Through Their Eyes: Avalanche Quotes

On Halloween

Of course, Halloween is the time when people get a little freaky, and Avalanche players apparently are no different. Some Avs play it safe, but some go all out, as if accessing their inner diva.

Defenseman Tyson Barrie was one of the safe guys, “I had a big ‘Ted’ teddy bear costume.” Personally, I think Halloween costumes are supposed to show a different aspect of your personality, but T-Bear apparently begs to differ. In any case, he was sick and unable to attend the Avalanche Halloween party.

Jamie McGinn also played it safe while remarking on other players’ edgy choices:

“There’s a couple guys in here, I don’t know why, but they like putting on makeup any chance they can. I won’t name names.”

However, a moment later, he remarked, “Talbot’s one of those guys I think enjoys putting on the makeup too much.” As far as Jamie’s costume went, he dressed as Jackie Moon, and Daniel Briere served as his sidekick, Twiggy Munson.

Gabriel Landeskog may have been another one of those characters who “likes to put on makeup.” When asked about his best-ever costume, he replied:

“Poison Ivy. A very sexy version of Poison Ivy. A little more masculine, a little more broad shoulders than usual, but I felt very comfortable in my short skirt and tight top.”

Alas, I was unable to find a picture, but I did find this post showing Gabe going for the more traditional Captain America getup.

Erik Johnson had the best one-liner related to his Halloween costume:

“I went as a cowboy — I did not wear the ass chaps though.”

That’s all he said on this year’s costume, but he had a lot more to relate about his favorite costume of yesteryear:

“I went as Borat one year. Many people are probably familiar with the green thong that he wore. And I replicated it. It was awesome.”

If there are pictures of that on the internet, they are well hidden, unfortunately.

After Anaheim

Things started turning serious after the Avalanche blew two leads and lost to the Anaheim Ducks in the shootout. Matt Duchene pegged the situation by pointing out that the Avs played well in the first and third periods but lost the game in the second, when they recorded only two shots. He explained:

“I think we were just discombobulated. We couldn’t break out, couldn’t get anything going on the rush and we couldn’t get any zone time. It’s tough to put a finger on what happened, but at the end of the day it happened.”

Head coach Patrick Roy had more to say:

“Obviously we’re going to need more from some of our guys. We’re going to need more consistency, especially from our forwards. Everybody’s talking a lot about our D, but I think we have some forwards that are capable of giving a little more to the team.”

In fact, he made some minor waves when he targeted veteran and assistant captain Jarome Iginla with having missed a defensive play. He rarely calls out players by name in the media.

After Vancouver

The loss against the Vancouver Canucks in Pepsi Center is going to go down in the annals of Avalanche history. Not because the loss was such a bad one. While it’s true the Avs gave up a tw0-goal lead by allowing the Canucks five unanswered goals, I’ve seen worse. (I attended the Anaheim game last season that saw six goals between the two teams in the second period, another time the Avs blew a lead and ended up losing.)

No, this game will remain memorable because something unheard of happened. Frustrated by the perceived lack of effort on the players’ side, the fans in Pepsi Center booed the team. If they’ve ever done that before, I don’t know about it.

It was an ugly moment. Johnson was philosophical, remarking, “There’s only so much talking we can do. Fans deserve better.”

Captain Landeskog was less philosophical in his comments:

“Just because they score one goal, it doesn’t mean they can score [four] unanswered after that. It’s a tough feeling in here right now, and tough to hear the boos getting off the ice. But the fans have every right to do that. We weren’t good enough tonight.”

The next day — after a tough night’s sleep according to most players — the locker room leaders had some more perspective. Johnson explained the players’ feelings, “We want to win more than anybody.”

Landeskog went more in-depth into what happens when a game falls apart like it did against the Canucks:

“We’re going through a bit of a tough stretch right now. It’s frustrating. If you’ve ever been in this situation, if you’ve ever played the game, you know that you want it. You want it bad. You work hard, but things aren’t going your way for whatever reason. It’s a sport where you’re out there against another team. It’s not golf where you’re competing against yourself.”

Duchene concurred, and talked about strategy:

“We know how hard it is to be a good team in this league, but that doesn’t mean you’ve got to be afraid of putting that effort in. You’ve got to do your boots up, and go out and get it done.”

The final words on the matter between fans and team came from the captain:

“As long as we believe, we’re going to be fine. We have to believe, and we hope Avs Nation believes as well.”

After Toronto

“It was a weird game.” – Reto Berra

The win against the Toronto Maple Leafs was huge. It was not so important from a standings point of view considering Toronto is in the Eastern Conference. It certainly wasn’t a decisive win, being 4-3. However, it was a gut victory. The Avs went up early and gave the lead up twice. Again. However, this time they didn’t fall apart. They persevered. It paid off, and they earned their first post-regulation win with a victory in the shootout.

Backup goalie Reto Berra backstopped the team because, as coach Roy wryly put it, Varlamov “deserved a rest.”

By his own admission, Berra faced a “weird” game in what was expected of him:

“First period, not much to do. Second period, also not much to do, just one breakaway and one or two 2-on-1 situations. And third period I had a lot of shots.”

It’s noteworthy that that “just one breakaway” was by noted Toronto sniper Phil Kessel. Berra shut him down, though.

Matt Duchene, the first star of the night, summed up the game best:

“It took too many to get this overtime win, but it feels great.”

The Colorado Avalanche are embarking on a week-long road trip. While we all hope they have more ups than downs, coach Roy says he’s going to “stay humble.” We probably will, too.

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