Stewart and Galiardi hooked up for 2 goals for the Burgundy side. They should be on the same line all season.

Duchene must be glad he only plays one game against Foote. Foote gave him a shot in the face after Dutchy took a shot, then ripped off Duchene's helmet later in the game. Foote is an asshole, but he's our asshole so I like him.

Pickard let in a goal he probably shouldn't have, but then redeemed himself later in the game, then again in the shootout.

Trevor Cann let in a very lame goal and we all felt sad for him. He didn't redeem himself in the shootout, but I have some sympathy for him. He had to go against Mueller, Hejduk and Duchene.

I think I'm jumping on the Stoa bandwagon. He should play with an "A" on his chest this year instead of an "M".

There was a Sakic-spotting at the game. We all love that he can't stay away from the Avalanche.

That is all for now. Thank you and good night!

After Wednesday's disappointing loss to the Islanders, some were ready to push the panic button on the Avalanche. I thought it was unnecessary. One disappointing loss to a sub .500 team isn't reason to panic. After tonight's sad, sad loss to the Caroline Hurricanes, I'm ready to jump on the bandwagon. It's a strange looking bandwagon. It looks like a bus with wobbly wheels. They could fall off at any time.

Now what could cause a team, who is unexpectedly in the middle of division and playoff position battles, to lose to the worst team in the league?

• Over-Coaching? Liles needs to do less of this. Wolski needs to do more of that. Stastny needs to do more of this. I understand that this is what a coach is paid to do, but is Sacco overdoing it? Does it seem like players are thinking too much? And what's with all the line juggling? We're halfway through the season and either I REALLY don't pay attention well or the Avalanche don't have any thing close to set lines.
  
• Lack of Leadership? Mr. Jordan at Mile High Mayhem may be on to something with his "Are Certain Avs Lacking Something?" post. Our captains are Foote, Stastny and Hejduk. I can see Stastny and Hejduk as leaders on their lines and I can see Foote being comfortably in charge of defensemen, but I have a hard time seeing them as team leaders. They all seem to have that blue-collar, I-come-to-work-and-do-my-job-well kind of attitude. I like them in those roles, it's just that they're not leadership roles.
  
• Inexperience? When 24 year old Paul Stastny is considered one of the salty veterans, you have a young team. 9 players on the Avalanche's active roster have 1 year or less of experience. I'm not really sure how inexperience plays into it, but it's there somehow. Maybe it's mental fatigue with players not used to playing this long of a season. Maybe players aren't used to having to study their opponents as much.
  

Regardless of the reason for these colossal let-downs, the next 2 weeks are going to be a turning point for the Avalanche. Just because I'm on the panic bandwagon doesn't mean I've given up hope, far from it. This is when the Avs are going to show us what kind of team we're going to see for the rest of the season. Do they pull it together or completely fall apart? It's try-out time for any player who wants to wear a "C" on their unipron in the future.

All this serious talk of attendance at Avalanche games has had me thinking a lot about what is causing it. Sure you can blame economics, lack of advertising, ticket prices (this one idiot even recommended 'trendiness'), etc., etc. I've found the true reason though....

BERNIE!

What happens when Bernie tries to get the crowd pumped up?

The kids go: "Daddy! Look at the cute puppy!"
The ladies go, "Aw, how cute"
The guys go *facepalm*

I say, "BRING BACK HOWLER!" and the fans will follow.

The idea of ice girls is starting to gain some ground too.....

• http://www.avclub.com/denver/articles/the-avs-new-mascot-should-roll-over-and-play-dead,34283/
• http://thenhlarena.com/index.php?showtopic=99134
• http://blogs.denverpost.com/avs/2009/10/03/your-new-avs-mascot-bernie/

When the Avs started playing here hockey was a novelty. The Avalanche were an instant championship team with dynamic star power. The rich and elite of Denver wanted to be seen around the Avalanche players because of their natural humbleness humility and social responsibility. What has happened since then?:

• The original star players have either been traded or retired or have become injured and moved back to Sweden to live in international hockey ambiguity.
• The lockout hurt the popularity of the NHL in general.
• The salary cap made the GM's job much less publicly entertaining.
• The Avs mediocre seasons hurt their trendiness.

It's true hockey fans and true Avalanche fans who pay attention now. Hockey is no longer a novelty in Colorado. Most of the people who go to games now understand what icing is and why it can be waved off. They know what delayed penalties mean what "cycling the puck" is. I think we're starting to see how popular hockey really is in Denver and maybe there just isn't as many real hockey fans in Denver as we thought.