Three Players Reassigned To Lake Erie

Sunday, 09.27.2009 / 1:25 PM / News Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club announced today that it has reduced its 2009 preseason roster to 24 players.

The following players have been reassigned to the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League:

Pos.     Player                         
C          Chris Durno
D          Derek Peltier
G          Tyler Weiman

After last nights game in Las Vegas the Avs have made the final cuts to the roster (or maybe it was done before since none of these guys played last night). I'm curious to see if O'Reilly stays up for more than 9-10 games, or if he's gone in a couple of weeks.  I also expect to see Koci as a healthy scratch most night, but wouldn't it be nice if his partner in the press box was Tucker.

David Jones Update

Adrian Dater is reporting he's heard Jones has signed, but no details as of yet.

I’m hearing Jones has signed a two-year deal with the Avs, but haven’t gotten it totally confirmed yet, and I don’t know for how much either.

No confirmation on the Haydar rumors.

I’ve heard the Darren Haydar rumors too, but don’t have it confirmed that he’s signed anything with the Avs. It’s a holiday weekend, and a lot of people around the team are off.

Avs may still be looking to bring in someone:

*People are asking about whether the Avs are in the market for a forward/center/PK guy/whomever, and my best answer right now is: could be. Guys like Yelle/Malhotra/Betts are out there still, and no it wouldn’t shock me if the Avs tried to sign one of them.

Avalanche ink McLeod to three-year deal

The Colorado Avalanche and forward Cody McLeod have agreed to a three-year deal worth $3.1 million.

 

The contract will see the 6'2, 210-pound native of Binscarth, Manitoba make $900,000, $1 million, and $1.2 million per year, respectively.

A little bit of a pay raise over the $522.500 he made last season. I have a feeling the organization is expecting McLeod to "replace" Lappy.

Also, a former Avs player is involved in one of the first trades of this offseason as Reinprecht was traded to Florida.

Coyotes deal Reinprecht to Panthers for Meyer

Reinprecht was set to be an unrestricted free agent, but has singed with Florida

Reinprecht's three-year deal has a cap hit of $2.050 million. He will get $1.8 million in the first year and $2.175 million in each of the following two years.

It seems the nostalgia tour could be continuing for the organization as Dater reports that Adam Deadmarsh interviewed with the team for a management position.

Deadmarsh up for management post

His playing days are over, but Deadmarsh has interviewed for a management position with the Avs organization, the team confirmed Wednesday.

Avs vice president Jean Martineau said that while Deadmarsh is not up for the team's vacant second assistant coaching position, he has interviewed for another management job and is being strongly considered.

Is it possible he could be coaching in LE next season, or is there still a vacancy somewhere in the main office?

Just watched saturday's game (March 7th).  Just a few notes of things I noticed.

Despite being 29th in the AHL the Monster's power play looked better than the parent club.  They still pass a little too much, but their passes seem much crisper and faster. Some players barely hold the puck at all before passing (like they already know where their teammates are).  The Monster had a long 5:00 power play early in the game, during which they also had a full 2:00 5 on 3.  I don't know how hard Darcy Campbell's shot is, but he isn't shy about shooting the puck from the point.  The Monsters kept the puck in the offensive zone most of the 5:00 and Campbell took a number of shots from the point includingone that beat the goalie during the 5 on 3.

Galiardi has a couple of good little moves.  He used one to score on a power play as more good passing got him the puck to the goalies right, he deked the goalie and then back-handed a shot between the goalie and the d-man to give the Monster's a 3-0 lead. I mentioned the passing...four good quick passes spread the defense out. The second to last pass came to Rowe (from Macias) in between the circle which drew one d-man up away from the crease on the fake shot, then Rowe passed down to Galiardi who basically had the goalie to beat.

Matt Hendricks - looks like a Smyth style player.  He scored in this game by working in/around the crease. They replayed some of his goals this season and a lot of them looked to be off deflections, or by picking up rebounds in the crease and banging them home. He seems to spend most of his time within a few feet of the goalie....

Hendrick's second goal was an ugly one for the goalie.  He made the initial stop on Hendricks shorthanded chance, but it had just enough to squeak through the pads and knuckle across the line.

Late in the game Hendricks had a chance at the hat-trick. With the Monsters on the power play, a shot was thrown on net and Hendricks was crashing in from the goalie's left for the chance.

Per Ledin scored a goal camped in the crease and took a beating for his trouble. Early in the game he drew the 5:00 penalty. He was hit along the boards (nothing wrong with the hit) but then the American's player decided to sprear him in the ribs...not sure if Ledin said samething to ruffle the guys feathers or what?

Can't really say too much about Wieman. He wasn't tested much through out the game (5 shots in the first) and both goals against were pretty good scores.  He did seemt o get across the crease fairly well...

