Colorado Avalanche (HOME)

[Bronx33]

4-3 flames

[24champ]

Cloutier to Colorado for Theodore (e4)

Whadya say Bronx?

[Bronx33]

4-4

[Bronx33]

Originally Posted by 24champbailey

Cloutier to Colorado for Theodore (e4)

Whadya say Bronx?

UMMMMMMMM no.... or maybe shyt about the same tenders i would say.

[24champ]

Originally Posted by Bronx33

UMMMMMMMM no.... or maybe shyt about the same tenders i would say.

The Avalanche have been really impressive lately, making some noise early.

[Bronx33]

End of regulation but the idiot known as mick magoo calls a penalty that didn't exist.

[24champ]

Shoot-out

Wolski pulled a move that sent Kippy to Utah...

[Kid A]

Nice comeback. Theo stepped up big, which was good to see.

[24champ]

Avalanche win. Good comeback.

[Bronx33]

Avs win in a shootout 5-4

[Bronx33]

Originally Posted by Kid A

Nice comeback. Theo stepped up big, which was good to see.

Iam amazed how well he played tonight..

[spdirty]

what a fun game. Great comeback guys.

[Bronx33]

Theo stopped all the left handed shooters iggy being the only right hander scored...

[Bronx33]

DENVER (AP) -Jose Theodore has gone from MVP to backup goalie.

On Tuesday night, he showed he still has what it takes to be a No. 1 netminder.

Theodore, who relieved Peter Budaj after Colorado fell behind by four goals, stopped all 17 shots he faced in regulation and overtime to lead the Avalanche to a 5-4 shootout victory over the Calgary Flames.

"When you get in, it's never easy, you're not as warmed up," said Theodore, who is 4-1 in shootouts in his career. "I was trying to keep it simple, give my team a chance to win, and they showed a lot of character coming back."

Ryan Smyth had a goal and an assist, then scored the decisive goal in the shootout.

Jarome Iginla, who had two goals and an assist, had Calgary's only goal in the shootout.

"We had them," Iginla said. "We had them on the ropes and took our foot off the pedal. We picked up our foot and let them back in the game."

The Flames went up 4-0 on Iginla's second goal of the game 2:50 into the second period. Iginla took a pass from Alex Tanguay, blew by defenseman Brett Clark and beat Budaj with a high shot. That ended Budaj's night and brought on Theodore, who was the NHL's MVP with Montreal in 2001-02.

"I wasn't blaming the goalie, but you're down 4-0, you want to do something to change the flow of the game," Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville said. "Down 4-0, it was an easy time to make a change."

And the Avalanche started their comeback with help from the Flames. Three of Colorado's four goals banked off Calgary players, starting after Marek Svatos deflected a pass from Smyth from the left circle 13 seconds after Iginla had made it 4-0.

Colorado made it 4-2 when Calgary defenseman Anders Eriksson kicked a rebound of a shot by Smyth past a sprawling Miikka Kiprusoff midway through the second period. Andrew Brunette's pass toward the net hit off defenseman Adrian Aucoin's skate and went in to make it 4-3 just 2:32 later.

Avalanche defenseman Kurt Sauer tied the game with 3:38 left in the second period with a shot from the point that was tipped by Eriksson.

"We let up and made some critical mistakes," Flames coach Mike Keenan said. "The forwards turned the puck over three times in our end and they wound up in our net."

Midway through the third period, Colorado nearly took the lead on a 3-on-1 rush, but Kiprusoff made a great glove save on Ian Laperriere.

The Flames appeared to be in control with a 3-0 lead after the first period. Defenseman Dion Phaneuf made it 1-0 lead 6:54 into the game. Forty-eight seconds later, Marcus Nilson's backhander went off defenseman John-Michael Liles as he slid into Budaj, and the puck slipped between the goalie's leg pad and the post to make it 2-0.

Iginla made it 3-0 when Joe Sakic's lazy pass toward Scott Hannan drifted in front of the Colorado net. Iginla picked up the puck and beat Budaj with a wrist shot with 1:03 left in the first period.

"It's important that we play a full 60 minutes and we didn't do that today," said Smyth, who tied a franchise record with 11 shots on goal. "It wasn't what we had in mind, but we'll sure take it any way we can."

Kiprusoff made 31 saves.

Notes: Avalanche RW Milan Hejduk was scratched because of a sore back. The team said he is day to day. ... The Flames had lost four straight to Colorado. Their last victory over the Avalanche was a 5-2 win in Calgary on Feb. 17.

