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HEY ALL YOU PEOPLE!

Anybody out there play Minecraft? Anyone out there lookin' to play on a server with friendly people in survival? My friend and I are looking for people to play, he has a server. Let me know!

Roy As Coach - Yay or Nay?

I was skeptical at first when I heard that Roy's name was in the mix (again) for the coaching position. I was really hoping the Avs would go after someone with former (and good) NHL experience. But the more I think about Roy and with the press conference he had, he convinced me. He changed my mind about him as coach. He sold me on the idea of him grabbing the team by the...the...well, you know...and rattling their cage and taking charge of this team. I'm now pretty excited to see what Roy can do behind the bench. I hope he's more emotional about the game than Sacco ever was. The way I see it, he's a hockey legend, the best goalie to ever play the game, now with his former NHL Stanley Cup winning team as coach and building this team alongside Joe Sakic. I feel good about this change. It's a good one, I know it. We may not, and probably won't be, Stanley Cup champs in 2014 or maybe even 2015. But by God, we will be different. We will be better. We will make it to the playoffs. And we will look like the old Avalanche. Sakic. Forsberg. Hejduk. Roy. Bourque. Blake. We will get there again under Roy's leadership. Do you believe?

Final Thoughts On Avs' 2013 Lockout Season

I think all Avalanche fans can agree that the team left nothing to be desired come their final 3-1 loss to end their season. However, things weren't all bad this year, right?

Let's take a look at each player individually, shall we?

Patrick Bordeleau - I thought Bordy played awesome. Sure, he's a fourth line guy (which I think was the Avs' best line all year) but that's what his role is! Really big dude that took the pressure off of Cody McLeod this year.

Steve Downie - It's hard to say how he would have turned out in his first "full" year with Colorado. I have no true love for Downie, so if he wasn't with the Avs next year I wouldn't cry about it. Downie played in two games this year, the first two to be exact, before going down with a season-ending injury. Better luck next time.

Matt Duchene - Wow. Speed. Talent. Skill. Flashiness. That's Duchene. That's what he brought and needed to bring to the table this year, and did just that. He practically regained a center ice position after bouncing around last year. He looked good in the faceoff circle and even better shooting the puck and skating around. Wow is he fast. Can't wait to see what the best Avs player can do next season in a full 82 game year.

Milan Hejduk - My favorite player, however, I think he is done, sadly. The past couple of years have been tough for Hejduk as he has gotten older and the talent younger. But, I still and will always love watching him play in an Avs uniform. Forever my hero. I can see him retiring shortly. :'(

David Jones - TRADE! Jones was the biggest waste of $16m for 4 years. Jones was terrible, most games I found myself asking (in the third period) "Is Jones even playing tonight?" It was that bad. Poor guy, but come on. See ya hopefully not next year.

Chuck Kobasew - AWESOME! (For a fourth/third liner). I thought he was fantastic this year. And I believe he's one of the few unrestricted free agents the Avs have this summer. I'd like a resign please!

Gabriel Landeskog - What can you do? After a big hit from Brad Stuart, Landy missed a big chunk of the already short season. Too bad. But, I'm excited to see how our young captain comes out of the gates starting next fall.

Brad Malone - Not crazy about him, never was. He hasn't shown me he's ready for the NHL, not even close. Sorry bud.

Jamie McGinn - How the Avs treat him as a top line left winger is beyond me. Any other club he would be a third line guy. I just don't understand. We need an offensive first line, not a defensive one. I like McGinn but to play on the first line, you need to produce. Sorry.

Cody McLeod - I thought he was fantastic, especially being relieved of being the one and only tough guy on the team. Bordy helped McLeod try out his offensive side, and he produced a bit this year. I liked what I saw.

John Mitchell - Started off red hot but fizzled out towards the end. But I liked what Mitchell brought every night. Very rarely disappointed me. I think he produced better playing center, but injuries took their toll and was forced to play wing. I hope he can regain his natural position next year. (Interesting how Duchene did the same thing...hmmm....)

