Jeremy Laura: Howard gave them a shot (again) Avs breakout, bury Wings

couple things:

1) yes, that 48 point season resulted in the fourth overall pick. who was it again we got with it? oh, right- his name is all over the scoresheet today!

(lol, sorry- not here to rub the loss; in all seriousness my point is that it’s a super deep draft and regardless of potential the guys chosen 1/2 are far from a guarantee. makar should’ve gone 1st. when he didn’t, he should’ve gone second. nope- fail on that, too! third? oopsie! boy oh boy are those three teams kicking themselves today).

....might well be a moot point as the wings are 100% guaranteed to get the best odds, as it seems they’re determined to possibly “break” our embarrassingly awful 48 point total. just saying, if your luck fails on those odds, it’s entirely possible to end up with the best player anyway.


2) i think you guys should give us Larkin for Jost and a bag of pucks. heck, i’ll even throw in an AJ Greer sweetener!!!

(seriously, tho- larkin is amazing, great player to rebuild around for detroit!).


3) bertuzzi is slightly less dirty but equally as classless as his worthless PoS ***UNCLE*** (fixed). he should go away.


4) mackinnon has already stated he wants to win in colorado, that it’s not about the money, and that come time to sign his next deal he’ll take less again for the betterment of the team. now THAT’S class. we also have oodles and oodles of cap space, essentially 0 garbage contracts, guys that won’t be with the team longterm coming off the books between now & then, and of course losing someone to seattle. signing landy & mack won’t be an issue.


5) for as much as i hated the wings back during the “greatest rivalry of all time” era, i do feel for you guys now. trust me, us avs fans know the pain of a rebuild, one that sorta began taking off and then fell even further to the floor. best wishes going out that the wings’ build doesn’t take 10+ years like ours. before i die an avs/wings cup final would make my life, assuming we win of course ;-)


\m/

couple things:

1) yes, that 48 point season resulted in the fourth overall pick. who was it again we got with it? oh, right- his name is all over the scoresheet today!

(lol, sorry- not here to rub the loss; in all seriousness my point is that it’s a super deep draft and regardless of potential the guys chosen 1/2 are far from a guarantee. makar should’ve gone 1st. when he didn’t, he should’ve gone second. nope- fail on that, too! third? oopsie! boy oh boy are those three teams kicking themselves today).

....might well be a moot point as the wings are 100% guaranteed to get the best odds, as it seems they’re determined to possibly “break” our embarrassingly awful 48 point total. just saying, if your luck fails on those odds, it’s entirely possible to end up with the best player anyway.


2) i think you guys should give us Larkin for Jost and a bag of pucks. heck, i’ll even throw in an AJ Greer sweetener!!!

(seriously, tho- larkin is amazing, great player to rebuild around for detroit!).


3) bertuzzi is slightly less dirty but equally as classless as his worthless PoS father. he should go away.


4) mackinnon has already stated he wants to win in colorado, that it’s not about the money, and that come time to sign his next deal he’ll take less again for the betterment of the team. now THAT’S class. we also have oodles and oodles of cap space, essentially 0 garbage contracts, guys that won’t be with the team longterm coming off the books between now & then, and of course losing someone to seattle. signing landy & mack won’t be an issue.


5) for as much as i hated the wings back during the “greatest rivalry of all time” era, i do feel for you guys now. trust me, us avs fans know the pain of a rebuild, one that sorta began taking off and then fell even further to the floor. best wishes going out that the wings’ build doesn’t take 10+ years like ours. before i die an avs/wings cup final would make my life, assuming we win of course ;-)


\m/
- avsgrinder

Delete your account.

couple things:

1) yes, that 48 point season resulted in the fourth overall pick. who was it again we got with it? oh, right- his name is all over the scoresheet today!

(lol, sorry- not here to rub the loss; in all seriousness my point is that it’s a super deep draft and regardless of potential the guys chosen 1/2 are far from a guarantee. makar should’ve gone 1st. when he didn’t, he should’ve gone second. nope- fail on that, too! third? oopsie! boy oh boy are those three teams kicking themselves today).

....might well be a moot point as the wings are 100% guaranteed to get the best odds, as it seems they’re determined to possibly “break” our embarrassingly awful 48 point total. just saying, if your luck fails on those odds, it’s entirely possible to end up with the best player anyway.


2) i think you guys should give us Larkin for Jost and a bag of pucks. heck, i’ll even throw in an AJ Greer sweetener!!!

(seriously, tho- larkin is amazing, great player to rebuild around for detroit!).


3) bertuzzi is slightly less dirty but equally as classless as his worthless PoS father. he should go away.


