I tried, you guys. I really did. I didn't want to break this one down. Honestly. But then I thought of all of you out there waiting to hear me explain how this could happen and I felt that I needed to suck it up, put my own personal feelings aside, and breakdown this goal for the good of the hockey community. What can I say, I'm a saint.

If you haven't seen this one you must not have the internet. And if you don't have the internet, stop looking into your neighbor's window to read this blog. Restraining orders are serious business and are not to be taken lightly. I know we're awesome but nobody likes a peeping Tom. Or a peeping Dario.

First period, Game 5, the City of Brotherly Love. Playoff wunderkind Danny Briere (#48) is carrying the puck into the Flyers' offensive zone as his linemates change on the fly. AJ's mancrush Adam Larsson (#5) follows closely behind as his defensive partner Andy Greene (#6) takes up a solid position for the Devils. Patrik Elias (#26) is coming over to help out on the backcheck.

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Triple OT Thriller in the Nation's Capitol as the New York Rangers and the hometown Washington Capitals pushed game 3 of their 2nd Round Series TO. THE. BRINK!!! It doesn't get any more exciting than this (unless you're a fan of well-executed hockey featuring scoring chances, shots-on-goal, and speed). We join our action in the 3rd overtime with just over 5 minutes remaining in the period after both teams had traded excruciatingly long shifts. (FYI, this anatomy is short and sweet, unlike the game...)

The puck had just been wrapped around from the near boards to the corner on Capitals goalie Braden Holtby's left. The Rangers' Dan Girardi (#5) is coming down the boards to catch the puck. He's such an omnipresent scoring threat that THREE Caps have him marked: defenseman Karl Alzner (#27), forward Jay Beagle (#83) and old friend Matt Hendricks (#26). Alzner's partner John Carlson (#74) and winger Troy Brouwer (#20) have front-of-net duties as they bracket playoff no-show Marian Gaborik (#10). Rangers wing-man Carl Hagelin is coasting into the top of the slot area without a single person realizing it.

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You knew it was coming. It was just a matter of time. There was no WAY I wouldn't be looking at this goal. I've got to get this information out there to prevent this from ever happening again above the beer league/mini-mites level. It's for the children.

After a scoreless 40 minutes of Game 4 in Detroit, land that economy forgot, the third period had just opened up with the Nashville Predators and the Red Wings trading goals including a gorgeous knee snipe from the Preds' Gabriel Landeskog Bourque (sorry, force of habit). A Jiri Hudler (#26) shot hit the post behind Smashville goalie Pekka Rinne when this happened...

Nashville centerman and country-music fan Mike Fisher had just won a battle with Henrik Zetterberg in the corner and then moved the puck to Martin Erat (#10) who curls and starts up the ice along the near boards. All-world defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom (#5) is in great position and is moving with Erat. Erats's fellow winger Patric Hornqvist (#27) starts his own push toward the neutral zone and takes an attacking angle on Lidstrom. The other half of the Detroit D on this play is Ian White, who is just off screen and has started to mark Hornqvist. Other players in the drama about to unfold are Nashville's Shea Weber (#6) and the guy Nashville picked before him in 2003, Kevin Klein (#8) who start their break from the front of the net.

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Now that the greater SBN hockey blogosphere has been exposed to the disease that is my humor and goal analysis, I figured I owed it to my new legion of fans to do another playoff goal breakdown. None of the goals from Monday night lent themselves to general snark and commentary so I jumped in the way-back machine to Sunday night's action. This time we're looking at would be the eventual game-winner for the They Still Have a Team in Florida Panthers - Nobody Knew the New Jersey Devils Were In The Playoffs game. Our action begins on a Florida rush into the Devils' zone in the last quarter of the 2nd period by the DeutschFinSwede line.

Sean Bergenheim (#20) enters the zone on the far boards with his forward linemates Marcel Goc (#57) and Mikael Samuelsson (#26) rushing as well. Little Mikey is driving straight toward the Gonna-Get-Paid area in front of the Jersey net while Goc crosses to keep Devils' defenseman ...wait, who the hell is Peter Harrold (#10)? Anyway, Goc crosses to keep him honest which forces Pete's non-dragon partner Anton Volchenkov (#28) to play center field as future Avalanche snub Zach Parise (#9) skates to keep tabs on Samuelsson. Travis Zajac (#19) and Salary Cap Killer Ilya Kovalchuk (#17) trail the play.

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I've decided that even though it appears nobody is reading these things outside of the 3,582 staff writers, I'm gonna try and keep doing these throughout the playoffs. Today's look at the physique of a goal comes from last night's scintillating choke comeback victory by the Philadelphia Flyers. We join our action in OVERTIME! as the Flyers had rallied from a 3-0 first period deficit to the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Flyers had knotted the game at 3 after Brayden Schenn's power play goal in the last half of the 3rd period.

Matt Read (#24) has swooped into the left wing corner of the Penguins' zone and flipped the puck back-handed behind the net. Pitt defenseman Paul Martin (#7) had taken his lane away and forced Read to turn away from the net. Jakub Voracek (#93) is driving hard to the end boards with Pen's two-way maestro Jordan Staal (#11) right on his tail.

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According to Denver Post, Avalanche Coach Joe Sacco has been given a two-year contract extension. It's still early on this story and not a lot of details are available. Myself or one of the other exquisite writers here at MHH will update this story as more info comes out.

Here's a couple of quotes from General Manager Greg Sherman via the press release:

"Joe has earned the opportunity to lead this young team."

"Our club made significant strides this season and we look forward to continuing that next season."

Love him or hate him, it appears that Joe Sacco will be behind the Avalanche bench (and designing horrendous drills if you believe the comments at the DP) for the foreseeable future.

