Training camp

[WarriorOfGandhi]

videos yonder: http://www.milehighhockey.com/2014/9/15/6154617/rookie-camp-day-1-video

[Brain of J]

I stopped by today, but it's just drills so you can't take too much from it. I liked Henley, Schumacher, and Magyar. Siemens had his ups and downs. I barely noticed Bigras but there was a lot going on so it was hard to notice everyone.

Excited for four straight days of Avs stuff starting Friday.

[Brain of J]

67 players at Training Camp.

By my count, they'll be able to split into 4 teams with 9 forwards and 6 defensemen on each team. And it runs from 9:30-2PM, so it won't be short.

My body is ready.

[ABasin]

67 players at Training Camp.

By my count, they'll be able to split into 4 teams with 9 forwards and 6 defensemen on each team. And it runs from 9:30-2PM, so it won't be short.

My body is ready.

At what time are you getting there?

And at which rink do you typically sit? I usually go to the West side, even though there are less seats.

[VLoo]

At what time are you getting there?

And at which rink do you typically sit? I usually go to the West side, even though there are less seats.

Those are some pretty personal questions there, AB.

[ABasin]

Those are some pretty personal questions there, AB.

I'm not trying to go down on the man, VLoo. Just trying to make sure I get a seat, and I'm always wondering which rink is better. In the past, I've chosen the side where they run drills while games are being played on the other rink (I've done this twice), and I'm trying to remember which is which. I believe they almost always play the games on the rink with the good locker rooms - the one on the side where the restaurant is upstairs. It's the other side (East?) where they tended to run the drills.

[Brain of J]

At what time are you getting there?

And at which rink do you typically sit? I usually go to the West side, even though there are less seats.

I'm going to get there early, likely too early at 8. I usually go to the West rink, which is the one with less seats because that's where they typically do the scrimmages and you need to camp out your spot.

[ABasin]

Uh oh, AB. Doesn't look like the Avs are going to develop any quality young defensemen anytime soon.


http://blogs.denverpost.com/avs/2014/09/16/brett-clark-joins-avalanche-staff-player-development-consultant/19317/

Hek, may you be buttfucked by a rhino with gonorrhea. :-)

In truth, what the hell. The organization can hardly do any worse in this respect than it has for the last 20 years. Perhaps Clark knows how to teach, rather than do.

[WarriorOfGandhi]

that takes me back to the Great Clark Debates circa 2009

[ABasin]

Went to camp today. Just stayed for the first half. Allaire ran drills for a half hour with a few goaltenders and a few players, Roy/coaches ran drills for an hour, then 2 of the 4 teams played a scrimmage. A lot of young guys on the ice.

I think Brain is going to post a bunch of stuff, so I'll hold off. I liked Meurs, Noreau, Holden, and Hishon was OK also. Thought Wood and Bleackley were mediocre - Wood wasn't bad positionally, but his passes were way off the mark. Bleackley played on a line with Duchene and O'Reilly, and was still meh. Tanguay played well, for what it's worth.

[Brain of J]

Here's my thoughts. Didn't pay any real attention to the young goalies.

1 Varly - He looked good, like he did last year. Made a few spectacular saves, one on Meurs, I believe, and another on Tanguay. No worries there.

2 Holden - Probably the most impressive defenseman of the day, IMO. If he carries over his late season play then it'll make a lot of people feel way better about the defense. His skating looked a little better than last year, and his offensive instincts really are great. He made a behind the back spin pass to McLeod to tie up the 1st scrimmage with about 10 seconds left. Very encouraging day for him.

3 Stollery - I was surprised they brought him back because he's so small, but he does bring some offensive talent and experience to the minor league team. He had a decent day.

4 Barrie - Any concerns about his knee should be gone. He looked great, was jumping up in the play a lot. It's hard to tell if he's any bigger, because he's always looked kind of stocky on the ice, IMO.

5 Guenin - He was OK, I guess, but he was outplayed by some of the guys he's fighting for a job with.

6 EJ - Decent day, although he had a brutal turnover up the middle. Every other one of his breakout passes to the center down low were perfect. He's really great at those, for the most part.

8 Hejda - He looked good, but kind of slow. A little concerned he's going to slow down as the year goes on again.

9 Duchene - He was trying to do too much during the scrimmage, but he always does that. Still, he and ROR have great chemistry and it was on display again today.

10 Street - This guy could be a real nice pick up for Lake Erie. A lot of skill for a small guy. I can't see him playing any games for the Avs, but Lake Erie needs a scorer bad.

