Friday Avs Thoughts: Was It Really "Embarrassing" To Lose To Anaheim?

Plus, thoughts on Landeskog return and NHL 3 Best Bets

This is my personal opinion here: I don’t think a loss is ever “embarrassing” in pro sports. But that’s what Avs player Andrew Cogliano called last night’s 5-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks. Good-guy Jesse Montano got the quote.

I disagreed with the sentiment and said so, but as I’ve been known to do, was a bit too sarcastic about it and didn’t like the optics of it. That’s why Twitter and me have just never been a great match.

But let’s forget about Twitter here and just talk about the subject of what’s “embarrassing” in pro sports. It’s just starting to creep into the vocabulary too much of pro players, and while, on the surface it sounds like it could be a good thing to say, because it’s a way of holding oneself/team accountable - and that is a good thing - for me it just cheapens the overall product and what I just watched.

The Anaheim Ducks are not a good team this season. Only the Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets have fewer points in the NHL right now, in fact.

But they are a team that pays its players a combined $68.5 million. That is $18.5 million more than the entire franchise fee of the team 31 years ago, when they entered the NHL as the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. The Ducks have some really, really good hockey players. Trevor Zegras is just dynamite to watch. Denver’s own Troy Terry is a terrific player. Frank Vatrano is a good player, John Klingberg is a good player, Cam Fowler is a good player and goalie John Gibson is a very good player.

The Avalanche blew a 3-2 third-period lead and, eventually, the game. To a team with a $68.5 million payroll.

Now, if the Avs had lost to Beer League local hockey team, or to a bunch of high-school kids, now that would be embarrassing. This was a loss to a team of pro hockey players, all of whom have been big stars at previous levels just to get this far. It’s not an embarrassment to lose to such a team. It’s pro sports. It happens, and it will always happen. They’re called upsets. That’s the word.

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