Bleacher Report - Articles by jordan banack

Colorado Avalanche Hoping to Make Offer If Forsberg Returns

jordan banack — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:47:28 -0500

The answer is yes—the Avalanche are very interested in Peter Forsberg, and plan to make him an offer. But the Avs—like any other NHL team with interest—are waiting to hear when, or if, their former star center is ready to play again.

"We've made it known to (agent) Don (Baizley) that, when he makes his decision to come back, we'd be a party that would like to have a chance to talk with him," Avs general manager Francois Giguere said Saturday night. "As far as I know, Peter hasn't made the decision whether he's going to come back to the NHL."

The oft-injured Forsberg, 34, is close to making a decision after recurring ankle problems had him sidelined all season. He is skating with his former Swedish team, MoDo, but hasn't played competitively since last season's NHL playoffs with Nashville.

The Avs have some good salary cap room, enough to offer Forsberg a significant financial deal should he return, and have perhaps the biggest advantage of any potential suitor—a place he called home for nearly ten years while winning two Stanley Cups.

The Avs do not have a scout or anybody else from the team in Sweden.

"When Peter is going to say he's ready to play, I am so very confident that he would be ready to play. His standards are so high," Giguere said. "It's for him to figure if he'll get to that point prior to the (Feb. 26) deadline."

Forsberg still has a condominium in Denver.

Wings Blank Avs, 2-0

jordan banack — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 15:19:38 -0500

DETROIT (AP)--Henrik Zetterberg's 30th goal broke a scoreless tie with 2:20 left and Dominik Hasek made 15 saves for his 80th career shutout to lift the Detroit Red Wings to a 2-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night.

Kris Draper added an empty-netter with 13 seconds left for league-best Detroit, which won its sixth straight.

Peter Budaj stopped 34 shots for Colorado.

An apparent goal by the Avalanche's Milan Hejduk with eight seconds left in the second period was waved off because of incidental contact with Hasek.

Colorado didn't have a shot until T.J. Hensick forced Hasek to make a save 11:20 into the game.

Detroit had a 14-3 shot advantage in first period. The Avalanche had only one shot in the second period, coming at the 9:28 mark. Detroit had nine shots in the second period.

Notes: Detroit D Niklas Kronwall missed the game because of a shoulder injury. ... Colorado G Jose Theodore didn't play because of back spasms. ... Detroit D Brett Lebda returned after sitting out a game with a sore wrist.

Colorado Avalanche Finish Road Swing vs. Lightning

jordan banack — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 10:21:17 -0500

The Colorado Avalanche is hoping its offensive struggles are left in the past.

The team will be looking to wrap up its five-game road trip on a high note on Tuesday when it faces the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Avalanche (24-18-3) won 4-3 in a shootout in Florida on Sunday, a day after beating Carolina 5-4. Colorado had dropped seven of its previous eight games before the two wins, averaging 1.6 goals over that span.

Colorado's offense has been hampered by injuries - forward Ryan Smyth has not played since Dec. 31 because of a broken ankle and captain Joe Sakic has been out since the end of November with a hernia. Neither is expected back for close to two months.

However, a number of the Avalanche's scorers have been slumping as well. Andrew Brunette had scored just one goal in 18 games before picking up two against the Panthers.

"It's nice to get a bounce here and there and have a decent night like that," said Brunette, who got his first multi-goal game of the season. "Sometimes you have games where you get a little hot streak going."

Marek Svatos, who leads the Avalanche with 20 goals, also scored on Sunday and has seven goals in his last six games.

"It was overall a very tight game," head coach Joel Quenneville said. "They kept coming back every period."

The Avalanche, which won for the second time on the five-game trip, will open a five-game homestand after Tuesday's game. Colorado, 8-12-3 on the road, had dropped four straight away from home before winning its last two.

Colorado is making its first trip to Tampa Bay since a 5-4 overtime win on Jan. 19, 2004. The Avalanche is 3-8-1 on the road against the Lightning (17-23-5).

Tampa Bay, however, has lost four straight and seven of eight at home after starting the season 11-3-1 on its own ice. The Lightning have been outscored 17-6 in their last four at home.

They are coming off Saturday's 5-3 win over Florida - just their third in 14 games overall. Nick Tarnasky scored twice for the first time in 132 career games, and Brad Richards also had two goals.

"It's just exciting to be part of a win," said Tarnasky, who entered the game with just one goal this season. "I haven't had a night like that since my second year in the American (Hockey) League."

Tampa Bay allowed at least three goals for the 10th straight game and let Florida come within one of the lead before Richards scored into an empty net. The Lightning rank last in the league with 3.40 goals yielded per game.

"We had the game in total control but we continue to make things exciting," Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella. "It's unbelievable how we just continue to keep teams in games."

Tampa Bay has scored five goals in each of its last two wins.

"Tonight the puck found my stick at the right time and I was able to get off good shots," Tarnasky said. "It's something I can build on now and hopefully get us going in the right direction."