12 Iginla - Looked good, although he and MacK didn't seem to have a whole lot of chemistry, IMO. Not too worried about him.

14 Bourke - Not as good as he was last year, but he was playing with two stars last year. I have high expectations for him, though. He still showed off how shifty and skilled he is. He is REAL tiny out there though.

15 Heard - I don't know what it is that can't translate to the AHL, but he's shown a good amount of skill the last two training camps, if you ask me. He created the goal by Talbot today just by crashing the net and knocking the puck loose.

16 Siemens - A solid day for him, although I honestly didn't see him being very physical during the scrimmage. He got to play with EJ, and he was communicating a lot with him. I also noticed during practice that Foote talks to him a lot, which can't hurt. He flubbed a few passes, but made some nice 1 on 1 plays, particularly against Rendulic. He did have a beautiful stretch pass to Heard for a mini break that was stopped.

17 Stuart - He's not a scapegoat just yet. He looked solid, IMO. He was up in the play a lot, and almost scored the 2nd goal before Maggio banged it home. If he just plays unspectacular hockey, then that's fine with me.

18 Winchester - He's not the most talented guy around, but he wasn't brought in for that and he knows it. During the battle drills, he got real physical with Iginla, even shoving him in the face at one point. He's amazing along the boards, and can protect the puck real well (unlike Cliche). At one point in the scrimmage he just held the puck along the boards in the offensive zone for 15-20 seconds before it got taken away finally.

20 Berra - I thought he looked way more composed than last year. The goals against him weren't his fault, although one of them was a rebound. My issue is how deep he plays in his net. I know he's a big guy, but I wish he'd challenge more.

22 Redmond - Solid day for him, but he had some ugly moments. He turned the puck over a few times in the defensive zone when he got pressured. He's a good skater for someone his size, though. He was out with Holden a lot, which I imagine was on purpose, as I see them as the 3rd pairing.

24 Cliche - Everyone knows I hate this guy, but the goal he scored was kinda nice, a rebound off his skate to his stick and backhanded it in while falling. I really hope he gets beat out, though.

25 Talbot - Nice day for him, showing off some skill and scoring a goal. He has chemistry with Briere, which makes me wonder if he'll somehow find his way onto that 3rd line.

26 Noreau - You can tell how skilled he is immediately. For a smaller guy, he has a really heavy shot. There were a few times when he was breaking it out that he wasn't moving his feet and it led to some breakout issues, but I thought he was good. If his competition is Elliott, I thought he was the better of the two today.

27 Gervais - If this guy plays any NHL games for us, we're in trouble.

28 Carey - He had a good day. He's still really soft, but he does have some skill and can fly. I think he's been pushed down the depth chart a lot.

29 MacKinnon - Let's just say he hasn't lost any speed at all, and he looks a lot bigger. He was engaging physically a lot and throwing his body around. Great feed to Aggozino for a goal in the scrimmage. My only concern is that when Westlund stood him up well at the blueline physically, MacKinnon got mad and retaliated, high sticking the guy in the face. He has to get used to that, as he'll surely be a target for other teams.

32 Aggozino - Scored a nice top shelf goal from MacKinnon in the scrimmage. Other than that, I didn't notice him a whole lot.

36 Meurs - Good day for him. He's like the energizer bunny out there, lots of energy, but I don't think he has a ton of talent. He did score a goal in the scrimmage off a nice feed from Holden.

37 Smith - Disappointment, IMO. He was so good last year, but didn't even notice him at all today.

38 Hishon - If these Mitchell/McGinn injuries linger on, he may have a real shot because he was fantastic today. Not only was his skill on display, but he showed his tenacity as well. His goal, in an NHL game, probably wouldn't have counted as he kind of shoved the goalies pad into the net, but it counted here. Duchene tried to test him in the defensive zone, one on one, with his spins and power moves to the net, but Hishon actually stood with him and outmuscled him for the puck. It was just nice to see him out there since he's not been able to participate at a camp in a few years.

39 Cheek - He did score a goal off a nice rush by Lauridsen, but I don't see much there.

40 Tanguay - Looked great. He was hustling out there, and his skating looked good coming off the hip and knee issues. His patience with the puck will help this team so much if he can just stay healthy, and it's rubbing off on Landy too. Those two have such great chemistry that I'm really not sure how you can break them up. He had a brilliant long bank pass to Landy. Landy was trying to break up the middle for a breakaway, but a clear pass wasn't available, so Tanguay just iced it perfectly, it banked off the boards right on Landy's stick, who got robbed by Varly.

41 Corbett - Real solid day for him. He reminds me of Holden, in that he's always lurking around and ready to pinch in offensively. Had some nice pinches today too. He was also playing his off-side, which I'm not sure if he does regularly, but looked good doing so.

42 Henley - Not a whole lot of natural skill, but I think he knows that too. He's huge on the ice, one of the bigger guys out there, and is real physical. He's the type of 4th line, PK specialist the Avs need to develop.

43 Sgarbossa - He was my biggest disappointment last year, but looked ten times better today. The puck was on his stick a ton, and he just missed a goal off a bomb of a slapshot. Good day for him.

44 Wilson - He looked good. He could have seriously smoked Meurs on the first shift of the game with a big hit but he held up. He outplayed Guenin and Elliott, IMO, if that's who he's battling.

45 Everberg - He was what I thought Rendulic would be (I'll get to Rendulic later). Every time he gave the puck to Talbot or Briere, he would just crash the net, which is good for a guy his size. I thought after the rookie camp he might be a guy who looks better in game situations, and he was. He's a really big guy out there too.

46 Elliott - I saw Chambers say that he's put on weight, but you wouldn't know it watching him. He wasn't noticeable today at all. This is a huge camp for him and I was hoping for a better showing, but didn't get it. He really needs to pick it up.

47 Beaupre - He was really trying to make an impression physically. He stood up Bleackley at the red line, and it looked like he might have gotten the worst of it. Had a few other nice hits too.

48 Briere - I thought he looked solid, but he disappeared for a chunk of the 2nd period. He still has skill.

49 Bleackley - I don't know if he was overwhelmed playing with ROR and Duchene, but he didn't really do anything. He was fumbling passes a lot and when he did have the puck, couldn't get his passes off on time. It could very easily have been nerves, so I expect better tomorrow.

50 Iafrate - For a defenseman, he's quite small. I can't imagine he'll be on the roster past Monday.

51 Lauridsen - Another guy who shows a good amount of skill in TC, but I noticed he can't stay healthy in Lake Erie. Had a great end to end rush where he passed it off to Cheek all alone in the slot for a goal. He's a big, lanky guy so maybe he's just not strong enough.

53 Schumacher - I like him, a lot. He's got skill for a guy so big. I don't know what the rules are with AHL contracts, but I hope another team doesn't try to poach him.

55 McLeod - Had a nice goal. He always looks good in TC. He was physical again, which he wasn't for 80% of last year, so I'm hoping that carries over to the season. Without it, he's quite useless.

56 Maggio - Guy is a plug. Took runs at Siemens and Smith.

57 Bigras - His ability to close the gap on forwards who come in on the rush is really amazing, and is a testament to his hockey sense and skating ability. He also has a nice breakout pass, although it's usually the easy option. I have yet to see any real offensive ability out of him at this point. Still needs to bulk up.

59 McIntyre - Of all the tryout guys, I liked him the most. He had a few nice pinches, and jumped into the play on a 3 on 2 only to hit the side of the net with his shot. Kind of looks small out there, but I thought he played well.

62 Wood - This guy really has a long way to go and I hope the Avs are patient with him. His skating is really choppy and doesn't look great in transition defense. Fumbled the puck a lot and missed a lot of passes as well. Can't imagine he'll be seeing NHL time in the next 3-4 years, but that's alright.

63 Condon - Guy can really fly. Made a nice shot selection on Cliche's goal, with the low shot for a rebound. Hope he's not poached from us as well.

64 Westlund - This guy is hard to get a read on. He's another one who looked way better today than he did in rookie camp. He can't weigh more than 170 pounds, as he looks real tiny out there, but he wasn't afraid of taking runs at people. He stood up MacKinnon real nicely at the blueline with a solid hit, which pissed Nate off, and he also took out Stuart as well, which made Stuart do a double take. He did flub a few passes today, but not sure what we have here.

65 Geertsen - Minor disappointment, if only that he didn't stand out too much. His skating does look a lot better though. I'm not sure if some of the young guys are afraid to be physical with the NHL guys, because I was hoping he would have shown more nastiness.

