At this point I am satisfied to leave the Offense in the hands of: Liles, Leopold, Cumiskey. Clark can pack his bags.
I'd actually prefer tht the Avs unload 1 Offensive d-man for a Defensive Defenseman and Sauer to recover soon.
With no attention to hand orientation:
Sauer-Leopold
Hannan-Liles/Cumiskey
Finger-[Solid d-man]
For those of you who question my placing of Sauer in the top pairing:
He did it last year during the stretch run, why couldn't he do it again?
I don't know. Clark will be the higher payed guy next year, so maybe swinging a trade involving him would be better. I'm not a fan of either of them right now. But I do know that i don't trust Cumiskey for offense and I don't trust Leopold to stay healthy. And the news about Sauer is not looking good. I'd say there is a good chance he is done for the season.
As of now, I think we need to be on 24 hour trade alert. We arn't going to run with 8 defenseman. Liles, Clark, and Skrastins are all possible targets. Until we ave a reason for Boychuk being recalled.
Either a trade or Boychuk being used as a forward, ala Boughner.
That makes no sense. Has Jones been injured, or was he that bad. But in any normal circumstance, there is no way Boychuk would play forward over Jones.
I'm hoping it's Skrastins, at least Clark has "some" offensive capabilities.
I agree with you.
The way this season is going, especially lately, it looks like Skrastins won't last his contract( which end in June 09) in Colorado.
And the "Clark Case", i know he's not very popular on this board, but as long as Joel Quenneville is the Avs coach and François Giguère is the Avs GM, he is not going anywhere and he is not sitting out a game; look at his TOI per game and his contract starting next season.
I know that won't win a popularity contest on this board, but that's the reality.
And the "Clark Case", i know he's not very popular on this board, but as long as Joel Quenneville is the Avs coach and François Giguère is the Avs GM, he is not going anywhere and he is not sitting out a game; look at his TOI per game and his contract starting next season.
I know that won't win a popularity contest on this board, but that's the reality.
Very true. For as much as we talk about how bad Clark is playing, Q plays him as our #1-2 defense man. I can't see him being moved while Q values him so much.
Skrastins on the other hand... They finally scratched him, so hopefully the next step is to put him on the trade block.
I'd love to see Sauer back in the lineup but realistically he might be gone for as long as Smyth or Sakic. As much as I like Cumiskey the problem is he doesn't know what to do with the puck in the offensive zone. Skratch is useless IMO. I'd like Boychuk to get a "look-see". Who knows he might turn out to be another Finger in the least. I still would like to get Barret Jackman for another physical d-man. Heard he is available too.
That makes no sense. Has Jones been injured, or was he that bad. But in any normal circumstance, there is no way Boychuk would play forward over Jones.
Well, him being called up to play D makes no sense, either, as the Avs already have 7 Dmen. So if it's not a trade and no one has been sent down, something weird is happening. And who's to say he'll play over Jones? With how mum the Avs have kept on injuries for all we know Wolski is in a coma. I dunno. It's an odd situation. Trade seems the most logical explanation, but also the least likely. Last time the Avs went this deep into their D they called up Jillson. So why the change now? Don't get me wrong, I am curious to see Boychuk get a shot, but I am stumped as to why he was brought up.
Well, him being called up to play D makes no sense, either, as the Avs already have 7 Dmen. So if it's not a trade and no one has been sent down, something weird is happening. And who's to say he'll play over Jones? With how mum the Avs have kept on injuries for all we know Wolski is in a coma. I dunno. It's an odd situation. Trade seems the most logical explanation, but also the least likely. Last time the Avs went this deep into their D they called up Jillson. So why the change now? Don't get me wrong, I am curious to see Boychuk get a shot, but I am stumped as to why he was brought up.
I wouldn't say Wolski is in a coma. He has played well, sure he could play better. Hejduk no points in the last five is a bigger problem. Liles is -7 with no points in his last four games.
Well, him being called up to play D makes no sense, either, as the Avs already have 7 Dmen. So if it's not a trade and no one has been sent down, something weird is happening. And who's to say he'll play over Jones? With how mum the Avs have kept on injuries for all we know Wolski is in a coma. I dunno. It's an odd situation. Trade seems the most logical explanation, but also the least likely. Last time the Avs went this deep into their D they called up Jillson. So why the change now? Don't get me wrong, I am curious to see Boychuk get a shot, but I am stumped as to why he was brought up.
I'm confused too. It's got to be either an injury to the defense that we haven't been informed of yet, or a trade. And if it was an injury, it would make sense to announce that along with the call up. Sometimes I get the feeling these guys are just doing it to confuse us.
I'm confused too. It's got to be either an injury to the defense that we haven't been informed of yet, or a trade. And if it was an injury, it would make sense to announce that along with the call up. Sometimes I get the feeling these guys are just doing it to confuse us.
Maybe its to shake up the defense a bit. At this point I hope they called up Boychuk to play and not sit.
I'm confused too. It's got to be either an injury to the defense that we haven't been informed of yet, or a trade. And if it was an injury, it would make sense to announce that along with the call up. Sometimes I get the feeling these guys are just doing it to confuse us.
agreed. Something is up here, either an injury that we don't know about or a trade.... .Outside shot this was simply a reaction to the news that Sauer will be missing more time.
Could be that Q is simply looking for some spark within the club I guess, but I dont really think Johnny signals that.
The avs could have called up Jeff Jillson (who has already been called up once).
But went with Boychuk instead - in my opinion it either means Boychuk has out performed Jillson in the past week (which he has) or this call-up is for a different reason (either Liles or Boychuk being traded are options i think).
I'm hoping Boychuk goes out, keeps his game simple and plays a huge physical game and plays solid defensively. That and he's got a huge shot, is a righty, could potentially get some PP time. BOYCHUK!