TEAM COMPARISON

	2007-2008 Team Stats
51	Points:	39
24	Wins:	17
0	Shutouts:	0
29	Power Play Rank:	11
17	Penalty Kill Rank:	23
.778	Win % When Leading After 1:	.750
.824	Win % When Leading After 2:	.778
.389	Win % When Trailing After 1:	.071
.222	Win % When Trailing After 2:	.000

TEAM LEADERS


GOALS:	20	M. Svatos	28	V. Lecavalier
ASSISTS:	31	P. Stastny	36	M. St. Louis
POINTS:	47	P. Stastny	63	V. Lecavalier
+/-:	11	K. Sauer	6	M. Ouellet
OT GOALS:	1	R. Smyth	0	V. Lecavalier

PRIOR SEASON SERIES

		GAME WINNERS
DATE	SCORE	GOALIE	SCORER
01/05/2007	4 - 2	P. Budaj	T. Arnason

DATE	1st STAR	RECAP
01/05/2007	PAUL STASTNY	Recap

RECENT GAMES

DATE

RESULT

DATE

RESULT

01/13/2008	COL 4 @ FLA 3
01/12/2008	COL 5 @ CAR 4
01/09/2008	COL 1 @ WSH 2
01/08/2008	COL 0 @ DET 1
01/05/2008	NYI 1 @ COL 2

01/12/2008	TBL 5 @ FLA 3
01/10/2008	PIT 4 @ TBL 1
01/08/2008	TBL 5 @ NYR 3
01/05/2008	TBL 3 @ OTT 4
01/03/2008	TBL 3 @ MTL 6

UPCOMING GAMES

DATE

01/15/2008	COL @ TBL
01/18/2008	CHI @ COL
01/20/2008	CBJ @ COL
01/22/2008	NSH @ COL
01/24/2008	MIN @ COL

01/15/2008	COL @ TBL
01/18/2008	TBL @ PIT
01/19/2008	TBL @ OTT
01/22/2008	EDM @ TBL
01/24/2008	OTT @ TBL

Panthers-Avalanche: Game Preview

jordan banack — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 05:49:06 -0500

The struggling Florida Panthers haven't had much of a home-ice advantage over the last two months. They've never had any kind of home-ice success against the Colorado Avalanche in their 14-year history.

The Panthers look to avoid losing their eighth straight home game against the Avalanche as they meet Sunday at Bank Atlantic Center.

After opening the season 5-2-0 at the Bank Atlantic Center, Florida (20-22-3) has an NHL-worst 4-9-2 home record since Nov. 9.

The Panthers lost their fifth straight home game on Saturday night, falling to Tampa Bay, 5-3. They allowed a pair of second-period goals, and have been outscored 16-6 during their current skid.

"In the second period some guys didn't compete enough," Florida coach Jacques Martin said. "(They) ended up costing us the game."

The Panthers have had even less home success against the Colorado franchise, going just 1-10-0 all-time against them at home. Florida has not beat the franchise since a 4-2 victory over the Quebec Nordiques on April 22, 1995, at Miami Arena. The Nordiques became the Avalanche the next season, and the Panthers have lost seven straight games against the Colorado club.

These teams last met in Florida on Jan. 21, 2004, as the Avalanche won 6-5.

In their only meeting last season on Feb. 6, the Avalanche beat the Panthers 5-4 in overtime. Colorado has won three straight over Florida, and six of the last seven meetings.

The Avalanche (23-18-3) beat Carolina 5-4 on Saturday, snapping a four-game road losing streak.

Colorado entered Saturday' third period down 4-2 before rallying behind two goals from Marek Svatos in just over 2 minutes.

Svatos leads the Avalanche with 19 goals, and has nine scores in his last 10 games.

"He's been on fire lately," teammate Cody McLeod said. "He's been the only one that can score, it seems."

Paul Stastny added his 16th goal, ending a career-high 10-game goal-scoring drought.

Goaltender Jose Theodore stopped 30 shots on Saturday to pick up the win. Theodore made 28 saves in last season's victory against Florida, his first game against the Panthers as a member of the Avalanche. He is 8-8-0 with three ties, a 2.41 goals-against average and two shutouts in his career against Florida.

Peter Budaj, who has posted a 2.97 GAA in losing his last three starts, has never faced the Panthers in his three-year career.

Florida goalie Tomas Vokoun, who was selected to the Eastern Conference All-Star team on Friday, stopped 20 shots on Saturday, and is just 1-6-0 with a 3.34 GAA since Dec. 28. Vokoun, in his first season with the Panthers, is 7-9-0 with one tie and a 3.21 GAA lifetime against the Avalanche.

Backup goalie Craig Anderson, who is just 1-4-1 with a 2.76 GAA, stopped 17-of-22 shots in just over 30 minutes in an 8-1 loss for Chicago in his only start against Colorado on March 22, 2003.

Florida captain Olli Jokinen scored his team-leading 22nd goal on Saturday, ending a six-game goal-scoring drought.