67 Magyar - I honestly didn't notice him at all.

68 Cooper - Same with Magyar.

70 Pepin - He came out and did the goalie warm up with Duchene, ROR, etc, then when everyone practiced, he got a work out from the AHL Assistant (Ledoucer?). I know he's coming off surgery, but he was either in an extreme amount of pain or he's in horrible shape because he had to stop a lot. I watched his workout while everyone else moved to the other rink for the practice. He's a big guy, but looks thick, so maybe conditioning is a big issue.

71 Rendulic - Real big disappointment. I was expecting a big, physical guy who goes to the net, and what I saw was a big, soft guy who tries to play a skilled game. At no point did he throw his body around or crash the net, as he stayed to the perimeter. He really needs to use his body more, as he's a pretty big guy. Any time he tried to go one on one with a defender it didn't work.

72 Power - Probably the second best rookie tryout guy. He has some skill and has a quick release.

73 Ryan - Surprisingly looked good. He's a weird looking player, as he's short and looked wide. I thought he scored a goal off a defender but it apparently went in off Cheek.

81 Vincour - I was hoping for more of a physical game, but saw none of it. He's a real big guy, but I think he only had the puck on his stick once, and it was a 2 on 1 where he just barely missed going glove high. With Bordeleau out, he has a chance to do something but didn't show much today.

90 ROR - Same ROR as usual. Nothing new to report, other than his beard is massive.

92 Landeskog - I will never let anyone tell me that this guy is not a highly skilled player, because he is. The evolution of his game since his rookie year has been amazing. He's so damn patient with the puck on his stick, his playmaking ability is underrated, and his stickhandling has gotten better too. He's just a horse on skates, and as I mentioned earlier, he and Tanguay have great chemistry together. He scored his goal by smacking it in out of mid-air and no one even knew he scored. He's still getting better too.

[NHL33]

Nice work and well appreciated. Here, have some binary data.

[ABasin]

Here's my thoughts. Didn't pay any real attention to the young goalies.

1 Varly - He looked good, like he did last year. Made a few spectacular saves, one on Meurs, I believe, and another on Tanguay. No worries there.

2 Holden - Probably the most impressive defenseman of the day, IMO. If he carries over his late season play then it'll make a lot of people feel way better about the defense. His skating looked a little better than last year, and his offensive instincts really are great. He made a behind the back spin pass to McLeod to tie up the 1st scrimmage with about 10 seconds left. Very encouraging day for him.

3 Stollery - I was surprised they brought him back because he's so small, but he does bring some offensive talent and experience to the minor league team. He had a decent day.

4 Barrie - Any concerns about his knee should be gone. He looked great, was jumping up in the play a lot. It's hard to tell if he's any bigger, because he's always looked kind of stocky on the ice, IMO.

5 Guenin - He was OK, I guess, but he was outplayed by some of the guys he's fighting for a job with.

6 EJ - Decent day, although he had a brutal turnover up the middle. Every other one of his breakout passes to the center down low were perfect. He's really great at those, for the most part.

8 Hejda - He looked good, but kind of slow. A little concerned he's going to slow down as the year goes on again.

9 Duchene - He was trying to do too much during the scrimmage, but he always does that. Still, he and ROR have great chemistry and it was on display again today.

10 Street - This guy could be a real nice pick up for Lake Erie. A lot of skill for a small guy. I can't see him playing any games for the Avs, but Lake Erie needs a scorer bad.

12 Iginla - Looked good, although he and MacK didn't seem to have a whole lot of chemistry, IMO. Not too worried about him.

14 Bourke - Not as good as he was last year, but he was playing with two stars last year. I have high expectations for him, though. He still showed off how shifty and skilled he is. He is REAL tiny out there though.

15 Heard - I don't know what it is that can't translate to the AHL, but he's shown a good amount of skill the last two training camps, if you ask me. He created the goal by Talbot today just by crashing the net and knocking the puck loose.

16 Siemens - A solid day for him, although I honestly didn't see him being very physical during the scrimmage. He got to play with EJ, and he was communicating a lot with him. I also noticed during practice that Foote talks to him a lot, which can't hurt. He flubbed a few passes, but made some nice 1 on 1 plays, particularly against Rendulic. He did have a beautiful stretch pass to Heard for a mini break that was stopped.

17 Stuart - He's not a scapegoat just yet. He looked solid, IMO. He was up in the play a lot, and almost scored the 2nd goal before Maggio banged it home. If he just plays unspectacular hockey, then that's fine with me.

18 Winchester - He's not the most talented guy around, but he wasn't brought in for that and he knows it. During the battle drills, he got real physical with Iginla, even shoving him in the face at one point. He's amazing along the boards, and can protect the puck real well (unlike Cliche). At one point in the scrimmage he just held the puck along the boards in the offensive zone for 15-20 seconds before it got taken away finally.