UPDATE: Sacco Super-Fan Adrian Dater weighs in on his blog.

Quick and dirty poll for your Tuesday viewing. In honor of former Avalanche Kyle Quincey's one-game suspension and some of the sentiments expressed around here what do you think is GM Greg Sherman's best "Sell High" trade in his short tenure (since 2009)?

My inbox is exploding with demands for yet another one of my gripping looks at one of the goals from the most recent Colorado Avalanche game. On today's menu is a look at the latest (last?) goal from el capitan Milan Hejduk. This one is from the 2nd period of Saturday's game against the Calgary Flames. So without further comment, opinion, or trolling, I offer the following:

With just under 12 minutes remaining in the 2nd period, the puck slides over the the right side point for stud d-man Erik Johnson. He's partnered with the always rated Matt Hunwick. The Avs have rolled out a bit of a Frankenline featuring so-cute Matt Duchene (off camera at the moment) on a line with dreamboat Gabriel Landeskog and Old Man Logan Milan Hejduk. The Flames of Calgary have responded with a defensive pair of Cory Sarich (#6) and old-friend Scott Hannan (#23). Up front they sent out the over-30 glee club of Tim Jackman (#15) and Tom Kostopoulos (#16) centered by just-plain-old Olli Jokinen (#13). The venerable Miikka Kiprusoff is in net. FUN FACT: Everybody on the ice for Calgary is 33 years old, except Jackman (30) and Kipper (35). Average age for the Calgary skaters on this shift? 32.4. Colorado's skaters on the ice? 25.2. Yikes! Regardless, the Flames defensemen are in sound position, Jackman and Kostopwiththevowels have marked their guys, and Jokinen is circling back into the zone. Duchene and Landeskog are down low and bracketing the net.

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Back by c6hor8's demand is another one of my scintillating looks at one of the goals from the most recent Colorado Avalanche game. This time we're going to take a look at the back-breaking 1st Period goal against from Thursday night's game against the Phoenix Coyotes. So without further comment or opinion, I offer the following:

With just under 4:30 left to play in the period, a break starts out of Colorado's end. The puck is on Gabriel Landeskog's twig coming down the bench-side boards. Matt Duchene is pushing the rush and trying to get the odd-man fast break going as he streaks down center ice. Both Coyotes' defensemen (Oliver Ekman-Larsson, #23 and Michal Rozsival, #32) are in good position at this moment, even if Tyson Barrie is starting to join the rush.

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The Avalanche traveled to the Big Apple Saturday for some St. Patrick Day fun. The ghost of Roy was definitely in the building as Colorado netminder Semyon Varlamov put on a show for the MSG crowd turning aside 41 shots to propel the Avalanche to their 13th win against the Eastern Conference. More importantly, Colorado took 5-out-6 points on this road trip and solidified 7th place in the West (for now, at least).

The first period featured a fairly subdued start as both clubs seemed to be feeling each other out. Varlamov was called on early and often on some decent scoring chances from the Rangers. The pace began to pick up and the Avs started to level the ice surface with the Paul Stastny line looking as strong as ever during the first 8-10 minutes of the game. About eleven minutes into the period, a harmless looking shot from Daniel Girardi on the low left boards was tipped by Mats Zuccarello as he and Erik Johnson were camped on top of the crease. Not sure if Varlamov was hampered on the shot but it found its way through. 1-0 Rangers. He did respond with a nice glove save on a Marian Gaborik wrist shot on the very next shift, however.

Not long after, Gabriel Landeskog took a tripping penalty in the offensive zone as he tried to break up the Rangers defensive zone exit. The New York power play was fairly uneventful and Landeskog tried to rectify his mistake with a nice rush coming out of the box. At the 15 minute mark of the period, Peter Mueller carried into the zone and made a spectacular pass to a streaking Matt Hunwick who dangled the defenseman and flipped a backhand over goaltender Henrik Lundqvist to tie the game 1-1. Matt Duchene had the 2nd assist. Another Avalanche penalty just under four minutes remaining in the period saw more solid work from the Colorado PK unit though this time Varlamov was called on to make a series of in-tight saves on Brian Boyle. The Avs managed to escape the period tied with the Rangers despite some scary decision-making and weak clears toward the end of the period.

The 2nd period started with the closest thing the Avs had to a power play at that point as the Stastny line + the Johnson pairing generated some good chances. Not long after that Cody McLeod and Stu Bickel traded barbs and knuckles. The Rangers continued to push the puck deep and work the cycle while getting plenty of blueshirts right in Varlamov's lap. The cycle game for New York dominated the entire period and continued to pile on the shots, regardless of the line Colorado tried as an answer. The Avalanche were doing great work clearing rebounds and protecting Varlamov (with one exception). The PK gets some more work after a hard-working shift by Jay McClement somehow ended in him taking a goaltender interference call. The penalty started with a virtual shooting gallery before the McClement-less unit got its feet and answered the bell. They killed it off and even got some good pressure the other way.

The Rangers continued to pile on the shots regardless of the situation before a textbook zone entry by Colorado saw Ryan O`Reilly slide a puck across the top of the zone to Ryan Wilson who walked in and hammered a shot on goal. Landeskog got his stick on it to deflect it through Lundqvist to take the lead 2-1 with ten minutes gone in the period. The remainder of the period saw some great individual plays by the boys in Burgundy (good hit by Johnson to snuff out a Ranger cycle, great back-check by Milan Hejduk to stop Brad Richards, and a spectacular save by Varlamov on a laaaaaazer shot by Michael Del Zotto) but the Rangers managed to apply the more consistent pressure. Still, the Avalanche entered the 2nd juice box break still up 2-1 despite being badly out-shot (26-13).