Ryan O'Reilly - That was ugly. How the whole contract thing went down. And now the Avs are stuck with him until next January without being able to trade him (not that I'm complaining, I love O'Reilly). I think it was all on the Avs' side that made it very painful for us fans. But, O'Reilly played pretty well once he finally rejoined the club.

Mark Olver - I can never make up my mind whether I like Olver or not. Sometimes he plays with some good grit, and others, it makes me think we could have someone so much better on the ice. I don't know, he's probably better off in Lake Erie or as a healthy scratch kind of guy.

Aaron Palushaj - It wasn't enough time to see what he was truly capable of. A few more games under his belt could help me make up my mind if he was worth the acquisition.

P.A. Parenteau - Other than Duchene, he was the other best offensively. I really liked what he brought to the Avs and I look forward to seeing him play next year. He's so confident with his passes and he's so calm with the puck. He great when paired up with Dutchy.

Paul Stastny - I think we should have traded him two years ago, but now...no wait, I still think they should. Are you kidding? I love Paulie, but come onnnnnnnn. He's terrible. When's the last good season he had? I think he had like 79 points in like 09-10 season. Maybe? And he's our highest paid player at a $6.6m cap hit? He's with us through to next year. Avs need to trade him this offseason while he still may have some value.

Tyson Barrie - I thought he looked decent this year. My guess, he'll look pretty good next year, provided he gets an everyday lineup gig. I think it'll be at least another year before he's really good for us. But, just my opinion.

Stefan Elliot - He had a hot streak when he got called up last year, but this year I thought he was dreadful. He either will become a full time Lake Erie Dman or will need some considerable time before making an impact at the NHL level.

Jan Hejda - I think he's a decent defender for us. I'm sure other people don't think so, but I think he makes smart decisions on the ice. Big body, plays pretty well in front of the goaltender.

Matt Hunwick - The worst player I've seen play in an Avs uniform. Why did they bring him over here? Why?!

Erik Johnson - I agree that the deal that sent Kevin Shattenkirk and Chris Stewart to St. Louis was a costly mistake, and potentially, part of the reason we're a terrible team. Worst move ever. Johnson just hasn't lived up to expectations, even to St. Louis. Why couldn't the Avs see that then? I don't know how productive he'll be next year.

Shane O'Brien - We didn't really get to see him play much, seeing as how Sacco kept him as a healthy scratch for most of the season. But I think he's ok. When he plays every day he's pretty effective and I believe has a good voice in the locker room.

Ryan Wilson - I don't know what other people think, but I love Ryan Wilson. I think he's awesome. He hits so well and is probably our best, most aggressive hitter on the team defensively. Too bad about his two injuries this year. Better luck next season.

Greg Zanon - Sure, he was one of the leaders in blocked shots in the league. But it doesn't replace the fact that he just did not play well really. Sorry guy. I wouldn't cry if he didn't come back.

J.S. Giguere - Yes. What he said, blasting the team, was exactly what needed to be said. Could it have been said sooner? Of course. I wish it had. At least somebody had the balls to say something, and probably the only player allowed to say something, with his experience both in this league and because of the accolades he has. Good for you Giggy, but I think we need a new tandem in net.

Semyon Varlamov - I was iffy about him last season, I wasn't sure how he would do. But he was surprisingly decent. This year, I thought he was awesome early on. He played so hard and was the best player on the ice most of the time. But, as the team fell apart, so did he unfortunately. I don't think they'll get rid of him, simply because they expect him to be here for at least a few years. But I wouldn't mind seeing a trade happen. We need something fresh, just like with our new coach that has not yet been named.

So, there you have it. The Avs did have a chance at one point. But, their inability to win games on the road, to play 60 mins of hockey every game and act like they wanted to win just wasn't there. It's a shame, really. However there is hope. The Avs notched the first pick in next month's draft. I'm excited. It better be defenseman Seth Jones. That's what most people seem to want anyway, and I agree. Defense is what we desperately need. Who knows if he'll be on the team next year, but he's definitely the perfect fit and will be a franchise guy for sure.