Paul Stastny was a superb 16-9 on faceoffs (64%)

[Bronx33]

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It is easy to be overshadowed on a team that has future Hall of Famer Joe Sakic still playing at a very high level. Overlooking Paul Stastny, however, is a mistake opposing teams can't afford.

Stastny looks to continue his stellar sophomore season Friday night as the Colorado Avalanche open a four-game road trip against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Few players have been as impressive in the first three weeks of the season as Stastny, the 21-year-old center whose father, Peter, scored 450 goals in 16 NHL seasons with Quebec, New Jersey and St. Louis.

The younger Stastny finished with 28 goals and 50 assists in his rookie season, during which he recorded a point in an NHL rookie-record 20 consecutive games.

Stastny ranks among the league leaders with five goals, eight assists and 13 points in six games. He already has a hat trick, a five-point game and a three-assist game this season.

Three days after Sakic's hat trick lifted Colorado to a 5-1 win over Columbus, Stastny keyed a 5-4 shootout victory Tuesday over visiting Calgary as he set up three of the Avalanche's four second-period goals.

Ryan Smyth had a goal and an assist before scoring the decisive goal in the shootout as the Avalanche (4-2-0) erased a four-goal deficit - their largest comeback win since rallying from five down in a 7-5 victory over Florida on March 3, 1999.

"It's important that we play a full 60 minutes and we didn't do that today," said Smyth, who tied a franchise record with 11 shots on goal. "It wasn't what we had in mind, but we'll sure take it any way we can."

Playing the biggest role in the win was goaltender Jose Theodore, who stopped all 17 shots he faced in relief of Peter Budaj.

"When you get in, it's never easy, you're not as warmed up," Theodore said. "I was trying to keep it simple, give my team a chance to win, and they showed a lot of character coming back."

It was the first win of the season for Theodore, who lost his only start - 4-1 at St. Louis last Friday.

Although Budaj is 3-1-0, he has been pulled in two of his five starts and his 3.40 goals-against average ranks near the bottom of the league. Budaj, however, is 3-0-1 with a 1.72 GAA in four career starts against Chicago.

Avalanche right wing Milan Hejduk missed Tuesday's game with a sore back and is day-to-day.

The Blackhawks were unable to recover from a slow start Wednesday in a 3-1 loss to visiting St. Louis.

Faced with a 2-0 deficit less than seven minutes into the game, Chicago (3-3-0) managed only a power-play goal by Jason Williams with 6:20 left in the first period.

In each of the Blackhawks' three victories this season, they've rallied late.

"In this league, when you have a poor start, it's tough to come back every night," coach Denis Savard said. "There was effort and a lot of good things happened, but once you get down 2-nothing, it's tough to come back."

Generating offense remains a problem for the Blackhawks, who have scored a Western Conference-low 10 goals.

Rookie center Jonathan Toews has one point in all four games he's played this season and is tied for second on the team with four points.

These teams split four meetings in 2006-07 but the Avalanche are 11-3-1 with one tie in the series since the start of the 2002-03 season.

[Bronx33]

Soooooo Budaj is 3-0-1 with a 1.72 GAA vs Chicago, and theo gets one win and gets tonights start? is Q going to rat**** the goaltenders again?

Link

Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville said today that veteran Jose Theodore will start in goal for the Avalanche Friday night at Chicago.

Theodore, a former Hart Trophy winner who started the season as a backup to Peter Budaj, could reclaim the top job with a strong showing against the Blackhawks.

When asked about his goalie rotation for upcoming games, Quenneville said, "It's day-to-day right now, but Jose will start tomorrow."

Theodore relieved Budaj in the second period of Tuesday night's game against Calgary and stopped all 17 shots he faced to help the Avalanche recover from a 4-0 deficit to win 5-4 in a shootout.

[Bronx33]

Avs 0-0 after 1

[Bronx33]

1-0 wild

[Bronx33]

2-0 on two PPs defense is asleep again..

[Bronx33]

2-2

[Bronx33]

Boxscores

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -Mikko Koivu just keeps getting better and the Minnesota Wild just keep on winning.

With overtime looming just more three minutes away, Koivu made an athletic move to get to the net and score the game winner to help the Wild beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Sunday night.

"It happened so fast," Koivu said. "It's always tough for the goalie when it comes so quick, and that's what happened there. I don't know if he even knew that I got the puck."

With both teams stagnant in the final period, Koivu grabbed the puck out of the corner, started like he was going to carry it behind the net and then made a lightning quick move to the short side and simply bulled his way out in front.

He stuffed the puck past a surprised Peter Budaj with 3:04 to play, lifting the Wild to their seventh win in the first eight games. Minnesota is off to its best start (7-0-1) in franchise history and is the only team in the NHL that has yet to lose a game in regulation.

