SB Nation User Blog: Dario

Erie vs Brampton and a preview of the Avalanche future. Matt Duchene is magical in this game and...

Dario — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 16:22:56 -0000

O'Reilly VS Duchene (great stuff)

Erie vs Brampton and a preview of the Avalanche future.

Matt Duchene is magical in this game and Ryan O'Reilly shows some real moxy in the faceoff circle.

Kroenke Sports needs to overhaul the entire Avalanche Experience.

Dario — Thu, 07 May 2009 03:37:49 -0000

Understandably there's been plenty of debate on what the Avalanche organization does in terms of personnel and their approach to winning hockey games. However, there's plenty of improvement for the ownership, Kroenke Sports Enterprises (KSE) to improve the Avalanche product beyond the play on the ice. This is one fans opinion on what needs improvement and ideas on how to improve them.

Financial commitment:

There's been plenty of scuttlebutt in town about how KSE has diverted their financial attentions from the Avalanche and used those finances towards the Nuggets (one of KSE's other assets). I don't believe KSE has lowered any of its financial commitment towards the Avalanche. They've gone from committing 60 million a year in salaries in a non-capped collective bargaining agreement (CBA) to a salary cap since 2004. Last season the Avalanche entered the year with approximately over 4 million in salary cap space left. However, fans also must remember that Joe Sakic did not commit to a new contract until nearly the end of August which was of course well past the July 1st UFA frenzy. There was also the consideration of reserving some cap space for our favorite spleenless Swede. However, he teased the Avalanche with his decision until January 30th when he concluded the Avs sucked his foot just wasn't ready. The other thing a lot of casual Avalanche observers forget is that KSE committed money to run a yearly summer development camp in Denver for their prospects. They've also been keeping United Airlines in business with their affiliation to the new AHL team in Lake Erie. They committed to significant contracts for Foote, Liles, Stastny and even flushed $600,000 down the drain on Per Ledin (the average AHL salary is closer to $60,000 to $80,000). There has been some concern when KSE laid off an approximate two dozen employees and then released this statement;

"We recently have been forced to make difficult financial decisions during these trying economic times to decrease costs. Because of the numerous economic challenges faced at KSE and all businesses locally, nationally and globally, we are saddened to announce that we have made staff reductions."

Then again, Kroenke just dropped 60 more million to increase his stake in the Arsenal soccer team (Sorry, football club). I think as Avalanche fans you have to appreciate the fact you cannot pick your owners (reference Colorado Rockies). We are fortunate to have an owner that will support his team and spend money to make the product better. I can't make any suggestions here, except that KSE should continue to recognize that despite the gate numbers this year, there is a large and dedicated fan base for this Avalanche team. If you build a good product we will reward you with our loyalty and consequently our wallets. Of course there are suckers like us die hard fans who will continue to do so regardless of the product.

Altitude Sports and Entertainment:

As most know, Altitude is owned by KSE. They have their own TV network and of course they run their broadcast on several radio affiliates like Mile High Sports radio locally in Denver. So the good news first, Altitude ratings are very good for the Avalanche despite the gate numbers at the Pepsi Center. The actual television broadcasts and radio telecasts have improved in their professionalism and "production values". When the network first launched it was certainly armature hour in regards to the studios, graphics etc... Altitude has made good strides in becoming a professional broadcaster, rather than a typical local sports network that flirt with production values on par with a PBS broadcast.

Now, the bad news.. Altitude has a serious problem that is inherent to the broadcaster owning the teams in which they cover. The broadcasters are unabashed homers of the worst kind. It's OK to have a bias for the team you cover, but it's another thing to so obviously pander to the positive outlook that it borders on the surreal. When your broadcasters can't muster a single critical thing to say, we start to distrust everything they say. Does Paul Stastny really have great vision on the ice? I want to think that's true but you just told me earlier that Raycroft is having a solid year. The sad part is, we know from the days on Fox Sports that these same broadcasters have the ability to offer good constructive critiques of the Avalanche. However, since the move to Altitude it's sunshine ALL THE TIME. I got news for the brass at Altitude, fans in this town are not idiots. If you don't begin to gain traction with some credibility here, you will be past the point of no return. You'll become an on going parody and consequently less than what you could be. You can be something more than that, you can actually contribute to the product instead of becoming background noise.