Coming out the the break the first play of memory was Brandon Dubinsky nearly squeaking one through Varlamov, but a little luck goes a long way and no harm done as he falls back on a trickler just under him. The Rangers smelled blood and applied the pressure. The only Avalanche line of note continued to be Stastny's as he, Jamie McGinn, and David Jones continued to generate quality opportunities when they were on the ice. I was especially impressed with McGinn all night. Landeskog drew the first Avalanche power play of the game with a veteran play down low. The ensuing man advantage saw some great possession, passing, and skating by Colorado, but Lundqvist and Co. stood tall. After that the teams traded possession back and forth, but more often than not the New York possession game outmatched Colorado's and Varlamov was called on repeatedly.

Around the 8 minutes left in the period Steve Downie decided that he wanted to clown it up for the remainder of the game. He blatantly hooked Callahan in front of the entire world. The Rangers had a spectacular PP opportunity and maintained possession the entire time while peppering the Avalanche net with shots. The difference-maker was Varlamov time and time again. The penalty was killed and as he forechecked in the Ranger zone, Downie decided to kick a loose helmet at the puck-carrier for ANOTHER penalty, this one with just 5 minutes left in the period. The Rangers' 5th man-advantage of the game would again go for naught due to some MORE SPECTACULAR saves by the Colorado netminder. Once that penalty was killed, Duchene chased a loose puck into the New York zone and was low-bridged as the Ranger defender took a bad angle to the puck in an effort to defend the empty net. The Avs used the ensuing power play to essentially maintain possession and keep the opposition hemmed in the neutral zone before Stastny took a slick pass from Wilson and buried the empty net goal to ice it with 13 seconds left in the game.

• 1 Varlamov had 41 saves in the game and Just. Did. His. Work.
  
• 2 McGinn was all over the ice and seemed to have a scoring opportunity ever time he touched the puck.
  
• 3 Johnson handled his business all night and seemed ready and able to handle the Rangers' big-bodied attack.
  

• 1 Landeskog-O'Reilly-Downie
• 2 McGinn-Stastny-Jones
• 3 Mueller-Duchene-Hejduk
• 4 McLeod-McClement-Olver

• 1 Johnson-Hunwick
• 2 O'Brien-Wilson
• 3 Hejda-O'Byrne

• Varlamov
  

• 1 I cannot emphasis this enough: NEVER KNOCK AN OPPOSING PLAYER DOWN ON YOUR GOALIE WHILE HE'S DOWN IN THE BUTTERFLY, ESPECIALLY ONE WITH A HISTORY OF INJURIES!! I'm talking to you Ryan O`Byrne.
  
• 2 Duchene wore his favorite camo hat during the 2nd intermission interview. Realtree or die!!
• 3 2nd night in a row with horrible cameramen missing tons of ice and puck carriers.

NHL.com recap

Game Summary

Event Summary

Colorado returns home for a pivotal one-game homestand against Division Rival and Playoff Hopeful Calgary on Tuesday. Games don't get more important than this one folks. The puck drops at 7 pm MT.

Back by popular demand is another one of my looks at one of the goals from the most recent Colorado Avalanche game. This time we're going to take a look at a 3rd Period goal from one of the less-heralded bottom line guys. So without further comment or opinion, I offer the following:

We join our action as the Avs bring the puck through the neutral zone. Kevin Porter is in the process of dumping the puck to the near side corner as Cody McLeod wheels toward that same side. Jay McClement is centering that line and is driving toward the opposite side of the zone. Anaheim Ducks defensemen Francois Beauchemin (#23) and Cam Fowler (#4) are in a decent position and carry good backward speed in front of the Avalanche forwards. The Duck in the middle of the frame is centerman Saku Koivu (#11) who has defensive responsibility for McClement. Note that the Ducks are changing forwards just behind the play. In addition, Jan Hejda is supporting the Colorado rush up the ice. His defensive partner (for this play anyway) is Ryan O`Byrne who is coming on the ice for Matt Hunwick. He doesn't factor into the play.

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We've gotten some good questions from you guys in our efforts to generate ideas for content interact with members more. One of the more recent ones via Twitter asked:

Mike, you're a size queen, are there any restrictions on how big goalies could be?

Why this person wanted to make such a personal attack on me, I'll never know. Since I'm such a nice, sandwich-loving guy I'll answer the question anyway.

No.

But the question did get us thinking about goalies and more specifically goalie equipment size (and by "us" I mean the other 3,987 staff writers besides me because I think about goalies ALL the time). We figured that some of you might not know about some of this stuff so I thought we'd have a quick primer on netminding equipment regulations.

For a long time the NHL didn't place limits on goalie equipment because it didn't change all that much for a long time. Sure, there were innovations like the mask, synthetic materials for leg pads, composite sticks, etc. but the shape and use of goalie equipment was still largely geared toward protection. In fact, the official rules state that:

With the exception of skates and stick, all the equipment worn by the goalkeeper must be constructed solely for the purpose of protecting the head or body, and he must not wear any garment or use any contrivance which would give him undue assistance in keeping goal.

Not sure how a catch glove fits under that definition, but whatever...

The first goalie leg pads that would be recognizable as specific to hockey are credited to Pop Kenesky. They were essentially modified cricket leg pads. Initially pads were limited to 12 inches wide, then restricted to 10 and then the league relaxed the rule to 12 inches in 1989. The change in materials from leather and deer hair to synthetics and foam in the 80's didn't really stretch the boundaries of the regulations on size but it dramatically reduced the pad weight as the new materials didn't soak up water and gain 30 pounds by the end of the game.

