Behold the first Colorado Hockey preseason podcast of the 2017-2018 season. In this episode, we put our final thoughts on the Big Z holdout, weigh-in on Spencer Martin, Alexander Kerfoot and the overall lackluster showing by the Colorado Avalanche (mostly) prospects in the first preseason game of the year. Then, we meander to the lovely world of rule changes and the NHL’s hazing of NHL coaches and players by way of random rule changes that seem a lot like drinking game rules. Check the show notes below for some links to the aforementioned awesomeness.

While we don’t speak of Geersten in this podcast, don’t think this little tilt went unnoticed. Way to Sherrif ’em up G.

Thompson didn't last long in this one. #Avs pic.twitter.com/PTKfiBetoW

— Janik Beichler (@JanikBeichler) September 20, 2017

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Behold the first podcast of the 2017-2018 Colorado Avalanche hockey season. We finally have stuff worth talking about, and talk we do in this long podcast (for us, anyway) at 13 minutes.

In this podcast:

Stay awesome!

Expansion Draft and NHL 2017 Awards in 3,2,1…

For the record, I was not one of the guys saying that The Vegas Golden Nights wouldn’t take Calvin Pickard in the NHL expansion draft. To me, it seemed as obvious as an old man at the club hitting on a younger girl after a few shots of whiskey. Yet, the Colorado Avalanche and Joe Sakic chose to expose Calvin Pickard in the expansion draft and essentially let him go for nothing.

Now, you might be saying, but Dater said “Vegas was going to take Varly if he wasn’t protected” and that’s fair. But let me submit for the record, that Vegas made it very clear to the entire league that “any team looking to protect a player they couldn’t list as protected could be saved by way of trade.” Many teams took them up on this offer and simply had to put out a 5th or 4th round pick on the table to keep Vegas from snagging a player at risk. So, why couldn’t the Colorado Avalanche do this? Why couldn’t Joe Sakic do this? MAYBE, there was something behind the scenes we’ll never know about, OR maybe…. Joe Sakic just sucks that this GM’ing thing?This is new territory for me as I’ve had Joe’s back while so many were smearing his name around the social networks like a drunk girl putting lipstick on, on a 747 experiencing significant turbulence. But this… it’s just stupid.

Calvin Pickard hasn’t proven himself as a legit starter yet, but I feel like he would and could. But hey, take that off the table and just focus on this. Valry and Picks are a great one-two punch and could have been an awesome goaltending duo for the next 2 years, which would be plenty of time to find out if Picks was a terminal back-up or if he had the upside to be a legit starter. We’ll never know now because Joe Sakic isn’t as clutch in the GM role as he was the Captian of two Stanley Cup winning teams.

Look, Joe has been learning on the job. You can’t even argue that. But, the free pass is over. Show up and show us that you made the right move, or get the hell out of the GM seat and let someone else drive the ship.

Now that the Expansion Draft and NHL 2017 Awards are over… the long haul to October is upon us. Stay strong and may the hockey be with you.

Harshly yours,

C.H.

Here cometh off-season…  and in the immortal words of Scandal Goodbye to you” and good by to this crap season that the Colorado Avalanche had. We speak of all things Avs and dive deep on Matt Duchene, Mikko Rantanen, Joe Sakic and even a little Coach Bednar. Behold the first off-season podcast from Colorado Hockey.

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I’m the kind of guy who needs the latest gadget and wants the latest model of everything.

And, that same techno-lust mirrors my desire to see young players brought up to the big NHL show, ASAP. I’ve always been a fan of letting the young talent come up and test their skills. But, what if I’ve been wrong.

I might be wrong, in some cases.

Now I’m starting to think that a player who has had a lot of success in his career before he hits the NHL, can’t help but assume that they’ll have the same success in the NHL. For some phenoms like Austin Matthews, Connor McDavid and Sydney Crosby they do carry that same success with them and, often with crapy teams. But, they’re not the average human. These are very special guys. The Elite of the Elite in a league of the best players in the world.

For the average “elite” player it can go exactly the opposite way. Great players can be put into the fire too soon and lose the most vital ingredient in any skill set, the confidence to use it. Think Yakapov or Vertinin here. All the skills in the world, but they didn’t think the game quick enough, and failed to launch. They were beat-down by players who have better hockey senses and quicker thought cycles.

But what If players like that had spent just a little more time in the minors. What if they were transitioned better and had time to learn the NHL system before they were dropped into it. What if they faced adversity in a less permeant league. What if they had coaches assigned to them specifically to get the ready, mentally and physically, for the big show.