4) mackinnon has already stated he wants to win in colorado, that it’s not about the money, and that come time to sign his next deal he’ll take less again for the betterment of the team. now THAT’S class. we also have oodles and oodles of cap space, essentially 0 garbage contracts, guys that won’t be with the team longterm coming off the books between now & then, and of course losing someone to seattle. signing landy & mack won’t be an issue.


5) for as much as i hated the wings back during the “greatest rivalry of all time” era, i do feel for you guys now. trust me, us avs fans know the pain of a rebuild, one that sorta began taking off and then fell even further to the floor. best wishes going out that the wings’ build doesn’t take 10+ years like ours. before i die an avs/wings cup final would make my life, assuming we win of course ;-)


\m/
- avsgrinder

Tyler is Todd’s nephew, not his son. Todd is a friend of mine, please keep it above the belt. Yes, makar is an outstanding pick. The “discount” for sure is a lot like Bruins players. He’s committed to the team. Still, numbers will get tight. He could get 10mil and that might be a discount. Top talent.

nah, i think i’ll pass. or you can make me, tough guy.

oh wait, you’re too busy losing games. go back to dreaming of your boy federov en route to kissing my rear end.
- avsgrinder

Guys, enough. I don’t mind friendly banter but threats of any kind will result in suspension from the board. I HATE people getting suspended so please clean it up. Police yourselves.

Guys, enough. I don’t mind friendly banter but threats of any kind will result in suspension from the board. I HATE people getting suspended so please clean it up. Police yourselves.
- Jeremy Laura

Eh. (frank) that and (frank) the Avs.

Eh. (frank) that and (frank) the Avs.
- RafiDRW

See, friendly banter. You are a beautiful human being

See, friendly banter. You are a beautiful human being
- Jeremy Laura

Calling Lil Bert a dirty player like his uncle is laughable. Todd did some stupid poop that is absolute scum level. Avs fans just mad that his “son” gave Calvert a noogie.

Frank off loser!

Guys, have fun but keep it somewhat friendly. I love this group. Please don’t go scorched earth on anyone

Guys, enough. I don’t mind friendly banter but threats of any kind will result in suspension from the board. I HATE people getting suspended so please clean it up. Police yourselves.
- Jeremy Laura

deleted my reply to him. regretted even bothering with it in the first place.

the avs and wings mean jack **** to one another these days. the rivalry has come and gone, and i harbor no ill will to the wings. sure, i had some sarcastic bits in my post but i was trying to shine a tiny bit of light on what is otherwise a disastrous season for the team and fans; something avs fans know well as you were on your way to 2 more cups and 40+ years of straight playoff appearances, all while we swam at the bottom of even the scrubbiest teams.

the pendulum always swings back.

didnt think i’d get so much heat trying to make you feel better. classy. but whatever- best of luck going forward (i do genuinely mean that).

Tyler is Todd’s nephew, not his son. Todd is a friend of mine, please keep it above the belt. Yes, makar is an outstanding pick. The “discount” for sure is a lot like Bruins players. He’s committed to the team. Still, numbers will get tight. He could get 10mil and that might be a discount. Top talent.
- Jeremy Laura

fixed the dad > uncle part. my bad on that.

...you’re not wrong that it’ll get tight, but it’s more than doable.

Eh. (frank) that and (frank) the Avs.
- RafiDRW

see you in a month! i’ll look forward to makar and mack both getting hatties in motor city.

don’t worry- i’ll make sure to send you a pic of our cup parade in june!

Don't hold Tyler in the shadow of one incident his uncle did, it's a pretty unfair aspect a lot of fans share that are ignorant to him and his game. Unless you have watched all but a handful of Wings games over the past few seasons, you have no leg to stand on calling Tyler Bertuzzi "dirty". The fact that you stated that Todd is his father speaks volumes about how little you do know about him, because your information is false.

The Avalanche were smart with adapting to the new, fast NHL and managed the team very well. Ken Holland left a lot here to work with, and a lot of a mess to clean up, Yzerman isn't going to build a contender in half a season. The remaining contracts will end soon and some veterans can be on their way, which the point you made stating that the Avalanche have no garbage contracts is a reflection on how the team has been managed, and why they are currently succeeding.

There's a lot of room for improvement and many glaring needs right now, and it can't be rebuild immediately. You never really know what you are going to get with the draft, don't mistake this comment as calling him a bust, but Jack Hughes was supposed to be the savior of the Devils, they dealt for Subban and made a few moves to improve. The guy everyone expected to be a sensation, step right into the NHL and be an immediate difference maker is sitting on 6 goals and 17 points.

It's more of a rare case when one player can step in and make a difference. Getting a Mackinnon, or a McDavid just doesn't happen because you are getting first overall. Maybe 3rd overall turns out to be the instant stud, hell maybe 7th. There's a lot of issues to get fixed, getting first overall is a great step, but I don't expect drastic improvement if that's where the Wings land in the draft.

see you in a month! i’ll look forward to makar and mack both getting hatties in motor city.

don’t worry- i’ll make sure to send you a pic of our cup parade in june!
- avsgrinder

That’s fine. Still won’t win poop in the long run.

