With the Stanley Cup finals now three games deep, and the Avalanche sporting what can only be some kind of Tony Granato clone as their new head coach (that’s a joke right?), more than a few people wondered aloud what the hell was going on with the DNP and its lack of coverage.
Many of you felt it was irresponsible of me to close up shop for the summer after the Avalanche were run out of the playoffs and yours truly was relocated from the refreshing isolation of Denver to the shockingly closer to the ocean, “Valley on the Sun”. I mean “Valley in the Sun”. I mean Phoenix. It’s hot here.
In the words of the once funny Steve Martin “Well excuuuuuuuse ME!”
But really, I can’t blame you. You THE READER make many a convincing argument. So before this becomes too long-winded, here’s a little bit o’ mailbag for the reading. I'll be back just as soon as I figure out why the tap water in Phoenix is never cold...hmmm.
“D’Albey, I said that you and the Avalanche sucked and I am right. You still don’t deserve a team in Denver.”
Mike
Detroit
Oddly enough no Red Wings fan has been able to answer me one simple question involving something widely known outside of the Motor City as “logic”:
Since Detroit is known amongst Red Wings supporters as “Hockeytown” that should mean that the Red Wings have won the most Stanley Cups. Because in order to be proclaimed as the “Town of Hockey” one would think that only a place that has proven to be the best at hockey would be afforded the luxury of calling attention to the fact that it is the Zion of a particular sport.
So again, Detroit has won the most Stanley Cups, right?
Right?!
“Since you now live in Phoenix you are going to become a Coyotes fan. I can feel it.”
Brad
Denver
Brad I swear to the Lord on high that I will not become a Yotes fan. If I’m a fan of anything or anyone out here it is Daniel Carcillo. Who by many accounts is planning on halving his penalty minutes next season, which is pretty much the lamest thing I’ve read since Section P of yesterday’s Arizona Republic was dedicated in its entirety to the upcoming Sex and the City movie.
2 1/2 hours of women in their 40’s who can’t stop whining? That's Sextacular!
“Tony Granato is the new coach of the Avalanche and you didn’t write a DNP the instant this information was made public? What the hell?!”
Jeff
Northglenn, CO
I’m not going to admit that I dropped the ball on this one even if I probably did drop the ball. The thing is that I wasn’t shocked by the decision and I’m still not shocked by the decision. I was so un-shocked that I didn’t even care to write about it.
What I did find shocking was how nearly every Denver columnist and blogger went overboard in their negative reactions to Granato’s promotion. What because Pat Burns or some Detroit assistant coach were going to do the trick? Really?
I say give the guy a chance. I’m curious to see what Tony can do now that he has more experience. In his previous stint he was promoted after only 6 months as an assistant coach and his starting goalie was David Aebischer. What were we supposed to expect from him when his goalie was known in places as “Swiss Cheese”?
This time around if the team can stay healthy (which was THE problem this season) I can’t see Tony doing any worse than Joel Quenneville did…and by that I mean they could get swept out of the second round again.
Can the Avs maybe start scouting Swedish players this season? It’s just a thought.
“Tell me the Penguins will win the Cup! Russia already won at the World’s and I don’t think I could handle seeing another “Red Army” walking away with a title”
Bill
Arvada, CO.
I still think Detroit wins the Cup. They are just too good and they have home ice. Although things could change now that Holmstrom looks to be down and out, and the Pens are playing more physical.
It slays me that Evgeni Malkin is disappearing at exactly the wrong time. Nobody on Detroit can cover him but for some reason he doesn’t seem to realize that fact. He scores in droves if he just takes the puck, puts his head down, and starts smacking people.
The Pens should by all accounts win more than one Cup, but I just don’t know if this is their year. From the looks of things we are in for a long summer of dry, emotionless interviews involving players representing Detroit and Russia who can’t seem to be anything other than dry and emotionless.
Hooray for lame hockey!
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2 comments:
Zetterberg is totally gonna break out in tears when he raises the cup, I can feel it. The tide of emotion from the Red Wings is going to just be awsome. It's not that anyone really dislikes the Wings. It's that no one likes them either. I'm not convinced Red Wing fans even like the Red Wings right now. Oh sure, they love to win and pound their chests but I don't think they like their team. Hell, I'm not sure the Red Wings like themselves. I expect that cup to be held up high by Lidstrom and Zetterberg with mild grins somewhat less enthusiastic than those dudes that carry out the cup with the white gloves.
Aaron, I think you're off on this Euro scouting thing. Everyone is going overboard with this. Hell, last year it was all about big farm boys from Canada like the Ducks put on board. Now it's Euros. I mean the draft is pretty hit and miss at the best of times but the Avs record of high round draft picks with Euros is really a nightmare. Kuleshov, Nederost and Johansson were busts. Hejduk and Vrbata? Those were picked up a bit later and worked out well. I think the Avs need to stick to their strengths until their Euro scouting can prove itself reliable enough to garner picks in the top 50.
I think this season the Red Wings have met with success simply because the have had a penchant for scouting and drafting Swedish players.
The trend since the lockout, perhaps starting with the Rangers trying to put Czech players with Jagr, has been to pair countrymen.
In a nutshell, the Wings built from Lidstrom out. Since hindsight is 20/20 Holland's tactic of scouting Swedish players is pretty obvious. The Swedes did come out with the gold in the last Olympics, no? So why not collect Swedes who are used to "torpedo" hockey?
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