It's just one game, but Hendricks looks like a guy that might be up with the Avs in the next year or two. Since he was just called up, it will be interesting to see if he plays, and if so, how he does.

The Avs are once again hoping to not match their longest losing streak of the season (five games) as they face the Calgary Flames in the second to last game of this eight game home stand.  Surprisingly the Flames are the last team the Avs beat before losing their last four.  In case the boys in Burgundy and Blue have forgot, here's some tips on how to properly extinguish a fire.

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Rinse, trim excess fat from duck. Take a sharp knife and cut slits in the SKIN of the duck in a number of places on the back, ribs sides, thighs, drumsticks but NOT in the skin on the breast. Place duck on a rack in a roasting pan, laying it with the back up. Place in preheated oven for about 7 minutes. Turn duck over and place in oven for another 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from oven (turn oven off) and move duck to a cutting board and allow it to cool enough that you can handle it. Drain fat off pan and discard it. Reserve roasting pan. When duck has cooled, with a sharp knife, quarter the duck. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F. Place duck pieces skin side down on a roasting pan, sprinkle salt and black pepper. Bake in preheated oven at 350 Degree F. for 10 minutes. While duck is cooking, in a 2 quart saucepan, combine ginger ale with sliced ginger root; bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer until reduced to about 1 cup. Add orange juice, brown sugar, orange marmalade, and chopped green onions and 2 Tbsp brandy. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until mixture is a thin syrup. This takes about 30 minutes. Remove ginger; turn duck skin side up and drain off any fat. Baste thoroughly with sauce. Return to oven and bake for 7 minutes basting well. Add 3 Tbsp brandy to the remaining sauce and simmer until thickened. When duck has reached desired doneness (DON'T OVERCOOK), place duck on serving platter and pour sauce on it. Serve with wild rice, or parsleyed potatoes.

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Since I just got home and there seems to be no GDT, I'll start one, but we're half way through the first and no one seems to be here.

Toronto Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson's frustration with his team's poor defensive play is boiling over. He expects to see some improvement or he'll make personnel changes to get the desired results.

Wilson looks for a better defensive effort from the Maple Leafs, who have lost four in a row going into their first meeting in more than two years with the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.

The Maple Leafs (17-23-8) have given up a league-high 174 goals, and Wilson's first move to try and improve the team's defense was to call up goaltender Justin Pogge from Toronto's AHL club.

Pogge, 22, was scheduled to return to the minors after starting the Leafs' game Tuesday night regardless of how he performed. The rookie, however, had little chance to make a case to stay in the NHL due to the sloppy play in front of him in a 6-1 loss to Minnesota.

Pogge, considered the team's top prospect, made 15 saves and had virtually no chance on all four Wild goals in the second period.

The lopsided loss was just the latest poor defensive performance for Toronto this season, and Wilson is reaching the point of exasperation.

"We have a lot of guys that have to show a lot more pride in their performance defensively than they're showing," he said.

"Right now it's a garden full of weeds and I need to pick some weeds. It's as simple as that."

The Maple Leafs have been outscored 16-7 during their four-game losing streak, and have lost eight of nine.

With Pogge returning to the AHL, struggling veteran Vesa Toskala is expected to be back in net Thursday. Toskala has lost his last three starts and is 2-8-2 with a 3.73 goals-against average since Dec. 23.

Toskala has not faced the Avalanche since 2006 when he was with the Sharks. He's 3-3-0 with one tie and a 2.56 GAA in nine games against them.

Colorado and Toronto haven't met since the Avalanche's 4-1 win Oct. 18, 2006, behind two goals from John-Michael Liles. The Avs have won their last three home games against the Maple Leafs since a 3-2 loss March 29, 1997.

The Avalanche (23-24-1) are halfway through an eight-game homestand that hasn't gone well. They've lost three of their first four in the stretch.

After scoring 11 goals in its previous two games, Colorado lost to San Jose 3-0 on Tuesday. The Avalanche have dropped five of six since a three-game winning streak.

Despite its recent struggles, Colorado is only four points out of a playoff spot.

"It's frustrating. We need all the points we can get right now," Colorado's Brett Clark said. "Little mistakes here and there. If we can eliminate those, we're going to be OK."

The Avs have also suffered from a shaky situation in goal of late.

Andrew Raycroft, who stopped 35 shots Tuesday, has posted a 3.12 GAA in losing his last four games, while Peter Budaj is 1-4-0 with a 3.89 GAA in six starts since Dec. 31.

Raycroft, who was in goal for Toronto in its last meeting with Colorado, is 3-5-1 with a 2.73 GAA in nine starts versus his former team.

Budaj made 27 saves in the win over Toronto in October 2006, his only career start against the Leafs.