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Finally, a win when it mattered.
I honestly didn't think the Avs would pull a win against an opponent so close in the standings. The Predators meetings were sort of a bad omen. But lo and behold, they did it. And you can say what you want, but I think the refs had a hand in it too. Granted, there were plenty of occasions this year when the refs weren't the Avs' best friends. But against the Stars... Let's just say we wouldn't have been happy if the shoe were on the other foot.
Robert Ciubotaru, Romania, eurolanche@eurolanche.com
16/01/2012 - 12:45
Postgame thoughts: Stars
Finally, a win when it mattered.I honestly didn't think the Avs would pull a win against an opponent so close in the standings. The Predators meetings were sort of a bad omen. But lo and behold, they did it. And you can say what you want, but I think the refs had a hand in it too. Granted, there were plenty of occasions this year when the refs weren't the Avs' best friends. But against the Stars... Let's just say we wouldn't have been happy if the shoe were on the other foot.
And again, the Avs had to count too much on the goalie. How many times are they gonna win with one or two goals scored? Not many. Something has to be done and now it's on the coach. He has players coming back, like Wilson and, amazingly Mueller. He has to use everybody to their potential, if he's even capable of doing that. I often thought this year that the hot and cold streaks are on the players' shoulders. Sacco is just a puppet there. I was almost laughing hearing the Stars announcers saying that Sacco's three bag skates are responsible for motivating the players. Are they now? How about being responsible for injuring some players? That's like saying a horse got motivated by being whipped into a comma before the race. All the things about the GM and the owner are right, but ultimately the coach is with these guys day in and day out. And these are players that have skills. Can they win the Stanley Cup? Highly unlikely. But they can be better than they are right now or were last year. And the thing I fear the most is that Sacco will get a new contract in the summer. Just wait and see.
But let's turn to the glass half full. Mueller is slowly coming into his own, he has some great chances and he's looking good. As does Wilson, who's hitting like he used to and being pretty much the best D-man again. And he didn't cost us our best power forward... Speaking of power forwards, David Jones, the supposed heir to Stewart's throne, made a nice return to the team. It's true that expect for the goal he wasn't that visible, but who was? Stastny had a few nice touches, but even O'Reilly was less than stellar. Well, even gods have their off days, let alone a 21 year old youngster.
Now it's on to the Coyotes and it should be an easier game, which of course means it won't be...
Robert Ciubotaru, Romania, eurolanche@eurolanche.com
16/01/2012 - 12:45
