SB Nation User Blog: thedoctor

Offseason Diagnosis: Final Standings

thedoctor — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:48:10 -0000

So, the final standings at last come! My apologies in how they've been coming -- I've been working my ass off, then in Mexico (Cabo) for the last week on vacation. I have quite a backlog of games to watch!

Standings

thedoctor: 17
Joe: 17
Americanario: 16
Tommelot: 16
DD: 15
Dario: 15

I win!!!! ...and so does Joe, but the tiebreaker goes to me with my guess of 51.5m (nhlnumbers puts us at 51.008).

Actually, everyone is grouped within a 2 point range, which I find fairly remarkable and awesome. Technically, there are some unanswered questions on the list -- the Forsberg ones -- that could change the final standings, but I'm just not willing to wait that long. Anybody disagree?

So Joe owes me a beer at the Official MHH game*, whenever that is. The KYGO Puck Pass events (2 lower bowl tickets + 2 drinks + $10 at the gift store for $100) are actually all on Ticketmaster even into next year, may I suggest one of those? Let's get the ball rolling on this and we can all decide if we want to out ourselves in person. :)

* Maybe. If he wants to.

(My guesses in parens still, italics for wrong, bold for correct. If a question depends on another response, obviously the dependent guess is null and void for the competition. On numerical responses, it's the closest. Each right/closest answer gets a point. Ties all get a point.)

UFAs

Joe Sakic's return: (yes)(Everyone)
Joe Sakic's cap number: ($5m) (Dario, 5.5m)

John-Michael Liles' return: (no)(Joe)
John-Michael Liles' eventual team [if he moves]: (Carolina)
John-Michael Liles' cap number [wherever he ends up]: (4.5m)(Me, Joe)

Andrew Brunette's return: (no)(Everyone)
Andrew Brunette's cap number [wherever he ends up]: (2.5m)(Me, Dario)

Jose Theodore's return: (yes)(DD, Dario)
Jose Theodore's cap number [wherever he ends up]: (4m)(4.5, Americanario)
Length of contract: (3 years)(2, Joe, Americanario)

Adam Foote's return: (yes)(Everyone)
Adam Foote's cap number [wherever he ends up]: (4m)(3.5, Dario)

Peter Forsberg's return: (yes)
Peter Forsberg's cap number [this means prorated]: (2m)
Peter Forsberg's return date: (Feb. 1)

Jeff Finger's return: (yes)(All wrong)
Jeff Finger's cap number [wherever he ends up]: (1.5m)(1.9, DD)

Kurt Sauer's return: (yes)(DD, Dario)
Kurt Sauer's cap number [wherever he ends up]: (1.5m)(Me, Tommelot)

Scott Parker's return: (no)(All wrong, technically)

Tyler Arnason's return: (yes. :( )(all right)

RFAs

Wojtek Wolski's cap number: (2.5m)(3.0, Joe)
Length of contract: (3 years)(No one)

Marek Svatos' cap number: (2m)(Me, Tommelot, Americanario)
Length of contract: (1 year)(2 year, everyone but me and Dario)

Will they make the team on opening day? [Scratches count]

TJ Hensick: (yes) (Tommelot)
David Jones: (yes) (All)
Brad Richardson: (yes) (Joe)
Kyle Cumiskey: (no) (Me, Tommelot, Americanario)
Cody McCormick: (yes) (Me, Joe, Tommelot, Americanario)
Cody McLeod: (yes) (Me, DD)
Johnny Boychuk: (no) (All)
Chris Stewart: (no) (All)
Nigel Williams: (no) (All)
Tyler Weiman: (no) (All but DD)

Position Battles on opening day

Third Line Center: (Tyler Arnason *sigh*) (All but Dario)
Starting Goaltender: (Jose Theodore) (Dario, DD)

Tiebreaker

Avs overall cap number on opening day: (51.5m)

Saturday Development Camp Thoughts

thedoctor — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 20:25:40 -0000

[promoted. thanks Doc! - Joe]

I'm certainly not as qualified or in the know as Jori is about the Avs' system, but I was at the development camp today (Saturday). Honestly, I was a little disappointed. There wasn't much actual play occurring, just drills, so it was difficult to really get a feel for some of the players. Rookie camp is much better in this regard -- they run drills then just scrimmage. On the other hand, there's no college prospects at rookie camp, so it's your only real chance to see them with the Avs.