The most drastic changes (from an equipment regulation standpoint anyway) all started to come about around the time of the lockout as scoring was down league-wide and outsized goaltending equipment was considered one of the main culprits. Here's a timeline of some of the more important changes:

• Prior to the 2003-2004 season a max pad length of 38 inches was imposed. The pad rule was an effort to eliminate the pads that had a "thighrise" that reached to the navel of goalies like Garth Snow and allowed them to effectively cover the five hole with equipment rather than closing their legs when down on the ice in a butterfly position.

With a season off due to the labor stoppage in 2004-2005 the league took the opportunity to tighten the screws further on goaltending equipment. Coming out of the lockout the league instituted a bevy of new rules as part of the New NHL.

• The leg pad width was reduced to 11 inches maximum.
• One inch were shaved off of the blocker's length (15 inch max). The sidewall padding (that covers the inside edge of the pad at the finger/thumb intersection) was also limited and required to conform the the shape of the hand and not provide a puck foil.
  
• The maximum perimeter of the catching glove was reduced to 45 inches (down from 48 inches). A mandatory 4 inch width was imposed on the catcher's cuff while the allowable cuff length was reduced by half an inch to 8 inches.
• The maximum width of the thighs on pants was reduced from 11 inches to 10 inches and must follow the contour of the leg (no flat-front pants).
• The chest/arm protectors were required to be contoured to the shoulders even in a crouched position (so guys like our own Giguere couldn't crouch low and have the chest/arm unit ride up around their ears taking away shooting area). Several other regulations relating to elbow and shoulder pad size were implemented as well in an effort to keep padding for "protection" from getting so big that it disproportionately increased the netminder's profile in net.
• Goalie jerseys had to fit to the body and couldn't have "bat-wings" or other similar contrivances to stop pucks (largely credited to our own Patty Roy).

The net effect of the rules instituted immediately after the lockout was an 11% reduction in goaltender equipment size. In other words, just over 10% more net to shoot at (supposedly).

For the 2008-2009 season the league instituted a handful of more "subtle" rules on the knee and leg area to prevent goalies from using those features of the leg pad to close the five hole quicker. In addition they tightened up wording on some of the areas of the chest/arm protector to drive the units toward an even more fitted, contoured construction without extraneous padding creating a larger profile in net. They also began the move toward giving the league full discretion on whether the chest/arm unit rode up or "floated" when in a crouched position.

Then, prior to the 2010-2011 season, the league took a complicated step forward by instituting equipment rules that were tailored to each goalie. Gone were the maximum lengths on leg pads. Instead a Limiting Distance formula was introduced to essentially force goalies to wear equipment that was proportional to their body. I personally understand both sides of the argument that arose regarding this issue: The equipment should be for protection only and therefore should be proportional to the goalie's body vs. Smaller goalies are getting screwed. There have been many, many opinions shared regarding this change including one from a former AHL/NHL goaltender.

So, in summary the history of NHL goaltending equipment regulations has largely been of the recent variety. As goalies got better (and better coached) they of course took advantage of every loophole and grey area in the rulebook when it came to equipment. The league has been on a 7 or 8-year progression to try and mandate proportional goaltending equipment oftentimes under the cloak of increasing goal scoring (or vice-versa if you're a goalie). Currently the limit on leg pads is what the magic formula dictates is right for a goalie's body size (other than width and a couple of maximums on certain components). Gloves and blockesr were reduced after the lockout and pants and chest/arm protectors have had subtle tweeks and reductions geared at ensuring protection but making goalies look more like their predecessors in the 50's and 60's.

Our beloved Colorado Avalanche continue to flirt with the possibility of maybe making the playoffs this year. I personally don't see it happening, but nonetheless I thought I'd look ahead for just a second and it got me wondering what kind of post-season experience we have on the roster today. Gone are the days of Sakic, Forsberg, Foote, and Roy making deep playoff runs year after year. Hell, we don't even have the Sakic and Brunette every other year two round extravaganzas-type of experience left on the team. So here's how it breaks down for our current corp. of forwards:

As you can see, meaningful playoff experience largely starts and ends with Milan Hejduk. Kobasew, Downie, and McGinn all have some experience under their belts, but nothing that you would call substantial and recent save for Downie's run to the Eastern Conference Finals with last year's upstart Lightning team. He (Downie, you know the guy currently hurt) is now the second-leading post-season scorer on the team. Downie and McGinn were the only players on the current roster to play last second-season. There's a smattering of games from some of the home-grown guys but the majority have little NHL post-season play beyond the 2010 1st round series against San Jose. Next up is the blueliners:

Yikes! The pickens, they iz slim. Shane O'Brien leads all blue-liners with his plethora of not-quite-good-enough runs with Vancouver a few years ago. He also has last season's Nashville two-round run in his recent history. Other than that? Ryan O'Byrne (another guy that is dinged up right now) and his playoff appearances a couple of seasons ago for Montreal. Erik Johnson missed the Blues' playoff two-round run in '08-09 as that was the season he was out recovering from a torn ACL and MCL due to a golf cart accident immediately before his sophomore season. Last, but not least is the most experienced group (outside of Hejduk), the goaltenders:

Ohhh thank Howard!! Finally some guys with some games under their pads! Giguere of course leads all here with his 52 post-season games, his Stanley Cup ring in 2007, and his Conn Smythe from 2003 (in a losing effort to New Jersey). He hasn't seen meaningful minutes in net for a playoff team since 2008 and lost his job to Jonas Hiller in 2009. Varly has the more relevant recent experience with his spectacular two-round-run as a rookie in 2009 and his 2010 post-season (3 wins, 3 loses) after trying to clean up after Jose Theodore.

