilitarian, rugged and actually useful. The other is supposed to make a soccer mom look cool.

That's why the old ones are 50k to 250k now lol.

I drive a 98 Cherokee and a 2007 Corvette. So I'm with you lol.

 

[ASmileyFace]

Nate and Landy

This is adorable, these two <3

 

[expatriatedtexan]

That's why the old ones are 50k to 250k now lol.

I drive a 98 Cherokee and a 2007 Corvette. So I'm with you lol.

In the Navy I took a welding class to become an emergency underway welder for my sub. They were only concentrating on us making one weld of two pipes togegether using an in inconel (similar metal) spring that we could use as the filler metal to start with. The thing had to pass radiography and a pressure test but we were there for six months. This was one project we had to do. The first two weeks were in a classroom just learning about the science of welding and then a lot about metals and alloys so we could make sure to use the right types of rods (if stick welding) or SMAW (Sheilded metal arc welding), TIG (gas tungsten arc welding) or PAW (plasma arc welding)... I was trained on all of them but we never even saw the capabilities on our sub to use PAW or TIG. It was all stick welding or hand fed SMA.

Anyways, we all passed that SMAW (Shielded metal arc welding) test within a few days. Then had had basically the rest of the entire school to f*** off from 8am until 5pm just screwing around playing with different welds and cutting torches.

We had a buddy whose grandpa passed away and he had to go home during school to help sort things out. While he was gone, we took a whole three 6 ft' sections of 3" OD carbon steel piping and welded them together to create a massive bumper. Made a brush cage out of smaller pipes and welded the whole thing onto his Bronco II, while he was on leave.

Biggest problem was that after we mounted everything the weight on the front end was massive. We ended up beefing up his front suspension, got much more stout shocks and lifted the whole thing 3 inches.

The look on his face when we he saw it was absolutely priceless. I do not believe I've ever seen a person so pissed off that they didn't get to personally do the work. *LOL* Just kidding...he was in true awe. That Bronco II could just run over trees when 4X in the hills around San Diego.

 

[CobraAcesS]

In the Navy I took a welding class to become an emergency underway welder for my sub. They were only concentrating on us making one weld of two pipes togegether using an in inconel (similar metal) spring that we could use as the filler metal to start with. The thing had to pass radiography and a pressure test but we were there for six months. This was one project we had to do. The first two weeks were in a classroom just learning about the science of welding and then a lot about metals and alloys so we could make sure to use the right types of rods (if stick welding) or SMAW (Sheilded metal arc welding), TIG (gas tungsten arc welding) or PAW (plasma arc welding)... I was trained on all of them but we never even saw the capabilities on our sub to use PAW or TIG. It was all stick welding or hand fed SMA.

Anyways, we all passed that SMAW (Shielded metal arc welding) test within a few days. Then had had basically the rest of the entire school to f*** off from 8am until 5pm just screwing around playing with different welds and cutting torches.

We had a buddy whose grandpa passed away and he had to go home during school to help sort things out. While he was gone, we took a whole slew of 3" carbon steel pipping and welded them together to create a massive bumper. Made a brush cage out of smaller pipes and welded the whole thing onto his Bronco II while he was on leave.

Biggest problem was that after we mounted everything the weight on the front end was massive. We ended up getting much more stout shocks and lifting the whole thing 3 inches.

The look on his face when we he saw it was absolutely priceless. I do not believe I've ever seen a person so pissed off that they didn't get to personally do the work. *LOL* Just kidding...he was in true awe. That Bronco II could just run over trees when 4X in the hills around San Diego.

True beauty, my dad builds race cars, and worked as an Aerospace machinist, but I never learned all of that leaving at 18. I was really good with guns and anything technical from Computers to ripping apart electronics, and radios.

I once tore apart a frog with an IR sensor in its mouth to use as an early warning detection system to tell me when my parents were coming upstairs. Somehow they never questioned why they heard frog noises every time they approached my room. I guess they just thought I really liked the toy.

I chose not to follow my tech hobbies into jobs and become a soldier. I'll never regret it, but I love all of that stuff and never have had to experience it as a job, only fun. Which is what I wanted.

People are assholes to their IT guys often. I'd rather you just shoot at me so I can shoot back than listen to someone blame me for their inability to use a Computer properly lol.

 

[Arch angel]

Not much to add to these observations though I do believe if landy were in the locker room, with everything else the same, team plays and performs better. In a professional league, while coaching is OBviously important, a captain who holds the players accountable is, imho, equally (arguably more) important. Captaincy is also difficult as the trust in the room has to be tremendous and that captain has to be held in respect. Avs need that again. If it’s Cale- great. Whoever it is - Time to step it up because with all the trades in the world, no captain == no Cup.

I yield the remaining time.

 

[CobraAcesS]

Not much to add to these observations though I do believe if landy were in the locker room, with everything else the same, team plays and performs better. In a professional league, while coaching is OBviously important, a captain who holds the players accountable is, imho, equally (arguably more) important. Captaincy is also difficult as the trust in the room has to be tremendous and that captain has to be held in respect. Avs need that again. If it’s Cale- great. Whoever it is - Time to step it up because with all the trades in the world, no captain == no Cup.

I yield the remaining time.

Yeah, it's definitely had an impact not only on our team, but on the coaching staff. I have a feeling Landeskog could hold either accountable.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Not much to add to these observations though I do believe if landy were in the locker room, with everything else the same, team plays and performs better. In a professional league, while coaching is OBviously important, a captain who holds the players accountable is, imho, equally (arguably more) important. Captaincy is also difficult as the trust in the room has to be tremendous and that captain has to be held in respect. Avs need that again. If it’s Cale- great. Whoever it is - Time to step it up because with all the trades in the world, no captain == no Cup.

I yield the remaining time.

If Landy were in the locker-room, I'd hope the last two years would have played out differently.

The fact is, neither Cale nor Nate are going to confront Bednar or CMac from a players point of view whereas Landy might've. But then again, this is very important... Gabe would work to deliver the message from management to the rest of the players in a way they can process and get behind.

When I say the Avs lack leadership... I'm not talking about MacKinnor or Makar talking to an official after a penalty. I'm talking about players telling the coach...you've got 4 lines. You need to use more of them. At this point, leadership should probably questioning CMac about the apparent disconnect between personel and useage.

There has been just one thing after another that has kept the roster from being the way we want it to be. However, there is also one constant who has prevented our bottom six from playing the way a bottom six should.

 

[Arch angel]

If Landy were in the locker-room the last two years would have played out.

The fact is, neither Cale nor Nate are going to confront Bednar or CMac from a players point of view whereas Landy would. But then again, this is very important... Gabe would work to deliver that message to the rest of the players in a way they can process and get behind.

When I say the Avs lack leadership... I'm not talking about MacKinnor or Makar talking to an official after a penalty. I'm talking about players telling the coach...you've got 4 lines. You need to use more of them. At this point, leadership should probably questioning CMac about the apparent disconnect between personel and useage.

There has been just one thing after another that has kept the roster from being the way we want it to be. However, there is also one constant who has prevented our bottom six from playing the way a bottom six should.

Yes - agree with this. Captain works to amplify both the players and engagement with the admin/coaches. Pray Landy gets back or tunes up new cap’n.