Mr. Gretzky holds one less record

Thanks to a great coaching call by Patrick Roy, Nathan Mackinnon was given one last chance to break Wayne Gretzky's record for consecutive games with a point by an 18 year old rookie. To this point in the season Roy had decided not to play Mackinnon in over time at all. Yet, for some reason he felt like with about a minuet left until the game would go to a shoot out that it was the right time to throw his prized rookie out there into the over time spotlight.

What happened next was a played by Erik Johnson that kept the play alive in the offensive zone by jumping up into the play. He got the puck down to Mackinnon behind the net, and the kid took care of the rest. He picked up the puck, looked over where his teammates were and fired a pass right to the stick of crashing Benoit who finished off the play with 30 seconds left in overtime.

Is this just the first of many records for Mackinnon to break, or is this just luck? Personally I think that this is just the start of the career for a very special player. Very excited to see what the rest of the season and play offs will hold for this team. They are building something special in Colorado.

Record set, and the deadline has passed

When the Colorado Avalanche National Hockey League team took the ice on Thursday night they had a chance to do something that no Avalanche or Nordique team had ever accomplished. If they won the game they would get to 40 wins in just 62 games. Not only did they accomplish this feat in Chicago against the defending Stanley Cup champion, but they did it in regulation.

What can not be lost in all of this excitement with the win is that Calder front runner Nathan Mackinnon got another point in the game witch tied him with non other then the great one, Wayne Gretzky for longest consecutive scoring streak as an 18 year old rookie.  With all the hype that he had coming out of the draft first overall, he is sure showing that there was legitimate reason for that hype.

The Colorado Avalanche now currently sit in 4th place in the NHL's Western conference with a real shot at continuing to climb before the end of the season. The team that finished 29th in the NHL last season could potentially finish up at 1st place in arguably the NHL's toughest division.

Yesterday was the trade deadline, and the Avalanche made one small move, that to be honest when i first saw it I was not happy at all. They gave up a 2nd round draft pick for 27 year old goalie Reto Berra of the Calgary Flames.  My displeasure with the move stemmed from the fact that he is a 27 year old goalie, with really uninspiring numbers this season. almost 3.00 GAA, and a sub .900 save percentage.

I only started to change my mind after reading that this was the top of the list of goalies that legendary goaltender coach Francous Allaire wanted. If he thinks this kid is the best out there, and that he can turn him into something special I have trust in that. Also if you look at some of his hilights this season some are very impressive. Still hoping that the 2nd rounder was not too much to pay for him.

The team will keep all 3 goalies with the team through the end of the season. With Jiggys frequent back injurys the team felt like they needed a little insurance in case Varlamov went down.

here are some notable saves this season by Berra.

Keep HOLDEN on..

At the start of training camp this year the Avalanche had a few players on the roster who you knew would not make the team. No name players that were just there to fill a spot so the top players had a team to play against right? Well that's what most people thought, but not Nick Holden.

Holden, 26 saw his chance and he showed in camp why the Colorado Avalanche should keep their eyes on him. As camp concluded surprisingly he was still with the club.

A hot start by the team seemed to keep new head coach Patrick Roy from wanting to play with the line up too much, but when injures came and a shake up was needed Holden got his chance, and he has not looked back. Holden is now a staple on the second power play unit. A unit that has scored 6 power played goals in the last two games.

Last nights game Holden snuck in from the point and got a great pass from Ryan O'Rielly that he hammered in. Holden also made a great play at the end of the game to seal the victory by sending the puck from his own ends face off circle high into the air and down the ice into the empty net.

Holden is showing what having patients, and working hard can do when you finally get your chance to show what you are capable of. I think that we could all learn a thing or two from the example of Holden.

Not your every day NHLer

Colorado Avalanche rookie sensation Nathan MacKinnon continues to show why he was the number one selection in the 2013 National Hockey League draft. With his two assists in last nights game against the Phoenix Coyotes he is now on an active 10 game point streak. The last NHL rookie to achieve such a feat was Jonathan Toews in 2007.

Obviously the first thing you notice when watching a game that MacKinnon is playing in is that he is fast. okay, maybe that is not true, the kid is lightning on ice. But that alone is not enough to be great in the NHL. We have seen many players in the past who could skate, or who were fast, and still didn't cut it in the big leagues. Kyle Cumisky comes to mind as a recent example.

Right now MacKinnon is a sponge. He is absorbing, learning, growing, and expanding his game every single day. You can actually see it happening. Each game he has been better then the last ever since about 12 games into the season.

When he was drafted most people probably like myself just knew that he could score goals, and that he could skate ok. But what I am seeing more and more that has been overlooked by some is the way that he sees the game. The pass in last nights game to set up Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog was a thing of beauty. He flys deep into the zone on the left side of the ice, then stops on a dime and somehow sees Landeskog coming in way late on the play. He sends the pass back across the ice and right onto the blade of Gabes stick for the goal.

This kid has a shot at being something very special in the NHL. Don't forget about him in the future, or you will be down 3-0 against the Avalanche and not even know how it happened.

Avalanche Logo I made tonight!

Somebody that we used to know..

Ryan Wilson: Now your just somebody that we used to know

When Ryan Wilson first broke into the line up with the avalanche a few years back I was thrilled. He was a young very physical, hard hitting D man that this team severely needed.

