I agree. I don't think he was demanding anything. The way I read it is he was saying that he wants to talk to his linemates (not the coaches) to keep doing the things necessary to stay together.
Duchene's comments come off weird all the time because he doesn't put a lot of thought into it, or choose his words carefully. He just talks for better or worse.
He didn't mean anything by it. He just wants some good line mates he can stick with. Nothing more, nothing less.
Figured some of you guys would like to know about some former avs at camp. Went to the panthers training camp today, to help with the sadness of not being able to be at the avs camp. Muells looks good, full offseason did him well with conditioning, hes sporting some crazy jesus hair adn sniped Markstrom a few times, showing chemistry with none other than Kovalev lol. Svatos sadly still looks slow and soft. Great hands still but think hes a long shot. Still was just the first day, but gotta pull for the guy.
Letting Mules walk will easily be the single biggest mistake from the Avs for a long time IMO. Even last year after coming back from nearly 2 years off he looked decent and played pretty well. Now he's had a full offseason to get over any small symptoms and get back into game shape. He's gonna be a hell of a player for Florida and were really gonna miss him.
I honestly don't get how management could just let him walk like that. Even if they had just tendered him and then traded his rights we could have gotten something for him. That was a huge brain fart by management.
Letting Mules walk will easily be the single biggest mistake from the Avs for a long time IMO. Even last year after coming back from nearly 2 years off he looked decent and played pretty well. Now he's had a full offseason to get over any small symptoms and get back into game shape. He's gonna be a hell of a player for Florida and were really gonna miss him.
I honestly don't get how management could just let him walk like that. Even if they had just tendered him and then traded his rights we could have gotten something for him. That was a huge brain fart by management.
He is one hit away from his career being over, and hardly played while with us. His health was always a distraction and he is being replaced by a better (and more reliable) version in PAP.. not really sure how this was a huge mistake or brain fart by management. I hope Mueller all the best, but don't act like he is definitely going to have a great year/career and there wasn't a huge amount of risk associated with him.
Letting Mules walk will easily be the single biggest mistake from the Avs for a long time IMO. Even last year after coming back from nearly 2 years off he looked decent and played pretty well. Now he's had a full offseason to get over any small symptoms and get back into game shape. He's gonna be a hell of a player for Florida and were really gonna miss him.
I honestly don't get how management could just let him walk like that. Even if they had just tendered him and then traded his rights we could have gotten something for him. That was a huge brain fart by management.
I would agree with the sentiment that I was surprised that the Avalanche let him walk. But I could understand the sense behind it.
Let's not forget that concussions effects everyone differently. Peter Mueller unfortunately lost an entire year of his career, after the Avs had signed him to a 2 year deal. And in the 2nd year of that deal he was in and out of the lineup and only played a total of 32 games. And it was known that he missed the early part of last year still dealing with some recurring concussion symptoms. And in the later part of the year, when all we heard was that he had some sort of "upper body injury", it was rumored that it was actually some Concussion related symptoms as well.
Overall, I will miss what he brought to the team, a nice slap-shot from the point on the PP, a "Shoot-first" mentality that this team does need.
But I can't blame the Avalanche for feeling that they may have had to move on. Imagine if you will, that they would have signed him, and have him penciled to take one of the Top-6 roles, but then he suffers another unfortunate setback with recurring concussion symptoms? We as fans would be upset at it. I think that Sherman was "damned if he did or damned if he didn't" in this situation.
Letting Mules walk will easily be the single biggest mistake from the Avs for a long time IMO. Even last year after coming back from nearly 2 years off he looked decent and played pretty well. Now he's had a full offseason to get over any small symptoms and get back into game shape. He's gonna be a hell of a player for Florida and were really gonna miss him.
I honestly don't get how management could just let him walk like that. Even if they had just tendered him and then traded his rights we could have gotten something for him. That was a huge brain fart by management.
It was only a mistake if they never ended up signing a replacement.
Once PAP was signed, it was no longer a mistake to let him go.
Unfortunately for Mueller, he was an offensive guy who lacked too many things. PAP is basically the same, but with history of better offense and, no health concerns.
Even if Mueller produces at a better pace, IF he gets injured, youre in worse shape. Id rather have a 60pt, 82 game player, than a 40pt, 45 game player.