- As Jori says, the 2 prospects expected to outshine the others did, for certain. Hensick was head and shoulders above most of his group on all drills, and Jones made pretty much everyone around him look silly, even though he still can't finish consistently. They're both ready. Hensick lost an edge on one drill and went hard into the boards, which clearly hurt him a lot...but he didn't miss a drill. Good man.

- Two of the guys I most wanted to see were Shattenkirk and Mercier -- I've heard a lot about them various places. Well, they're both for real. Shattenkirk is on the smaller side for sure, but he was aggressive and well-positioned on D, and a smooth skater with great puck-handling and passing skills. He ate up just about everyone on the 1 on 1 drills. I'd guess he's about 2-3 years out, but he looks like a good bet on the main squad.

- Mercier was a little more raw than Shattenkirk -- for example, he didn't look to be as smooth a skater as the top forward prospects -- but he's an intriguing prospect still. He's got a great shot, did every drill like a maniac and has good wheels. He really tore it up on the shooting drills. I don't know that he's a lock for the main squad, but he might be a good 3rd liner. A member of my party commented on his pass receipt ability, that the puck just stuck to his stick -- and once I looked for it, I was stunned. Even on bad passes, he got great shots off.

- Some of the other college guys I noticed were Cohen and Carey. Both are raw, but there's certainly potential there. Cohen especially has the right body type for the NHL. Cohen got yapped at a couple times on the skating drills, he's got some work to do there. Tessier was there, he's like a mini-Mercier...and Mercier is pretty small already. Good skills though.

- Our goalies...well, our goalies. Granato and Hackett were on one side of the ice with much of the rest of the staff working with the goalies for about a third of the time. Some drills looked pretty basic -- shot from the point, followed by someone rushing from a corner -- others were pretty crazy. The craziest was a little half-moon of 20ish pucks around the crease, with some coach just snatching them at random and throwing them at the unfortunate goalie.

Trevor Cann looked pretty good, but not great. Sauer, Patterson and Keserich aren't very good imo. Delmas was up and down -- during one drill, the goalies had to move to one of 5 positions in the crease at a coach's rapid fire calls. Most of the goalies handled it ok (Sauer is slow :( ), but Delmas inspired murmuring from the crowd with his speed and quickness (exclamations from my loud-ass self). But later, during a relatively simple drill involving slap shots from around the blue line, he REALLY struggled with his blocker, letting in a lot of really simple shots. His body language was not good after either...but Hackett handled it well, pulling him aside. Hackett looked to be doing lots of good coaching (but how can you really tell). He's really skinny too, looked kind of like a pyramid with giant pads, no torso, and a mask on top. tall though. he'll probably fill out. I hope.

- JD Corbin got pulled aside for almost the entire drill time to work on his skating with whoever does the skating stuff (holy crap can he skate, whoever he is). He actually looked pretty decent out there, as did Rob Drummond. Both caught my eye more than once.

- Chris Stewart looked significantly faster out there, and his touch around the net was unrivaled. But even though you could tell he'd worked on it, his skating was AWFUL. About Wes O'Neil level. Most of the players could handle some of the nasty skating drills, even if they were hard...he couldn't at all. At one point he fell over and wiped out someone else in a nasty collision. They looked pissed. He was sheepish about anything involving skating.

He looked like someone that didn't grow up skating like everyone else -- but he's functional in games and drills enough to enable his incredible hands. I just can't figure out whether holding him in the AHL is the right thing to do or not -- he could score in the NHL, no doubt, but would his skating be too much of a liability?

- FG was there, just sitting with the fans. I almost went up to him and asked him to trade Arnason (a member of my group offered me $10 to)...but I decided it would be a little too redneck, and he was there with one of his kids. I'm regretting it now, it would have been hilarious.

- I was bummed Nigel Williams and TJ Galiardi weren't on the ice (Williams was there in street clothes presumably hurt, Jori informed me Galiardi was hurt). Davey Jones ran all over our tiny D, a couple people sitting near me commented that Nigel had prevented him from doing it the day before by putting him on his ass.

