That was a boring and disappointing game. After taking a 1-0 lead into the third, the Avalanche surrendered 3 goals in the 3rd period to the L.A. Kings and ended their homestand with a loss to the NHL's worst team.
When you're beaten by the best but play hard, you've got nothing to feel bad about. When you're beaten by the worst and don't play hard, you better feel bad about it.
The Avs opened the scoring as Jordan Leopold finished off a great pass from behind the net by Wojtek Wolski midway through the first. It would be the only time the Avalanche could get any finish into their game.
The 2nd period passed without incident. Well, save for Cody Mcleod deciding to tango with Raitis Ivanans. I think as soon as he dropped the gloves he went "Oh shit" because he essentially spent the fight trying to avoid getting punched and never really tossed any shots of his own. At the very end he tackled Ivanans down to the ice but the linesmen were already in breaking it up by then.
Theodore's shutout bid was broken midway through the third as Derek Armstrong blasted a shot past Theodore. Then before you had a chance to blink, Scott Thornton found himself wide open and put a pass from Jeff Giuliano (Rudy's son??) past a diving Theodore. It was an awkward looking dive too.
The Avalanche didn't pour it on terribly hard after that goal and ended up giving up an empty netter late in the third to seal the deal.
Phoenix is up next and if they lose to the Coyotes as well my head just might explode.
Notes
- Aubin vs Theo meant a right-handed catching matchup (I always get disoriented watching goaltenders who catch with their right hand)
- Cody Mcleod started off strong but tailed off midway through the game
- Richardson sat out the game, presumably due to his shoulder again
- Brett Clark seems to be playing more physical lately
Stats
Jack Johnson and Rob Blake, both pinpointed as having disappointing seasons thus far, were both +3 on the night
John Liles was -3 and Marek Svatos ended up with a -2 on the night.
Related Links
NHL.com Event Summary
ColoradoAvalanche.com Recap
Lebrun: Avalanche not in panic mode
TSN Recap
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Kings Charge Past Avalanche
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11 Comments:
I only saw the first period and a bit of the 2nd before switching to the Patriots. I was around long enough to see the McLeod fight though, which was a bit of high comedy (as was his meltdown on the bench at Ivanans after the 2 came out of the box - are you really going to trash talk after that fight, Cody?)
Did you know that Rob Blake is -11 (well, was -11) because he's a competitor, and competitors will do anything to try to win? A fun fact brought to you by Peter McNab.
Nobody can do wrong when Peter McNab is hyping them up.
"Did you see him give the puck away there? That's to give them the lead so the team can fight back and show what they're made of."
And how about those Patriots! Making good on the undefeated season and winning me $10 for doing so ;)
Unfortunately last week Randy Moss was the reason I lost out in my fantasy league but what can you do.
That was a fairly boring game, and to be Honest Leopold's goal was pretty soft. The Avs had no real good scoring chances.
And I thought Liles and Svatos played better than most of the team, it kind of goes to show what a messed up stat ± is
Wait here on the West Coast, The Patriots-Giants game didn't start until 5, but the Avs game was at noon, how did you switch over?
I wondered if anyone would catch that.
Hello, my name is David and I'm a Tivo addict. We actually had a thing that afternoon, so I didn't get to start watching the Avs until 7ish in the evening. I probably could have watched both last night, but I've got a touch of the flu that's kicking my ass.
Don't worry you didn't miss much, that was one boring ass Avs game to be honest.
This is a broken record but I can't think of anything else to say about it. Theo got the start. That continues Q's streak of swapping goalies off regulation losses.
Really, there are two schools of thought here. The first school is that Theo needs a confidence boost against a pretty bad team. This is a good opportunity for him to get some mojo. Incidentally, this is the school of the criminally insane.
The other school of thought is that you put Budaj in net. You do this because he is... well, your starting goaltender. If Budaj was Patrick Roy, Giguere, etc... you would start them because there's no back to back game and you just came off rest from the holiday break. The other reason you start Budaj is because he lost a really tough game against Detroit while playing pretty well. You do this because you want to finally send a message to your team and especially your goaltender that Budaj is our guy.
But, let's venture in to the land of the certifiably insane world of goalie administration taught by coach Q and co. Let's assume Theo beats the hapless LA Kings. WOO HOO! YOU DID IT THEO! Oh, well sure you faced 20 shots and were never challenged. But you feel so much better right? What the hell does getting a win do for Theo? What if he had won? What did that do for your club? Does this muddy the waters again? As a coaching staff are you supposed to have an elevated sense of confidence about him? It's a no win type of start, no one gains anything from it besides the 2 points in the standings if you do win (and as they should know they had a better chance of getting 2 points if he didn't get the start to begin with). Oh, but what about the dark side of the equation? What if he... loses? Well, we just lost 2 points against a team we should beat at home on every occasion. You deflate your team coming off a loss to Detroit. You further crush any confidence you have as a coaching staff to plug Theo in during the playoffs due to injuries. The list goes on and on.
So, in retrospect what good could EVER come from starting Theo in that hockey game? I say it was a lose/lose situation in terms of big picture of the team. Theo is gone after this year, he's pushing the high 30s as a goaltender and he's been so bad at times there's no WAY he's still with the team. So why lay a foundation there at all?
I'm not sure if Budaj wins that game. I don't know if the team is deflated because their goalie got yanked yet again after a loss. I don't know if they are deflated because they found out Sakic is out long term. I don't know a lot of things from that boring, waste of a game in hand against Vancouver - sorry excuse for an effort hockey game.
However, I DO KNOW that Theo serves no purpose. He's an albatross around every one's neck. Budaj is outperforming a guy making 10 times what he does. He's got to believe by now that he's going to get the hook on every a good performance if he loses. A backup goalie should only play to rest the starter, it's the only freaking reason. The loss against the Kings doesn't upset me as much as the goalie philosophy being employed by this coaching staff. And believe me, the Kings loss upset me but it pales in comparison to the frustration of seeing Theo in the net.
Sorry Dario, I don't mind using a backup goalie to Give Buds a rest every once in a while. It's when the carousel starts i get frustrated.
Honestly I don't mind Theo getting 1 every 7 starts, that keeps Buds fresh, and If that 1 start is against the likes of the Kings (especially since Theo didn't even play bad against them) I don't mind.
Sure, I wouldn't mind either except you can't say that it was for Budaj to get rest. Budaj got three days of rest during the Christmas break. No other starting goalie in the NHL got a "rest" in the second game after the Christmas break. Rest in this case, isn't rest. I would buy it if Budaj had won against Detroit. However, it was a loss and the goalies switched. You could call it coincidence and that Budaj sat purely for rest purposes only. However, do you really think Budaj sat for rest? If that's what you really think then perhaps I'm reading the coaching staff all wrong. The OTHER reason I don't think it's rest is because in the second week of January we have back to back games where surely Theo would have to start in one game. Assuming Budaj takes the front end of that set against Detroit that gives Budaj only four more starts before he rests during the Washington game.
I think the coaching staff put Theo in because they are still hoping against hope that Theo will be the playoff goaltender they need. Oh, and because they are insane.
Don't hold back Dario, tell us how you really feel :)
I think the start for Theo was bad timing in terms of how fans would take it. He started after a Budaj loss but after 7 straight starts from Budaj and against a weak team in L.A.
It's back to Budaj now and although I want them to win, I'd be interested to see who gets the next start if Budaj loses tonight.
Who knows what's going on in Q's mind :)
I guess we get to find out now Shane. He did get a point but Budaj played mediocre hockey against Phoenix. If he does start Theo in the next game we are right back to where we started prior to the seven game run.
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