Peter McNab and Mike Haynes are great at what they do. However, they need to know they can offer a criticism of the play on the ice. I know they can do it because they both did so before they worked for Altitude. Let them call a spade a spade. Anything less is insulting our intelligence as fans.

Norm Jones and Marc Moser aren't as good without Mike Haynes doing the radio. Unlike others I like Moser but have never been real high on Jones. With that being said, that's simply personal preference. The fact is, while radio is a little better than the TV broadcast in so far as any criticisms of the team they still toe the company line. How is anyone listening on the radio supposed to get a feel for the game when it's all sunshine and rainbows on the broadcast? You would think that Avalanche found themselves as the 3rd worst team in the NHL by pure happenstance and bad luck. Respect your fans by trusting them with a straight call, that's all I'm asking.

Because I'm a giver, here are my suggestions in no particular order:

Broadcast both home and away games in HD. I'm sure there are technical challenges I don't fully appreciate but it sure feels like it's time to go HD across the board. KSE needs to market the Avalanche and High Definition sells hockey, period.
Broadcast all the preseason games. The Avalanche are picking 3rd in the draft and you know you're going to market the hell out of this kid. We really, really want to see these preseason games. I know that Altitude gets crazy ratings for Kiana's Flex Appeal but I'm guessing Avalanche preseason broadcasts are going to do a bit better.
Post your Avalanche material that can't be found on Center Ice to a video sharing site like Youtube, Hulu etc... Avalanche fans across the world want to see Lappy play Pictionary on Avalanche All Access, trust me on this. Postgame, pregame and specials should all be somewhere. You market your product and if you do it right you gain some revenue as well.
Altitude needs their Don Cherry / Charle Barkley between periods. It offers Altitude an avenue to make their between period material WAY more interesting. It's classic good cop / bad cop and it simply works. Develop a "coaches corner" of your own and get someone who will break down film and be critical of the team if it's called for.
Do not, under any circumstance run a correspondent piece at a local bar ever again. The forced cheering and delayed reaction to the camera are pure torture.
Avalanche All Access nights where McNabb stands between the benches is great stuff, don’t' stop what works.
Consider broadcasting some Lake Erie Monster games, that's a pretty easy sell and markets your prospects.
For radio, I hate to say it but you need better talent at the play by play. Norm is a really great guy but he's a color guy pure and simple. Might I suggest you get someone with a little spice to their delivery? I understand not everyone can be Randy Moller but man if he was, I'd listen to that every game.
The move from The Fan 104.3 FM to Mile High Sports Radio on 1510 AM was a total disaster. At night, major sections of the Denver population can't get the broadcast. It looks like things are changing soon, so if the higher wattage doesn't fix the issue get a back up plan STAT.

The Pepsi Center (ie, going to the game):

The Pepsi Center is a great venue that has hosted some tremendous games and it's hard to remember for Avs fans, but The Can can get crazy loud (watch the Nuggets playoffs).

A visit to the rink needs to improve. The hot air balloons dropping gift cards to the lower bowl and the occasional free T-shirt toss just doesn't cut it anymore, not when the team doesn't sell itself. The crew is doing the same shticks on the jumbo-tron, and the entertainment values have actually gone down. "Back in the day" a visit to an Avalanche game consisted of the Avs skating through a giant mountain lowered from the rafters (now gone), the fan favorite crazy dance to "Thank God I'm a country boy" (hard to explain, you'd know it if you saw it (now gone)), The "I've seen a lot of crazy stuff in my life but that was awesome!" clip from Tommy Boy (gone), The Howler mascot (gone), the two planted KSE employees who wore the crazy pom pom heads (gone), The live bands like Opie Gone Bad (gone). Look, I'm not saying all of these were good ideas but what I am saying is that it seems that someone with the Pepsi center just stopped trying.

It's not just the adults that looked bored to tears, the real litmus test is that there are a ton of kids who are bored to tears. Hey, the Price is Right game you play with some adult in the crowd? Yeah, the kids have no idea what the hell is going on. The dance off, kiss cam and shell game stuff are all good standbys but they are pure low effort affairs. Who came up with this intro back in the day? (Embrace the unintended comedy of Darby Hendrickson and cringe at the level of talent on that team). They took a current pop culture theme and nailed the intro. Now? Some canned hard rock music to some highlights before the Avs skate into some twirling graphics. There's nothing memorable there and as I said before, it just seems like someone isn't trying very hard. For the record, when your team is the 3rd worst in the NHL, that’s when your marketing team should be killing it.