Letting Mules walk will easily be the single biggest mistake from the Avs for a long time IMO. Even last year after coming back from nearly 2 years off he looked decent and played pretty well. Now he's had a full offseason to get over any small symptoms and get back into game shape. He's gonna be a hell of a player for Florida and were really gonna miss him.
I honestly don't get how management could just let him walk like that. Even if they had just tendered him and then traded his rights we could have gotten something for him. That was a huge brain fart by management.
I concur. I always felt Mueller was the most talented player on the Avs.
I went but left before the scrimmage was over. It wasn't much of a scrimmage, as it was controlled by the coaches.
Lines were the same. Kobasew was back on the 4th line today with Olver and McLeod. Sgarbossa showed his skill more today, looked a little less nervous. Bordeleau is a terrible player.
I'm happy to report they seem to be keeping O'Brien away from EJ. EJ looks like he'll start the year with Wilson, but Zanon was his partner for a little bit as well. O'Brien was mainly with Hunwick and the young defensemen.
Zanon will be solid for this team. He's real good defensively and the goalies will love him because he'll block everything. He's a little redundant, but he's still a solid player. His beard is pretty epic too.
They practiced before the scrimmage and it was kind of sloppy at times. Sacco stopped everything and started yelling at the team, saying something like "We got a ****ing game Saturday night".
"Sacco said he is leaning towards keeping 13 forwards and eight defensemen, instead of 14 forwards and seven D. That benefits 21-year-old defensemen Tyson Barrie and Stefan Elliott, one of whom will make the opening-night roster if Sacco sticks with his current plan."
Probably means no Sgarbossa in the opening day lineup.
"Sacco said he is leaning towards keeping 13 forwards and eight defensemen, instead of 14 forwards and seven D. That benefits 21-year-old defensemen Tyson Barrie and Stefan Elliott, one of whom will make the opening-night roster if Sacco sticks with his current plan."
Probably means no Sgarbossa in the opening day lineup.
If they're going to keep a guy like Barrie up then they need to play him, not let him sit in the press box. And I think Barrie is definitely ahead of Elliott at this point.
Probably means no Sgarbossa in the opening day lineup.
With
Mcginn-Staz-Jones
Lando-Dutchy-PAP
Downie-Mitchell-Hejduk
McLeod-Olver-Koby
And 8 D+2G, that leaves 22 players.
That means that one of Sgarby, Bordy or VdG (or O'Reilly) sticks as the 13th forward. (Or is O'Reilly's RFA status enough to have him as the "23rd player"? I don't really know the rules in this situation)
And yeah, if anyone from the AHL is brought up, he needs to play. Be it one of those three guys (+Olver) or Barrie/Elliott, they can't be scratches. That's for 2 of the D-men (O'Brien, Hunwick, O'Byrne, Zanon) and one forward (McLeod or Koby)
One of the guys at MHH made it sound like Hunwick has looked really good. Hard to imagine it really translating to games, as a superb skater should look better in drills. Regardless, it would be pretty funny to see Hunwick be a good player for the Avs. Not sure how I feel about the 8 defencemen. Barrie obviously won't be sitting, so it means two vet guys being scratched for the most part. If I was O'Byrne/O'Brien I'd be potentially worrying about my future with the Avs.
One of the guys at MHH made it sound like Hunwick has looked really good. Hard to imagine it really translating to games, as a superb skater should look better in drills. Regardless, it would be pretty funny to see Hunwick be a good player for the Avs. Not sure how I feel about the 8 defencemen. Barrie obviously won't be sitting, so it means two vet guys being scratched for the most part. If I was O'Byrne/O'Brien I'd be potentially worrying about my future with the Avs.
Its been awhile since last season, but wasn't Hunwick one of our best guys in the last 15-20 games last year?
Its been awhile since last season, but wasn't Hunwick one of our best guys in the last 15-20 games last year?
I wouldn't say best, but he looked good in a 3rd pairing role to end the season. They did increase his ice time too much in a couple games though, and his play dipped a little if I remember correctly.
Just got back from camp and thought I'd share my thoughts
Basically, no numbers on the jerseys so it took a bit to figure out what was going on. There were only small numbers on the helmets so I apologize for lack of info on some guys.