Oilers-Flames: Previewing the Battle of Alberta

jordan banack — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 05:36:30 -0500

The Edmonton Oilers have a chance to not only defeat their provincial rivals tonight, they can also climb back to the .500 mark and win their fourth game in four tries on a current five-game homestand.

The last time the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames met, both teams were battling for position in the Western Conference standings.

At the time, Edmonton stood at 7-11-1 and Calgary at 7-8-3. The Oilers have been a slightly above .500 team since that time, but Calgary – on the strength of a hot December – has moved into a tie for the top spot in the Northwest Division almost solidifying a playoff spot.

In December, the Flames put together a record of 9-1-4 and then followed that up with three more wins to start 2008.

Last Tuesday night was only Calgary’s second regulation loss in a span of 17 games. The Flames followed that up with a shootout loss to the New York Islanders at home Friday night.

Calgary’s success can certainly be looked at by Edmonton as concrete proof that a hot stretch can get any team back in the playoff race. The Oilers’ play has been strong of late and if they keep it up a playoff spot is not out of the realm of possibility.

The Oilers are now five points behind St. Louis for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Northwest Division after winning their third straight on Thursday night, 5-2 over the Phoenix Coyotes.

This is the fourth meeting of the season between the two Alberta rivals and second at Rexall Place. Calgary won 3-1 at Edmonton and 4-1 at the Saddledome in Calgary while Edmonton won 4-2 in Calgary in November.

LINEUP UPDATE (11:05 AM): Joni Pitkanen will return to the lineup tonight after missing the last game with the flu. Dick Tarnstrom will be a healthy scratch... Mathieu Garon starts his sixth straight game tonight.

OILERS TO WATCH: Mathieu Garon has started each of the Oilers' last five games and is 4-1-0 in those starts with a 2.14 GAA (11 GA in 309 MINS) & .931 save pct. (149 saves - 160 shots)... Sam Gagner has done well against the Flames in his young career.

Calgary is one of the teams his father Dave played for and he has scored two of his three goals this season against them. Gagner also has an assist for three points in three games… Shawn Horcoff, named to the Western Conference All-Star Team on Thursday, also has two goals and an assist in three games against the Flames…

Andrew Cogliano has a goal and two assists against Calgary while Robert Nilsson, whose father Kent also played for the Flames, has a goal and an assist in two games.

Calgary has been much better on the road this season than they were in 2006-07. The Flames are 12-7-1 away from the Saddledome and only 10-8-7 on home ice.

Last year, it was reversed with the team holding a record of 30-9-2 at home and 13-20-8 on the road... With three straight wins at home, Edmonton's record at Rexall Place has improved to .500 at 11-11-1...

The Oilers have now picked up a power play goal in five straight games, their longest such streak of the season.

Previously, the Oilers had scored a power play goal in three straight games on two separate occasions... Calgary's power play on the road is 20.0% which ranks 7th in the NHL.

Avalanche-Hurricanes: Avs Rally for Comeback Win

jordan banack — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 19:31:55 -0500

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -Marek Svatos capped a third-period rally with two goals in a span of 2:07 and the Colorado Avalanche rallied three times from two-goal deficits to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 on Saturday night.

The late goals gave Svatos nine goals in his past 10 games and helped the Avalanche stop a two-game losing streak. Paul Stastny, Milan Hejduk and Cody McLeod also scored, and McLeod had his first career NHL assist for Colorado.

Erik Cole, Keith Aucoin, Chad LaRose and Cory Stillman scored for the shorthanded Hurricanes in their second loss in a row at home. They have only two victories in their past eight games, thanks mostly to an injury list that goes six-deep. Those out include Matt Cullen, Justin Williams and Bret Hedican.

Still, Carolina controlled the first two periods and led 4-2 entering the final 20 minutes. That's when the game fell apart for the home team.

McLeod, called up from the AHL in December, got it started with a good effort behind the net as he stuffed the puck over the left leg of goalie Cam Ward to make it 4-3, and Svatos took over from there.

First, he reached around Carolina defenseman Niclas Wallin to poke in a rebound to tie the game, then grabbed another blocked shot to give the Avalanche the lead. Ward made a nice save but lost control of the puck, and Svatos was the first one there to put it through for the game winner.

The loss also spoiled Ward's first assist of the season, when he moved way out of the crease at the end of a power play to get the puck to Casey Borer. Borer passed to Stillman, who beat Theodore with a slap shot from just outside the right circle.

That one made it 4-2 before the Avalanche's comback.

Colorado Avalanche: Missing Joe Sakic and Ryan Smyth

jordan banack — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 19:20:41 -0500

The loss to Joe Sakic And Ryan Smyth May have come to no surprise that the colorado avalanche have started to go into a slump and can't come out.

Joe sakic's hernia surgery has left him out of the lineup for 8-12 weeks (2-3 months) which came to be a real shocker to everyone including the sakic family.

Ryan smyth's injury happened over night when he states" I just woke up one morning and if i even moved it the slightest i was in severe pain".

The loss of these two star players has taken a toll on colorado with the team going 9-8-2 scoring only 42 goals without these star forwards in the lineup.