The Avs won in the shootout last night, 4-3. Marek Svatos was the star of the night for the Avs, getting the lone shootout goal, and the first goal of the night, unassisted. The shoulder seems to be healing well. Beyond that, Sakic made his return (not that he was gone that long), Rob Blake did not dress (so I still wonder if the Avs fans are going to boo him), Stastny was in the shootout (he missed, but he was shooting rather than Hejduk), and the Avs stayed out of the penalty box (4 penalties compared to 9 for LA).
A few observations come to the fore immediately:
The penchant for squandering leads continues. Last year, you would have thought the Avs had a franchise of Squander-A-Lead Burger. They have to stop relaxing on the defense when they get a lead. Stay with the play the entire game. They can do this, but don’t bother with it once they get up a few goals.
Paul Stastny (whom I was once told wasn’t much), is quite a player. He has skills the Avs could use right now, but could better be developed by sending him down to Lowell Albany. He could be a big part of this club, and will be eventually, so long as the Avs don’t get to greedy.
Tyler Arnason is doing the job right now. He isn’t who he has replaced, but he is working hard. If he can take that into the regular season, and hopefully beyond, he could be a surprise signing for the Avs.
A quick note about Rob Blake: I am not a fan of booing a player who left your team after his contract ran out. In fact, unless there was an incident, I am not a fan of booing players at all. When Rob Blake returns to the Pepsi Center, I hope the fans remember what the guy did for us rather than his leaving for L.A. I almost said “greener pastures,” and I really should have. Rob Blake has a home in L.A., his kids will be comfortable there, and he like living in California. He made a family decision at the right time. Good for him. He will probably be vilified for not taking a pay cut like Joe Sakic, since he is receiving the $2.3 million in bonus money, but he earned it from before. That the money counts against the cap is unfortunate. But none of that is Blake’s fault. Really, as much as we could use him (and oh boy, could we), he did the right thing for his family, and for himself. Avs fans, don’t be jerks. There are better teams to boo. Remember, we play Florida this year.