lindy ruff for stastny...

I've been saying the Avs need to fire Sacco for over a year and a half now. I think he's a terrible coach for this young Avalanche team.

I hope the Avs crash and burn in this shortened (what a joke) of a NHL season and go for Seth Jones in this upcoming draft to help strengthen our weak defensive core. Seth Jones could be that 1-2 defenseman for the Avs that we all thought the overrated Eric Johnson would be.
- TravisK

I think you're being a bit rough on EJ with that statement. Hes developing nicely... Agree on Sacco though. Jones would be nice, I wouldn't expect him to play 25:00 a night instantly but we would be well on our way to fixing our defense for the next 10 years.

We then could seriously look at either a UFA scoring winger or trading one of our centers for a top line winger. I've said for a while this team needs one more tank to complete the rebuild. We just cannot get the pieces we need to finish the team without it.

lindy ruff for stastny...
- battelmt

I still think Stafford for Stastny is as good as it will get for both teams

I wouldn't do it personally, I think we need to add to O'Reilly for a single player in one of the positions we need IF hes traded to begin with.
- Steve-B

What position are u looking for?

I still think Stafford for Stastny is as good as it will get for both teams
- DDM-Coga

I'm personally not too interested in Stastny
Not sure how the Sabres feel

I wouldnt call those good drafts at all, good when comparing them to Sutter. When you trade down in the first roudn and then take a highschool hockey player with that pick. Its a bit suspect in my mind. And I know you guys all love Baertschi but he hasnt even played 10 games in the show yet, so hes still a toss up at how well he could pan out.

I mean dont go Kadri on him, I have heard flames fan say he would have been a top 5 pick if they redrafted that year.
- DDM-Coga

Traded down to get Jankowski but also a 2nd which was WJC player Patrick Sieloff. Also traded Erixon for Horak and two 2nds which were WJC players Tyler Wotherspoon and Marcus Granland.

Plus, Johnny Gaudreau and goalies Jon Gillies and Laurant Brossoit are all good prospects.

We can complain all we want about Sacco not getting the job done. That being said, the Avs have completely dominated the beginning of games this year and one bad shift has killed everything the team had going for them on the night. I'm not certain Sacco gets the most out of his players, but he is in no way the only problem with this team right now. It doesn't matter how great of a coach you are, if your forwards aren't burying the puck, they're not burying the puck. Sacco can't go out there and score the goals for them. The Avs need to be better, plain and simple. Coaches will swear that if you stick to the game plan and are playing hard, the bounces will come. You have to give Sacco a little while longer to see if the bounces turn in favor for the Avs. We're six games into the year and 3 points out of a playoff spot, still very early.

Varlamov has been a rock in the cage. Yes, he let in a couple of soft ones last night, but that's when good hockey teams help their goalie out. Varly has sure helped them out every other game this year.

The defence is old and slow. They don't have very good puck movers and they're getting burned more times than not. EJ has had a decent start to the year with a couple of very solid games, but he has to be even better. He's the leader back there and he needs to show it more. EJ tries to make one too many plays, he just needs to get the puck out, join the rush like a normal d-men and get into the spots that are going to make him successful. Rather he tries often to do the 'Matt Duchene' spinorama in his own end (usually turning the puck over) and doing it all himself. Also, time to move EJ onto the first PP unit. Barrie isn't ready yet, he makes costly errors on a regular basis. The kid is suppose to be an offensive d-men and he has 0 points in his first 13 or 14 so NHL games? Give him more time in LE and let him work out all the kinks in his game, you can already see the potential though by just the way he skates.

Mr. Stastny needs to be a lot better. He needs to add to the offensive production of this team. If he/his line isn't successful, the Avs aren't going to be successful. Jones right there with him... I can count on one hand the number of good plays he's made this year. Despite McGinn's production, I really like what he brings to the table. Still no doubt in my mind the Avs won that deal. He's hit the post a handful of times already this year and i guarantee you, his luck is going to change real quick. He works hard and tries to make plays, one guy you can tell the effort is there from. I'd love to see some more production out of Hejduk, I'd play him or Sgarbossa with Duchene and PA while Landy is out of the lineup. Speaking of PA, he's been good. Like every other player on this team, you'd like to see more, but you can see why the Avs wanted to add him. Very impressed with how he carries himself off the ice from what we've seen so far. McLeod will always be one of my favorite Avs, he deserves a lot more credit then he gets. He's all heart and you can tell, the guy knows his role perfectly and would do what ever it takes to help this team win. Unfortunately with all the injuries/RFA problems the Avs have right now, both Kobasew and Bordy are playing every night. Hate to say it, but they are both useless. Heavyweights like Bordy are pretty much irrelevant in todays NHL. Too bad, because for a big guy, he's not all that bad of a hockey player, just one that is hard to use. I don't even want to get into Kobasew. I'm sure there is a role for him, but the Avs definitely aren't utilizing him in it.