"It's good for the team and it's good for our self confidence for the rest of the year," Koivu said. "But still, it's just eight games."

Niklas Backstrom made 29 saves, and Mark Parrish and Brian Rolston also scored for the Wild.

Koivu, the younger brother of Montreal star Saku, has made steady progress since he was chosen by the Wild with the sixth overall pick in the 2001 draft.

His first two seasons with the Wild were solid, but he seems to have taken another step this season.

"He's the guy that has been playing great for us since the start," Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said.

Andrew Brunette and Tyler Arnason scored for the Avalanche, and Budaj made 29 saves.

The Colorado goaltender said he wasn't surprised when Koivu got to the crease, but "I was surprised it went in. He hit a five-hole."

Minnesota's struggling power-play unit, which entered the night converting a minuscule 6.9 percent of its chances, scored twice in the second, but Colorado bounced right back in an action-packed period.

After Parrish and Rolston scored power-play goals just over two minutes apart to give Minnesota a 2-0 lead, Colorado responded by finishing the frame strong.

Arnason got things going with a power-play goal and then Brunette scored on a tip in on the backdoor to tie the game.

But the Avalanche sorely missed Milan Hejduk, who was out with a back injury, and couldn't quite come up with enough in the end.

The Avs are looking to avoid another slow start, which doomed them last year. Colorado began last season 18-18-2, the kind of mediocrity that won't get it done in the ultra-competitive Western Conference.

Even a 15-2-2 finish to the season wasn't enough to dig the Avs out of that hole, and they missed the playoffs for the first time since 1993-94, becoming the first team in NHL history to record at least 93 points and not qualify for the postseason.

They added Ryan Smyth and Scott Hannan to give the team some much-needed toughness, but the results have been mixed early this season. They are 4-4 in their first eight games.

"We've got to get it to overtime," Colorado coach Joel Quenneville said. "We can't give up late goals like that or you end up with nothing. That's something we dealt with last year. We got better late in the year, but we can't wait to apply that lesson."

Notes: Wild forward Pavol Demitra had two assists, but did not play for the final 10 minutes of the third period because of an injury. Lemaire said he would be evaluated on Monday. ... It was the 500th game in franchise history for the Wild, who began play in 2000. With a total record of 215-194-90 record (.521), the Wild have the seventh-best win percentage of any active franchise after its first 500 games. ... It was a rough second period for Jordan Leopold, a former star defenseman at the University of Minnesota. Leopold took three penalties in the period, two of which led to Wild goals.

[Bronx33]

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The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club announced today that it has recalled defenseman Kyle Cumiskey from the Lake Erie Monsters, the team’s American Hockey League affiliate in Cleveland.

Prior to his recall, Cumiskey compiled two points (1g/1a) in five games with Lake Erie this season.

Drafted by the Avalanche in the seventh round (222nd overall) of the 2005 Entry Draft, Cumiskey, 20, recorded two points in nine games with the Avalanche last season

[Bronx33]

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Ryan Symth was brought to tears upon learning he had been traded from the only NHL team he had ever known. His return to Edmonton promises to be just as emotional.

Smyth makes his first appearance in Edmonton as a member of the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night when the Northwest Division rivals meet for the first time this season.

Smyth spent his first 12 seasons with the Oilers after they made the Alberta native the sixth overall pick in the 1994 draft. He had 265 goals and 549 points with Edmonton, helping the team get to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals in 2005-06.

While always a productive and hard-working player, Smyth became one of the most popular players in team history as much for his devotion to the city off the ice. Playing for his native country in the 2002 and 2006 Olympics, and in several World Championships, earned him the nickname "Captain Canada".

However, with free agency looming and unable to reach an agreement on a new contract with their star forward, the Oilers made the difficult decision to send Smyth to the New York Islanders at last season's trade deadline for two prospects and a 2007 first-round draft pick.

On Feb. 28, Smyth held an emotional news conference at the Edmonton International Airport.

"I never thought it would come to this day," Smyth said while choking back tears. "I've got to turn the page and start a new chapter in life. The New York Islanders have given me that opportunity and I thank them for this."

Smyth played 18 regular-season games for the Islanders and five more in their first-round loss to Buffalo. He signed a five-year, $31 million contract with the Avalanche on July 1, meaning he will make four visits this season to Edmonton.

Smyth has three goals and three assists in his first eight games with Colorado.

Although they finished with an impressive 15-2-2 run last season, the Avalanche (4-4-0) missed the playoffs for the first time since 1993-94. They became the first team in league history to record at least 93 points and not qualify for the postseason.