20 Berra - I thought he looked way more composed than last year. The goals against him weren't his fault, although one of them was a rebound. My issue is how deep he plays in his net. I know he's a big guy, but I wish he'd challenge more.

22 Redmond - Solid day for him, but he had some ugly moments. He turned the puck over a few times in the defensive zone when he got pressured. He's a good skater for someone his size, though. He was out with Holden a lot, which I imagine was on purpose, as I see them as the 3rd pairing.

24 Cliche - Everyone knows I hate this guy, but the goal he scored was kinda nice, a rebound off his skate to his stick and backhanded it in while falling. I really hope he gets beat out, though.

25 Talbot - Nice day for him, showing off some skill and scoring a goal. He has chemistry with Briere, which makes me wonder if he'll somehow find his way onto that 3rd line.

26 Noreau - You can tell how skilled he is immediately. For a smaller guy, he has a really heavy shot. There were a few times when he was breaking it out that he wasn't moving his feet and it led to some breakout issues, but I thought he was good. If his competition is Elliott, I thought he was the better of the two today.

27 Gervais - If this guy plays any NHL games for us, we're in trouble.

28 Carey - He had a good day. He's still really soft, but he does have some skill and can fly. I think he's been pushed down the depth chart a lot.

29 MacKinnon - Let's just say he hasn't lost any speed at all, and he looks a lot bigger. He was engaging physically a lot and throwing his body around. Great feed to Aggozino for a goal in the scrimmage. My only concern is that when Westlund stood him up well at the blueline physically, MacKinnon got mad and retaliated, high sticking the guy in the face. He has to get used to that, as he'll surely be a target for other teams.

32 Aggozino - Scored a nice top shelf goal from MacKinnon in the scrimmage. Other than that, I didn't notice him a whole lot.

36 Meurs - Good day for him. He's like the energizer bunny out there, lots of energy, but I don't think he has a ton of talent. He did score a goal in the scrimmage off a nice feed from Holden.

37 Smith - Disappointment, IMO. He was so good last year, but didn't even notice him at all today.

38 Hishon - If these Mitchell/McGinn injuries linger on, he may have a real shot because he was fantastic today. Not only was his skill on display, but he showed his tenacity as well. His goal, in an NHL game, probably wouldn't have counted as he kind of shoved the goalies pad into the net, but it counted here. Duchene tried to test him in the defensive zone, one on one, with his spins and power moves to the net, but Hishon actually stood with him and outmuscled him for the puck. It was just nice to see him out there since he's not been able to participate at a camp in a few years.

39 Cheek - He did score a goal off a nice rush by Lauridsen, but I don't see much there.

40 Tanguay - Looked great. He was hustling out there, and his skating looked good coming off the hip and knee issues. His patience with the puck will help this team so much if he can just stay healthy, and it's rubbing off on Landy too. Those two have such great chemistry that I'm really not sure how you can break them up. He had a brilliant long bank pass to Landy. Landy was trying to break up the middle for a breakaway, but a clear pass wasn't available, so Tanguay just iced it perfectly, it banked off the boards right on Landy's stick, who got robbed by Varly.

41 Corbett - Real solid day for him. He reminds me of Holden, in that he's always lurking around and ready to pinch in offensively. Had some nice pinches today too. He was also playing his off-side, which I'm not sure if he does regularly, but looked good doing so.

42 Henley - Not a whole lot of natural skill, but I think he knows that too. He's huge on the ice, one of the bigger guys out there, and is real physical. He's the type of 4th line, PK specialist the Avs need to develop.

43 Sgarbossa - He was my biggest disappointment last year, but looked ten times better today. The puck was on his stick a ton, and he just missed a goal off a bomb of a slapshot. Good day for him.

44 Wilson - He looked good. He could have seriously smoked Meurs on the first shift of the game with a big hit but he held up. He outplayed Guenin and Elliott, IMO, if that's who he's battling.

45 Everberg - He was what I thought Rendulic would be (I'll get to Rendulic later). Every time he gave the puck to Talbot or Briere, he would just crash the net, which is good for a guy his size. I thought after the rookie camp he might be a guy who looks better in game situations, and he was. He's a really big guy out there too.