Drills were first and once I realized that they were divided up so their jersey color matched their lines I figured them out pretty quick. Drills were pretty fast though and going on at both sides of the ice so I decided to try and focus on just the top two lines and then tried to make mental notes if someone else did something really good or really awful. Stastny was with Jones and McGinn, Duchene with PA and Lando, Mitchell with Hejduk and Downie, Olver with Mcleod and Kobasew and Sgarbossa with Bordy and VDG.
Varly didn't look great, imo, let in a lot of tricklers. But if last years camp is any indicator Varly doesn't try that hard in camp. I thought he looked almost the worst last year against all the prospects so I'm not too worried that he wasn't that sharp today.
Mitchell was AWESOME. In the drills he probably scored the most of all the forwards, Stastny scored a ton too. If we don't get O'Reilly back and don't find a better option there I can definitely see him in that 3C spot. I was impressed with his speed and puck handling and he definitely stole the shine from his linemates. Hardly noticed Hejduk or Downie in the drills unless they were fumbling the puck. Both are probably a little rusty. I'm not going to overreact about how much I liked Mitchell, though. I remember how good LIndstrom looked last yeaer and we know how that turned out.
Olver looked alright, I was getting him mixed up with PA for the first half of drills and was like "where the heck is PA". I don't know why but once I figured it out Olver stood out more. He is FAST but I just don't see him as a 4th liner. We'll see how that works out because I really liked Mitchell.
The first line was clicking hardcore. Stastny and McGinn have some awesome chemistry. Jones was meh, not messing things up but not super involved in the plays either. It was mostly Stastny and McGinn hooking up all day. That's going to be a fun line to watch. I don't understand what San Jose was doing with McGinn. I can see him getting 15+ goals this season with Stastny feeding him all year.
Duchene somehow seems even faster this year. I'm sure my eyes are rusty from not watching hockey all lock out but he was FAST. And his dangles! Wow. Duchene needs to learn how to slow down a bit once he gets into the zone and starts stick handling. His hands just haven't caught up to his speed yet and they probably never will. He would book it down the ice and then try to deke at full speed and lose it. Either shoot or slow down and have control.
Him and Landeskog showed some good chemistry, though. PA did not look great with them. I'm chalk that up to playing with them the first time a couple of days ago. He had the speed to keep up with them so I don't think it'll be a problem once he gets used to them.
I'm really going to like that line if Duchene can keep it simple.
Defense overall owned the offense in the one on one drills. Wilson and Zanon stood out the most to me all day. Can't decide if it was Zanon's beard or not but I was happy with what I saw from him.
Everyone else I didn't notice enough to remember to say anything. It was really difficult to tell who was who if I didn't recognize them simply from style and linemates and face. I'm going tomorrow again so I'll try to pay better attention. And now it won't take me 30 minutes to figure out what's going on
Sacco did stop and yell at them for a couple of minutes. He did not seem happy but he sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher so I can't say what he was pissed about. All I heard was "WE HAVE A GAME SATURDAY!"
After drills they went to the other rink for some 5 on 5 drills and then some kinda sorta scrimmaging. But they all changed jerseys So it took me another couple of minutes trying to figure out who everyone was and I never really got used to it. Especially when they started mixing up the lines again.
Mitchell stood out again to me in the "scrimmage". But it just seems like the classic over perform in camp and get me excited and then be meh in real life. We'll see with that I guess. I'm pretty sure the scrimmage was scoreless. Jiggy absolutely ROBBED Mitchell, though. Should have been a goal for sure.
Afterwards they gathered around the net for slap shots and one-timers. Enjoyed watching Duchene here again. He seems to be back. I was seriously starting to hate him last year but I think he showed a lot of maturity with the contract he took and he seems really prepared this season. He did start to make a lot of Duchene-esque mistakes half way through the day but watching him slow down and shoot and play with the puck the way he does makes me forget about his stupidity.
They did some super close the net stuff too (only about 7 guys left at this point) and Lando shined there.
Overall we looked FAST, the offense had some issues (or the defense was AWESOME......) but the right guys stood out. I think Zanon is going to be pretty solid.
That's kind of it at the top of my head. It was hard to keep track of everyone so I'm sure I missed a lot of good/bad. I'm going to TRY and pay more attention to guys like Sgarbossa, Olver, Elliott and Barrie tomorrow.