- Cloutier runs a tight ship man, he was all over the D during drills. If they didn't outlet pass correctly he stopped everything until they got it right. He was very vocal.

- Final anecdote -- Jones and Shattenkirk were on the same side of the ice for one on one drills. Jones was smushing everyone and getting to the net with ease, no one could get past Shattenkirk even slightly (no shots even). Finally they matched up...and Jones got Shattenkirk to bite, slipped the puck right between his legs and shouldered past him for a wide open shot just above the crease...which he shot right into the goalie's chest as usual. Shocking. A cool moment though -- and welcome to the big leagues, Kevin.

That's all I got! I snapped some pics and took some video, maybe I'll stick it up later if it turned out...but my batteries died so I have to go get some from the store to see it, so maybe later tomorrow. If you have questions about any other players or whatever, ask away and I'll try to remember. Nice to meet you again Jori!

Line and Pairing Combos

thedoctor — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 19:31:37 -0000

The roster seems about set. Joe is leaving for a week. So let's talk line/pairing combos, eh? Reply with your lines and pairings -- with/without Joey, pipe dream lines, lines you think will actually happen -- whatever you want.

I'll start:

D Pairings:

Foote / Clark

Hannan / Liles

Salei / Leopold

I think these is a really good bet. We saw 2 of these pairings for extended periods of time already and they worked well in Hannan/Liles and Salei / Leopold. The team seems to love spreading out its puckmovers. Clark and Foote may work really well together, they compliment each other's shortcomings well.

With Joey (realistic):

Smyth / Stastny / Hejduk

Wolski / Sakic / Svatos

Tucker / Arny / Jones

McLeod / Guite / Lappy

If Sakic and Arny come back, I just don't see how Hensick makes the team.

Without Joey (realistic):

Smyth / Stastny / Hejduk

Hensick / Wolski / Svatos

Tucker / Arny / Jones

McLeod / Guite / Lappy

Hensick can play LW (he did last preseason to great effect), and Sakic leaving creates that top 6 spot for him.

thedoctor's pipedream (Arny traded):

Smyth / Sakic / Jones

Tucker / Stastny / Hejduk

Hensick / Wolski / Svatos // swap hensick and wolski if you care to

McLeod / Guite / Lappy

Shoot, I LOVE this lineup. We all know how well the Stastny / Hejduk pairing works with random grinders (*cough* May?)...and Tucker is one with scoring touch! Smyth and Sakic finally get to play together, and Jones adds size, speed, and nice passing (hopefully someday some finishing ability too :p). And the 3rd...mmm, the 3rd -- speed galore, and offensive ability like you wouldn't believe. Imagine Svatos and Hensick tearing up the ice on breakouts. Yummy.

Offseason Diagnosis: Post FAF standings

thedoctor — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:05:11 -0000

Without further ado, the latest standings!

Standings

Dario: 9
thedoctor: 7
Joe: 7
Americanario: 6
DD: 6
Tommelot: 5

Dario jumps into the lead with some nice calls on Foote's salary and Theo's leaving. The rest of us are in a tight little pack separated by 2 points. I feel good about my chances from 2nd place! Tommelot, what happened man? and DD, I thought you were like god of numbers?

UFAs

Joe Sakic's return: (yes)
Joe Sakic's cap number: ($5m)

John-Michael Liles' return: (no)
John-Michael Liles' eventual team [if he moves]: (Carolina)
John-Michael Liles' cap number [wherever he ends up]: (4.5m)

Andrew Brunette's return: (no)
Andrew Brunette's cap number [wherever he ends up]: (2.5m)

Jose Theodore's return: (yes)
Jose Theodore's cap number [wherever he ends up]: (4m)
Length of contract: (3 years)

Adam Foote's return: (yes)
Adam Foote's cap number [wherever he ends up]: (4m)

Peter Forsberg's return: (yes)
Peter Forsberg's cap number [this means prorated]: (2m)
Peter Forsberg's return date: (Feb. 1)

