Game 6 Running Diary: Avs Force Game 7 With Dominant Win
Follow along with Pat as Avs face elimination in Seattle.
BEFORE WE START GAME 6…
I have been thinking about this all day and wanted to get it off my chest before I get into my pre- and in-game diary.
The Val Nichushkin situation. I’m done with it. I’m completely over it on so many levels. The first is in regards to the fact that Val isn’t playing for the Avalanche anytime soon and therefore I’m not concerned with his absence from the lineup. You can only play with who is there and ready to go. He’s not, so I’m not wasting time and energy thinking about it. It’s the same way I didn’t waste time or energy thinking about Nazem Kadri all year. As soon as he signed with the Flames, he was gone. Thanks for everything, now onto the guys here.
That’s not what has had me wasting time and energy today, though. What pisses me off is the coverage of it and the back-and-forth between media members about how the story is covered. We have the old-school guys (of which Dater seems to be the main representative), and we have the wave of young guys who have been on the beat for a few years. I’m going to be very upfront right now: Dater is my buddy and has been very good to give me an opportunity to have a creative outlet with an audience much larger than I would have without him. For that, I will always be grateful. But that doesn’t mean I agree with him on everything or the way he does things. He makes his own choices as a grown man and he has been around long enough for me to trust his journalistic instincts when it comes to stories and covering the Avs.
I also like most of the new voices covering the team, too. I love to read Peter Baugh. I love the DNVR guys (and Meghan). I consume Avs coverage from all areas. I like getting different points of views, analysis and coverage. It helps paint a full picture of the team and makes me see things in a different light, which I appreciate.
However, this week’s coverage has been a cesspool. Unplug from Twitter. Dater made a mistake, was called out for it and then apologized. I can appreciate someone owning a mistake. What I can’t appreciate is people taking shots at others for past mistakes — that had nothing to do with journalism — to try and help their case with this situation. This whole thing has gone from Val’s situation in Seattle to personal barbs on Twitter between writers and podcasters all because they don’t agree with how the Avs have handled the situation from the start. A lot of those who started out saying “time and space” are now the ones getting mad about the silence from the front office and asking for more clarity just days after getting upset with others for seeking information from the start.
I have no idea what’s going on and I don’t care anymore. I also know that others care about it and want all the information they can get. Cover the story and stop making everything so personal. This team is down 3-2, facing elimination, getting outplayed by a second-year expansion team and continuing to deal with season-long injuries into the postseason. There is a pall over this team right now and the negativity and spite is only making it worse for fans of the team who care about the wins and losses and not the reality show of those covering the team.
The team PR could end this circus with even the most bland of press releases, stating some of the facts that have already leaked into the public and punt the situation until after the season. The void of information out there has only stoked the flames of speculation and fired up tempers of those whose job it is to cover the team. The situation on the ice is bad enough, but the situation online might be worse. This has become less about the facts and more about a rush to be first.
Let’s be better and move past this.
PS - The whole “credentialed vs. not credentialed” argument is a joke. I worked in athletic PR for 15 years for three different universities and pro hockey. I used to credential “reporters” who had no real business being there. I’ve also seen those guys at NHL games and major college championships. Using that argument as a basis for trying to discredit someone is, in my opinion, a moot point. Good try, but access does not always translate to being correct.
PPS - That’s it. I’m done with the Val story until it’s resolved. I can’t believe how much I just wrote about this nonsense.
PREGAME
Oh damn… we have a game tonight, too? Here’s to hoping it’s better than the last two.
Cale Makar returns from his one-game exile handed down by the Department of Player Safety for an interference minor in Game 5. Colorado could use a big game from him tonight, especially in zone exits leading to time on attack.
Makar slots in, while Josh Manson’s season of misery continues, missing tonight’s game due to continued problems with his lingering injury.
Game 5 was not even 48 hours ago at this point, but it seems like weeks ago. The Nashville game to end the season feels more recent than Seattle’s third win of the series. Maybe it feels that way for the Avalanche, too, which would help them get beyond it and re-focused to play Game 6.
I said it following the last game, but it bears repeating: we need more from Artturi Lehkonen, J.T. Compher and guys in the bottom group like Denis Malgin and Alex Newhook. Lehkonen has four points (1-3-4) in the series, all in Games 2 and 3, both Avs wins. The other three games? Zero. Compher had a shorty in the Game 3 win and an assist in the next contest’s loss. Newhook has one assist: a faceoff win in the offensive zone that Makar promptly bombed into the back of the net. Malgin? Nothing. We need the second wave of scoring to do something. Otherwise it’s just this from Mikko and Nate:
I love what Lars Eller and Logan O’Connor bring to the ice, too, but it wouldn’t kill those guys to get involved in the scoring, either.
Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen have been the workhorses that Jared Bednar has needed with a combined 13 points and 8 goals. You’d have to expect with their backs against the wall, they deliver a strong and inspired showing tonight to try and force a Game 7 in Denver on Sunday night. You also hope that the aforementioned players also can step up and deliver a deciding game back in the Mile High City.
I think (hope) we get a game where Alexandar Georgiev steps up. A defining game if you will. He’s been so good all year, despite things seemingly being a mess in front of him for long stretches of time. The questions all year were whether or not he was able to handle the workload of being a No. 1 goalie. He answered that and then some. Now, it’s can he continue that upward trajectory and deliver in the postseason… even with the rotating cast of characters.
I also want to give credit where credit is due: Seattle has outplayed Colorado this series. If they were to win tonight, it is much deserved. There should be no complaining that the series was rigged by the league with missed calls or because of the Makar suspension. Those have not helped the Avalanche, but they are not the reason for the current predicament. The Kraken have just played good, opportunistic hockey. And they have three wins to show for it right now.
Sorry for the serious tone of this pre-game post. I’m just ready to get this game going to focus on the hockey and block out the nonsense. I promise to be more fun during the game… if we’re winning.
As always, thanks again for following along.
- Pat
GO AVS GO!
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