46 Elliott - I saw Chambers say that he's put on weight, but you wouldn't know it watching him. He wasn't noticeable today at all. This is a huge camp for him and I was hoping for a better showing, but didn't get it. He really needs to pick it up.

47 Beaupre - He was really trying to make an impression physically. He stood up Bleackley at the red line, and it looked like he might have gotten the worst of it. Had a few other nice hits too.

48 Briere - I thought he looked solid, but he disappeared for a chunk of the 2nd period. He still has skill.

49 Bleackley - I don't know if he was overwhelmed playing with ROR and Duchene, but he didn't really do anything. He was fumbling passes a lot and when he did have the puck, couldn't get his passes off on time. It could very easily have been nerves, so I expect better tomorrow.

50 Iafrate - For a defenseman, he's quite small. I can't imagine he'll be on the roster past Monday.

51 Lauridsen - Another guy who shows a good amount of skill in TC, but I noticed he can't stay healthy in Lake Erie. Had a great end to end rush where he passed it off to Cheek all alone in the slot for a goal. He's a big, lanky guy so maybe he's just not strong enough.

53 Schumacher - I like him, a lot. He's got skill for a guy so big. I don't know what the rules are with AHL contracts, but I hope another team doesn't try to poach him.

55 McLeod - Had a nice goal. He always looks good in TC. He was physical again, which he wasn't for 80% of last year, so I'm hoping that carries over to the season. Without it, he's quite useless.

56 Maggio - Guy is a plug. Took runs at Siemens and Smith.

57 Bigras - His ability to close the gap on forwards who come in on the rush is really amazing, and is a testament to his hockey sense and skating ability. He also has a nice breakout pass, although it's usually the easy option. I have yet to see any real offensive ability out of him at this point. Still needs to bulk up.

59 McIntyre - Of all the tryout guys, I liked him the most. He had a few nice pinches, and jumped into the play on a 3 on 2 only to hit the side of the net with his shot. Kind of looks small out there, but I thought he played well.

62 Wood - This guy really has a long way to go and I hope the Avs are patient with him. His skating is really choppy and doesn't look great in transition defense. Fumbled the puck a lot and missed a lot of passes as well. Can't imagine he'll be seeing NHL time in the next 3-4 years, but that's alright.

63 Condon - Guy can really fly. Made a nice shot selection on Cliche's goal, with the low shot for a rebound. Hope he's not poached from us as well.

64 Westlund - This guy is hard to get a read on. He's another one who looked way better today than he did in rookie camp. He can't weigh more than 170 pounds, as he looks real tiny out there, but he wasn't afraid of taking runs at people. He stood up MacKinnon real nicely at the blueline with a solid hit, which pissed Nate off, and he also took out Stuart as well, which made Stuart do a double take. He did flub a few passes today, but not sure what we have here.

65 Geertsen - Minor disappointment, if only that he didn't stand out too much. His skating does look a lot better though. I'm not sure if some of the young guys are afraid to be physical with the NHL guys, because I was hoping he would have shown more nastiness.

67 Magyar - I honestly didn't notice him at all.

68 Cooper - Same with Magyar.

70 Pepin - He came out and did the goalie warm up with Duchene, ROR, etc, then when everyone practiced, he got a work out from the AHL Assistant (Ledoucer?). I know he's coming off surgery, but he was either in an extreme amount of pain or he's in horrible shape because he had to stop a lot. I watched his workout while everyone else moved to the other rink for the practice. He's a big guy, but looks thick, so maybe conditioning is a big issue.

71 Rendulic - Real big disappointment. I was expecting a big, physical guy who goes to the net, and what I saw was a big, soft guy who tries to play a skilled game. At no point did he throw his body around or crash the net, as he stayed to the perimeter. He really needs to use his body more, as he's a pretty big guy. Any time he tried to go one on one with a defender it didn't work.

72 Power - Probably the second best rookie tryout guy. He has some skill and has a quick release.

73 Ryan - Surprisingly looked good. He's a weird looking player, as he's short and looked wide. I thought he scored a goal off a defender but it apparently went in off Cheek.

81 Vincour - I was hoping for more of a physical game, but saw none of it. He's a real big guy, but I think he only had the puck on his stick once, and it was a 2 on 1 where he just barely missed going glove high. With Bordeleau out, he has a chance to do something but didn't show much today.

90 ROR - Same ROR as usual. Nothing new to report, other than his beard is massive.

92 Landeskog - I will never let anyone tell me that this guy is not a highly skilled player, because he is. The evolution of his game since his rookie year has been amazing. He's so damn patient with the puck on his stick, his playmaking ability is underrated, and his stickhandling has gotten better too. He's just a horse on skates, and as I mentioned earlier, he and Tanguay have great chemistry together. He scored his goal by smacking it in out of mid-air and no one even knew he scored. He's still getting better too.

Good post, sir.

I bagged the thing after the first set of drills/scrimmage (I really don't like watching drills at all, honestly). And I mostly try and pay attention to the young guys, as I assume the vets will play better.

Liked Meurs, Noreau, Hishon was decent. Wood is going to be a project, I think. He's huge, and I didn't think his positioning was awful, but he was throwing passes all over the ice. He's also not terribly mobile. I wasn't blown away by Redmond either. Not bad, but nothing special. My buddy really liked Schumacher, I thought he was OK. Big dude though. Bleackley was disappointing, IMO. Particularly given who he skated with. I also thought Henley didn't embarrass himself - not bad. Holden played well.

[Brain of J]

Redmond was the best defenseman out there today. He was flying up and down the ice and hit the crossbar twice.

Hejda looks a little slow to me. Stuart, on the other hand, looks good.

[ABasin]

Redmond was the best defenseman out there today. He was flying up and down the ice and hit the crossbar twice.

Hejda looks a little slow to me. Stuart, on the other hand, looks good.

I'm quite confident Stuart will have been a good acquisition.

Good to hear about Redmond. I didn't see Elliott play at all in this camp, but all of the reviews I've read are overwhelmingly negative. Ah well.

Wilson is simply a fringe NHL player. Injury fill-in, nothing more.

[Brain of J]

OK, so for the B+W game itself.

First goal by Everberg was created by Carey's speed and Varly's inability to play the puck. He came out, Carey beat him to the puck and went around the net, Varly overcommited, and Everberg got the pass out front for an easy goal.

Second goal was just Duchene being just plain better than Wilson. Not only did he beat Wilson to the outside, he also outmuscled him to get to the middle of the ice. He tried to feed Iginla out front, but it hit Barrie and went in.

Burgandy's first goal was after a dominant shift by White. EJ and Stuart overcommited in the offensive zone on a broken play, Barrie saw it and took off, and Sgarbossa hit him with a breakaway pass from his own blueline all the way into the other end, where he beat Aitto glove high.

Second goal was a thing of beauty. White cleared it out, Redmond raced back, and while skating backwards at his own hashmarks, launched a pass right onto MacKinnon's stick at center ice, in stride. MacKinnon entered the zone, criss-crossed with Landy and dropped it to him, and Landy hit him all alone in front, where he just deked and beat Aitto 5-hole.

Third white goal was on a flurry of activity in front of Will, who made at least 3 saves but kept letting rebounds out. Vincour popped it out to Agozzino who had an empty net.

Third Burgandy goal was Schumacher in the corner, just whipped it at the net and it banked off Trembley's skate and in.

Last goal was great, hopefully a sign of things to come. ROR dumped it in the corner, Iginla got there first, took a hit from Siemens but came out with the puck, hit ROR at one side of the net, who passed it across the slot to Duchene at the other side of the net, who, with a rolling puck, launched it over Trembley's glove for the winner.

MacKinnon's line has serious chemistry already, and looks ready to go to start the year. I think Duchene's line only had one real shift of consistent pressure, and will need some time to really gel with Iginla. Briere's line was basically non-existent. Winchester and McLeod had some real nice shifts with cycling offensively, which we may see a lot of this year. That's Winchester's specialty. Cliche didn't do much, and was on the wing as Winchester took every faceoff.

Everberg is my pick to make the team, if any of the young guys can. He's got the size Roy is looking for, and he uses it well. He's great in the corners, and is always in front of the net. We were really lacking that net front presence all year last year, and I could see Roy just loving Everberg's game. He's a massive man out there, looks bigger than 95% of the players. I really hope he plays tomorrow so I can see him again. He's making an impression on the coaches, I think.

Rendulic, on the other hand, is mainly a perimiter guy, although he had one great shift where he showed off his hands and did lay one guy out. I wish he would crash the net more.

Noreau plays like an offensive defenseman. He's not afraid to join the rush, or start the rush, like Barrie. That's Elliott's issue. He's afraid to make mistakes or be who he is. Noreau had a few great rushes, including one where it was a 3 on 2, he drew a defender too him, dished it to the forward in the middle and it created a mini 2 on 1. He can really move and didn't notice any glaring defensive issues, although he isn't a big man.

