will jim cummins make the team?

thoughts?

imagine a lineup consisting of worrell, cummins, mcallister!whoooo

no. he won't.

thoughts?

imagine a lineup consisting of worrell, cummins, mcallister!whoooo
i can. lots of goals against when they're out there. simply put, there's NO way he makes the team.

I disagree. I saw nothing in Cummins' game that said to me he can't make the team. I'm not saying the odds are in his favor because very few tryout guys make a club in the NHL. It's very unlikely Cummins makes it, but I'd like to hear why you two think he won't with 100% certainty. This is an Avs team that played Brule and Shantz last year for the love a.... Cummins is better than both those guys and I actually think he's an improvement over Larsen. He'd probably be better than Willsie in terms of a role because Willsie doesn't get much of a look with the Avs anyway.

Top 6 F
Sakic, Forsberg, Hejduk, Kariya, Selanne, Tanguay

Other F
Battaglia, Nikolishin, Hahl, Hinote, Worrell, Aubin, Willsie, Larsen, Cummins, maybe Steve Moore

I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that Cummins can't make the team as a 13th or 14th forward, especially given how well the Avs have handled both Willsie and Larsen.

I disagree. I saw nothing in Cummins' game that said to me he can't make the team. I'm not saying the odds are in his favor because very few tryout guys make a club in the NHL. It's very unlikely Cummins makes it, but I'd like to hear why you two think he won't with 100% certainty. This is an Avs team that played Brule and Shantz last year for the love a.... Cummins is better than both those guys and I actually think he's an improvement over Larsen. He'd probably be better than Willsie in terms of a role because Willsie doesn't get much of a look with the Avs anyway.

Top 6 F
Sakic, Forsberg, Hejduk, Kariya, Selanne, Tanguay

Other F
Battaglia, Nikolishin, Hahl, Hinote, Worrell, Aubin, Willsie, Larsen, Cummins, maybe Steve Moore

I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that Cummins can't make the team as a 13th or 14th forward, especially given how well the Avs have handled both Willsie and Larsen.

I think Lappy is right, Cummins is likely competing against Willsie, Larsen, and Aubin for a roster spot. It doesn't seem like Granato is a big fan of Aubin, and Willsie and Larsen aren't exactly all-stars.

Plus Cummins has an advantage over the other players in that he has some size and he can fight. Any time a veteran player has size and can fight, I have to believe that Granato and Tocchet would like the player. Plus with the predominantly smaller finesse based forward group of the Avs, I think that Granato and Tochett probably targeted adding another player like Cummins to go along with Worrell.

I think he makes the team, and even plays quite a few games on the Avs fourth line.

The upside of Cummins playing on the Avs fourth line is that it means that Granato would be more likely to dress a Tomas Slovak (or even Liles) as the team's 6th defensemen ahead of McCallister.

I disagree. I saw nothing in Cummins' game that said to me he can't make the team. I'm not saying the odds are in his favor because very few tryout guys make a club in the NHL. It's very unlikely Cummins makes it, but I'd like to hear why you two think he won't with 100% certainty. This is an Avs team that played Brule and Shantz last year for the love a.... Cummins is better than both those guys and I actually think he's an improvement over Larsen. He'd probably be better than Willsie in terms of a role because Willsie doesn't get much of a look with the Avs anyway.

Top 6 F
Sakic, Forsberg, Hejduk, Kariya, Selanne, Tanguay

Other F
Battaglia, Nikolishin, Hahl, Hinote, Worrell, Aubin, Willsie, Larsen, Cummins, maybe Steve Moore

I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that Cummins can't make the team as a 13th or 14th forward, especially given how well the Avs have handled both Willsie and Larsen.

The reason I'm saying he won't is strickly based on the fact that he didn't even play last season and only played 12 games in the NHL the year before. From what I have seen from this guy, and it's not like he stands out very much during his average icetime of 3.2 mins per game, it's that he is basically a goon with limited skills. Personally, I would prefer a guy with a bit more skill in a defensive role rather than a has-been middleweight goon that should have retired about 4 years ago. (I did get to see him a bit more when he was with the Habs and he's nothing to write home about)

Having said all that, if Worrell is unavailable or unwilling for whatever reason to fight dorks such as David Ling...then I think it would be great to have a guy like Cummins to take on these other middleweights instead of having Derek Morris trying to injure a guy's fist with his orbital bone.

From what I heard from the camp reports ... he didn't look too bad. I could see him making the squad with a two way deal, with limited call up action if Worrell can't go, or injuries set in.

I also like Goulet's spin on it. If he makes the squad, there's more likelyhood that McAllister will be scratched for one of the two pups fighting for that 6/7 D position. It also wouldn't be a bad thing to see this year's Avs squad actually stick up for one another ... for a change.

Did he win his fight last night? Also, how has he looked in general? I always thought for a scrapper his skills were severly underrated. I saw him several times at Ducks training camp and he does have skating ability and a decent shot. Possibly make the team with Worrell?

http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?threadid=12509

This subject has already been discussed a bit and is also a subject towards the end of the Kings/Avs thread. Only thing that isn't mentioned is his fight last night.

DJ Smith v. I. Laperriere

Fight Started in Avs zone (other end of the ice) Smith with his left free and Lappy with his right. Smith lands 3 quick lefts to helmet/face/shoulder area (couldn't see from that far away if anything landed well or not) Lappy chucks some rights (2), neither landing hard. They grapple for about 10 seconds, linesman looks like he says get it going or we'll stop it. Smith switches to his right hand, taking 2 nice shots from Lappy, gets free and lands 3 nice rights of his own. Smith gets the takedown. Another nice fight with the Edge going to Smith for landing (apparently) more and better shots.

Here's more Cummins from the Denver post:

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~84~1654814,00.html


And the RMN:
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/avalanche/article/0,1299,DRMN_39_2296535,00.html


Basically both articles are supported by the same few quotes from the parties involved.

Thanks for those articles!!!

I sure hope Cummins makes it. I would like to see the guy play at least one more year in the NHL. Cummins is the type of guy that wears his heart on his sleeve. He'll do anything for his team. He would be a great 2nd tier guy to Worrell. Getting 2 assists and ending up with a +2 can't hurt his cause either.

He isn't that bad of a player either. He scored some real pretty goals when he was with the Ducks. He may not be the best defensively, but there are a lot worse in the league, I'll tell you that much.

Did he win his fight last night? Also, how has he looked in general? I always thought for a scrapper his skills were severly underrated. I saw him several times at Ducks training camp and he does have skating ability and a decent shot. Possibly make the team with Worrell?

I agree. And for the record, yes Cummins won his fight.

thoughts?

imagine a lineup consisting of worrell, cummins, mcallister!whoooo



I remember the Coyotes dressing McKenzie, Cummins and Janssens on the same line. It was actually fairly effective keeping the puck in the offensive zone, but had little luck finding the back of the net. Flipside -- harder for the opposition to score when they're fighting for the puck in the corners of their own zone...

I haven't seen him lately, but I saw him frequently when he played well for the Hawks and Coyotes and was well liked.

I remember the Coyotes dressing McKenzie, Cummins and Janssens on the same line. It was actually fairly effective keeping the puck in the offensive zone, but had little luck finding the back of the net. Flipside -- harder for the opposition to score when they're fighting for the puck in the corners of their own zone...

I haven't seen him lately, but I saw him frequently when he played well for the Hawks and Coyotes and was well liked.

I remember that too. McKenzie on the left side Janssens in the middle and Cummins at RW. The good old days. :yo: