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Av-merican
Un-Tenured Professor of Hockey
Joined: 17 Oct 2007
Posts: 1429
Location: Denver
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 Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 11:49 am Post subject: What now? |
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As good a time as any to start this.
Francois Giguere will have his work cut out for him. So far as a GM he's got a solid B (no plus or minus) in my book. He's made some very smart deals in acquiring Salei and Foote at the deadline (even though the Foote deal will end up basically costing us big in the draft), but then again he's made some deals that don't look so great right now...most notably the signing of Scott Hannan and the re-signing of Brett Clark, both for WAY too much money. Smyth's deal was an overpayment, but we all knew that. He at least came through with a solid postseason until his injury.
He opted not to negotiate a long-term deal for John-Michael Liles, and despite the fact that he's had a bad season at the worst possible time, it's possible he'll get an offer on the market far too expensive for the Avs to match. It's hard to say what FG should do...he's got Kyle Cumiskey waiting in the wings, a promising youngster who's got more puck savvy and speed than Liles, but unfortunately even smaller than JML. Having them both in the lineup makes our blueline way undersized. But letting Liles walk leaves us bereft of a proven power play QB...which we obviously can't afford to have happen. I'm really not sure what to do. I'm thinking he's going to bolt for a Tom Preissing-like deal from a team in need of his services...not sure who would tender it though.
And no, I don't want Forsberg back.
Hannan gets this year's Goat of the Year award, despite the fact that Liles turned in easily his worst year in what has been an otherwise solid young career thus far. He led the league in holding penalties and played an extraordinarily tentative game despite the fact that he was brought aboard to be a physical presence. No excuse for the holding penalties either, he was paid handsomely because he's a big guy with enough speed to keep up with the opposition's fastest skaters. An aging Adam Foote did 10 times better on D at a comparable salary. If we can get someone stupid enough to take this contract off our hands (PLEASE tell me he doesn't have a NTC) then by all means...dump and dump NOW.
The team also needs to get serious about putting together a real checking line and about actually paying attention to the glaring weakness the Avs have in the faceoff dot. It's been downright embarrassing to see the Avs get completely manhandled this postseason because they simply didn't start out with the puck. Getting a guy like Bobby Holik (if the price is right, thankfully Mike Gillis won't be his agent) would definitely help in that department. Also, time to look at bringing some more speed in the lineup (though I realize getting Holik doesn't exactly help in that department). That being said, as valuable as he has been (easily the best FA acquisition the Avs ever made) it's time to let Andrew Brunette walk.
Most important of all though...sadly, it's time for a coaching change. There was NO EXCUSE for how horribly the team did on special teams this year. A near-bottom power play was simply outrageous, even with injuries and a bad year from our top D-man. Quenneville juggled his lines at even strength all the time, yet was ridiculously static with his power play setup. At least a guy like Jacques Lemaire is willing to try anything when he knows his power play isn't working, even something completely crazy and stupid like putting Eric Belanger at the point. This time, bring in someone completely new, not a former assistant and NOT a friend of someone in management (yeah, Granato, I'm looking at you, go away already).
I don't see major changes to the lineup, but hopefully a fundamental change in the way this organization is run, both behind the bench and in the front office. Much like I thought it was for Dave Nonis in Vancouver, this is a make-or-break year for Francois Giguere, his chance to really put his stamp on the team. Hopefully he does well... |
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Jyrki21
Rebel Sell + Moneyball = Life
Joined: 18 Oct 2007
Posts: 1358
Location: Ottawa, ON
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| Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 1:30 pm Post subject: Re: What now? |
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| Av-merican wrote: |
| That being said, as valuable as he has been (easily the best FA acquisition the Avs ever made) it's time to let Andrew Brunette walk. |
Why? He continues to be criminally underrated (and believe me, that's not an easy thing for me to say about anyone who's ever donned your team's sweater and gotten a guaranteed Macfarlane figurine and CBC fanbase because of it).