We need young players to find their comfort zone and then get as far out of it as possible and fill in the games in their game. It might be mental, it might be muscle. But we need to expose their weaknesses and turn them into strengths.

The existing strengths that got them to the show aren’t going away. Those are engraved in the fabric of their being. But every player has weaknesses and teams will expose them sooner or late. The more we can improve the weakest links, the less likely a player is to “fail to launch” in the NHL.

So, would that be worth waiting a season to develop?

If giving young talent an extra year to develop adds quality, time and effectiveness to their NHL career, then hell yes it’s worth it.

Guys like me just need to get over it and invest in a long-term win instead of the excitement of a new shiny gadget/player.

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The argument goes like this: The Avs can’t make the playoffs and the current roster isn’t getting any better. Therefore, we should bench, scratch or demote the current NHL depth players and bring up prospects, mostly from the San Antonio Rampage, to see what they can do in the NHL and get them some experience.

The depth players that most arm-chair GMs are looking to replace are:

Soderberg, Comeau, Beauchemin, Mitchell, Colborne, Tyutin and Wiercioch.

Your lists may vary a bit, but this is the gist of it.

By the numbers, the Avs have iced one of the worst teams in the NHL, in the last 3 decades.

Here’s my take and, for the record, I haven’t always been on board with bringing the youth and prospects up from the AHL just yet. Just because the current NHL roster is tanking doesn’t mean that the NHL ice time would be a good thing for young prospects. Not unless you think getting smoked every night doesn’t have an effect on a young players confidence. While I still believe that bringing the youth up has some risk involved, I think the damage being done to the members of the Avs who will be sticking around for next season, might be worse. If I’ve learned anything this year, it’s that confidence is indeed a game changer.

But, not calling the youth up now, might be a greater evil to the likes of Rantanen, Landy, Dutchy (if he stays), Picks, EJ, Barrie… the core, as it were.

So, with regards to the remainder of the season, I ask,  to what end? A phrase often used by stoics of old and like most things stoic, a really good question if you dig down far enough. You could also use the 5 whys method to try and get to the bottom things. Both are powerful models to get to the core of things so long as you can find real answers. And, answers are indeed what I seek.

I want to know, in the context of the Colorado Avalanche, what now? To what end? What do they do with the remainder of this season? A season that is over.

Sadly the answer to those questions, from my perspective, in the later half of the 2016-2017 season has been to quit. Plain and simple, players are not showing up ready to play NHL caliber hockey and there is a distinct lack of heart on the team. With the exception of the waiver claims and the few AHL call-ups who have a hunger to stay, players are just not competing. Many of them know what comes next for them when the season ends – which is, absolutely nothing to do with the Colorado Avalanche. Either by their choosing or the Avs doing. I’d so far as to wager that for many if not all, it’s a mutual feeling.

So again I ask, to what end, Avs? What are you playing for now? What is left to prove? Is there any pride left in those beaten and bruised hearts? Does anyone even care at this point?

Do note that that was five questions aimed at getting to the heart of the problem, which sadly has not worked. So let’s revert back to the stoic philosophy and see if a different approach will yield better answers?

A stoic might ask, “what is in your control?”

Well, we know, that there is no getting into the playoffs this season, that is firmly out of everyone’s control and has been for a while now. But, the next game is still something that any Avs player can have a tangible impact on. And while it might seem highly improbable to think that one person’s effort could make a significant difference, to the point that it could win a game, it’s not that improbable at all. A real effort, with real heart, even in the face of losing and failure can spark the play of the people

What is there left to say about the Colorado Avalanche season?

If your Mother taught you “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”, then you’ve got nothing!

Okay, so maybe that’s a drastic take, but even the most optimistic fan of the Colorado Avalanche has to scrape for positives right now.

But, we’re going to take that challenge, and do our best.

Mikko Rantanen doesn’t suck

As a matter of fact, he’s really good. He sees the ice well, makes great passes and has a pretty wicked wrist shot. Also, his opportunities for improvement are obvious and glaring. The guy needs to work on his balance and strength on the puck. I have never seen a player with his skill have such a hard time staying on his skates. I don’t really even know how he falls down sometimes… and I’ve begun to hypothesize that it’s a defensive mechanism he’s subconsciously developed to keep from getting hurt. When he feels contact, he goes limp to keep from absorbing too much of the blow. Just think of him as a fainting goat.

