Its been a long time since I have posted on here. Apologies for that.

It has been a tough year in a tough conference. The bottom line is this team has had bad luck. Losing Sakic, Losing Statsny, the top two centers on the team and then having veteran Foote out for so long on defence , it's not a suprise that the Avs are dead last in their division, however they are only 5 points back of a playoff spot.

Realistically a playoff birth is going to be very tough. St Louis, Edmonton, Columbus and Los Angeles all are playing well and are very hungry

To make the playoffs a reality there has to be out of this world goaltending, something that the Avs have not received all season. We have been teased with glimpses of that, but once we think we may have found that streaky goalie, a bad goal is let in. This isn't and hasn't been good enough!

For all the complaining about injuries Avs fans can voice, every team faces them, however the teams which are successful are the ones who have players who step up for the injured. This has not been the case with the Avs. I think Wolski has done an admirable job, but he hasn't been very consistent. In my mind Coaches have a big role in this, and from what I have seen Granato hasn't done a good job in getting the players ready for games and having them understand their roles. He has to go.

Let's hope the Avs make that push, if they get on a hot streak the playoffs could be a possibility. Statsny would have to come back, Budaj and/or Raycroft actually have to steal games and the Coach has to make good decisions. All these things must happen together in order for this to be a reality

If the Avs are close near the deadline, what should happen? Sell or buy? I think it could and should be both. The team needs to be improved, and that improvement will mean selling players as well and hopefully getting some assets in return for the present and the future. In some cases just sellling a player and having a youngster from Lake Erie come up maybe a good direction to take

Firstly goaltending. I would think the Avs are waiting for a guy like Manny Legace to go on re-entry waivers to pick him up. It's always risky to acquire an aging golatender for his full salary, but if they can get him at half price through re-entry waivers its a huge improvement, and could lead into next year's starter

This would be my "keep list" at the deadline

- Sakic
- Statsny
- Wolski
- Jones
- Hejduk
- Stewart

I am sure that the Avs would not trade Smyth or Hannan, however to clear cap space if the Avs can get some younger assets, I think it would be a great move. This won't happen though.

As much as I like Svatos, As fans we are tired of just waiting and hoping for him to
display all of his talent every game. A change of scenery is probablly needed (although again I think the coaching plays a role in his underachieving)

In reality, with the cap era, it's difficult to trade players but the Avs have to
start somewhere. The Avs need to build around Statsny and Wolski, they are the future.

Since Brian Burke has publicly annnounced that Nik Antrpov is no longer in Toronto's
future, what about a Svatos for Antropov? Two talented underachievers. These type of
trades are what the Avs are going to have to do to try and get better and still stay
competitive.

The next two games are huge Western Conference battles, Minnesota on Wednesday and tonight against Columbus. All three teams are in the playoff hunt. For tonights game the biggest task for the Avs will be how to handle Rick Nash. Let's hope for the best!!

Go Avs Go

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Chopper

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