In summary, when you look at how the roster is built, it's pretty apparent that playoff experience is thin. The total number of playoff games across the board is 413 games and 127 post-season points. However, if you remove Hejduk that number drops to 301 games and 51 points. The captain accounts for more than a quarter of the playoff experience for this squad and 60% of the post-season scoring. Not a good omen considering his less-than-outstanding production so far this year. Hopefully, he has another gear if the Avs are still playing after Game 82.

Note that the vast majority of post-season play (outside of Hejduk) comes from guys that have been with the team since this summer and not homegrown talent. Of the guys that were built from within, only Paul Stastny (15 games) and Cody McLeod (16 games) have a claim to any lasting experience. The blueline is woefully thin at post-season play outside of Shane O'Brien. The only position of strength in this metric is in the net as Giguere and Varlamov have historic and recent (respectively) experience in the high-pressure, soul-crushing NHL post-season. The good news is that if the Avalanche somehow manage to squeak into the 2012 version of Last Team Standing, they will learn AS A TEAM how to handle hockey's second season while leaning on Hejduk, O'Brien, Giguere, and (strangely) Varlamov's experience.

We saw a great goal on the rush in our last installment, so for a change of pace I thought we'd take a look at the Avalanche power play goal from last night's rebound win against the Wild. So without further comment or opinion, I offer the following:

NOTE: This one is a little longer than the last few goals we've looked at so be prepared. Also, I wish I had something to say about the huMANGous Fox banner/scoreboard on some of these shots, but I don't. That is other than to say at least they don't shrink down the screen and aspect ratio for ads...

We join our power play after the face-off in the Minnesota end of the ice. Stefan Elliott has the puck on the near-side point. Peter Mueller is working his way to his far-side point, Matt Duchene is along the near wall, David Jones is camped out in front of Wild goalie-of-the-future Jeff Matt Hackett, new guy Jamie McGinn is moving to set up a double screen for a puck side shot. Matt Cullen (#7) and fan-favorite Cal Clutterbuck (#22) are the forwards in the high corners of the box penalty kill while Jared Spurgeon (#46) and Marco Scandella (#6) have defenseman duties. Note that Scandella is actively engaged with Jones here and has the better position.

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Once again, I thought we'd take a look at one of the goals from last night's game. This one being the fourth goal (third goal for!!!) because it was one of the best goals scored by this team this season in my opinion. So without further comment or opinion, I offer the following:

The play starts out in the Avalanche zone as Ryan Getzlaf goes for a hit on Shane O`Brien in the corner to Varly's right. SOB is going to pay the price to pop the puck up the boards and that won't show up on any scoresheet, sadly. Paul Stastny is swinging toward the boards to start the breakout. Fellow Avs forward Matt Duchene is swinging the other direction to support the exit. Anaheim's Niklas Hagman (#12) is caught deep and Corey Perry (#10) isn't at anything approaching full, meaningful speed to begin his backcheck.

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I've been giving this a lot of thought and I'm finally willing to give my unbiased thoughts on one of the most important new additions to the Avalanche:

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Imagine your the GM our our beloved Avalanche. Remember all those awesome days in accounting school? Ahhh, good times. Actuaries can suck it. But now to the real question:

Would you trade any ONE OF Matt Duchene, Ryan Q`Reilly, or Gabriel Landeskog to Columbus as part of a deal for Rick Nash? It's not important what else would be involved as we assume it would include picks (pretend we have decent ones) and prospects, but the lynchpin of the deal would be young NHL talent. I think we can all agree that those three guys fit that bill.

So, wouldya?

Military Appreciation Night started (on the ice) with a string of dump-ins, icings, and offsides as the Avalanche seemed to be starting late again. The visiting Hurricanes generated some one-and-done chances, but Colorado netminder Jean-Sebastien Giguere stood tall. A good shift by the T. J. Galiardi line was followed up shortly after be a great shift from the Paul Stastny line at about 7 minutes into the period. Toward the tail end of that shift, the Hurricanes pushed the tempo back the other way and a short shift saw everybody on the home team watching or chasing the other Stewart (Anthony) out of the corner. He found Tim Brent alone in the slot for the quick shot past Giguere for the 1-0 lead on Brent's 8th of the season.

Not long after, a freshly-over-the-wall Cody McLeod drove to the back of the Carolina net and tripped trade-rumor-target Tuomo Ruutu for the first PK sighting of the game. The Avs killed it off with some good work down low and some better work by Giggy on some sweet Carolina (BUH, BUH, BUUUM) plays. The Avalanche responded with a good shift from the Stastny line but nobody could finish. Not long after another good series by the Ryan O`Reilly line resulted in nil on the board, Stastny got called for a slash as he tried to generate something in the offensive zone. The 'Canes pressed hard but couldn't bury one past Giguere even though the Avalanche looked to be firmly entrenched in survive-the-period-mode.

Surprise!! A great forecheck by Peter Mueller and Gabriel Landeskog resulted in a typical why-pass-when-I-can-shoot shot from Landeskog who beat a somewhat-surprised Cam Ward with just over a minute left in the game. Another surprise!! The next shift down by the 'Canes resulted in scrambly d-zone entry work and Jan Hejda provided a quick screen for a Jiri Tlusty shot to beat Giguere. Carolina had regained the one-goal lead as the period came to an end. Lackluster play and two power plays resulted in the Avs getting outshot 12-6 in the first frame.