Don't hold Tyler in the shadow of one incident his uncle did, it's a pretty unfair aspect a lot of fans share that are ignorant to him and his game. Unless you have watched all but a handful of Wings games over the past few seasons, you have no leg to stand on calling Tyler Bertuzzi "dirty". The fact that you stated that Todd is his father speaks volumes about how little you do know about him, because your information is false.

The Avalanche were smart with adapting to the new, fast NHL and managed the team very well. Ken Holland left a lot here to work with, and a lot of a mess to clean up, Yzerman isn't going to build a contender in half a season. The remaining contracts will end soon and some veterans can be on their way, which the point you made stating that the Avalanche have no garbage contracts is a reflection on how the team has been managed, and why they are currently succeeding.

There's a lot of room for improvement and many glaring needs right now, and it can't be rebuild immediately. You never really know what you are going to get with the draft, don't mistake this comment as calling him a bust, but Jack Hughes was supposed to be the savior of the Devils, they dealt for Subban and made a few moves to improve. The guy everyone expected to be a sensation, step right into the NHL and be an immediate difference maker is sitting on 6 goals and 17 points.

It's more of a rare case when one player can step in and make a difference. Getting a Mackinnon, or a McDavid just doesn't happen because you are getting first overall. Maybe 3rd overall turns out to be the instant stud, hell maybe 7th. There's a lot of issues to get fixed, getting first overall is a great step, but I don't expect drastic improvement if that's where the Wings land in the draft.
- Datsyuks_Dangle

i plead 100% ignorance on that family. that the league didn’t ban him for life is perhaps the only element of the equation as despicable as the act itself. but i’ll stop there with grudging up something that the wings as an organization had zero culpability in and that happened ages ago. all that aside, i still don’t and never will like or think anything positive about the young bertuzzi, just as you’ll never agree with me for what i have no doubt are a host of legitimate reasons. so it is. i drop it now and digress.

the avs front office looks great now, but as i pointed out in my first post our rebuild ended up being, like, 3 separate ones. suck a lot, rise a little, even make the piayoffs one year, then fall even further than we were in the first place. a lot of that had to do with Roy and Sakic “sharing” duties during patrick’s time as a coach. his archaic, outdated notions of what a winning team looks like and his complete & utter mishandling of guys like o’reilly, shattenkirk, duchene, and others almost certainly played a role in losing all of them.

only once roy left us with our proverbial di**s in our hands only weeks before the season began (and ended) that october did things start to turn around. in joe we trust. loved roy as a player; loathed him as a coach & decision maker. gretzky and him share the hockey hall of fame, and coaching hall of shame.

to your other points, that’s exactly what i was trying to get at with my original message. there’s not a lot to be happy about for you guys now, and these things take time. this is year one of the true rebuild, as i dont think the team *really* bought into it until the results from last year. so, there is always light at the end of the tunnel, especially with bright spots like larkin and zadina, among others. will be interesting to see how it all unfolds, but you’re of course accurate that no 1 top-three pick can or will fix everything.

it took pitt three (crosby, fluery, malkin) to put a core in place. towes, kane, and crawford say hi. so does landeskog, mackinnon, and rantanen. unfortunately, gotta suck to get better- way of the (parity-filled) hockey world. whether sooner or later, one day this horrendous season will be a thing of the past as the team looks ahead to the top of the standings again.

you and i agree on mostly everything but the tuzzi part.

fixed the dad > uncle part. my bad on that.

...you’re not wrong that it’ll get tight, but it’s more than doable.
- avsgrinder

I believe Sakic does a great job selling “team” concept. Guys believe it. When Duchene wanted out, you could see the strain on the other guys. Either buy in or get out. That’s how you build a great team for sure.

Don't hold Tyler in the shadow of one incident his uncle did, it's a pretty unfair aspect a lot of fans share that are ignorant to him and his game. Unless you have watched all but a handful of Wings games over the past few seasons, you have no leg to stand on calling Tyler Bertuzzi "dirty". The fact that you stated that Todd is his father speaks volumes about how little you do know about him, because your information is false.

The Avalanche were smart with adapting to the new, fast NHL and managed the team very well. Ken Holland left a lot here to work with, and a lot of a mess to clean up, Yzerman isn't going to build a contender in half a season. The remaining contracts will end soon and some veterans can be on their way, which the point you made stating that the Avalanche have no garbage contracts is a reflection on how the team has been managed, and why they are currently succeeding.

