We'll Take It - Ramblings

The Avs will enter their 20th game (roughly 25% of the season) on Saturday with a 12-4-3 record. They sit 2nd in the West and just released these "some like 'em, others don't" third jerseys.

Paul Stastny, Wojtek Wolski, Milan Hejduk, Kyle Quincey, Scott Hannan, and Ryan O'Reilly are playing fantastic hockey.

Craig Anderson was the steal of free agency. These first two months have made him a candidate to start on the US Olympic team. Unbelievable.

The other rookie, aka Matt Duchene, has struggled, but we fans should be pleased with his effort. The bounces aren't going his way yet. They will.

Defense:

Quincey-Hannan

-We finally have a shutdown pair. I completely forgot what that felt like.

Cumiskey-Foote

-Cumiskey is here to stay. Great skater, but he suffers from Brett Clark Syndrome. Captain Foote looks slow. I actually winced when Haynes said he was on the ice in the final seconds.


Clark-Liles/Wilson

-Clark gets injured every shift, but I guess that's what happens when you block every shot. Liles needs to be in the lineup or the PP goes down the toilet. Ryan Wilson has shown tons of promise.

Tom Preissing is a problem that needs to be traded.

Joe Sacco has done surprisingly well in his first year as coach. Although, putting Darcy Tucker in the 3-spot in last night's shootout will be questioned until his next win.

Let's be honest. If some hockey angel came down and told Avalanche fans that the Avs would be 12-4-3 in their first 19 games without Matt Duchene scoring on a regular basis, we ALL would have taken it.

Avs-Vancouver on Hockey Night in Canada. Exciting stuff. Avs need a win because Hell Week is coming.

Nov 17 - @Calgary
Nov 18 - @Edmonton
Nov 20 - @ Vancouver
Nov 23 - Philadelphia

We can keep talking about how each stretch is huge, and I already heard Haynes/McNabb discuss that there is a sense of "urgency" to these games.

There's still 62 to go. We're not going to make it with this blood pressure.

Over the next five games, a successful result would be 10 points.

A realistic result is 6-7. We'll take it.