The second period started with some backpeddling and Giguere was called on early and often as the 'Canes were shooting from everywhere. Colorado finally got a good breakout from their own end and the Stastny line decided that would be a good time to put on a clinic. A passing and goalie undressing clinic that is. Hejduk-to-Jones-to-Stastny-to-Hejduk for the tying goal (for those scoring at home). That was a beautiful goal by the throwback line from the beginning of the season. Lots of sauce on that play.

Carolina answered with some decent pressure and rolling chances before a spectacular shift by the Jay McClement line around the 9 minute mark resulted in a Tyson Barrie shot that got redirected between Cam Ward's pillows but trickled juuuuuuuuuuust wide. Then the game shifted to a back-and-forth affair with chances at both ends, but lots of consistent pressure and good opportunities from the hometown Burgundy and Frostbite Blue. With just over 6 minutes left in the game, Mueller was the benefit of a giveaway behind the 'Canes' net. He threw the puck in front to Landeskog who tried to slip it in farside but missed.

A quick carry-in by Ruutu and a good net drive by all three Carolina forwards resulted in a bad bounce finding its way to Eric Staal's stick with just over 4 minutes left in the period. He didn't miss on the empty net as Giguere had slid to his right trying to follow the pass through traffic. That goal was just Staal's 14th of the season. Then, at almost exactly 1 minute left in the period some great hustle and work from David Jones behind the net got the Avalanche back even. Jones pulled the puck off the boards after carrying it deep and passed it to a streaking Stastny who put the puck on a string and tucked it past a sliding Ward for HIS 14th goal of the season. Colorado went into the 2nd intermission tied on the scoreboard but being badly outshot (33-21).

Much more balanced start to the third. Lots of neutral zone possession and both teams did a better job of standing up at their own blueline. The Avs get about a minute of strong possession in the 'Canes' zone after a set play off a faceoff resulted in Tyson Barrie flying into the zone and pushing the play below the circles. Treated to Hejduk playing D for a pinching Shane O`Brien toward the end of that same shift. Ward was forced to make a couple of tough saves through traffic.

A bad entry play by Hejda generated a 3-on-1 the other way but Giguere made a tough blocker save. Scary moment alert when a hustling Hejda tripped over a sprawled Ruutu and went into the boards awkwardly but appeared OK. O`Reilly had a golden oppertunity off of a turnover that was picked up and dished to him by Landeskog but he hit the post with a yawning net in front of him at about 9 minutes gone in the period. Not long after Ruutu drew a penalty as he got crowbared between the legs by Jones at the blueline.

At the start of the penalty kill, Radar goes on a steal-and-shooting spree like a crack head on Devil's Night but Ward stood (butterflied) tall. Radar then took his rage out on the bench door. Dude was nuclear pissed! The team responded because it looked like everybody seemed to have some jump as they wanted to bury a goal for him. Stastny and Jones were flying in the offensive zone and then Landeskog was driving the net while holding off a defender. Carolina answered with pressure of their own in the last few minutes of the period. Landeskog and O'Reilly nearly netted a winner with a strong net drive. Jan Hejda also handled his business by erasing a Tlusty rush at the other end. Both teams survived for the end of regulation point and the game went to overtime. The shot differential had closed a lilttle by that point, 40-31 in the Hurricanes' favor.

Giguere was forced to make a good save on a tipped shot about a minute into the 5-minute OT. Barrie drove in and got a good look at Ward on the next shift. Most of the extra frame had been in Carolina's favor. Some sphincter-clenching neutral zone 'play' with less than two minutes left in bonus time generated some more good possession time for the 'Canes before Ryan O'Reilly decided to end the game. He stripped Justin Faulk in the neutral zone, pushed the play into the Carolina zone, tee'd it up, and let slip the Dogs of War with a slapshot fueled by rage and frustration that beat Ward short side with less than TWO SECONDS TO GO IN OT!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm spent...

• O'Reilly, was a boss in the third and OT
• Stastny, assist and the game-tying goal + 70% in the circle
• Landeskog, who I'm convinced is trying for a double-double in shots and hits every night
  

• Landeskog - O'Reilly - Mueller
• Jones - Stastny - Hejduk
• Galiardi - McClement -Winnik
• McLeod - van der Gulik - Kobasew

• Johnson - Quincey
• Hejda - O'Byrne
• Barrie - O'Brien

• Giguere

• Scratches: Hunwick, Wilson, Porter
  

• Carolina seemed to be shooting wide deliberately ALOT from the point to try to get Jiggy moving out of the net.
• Barrie seemed to struggle with the aggressive Hurricane forecheck and had a couple of rookie mistakes in his own end. He upped his offensive/skating game in the third and OT though.
  
• Jiggy was generating more rebounds than a drunk point guard.

NHL.com recap

Game Summary

Event Summary

The Avalanche travel to St. Louis for a tilt against the Blues tomorrow night @ 6:00 pm.

I've had an inquiry from the 6th place team in my league about acquiring Tim Thomas. Some of you may recall my rebuild post from a couple of weeks ago.
The top 8 make the post-season and it's a ten roster spot keeper league. Right now, I've got Harding, Thomas, Bernier, and Varlamov in net.

This manager doesn't have a 1st or 3rd round pick in next season's draft and it looks as if he's looking to account for the possibility of an extended Jimmy Howard injury.

His roster features the following: Both Sedins, Gerbe, Zubrus, Cogliano, Drew Miller, Jannik Hansen, Giroux, Downie, Karlsson, Kurtis Foster, Ryan Suter, Timonen, Datsyk, Clutterbuck, Williams, Higgins, Foligno, Hodgson, Conklin, Joey McDonald, Quick, Emery, and Howard.

What should my first salvo be?

