SB Nation User Blog: texacogirl

Preseason Game 3: Avalanche @ Blues Game Recap

texacogirl — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 23:34:59 -0000

Instead of suffering through yet another radio broadcast of an Avalanche preseason game, I decided to pony up the cash and go to my first preseason game ever last night. Really, listening on the radio does not give one much more than an iota of an idea about what's going on on the ice. I wanted to see the kids, the vets, and the all around play of our up and coming 09-10 Avalanche team with my own eyes. So, without further ado, I present the game recap with the most positive spin I can.

First, it has to be said that the Avs iced a much better roster than Friday night's blow out game against the Blues. At least the team was competitive as evidenced by the Avs domination of the first three or so minutes of the first period. Unfortunately, that was the end of the Avs domination for the rest of the game. I'll stop for just a moment to say Budaj looked really comfortable in net. His lateral movement was crisp, his puck handling has vastly improved (I only noted one time where he miss handled the puck all game), and his rebound control has improved as well. I'll go out on a limb here and say I'm not worried about our goaltending tandem for this year. I'll back up this claim by saying I saw goal support. I'll say it again. Goal support. Throughout the entire game, Budaj had goal support which is a major improvement over last season.

Some minutes into the first period, Stastny (? I have no note of this) took a penalty. Darcy Tucker, being the team player and savior he is, takes an unnecessary hooking penalty creating a 5 on 3 for the Blues. The result? You guessed it. In fact that is something you can hear on the radio. The Blues score. Thank you, Sham Wow, for being the Shammiest Sham Wow you can be.

The next highlight was Duke's breakaway on yet another penalty kill. He seemed to skate just a bit too close to the goalie or his release was off by a split second. Either way, the puck ended up in the goalie's chest. Each penalty the Avs took in the first period allowed the Blues to gain confidence and further dominate the play. The Blues were all over the Avs at any time they had puck possession. Yet, the battles were hard fought. There was no laying down and losing this game for the Avs. There were good tape to tape passes, on ice communication, and chemistry forming.

Matt Duchene almost scored in the first period on a beautiful play but missed on a tough angle shot. Cody Mac got into a fight with a Blues player; I don't know who. Since I was taking notes at this moment, it looked to me like The Highlander landed more blows and won the fight. However, the replay on the jumbo-tron showed the Blues player landing a good three blows so I can't really call the winner of this fight. Thanks to SOS on a breakaway in OT, the Avs squeaked this one out. But it wasn't a pretty win. And it's only the preseason.

Overall, my impression of the team so far is physicality is still in question. The Avs fought hard along the boards but STL seemed much more physical and knocked us off the puck quite a bit. Sadly, Adam Foote is not looking so great. Maybe he just needs a few more games to warm up but he missed several crucial passes at the blue line which turned over the puck. His positioning is sound but the finish is not there.

Hensick was all over the ice and made some good defensive plays. I think our defense still has a lot of work to do in the areas of chemistry, positioning, and timing. The Power Play.... Hmmm. It's still not very effective. The Avs had trouble getting in the zone and staying there. That being said, this was not a bunch of guys standing around making the same pass to the same player, rinse, repeat. The Avs were actually cycling the puck. Maybe with more practice we won't be in the botttom of the league this year?

I think I've rambled on long enough. I tried to be as positive as possible because I did see some positive changes. If the energy and work ethic remain throughout the season, the Avs are going to be fun to watch; win or lose.

(Update) Since the question was asked in the game thread, there were as many people there last night as the last game of the season in 09. Since this is preseason and there were that many people there, can we hope for more rockin' Can goodness this year? I'm not answering that...

Blues vs Avalanche recap Blues vs Avalanche boxscore Blues vs Avalanche coverage

Oh, Snap

texacogirl — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 05:07:53 -0000

Oh, Snap

For all the Ti4T fans around MHH. Psh. Who is Stewie...

AD Reporting McCormick Suspended

texacogirl — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:46:16 -0000

AD Reporting McCormick Suspended

Two games for the cross check to the face of Clutterbuck. Maybe this will give Cody sometime to cool his jets.

Avs Vs. Blue Jackets GDT

texacogirl — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 01:15:19 -0000

Alright Avs fans. It's about 45 minutes to game time and there is no thread yet on the front page. So in event one doesn't get posted by game time, here's one. If one does post in time, no worries. If needed, we could use this as an overflow thread as needed. Or delete this. Whatever.

Preview:

From the Avalanche main page (because I'm lazy):

The question for Steve Mason isn't when he will lose. It's when will a puck finally get past him.

The rookie will try to extend his franchise-record shutout streak to four games as the Columbus Blue Jackets open 2009 by continuing their season-high six-game road trip against the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night.

Mason has just 20 games of NHL experience under his belt since being recalled from the minors on Nov. 4, But in less than two months, he's already started to rewrite the record book for the Blue Jackets (17-16-4).

After giving up a goal late in a 3-0 loss to the Kings on Dec. 23, the 20-year-old Mason blanked Philadelphia and Los Angeles before beating Anaheim 2-0 on Wednesday to push his shutout streak to 182 minutes, 8 seconds.