Duchene has been hands down this teams best player so far. There is no argument to be had. Does he need to be better? Sure. When Dutchy is skating, he's hard to catch. He's got a great combination of speed and hands, plus, he's not small... You can argue that Landy is the face of this franchise, I won't necessarily disagree, but Duchene is right there on the same level as him. A two headed monster. His success, is going to dictate the team's success. Dutchy has slowed down the parts of his game that he's needed to. In the past he would have been too fast for his own head, didn't give himself enough time to think. You can see that changing, as he is maturing. He's going to be a real special hockey player in this league for a long time.

This team is in absolute need of Ryan O'Reilly and Gabe Landeskog, until they're both in the lineup, it's hard to take these guys seriously... Which is too bad, because people who actually watch Avs hockey, know how much talent there is in this organization. The season is far from over yet, but there need to be some dramatic changes, in order for them to have a chance of competing for a playoff spot, that starts with getting ROR back into the dressing room.

Just think of the special teams differences with ROR and Landy.

PP's without:
1: Dutchy, Stas, PA, Jones and Barrie.
2: McGinn, Mitchell, Hejduk, Wilson and EJ.

PP's with:
1: Dutchy, Landy, PA, ROR and EJ
2: Stas, Jones, McGinn, Hejduk and Wilson.

Pk's without:
1: Stas, Dutchy, (2 of the D)
2: Mitchell, Jones
3: McLeod, Olver

Pk's with:
1: Factor and Landy
2: Stas and Mitch
3: Olver and Jones

The differences would be HUGE.

I think you're being a bit rough on EJ with that statement. Hes developing nicely... Agree on Sacco though. Jones would be nice, I wouldn't expect him to play 25:00 a night instantly but we would be well on our way to fixing our defense for the next 10 years.

We then could seriously look at either a UFA scoring winger or trading one of our centers for a top line winger. I've said for a while this team needs one more tank to complete the rebuild. We just cannot get the pieces we need to finish the team without it.
- Steve-B

The reason I'm talking down on EJ is because I have not been impressed with his play and don't believe he's a worthy 1st overall draft pick and is overrated. Quite often he is making bad passes/shots that turn the puck over that turn into goals for the other teams. Take for instance the first goal that Vancouver scored last night, EJ made a terrible outlet pass that the Vancouver defense intercepted and turned into a goal that quickly extinguished the fire and momentum that the Avs were building on after they came out with a strong start. Also, too often he tries to skate the puck coast to coast, split the D, and get a shot on net, and most of the time this does NOT work.

Mike Keenan

if the AVS lose tonight, they fall to 4th last in the league, and yes its still early...but these kids wont know how to dig themselves out of this mess and the Veterans will be counting the days till the trade deadline hoping to get the eff out.

ok, tank it then.

Get rid of stastny...he has not carried this team at all and is being paid to do so. thanks but good bye. call the Islanders, call the Leafs, call anybody you think will finish in the bottom 5 and get their first round pick for him.

O Reilly, good bye. he is not worth 5 million dollars a year END OF STORY.

Barrie is too soft and needs to mature in L.E.

Sacco cant coach and the special teams are horrible

tank, trade, dismantle and draft well and start over with a NEW GM, a NEW coach and NEW bodies next year

This guy.

I think the style he encourages (think Lavy in Philly) would energize the young forwards on the team.

This guy.

I think the style he encourages (think Lavy in Philly) would energize the young forwards on the team.
- TheRollingPuck

That picture? perfect. Like he's saying "pick me"

The reason I'm talking down on EJ is because I have not been impressed with his play and don't believe he's a worthy 1st overall draft pick and is overrated. Quite often he is making bad passes/shots that turn the puck over that turn into goals for the other teams. Take for instance the first goal that Vancouver scored last night, EJ made a terrible outlet pass that the Vancouver defense intercepted and turned into a goal that quickly extinguished the fire and momentum that the Avs were building on after they came out with a strong start. Also, too often he tries to skate the puck coast to coast, split the D, and get a shot on net, and most of the time this does NOT work.
- TravisK

Johnson's been solid for the Avs and he should have a few more points if the Avs shot more. He's big, mobile and been aggressive early. He goes coast to coast cause the forwards are standing around. When they aren't he'll feed them the puck.

The turnover the led to the first Vancouver goal, his partner was nowhere to be helpful and the forwards were out the picture. Yes the turnover was bad but it's not all on him.

next coach...Alexei Gusarov

next coach...Alexei Gusarov
- dutchtouch

True story, we partied with the Russian hockey team and specifically Gusarov after they won Gold in 1988 in Calgary.

It was the place that became Coconut Joes, they had rolls of $50 bills and drank tall glasses of straight Vodka no ice

True story, we partied with the Russian hockey team and specifically Gusarov after they won Gold in 1988 in Calgary.