I thought we'd take a look at the fifth goal (third goal for!!!) from last night, because it was awesome. So without further comment or opinion, I offer the following:

We've joined the action in progress as Peter Mueller is applying a one-man forecheck against Brent Seabrook (7) as Ryan O`Reilly's line is leaving the ice. Seabrook is trying to catch the Avs in the change and opts to pass up the middle instead of across to his defensive partner Duncan Keith (2).

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I thought we'd take a look at the first goal against last night, because there has been some discussion and debate on culpability or cause. So without further comment or opinion, I offer the following:

The play starts after a little bit of possession by the Oilers' line of Jordan Eberle (14), Phillipe Cornet (51), and Sam Gagner (89). The defensive pair for Edmonton on this shift is Theo Peckham (24) and Shanahan Valentine Recipient Andy Sutton (25). The Avs have the refurbished Paul Stastny line out (Peter Mueller and T.J. Galiardi on the wings) with a defensive pair of Ryan Wilson and Shane O`Brien. At this point in the shift, the puck is low in the corner on Eberle's twig as he curls up the wall. Note that Stastny is positionally responsible for fellow centerman Gagner at this point, Wilson is moving to take away Eberle's slot pass to Cornet, and SOB and Mueller are forcing Eberle up the boards toward the neutral zone.

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A myriad of playoff implications were in play tonight as multiple teams in the 12th-to-8th spots in the Western Conference got back to action following the All-Star break. One of those games was between the 9th place Avalanche and the already-out-of-it Edmonton Oilers. Semyon Varlamov made his first start in net since January 16th and Ryan O`Reilly made his return from illness. The Avs hoped to get to .500 against a lackluster Northwest division foe but dug a hole early and couldn't get back out.

The game started with some quick, back-and-forth action with the Avs controlling the majority of the possession and had some great opportunities with O'Reilly's and Stastny's line both getting some good pressure. Unfortunately, that pressure didn't amount to much. Not content to discuss the game, the Altiboobs decided they'd introduce their man-crush for this game: Jordan Eberle. Of course he responded with a goal just short of the five minute mark. He drove the back of the net, selling the wraparound before reversing for the stuff. Varlamov got his leg back for the first save, but didn't have the leverage to prevent Eberle from tucking the rebound in. Sam Gagner and OKC stalwart Phillipe Cornet got assists.

Jan Hejda drew a penalty after a nice hip check earned the ire of Ben Eager. One GREAT shot from O'Reilly was tipped on net by Peter Mueller but genetic aberration Devan Dubnyk made a great save. That was pretty much the highlight of the period for Colorado at even strength. The Avs decided to treat the Edmonton faithful to an extended look at the home team power play after plenty of back-and-forth action in the middle chunk of the period as T.J. Galiardi got tagged for a four minute penalty due to a high stick on Theo Peckham. The Oilers moved the puck around the zone well and Eric Belanger sent a slapshot past a screened Varlamov to give Edmonton a 2-0 lead. The goal occurred in the first half of the double minor, but the Avs managed to kill the last half of it (and the remainder of the period) before heading to the lockerroom with a 11-6 shot differential to Edmonton's favor. The Alberta crowd was treated to a Chuck Kobasew's fumbled puck on the short-handed breakaway with a Dubnyk pokecheck to cancel out that moment of excitement for the visitors.

The Avs came out with some jump to start the period and less than two minutes in a Frankenline of Paul Stastny, Chuck Kobasew, and Mueller hit paydirt after Kobasew threw a puck across the crease. Mueller held his ground for the tip in to get Colorado on the scoreboard and back in the game. Stastny credited with the other assist on the goal. The Avalanche followed up the great start with even more pressure as the forecheck went into overdrive. They spent most of the next 6-to7 minutes in Edmonton's zone. Dubnyk got his second ping of the night during one of those sustained stretches.

By the nine minute mark the Avalanche had closed the shot gap to 12-12 with constant pressure and multiple chances. The period settled in a little and the Oilers pushed back with some aggressive forechecking of their own. Varlamov made some quality saves during this stretch, including a good glove save on Eberle as well as some solid work through traffic. Lots of neutral zone play commenced before a great read and hustle play by Stastny at the Edmonton blue line drew a penalty with a broken stick due to a two hander from Golden Fingers Eberle. A WEEEEEEAK start to the Power Play (the passing was indicitive of broken wrists and faint hearts) and one soft dump on net were the only things worth mentioning. Jay McClement's line generated a good shift at the end of the frame, but the Colorado went to the intermission with only half of the goal differential made up (shots: 18-19 Oilers).

The third period started much the same as the 2nd with sustained pressure by Colorado. Stastny had a a great net-drive from the corner and the Avs force Dubnyk to be solid in the first three minutes of the period. He continues to stand tall and after a great shift in the Oil end by Stastny's line, the play quickly went down the to other end and a bad-angle Ales Hemsky shot off of Varlamov's right pad landed on a streaking Taylor Hall's stick for the slam dunk with about 6 minutes gone in the period. 3-1 Oilers.

The Avalanche, to their credit, answered with more sustained pressure and were rewarded. Some great passing and reads by the O'Reilly's line (namely his rebound-inducing shot to the far side leg pad) and a net drive by Milan Hejduk (of all people) left Gabriel Landeskog with a chance to bury the backhand past a well-out-of-his-net Dubnyk. Landeskog extended his point streak to 4 games with that goal. 3-2 Oilers with shots at 23 apiece and nearly half of the period remaining.

More sustained possession throughout the remainder of the period with great plays by David Jones to pin it deep, a good check on Hall by Quincey, some good back-checking by Landeskog, and a near miss of a deflected shot from Stastny.The Avs were all over the Oilers at this point. In particular, O'Reilly made a great play at the point to keep a puck alive and then had a sure goal taken away by Dubnyk as he slid over and trapped the puck in the seven hole.