Gabriel Landeskog has grit

Landy has had the weight of the Avalanche on his shoulders from the day he was handed the C. He’s had some very average teams to lead and some very, very bad teams to try and lead. He’s young (probably too young when he got the C) and while everything is falling apart around him, he’s keeping it real and answering failure grit. Landy is a good player, tough when he needs to be and in my eyes, a lot like Mark Messier… in the sense that he’s not the best talent on the ice, but he’s really good, tough and can lead a team. For my money, I hope he doesn’t get traded. I think he still has a huge upside that only get’s better as the team does.

Varly finally deals with his demons

What demons you ask? Not his ex-girlfriend, not a legal battle… and not just losing streak. Varly is finally going under the knife to get his groin/hip taken care of. This could be what it takes for Varly to rebound both mentally and physically. The time off from a horrible losing season won’t hurt and if he’s healthy, I have to think that makes him more consistent and less in-his-head about things. By the time Varly hits the ice again, we should see a new young and refreshed team with hunger and hopefully the ability to play a team game.

Iggy found a better sunset

You don’t have to be happy with what Iggy brought to the Colorado Avalanche to appreciate the player that he is. If you have a heart and a love for this game it won’t be hard to be happy for him and his chance to compete for the playoffs and who knows, the cup, just once more. Iggy and the LA Kings… might just be the cast of a redemption movie with a great story about an aging vet that got one more shot at the championship. But, don’t put money on that. Do be happy he’s walking off into a more optimistic sunset.

Matt Duchene hasn’t gone awol (yet)

But, be honest, if he had, could you really blame him? He get’s the least support of any Colorado Avalanche player from line-mates, takes the brunt of the blame on many nights for the Avs skinny offense, and is in trade rumors every year. The fact that Matt Duchene hasn’t jumped ship is a testament to his hunger and drive to be great. He may never do that with the Avs, as a trade seems imminent, but he’s always shown up for the Avs and tried. That’s more than you can say for a number of the guys on the roster right now.

Marty got a new forever home

Maybe not a forever, forever home but it’s a new home with a team that is really good and loves his size and ability to use it. Marty was always a fringe player with the Colorado Avalanche and kind of out of place

Trade deadline is upon us and the Colorado Avalanche have done nothing. While I’m not a fan of trading Landy or Dutchy, I am a fan of trading older, aging and expensive veteran players. Guys like Iggy to a contenteder even if there needs to be some salary retention. Or, a trade to anyone who’d take 32, 51, 14, 34. Not because I’m mad at them, but because we can probably do better in free agency and get contracts that are more reasonable for aging players who aren’t keeping up with the speed of the game as well, these days. I’d be fine with letting the youth movement begin and bringing the young guys up to get some experience if we needed to fill a roster spot.

Like every Avs fan, we’ve been pondering the current state of Colorado Avalanche hockey and trying to put our fingers on why it isn’t working this year. It’s frustrating to see players on the roster who’ve had success in past years with the Avs or with other teams fail so epically. It would be easy to point fingers at individual players, the coaches or the management, all of whom are a part of the problem. But if you keep boiling it down to try and find the essence, you have to ask yourself “What makes us a bad team and what we’d have to do to be a good team.”

… And then we boiled it down to some simple bullet-points of what a good hockey team does, to win regardless of the team, the players, the coaches, the management. Some simple truths… what good hockey teams do.

We ponder, bitch, moan and grown about the aforementioned in the podcast which you can digest in less than 10 mins.

Stay Awesome!

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I miss the old days when trades were commonplace. Trades came in blockbuster deals and late round swaps. You could make a full day of watching TSN actually report something, while you pretended to be working. These days with salary caps and ginormous contracts, we just don’t see much happening on trade day. You’re more likely to see the big moves in the off-season when teams have players peeling off the cap-hit, and when GMs have their eyes locked in on a very certain prospect.

Honestly, what’s a GM to do? Their hands are tied and they are working with the business equivalent of a left-wing-lock. There’s no excitement and no real motivation to make a big trade by March 1st if you aren’t 100% sure that this last piece you’re trading for, is the difference in winning, or not winning the Stanley Cup.

We riff on the above before knocking #2 off our Colorado Hockey Bucket List.

Stay Awesome!

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It would appear that something has clicked, with the Colorado Avalanche Players. The same team, with roughly the same cast of players, has started to play better hockey and it’s happening from the supporting role players, all the way through the top 6. So what the hell is happening now that couldn’t happen when we still had a chance at making the playoffs? This and other things we can’t really answers are pondered by way of a podcast.

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