Some suggestions:

For the love of all that's holy, find different bump music for when the other team scores. The death metal riff for a team like the Avs didn't inspire the crowd nor the team. It turned in to a siren song of despair. You can hear it after this goal a bit, best I could find. It was so depressing when it was played, the fact that no one with KSE could recognize this just baffles me. Oh how I hate that song.
Music is a matter of taste of course but if the Avs want to establish a tradition and appeal to the soul of every true hockey fan they would get an organ. It's retro but organs for hockey venues are straight up fool proof.
Mascots are goofy and not really part of the Avalanche front office vibe. But mascots are for kids, like ice girls are for Dads. Not the unprofessional message you want to send? Well look at it this way, Detroit, Calgary and even Toronto have mascots. Kids love them and kids are bored to tears at Avalanche games of late. If I may be so bold, my idea is to recruit Rocky. Yeah, he's already an NBA mascot but he's already a KSE employee and honestly he's the modern day San Diego Chicken. He's absolutely brilliant and kids as well as adults are glued to his antics. When the Nuggets are on the road he can work Avalanche home games. He may not be up to it but you never know, ask him. But I do know that he's pure gold. Give him a raise to work Avs games.
When you aren't selling the building out... you might want to send out the word to your ushers that after the 1st period you don't need to check tickets for lower bowl access. It looks good on TV if people can move down and it makes it louder on the ice for the home team.
Establish some Pepsi Center traditions. During the preseason the staff experimented with playing "The good old Hockey game" with the lyrics and bouncing ball thingy. It wasn't perfect but everyone (and more importantly the kids) could all sing the chorus and frankly it's just cool to sing "Sakic scores!". It disappeared for some reason. But it got the crowd together and there’s nothing that kills a building like an arena full of individuals.
I'm a big fan of pop culture and I think it sells. Matrix intro in 2002? Perfect. Tommy Boy outtake, fantastic. Someone inventive might create a "Hello, I'm an Avalanche fan. And I'm a Detroit fan" (Mac vs PC) parody. Someone creative could do something with a Family Guy clip, an original clip or *gasp* a Slap Shot clip.

Bloggers, Twitter, and the Internet OH MY!:

The Avalanche organization has evolved quite a bit from their early years of ownership under COMSAT. In particular, for those of us that paid attention back in those days, their web presence evolved from a hack job ("Edge on the Web"! Um, 14 years later and I still don’t get it) to a better version to the current www.avalanche.nhl.com page. Back in the day Angélique (Jori), myself and some others did our best to investigate prospects, moderate message boards and create some sort of online communities where none existed. Now, the Avalanche provide a lot more information. Some of the cynical among us might conclude the Avs did so only because they had to being part of the www.NHL.com network. The cynical might conclude the Avs started posting prospect stories and message boards because other places were already doing so to fill a void. But, the bottom line is that they have put in a better online effort to inform the fans so even the cynical (who me?) have to admit things are much, much better than they used to be.

With all that said, there is plenty of room for improvement. Historically the Avalanche are pretty much reactive to technology, rather than proactive. You know what, that’s OK. Old school management gets a pass, kind of like your grandparents using the VCR. But the time has passed to embrace some of the things your new players understand but you do not. Just as one example, just look at your competition at http://capitals.nhl.com/.

Like your grandkids, I’m here to help:

Blogs. You do not like them… maybe. I can’t really be sure if the Avs pay any attention to them but I got news for you, fans do. The Capitals and other NHL teams provide links to established bloggers. You might consider it because despite the unsavory reputation, they promote your team even when they are the third worst team in the NHL.
Facebook, Twitter and social networking sites. Like you I’ve avoided these for some time but this is progress (apparently). The Caps have a Facebook page. Ovechkin uses Twitter (my favorite so far was the deadpan, totally serious post of "Getting ready to win 3 games" when they were down 3-1 to NY). Every one of your players under twenty know what these things are and could post on a blog, send a "tweet" or update a Facebook page. If fans are interested, it’s another avenue for you to market your team, post links for ticket sales and merchandise etc…
Put up a webcam for training camp and rookie camp. Oh, and you can advertise under the video. "Always Be Closing"! (You know, the ABCs. Or, in your case Always Be Selling. ARNASON PUT THE COFFE DOWN!!).
http://youtube.com/user/WashingtonCapitals is a an example of what I talked about with Altitude previously. Post your material, sell your product.
Some things aren’t even Web 2.0. Share desktop themes, wallpapers, ringtones, screensavers, etc…
I’ll keep this real simple, Avalanche mobile website. I know all you executives with KSE rock a Blackberry, you know why you need it. Heck, develop a simple iphone application with the Avs schedule, of course include hyperlinks in the calendar to sell tickets.
Post the streaming audio of the games from your site. Avs fans from around the world find the radio broadcasts elsewhere, make it easy on them. Did I mention the ABCs?
Leverage technology to help your already excellent work in the Colorado community. Broadcast the Burgundy and White game in a telethon format. Put up an online auction and raise more money.