I went but left before the scrimmage was over. It wasn't much of a scrimmage, as it was controlled by the coaches.
Lines were the same. Kobasew was back on the 4th line today with Olver and McLeod. Sgarbossa showed his skill more today, looked a little less nervous. Bordeleau is a terrible player.
I'm happy to report they seem to be keeping O'Brien away from EJ. EJ looks like he'll start the year with Wilson, but Zanon was his partner for a little bit as well. O'Brien was mainly with Hunwick and the young defensemen.
Zanon will be solid for this team. He's real good defensively and the goalies will love him because he'll block everything. He's a little redundant, but he's still a solid player. His beard is pretty epic too.
They practiced before the scrimmage and it was kind of sloppy at times. Sacco stopped everything and started yelling at the team, saying something like "We got a ****ing game Saturday night".
I thought EJ and Wilson looked pretty good together. Hopefully Wilson stays healthy. He looked a lot more like pre-injury Wilson today.
Honestly I thought SOB looked alright today. If he plays within his role he can be alright bottom pairing. Unfortunately he's too stupid to play within his talents.
I think I'm gonna like Zanon this year...especially if he keeps that beard!
Just got back from camp and thought I'd share my thoughts
Thanks for the info. Great to hear about Mitchell. If O'Reilly doesn't play this year, I'm really worried about how the 3rd line will perform, and that the likely guys Downie and Hejduk won't get to the level needed from them.
I think you're probably right about Mitchell coming back down to earth during the season. He's a classic case and in a classic role with the team for that to happen. Still better than him not looking good though.
I thought EJ and Wilson looked pretty good together. Hopefully Wilson stays healthy. He looked a lot more like pre-injury Wilson today.
Honestly I thought SOB looked alright today. If he plays within his role he can be alright bottom pairing. Unfortunately he's too stupid to play within his talents.
I think I'm gonna like Zanon this year...especially if he keeps that beard!
Oh god. This is why the Avs need a top level D. Wilson SHOULD NOT be playing on the top pairing with EJ!!!!
Mitchell will be the type to always look good during camp. He actually has some very good offensive skills (his shot is very, very good), but he has never been the type to put it all together. I would say that he has a poor hockey IQ on both sides of the puck and that is what really holds him back. With is skill set though, he can be a very good 4th line center because he can add some unexpected offense from time-to-time.
Oh god. This is why the Avs need a top level D. Wilson SHOULD NOT be playing on the top pairing with EJ!!!!
Wilson is still young and has had some stretches where he looks real good. I'm not ready to write him off yet but if he plays like post-injury last year, then yes, things are looking grim with him on the top pairing.
Mitchell will be the type to always look good during camp. He actually has some very good offensive skills (his shot is very, very good), but he has never been the type to put it all together. I would say that he has a poor hockey IQ on both sides of the puck and that is what really holds him back. With is skill set though, he can be a very good 4th line center because he can add some unexpected offense from time-to-time.
He was a HELL of a lot faster than I was expecting as well. But I know it's not a situation where changing teams is going to all of a sudden make him good so I'm withholding my hope that he'll be a good 3rd C. But based strictly off what I saw today he was awesome with the puck. IQ didn't really come into play since all he did was speed in and get a great shot off
He was a HELL of a lot faster than I was expecting as well. But I know it's not a situation where changing teams is going to all of a sudden make him good so I'm withholding my hope that he'll be a good 3rd C. But based strictly off what I saw today he was awesome with the puck. IQ didn't really come into play since all he did was speed in and get a great shot off
Just wait until the season starts and he is in real games. The true Mitchell will come out. His pure ability sometimes makes coaches question what they see in games compared to practices and he gets used in situations he has no business being in. IE Tortorella started using him on powerplays towards the end of last season and in the playoffs and he was terrible in those situations.
I hope that Mitchell has turned the corner with his career finally, but he has been in the league for around 5 years now and by now he has pretty much proven what he is.
One thing to remember in 08-09 he put ups 12g 17a playing in a 3rd line situation in Toronto, so he has done it before. He also played himself into the minors and getting traded for a 7th round pick.
So it took me another couple of minutes trying to figure out who everyone was and I never really got used to it. Especially when they started mixing up the lines again.