Jeff Finger's return: (yes)
Jeff Finger's cap number [wherever he ends up]: (1.5m)

Kurt Sauer's return: (yes)
Kurt Sauer's cap number [wherever he ends up]: (1.5m)

Scott Parker's return: (no)

Tyler Arnason's return: (yes. :( )

RFAs

Wojtek Wolski's cap number: (2.5m)
Length of contract: (3 years)

Marek Svatos' cap number: (2m)
Length of contract: (1 year)

Will they make the team on opening day? [Scratches count]

TJ Hensick: (yes)
David Jones: (yes)
Brad Richardson: (yes)
Kyle Cumiskey: (no)
Cody McCormick: (yes)
Cody McLeod: (yes)
Johnny Boychuk: (no)
Chris Stewart: (no)
Nigel Williams: (no)
Tyler Weiman: (no)

Position Battles on opening day

Third Line Center: (Tyler Arnason *sigh*)
Starting Goaltender: (Jose Theodore)

Tiebreaker

Avs overall cap number on opening day: (51.5m)

Offseason Diagnosis: Update 1!

thedoctor — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:39:13 -0000

As promised, I said I'd update the standing for this little game (see here if you missed it). I'll include how my guesses are doing. If I goof something up with your stats, let me know and I'll fix it.

It's not too late to jump in if you didn't make any guesses yet! Even though you've missed points for all signings/trades that have occured, most of us that DID make guesses aren't very far ahead.

Finally, I think I've decided on the prize we're all competing for: a ticket to an Avs game, hopefully one to the rumored MHH game we'll all be attending. Obviously it won't be a great one because I'm not that rich, or more likely one of the KYGO puck pass tickets (which is what we should do for our MHH meet), which are a great bargain and great seats if you've never tried it. If you can't make it to a game for whatever reason, I'll come up with something else.

Standings

Joe: 4
thedoctor: 2
Dario: 2
Tommelot: 1
Americanario: 1
DD: 1

Looks like Joe's got us all by the short hairs so far, with his correct Richardson and Liles guesses. Kudos to Dario for being the only person to correctly call the Foote would take a cut to return.

UFAs

Joe Sakic's return: (yes)
Joe Sakic's cap number: ($5m)

John-Michael Liles' return: (no)
John-Michael Liles' eventual team [if he moves]: (Carolina)
John-Michael Liles' cap number [wherever he ends up]: (4.5m)

Andrew Brunette's return: (no)
Andrew Brunette's cap number [wherever he ends up]: (2.5m)

Jose Theodore's return: (yes)
Jose Theodore's cap number [wherever he ends up]: (4m)
Length of contract: (3 years)

Adam Foote's return: (yes)
Adam Foote's cap number [wherever he ends up]: (4m)

Peter Forsberg's return: (yes)
Peter Forsberg's cap number [this means prorated]: (2m)
Peter Forsberg's return date: (Feb. 1)

Jeff Finger's return: (yes)
Jeff Finger's cap number [wherever he ends up]: (1.5m)

Kurt Sauer's return: (yes)
Kurt Sauer's cap number [wherever he ends up]: (1.5m)

Scott Parker's return: (no)

Tyler Arnason's return: (yes. :( )

RFAs

Wojtek Wolski's cap number: (2.5m)
Length of contract: (3 years)

Marek Svatos' cap number: (2m)
Length of contract: (1 year)

Will they make the team on opening day? [Scratches count]

TJ Hensick: (yes)
David Jones: (yes)
Brad Richardson: (yes)
Kyle Cumiskey: (no)
Cody McCormick: (yes)
Cody McLeod: (yes)
Johnny Boychuk: (no)
Chris Stewart: (no)
Nigel Williams: (no)
Tyler Weiman: (no)

Position Battles on opening day

Third Line Center: (Tyler Arnason *sigh*)
Starting Goaltender: (Jose Theodore)

Tiebreaker

Avs overall cap number on opening day: (51.5m)

Offseason Diagnosis: 2008 Predictions

thedoctor — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 22:31:10 -0000

[promoted to the front page - Joe]

Well, we're about a week away from the "actual" start of the offseason move period, the draft, and I'm bored. Because I'm bored in the absence of hockey, and as I anticipate we'll start hearing about UFA re-signings and retirement decisions before then, this seems like a good time to start this discussion / game. On each of the below decisions, what do you think will happen?