Colorado was one of the few teams last season to play as well on the road as it did at home, finishing with 22 wins away from Denver, the fourth-highest total in the Western Conference.

This season, however, poor road play has been an issue for the Avalanche, one of three teams in the West without a road victory. They have been outscored 16-6 while going 2-for-18 on the power play in four road contests.

Peter Budaj was beaten by Mikko Koivu with 3:04 left in regulation Sunday, sending Colorado to a 3-2 loss at Minnesota.

"We've got to get it to overtime," coach Joel Quenneville said. "We can't give up late goals like that or you end up with nothing. That's something we dealt with last year. We got better late in the year, but we can't wait to apply that lesson."

Another area of concern for Quenneville is in net, where neither Budaj nor expensive backup Jose Theodore have played very well.

Budaj has three of the team's four wins but his 3.33 goals-against average ranks near the bottom of the league. Theodore, meanwhile, has allowed eight goals in his two starts and sports an ugly .879 save percentage.

Right wing Milan Hejduk - tied for second on Colorado with four goals - missed Sunday's game with a back injury and is day-to-day.

Avs captain Joe Sakic has a goal in three straight games against the Oilers (3-5-0), who have lost five of six since opening the season with wins over San Jose and Philadelphia.

Rookie Sam Gagner scored his first NHL goal but the Oilers gave up the game's final three scores Saturday in a 4-1 loss at Calgary.

"We played a decent second period and we started off in the first half of the third period very well too. Then we had a good opportunity on the power play and we made some idiotic decisions on our breakouts, bringing the puck out into traffic, totally out of synch," coach Craig MacTavish said.

Edmonton is one of the league's worst offensive teams with 18 goals in eight games, scoring once on 33 power-play chances. No other team has fewer than four power-play goals.

Dwayne Roloson has struggled lately against the Avalanche, going 2-4-0 with a 5.33 GAA in his last six starts.

The Avalanche went 4-3-1 against the Oilers last season, including 3-0-1 at Edmonton. Colorado has at least one point in eight of its last 10 visits (7-2-1) to Rexall Place.

[Bronx33]

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) -Having Ryan Smyth in town might only have served to magnify the hole the Edmonton Oilers have since he left.

Tyler Arnason had a goal and assist, and the Colorado Avalanche made Smyth's return to Edmonton successful with a 4-2 victory over the Oilers on Tuesday night.

Jaroslav Hlinka, Wojtek Wolski and Brett Clark also scored for the Avalanche, who signed Smyth to a five-year, $31.25 million free-agent deal this summer.

Smyth had spent his entire 12-year career with Edmonton before leaving a trail of tears when the Oilers dealt him to the New York Islanders just before the March trade deadline. He didn't get on the score sheet, but left with a win.

"It was obviously very emotional," Smyth said. "It's quite an honor to come back to the city where you started your NHL career and be recognized like I was. The fans were great."

It was the first road victory in five tries this season for the Avalanche (5-4).

"We needed a win in the worst way," Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville said. "We were doing whatever we could to get a road win and probably played that simple, ugly hockey game with not a lot of chances either way."

Dustin Penner and Tom Gilbert scored for the Oilers (3-6), who have lost six of seven and are winless in five games against Northwest Division rivals.

"We need to win for sure against our division," forward Jarret Stoll said. "If you don't play well against your division you're not going to look that good at the end of the year. It's a very good and competitive division and we have to come out stronger and play better against those teams."

Although it was another setback, Oilers coach Craig MacTavish saw enough positive things to feel better about his team.

"As a coach you never want to get into the habit of rationalizing the losses," he said. "We certainly feel that if we executed and played the game for 60 minutes we would have got the win. So we're disappointed by the result. But I'm not unhappy with the way that we played."

Colorado took a 1-0 lead midway through the first period when Arnason stole the puck from defenseman Denis Grebeshkov and went in on a 2-on-1. He chose to shoot and sent a wrister into the top corner past goalie Dwayne Roloson.

The Oilers tied it a couple minutes later on an odd man break. Edmonton rookie Andrew Cogliano fed Penner for a quick shot that got by Peter Budaj.

The sold-out crowd was still cheering that goal when Colorado scored 23 seconds later as a point shot by Jean-Michael Liles bounced out to Hlinka, who notched his first NHL goal.

The Avalanche took a 3-1 lead with a late first-period goal by Wolski. He sneaked a puck under a sprawling Roloson, who was trying to cover up with the bottom of his pad.

The Oilers cut the deficit to a goal midway through the third as Sam Gagner fed a pass off of Penner's skate to a pinching Gilbert, who blasted the shot into the back of the net.

