Paul Stastny — Page 2

The Avs Hockey Podcast, Episode #89

April 14, 2014 by Jay Vean - The AHP

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In this show, James “Tapeleg” Gralian and Jay break down all of the Avalanche games since our last podcast, we talk about the Avalanche’s chances in this year’s playoffs, we answer your #AskAHP questions, and we discuss cupcakes because #CupcakeStrong. Those topics and much more Avs and hockey stuff in episode #89 of The Avs Hockey Podcast, your home for almost everything Avalanche.

The Colorado Avalanche, your 2013-2014 Central Division Champions! Another banner hanging in Pepsi Center? Yes please!

Useful links mentioned in the show that are worth checking out:

Brad Malone vs. Derek MacKenzie. Advantage: Brad Malone

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIHqLQDBuTY[/youtube]

Tyson Barrie and Nate Guenin try to follow the bouncing puck while covering Blue Jacket players. Outcome: Not favorable.

April 5: Jay wins #AvsHeader again after the Avalanche defeat the Blues 4-0 and become the only NHL team to defeat every other NHL team this season.

#AvsHeader_4-5-14

ESPN.com’s Pierre LeBrun’s piece on Patrick Roy’s impact on this season’s team, complete with a horribly lettered Roy jersey.

NHL.com picks Patrick Roy for the Jack Adams Trophy. Sounds good to us.

NHL.com picks Nathan MacKinnon for the Calder Trophy. This sounds good to us as well.

Cards and Where They Come From, Part Two

March 9, 2014 by Jay Vean - The AHP

It’s time for a second installment of new additions to my Avalanche card collection and where they come from on Avalanche jerseys.

I’ve found myself, as the card companies use pretty much every part of the jersey now in their cards, being drawn to the non-jersey and non-Avalanche emblem crest and shoulder patch fabric pieces. Cuts from tags and branding from the jerseys have been getting way more of my attention lately. This makes sense based on how I appreciate the smaller details about jerseys the way I do. The first two cards in this post are the latest cards in my collection that are perfect examples of the details I love most about jerseys.

The first card is a Gabriel Landeskog tag card from 2013-2014 Panini Dominion. It’s numbered 3/3.

Most people would look at this card and simply see a plain, boring two-color patch. I see the right side of the Reebok patch from the top of the back of the neck of a white Avalanche jersey. I have a white Milan Hejduk game used jersey from the 2011-2012 season. Here’s the entire back. Look just above Hejduk’s name for the patch.

A closer look:

Next, a P.A. Parenteau tag card from Upper Deck’s 2013-2014 SP Game Used product numbered 3/3. This one caught my eye right away.

This is from the size hang tag located on the inside of the back of the neck. I see this tag on pretty much every jersey in my collection.

The third card is a Paul Stastny patch card from 2013-2014 Edition of Upper Deck’s SP Game Used set. This comes from the far right side of the nameplate and is numbered 4/12.

If I have my facts right the card includes the bottom right side of the “N” and the middle bottom of the “Y” in Stastny from a burgundy Avalanche jersey. For reference:

Next, an Adam Foote Prime Colors Numbers card from Panini’s 2012-2013 Prime release numbered 4/6.

This card is from one of the sleeve numbers on a white Avalanche jersey. And based on how the numbers are cut this piece is from a jersey Adam Foote wore after he returned to the Avs in 2008.

Some of the patches companies place in cards are upside down so keeping this in mind helps as someone tries to figure out where cards came from on the jersey. This card, however, is right side up. The right side of the “5” is on the left and the left side of the “2” is on the right.

The last card in the post is a little older and doesn’t feature a piece of jersey, patch, or tag, but it is new to my collection and definitely work a look. I just thought I would share because of his recent decision to retire from the National Hockey League.

This is a Milan Hejduk 1/1 base card from the 2009-2010 Upper Deck SP Game Used set. Being a one of a kind of one of my favorite Avs players of all-time made it something that I wanted acquire and share.

So that’s it for the second of installment of many in this ongoing series. Hope you enjoyed the cards and the information. Now back to eBay to look for more treasures.

Let’s Go Avs.

#WhyNotUs

March 6, 2014 by Jay Vean - The AHP

Just some random thoughts post-trade deadline. A busy day on Twitter had me feeling feelings and thinking thoughts that I wanted to share. Enjoy.