In sum, now is not the time to sit on your laurels. This last year the sales slogan was "The Avalanche Experience". The Avalanche experience needs some improvement. KSE needs to improve everything from the Altitude broadcast to a visit to the Pepsi Center. The hard truth of the matter is, the Avalanche Experience is no longer easy money. It’s time to get progressive and market this team in ways you’ve never done before.

Brampton are down 4-1 in game 4 of the series. Watch the video at the 4.52 mark to see Duchene lay...

Dario — Sat, 09 May 2009 04:49:32 -0000

Brampton are down 4-1 in game 4 of the series. Watch the video at the 4.52 mark to see Duchene lay a big hit on the boards and follow it up with a a fight. Fight isn't shown but it's another facet that might forecast his competitive side.

TI4A

Dario — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 04:51:07 -0000

Tank it for the Avalanche Duchene!!!

The latest Redline report has Duchene as the number 1 pick in the draft.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/160106-meet-the-new-no1-pick-in-the-2009-nhl-entry-draft-matt-duchene

I mean Tavares or Hedman would be flat out awsome..so why am I concerned we won't get Duchene over those two? I think it's because of Tavares work ethic and well Hedman would be great but man we could use a scoring forward.

We were meant to be Duchene, stop showing off by scoring big goals in the playoffs and just lay low man.

This Matt Duchene thing is getting weird

Dario — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 04:22:12 -0000

Ok, we all know that Duchene is an Avalanche fan, which frankly makes him damn near perfect. Well, besides being a great player on the ice, apprently he's good in the classroom.

Matt Duchene, Brampton Battalion

Duchene attended Turner Fenton Secondary School in Brampton while playing for the Battalion. He maintained a busy schedule of six courses including Grade 12 University Prep classes such as English where he has achieved an 85% average and Canadian Law with a mark of 82%. Duchene has carried an overall average of 85% and has been described by teachers as being a leader and a role model in class, always enthusiastic giving 100% effort, and always willing to take risks and to help others.

So, OK then. He's like the perfect guy. But WAIT, there's more!

Duchene is the first member of the Brampton Battalion to win the Bobby Smith Trophy. Previous winners include Craig Billington (Belleville, 1984-85), Nathan LaFayette (Cornwall, 1990-91 and 1991-92), Ethan Moreau (Niagara Falls, 1993-94), Brad Boyes (Erie, 1999-00), and Steven Stamkos (Sarnia, 2006-07).

So yeah, that's probably going to put him in the good graces of someone that matters. He also continues to do well in the playoffs, he scored another goal tonight and was named 3rd star in the latest playoff game against the Bulls.

I'm trying not to fall in love. Ferris Bueller would have something to say about my first 3rd pick... or something.

Franzen signs 11 year deal

Dario — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 04:30:41 -0000

He's 29 years old, you do the math. No financial terms were disclosed.

http://www.fromtherink.com/2009/4/11/830915/franzen-signs-11-year-deal

So, can we just sign Hejduk to a 25 year deal and call it good? After a certain age a retired player salary doesn't count against your cap so you can stretch the damn thing out forever.

Let's sign Arnason to a 25 year 5 million dollar deal.....except we can backload it and that means he will play on the team so, strike that. Let's sign Sakic to a 3 million 75 year deal with 2.95 million as a signing bonus. I guess there's a league minimum so that can't happen I suppose. Some people are going to be all pissed off that Holland is doing this. Me? I'm just jealous.

Two observations

Dario — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 04:47:37 -0000

First, I was watching the Avalanche All Access program on Altitutde and here's a little tid bit that won't suprise any of you. Tyler Arnason is roomates with Bret Clark. When Kyle Keefe asked Clark what's one thing most people don't know about your roomate on the road? He answered, Arny sleeps all the time. He can sleep anywhere, anytime and he sleeps constantly. The punchline is so freeking obvious I'm not going to even go there.

Second, I was watching the 2001 game six against the Devils. Although this eventual Stanley Cup champion team featured the unGodly lineup of Roy, Bourque, Blake and Foote on the back end, it featured something up front I totally forgot about. Your first line was the red hot Hejduk-Sakic-Tangauy line. They killed it all year long and in the playoffs. Guess what the second line was? Niemenen-Drury-HInote. You read that right, the second line of the Stanley cup champs featured the names Nieminen and Hinote.

The reason this strikes me as important is because the Avs prior to Stastny going down to injury were one of the weakest teams in the West at center. Arnason as your second string centerman was killing this team. Now that Wolski has shown his ability at center the Avs have two solid centermen going forward, Sakic is just gravy. The Avs certainly have some housekeeping to do in their back end with defensive coverage and goaltending. However, if the Avs can keep it close they could make some serious strides when Stastny gets back. This league is dominated by teams that are strong up the middle and the Avs can now hold their own there once Stastny gets back.

Quantifying Arnason as the Whipping Boy

Dario — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 04:00:04 -0000

Editor's Note: When you, the fine members of MHH take the time out of your tiny lives to post a meaningful, well-written, FanPost we will, from time to time, promote it to the front page. I'm not sure if the following is meaningful, or well-written, but it made me smile inside, and if that makes me a bad person, then I'll happily take my stocking full of coal - Mike.

Let me say first and foremost that Tyler Arnason isn't the only thing wrong with the Avalanche. Arnason doesn't lose games single-handedly for this team. In fact Arnason may be a great guy who's well liked in the locker room. He probably calls his mom every week and is a cool all around dude. However, Tyler Arnason represents everything that is wrong with this hockey club on the ice.

Look, it's not as simple as just saying Arnason in 31 games has 2 goals, 7 assists and is -1. It's not enough to say that Arny is six years in to his NHL career and is 29 years old, ergo his "prime".

Great teams in this game are strong up the middle. Detroit shifts Datsyuk, Hudler and Filppula. San Jose shifts Thorton, Marleau and Roenick. Chicago shifts Toews, Sharp and Bollard. Boston can shift Kessel, Savard, Kjreci and for grins they can shift out Yelle OR Bergeron. The Avalanche with no Joe Sakic are shifting out Stastny and then Arnason followed by Hensick, Guite or now Lappy is playing the position for the first time in 12 years. The Avs are horrendously weak up the middle and it's killing them. Without the miracle of Sakic or Forsberg the Avs have to get a better second line center to possess the puck and cash in on taxed defensemen after the Stastny shift. Tyler Arnason is simply not good enough to be your teams second line center and his game is ill suited for 3rd or 4th line duty. Again, he's not the only issue but Arny is a fundamental weakness of this team and instead of just groaning about lacking effort I'm determined to disect this team down to its fundamental problems and as is my God given right as a fan, bitch endlessly about it.

Here is my breakdown of Tyler Arnason's game as I see it. First let me point out what makes Arny an intriguing asset. His positives, if you will:

· Arny uses a really long stick. His reach with that stick allows him to poke check effectively and it seems to confound defensemen on their spacing when Arnason is on the rush.

· He has good defensive positioning for the most part. He's in the right spot on the ice. If the Avs don't possess the puck he simply won't get out of position, he's text book.

· Arny has really good hands. He has to with a stick like that. The puck is very sticky for him because his stick handling is better than average.

· He's willing to cut in to the scoring lane on the rush with the puck. Not a lot of forward make this move without the puck getting deflected and leading to interesting odd man rushes going the other way.

Arny's numerous problem areas:

· He's soft. He's not 180 lbs of skilled speed. He's 204 lbs of "please God, not the face!" To quote Inthecheapseats.com from last year's report card, "Obviously, physical play is not a part of his game; he has 8 hits in 2 seasons in Denver. 709 NHL players had more than that this season alone. For crying out loud, little Kyle Cumiskey had 7 in 38 games." He has four so far this year. Sakic has more hits in 15 games than Arny. Even Hejduk seals guys off the puck with his body. But even at 204 lbs Arnason can't even do that. He's a pure poke check guy. His aversion to contact is so great that he's surprising guys because he doesn't touch them. No one and I mean no one gets fatigued playing against Arny.