Go ahead and put your predictions on these issues in the comments, and I'll put my predictions in this post. Just to add a little spice to this competition, if you beat me, there will be a prize (yes, a real one TBD by your distance to CO) for the person with the most points. If I win, Joe has to fly out to an Avs game in CO and buy me a beer*.

Assuming people actually respond to this, I'll keep all the standings in the comments after decisions come down the pike. The more trash talk and/or discussion of each other's choices, the better.

(My guesses in parens. If a question depends on another response, obviously the dependent guess is null and void for the competition. On numerical responses, it's the closest. Each right/closest answer gets a point. Ties all get a point.)

UFAs

Joe Sakic's return: (yes)
Joe Sakic's cap number: ($5m)

John-Michael Liles' return: (no)
John-Michael Liles' eventual team [if he moves]: (Carolina)
John-Michael Liles' cap number [wherever he ends up]: (4.5m)

Andrew Brunette's return: (no)
Andrew Brunette's cap number [wherever he ends up]: (2.5m)

Jose Theodore's return: (yes)
Jose Theodore's cap number [wherever he ends up]: (4m)
Length of contract: (3 years)

Adam Foote's return: (yes)
Adam Foote's cap number [wherever he ends up]: (4m)

Peter Forsberg's return: (yes)
Peter Forsberg's cap number [this means prorated]: (2m)
Peter Forsberg's return date: (Feb. 1)

Jeff Finger's return: (yes)
Jeff Finger's cap number [wherever he ends up]: (1.5m)

Kurt Sauer's return: (yes)
Kurt Sauer's cap number [wherever he ends up]: (1.5m)

Scott Parker's return: (no)

Tyler Arnason's return: (yes. :( )

RFAs

Wojtek Wolski's cap number: (2.5m)
Length of contract: (3 years)

Marek Svatos' cap number: (2m)
Length of contract: (1 year)

Will they make the team on opening day? [Scratches count]

TJ Hensick: (yes)
David Jones: (yes)
Brad Richardson: (yes)
Kyle Cumiskey: (no)
Cody McCormick: (yes)
Cody McLeod: (yes)
Johnny Boychuk: (no)
Chris Stewart: (no)
Nigel Williams: (no)
Tyler Weiman: (no)

Position Battles on opening day

Third Line Center: (Tyler Arnason *sigh*)
Starting Goaltender: (Jose Theodore)

Tiebreaker

Avs overall cap number on opening day: (51.5m)

* Maybe. If he wants to.

Granato to be named head coach

thedoctor — Thu, 22 May 2008 15:56:43 -0000

Per Altitude employee at hfboards.

My initial reaction is...why? Granato had one job the last few years, as far as I know -- the Power Play. Which was certifiably awful last year at 29th in the league. So lets promote him!

I'm usually an optimist about this kind of thing around here, but this is an awful move. He was terrible his first time around, he was terrible last year in his role as PP coach...why would this be any different?

Edit -- Official Link

And I'm still in shock. What an awful move.

Forsberg signs with Avs!!!!

thedoctor — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 21:40:59 -0000

The greatest hockey player I've ever seen in person is back! will his glass-like ankles stay healthy now?

per: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID...

Bryzgalov waived; Richardson recalled

thedoctor — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 17:32:05 -0000

Should the Avs grab Ilya Bryzgalov off waivers? Where should Brad Richardson play now that he's been recalled?

Ilya Bryzgalov was waived by the Anaheim Ducks today (source http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slu... ). The Avs' current goaltenders, Budaj and Theodore, have been doing well of late, but both have significantly inferior numbers to Bryzgalov. The Avs also have a decent chance of actually acquiring Bryzgalov -- if multiple teams put a claim on a waived player, the team with the lower point total gets the player. Who'd have thought missing the playoffs would help us this year?

Lots of questions remain on how he would play, who would leave our rotation (*cough* Theodore) and whether he could be re-signed, but for now, there's no doubt in my mind that the Avs should at least attempt to claim him. The details can be worked out later.

