Eurolanche

Postgame thoughts: Yotes

Is this a sign of things to come? Is it already that time of the season when the hopes of the Avs' fans crash and burn like the Hindenburg, making people yell in despair: "Oh, the humanity?" Is that bleak enough for you? There's more where that came from. If you want pessimism, check out David's articles. He's worse than me. At least I can say that the 2nd period was good for the Avs, the pressure was there, they dominated, but the Coyotes managed to score despite all of that and the 3rd goal at the start of the 3rd period killed all the momentum.

But some things didn't change from last season. The defense is better, but it keeps giving up untimely turn overs and Varlamov should hold on to the puck instead of helping the opponent with rebounds. My bet? Sacco will soon start Giguere more. Not because he's better, but because Sacco's desperate. The Avs lost 3 out of the last 4 games, 4 out of the last 6. So they're going down and they're going down in a hurry. They're now 9th in the standings so they don't even have that going for them, like they used to have. "Hey, we're not always playing great, but we're up there with the big guys."

Duchene is an H.G. Wells novel (yes, "The Invisible Man"), Stastny isn't too far behind and everybody wants the "third" line to do it all, score, create, defend... They're doing it, but they can't be on the ice all the time. Speaking of expectations, Johnson is at an amazing -8! The great white hope, the pillar of defense is making a habit of being on the ice when the opposition scores. Add to that his lack of offensive potency and his unfortunate turnovers and you're looking at a GM that is wondering if he did the good thing with his big trade. To be honest, from what I heard - because I'm too lazy to look it up - Stewart isn't fairing all that well either. But, boy, we could've really used that big body of his. Well, what's done is done.

Looking to the future, Duchene appears to be heading to the wing, on a line with Stastny and Hejduk. That leaves TJ centering Jones and Lindstrom. Sacco's experiments are on a roll now but it's nothing new for an Avs fan that's been following the team for the last couple of years.

Now how many of you are willing to bet that come February Sacco is gone, replaced by... I don't know... Quinn, the Monsters's coach?

Another thing I wanted to discuss and now is as good of a time as any. There's a rift among Avs supporters, should they spend for a big FA or should they wait and build from within? I'm all for spending wisely and building from within. But there are limits to that. You don't build your coaches from within. You won't become an overnight cup contender in a few years just because you drafted and brought up your players in the system. A losing team will not become a winning team without a winning culture. And bringing a veteran player that knows a thing or two about winning and will instill that in the young player is priceless. What do Duchene and O'Reilly know about winning? They've only been in the playoffs once, when the Sharks beat the crap out of them and only Andy made the series longer than it should've been. This season doesn't look it will happen either, at the way they play, but it's still early. I'm not talking about a blockbuster, but some decent players that can help the young 'uns should be a must. Of course, they got Hejduk, but I have the feeling he's not much of a talker. If only Roy could spend a few minutes in that locker room... Granted, some players may need psychological help and even an ambulance may be required, but I still think it would shake things up.

Finally, I made up my mind and I want O'Reilly for captain. He's leading by example, he's exactly what an athlete should be on and off the ice. Maybe he doesn't have Johnson's big mouth, but if you talk the talk and you don't walk the walk you look pretty silly. And O'Reilly isn't looking silly at all. He doesn't yell that they should play better, he's not banging things, he's working harder.