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Av-merican
Un-Tenured Professor of Hockey
Joined: 17 Oct 2007
Posts: 1429
Location: Denver
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| Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 1:38 pm Post subject: Re: What now? |
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| Jyrki21 wrote: |
| Av-merican wrote: |
| That being said, as valuable as he has been (easily the best FA acquisition the Avs ever made) it's time to let Andrew Brunette walk. |
Why? He continues to be criminally underrated (and believe me, that's not an easy thing for me to say about anyone who's ever donned your team's sweater and gotten a guaranteed Macfarlane figurine and CBC fanbase because of it). |
I suppose you're right...I just hate seeing my team get skated out of the rink when it should be the Avs doing just that to the opposition. Bruno's been a spectacular pickup, don't get me wrong, but this series inparticular has exposed his one glaring weakness. And it doesn't help that we have two other crappy skaters in Stastny and Smyth (Wolski isn't exactly fleet of foot either, Sakic and Hejduk are well past their speedy primes, and while Marek Svatos is pretty fast, his game isn't really about speed). Our team is supposed to be getting faster, but instead it's gotten slower over the last 2+ seasons. Our relative slowness has to be addressed sometime, above everything else, having that lack of speed makes for a lineup that isn't terribly versatile, not to mention one that gets outskated, outchanced, and outworked by teams like Minny (at least in the regular season), Edmonton, Nashville, and most notably, Detroit.
If not for the Flames we'd be the slowest team in the league. And I'm not even sure with Lombardi nowadays that they ARE slower than us. |
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harmfuljays
King of Men
Joined: 18 Oct 2007
Posts: 917
Location: Djibouti
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| Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 2:01 pm Post subject: |
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The Avs are terribly weak on D Fence. And their depth at LW is in question. The Avs can easily sign Yelle in the off-season to anchor a checking line so I wouldn't worry about that.
Kurt Sauer and sadly Jeff Finger are not legitimate NHL d-men...sorry Finger!
Nobody has been good on that blue line.
Forsberg again was a season ticket holder ploy.
I think Kristian Huselius might fit in nicely here. The Avs would let him play his game...because frankly they play his game. I don't care what anyone says about Huselius (even if he did just win 1 million dollars playing the swedish ponies) the guy is going to bring you 30 goals and at least 30 assists. He's a skilled guy that will give you 60 points.....don't try to make him something he isn't.
_________________
"Don't think (Stay)
Drink your wine (Home)
Watch the fire burn (Be)
His problems not mine (Safe)
Just be that model citizen"
-The Decline
-UP THE IRONS! |
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Av-merican
Un-Tenured Professor of Hockey
Joined: 17 Oct 2007
Posts: 1429
Location: Denver
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| Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 2:26 pm Post subject: |
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Yep, Avs definitely are weak on D. I hope and pray Nigel Williams and Kevin Shattenkirk pan out and pan out freakin' quickly. Unfortunately both are pretty much a year or two out at the very least.
Huselius? Sure, why not? Yelle? Hmmmmm...it's a little too late to rectify that supreme fuck-up by the Avs. We've played enough with bringing back the ol' glory days by bringing Foote and Forsberg, bring back Yelle, we might as well make a call to Japan and ask Shjon Podein what the hell he's up to.
Guys like Jeff Finger, Brett Clark, and Karlis Skrastins are great as stopgap measures, players you plug in while your talent develops and eventually replaces them. Problem is they stuck around way too long, and the talent is either not developing or wasn't there in the first place.
T.J. Hensick, David Jones, and Chris Stewart remain our best hope for immediate help next year from the farm. I like Jones, if he upped his game a little more I could see him playing a grinder/supplementary scoring role, but it's too early to tell if he'll be anything more than the next Cody McCormick...or Cody McLeod for that matter. I like both Codys but they're 4th liners and that's all they'll ever be. Hensick still needs to work on taking this NHL thing a little more seriously. Stewart...well, the jury's still out, but his first season in the AHL certainly made me a little concerned about his development. In his defense, pretty much EVERYONE on the Lake Erie Monsters sucked.
Oh! Almost forgot, more important than any other free agent signing will be getting Theo under contract. Lose him and we might as well tank it for a rebuild. Budaj's good, but he can't handle a full season workload nor will he ever steal us games, and there's no one in FA or in the system who can be a #1 goalie for us. |
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Jyrki21
Rebel Sell + Moneyball = Life
Joined: 18 Oct 2007
Posts: 1358
Location: Ottawa, ON
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| Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 3:24 pm Post subject: Re: What now? |
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| Av-merican wrote: |
| I suppose you're right...I just hate seeing my team get skated out of the rink when it should be the Avs doing just that to the opposition. Bruno's been a spectacular pickup, don't get me wrong, but this series inparticular has exposed his one glaring weakness. And it doesn't help that we have two other crappy skaters in Stastny and Smyth (Wolski isn't exactly fleet of foot either, Sakic and Hejduk are well past their speedy primes, and while Marek Svatos is pretty fast, his game isn't really about speed). Our team is supposed to be getting faster, but instead it's gotten slower over the last 2+ seasons. Our relative slowness has to be addressed sometime, above everything else, having that lack of speed makes for a lineup that isn't terribly versatile, not to mention one that gets outskated, outchanced, and outworked by teams like Minny (at least in the regular season), Edmonton, Nashville, and most notably, Detroit. |
My response to that is twofold:
1) Speed is a means to an end. Goals (and preventing them) are an end themselves. (Well, winning is the end, I suppose, but goal differential is the singular means of getting there, and is effectively therefore the end itself). Brunette does one thing -- scores a bunch of goals. Unless he's single-handedly responsible for more goals-against than he produces, then he's a net positive asset no matter how slow he is. (Moneyball!) So it's really just a question of how much he's worth, not whether you want him or not.