In unrelated news, Brad Richardson has been recalled from Lake Erie, possibly to replace Brunette, who is rumored to have been injured in practice yesterday. Hopefully the rumor is false, but Richardson could be a nice compliment to Sakic and Smyth in my opinion -- much like Brett McLean complimented Hejduk and Stastny so well last year.

Comments from rinkside at the SJ game 10/7

thedoctor — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 20:41:34 -0000

it was a good game to go to! the team really came to play. I guess I'll just go with all my random observations in order that they come to me.

The PK was awesome. I turned to my dad (my wife and I went with my folks. is there a better family event?) about a minute into the 4 min double minor to start the game and said "this is the most aggressive they've been on the PK in 10 years." that might be exaggerating, but they were far more aggressive, and continually forced poor decisions and passes by SJ with pressure on the puck handler.
As much as I'm a Clark apologist, he had a poor game. He lost the puck a few times and misplayed a couple chances to clear. That said, his errors didn't lead to goals and he had some nice plays as the game went on, including a massive hit right in front of us. that pairing is gonna be rock solid when they get their communication and timing down.
it was really cool to see Clark, Hannan and Budaj getting together after stoppages and during commercials to discuss the previous play and critique each other. they were very animated working out where they wanted each other to be and such.
the top 2 new lines were great. Sakic's line had some good chances, and obviously the second was stellar. I initially thought that Smyth should play on that line with Stastny and Hejduk since he's like a really super good McLean, and that's exactly what it was -- he won battles on the boards, then got his ass in the goalie's face when Stastny and Hejduk got some room. When Stastny's line stepped on the ice, it tilted. It was really impressive.
Stastny is indeed faster than last year, and it's really obvious in the defensive end. I can't say anything more than has been already said about him. He's just really really good and makes everyone better around him too.
The 3rd line of Arnason, Svatos, and Wolski should be called the coin-flip line. If they happen to get the puck into the offensive zone, they're probably good for at least a decent scoring chance. If they get pinned in their own end, they're probably good for at least an opposing scoring chance. As good as they are offensively, they need to be broken up.
Hlinka is fast, and a slick passer. he gets lost along the boards though.
If I was the coach, I'd move Wolski to the top line LW (Wolski, by the way, continued his good play) and move Hlinka to the 3rd, possibly moving Arnason to winger. Hlinka would add some defensive responsibility to that line and faceoff skill, and Wolski fits Bruno and Joey's style on the top line better than Hlinka's. Plus, Wolski appears to have really elevated his play -- he's hustling hard and using his body in the corners.
Leopold and Sauer are an excellent pairing. Sauer was physical and aggressive along the boards, and Leopold was physical and well-positioned all game long.
I'll preface this by saying I loathe Skrastins's play, but him being scratched was huge. Finger and Liles really click as a pairing, and Finger adds a physical presence the Avs really need. and he can actually skate, unlike Skrastins. please Q, keep Skrastins on the bench!

that's all I got. Really fun game.

SB Nation User Blog: thedoctor

Offseason Diagnosis: Final Standings

Standings

thedoctor: 17 Joe: 17 Americanario: 16Tommelot: 16 DD: 15Dario: 15

Saturday Development Camp Thoughts

Line and Pairing Combos

Offseason Diagnosis: Post FAF standings

Standings

Dario: 9 thedoctor: 7 Joe: 7 Americanario: 6 DD: 6Tommelot: 5

Offseason Diagnosis: Update 1!

Standings

Joe: 4 thedoctor: 2 Dario: 2 Tommelot: 1 Americanario: 1 DD: 1

Offseason Diagnosis: 2008 Predictions

Granato to be named head coach

Forsberg signs with Avs!!!!

Bryzgalov waived; Richardson recalled

Comments from rinkside at the SJ game 10/7

thedoctor: 17
Joe: 17
Americanario: 16
Tommelot: 16
DD: 15
Dario: 15

Dario: 9
thedoctor: 7
Joe: 7
Americanario: 6
DD: 6
Tommelot: 5

Joe: 4
thedoctor: 2
Dario: 2
Tommelot: 1
Americanario: 1
DD: 1