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"It was a pretty routine game for myself. The guys played great in front of myself and made it real easy," said Mason, now 12-7-1 with a league-best 1.69 goals-against average. "You try not to pay attention to it and think about a shutout because you don't want to jinx it. It was nice to get, but obviously the most important thing is the win. And right now I'm just trying to get as many wins as I can."

Mason, who's never faced Colorado, is the first rookie goaltender to notch three straight shutouts since 1989-90. He's one of only seven rookie NHL goaltenders since 1989-90 to record consecutive shutouts.

With five shutouts, Mason is more than halfway to the club record for shutouts in a season, set in 2007-08 when Pascal Leclaire posted nine. Mason still has a long way to go to equal the all-time rookie record for shutouts in a season as Tony Esposito tallied 15 for Chicago in 1969-70.

To extend its home winning streak to a season high-tying four games, Colorado (19-17-1) must solve Mason and try to bounce back from a lackluster loss while trying to re-establish its dominance at Pepsi Center over the Blue Jackets.

Colorado last won four in a row in Denver from Nov. 26-Dec. 9, and is 11-6-0 at home.

But one of those defeats was a rare one to Columbus. On Oct. 30, Fredrik Norrena made 30 saves, and the Blue Jackets scored three second-period goals in the 4-2 win.

The Blue Jackets had been 1-12-1 all-time in Colorado coming into that contest.

On Wednesday, Colorado jumped out to an early lead, but Peter Budaj couldn't make it stand up in a 3-1 loss at Phoenix. He allowed two goals to Peter Mueller in a 2:05 span of the second period, and finished with 26 saves.

Budaj, though, has won five of his last six home starts to improve to 8-5-0 there. He replaced Andrew Raycroft in the October loss to Columbus, turning aside all three shots faced.

Raycroft had only 10 saves through two periods of that game in his only loss this season. The former Boston and Toronto netminder has won his last four starts and is 6-1-0 with a 2.95 GAA in 2008-09.

T.J. Hensick scored for Colorado in the loss to the Coyotes. With Joe Sakic (herniated disc and broken fingers) and Paul Stastny (broken forearm) expected to miss extended time, coach Tony Granato said he expects more from the second-year center, who has just two goals in 24 games.

"He's strong on his skates and gifted offensively," Granato said. "We're going to need him to score goals for us so it was good to see."

Raycroft in Net Against Wings

texacogirl — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 04:01:21 -0000

Raycroft in Net Against Wings

I don't know if I even want to watch this game after seeing this news.

OT: Avs Lose, Avery Sucks

texacogirl — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 05:07:11 -0000

And we have a mission: Find a nickname for Americanario. What does "Americanario" mean anyway? After a great first period which continued the Avalanche goal scoring streak, the second and third period were a bust. Lackluster play, bad turnovers, and great Nashville defense prevailed. The puppy dogs and sunshine are over for now. Especially if Raycroft starts in net tomorrow night.

We need a true iron fisted coach and training staff to kick the fire back into this team. Granato continued with his excuses about the team not playing a full 60 minutes. When will he realize de-nial is not a river on some other continent than the one we live on?

*Sigh*

via blogs.trb.com

Puppy Dogs and Sunshine: Avs Win PGT

texacogirl — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 03:48:01 -0000

via onlyonelife4jesus.files.wordpress.com

So, it is happy hockey day or something. Avs have a pretty convincing win against a Mild team that looked sluggish from the start.

So, since it's happy hockey day, and MHH did not really participate, I'll go for it. I love hockey because I'm an angry person. Hockey allows me the ability to shout, throw my fists, and cheer loudly in idiot's ears in an appropriate setting. 82 games per year allow me to be aggressive and happy all at the same time without hurting any one. Oh, and Peter Forsberg. There is nothing better than watching Forsberg hit, score, and demolish the Wings.

PPP: What's Up With Tucker?

texacogirl — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 05:47:47 -0000

Being an Avs fan and as such, focused on the Western Conference and its players, I didn't know who Darcy Tucker was. When Tucker was picked up off waivers during the offseason, information came forth that the Avs had their eye on him for a while and this was the opportunity to aquire him. I have also heard he was a fan favorite in Toronto for his ability to play with heart. However, after 10+ games, I and other Avs fans are, well, unimpressed with his play. I have yet to see him show grit, heart, or anything resembling hockey sense. I realize the season is young but at this point Tucker is beginning to rival Arnason for scapegoat and as I understand it, he is still being paid like 4 million per year between the two teams. What gives? Your collective insight would be much appreciated.

Parker on Waivers

texacogirl — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 21:40:29 -0000

Parker on Waivers

Ciao, Parker. You will be missed.

Edit: I have been unable to find any article in the Denver Post to substantiate TSN's information. There is nothing official on the Avs site, either, but they took like a month to announce the Ledin signing.

Forsberg to Russia

texacogirl — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:38:30 -0000

Forsberg to Russia

Sigh. The rumors begin and this one sucks.