Best and Worst Played Games of 2012

Getting right into this, my favorite game of 2012 has been NHL 13 hands down. The improvements they have made since NHL 12, which I found myself getting very angry at at times, have all been great. The skating overhaul completely changed the way the game is played, its so realistic and fluid. Depending on how eye-catchy next year's game looks, I might just keep this one!

And as for the worst game I've played this year? It's a tough one to stamp one as the overall worst, but I have to go with Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. The campaign was pretty fun, but the AI were pretty dumb and multiplayer just was not fun at all. The third-person perspective may work well during singleplayer, but online it was just a nightmare. I only owned it for maybe a month. Sorry Tom Clancy.

As for the in-betweeners?Medal of Honor: Warfighter's great singleplayer was the best experience in that area, speaking for myself. They did a terrific job of character development while keeping you hooked with what's going on. Some people may not like movie scenes much, and although there weren't a ton of them in this game, the ones they showed were decent in length, which is okay for me. They did a stunning job in that department. Online, however, was very under par. The whole interface for it was woeful, and although having your fire team buddy was cool, I found myself being very confused about almost everything about multiplayer. Far Cry 3, which I just recently picked up, is pretty awesome. I have not yet had a chance at multiplayer (not that these types of RPG's ever have good multiplayer) but so far the campaign is very interesting and fun. For my first time at the series, I find the game challenging AND fun at the same time. It's a great experience if you're into open-world combat. Assassin's Creed III told yet another compelling story. The time period is so much fun to explore and see how things were at the start of our country. They did a near perfect job with the world you were so gracious to explore. The character you play was very interesting, and the story all together kept me going for a while, probably the longest of the series in my mind. However, when I tried multiplayer for the first time in the series, I found it very dull and boring quickly. And soon, I traded in the game since I had already beaten it in just under 3 days of playing. As most people would after a game like that, there's not much else to do once you've taken out all those templars!

Well, that's it for the games I've played this year. Yes, I have yet to get Black Ops 2, because up to now I really didn't like the direction they were going in. However, once the holidays pass, I might think about picking it up just because it is made by Treyarch (which is wayyyy better than Infinity Ward) AND I have played the other games since Modern Warfare so it would only be right.

What games did you play this year? Do you have the same thoughts on games as me? Or, do you have different opinions?

#video games #2012 #far cry 3 #nhl 13 #black ops 2 #medal of honor #ghost recon

Lake Erie won their first game of the season tonight 2-1! Let's hope the NHL can get their situation figured out soon! I'm hungry for some Avalanche hockey!

LANDESKOG NAMED AVALANCHE CAPTAIN

Whaaaaaaaaatttt?

#golandy

THE AVS SIGNED DAVID JONES

YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!

i've never asked this before

anyone up for some anon questions? i am. DO IT.