An Edmonton high-stick garnered an offensive zone faceoff and coach Joe Sacco took his timeout. He pulled Varlamov and ran 5 forwards with Johnson. They generated some intermittent possession, but don't do much quality with it. Lots of scrambling to the buzzer, but ultimately nothing to show for it except another loss to a shit less than outstanding team, this one in their own division.

• Landeskog
  
• Mueller
• O'Reilly
  

• Landeskog - O'Reilly- Hejduk
• Galiardi - Stastny - Mueller
• Winnik - McClement - Jones
• McLeod - van der Gulik - Kobasew : Kevin Porter is the forward watching from the pressbox with O`Reilly returning.
  

• O'Byrne - Hejda
• Quincey - Johnson
• O'Brien - Wilson: Elliott and Hunwick are both healthy and both on nacho duty.
  

• Varlamov

• His errant stick earned Galiardi a whopping ZERO for TOI in the 2nd. Kobasew was rewarded with his spot and O'Reilly double-shifted on the 4th. I thought it worked pretty well.
  
• Landeskog had a good game IMO. He shoots every time the puck is on his stick, he hits, he battles, and he forechecks like a beast. He has a point streak because he works his tail off. I hope we don't see a rookie wall this season because he's a treat to watch.
  
• Taylor Hall got roughed up in this game. Two big hits in the 3rd period in particular had him on the bench wincing. He finished the game though.
• SCORING EFFECT ALERT!!!: Final SOG totals: COL 33 EDM 23

NHL.com recap

Game Summary

Event Summary

Colorado welcomes fellow Winter Classic shaft-ee on Thursday when the face the Minnesota Wild in the Pepsi Center at 7:00pm.

The NHL is missing the mark entirely on the NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft. In just a couple of minutes of contemplative thought, I've already come up with several ways to improve the experience for the fans and the players, something that is rare in the world of hockey.

• First of all, the name. What's 'fantasy' about it? The players exist in the real world, the game actually occurs, and the results are tangible. It's not a grandiose statistical simulation like fantasy hockey or fantasy football. Just call it what it is: The All-Star Draft. The only way you should be allowed to call it a fantasy draft is if after the whole thing is over, the teams should huddle and come up with a hilarious name for their team: The Soft Euros, Team ESL, All Killer-No Filler, The Cap Busters, Milbury's Mistakes, Next Year's Philly Goaltenders, etc.

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Regardless of your opinion on the overall make-up of the team, where you think they'll finish the '11-'12 season, or the front office practices I think we can all agree that several stalwart Colorado players have been less than outstanding underwhelmed this season. In you're heart-of-Burgundy-hearts, who do you think is the most likely to have a 2nd half resurgence in Denver? Who's gonna be the player that rights his own personal Costa Concordia? Will it be perennial gap-toothed assistant captain Paul Stastny? Will it be franchise face Matt Duchene? Will Old Man Winter Milan Hejduk up his production for another run at 25 goals? Will purported No. 1 netminder Semyon Varlamov see a lessening of his bench door duties? Will David Jones give a fuck regain his goal scoring touch? Vote in the poll below and sound off in the comments to let the MHH readers nominate their 2nd Half Turnaround Candidate!

Game 49. Exactly 59.756% of the way through the season. The All-Star Break is in 9 days. The NHL Trade Deadline is in 37 days. The game is scheduled for 8:30 pm MT. [Editor's Note: You know you are an engineer when...].

The Avalanche are back on the road after their one game stop in Denver on Wednesday where they earned a shootout win against the Panthers. The Kings are playing their second consecutive home game and are coming off a shootout loss to the Flames on Thursday. With the All-Star Break looming, Los Angeles and recent head coaching hire Darryl Sutter look to give themselves a chance to win the homestand with victories over the Avs and the visiting Sens on Tuesday. Wins in those games would push the Kings points streak to 8 games. Colorado continues the road trip in Anaheim on Sunday before returning to the Pepsi Center on Tuesday in the run up to the break (for everybody except Gabriel Landeskog of course).

Seventh-place LA sits 4 points ahead of the Avs, but only 1 point behind 3rd place San Jose who holds the slim lead in the Pacific Division. Meanwhile, Colorado is looking up at Vancouver (up 8 points) who hold down the NW Division throne and 2nd Playoff spot. The Avalanche has a bevy of playoff suitors nipping at their heels as swooning regressing Minnesota is just one point back with a game in hand and Dallas is right behind them with three games in their favor. Right there with them in the Annual Western Conference Playoff Logjam is Calgary and Phoenix although Jewels From The Crown contends that it isn't as bunched up as previous years. I said all that to say this: Points are important. The Avs need to come out of this Left Coast Swing with a cushion. Since the Kings are fans of giving points away under Sutter (8-1-6 since being hired), hopefully the Avs can garner at least one point out of tonight's tilt.

When the Avs and Kings faced off in the City of Angels a couple of weeks ago, the Kings fans felt they had been bamboozled by NHL officiating. LA winger Simon Gagne is still out with a concussion and the remainder of their forward corp. produces at an somewhat familiar rate to Avalanche fans (106 GF in LA, 124 GF in COL). I'm not sure what lineup changes are in store for Colorado tonight as Wilson is healthy and Hejda is available. I assume Jonathan Quick in net for the Kings and internet rumblings have Jean-Sebastien Giguere start tonight. I assume Semyon Varlamov will split duties on the 2nd half of the back-to-back tomorrow night.

Three points for everybody! Go Avalanche.