Wilson was solid in camp, but got abused today.

Hishon didn't do much today, which was disappointing. Carey was all over the place, including the big hit on Wilson.

I'll also say that Will and Pickard have clearly outplayed Aitto and it's not close.

I'll be there tomorrow, hope the Avs dress a lot of the young guys.

[NHL33]

So:
O'Reilly-Duchene-Iginla
Landeskog-MacKinnon-??

Is that Tanguay or an AHLer like Agozzino?

[Brain of J]

Tanguay.

[NHL33]

With a name like Aittokallio, you know he can be trusted. Don't listen to those wannabe scouts.

[Brain of J]

Dennis Everberg is massive. Guy is hitting everything and has some skill to go with it. He's gotten better each day. He's the guy who could make it up front.

Bleackley needs to learn to keep his head up. He's been getting crushed consistently all weekend.

Avs just looked sloppy tonight. The vets weren't 100% into it. MacKinnon did well in the faceoff circle, which is a good sign.

[Brain of J]

I'm sure most are aware, but Altitude is showing the pre-season game tomorrow in Quebec at 5PM. Sounds like the majority of the Avs normal lineup will play.

[WarriorOfGandhi]

for anyone else who watched the game last night, did MacKinnon look a bit slower than last season? Seemed like he tried to turn on the jets once or twice but wasn't hitting that top gear we saw so many times in his rookie year.

[Brain of J]

for anyone else who watched the game last night, did MacKinnon look a bit slower than last season? Seemed like he tried to turn on the jets once or twice but wasn't hitting that top gear we saw so many times in his rookie year.

I didn't think so, but didn't notice him trying to speed by anyone that much. In the first game, on the opening shift, he made Vatanen eat it skating backwards because of his speed. He looks just as fast over the weekend as he did last year.

[Brain of J]

Looks like ROR may be back at center.

Stuart isn't nearly as bad as he was made out to be.

Holden continues to get better.

Redmond is a serious upgrade over Wilson and Guenin, but who knows if he'll play over them.

[NHL33]

Are they doing Duchene-MacKinnon-O'Reilly down the middle? If so, I feel better about the upcoming season.

Wing options would be Landeskog, Iginla, Tanguay, Mitchell, McGinn and Briere. The 4th line can be Talbot, Winchester and McLeod.

Personally I think we need more skill like Hishon to solidify 3 scoring lines, but this is decent nonetheless.

[ABasin]

Looks like ROR may be back at center.

Stuart isn't nearly as bad as he was made out to be.

Holden continues to get better.

Redmond is a serious upgrade over Wilson and Guenin, but who knows if he'll play over them.

What? O'R in place of MacKinnon, or at 3C?

Holden is playing really aggressively this preseason.

[Brain of J]

ROR played center between Landy and Mack in the 3rd period last night. Duchene got put between Tanguay and Iginla and they scored, so we'll see what happens.

[NHL33]

Meh. A waste of MacKinnon's talents. Guess it's the traditional 2 scoring lines, 3rd tweener, and 4th scrubs.

[Brain of J]

It's just temporary. MacKinnon will get plenty of time at center this year.

[NHL33]

O'Reilly will be gone sooner or later.

Which is why they should take advantage of the time they still have 3 great centers. Have Hishon join the team on the wing or whomever to add side depth; don't try to stack the lines until you need to.

Welp, two days until the season starts. Where do you guys think the Avs finish? I say anywhere from the 7-9 seed. I still think they're going to need to rely on Varly way too much. Hope he's got another big season in him.

I haven't watched any of the training camp / pre-season stuff so I don't have a strong opinion. I expect we'll be better defensively, have very slight regression in net, and offensively push even. Playoffs seem highly possible, and that's all that matters.

[ABasin]

Welp, two days until the season starts. Where do you guys think the Avs finish? I say anywhere from the 7-9 seed. I still think they're going to need to rely on Varly way too much. Hope he's got another big season in him.

6th-8th in the conference. Nowhere near that if Varlamov gets hurt.

[chewey]

We'll regress this year, and do [s]better[/s] WORSE!! next year.

FTFY

[NHL33]

O'Reilly will be gone so that sounds about right.

[chewey]

lmao, it was one game guys

[SIZE="3"]it was one game[/size]

[SIZE="5"]was one game[/size]

[SIZE="7"]one game[/size]

...You were saying dempy?

[chewey]

I was factually correct.

..you win this time.. depmy!!!