It was the place that became Coconut Joes, they had rolls of $50 bills and drank tall glasses of straight Vodka no ice
- scoot174

haha nice....and for that reason alone, Gusarov should be the next coach.

True story, we partied with the Russian hockey team and specifically Gusarov after they won Gold in 1988 in Calgary.

It was the place that became Coconut Joes, they had rolls of $50 bills and drank tall glasses of straight Vodka no ice
- scoot174

Matt Duchene is interested

We can complain all we want about Sacco not getting the job done. That being said, the Avs have completely dominated the beginning of games this year and one bad shift has killed everything the team had going for them on the night. I'm not certain Sacco gets the most out of his players, but he is in no way the only problem with this team right now. It doesn't matter how great of a coach you are, if your forwards aren't burying the puck, they're not burying the puck. Sacco can't go out there and score the goals for them. The Avs need to be better, plain and simple. Coaches will swear that if you stick to the game plan and are playing hard, the bounces will come. You have to give Sacco a little while longer to see if the bounces turn in favor for the Avs. We're six games into the year and 3 points out of a playoff spot, still very early.

Varlamov has been a rock in the cage. Yes, he let in a couple of soft ones last night, but that's when good hockey teams help their goalie out. Varly has sure helped them out every other game this year.

The defence is old and slow. They don't have very good puck movers and they're getting burned more times than not. EJ has had a decent start to the year with a couple of very solid games, but he has to be even better. He's the leader back there and he needs to show it more. EJ tries to make one too many plays, he just needs to get the puck out, join the rush like a normal d-men and get into the spots that are going to make him successful. Rather he tries often to do the 'Matt Duchene' spinorama in his own end (usually turning the puck over) and doing it all himself. Also, time to move EJ onto the first PP unit. Barrie isn't ready yet, he makes costly errors on a regular basis. The kid is suppose to be an offensive d-men and he has 0 points in his first 13 or 14 so NHL games? Give him more time in LE and let him work out all the kinks in his game, you can already see the potential though by just the way he skates.
- NineTeen

Are you seriously going to ignore the obvious mistakes Sacco has made as far as not giving our best players the most ice time?

Also don't agree with anything you have said regarding EJ, he needs to control the play more, and play more. He also needs to start joining the rush more as well. Hes been more of a stay at home defense first type lately. His spinorama's are not anything like Duchene's former ones either. EJ spins to put his body in between the forchecking forward and the puck, and often gives himself more time to make a pass or carry the puck out of the zone. We need MORE of that NOT LESS. By that I mean we need another defender who can do the same type of thing.

EJ's outlet passes are about the only ones that have worked lately as well.

Johnson's been solid for the Avs and he should have a few more points if the Avs shot more. He's big, mobile and been aggressive early. He goes coast to coast cause the forwards are standing around. When they aren't he'll feed them the puck.

The turnover the led to the first Vancouver goal, his partner was nowhere to be helpful and the forwards were out the picture. Yes the turnover was bad but it's not all on him.
- martok2309

Yeah there was a forward, cant see who with the replays who didn't backcheck hard enough and was late getting his stick in front of Garrison's shot. (He made a weak effort as Garrison shot the puck.) If there defenders are in our zone before most of our team is back, you can't blame that on EJ. I'm sure he expected someone (an Av) to be there.

EJ is also allowed to make a mistake here and there, no defender no matter how good never makes any mistakes. EJ does a hell of a lot more good than bad every night. The same cannot be said for the rest of our defenders.

This guy.

I think the style he encourages (think Lavy in Philly) would energize the young forwards on the team.
- TheRollingPuck

Nobody can light a fire under a team's ass the way he can.

Get rid of stastny...he has not carried this team at all and is being paid to do so. thanks but good bye. call the Islanders, call the Leafs, call anybody you think will finish in the bottom 5 and get their first round pick for him.

- 10baci

Sorry, but Stastny is not getting Colorado a top 5 pick in the upcoming draft

Sorry, but Stastny is not getting Colorado a top 5 pick in the upcoming draft
- SotaPopinski

This, his value has plummeted, though he wouldn't have landed that a few years ago either.

Sorry, but Stastny is not getting Colorado a top 5 pick in the upcoming draft
- SotaPopinski

You're totally wrong. Stastny has already helped Colorado get TWO top 5 picks in the last 4 years!

You're totally wrong. Stastny has already helped Colorado get TWO top 5 picks in the last 4 years!
- BraxtanFILM

Burn.

He got his replacement at center and his replacement at captain. Now he just needs to get his replacement on defense and he'll be in the Hall of Fame

Burn.

He got his replacement at center and his replacement at captain. Now he just needs to get his replacement on defense and he'll be in the Hall of Fame
- martok2309

He might even help get a replacement at coach (again).