2) Speed is one of those motherhood/apple pie things. Everyone wants to get faster and thinks their team needs more speed. (Of course, because it's a relative thing, not everyone can, and one team surpassing another in speed will just be perceived by the second team as it getting slower). If dumping players like Brunette to bring up your average speed was really all that worthwhile, there would be no room in the NHL for players like him, since each team would just do it over and over to get faster in the arms race (Rebel Sell!). Few would argue the assumption that Brunette belongs in the NHL. After all, by definition half of the league's players have to be below-average skaters by NHL standards, so you might as well hang onto a good one. I guess this is another way of expressing point #1, that speed shouldn't be made a priority over general effectiveness.
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saskhab
Morally Bankrupt Scum
Joined: 17 Oct 2007
Posts: 2447
Location: Saskatoon!
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| Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 3:34 pm Post subject: |
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Also of note: brunettes are sexy.
In all seriousness, while Brunette is effective right now, he may not have many years left. He's 35 in August, and not many second liners continue passing the grade from this point on.
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Jyrki21
Rebel Sell + Moneyball = Life
Joined: 18 Oct 2007
Posts: 1358
Location: Ottawa, ON
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| Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 12:46 am Post subject: |
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| saskhab wrote: |
Also of note: brunettes are sexy.
In all seriousness, while Brunette is effective right now, he may not have many years left. He's 35 in August, and not many second liners continue passing the grade from this point on. |
Whoa, I didn't realize that. Did he break into the league at an advanced age? Or is part of his chronic underratedness not realizing how long he's been hanging around...
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harmfuljays
King of Men
Joined: 18 Oct 2007
Posts: 917
Location: Djibouti
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| Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 10:13 pm Post subject: |
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Not certain I agree with the speed thing. I've watched Rico Fata........and Hnat Dominichelli.....
Its a positional system thing.......If Chris Chelios can play then I don't think speed has anything to do with it. If speed is your thing I think that Queneville needs to go.....
_________________
"Don't think (Stay)
Drink your wine (Home)
Watch the fire burn (Be)
His problems not mine (Safe)
Just be that model citizen"
-The Decline
-UP THE IRONS! |
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Av-merican
Un-Tenured Professor of Hockey
Joined: 17 Oct 2007
Posts: 1429
Location: Denver
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| Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 12:14 pm Post subject: |
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| harmfuljays wrote: |
Not certain I agree with the speed thing. I've watched Rico Fata........and Hnat Dominichelli.....
Its a positional system thing.......If Chris Chelios can play then I don't think speed has anything to do with it. If speed is your thing I think that Queneville needs to go..... |
And don't forget Brad May! 
Don't get me wrong, I don't want to get a bunch of speedy guys with questionable hockey sense and skill (re: Edmonton Oilers) but we're headed in the exact WRONG direction when it comes to team speed. We're getting slower, and overall looking even more rag-tag than we did a couple seasons ago when we opted for cheap replacements like FiFi Turgeon (and yes I realize he wasn't exactly a speed demon either). |
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Av-merican
Un-Tenured Professor of Hockey
Joined: 17 Oct 2007
Posts: 1429
Location: Denver
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| Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 2:35 pm Post subject: |
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Eddie Olczyk, Adrian Dater, and Terry Frei were all on w/the Sports Guys on The Fan this morning doing a round table discussion. Before that Giggy was on and was very vague as to what his decision would be concerning Joel Quenneville. Giggy did mention he will be going to the WC, which made Frei think that Giggy might be wanting to talk to various coaches there, most notably Pat Burns. Frei and Dater went on to say that the Avs need to make a decision regarding Q NOW.
Based on the fact alone that Quenneville has not been re-upped by now and hasn't even received a phone call regarding his future w/the club, I'd say Q is gone. |
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