Clark scored an empty-netter with 18 seconds left to seal the win for Colorado.

"It was a big win," he said. "We needed it after a couple of games slipped away. We needed to get our confidence, get our first road win - and it was good to get the win for Smytty."

Notes: The Oilers honored a teary-eyed Smyth with a video presentation before the game. Smyth was given a standing ovation. ... The Oilers were without D Joni Pitkanen, out indefinitely with a knee injury sustained in Edmonton's previous game against Calgary. Pitkanen will undergo arthroscopic surgery on Friday. Edmonton was already without another key defenseman, Sheldon Souray, expected to miss three more weeks because of a separated shoulder. ... Joe Sakic notched a first-period assist and needs two points to become the eighth NHL player with 1,600.

[Bronx33]

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The Calgary Flames have been one of the league's best offensive teams this season. They should be even better once Alex Tanguay starts producing consistently.

The Flames continue a six-game homestand Friday night as they try to end a five-game losing streak to the Northwest Division rival Colorado Avalanche.

Tanguay scored the tying and go-ahead goals - his first two scores of the season - and the Flames rallied from a three-goal deficit to beat Minnesota 5-3 on Wednesday.

Captain Jarome Iginla added a goal and two assists for Calgary (5-3-2), which came back from three goals down to win for the first time since Nov. 19, 1998.

Tanguay, in his second year with the Flames after six seasons in Colorado, wanted to atone for his turnover during a power play in Monday's 4-1 loss to San Jose.

"I wasn't happy about Monday, I gave (San Jose) a goal that shifted the game's momentum," Tanguay said. "Tonight, we were skating and (Iginla) and Daymond (Langkow) were playing great. When we're skating, we're first on the puck and with their skill level, it's easy to make plays."

Calgary is among the league leaders with 35 goals in 10 games despite none from Tanguay before Wednesday. He does, however, have nine assists, ranking second on the team behind Iginla (10).

"Hey, you are going to have slumps during the season. But mid-season or something. We're this far into the season and I still had the big zero on the scoresheet," Tanguay told the Flames' official Web site.

Tanguay, a five-time 20-goal scorer, has one goal and 11 assists in nine games against his former team.

Since starting the season with a three-game winless streak (0-2-1), the Flames are 5-1-1.

Leading the way is Iginla, who has six goals and eight assists during that span. Langkow has three goals and four assists during a four-game point streak and is among the NHL leaders with eight goals and 14 points.

Calgary was victimized by a big comeback in its first meeting this season against the Avalanche, wasting a four-goal lead in a 5-4 shootout loss at Colorado on Oct. 16. The point was the Flames' first in the last five games against the Avs.

Playing the biggest roles in Colorado's recent success against Calgary are center Paul Stastny and captain Joe Sakic. Stastny has five goals and five assists in the last five meetings while Sakic has three goals and eight assists.

Sakic has 38 goals and 98 points in 73 career games against the Flames - his highest totals versus any opponent.

After losses to Chicago and Minnesota, the Avalanche (5-4-0) beat the Oilers 4-2 on Tuesday for their first victory on a four-game road trip and their first win away from home this season.

"We needed a win in the worst way," coach Joel Quenneville said. "We were doing whatever we could to get a road win and probably played that simple, ugly hockey game with not a lot of chances either way."

Colorado won despite the absence of right wing Milan Hejduk, who has missed the last two games with a back injury. Getting Hejduk back would provide a boost for the Avalanche, especially considering he has five goals in his last six games against Calgary.

Quenneville Stares Down Milestone

Avalanche Head Coach Joel Quenneville looks to accomplish a feat tonight that only 21 others in the history of the NHL have achieved. With a victory on Friday evening, Quenneville would become the 22nd head coach to reach the 400-win plateau, joining, among others, active bench bosses Mike Keenan, Jacques Martin, Ron Wilson, Jacques Lemaire, Marc Crawford and Ken Hitchcock.

Most Coaching Wins, NHL History

Scotty Bowman 1,244
Al Arbour 781
Dick Irvin 692
Pat Quinn 657
Bryan Murray 613
Mike Keenan 589 (active)
Billy Reay 542
Pat Burns 501
Toe Blake 500
Glen Sather 497
Jacques Martin 483 (active)
Ron Wilson 474 (active)
Jacques Lemaire 463 (active)
Roger Neilson 460
Brian Sutter 451
Marc Crawford 443 (active)
Ken Hitchcock 441 (active)
Jack Adams 413
Darryl Sutter 409
Jacques Demers 409
Punch Imlach 402
Joel Quenneville 399 (active)