Fast forward a few seasons and you have Ryan Wilson today. He is still young, and has potential, but something is wrong with him. I do not know if the various injures that have kept him out of the majority of each season he has played are getting to him, or if he just doesn't have his head in it anymore, but something is off.

Last night 3 of the 4 goals scored on the Avalanche were on Wilson.

The 2nd goal that the LA Kings scored went right through Wilson and he didn't even hardly attempt to stop it. The 3rd or 4th goal he let Kopitar push him back and then he just sat there and watched Kopitar pop in a nice deflection for the goal. That is not the Ryan Wilson we used to know. He didn't even attempt to push him out of the front of the goal mouth, he just was content letting Kopitar sit there.

Jiggy let in a softie on the first goal, and played slow and lacking confidence all night, but If Wilson played how he is capable a couple of those goals don't happen, and the Avalanche come out last night with the win.

NHL season resumes for the Avalanche

Tonight marks the resuming of the NHL season for the Colorado Avalanche. They will take on the Kings at 8 Pm Mountain time.

Just want to say congratulations to Max Talbot, as his wife gave birth to their child yesterday. He will miss the game tonight to be with his wife and child.  Sarich will be dressed as a 7th D man tonight to take that place in the line up.  Duchene Oreilly, and P.A. Parenteu will be playing on the same line tonight.

Prediction time - 3-1 Avalanche.

Poem as I watch for any trades..

Twas the eve of the freeze, and the thaw was in sight.
Not a fan was asleep, not all through the night.
midnight it hit, and rumors abound..
who can we fleece, and bring 
into town?

Lets try on the GM hat for a minuet!

Step on it, sit down, and put on the cap of the Colorado Avalanche GM and coach!

Who do you trade?
Who do you get?

What are your plans for this season and the future?

Respond, and remember to be respectful to those who are participating! thanks!

Trade Freeze Lifting at 12:00AM

So Tonight at Midnight (EST? i belive?) the National Hockey League lifts its Olympic trade freeze.
Before the news broke of Tanguays recent surgery there were abundant rumors about who the Colorado Avalanche may be interested in moving. Now the Avalanche face a tough decision. Do they hold onto all their players and hope to gather some improvements on the defensive side of things (their biggest glaring weakness currently) or do they make a move before the deadline to land a young d man that they belive they can build around with their young core for the years to come.

Personally I don't expect too much to happen before the deadline, but that being said we do have to remember this is Patrick Roy here. If he feels like he can improve his team now and in the future I am sure that he will be pushing Sakic to make it happen.

What I could see happening is the Avalanche picking up a vetran forward, ( I would love to see someone like Ott with the team, but i feel they are asking way to much for him ) and possibly a more shut down defenceman to try and help stabilize them a little bit more if it doesnt cost them too much to pull off. If teams are asking too much in return I dont see the avalanche doing much.. but we shall see. Acording to hockeybuzz.com there was a trade all ready completed that would be announced the minuet the freeze was lifted. I also saw another site that claimed the Avalanche and New York Rangers had also made a trade that was done awaiting the freeze to lift. (Ryan Mcdougna??? no idea, but i would love to see that guy in an Avalanche sweater)

Who do you think, if anyone will the avalanche target this season?  Leave your comments and thoughts here and we can talk about it!

It all comes to this..

USA vs CANADA, winner will face sweeden for the gold medal. Who are you cheering for?

Few quick thoughts

So as reported by Adrian Dater of the Denver Post earlier yesterday, Winger Alex Tanguay is going to have hip surgery and be out the rest of the season. This is tough news for the Avalanche. They have an astounding 12-1 record when he is in the line up. That being said they have also had to adjust to life without the vetran winger recently as he has been out many of the games with nagging injurys.

There have been rumors swirling about weather or not the Avalanche would make a trade before the National Hockey League trade deadline or not. One such rumor mentioned has the Avalanche sending P.A. Parentue to the canadians for defensive help. The question now is if there was any truth to this does it still happen or not? Adrain Dater seems to belive that with this news there will no longer be any chance of them moving Parentue.

Personally I think that we will be seeing some kind of move for some help on the D-side of things. I would love to see someone like Ryan Mcgdougna the 23 year old defenceman for the new york rangers in an avalanche sweater.  He is a physical hard nosed player who is young, and could grow with the core for years to come.

The Olympics have come down to the game it appears most of the world wanted to see in hockey. Team USA vs Team Canada for the chance to play in the gold medal game. I think this is going to be a tough close game. The USA have been the highest scoring team in the tournament so far, and have handled every team they faced with relative easy with the exception of Russia who they beat in an extended shoot out.

My prediction, and who I will be pulling for of course is the USA. have to pull for my country after all, I think that it will be a great game, but that the USA will have more scoring depth then canada expects, and with them struggling to score against teams like Latvia, in recent games... well, they are going to have to play a lot better to beat the USA then they did in their preliminary games.

posted 3 new avalanche videos!

in the last few days i have posted 3 new videos. here is the link to my channel check it out! let me know what you think.  http://www.youtube.com/user/frogman210?feature=watch  thanks!

Sorry Fellow Avs fans!!

Hey guys! Just wanted to let you know that I am still here!

Things got a bit crazy with the school break, and holidays. Also finding out that my wife is now 8 weeks pregnant, and trying to get everything that comes with that figured out has taken some time. 

I am going to be back on here posting at least 2 or 3 times a week again, so be on the look out for that!

Just a quick avs thought to end this post, what do you guys think about MacKinnon the last two games? wow, kids on a tear!