There's a lot of room for improvement and many glaring needs right now, and it can't be rebuild immediately. You never really know what you are going to get with the draft, don't mistake this comment as calling him a bust, but Jack Hughes was supposed to be the savior of the Devils, they dealt for Subban and made a few moves to improve. The guy everyone expected to be a sensation, step right into the NHL and be an immediate difference maker is sitting on 6 goals and 17 points.

It's more of a rare case when one player can step in and make a difference. Getting a Mackinnon, or a McDavid just doesn't happen because you are getting first overall. Maybe 3rd overall turns out to be the instant stud, hell maybe 7th. There's a lot of issues to get fixed, getting first overall is a great step, but I don't expect drastic improvement if that's where the Wings land in the draft.
- Datsyuks_Dangle

What I like about Sakic and Yzerman is their ability to draft people who “want” to be there. Boston does a great job with contracts, and guys know they’re taking less to be there. Getting a ton of talent is no good if they’re going to bleed you dry.

What I like about Sakic and Yzerman is their ability to draft people who “want” to be there. Boston does a great job with contracts, and guys know they’re taking less to be there. Getting a ton of talent is no good if they’re going to bleed you dry.
- Jeremy Laura

Sakic vs. Yzerman.

...man, just seeing those two names is nostalgia on steroids :-)

Sakic vs. Yzerman.

...man, just seeing those two names is nostalgia on steroids :-)
- avsgrinder

It was so insane, i never thought those two would be able to do business as GMs with each other. Completely different era, guys with skill who could skate through a wall. I watch those games now and there would be an extra 300 penalty minutes under today’s rules!

On pace for a near record breaking low, one that makes Avs 48 point season look like a big step up. (BTW, Colorado finished dead last and picked 4th that year. Brace yourselves).

I can't believe I'm going to try to make you feel better about this but here we are...

Yeah, the Avs fell to 4th and we all thought things couldn't get any worse. Then people said the kid they picked might have the biggest upside in the draft if he met it. Two years later it's looking like that 4th pick has a pretty good chance to be the most dynamic defenseman of his generation and is just magical to watch play hockey. So you just can't tell.

I think you're dead on correct about the losing. As painful as it is it's better than living the Wild half-life of being perpetually mediocre. But if the Wings want to repeat what the Avs have done (so far) they're going to have to do all the little things that Sakic has done right. The waiver pickups (Nieto, Barberio, Nemeth) the under the radar FA signings (Wilson, G boruque, Bernier, Calvert, Cole, Donskoi), the trades (Girard et al, Graves, Burakovsky, Kadri). Plus get a really steady and smart coach and stand by him. Not to mention the trades of 'busts' Landeskog and MacKinnon that never happened.

I saw a guy in the concourse after the game yesterday who had a sign that said "DET -> DEN GO WINGS." When someone flies here to see a team that terrible almost surely get its butt kicked and is still holding the sign after the game, it gets pretty difficult to keep up that hatred of the Wings.

I can't believe I'm going to try to make you feel better about this but here we are...

Yeah, the Avs fell to 4th and we all thought things couldn't get any worse. Then people said the kid they picked might have the biggest upside in the draft if he met it. Two years later it's looking like that 4th pick has a pretty good chance to be the most dynamic defenseman of his generation and is just magical to watch play hockey. So you just can't tell.

I think you're dead on correct about the losing. As painful as it is it's better than living the Wild half-life of being perpetually mediocre. But if the Wings want to repeat what the Avs have done (so far) they're going to have to do all the little things that Sakic has done right. The waiver pickups (Nieto, Barberio, Nemeth) the under the radar FA signings (Wilson, G boruque, Bernier, Calvert, Cole, Donskoi), the trades (Girard et al, Graves, Burakovsky, Kadri). Plus get a really steady and smart coach and stand by him. Not to mention the trades of 'busts' Landeskog and MacKinnon that never happened.

I saw a guy in the concourse after the game yesterday who had a sign that said "DET -> DEN GO WINGS." When someone flies here to see a team that terrible almost surely get its butt kicked and is still holding the sign after the game, it gets pretty difficult to keep up that hatred of the Wings.
- FoppaForever

That is brutal. A long way to fly for that! Mikko is an absolute beast. Fantastic pick at 4. Yzerman did well with the Seider at 6, he scouts well. For sure someone talented will be on the way, even at 4

Mantha out at least another month. Possibly done for the season.

I'd note the Canucks drafted Hughes later so there will be talented players available to the Wings. Heiskanen also came out of that draft.

As an Avs fan, I always keep the 48 point season in mind to keep my perspective. I recall seeing the Caps demolish the Avs that season but my friend and I were marveling at how good the Caps looked. Everything was clicking under Trotz and we appreciated watching outstanding hockey. That's what I wanted the Avs to become and fortunately they have. But make a point to enjoy the ride.

Mantha out at least another month. Possibly done for the season.
- Feds91Stammer

I saw that. At least Muzzin is out too