· I gave myself the challenge of trying to catch Arny skate backwards against Florida. I couldn't do it. He turned his back to the rush on defense and had to twist his entire body back and forth to interrupt passing lanes. What good is a long stick if you can't put your body in position to use it? Dave Andreychuk developed a HOF career with no ability to skate backwards. Arnason, you are no Andreychuk. I'm sure he can skate backwards but he doesn't through the neutral zone on defense. Another tough shift against Arny for the opposing offense.

· He's one dimensional. Arny is good at one thing, taking the zone on the rush down the right side, going outside in on his move to the slot and taking the shot. Unfortunately, any team that plays him more than once figures that out pretty quickly and takes the body. Have I mentioned out averse Arny is to bodily contact? Even if he can trick some teams with this he's going to be absolutely worthless in the playoffs when predictability kills you. Arny won't kick the puck around in the corners to keep a shift alive. Arny won't curl off the rush. Arny won't chip and chase. Arny does one thing and only one thing. Prove me wrong.

· Arny skates one speed. He doesn't accelerate well. He doesn't have a top end speed to challenge defensemen. And again, I'm not sure he can skate backwards or at least transition skate reliably well. I'm watching this (because I'm bitter, or pissed. Most likely both).

· Arny shows no emotion. He's a freeking Ben Stein. No anger, no elation, just nothing.

· Arny doesn't talk. He's not shouting on the ice that I can tell. He's not putting his head next to Wolski to talk about the last shift. He's not calling Phenaufs mom a fat ass. He's silent Bob.

· Denver fans love one thing in a professional athlete above all else. We love players that look like they are doing their best and holding nothing back. With Arny's lack of emotion, inability or willingness to hit, monotonous pace of play combined with his utter lack of creativity pisses us off. I don't know Tyler Arnason from Adam but I dislike watching him play hockey.

· In the faceoff circle he's a one and done kind of face-off guy. By that I mean he wins the draw clean or not at all. This goes hand in hand with Arny's Stay Puft Marshmallow Man approach to hockey. He won't tie up a stick and muscle his guy off the circle so his winger can come in and help. This also makes him predictable in the circle and late game draws are...um predictable.

· There's a guy who does the hockey hour talk show on the new Mile HIgh Radio station here to says fans need to lay off Arnson. He claims that most fans just don't appreciate what Arny does on the ice. He says Arnason is playing "great defense". Let me tell you something, Arny IS good positionally on defense. He's so god damn good with his positioning that he's got zero empowerment to his game. If there's a loose puck he can dive in to the corner and get because his line is on a long shift and they need some moxy to puck out. He's not going anywhere. He's going to float in his position until somehow that puck deflects to his stick by magic. He's the equivalent of Ken Klee on the offensive blue line. His ass isn't going below the circles for all the tea in China. Oh, by the way which of the Avalanche centermen don't play on PK? Which cat with some of the longest reach on the team isn't entrusted within a country mile of playing the PK. Let me give you a hint., his name starts with A and ends with rnason.

For the love of Pete, Arnason can't be the best option for the 2nd line center. The plan going in to the season if Sakic were to retire was to shift in Wolski as the second line center. Now that Sakic is out, why is Wolski not the second line center!? Put in Hensick or even Lappy as the second line center at this point. Arnason can't even do what he's got marginal talent at, and that's score goals. His shooting percentage is at a dismal 4.3%. Lappy has 8 goals and 12 assists with less talented linemates. He's shooting at over 13% and he's got way less even strength time on ice.

Arny should never play another shift at second line center if this team is going to develop anything but a very high draft pick in '09.

Dater says Zeiler is in the lineup tonight

Dario — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 22:26:11 -0000

http://blogs.denverpost.com/avs/

Things won't get out of hand AD. Why? Because Lappy will tell Zeiler it's time to go and he will either be that "good kid" you mention or he will try to avoid it.

This can't and won't be a Bertuzzi incedent because there's only one Bertuzzi incident. There's nothing the Avs can do if he doesn't answer the bell. You know what? That's OK because as a fan I want him to either show up and fight or cower from it and run. If the AVs have the lead and Lappy or anyone else thinks it's an appropriate time, I see no reason why an instigator penalty can't be done responsibly. IE, grab on and let the guy get ready.