Paul Stastny, Still an Av

Yet another trade deadline comes and goes and 26 is still an Av. Honestly, I’m not surprised. He’s a fabulous hockey player with tremendous smarts and skills. I know many Avalanche faithful would prefer to see a little more skill from him but that’s just not his specialty. He excels at making the players around him better. Speaking for myself (which is what one generally does on a personal blog), I wouldn’t mind seeing him in the burgundy and blue until he’s done playing hockey, but that’s just me. As a good friend on Twitter also said:

@AvsPodcast I don’t think Stastny wants to go anywhere else. Hockey is less of a business for him than for others.

— Stephen DeGraff (@sfdegraff) March 5, 2014

Hockey is a business. No one can argue with that. When your father and uncles were world class/Hall of Fame players as well, hockey is a family business. That’s a little different.

Stastny has also publicly stated that a “hometown discount” would be a possibility with the Avs. That’s unheard of (and I’m not sure what his agent thought of Stastny’s public comments) but either way I really like it. Stastny is happy here and that’s not a secret. He’s also world class hockey player. I hope he’s here for a long, long time.

Trade Deadline Thoughts

The Avs made one move yesterday picking up goaltender Reto Berra from Calgary for a second round pick in the 2014 draft. Joe Sakic made it clear that this was a precautionary move on the team’s part because Jiggy’s back has the tendency to act up from time to time. I think it also showed a couple more things: Jiggy’s time in Denver could possibly be over beyond this season and the team’s confidence in Sami Aittokallio wasn’t as high as they wanted it to be. We’ll see how the rest of this story pans out as the season rolls on. Berra is currently on the Avalanche’s active roster.

The lack of Avalanche trades showed a lot from the organization as well. The Avs are generally happy with where they are and it’s difficult to be unhappy with that as a fan. Sure, we all can agree to a certain point that the defense could use a piece or two, but it also seems like defense by committee (when everyone is healthy and/or not suspended) has worked quite well so far this season. Mark Rycroft, in Tuesday’s post game said that the way Erik Johnson has played this season was almost like a free trade in itself. Great stuff. And as I said on Twitter yesterday, sometimes the most effective defense is solid goaltending and a balanced offensive attack.

The Factor is a Factor

Ryan O’Reilly has quietly moved himself into the top 20 goal-scorers in the NHL this season. His performance in the defensive zone should be noted as well.

Hey Avs (I know you’re going to read this and take what I say very seriously),

No rush. No hurry. Feel free to lock 90 up long-term whenever you see fit.

Thanks.

Icing on the Cake

Again, just speaking for myself here, but I’m getting to the point where the rest of this season is almost icing on the cake. The Avs were picked to finish near the bottom of the conference by pretty much everyone at the start of the season. I couldn’t argue with that. I’m definitely a “glass half full” type guy, but didn’t expect near what I’ve seen so far this season. I simply wanted the Avs to improve. They’ve done that and so much more. As they stand right now this is the best Avalanche team in the team’s history. That’s crazy. The next few weeks include some huge games against some of the best teams in the league. We’ll see where our teams stands then, but what I do know is that this team has me excited for the next decade plus. I’ll take it for sure, no matter what the rest of this season brings.

The Future

I was sitting at the game last Friday night and reflecting on the future of this franchise:

Nathan MacKinnon is 18 years old.
Matt Duchene is 23 years old.
Ryan O’Reilly is 23 years old.
Gabriel Landeskog is 21 years old.
Semyon Varlamov is 25 years old.
Erik Johnson is 25 years old (for a few more weeks.)
Tyson Barrie is 22 years old.

This team’s best hockey is hopefully yet to come. How great is that for us as Avs fans and how scary is that for the rest of the league? Pretty great and pretty scary.

Let’s Go Avs.

P.S. Thanks to those of you that play #AvsTwitterPsychic game in and game out.

If you’re not playing, you totally should. It’s fun, it’s super easy, and it involves no skill at all. Sound interesting? Check out the #AvsTwitterPsychic official home page here:

https://www.avshockeypodcast.com/avstwitterpsychic/

The Avs Hockey Podcast, Episode #87

March 3, 2014 by Jay Vean - The AHP

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In this show, James “Tapeleg” Gralian and I cover all the games since our last podcast (including some Olympic hockey), we honor Milan Hejduk and his career with the Avalanche, we discuss the possibility of an outdoor game to be hosted in Denver next season, and we showcase Semyon Varlamov’s new skill of making glove saves with no stick, a screen from his own defenseman, and his mask half on. These topics and much more Avalanche and hockey stuff in episode #87 of The Avs Hockey Podcast.

Thank you, as always, for joining us Avalanche fans.

This is the Pierre Turgeon edition of The AHP.