2012 Avs-Wrap Up

So, I write this blog entry as the Avs are currently down 3-1 to the Nashville Predators after the first period of the Avs' final game of the 2011-2012 season. I just wanted to take this time to look back at the positives and negatives of this past year and what it meant to me. Three words come to my mind for this season: fun to watch. 2010-2011 put a bitter taste in my mouth after obtaining 68 points and were 14th out of 15 Western Conference teams. However, this season was so much fun. Sure, I cried when John-Michael Liles (JML) signed with Toronto and it was sad to see Daniel Winnik and TJ Galiardi go to San Jose (brought Jamie McGinn over). But 88 points this year and being RIGHT there until the end of the season brought such excitement to me. Like, I really really believed that we had a chance, and of course we did. This time of year is so magical and intense and exciting. A couple of things that bothered me this year: Kevin Porter didn't get much ice time this year, understandably so seeing how the roster we had demanded competition for ice time. However, he really didn't impress me when he did skate. I thought he was really surprising last year. Chuck Kobasew disappeared after he got a little hot just before halfway through the season. The same could be said for Stefan Elliot, although I was pretty impressed with his overall play this season. Ryan Wilson wasn't as tenacious as he normally is. Maybe it was due to his injuries, I don't know. As far as scoring ability goes, Duchene, Jones, and Hejduk kinda disappointed me. Yeah, Dutchy missed a couple of stretches and ended with 58 games, but he really did not put forth as much effort this year. If he spent more time shooting pucks on net like Landeskog instead of swiveling and turning around players in the O-Zone, he might of had better production. Jonsie...Jonsie, Jonsie, Jonsie. You were so good last year! What happened?! 20 goals from you just isn't good enough for me. I'm sorry Jones, but we needed you to step up since we no longer had Chris Stewart. Hejduk. You're my guy. My favorite Avalanche player since God knows when. That string of 11 consecutive seasons of 20 goals or more is over. 14 goals is just a little too low for me, captain. I love you to death, but I need AT LEAST 20 from ya. However, out of the three of you, Hejduk did play the best overall. Varly, we gave up a lot to get you bro. I thought you were good when you were good, and were shaky when you were shaky. However, you still pulled of 26 wins. My only beef with you is that if you would have had 3 or 4 less losses, we could be in the playoffs right now. But, I'm interested to see how you play next year. Good job. Now the positives: WE GOT 88 POINTS AND WERE IN THE PLAYOFF BUBBLE THIS YEAR! LOL! But seriously, it was a fun and exciting season, right down to the wire. My Avalanche MVP for this year: Ryan O'Reilly. Man, how much you've grown and the player you have become in three seasons is remarkable. You were literally our top dog. Becoming the first line center says it all. Taking that away from Stastny, who's had that spot for a few years now, is impressive. Best penalty killer, best defensive forward, best offensive forward this year, best EVERYTHING! You were great in the shootouts and were a smart passer/scorer in the offensive zone. Great, great job. Erik Johnson, you have changed my thoughts about you. You played pretty well, and you're control of the puck grew stronger as the season went on. Nice work. How could I not talk about what Landeskog did for us this year? Holy crap! Calder Cup all the way, no joke. And I think 95% of the league agrees. Nice work and we'll see you next season. I must say, Stastny played much better this year than last, but are his days numbered in Denver? I don't know, really. I would not be surprised if he went somewhere else, but not to say I wouldn't be sad if he left. I love ya bud. Shane O'Brien and Jan Hejda were exactly what we needed on the back end. I really don't have anything bad to say about their performance this year. Wonderful job boys. Jay McClement is an absolute beast. Second best PK killer, after O'Reilly. I loved Peter Mueller's effort this year. I hope he can play at least 70 games next year to see what numbers he can push out. McGinn and Downey were good acquisitions for us. I like what they bring to the table. I really don't have any tweaks for our overall team for next season. Giguere was magical for us when we needed him and I hope he returns for next season. I trusted him fully while he was in net. Great job.

We are on the cusp of becoming a returning playoff team year in and year out soon. This year we were soooooooo close to the playoffs. And my prediction for next year is at least a couple of rounds in, maybe more. I like the direction we are headed and the decision to keep both Sherman and Sacco are fine by me. Let's just keep it rollin', and I'm so excited for 2012-2013 to begin!

I would also like to apoligize for any posts about getting angry on some nights. It's just so frustrating when you're so close, and lose! But I love this team and I guess that could only mean I'm so passionate about them! Also, I'm sorry to "hellyeahdrjones" for seeming like a non-believer at times. :/ But someday, we will attend a game together! :D

Your thoughts on this year?

-_-

We better start pulling our heads out of our molasses if we want to not get swept by Vancouver this season. It's already not looking good. C'mon Avs, play like we all know you can.

Playoffs? Playoffs? What, you kiddin' me? Playoffs?

Dutchy needs to get his f***ing head in the game. We need to start attacking the f***ing puck. I'm tired of this win-loss, overtime/shootout every single game bull****. Do we even want to be in the playoffs? If so, can we even contend once we get there. Start playing like we want it, Avs.