The honest to God truth is many fans still haven't forgiven this team for not challenging Bertuzzi to a straight up fight. Call it barbaric. Call it outdated but it's the honest truth. When this subject came up on the radio earlier this year the radio station (104.3 FM before a coaches show) said it was the most email and phone call traffic they'd had on a subject in three years. It's not about the guy getting hurt or even losing the fight (CC'd Vancouver). It's not even about sending a message to the guy who "broke the code". Believe it or not, it's a message to your fanbase about how you feel about your teammates. We love that. Call me a Neadrathal, but I love it.

Do the right thing, challenge Zeiler to a heads up fight and call it a done deal. Make Terry Frei uncomfortable boys, drop the gloves.

It's time to appreciate our Denver newspapers

Dario — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 19:33:42 -0000

Puck Daddy at Yahoo Sports has an excellent article on how newspaper hockey coverage is quickly becoming an endangered species. The LA times now have one beat writer to cover both the Kings and the Ducks. The Palm Beach Post has discontinued staff coverage of the Florida Panthers. Go read the piece, it's important and it's a shot across the bow to Avalanche fans.

We are very fortunate in Denver to have real commitment from our two papers of note, The Denver Post and The Rocky Mountain News. The Denver Post feature Adrian Dater and Terry Frei as their main hockey columnists but also feature occasional pieces by Woody Paige, Mark Kiszla, Jim Armstrong, and Mike Chambers. The Rocky Mountain News feature Rick Sadowski and Aaron Lopez as their main hockey columnists but hockey is also covered occasionally by Dave Krieger, Bernie Lincicome, Sam Adams and even Drew Litton will sketch the an Avalanche comic now and again. Let there be no doubt that it's not just Denverites that read this material. With online material, Avalanche fans from across the world follow these newspapers.

It's been argued by some people and hell, even some bloggers that newspaper beat writers are dinosaurs of the past. Some bloggers have even been so bold as to suggest that they themselves can replace the "old media". There could be nothing further from the truth. Bloggers cannot replace the mainstream media. Blogs can only supplement and enhance newspaper coverage. Some newspaper columnists have been quick to point at blogs as the bad guy when it comes to newspaper economics. The fact is that all newspapers have suffered and they are now adapting with online content and even blogs! I believe the big problem for beat writers aren't blogs but rather the big sporting websites that leech off their hard work. The same big media that are supposed to have accountability and higher ethical standards then blogs. Below is an excerpt from an email conversation I had last year with a member of the local Denver media.

One thing I think most respectable blogs do that mainstream media fails to do is properly source our material. Every time we post a breaking story, we not only give our source but we also post a hyperlink back to that source and in most cases cite the author of the piece. Today, I'm reading ESPN.com and they have a breaking report on Forsberg and Foote being back in the lineup. ESPN.com cites the Denver Post as the source in text only http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3297433. I see a breaking alert on www.tsn.ca that "Peter Forsberg, Joe Sakic and David Jones are expected to form the top line Monday against the Wild." Only if I click on the alerts and scroll down will I see that it was attributed to the Denver Post. Everyone here knows it was probably Dater or another beat writer that busted his ass to go and get that story after practice.
Here's what I'm getting at; As a blogger I can forward traffic back to the Denver Post. The Post gets more views (granted, not many from small potatoes like an Avalanche blog) and in turn they can make more money from their advertisements etc... It's good for all parties involved. I believe that's ethics in new media. What's happening is that major sites like ESPN act as a hub for sports data in every market and they horde that traffic to the best of their ability. Reputable blogs (and frankly, most blogs in general) constantly link to other sites.

In the large picture I just think that blogs really compliment major media, and enhance it. They will never replace it. And despite all the supposed ethics and accountability of major sites like ESPN.com, I think in some ways blogs adhere to a more modern ethic needed on the Internet.

As guys sitting in our mom's basements we cannot know that Liles took a high stick right under the eye and that he's shaken up. It's the beat writer that does that and he's paid to do that by our local papers. In fact, as much abuse as I and other bloggers give these guys they are actually pretty darned good at what they do. Yes, even Kiszla.

So today I'm writing a quick email of thanks to Scott Monserud the assistant managing editor of the Denver Post and Barry Forbis the sports editor for the Rocky Mountain News for their continuing coverage of the Avalanche and NHL hockey. I implore you to do the same.

(edit: changed the Barry Forbis link. The RMN information desk gave me the wrong email address over the phone. That's what I get for real investigative journalism. I'm going back to my basement.)