San Jose December 15, Third Period

Another loss in a game that was ours to win. Going into the third period with a 4-2 lead and to have San Jose score three straight goals is unacceptable. Give-aways were our demise tonight, and we got what we deserved. Varly stood strong (aside from his give away in the first) and played quite well. San Jose had the puck and the energy in our end for most of the third period. We gotta start playing 60 mins.

San Jose December 15, Second Period

Likes:

- Stastny really really definitely is back! Great goal. - That Galiardi, McClement, McLeod line really warms my heart to watch. - Cody McLeod makes sure he gets to that puck that's dumped in the corner every single time, love his effort. - Daniel Winnik gets a Gordie Howe hat trick all in the second period. Bravo Winnie.

Dislikes:

- I missed the first 3 1/2 minutes of the period (watching Captain America). :'[ - I did, however, rewind the game and see the goals from both teams. :]

San Jose December 15, First Period

Likes:

- Stastny's definitely back! :D - Avs went 2-for-2 on the powerplay, and 1-for-1 on the penalty kill! - It's great to see #7 Van Der Gulik back in the Avs' sweater! - Galiardi works harder every shift he gets!

Dislikes:

- Varly doesn't handle the puck very well, he should be more careful. - The Avs are more effective when Elliot and Johnson carry the puck out of the zone, as opposed to trying long-ice/cross-ice passes.

>:O

For the first time in a very long time, I shut off an Avalanche game before the final horn (had problems with NHL.com's Game Center Live, so I was forced to listen to it via radio). I just couldn't bear it anymore, especially once Vancouver had scored that empty netter. From the sounds of things (via radio), it sounded like we had a lot of chances late in the game, but just couldn't capitalize. Two things I've noticed we've sucked at ever since our 7-goal game over the Ottawa Senators a month ago. The Avs either a) wait until the third period to really pour it on in the offensive zone or b) fail to capitalize on many scoring opportunities. We're supposed to have the second best powerplay in the entire NHL. Where was that tonight? I won't sit here and bash our goalies (even though Varly is like 5-10-1). Our offense SUCKS. It's not our talent. It's not our ability. It's our lack of capitalization. We surrender too many chances, especially against a Vancouver team that has multiple injuries plaguing their team. It just gets me so angry. Four names offensively: Duchene, Stastny, Hejduk, Jones. They just are not getting it done. It makes me very angry to see those guys not lighting the lamp at least every other night. And it's not that our defense is all that horrible either, its just that our D and our goaltenders are not getting any offensive support whatsoever. A couple of seasons ago we had the best home ice record in the league, now, we can't even win a game without anything more than one goal. It's pathetic. To think we have all of this talent, skill, ability, and youth and to see it not clicking is really getting to me. Something is going, or has, to change. Something is just not right and I can't help but think that the Avs are going to do something drastic soon. I fear the worst.

I'm getting this awful feeling. A feeling that if the Avalanche don't start winning games and giving up leads that they are going to do something about it. I feel they're going to make a trade soon. Nobody on this team is stepping up. After having a 3-1 lead after the first period over Pittsburgh last night, the Pens scored FIVE MORE GOALS. That, to me, is just unacceptable. I don't blame our goaltender, I blame our offense (not defense, entirely). We don't keep the puck in the offensive zone as much as our opponents do against us. Where's the pressure? Where's the hounding? Where's that Ryan O'Reilly attitude that every single player should have? If they must make a trade, then so be it. But we need to start winning games and fast. But who would they move?

Giguere In, Mueller Out Tonight

The Avs will have Jean-Sebastien Giguere start in goal tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs for their fifth and final road game on this stretch. The team is looking for all five wins, as they have taken down Boston, Columbus, Ottawa, and Montreal. In doing so, they will set a record for the most consecutive road wins to start a season for the franchise. Giguere will play against his former team, the Maple Leafs and this will be his second start of the season. Peter Mueller will be a healthy scratch tonight. He is ready for game action, but will sit out tonight. I expect TJ Galiardi to be back in the lineup tonight after Kevin Porter only had a few minutes worth of ice time against Montreal.

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